Posted on 10/10/2015 6:19:58 AM PDT by ProgressingAmerica
VIRGINIAN PETITION
Extracts from the Minutes of the House of Burgesses in Virginia, Wednesday, April 1, 1772.
Most gracious Sovereign,
We, your Majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects, the Burgesses of Virginia, now met in General Assembly, beg leave with all humility to approach your Royal Presence.
The many instances of your Majesty's benevolent intentions and most gracious disposition to promote the prosperity and happiness of your subjects in the colonies, encourage us to look up to the Throne, and implore your Majesty's paternal assistance in averting a calamity of a most alarming nature.
The importation of slaves into the colonies from the coast of Africa hath long been considered as a trade of great inhumanity; and under its encouragement. We have too much reason to fear, will endanger the very existence of your Majesty's American dominions.
We are sensible that some of your Majesty's subjects in Great Britain may reap emolument from this sort of traffic; but when we consider that it greatly retards the settlement of the colonies with more White inhabitants, and may in time have the most destructive influence, we presume to hope that the interest of a few will be disregarded, when placed in competition with the security and happiness of such numbers of your Majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects.
Deeply impressed with these sentiments, we most humbly beseech your Majesty to remove all those restraints on your Majesty's Governors of this colony which inhibit their assenting to such laws as might check so very pernicious a commerce.
Your Majesty's ancient colony and dominion of Virginia hath, at all times, and upon every occasion, been entirely devoted to your Majesty's sacred person and government; and we cannot forgo this opportunity of renewing those assurances of the truest loyalty and warmest affection, which we have so often, with, the greatest sincerity, given to the best of Kings, whose wisdom and goodness we esteem the sorest pledge of the happiness of all his people.
Resolved, nemine contradicente, That the House doth agree with the Committee in the said Address to be presented to his Majesty.Resolved, That an Address be presented to his Excellency the Governor, to desire that he will be pleased to transmit the Address to his Majesty, and to support it in such manner as he shall think most likely to promote the desirable end proposed.
(Petition extract from the Memoirs of Granville Sharp, 1828. Appendix V, see PDF page 436.)
This sure disrupts the narrative.
Yeah, and South Carolina wanted it in or they wouldn’t sign.
The Guardianistas are going to have a meltdown. They think only Americans engaged in slavery.
Fascinating historical tidbit.
Really makes you wonder how different things would be if the colonists decided to just skip the revolution and work an accomodation with the crown instead. It would have saved us 2 wars for certain and probably a third and fourth as well. Slavery would have ended well before it did.
And the key issue: are we actually all that much freer as a result? We have a Bill of Rights that is occasionally followed. And that’s something.
vehemently opposed the stopping of slavery...
If you think this disrupts the narrative read about ‘Anthony Johnson’ on Wiki. In 1655 in the colony of Virginia a court ruled in favor of Mr. Johnson, a free black, who was trying to regain possession of John Casor, an indentured black. It was the first judicial finding that an indentured servant could be held for life as a slave; established in a case brought by a black.
April Fools? :D
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.