Freedom suits are lawsuits initiated by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom. This collection includes petitions, records of suits, depositions, affidavits, and wills. They record enslaved peoples’ arguments for freedom, how the individual came to be enslaved, ancestry of the enslaved person, and relationships between enslaved individuals and enslavers. Enslaved men and women sued for emancipation in freedom suits based on the following: they were descendant(s) of a free woman, sometimes either a white or Native American woman; failure of enslaver(s) to abide by the 1778 slave nonimportation act (see Certificates of Importation); or claimed to have been freed by their enslaver(s) by deed of emancipation or last will and testament. Petitioners suing for their freedom on the grounds they had a free mother applied the 1662 law passed by the General Assembly stating that “all children born in this country, shall be held bond or free only according to the condition of the mother.

The data in this collection is drawn directly from the historical documents and may contain language that is now deemed offensive.

Indentures of apprenticeship within Virginia Untold are composed of agreements binding out free Black and multiracial individuals, often children, to learn a particular trade or craft. These indentures may be written agreements between the family of the apprentice and those responsible for the indentured. They typically contain the name of the person or institution binding out, the person to whom bound, the name of the person being indentured, the length of the apprenticeship, and the responsibilities of the person taking on the indenture.

In 1765, the General Assembly established that illegitimate children of “woman servants, Negroes, white women by Negroes were to be bound out” until the age of 21 for males and 18 for females. In 1792, the General Assembly transferred this responsibility to the Overseers of the Poor. White children were to be taught various skills including reading, writing, and arithmetic. In 1805, the General Assembly amended the previous act to no longer require the master of “black or mulatto orphans” to teach reading, writing, or arithmetic, with the intent that this would prevent Black children from learning these skills. There are documented cases of indenture holders treating Black apprentices cruelly, or not releasing apprentices at the end of their indenture. White authorities also used their power to apprentice Black children without the permission of their families. Free Black men and women who had petitioned to be re-enslaved (see also Petitions for Re-Enslavement) were known to use this tool as a way of preserving the integrity of their families. Some parents bound out their children to a chosen master for a finite period of time, hopefully ensuring that the children would not be split up and remain free.

The data in this collection is drawn directly from the historical documents and may contain language that is now deemed offensive.

Judgments contain civil suits that relate mainly to recovering debt owed to the plaintiff by the defendant. Should the defendant not have funds to repay the debt, the court ordered their property (including enslaved people) to be seized and sold to repay the debt owed to the plaintiff. Judgments also contain suits brought by enslaved people seeking to gain their freedom. See also Freedom Suits.


Descriptions included in this dataset are drawn directly from the original documents and may contain language which is now deemed offensive.

Petitions to the General Assembly were the primary catalyst for legislation in the commonwealth from 1776 until 1865. Public improvements, military claims, divorce, manumission of enslaved people, petitions for free Black men and women to remain in the commonwealth, division of counties, incorporation of towns, religious freedom, and taxation were just some of the concerns expressed in these petitions. The petitions often contain hundreds of signatures and are a useful tool in genealogical research. Frequently, the petitions contain supplementary support documents useful in research, including maps, wills, naturalizations, deeds, resolutions, affidavits, judgments, and other items.

The data in this collection is drawn directly from the historical documents and may contain language that is now deemed offensive.

This collection contains petitions of free Black individuals choosing to be re-enslaved. An act passed by the Virginia General Assembly in 1806 required formerly enslaved people to leave the commonwealth within twelve months of being granted their freedom. Individuals were forced to leave behind family, friends, and community that remained enslaved. In addition, many emancipated people did not have the financial means or social support to move to a free state. One option to preserve family and relationships was to return to slavery. In 1856, the Virginia legislature passed an act allowing free Black individuals who desired to remain in the commonwealth to petition for re-­enslavement. Only a small number of free Black Virginians petitioned the courts to re-enslave themselves to an enslaver of choice, and an even smaller percentage succeeded. Many petitioners chose enslavers they knew well or who owned a spouse or family member. These petitions include the petitioner’s name, previous enslaver, means of emancipation, and new desired enslaver.

The data in this collection is drawn directly from the historical documents and may contain language that is now deemed offensive.

Sometimes referred to as “Applications to Remain”, these records are applications that formerly enslaved individuals submitted to state and local courts for permission to remain in Virginia with their free status. An early 1691 law required a formerly enslaved person to relocate outside the commonwealth within six months of emancipation. In 1782, Virginia law allowed enslavers to emancipate their enslaved people “by last will and testament or other instrument in writing sealed and witnessed to emancipate and set free his slave or slaves.” Realizing that many enslavers were taking advantage of this, the Virginia General Assembly reacted by trying to suppress the growing number of free Black and multiracial people in the commonwealth. They passed a law stating that all formerly enslaved people freed after May 1, 1806 who remained in Virginia more than twelve months could be put on trial by the state. After 1831, if these people were found guilty, they could be re-enslaved and sold by state officials. The proceeds from the sale went to the state treasury, and often, records of those sales can be found in the Public Claims records from the Auditor of Public Accounts. The act required individuals who wished to remain in the commonwealth to petition the state legislature. Beginning in 1837, formerly enslaved individuals could petition the local courts directly for permission. The law required them to place notice on the courthouse door for two months before a hearing.

The documents in these cases will include: the name(s) of the petitioner(s), the circumstances of free status, and a request to remain in the county. Application packets might also include supporting documents such as the formerly enslaved person’s register (for more, see Free Black Registrations), or other evidence for emancipation such as a copy of a will or deed of emancipation. As with the case of obtaining a free Black registration, individuals needed to prove that they had in fact been emancipated. Free Black men and women also relied on their reputation in the local communities and understood the weight of white individuals’ good words in gaining and retaining free status. Applications may also include witness statements, known as affidavits, with signatures and names of white citizens testifying to the free status and character of the petitioner.

The data in this collection is drawn directly from the historical documents and may contain language that is now deemed offensive.

Localities and individuals submitted public claims to the Auditor of Public Accounts to obtain payment for services rendered to the state. The Auditor of Public Accounts was the chief auditor and accountant of the General Assembly Auditing Committee, and functioned much like the state treasurer. They were responsible for ensuring proper payments to localities and that those payments were issued in accordance with established rules and procedures. The public claims found in Virginia Untold largely document years before the Civil War. The collection contains affidavits, bonds, correspondence, local court records, death warrants, estate files, powers of attorney, receipts, sheriff certificates, and valuations of enslaved, free Black, and multiracial people convicted for capital crimes and sentenced to be executed or transported from the United States. The state established procedures to compensate enslavers for their financial loss when enslaved people ran away or were imprisoned or executed. Some condemned enslaved people were transported beyond the state's boundaries to Africa. The American Colonization Society chartered ships to transport free Black Americans and condemned enslaved people to Liberia.

The data in this collection is drawn directly from the historical documents and may contain language that is now deemed offensive.

The records found in this collection include requisition lists filed in local courts and payroll records of the Virginia Engineer Department. Information found in these records include names of enslaved and free Black people, locality of origin, occupation, location of fortification, names of enslavers, and monetary value of enslaved people. Virginia enacted legislation as early as July 1, 1861 during the Civil War to requisition enslaved and free Black people to work on military fortifications and other defensive works around the commonwealth. From 1862 to 1863, at the request of the president of the Confederate States, the General Assembly passed three more laws that requisitioned enslaved laborers to work on fortifications and other works of the defense. Each county and city were given a certain number of enslaved laborers that had to be provided to the government under the requisition act. Enslaved people requisitioned for service did not have a choice. In many cases, the alternative was severe punishment or to be hanged.

Descriptions included in this dataset are drawn directly from the original documents and may contain language which is now deemed offensive.

A “runaway slave record,” or as it is officially titled, “Runaway and Escaped Slaves Records, 1794, 1806-1863,” include accounts, correspondence, receipts, and reports concerning expenses incurred by localities related to the capture of enslaved people attempting to escape bondage to pursue freedom. The collection also includes records with information related to enslaved people from multiple localities who escaped to United States military forces during the Civil War. While many independent businesses bought and sold human beings, local and state governments such as the state of Virginia also participated in and profited from human trafficking. Localities were reimbursed for the expenses of confining, feeding, and selling of self-emancipated people, and likewise, the state established procedures to compensate enslavers for their financial loss when enslaved people ran away or were imprisoned or executed. If a person was captured and their enslaver could not be identified, they became the property of the state and were sold. The proceeds from these sales went to the state treasury, and often, records of those sales can be found in the Public Claims records from the Auditor of Public Accounts. The net proceeds were deposited into the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Literary Fund for the public education of poor white children.

The data in this collection is drawn directly from the historical documents and may contain language that is now deemed offensive.