Commonwealth causes are criminal court cases filed by the state government that consist primarily of warrants, summons, subpoenas, indictments, recognizances, and verdicts handed down by juries and other legal authorities in order to prosecute individuals who violated the penal code.

This data includes Commonwealth causes found in Virginia Untold and so involve African-Americans in the antebellum period, either free or enslaved.
Common types of cases include those against enslavers who permitted enslaved individuals to go at large without permission, as well as those involving free African Americans accused of remaining in the Commonwealth more than one year following emancipation.

In 1806, the General Assembly passed a law stating that all emancipated individuals freed after May 1, 1806, were required to leave the Commonwealth.
Those who remained in the Commonwealth more than a year could be put on trial by the state, and if found guilty, would forfeit their right to freedom and be sold with the proceeds from the sale going to the state treasury.

Descriptions included in this dataset are drawn directly from the original documents and may contain language which is now deemed offensive.