The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 40, July 1936 - April, 1937 Page: 194
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
by Congress, as no free Negro who had immigrated subsequent
to that date had ever received the permission of Congress to re-
main. It was evidently approved by the Senate, Tucker's petition
was rejected, and the committee began drawing up the legislation
it had recommended.
The formulation of new restrictive measures did not, however,
interfere with the granting of special privileges to particular
Negroes. An act permitting Peter, the emancipated slave of Wiley
Martin, to remain in Texas became law on December 20, 1839;
Thomas McKinney's emancipated slave, Cary, and the Negro boy,
Albert Mitchell, were given permission to remain in the following
month. These three bills are treated more fully in the chapter
on Manumissions.
On December 4, 1839, Robertson presented to the House a peti-
tion of sundry citizens of the county of Bastrop praying Congress
to pass an act granting James Young permission to remain in
Texas.7" The petition was first referred to the committee on
judiciary, which, engaged in drawing up legislation for the expul-
sion of all Negroes, decided that a plea for exception more properly
belonged to the committee on the state of the Republic. That
committee reported favorably upon the petition and recommended
that the desired legislation be passed. The report was accepted
but laid on the table on December 11, 1839. On January 10, 1840,
the Senate committee on judiciary reported favorably upon three
bills for the relief of Cary, Albert Mitchell and James Young,
and recommended the passage of acts enabling them to remain in
Texas. The acts for Cary and Albert Mitchell were ultimately
passed, as we have seen, but Young's bill was lost somewhere in
the parliamentary machine.76 The action of Congress in refusing
the petition of James Young was in line with previous policy,
but the consent to the residence of manumitted slaves was a new
departure. Strangely enough, this liberal tendency in creating
more free Negroes was the work of the same Congress, at the same
time, planning the most restrictive measures enacted during the
ten years of the Republic. As a further contradiction of policy,
an initial concession was made to the claims of free Negroes to
their share in the public domain.
"This petition has not been found. House Journal, Fourth Session, 121.
"7Benate Journal, Fourth Congress, 228-229.194
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 40, July 1936 - April, 1937, periodical, 1937; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101099/m1/216/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.