Officers of the Society of Vigilance and other residents of Edgefield District request "a revision of the patroll laws." They "think that a ticket given to a slave ought to state where he is going as well as how long to be absent and that a pass and repass ... ought not to be lawful." They "are satisfyed that negroes having tickets to pass and repass such a length of time without stating where they are going are in the habits of visiting grog shops and other places where they would not be willing to be seen by their owners." They point out, however, that the slave by "having a pass & repass cannot be lawfully whipped by the patroll." The petitioners submit “to your better judgement to say whether any alteration shall or shall not be made in the above named law.”
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Repository: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina
