Dale's_Code
Dale's Code
Legal system of colonial Virginia
Dale's Code (the Lawes Divine, Morall, and Martiall[note 1], also known as "Dale's Laws" or the "laws of 1612") is a governing document enacted in 1612 by the Deputy Governor of Virginia Thomas Dale.[2] The code, among other things, created a rather authoritarian system of government for the Colony of Virginia.[3] It established a "single ruling group" that "held tight control of the colony." The word "martial", contained in Dale's Code, refers to the duties of soldiers, while the terms "divine" and "morall" relate to crime and punishment. The code prescribed capital punishment for any colonist who endangered the life of the colony by theft or other crimes.[4]
Dale's Code remained in force until c. 1618.[5] The Virginia General Assembly replaced the system. Four centuries later, one scholar came up with a theory that it strongly influenced the justice system for decades afterwards, particularly in the governing and punishment of slaves.[6] In the "Calendar of State Papers Colonial, America and West Indies: Volume 1, 1574-1660," the following unattributed commentary on the code is present:
On 12 May following [1611] arrived Sir Thos. Dale, with three ships, 300 persons, and provisions "for the most part, such as hogs refused to eat." He immediately published most tyrannous and cruel laws sent over by Sir Thos. Smythe.
— "America and West Indies: July 1624 | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-06-28.