III. Protection of Free Negroes.
It was a $500 fine to bring into the state a free negro convict and sell him as a slave. Such a person was also subject to an imprisonment for not exceeding six months.[35] Knowingly to steal and sell any free negro was a penitentiary offense and was punishable by not less than five nor more than fifteen years in the state prison.[36]
The children of free negroes were not permitted to remain destitute and suffer. The county courts engaged their services to suitable persons in the best and wisest terms, if their parents did not support them.[37]