11685603https://dlas.uncg.edu/petitions/petition/11685603VirginiaHancockCounty2721856Archivesreferred to Committee for Courts of Justice0010Library of Virginia, Richmond, VirginiaOne hundred three residents of Hancock County ask that "the Laws of Virginia may be modified” in order “to protect the parental relation [of slaves], forbidding the separation of parents and young children, at the will of any man or set of men, under criminal penalties”; to “recognise and secure the marital relation to colored persons; forbidding the disregard of the sacred relation of husband and wife by any man amongst his own slaves, and protecting the same between slaves of different families”; and “to allow persons so disposed to teach persons of color to read, so as to assist their moral and mental elevation."Education and literacy (enslaved)Education and literacy (FPOC)Church, right to attendWhite affection (enslaved family)