THE COLONY OF NEW JERSEY.
1664-1775.
NEW JERSEY PASSES INTO THE HANDS OF THE ENGLISH.--POLITICAL
POWERS CONVEYED TO BERKELEY AND CARTERET.--LEGISLATION ON
THE SUBJECT OF SLAVERY DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.--THE
COLONY DIVIDED INTO EAST AND WEST JERSEY--SEPARATE
GOVERNMENTS.--AN ACT CONCERNING SLAVERY BY THE LEGISLATURE
OF EAST JERSEY.--GENERAL APPREHENSION RESPECTING THE RISING
OF NEGRO AND INDIAN SLAVES.--EAST AND WEST JERSEY SURRENDER
THEIR RIGHTS OF GOVERNMENT TO THE QUEEN.--AN ACT FOR
REGULATING THE CONDUCT OF SLAVES.--IMPOST-TAX OF TEN POUNDS
LEVIED UPON EACH NEGRO IMPORTED INTO THE COLONY.--THE
GENERAL COURT PASSES A LAW RECREATING THE TRIAL OF
SLAVES.--NEGROES RULED OUT OF THE MILITIA ESTABLISHMENT UPON
CONDITION.--POPULATION OF THE JERSEYS IN 1738 AND 1745.
The colony of New Jersey passed into the control of the English in
1664; and the first grant of political powers, upon which the
government was erected, was conveyed by the Duke of York to Berkeley
and Carteret during the same year. In the "Proprietary Articles of
Concession," the words _servants, slaves, and Christian servants_
occur. It was the intention of the colonists to draw a distinction
between "_servants for a term of years_," and "_servants for life_,"
between white servants and black slaves, between Christians and
pagans.
When slavery was introduced into Jersey is not known.[475] There is no
doubt but that it made its appearance there almost as early as in New
Netherlands. The Dutch, the Quakers, and the English held slaves. But
the system was milder here than in any of the other colonies. The
Negroes were scattered among the families of the whites, and were
treated with great humanity. Legislation on the subject of slavery did
not begin until the middle of the eighteenth century, and it was not
severe. Before this time, say three-quarters of a century, a few Acts
had been passed calculated to protect the slave element from the sin
of intoxication. In 1675 an Act passed, imposing fines and punishments
upon any white person who should transport, harbor, or entertain
"apprentices, servants, or slaves." It was perfectly natural that the
Negroes should be of a nomadic disposition. They had no homes, no
wives, no children,--nothing to attach them to a locality. Those who
resided near the seacoast watched, with unflagging interest, the
coming and going of the mysterious white-winged vessels. They hung
upon the storied lips of every fugitive, and dreamed of lands afar
where they might find that liberty for which their souls thirsted as
the hart for the water-brook. Far from their native country, without
the blessings of the Church, or the warmth of substantial friendship,
they fell into a listless condition, a somnolence that led them to
stagger against some of the regulations of the Province. Their
wandering was not inspired by any subjective, inherent, generic evil:
it was but the tossing of a weary, distressed mind under the dreadful
influences of a hateful dream. And what little there is in the early
records of the colony of New Jersey is at once a compliment to the
humanity of the master, and the docility of the slave.
In 1676 the colony was divided into East and West Jersey, with
separate governments. The laws of East Jersey, promulgated in 1682,
contained laws prohibiting the entertaining of fugitive servants, or
trading with Negroes. The law respecting fugitive servants was
intended to destroy the hopes of runaways in the entertainment they so
frequently obtained at the hands of benevolent Quakers and other
enemies of "indenture" and slavery. The law-makers acted upon the
presumption, that as the Negro had no property, did not own himself,
he could not sell any article of his own. All slaves who attempted to
dispose of any article were regarded with suspicion. The law made it a
misdemeanor for a free person to purchase any thing from a slave, and
hence cut off a source of revenue to the more industrious slaves, who
by their frugality often prepared something for sale.
In 1694 "_an Act concerning slaves_" was passed by the Legislature of
East Jersey. It provided, among other things, for the trial of
"_negroes and other slaves, for felonies punishable with death, by a
jury of twelve persons before three justices of the peace; for theft,
before two justices; the punishment by whipping_." Here was the
grandest evidence of the high character of the white population in
East Jersey. In every other colony in North America the Negro was
denied the right of "trial by jury," so sacred to Englishmen. In
Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Connecticut,--in all the
colonies,--the Negro went into court convicted, went out convicted,
and was executed, upon the frailest evidence imaginable. But here in
Jersey the only example of justice was shown toward the Negro in North
America. "Trial by jury" implied the right to be sworn, and give
competent testimony. A Negro slave, when on trial for his life, was
accorded the privilege of being tried by twelve honest white colonists
before _three_ justices of the peace. This was in striking contrast
with the conduct of the colony of New York, where Negroes were
arrested upon the incoherent accusations of dissolute whites and
terrified blacks. It gave the Negroes a new and an anomalous position
in the New World. It banished the cruel theory of Virginia, New York,
and Connecticut, that the Negro was a pagan, and therefore should not
be sworn in courts of justice, and threw open a wide door for his
entrance into a more hopeful state than he had, up to that time, dared
to anticipate. It allowed him to infer that his life was a little more
than that of the brute that perisheth; that he could not be dragged by
malice through the forms of a trial, without jury, witness, counsel,
or friend, to an ignominious death, that was to be regretted only by
his master, and his regrets to be solaced by the Legislature paying
"the price;" that the law regarded him as a man, whose life was too
dear to be committed to the disposition of irascible men, whose
prejudices could be mollified only in extreme cruelty or cold-blooded
murder. It had much to do toward elevating the character of the Negro
in New Jersey. It first fired his heart with the noble impulse of
gratitude, and then led him to _hope_. And how much that little word
means! It causes the soul to spread its white pinions to every
favoring breeze, and hasten on to a propitious future. And then the
fact that Negroes had rights acknowledged by the statutes, and
respectfully accorded them by the courts, had its due influence upon
the white colonists. The men, or class of men, who have rights not
challenged, command the respect of others. The fact clothes them with
dignity as with a garment. And then, by the inevitable logic of the
position of the courts of East Jersey, the colonists were led to the
conclusion that the Negroes among them had other rights. And, as it
has been said already, they received better treatment here than in any
other colony in the country.
In West Jersey happily the word "slave" was omitted from the laws.
Only servants and runaway servants were mentioned, and the selling of
rum to Negroes and Indians was strictly forbidden.
The fear of insurrection among Indians and Negroes was general
throughout all of the colonies. One a savage, and the other untutored,
they knew but two manifestations,--gratitude and revenge. It was
deemed a wise precaution to keep these unfortunate people as far
removed from the exciting influences of rum as possible. Chapter
twenty-three of a law passed in West Jersey in 1676, providing for
publicity in judicial proceedings, concludes as follows:--
"That all and every person and persons inhabiting the said
province, shall, as far as in us lies, be free from
oppression and slavery."[476]
In 1702 the proprietors of East and West Jersey surrendered their
rights of government to the queen. The Province was immediately placed
with New York, and the government committed to the hands of Lord
Cornbury.[477] In 1704 "_An Act for regulating negroe, Indian and
mulatto slaves within the province of New Jersey_," was introduced,
but was tabled and disallowed. The Negroes had just cause for the
fears they entertained as to legislation directed at the few rights
they had enjoyed under the Jersey government. Their fellow-servants
over in New York had suffered under severe laws, and at that time had
no privilege in which they could rejoice. In 1713 the following law
was passed:--
"_An act for regulating slaves._ (1 Nev. L., c. 10.) Sect.
1. Against trading with slaves. 2. For arrest of slaves
being without pass. 3. Negro belonging to another province,
not having license, to be whipped and committed to jail. 4.
Punishment of slaves for crimes to be by three or more
justices of the peace, with five of the principal
freeholders, without a grand jury; seven agreeing, shall
give judgment. 5. Method in such causes more particularly
described. Provides that 'the evidence of Indian, negro, or
mulatto slaves shall be admitted and allowed on trials of
such slaves, on all causes criminal.' 6. Owner may demand a
jury. 7, 8. Compensation to owners for death of slave. 9. A
slave for attempting to ravish any white woman, or presuming
'to assault or strike any free man or woman professing
Christianity,' any two justices have discretionary powers
to inflict corporal punishment, not extending to life or
limb. 10. Slaves, for stealing, to be whipped. 11. Penalties
on justices, &c., neglecting duty. 12. Punishment for
concealing, harboring, or entertaining slaves of others. 13.
Provides that no Negro, Indian, or mulatto that shall
thereafter be made free, shall hold any real estate in his
own right, in fee simple or fee tail. 14. 'And whereas it is
found by experience that free Negroes are an idle, slothful
people, and prove very often a charge to the place where
they are,' enacts that owners manumitting, shall give
security, &c."[478]
Nearly all the humane features of the Jersey laws were supplanted by
severe prohibitions, requirements, and penalties. The trial by jury
was construed to mean that one Negro's testimony was good against
another Negro in a trial for a felony, allowing the owner of the slave
to demand a jury. Humane masters were denied the right to emancipate
their slaves, and the latter were prohibited from owning real property
in fee simple or fee tail. Having stripped the Negro of the few rights
he possessed, the General Court, during the same year, went on to
reduce him to absolute property, and levied an impost-tax of ten
pounds upon every Negro imported into the colony, to remain in force
for seven years.
In 1754 an Act provided, that in the borough of Elizabeth any white
servant or servants, slave or slaves, which shall "be brought before
the Mayor, &c., by their masters or other inhabitant of the Borough,
for any misdemeanor rude or disorderly behavior, may be committed to
the workhouse to hard labor and receive correction not exceeding
thirty lashes."[479] This Act was purely local in character, and
indiscriminate in its application to every class of servants. It was
nothing more than a police regulation, and as such was a wholesome
law.
In 1768 the General Court passed _An Act to regulate the trial of
slaves for murder and other crimes and to repeal so much of an act,
&c_. Sections one and two provided for the trial of slaves by the
ordinary higher criminal courts. Section three provided that the
expenses incurred in the execution of slaves should be levied upon all
the owners of able-bodied slaves in the county, by order of the
justices presiding at the trial. Section four repealed sections four,
five, six, and seven of the Act of 1713. This was significant. It
portended a better feeling toward the Negroes, and illumined the dark
horizon of slavery with the distant light of hope. A strong feeling
in favor of better treatment for Negro slaves made itself manifest at
this time. When the Quaker found the prejudice against himself
subsiding, he turned, like a good Samaritan, to pour the wine of human
sympathy into the lacerated feelings of the Negro. Private instruction
was given to them in many parts of Jersey. The gospel was expounded to
them in its beauty and simplicity, and produced its good fruit in
better lives.
The next year, 1769, a mercenary spirit inspired and secured the
passage of another Act levying a tax upon imported slaves, and
requiring persons manumitting slaves to give better securities. It
reads,--
"Whereas duties on the importation of negroes in several of
the neighboring colonies hath, on experience, been found
beneficial in the introduction of sober industrious
foreigners, to settle under his Majesty's allegiance, and
the promoting a spirit of industry among the inhabitants in
general, in order therefore to promote the same good designs
in this government and that such as purchase slaves may
contribute some equitable proportion of the public
burdens."[480]
How an impost-tax upon imported slaves would be "beneficial in the
introduction of sober industrious foreigners," is not easily
perceived; and how it would promote "a spirit of industry among the
inhabitants in general," is a problem most difficult of solution. But
these were the lofty reasons that inspired the General Court to seek
to fill the coffers of the Province with money drawn from the
slave-lottery, where human beings were raffled off to the highest
bidders in the colony. The cautious language in which the Act was
couched indicated the sensitive state of the public conscience on
slavery at that time. They were afraid to tell the truth. They did not
dare to say to the people: We propose to repair the streets of your
towns, the public roads, and lighten the burden of taxation, by saying
to men-stealers, we will allow you to sell your cargoes of slaves into
this colony provided you share the spoils of your superlative crime!
No, they had to tell the people that the introduction of Negro slaves,
upon whom there was a tax, would entice sober and industrious white
people to come among them, and would quicken the entire Province with
a spirit of thrift never before witnessed!
In 1760 the Negro was ruled out of the militia establishment upon a
condition. The law provided against the enlistment of any "_young man
under the age of twenty-one years, or any slaves who are so for terms
of life, or apprentices_," without leave of their masters. This was
the mildest prohibition against the entrance of the slave into the
militia service in any of the colonies. There is nothing said about
the employment of the free Negroes in this service; and it is fair to
suppose, in view of the mild character of the laws, that they were not
excluded. In settlements where the German and Quaker elements
predominated, the Negro found that his "lines had fallen unto him in
pleasant places, and that he had a goodly heritage." In the coast
towns, and in the great centres of population, the white people were
of a poorer class. Many were adventurers, cruel and unscrupulous in
their methods. The speed with which the people sought to obtain a
competency wore the finer edges of their feeling to the coarse grain
of selfishness; and they not only drew themselves up into the
miserable rags of their own selfish aggrandizements as far as all
competitors were concerned, but regarded slavery with imperturbable
complacency.
In 1738 the population of the Jerseys was, whites, 43,388; blacks,
3,981. In 1745 the whites numbered 56,797, and the blacks,
4,606.[481]
FOOTNOTES:
[475] It is unfortunate that there is no good history of New Jersey.
The records of the Historical Society of that State are not
conveniently printed, nor valuable in colonial data.
[476] Freedom and Bondage, vol. i. p. 283.
[477] The following were the instructions his lordship received,
concerning the treatment of Negro slaves: "You shall endeavour to get
a law past for the restraining of any inhuman severity, which by ill
masters or overseers may be used towards their Christian servants and
their slaves, and that provision be made therein that the wilfull
killing of Indians and negroes may be punished with death, and that a
fit penalty be emposed for the maiming of them."--_Freedom and
Bondage_, vol. i. p. 280, note.
[478] Freedom and Bondage, vol. i. p. 284.
[479] Hurd, vol. i. p. 285.
[480] Hurd, vol. i. p 285.
[481] American Annals, vol. ii. pp. 127, 143.