The "City Council of Charleston," aware of the events of the late conspiracy to raise insurrection among a portion of the black population, is confident that the legislature "will adopt to the Crisis those measures which are required for the public safety and its future tranquility and prosperity." To that end, the City Council offers several suggestions for the state's security, three of which are: that non-native free people of color who "have come within its limits within ten years should be compelled to leave the State"; that slaves and free people of color who visit "any of the non slave holding states" be prevented from returning to South Carolina"; and that "the number of male slaves be greatly diminished within the Lines," particularly those skilled craftsmen "who hire themselves out or are hired by their owners." In addition, the petitioners support the allocation of land and men to erect a building and bolster a militia to protect the populace. They also propose that "those slaves and free persons of Color who by their fidelity or attachment to the best interest of State [who] made important disclosures should be liberally remunerated."
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Repository: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina
