Henry Currie joins one hundred and twenty-three petitioners to argue for "the propriety of passing more stringent laws for the punishment of negroes guilty of burning Cotton Gins and other out houses." They represent "that there is too much at stake in the burning of Cotton Gins to be passed over with so light punishment." Currie complains that his "Gin was recently set on fire and burned by a negro in the neighborhood the evidence of his guilt being of such a character as not to leave a doubt on the mind of any one acquainted with the circumstances and yet all the punishment which could be inficted according to the Statutes of Tennessee is Thirty nine lashes." The petitioners therefore pray that "your honorable body take into consideration the importance of passing a law punishing offenders of this class with the same punishment that is inflicted for the burning of dwellings and other out Houses."
Result: Tabled.
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Repository: Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee
