Slaves Petitions, Mississippi, 1824

Jefferson County. The son of a white man by a woman of mixed race, Andrew Barland married into “a respectable white family.” He states that he was always received and treated as a white man. He had served as a juror, given testimony in court, voted, and “enjoyed all the privileges of a free white Citizen.” A controversy arose when Joseph Hawk called into question whether Barland should testify because Barland was a man of color. Barland writes to the legislature that “his education, his habits, his principles, and his society are all identified with your views.” Barland notes that he owns slaves and therefore “can know no other interest than that which is common to the white population.” He asks, therefore, that the state “extend to your petitioner such privileges as his countrymen may think him worthy to possess.”