Three hundred ninety-six petitioners feel obligated to petition the legislature about the evils of slavery. They decry that the institution is "not only a moral, but a political evil." They further contend that slavery "is an outragious violation, and an odious degradation of human nature; tending to weaken the bonds of Society, discourage trades and manufactures, endanger the peace, and obstruct the prosperity of the Country." While the petitioners believe that social chaos would result from immediate emancipation, they "humbly propose, and pray, that a Law may pass declaring the Children of Slaves now born, or to be born after the passing of such Act, to be free" and "to enjoy their Instruction to Read &C." They also request that slaveholders be restrained "from inhuman treatment of those who may remain in Bondage."
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Repository: Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
