Cover of Forced Labor Document

Virginia enacted legislation during the Civil War to provide for the enrollment and employment off free negroes in the public service. The requisitions included in this collection list the names of all able-bodied free African American men between the ages of 18 and 50 found in a locality. These men were then enrolled to work for the Confederacy usually by assisting in the construction of fortifications and other defense structures around the commonwealth. p.2 of document Franklin County (Va.) Free Negro and Slave Records, 1837-1864 ck creator