CONTENT WARNING
Materials in the Library of Virginia’s collections contain historical terms, phrases, and images that are offensive to modern readers. These include demeaning and dehumanizing references to race, ethnicity, and nationality; enslaved or free status; physical and mental ability; and gender and sexual orientation.
Context
Commonwealth causes are criminal cases filed by a county's prosecuting attorney (commonwealth's attorney) against individuals who violate Virginia law. Prior to the abolition of slavery in Virginia in 1865, criminal offenders and victims included both free and enslaved persons. Punishment was often based on race and social status, with enslaved and free African Americans receiving harsher punishments than white offenders. Free Black men and women could be sold into slavery as punishment for a crime, which was never the case for white men or women convicted of a crime.
In this commonwealth cause, the Accomack County court summoned a free Black woman named Phillis (no surname recorded) to face the charge that she had remained in Virginia for more than a year after she had been emancipated. An 1806 law passed by Virginia's General Assembly required people who had been freed from slavery after that date to leave the state within twelve months or face re-enslavement. The law was one of several intended to address concerns of white Virginians who feared that the presence of too many free Black people would incite enslaved men and women to violence.
Phillis had been enslaved by a woman named Mary Outten, who had freed Phillis and several other enslaved people at the time of her death on October 28, 1822. Phillis was one of more than forty other freed men and women who lived in Accomack County who were summoned to the county court between 1823 and 1825 after a grand jury presented an indictment that allowing "free negroes" to remain in the county in spite of the 1806 law was "a public evil." A grand jury presented (or indicted) Phillis on March 29, 1824, for remaining in Virginia. It is not clear whether Phillis ever appeared in court. In April 1825 the county discontinued the prosecution against Phillis and the other free men and women who had been criminally charged. What happened to her afterwards is not known.
Citation: Selected pages from Phillis [by Outten], 1824, and Phillis Outten, 1824, Commonwealth Causes, Accomack County Commonwealth Causes, 1815–1863, Library of Virginia.
Vocabulary
Summons – issued by a court to call a suspected person, witness, or victim to appear in court to provide evidence
Indictment – official, written description of the crime that an accused individual is suspected of committing, which is approved by a grand jury and presented to a court in an order also known as “presentments.”
In this commonwealth cause, the Accomack County court summoned a free Black woman named Phillis (no surname recorded) to face the charge that she had remained in Virginia for more than a year after she had been emancipated. An 1806 law passed by Virginia's General Assembly required people who had been freed from slavery after that date to leave the state within twelve months or face re-enslavement. The law was one of several intended to address concerns of white Virginians who feared that the presence of too many free Black people would incite enslaved men and women to violence.
Phillis had been enslaved by a woman named Mary Outten, who had freed Phillis and several other enslaved people at the time of her death on October 28, 1822. Phillis was one of more than forty other freed men and women who lived in Accomack County who were summoned to the county court between 1823 and 1825 after a grand jury presented an indictment that allowing "free negroes" to remain in the county in spite of the 1806 law was "a public evil." A grand jury presented (or indicted) Phillis on March 29, 1824, for remaining in Virginia. It is not clear whether Phillis ever appeared in court. In April 1825 the county discontinued the prosecution against Phillis and the other free men and women who had been criminally charged. What happened to her afterwards is not known.
Citation: Selected pages from Phillis [by Outten], 1824, and Phillis Outten, 1824, Commonwealth Causes, Accomack County Commonwealth Causes, 1815–1863, Library of Virginia.
Vocabulary
Summons – issued by a court to call a suspected person, witness, or victim to appear in court to provide evidence
Indictment – official, written description of the crime that an accused individual is suspected of committing, which is approved by a grand jury and presented to a court in an order also known as “presentments.”
Standards
VUS.1, VUS.2
Suggested Questions
Preview Activity
Scan It: Scan the documents to look for phrases or words that stand out. What do they tell you about the documents?
Post-Activities
Be the Journalist: You are a journalist interviewing Phillis. What are three questions you would ask her?
Think About It: Why might Virginia law have required freed people to leave the state? How could this law have affected emancipated people and their families, members of whom might remain in slavery?
Scan It: Scan the documents to look for phrases or words that stand out. What do they tell you about the documents?
Post-Activities
Be the Journalist: You are a journalist interviewing Phillis. What are three questions you would ask her?
Think About It: Why might Virginia law have required freed people to leave the state? How could this law have affected emancipated people and their families, members of whom might remain in slavery?