We have so long looked upon New Jersey as prominent among what were
called the "free States" of the Union, that it now seems strange when we
consider, that among the first of the institutions established upon its
soil by the early settlers, was the system of slavery. This was the case
not only in New Jersey, but in all the American Colonies. The settlers
of New England, as well as those of the Southern Colonies, used negro
slaves as laborers on their farms; and the trade in native Africans was
a very important branch of industry.
The Duke of York, to whom his brother, Charles II., had made a grant of
extensive American possessions, was at the head of the African Company,
formed for the purpose of bringing slaves from Africa, and selling them.
The Dutch were then the great rivals of the English in this trade; and
the Duke of York was very glad to possess New Jersey and the rest of his
grant, for then he could not only oust the Dutch from the territory, but
could possess himself of this very desirable and profitable slave
market.
But it was not only the English and Dutch who brought negro slaves to
America, for it is stated that the earliest Swedish settlers brought
slaves with them as laborers. So we may say that slavery and freedom
were planted together in this country of ours; one to be pulled up
afterward like a weed, the other to be left to grow and flourish.
When Berkeley and Carteret acquired authority over New Jersey, they did
everything that they could to induce settlers to come to the new
country; and, as they were anxious to have the lands opened up and
cultivated as rapidly as possible, they encouraged immigrants to bring
as many slaves as they could afford. They offered one hundred and fifty
acres to every one who would settle, and another one hundred and fifty
acres for every full-grown able-bodied male slave, and seventy-five
acres each for those not grown up. Afterwards, when slaves became more
numerous, the bounties given on their account were diminished, and in
course of time they ceased altogether.
A great many slaves must have been brought direct from Africa to New
Jersey, for at Perth Amboy there was established what was then called a
barracks; and in this, negroes who had been brought in the slave ships
were confined until they were sold and sent out into the country.
Not only were there negro slaves in the State, but there were also
Indians who had been enslaved, and were regularly sold and bought. How
these red men happened to be slaves, we do not certainly know; but we
may be very sure that the whites did not make war upon Indian tribes,
and capture prisoners, for the purpose of making slaves of them. It is
far more likely, that, when one tribe of Indians made war upon another,
the conquerors found it a very profitable thing to sell their prisoners
to the whites. There is no reason to suppose, however, that the natives
made war on purpose to capture and sell their fellow-countrymen, as was
the case in Africa.
The early records, however, prove that there were Indian slaves. When
the House of Representatives for the Province met at Burlington in 1704,
an act was brought before that body for the regulating of Indian and
negro slaves.
Negroes were then considered to be such legitimate articles of
merchandise, that English sovereigns thought it very necessary to see to
it that their loyal settlers were sufficiently supplied with slaves, and
at prices not too high. When Queen Anne sent out Lord Cornbury as
governor of the Province, she recommended the Royal African Company to
the especial attention of the governor, that New Jersey might have a
constant and sufficient supply of merchantable negroes at moderate rates
in money or commodities. In consequence of the fostering care of the
Proprietors and the English sovereigns, slaves rapidly increased in New
Jersey.
The English themselves were not at all averse to the ownership of a good
serviceable slave; and about the middle of the eighteenth century a
young gentleman in England wrote to his father in New Jersey, begging
that he might "be favored with a young negro boy to present to the
brother of the then Duke of Grafton, to whom he was under obligations,
as 'a present of that kind would be very acceptable.'"
Of course, the existence of slavery made the state of society in New
Jersey and the other Colonies very different from what it is now; and
this difference is strongly shown by the advertisements of runaway
negroes, which we can find in some old newspapers. It seems very strange
to see in a Boston paper of one hundred years ago a picture of a black
man running away with a bag over his shoulder, and under the picture the
statement of the reward which would be given for his capture; and in
the New Jersey papers there were frequent advertisements of runaway
slaves and of negroes for sale. One of these, published in Burlington
two years after the Colony had declared itself free and independent,
reads as follows:--
"TO BE SOLD--For no fault--but a saucy tongue for which he is now
in Burlington jail--A negro man about 39 years of age. He is a
compleat farmer, honest and sober. For further particulars enquire
of the subscriber in Evesham, Burlington Co. Feb. 4, 1778."
When Washington was in Morristown in 1777, one of his aids wrote a
letter to a friend in Elizabethtown, which states,--
The General will esteem it as a singular favor if you can apprehend
a mulatto girl, servant and slave of Mrs. Washington, who eloped
from this place yesterday, with what design cannot be conjectured,
though as she may intend to the enemy and pass your way I trouble
you with the description: her name is Charlotte but in all
probability will change it, yet may be discovered by question. She
is light complected, about thirteen years of age, pert, dressed in
brown cloth wescoat and petticoat. Your falling upon some method of
recovering her should she be near you will accommodate Mrs.
Washington and lay her under great obligations to you being the
only female servant she brought from home and intending to be off
to-day had she not been missing. A gentle reward will be given to
any soldier or other who shall take her up.