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Official Records - Virginia Laws 1600-1699

An Act to to Discourage English Running Away with Negroes, 1660/1.
In 1660 an act was passed aimed at inhibiting white servants and African slaves from running away together.

Act Concerning Runaways, 1661/2
The following year, the House of Burgesses passed another act specifying punishments for persons who aided runaway slaves and servants.

"An act for the apprehension and suppression of runawayes, negroes and slaves," 1672.
In 1672, the law dealing with runaways was tightened.

An act for suppressing outlying slaves, 1691.
A major concern of the colony's rulers was the presence of "outlying" slaves: slaves who had escaped permanently and lived as outlaws on the fringes of settlement.