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Senate Concurrent Resolution

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A concurrent resolution expressing profound regret for the

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involuntary servitude of Africans and calling for

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reconciliation among all Floridians.

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     WHEREAS, African slavery was sanctioned and enforced through

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laws enacted by Florida's first Territorial Legislative Council

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in 1822, and

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     WHEREAS, the Council and its successors did, over four

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decades, construct a legal framework that perpetuated African

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slavery in one of its most brutal and dehumanizing forms, and

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     WHEREAS, this legal framework included such lawful

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punishments as the following: "That any negro or other slave duly

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convicted of robbery...or burglary shall suffer death or have his

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or her ears nailed to posts and there stand for one hour and

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receive 30 lashes on his or her bare back at the discretion of

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the court," and

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     WHEREAS, in 1827, free Africans were denied the right to

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vote and in later years were, by law, so repressed, restricted,

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and harassed that by 1850 most had been driven from Florida, and

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     WHEREAS, African slavery was entrenched within the

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plantation culture of Middle Florida to such a degree that by the

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year 1860, 73 percent of the total population of Leon County were

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slaves, and

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     WHEREAS, there were early political leaders in Florida who

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advocated a vigorous defense of slavery, and

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     WHEREAS, the Florida Legislature has identified grave

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injustices inflicted upon African slaves and freemen by the

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state, and

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     WHEREAS, even though the laws permitting such injustices

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have been repealed, it is important that the Legislature express

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profound regret for the shameful chapter in this state's history

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and, in so doing, promote healing and reconciliation among all

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Floridians, NOW, THEREFORE,

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Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida, the House

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of Representatives Concurring:

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     That the Legislature expresses its profound regret for

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Florida's role in sanctioning and perpetuating involuntary

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servitude upon generations of African slaves.

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     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature calls for

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healing and reconciliation among all residents of the state.