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Chapter 17 of Acts of the General Assembly of the State of Virginia (1866)

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In this excerpt from Acts of the General Assembly of the State of Virginia, published in 1866, the General Assembly defines how Virginians are legally classified as "negro" and Indian.

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Chap. 17.—An ACT to amend and re-enact the 9th section of chapter 103 of the Code of Virginia for 1860, defining a Mulatto, providing for the punishment of Offences by Colored Persons, and for the admission of their Evidence in Legal Investigations; and to repeal all Laws in relation to Salves and Slavery, and for other purposes.
Passed February 27, 1866.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That every person having one-fourth or more of negro blood, shall be deemed a colored person, and every person, not a colored person, having one-fourth or more of Indian blood, shall be deemed an Indian.

2. Al laws in respect to crimes and punishments, and in respect to criminal proceedings, applicable to white persons, shall apply in like manner to colored persons and to Indians, unless when it is otherwise specially provided.

3. The following acts and parts of acts are hereby repealed, namely: All acts and parts of act relating to slaves and slavery; chapter one hundred and seven of the Code of eighteen hundred and sixty, relating to free negroes; chapter two hundred of said Code, relating to offences by negroes; chapter two hundred and twelve of said Code, relating to proceedings against negroes; chapter ninety-eight of said Code, relating to patrols; sections twenty-five to forty-seven,

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both inclusive, of chapter one hundred and ninety-two of said Code; sections twenty-six to thirty, both inclusive, and sections thirty-three to thirty-seven, both inclusive, of chapter one hundred and ninety-eight of said Code; the fifth paragraph, as enumerated in section two of chapter two hundred and three of said Code; all acts and parts of acts imposing on negroes the penalty of stripes, where the same penalty is not imposed on white persons; and all other acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act.

4. This act shall be in force from its passage.