An Act prescribing the rules and conduct to be observed with respect to Negroes and other Slaves of this territory, in A General Digest of the Acts of the Legislature of Louisiana, Passed from the Year 1804 to 1827, at 103-04 (1828)
| dc.coverage.spatial | Louisiana [Territory] | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-10-24T00:41:40Z | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-11-12T19:37:56Z | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-03-17T01:57:01Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 1806 | |
| dc.description.abstract | 19: No slave shall, by day or by night, carry any visible or hidden arms, not even with a permission for so doing, and in case any person or persons shall find any slave or slaves, using or carrying such fire arms, or any offensive weapons of any other kind, contrary to the true meaning of this act, he, she or they, lawfully, may seize and carry away such fire arms, or other offensive weapons | |
| dc.description.lawtext | Section 19. No slave shall, by day or by night, carry any visible or hidden arms, not even with a permission for so doing, and in case any person or persons shall find any slave or slaves, using or carrying such fire arms, or any offensive weapons of any other kind, contrary to the true meaning of this act, he, she or they, lawfully, may seize and carry away such fire arms, or other offensive weapons; but before the person or persons, who shall so seize such fire arms can possess the same of right, he, she or they shall go, within forty-eight hours after the said seizure, before the next justice of the peace, and shall declare, upon oath, the manner in which he, she or they have seized the said arms; and if the justice of the peace, upon the oath of such person or persons, or upon any other examination or proof, be satisfied that the said fire arms or other offensive weapons have been seized, pursuant to the true intent and meaning of this act, the said justice of the peace shall declare, by a certificate under his hand and seal, that the said arms are forfeited, and that they have lawfully become the property of the person or persons who has or have seized the same: Provided, that no certificate of the above description shall be delivered by any justice of the peace, until the owner or owners of the said fire arms or other offensive weapons, which shall have been seized as aforesaid, or the overseer or overseers who shall have the said slave or slaves in charge, upon whom the said fire arms or other offensive weapons shall have been seized, as aforesaid, be duly summoned to show cause, (if he, she or they have any,) why the said arms should not be forfeited, or until forty-eight hours shall have elapsed after the citation and oath made before the said justice of the peace: Provided, that the said slave or slaves do not actually carry the arms of his master to............or from his plantation to............with a special permission for that purpose. Section 20. The inhabitants who keep slaves for the purpose of hunting, shall never deliver to the said slaves any fire arms for the purpose of hunting, without a permission by writing, which shall not serve beyond the limits of the plantation of the owners. Section 21. As slaves may declare themselves free, free coloured persons, who carry arms, are expressly directed to carry with them a certificate of a justice of the peace, attesting their freedom, for want of which they shall be subject to the penalty of the nineteenth section of this act. | |
| dc.description.summary | These provisions generally prohibited enslaved people from carrying firearms or other weapons, whether openly or concealed, and allowed others to seize such weapons and obtain legal ownership of them through a judicial process. Limited exceptions existed for slaves transporting a master's arms with specific permission and for hunting, which required written authorization valid only on the owner's plantation. The law also required free people of color who carried arms to possess proof of their free status; otherwise, they could be treated as violating the weapons restrictions applicable to slaves. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://dspace.firearmsresearchcenter.org/id/frc0001/3982 | |
| dc.relation.isreferencedbyGoogle | https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_General_Digest_of_the_Acts_of_the_Legi/oZ9DAAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=fire%20arms | |
| dc.subject | ENSLAVED PERSONS & OTHER MINORITIES | |
| dc.title | An Act prescribing the rules and conduct to be observed with respect to Negroes and other Slaves of this territory, in A General Digest of the Acts of the Legislature of Louisiana, Passed from the Year 1804 to 1827, at 103-04 (1828) |