Twenty-seven citizens of Maury County ask for more efficient laws concerning slave patrols. They propose that persons be appointed to "serve as Patroles for one year and take an oath of office" and be "allowed a reasonable compensation for their services to be paid by a Tax on slaves levied for that purpose." They further suggest that said patroller "receive the sum of fifty cents for every slave they shall lawfully correct or carry ... to the owner to be paid by the owner of said slave.” The petitioners believe this plan "would secure the tranquility of the Country and promote the welfare both of masters and servants." They further urge, "in consequence of the late disturbances in Virginia and North Carolina," that laws be immediately passed "to prevent slaves from being brought into [Tennessee] from any place where an insurrectionary spirit has prevailed."
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Repository: Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee
