THIRTY-NINTH CONGRESS. SESS. IL CH. 187, 188. 1867. March 2, 1867. CHAP. CLXXXVII. - An Act to abolish and forever prohibit the System of Peonage in the Territory of New Mexico and other Parts of the United States. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the holding of any person to service or labor under the system known as peonage is hereby declared and abolished. to be unlawful, and the same is hereby abolished and forever prohibited in the Territory of New Mexico, or in any other Territory or State of the United States; and all acts, laws, resolutions, orders, regulations, or usages of the Territory of New Mexico, or of any other Territory or State of the United States, which have heretofore established, maintained, or enforced, or by virtue of which any attempt shall hereafter be made to establish, maintain, or enforce, directly or indirectly, the voluntary or involuntary service or labor of any persons as peons, in liquidation of any debt or obligation, or otherwise, be, and the same are hereby, declared null and void; and any person or persons who shall hold, arrest, or return, or person in peon- cause to be held, arrested, or returned, or in any manner aid in the arrest or return of any person or persons to a condition of peonage, shall, upon conviction, be punished by fine not less than one thousand nor more than five thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not less than one nor more than five years, or both, at the discretion of the court. [hat tip @Cortinas Clan] #PeonageAct  [https://www.loc.gov/law/help/statutes-at-large/39th-congress/session-2/c39s2ch187.pdf]

Posted by MalikaDulce at 2020-10-01 17:59:06 UTC