By South Carolina law, an Indian slave was given a chance to prove his right to freedom. According to the act of 1712, any negro, mulatto, mustee or Indian slave, claiming freedom for certain reasons specified in the act, had the right to have his case heard and determined by governor and council.[1073] The act was repeated in 1722.[1074] By the terms of the acts of 1735[1075] and 1740,[1076] any slave might apply to the justices of the Court of Common Pleas by petition or motion. The court would then appoint a guardian for “said negro or Indian, mulatto or mestizo”; and, after hearing evidence, would render decision. The alleged owner might defend himself, and if the plaintiff were declared free, the jury might award damages to the defendant. If the defendant should win the case, the court might inflict such corporal punishment on the plaintiff as it should see fit, not extending to danger to life or limb. The burden of proof was to lie with the plaintiff, and any such negro, Indian, etc., was to be considered a slave until the contrary was proved. Other courts of the province besides the one mentioned, were to have similar jurisdiction in the matter. Certain of the colonies specified how slaves might be emancipated. In 1723, Virginia declared that no negro, mulatto or Indian slave was to be set free upon any pretense whatever except for some meritorious service, to be adjudged and allowed by the governor and council for the time being, and a license therefor first obtained. If any slave should be set free by his owner in any other way, it was declared lawful for the churchwardens of the parish wherein such slave should reside for the space of one month following his being freed, to take up and sell the said negro, mulatto or Indian as a slave at the next court held for the county.[1077] North Carolina, similarly, in 1741, provided that no slave was to be freed except for meritorious service, to be adjudged and allowed by license of the county court. If any owner should free his slave in any other way, the church wardens of the parish wherein such “negro, mulatto or Indian” should be found at the expiration of six months after the manumission, were authorized and required to sell the said negro, mulatto or Indian as a slave at the next session of the county court.[1078] The colonial governments themselves granted freedom to Indian slaves on special occasions. By an act passed in 1660, Virginia provided that an Indian sold by another Indian, or an Indian who spoke the English language and who might desire baptism, should be given his or her freedom.[1079] In 1675, also, the Massachusetts general court freed the sister of an Indian whose friendship it wished to assure. The alleged owner of the slave being able to prove his title, the court ordered that £5 be paid for the slave’s liberty.[1080]