December 1809
Norfolk Black craftsmen petition for the right to prove unpaid accounts
Norfolk, Virginia
Twelve free Black craftsmen petitioned Governor John Tyler about their inability to prove accounts against white customers in court. They reported that some customers paid their debts, while others exploited the exclusion of Black sworn testimony to avoid payment. The archival catalog records the petition as rejected.
Dates preserve the source’s precision. This entry is part of a selected historical record; its qualifications and sources are retained below.
Context / qualification
The UNCG record dates the file December 7–15, 1809 and includes Tyler’s December 7 letter to the Speaker of the House of Delegates. This entry uses month-level precision and the catalog’s abstract; the manuscript and legislative proceedings have not been inspected. This is a strong match for Zinn’s undated Norfolk passage, not a Revolutionary War petition or a successful grant of testimony rights.
Sources
- Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States, chapter 5, p. 88; supplied print pages, edition/year unidentified
- UNCG, Race and Slavery Petitions, #11680914; Library of Virginia legislative petitions, three petition pages and two related pages ↗
- UNCG, named petitioners in #11680914; twelve free persons of color ↗