Twenty-nine petitioners argue that slave owners should be permitted to free their slaves on "terms which will not involve them, nor their estates, for their maintenance." They further propose the propriety of passing a law that would declare that "all the descendants of slaves, which may be born after the passing of the law, shall be free at some age which your honourable body ... may agree upon." The petitioners also purport the importance of teaching said term slaves "some occupation by which they may get an honest living; and teach them at least to read the holy scriptures; & give them reasonable previlege of attending meetings for divine worship."
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Repository: Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee
