Dale's Code (the Lawes Divine, Morall, and Martial, also known as the laws of 1612) is a code enacted in 1612 by the deputy-governor of Virginia, Sir

Thomas Dale Sir Thomas Dale ( 1570 − 19 August 1619) was an English naval commander and deputy-governor of the Virginia Colony in 1611 and from 1614 to 1616. Governor Dale is best remembered for the energy and the extreme rigour of his administration in ...

. The code, among other things, created a rather

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic votin ...

system of

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

for the Colony of Virginia. It established a "single ruling group" that "held tight control of the colony." The word "martial", contained in Dale's Code, referred to the duties of

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

s, while the terms "divine" and "morall" related to

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

and

punishment Punishment, commonly, is the imposition of an undesirable or unpleasant outcome upon a group or individual, meted out by an authority—in contexts ranging from child discipline to criminal law—as a response and deterrent to a particular acti ...

. The code prescribed

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

for any colonist who endangered the life of the colony by theft or other crimes. Dale's Code remained in force until 1618. 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. In the "Calendar of State Papers Colonial, America and West Indies: Volume 1, 1574-1660," the following unattributed commentary on the said code is present: * ''On'' 12 ''May following''

611 __NOTOC__ Year 611 (Roman numerals, DCXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 611 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini ...

''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.''

References

External links

Dale's Code
at the

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

Simplified version of Dale's Code
at the Jamestown Settlement & Yorktown Victory Center James River (Virginia) 1612 in law {{US-law-stub