Transcriber's Notes
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SLAVERY IN PENNSYLVANIA
A DISSERTATION
SUBMITTED TO THE BOARD OF UNIVERSITY STUDIES OF THE JOHNS HOPKINS
UNIVERSITY IN CONFORMITY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE
DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY, 1910
BY
EDWARD RAYMOND TURNER
_Professor of History in the University of Michigan_
THE LORD BALTIMORE PRESS
BALTIMORE, MD., U. S. A.
1911
CHAPTER I.
THE INTRODUCTION OF NEGROES INTO PENNSYLVANIA.
There were negroes in the region around the Delaware river before
Pennsylvania was founded, in the days of the Dutch and the Swedes.
As early as 1639 mention is made of a convict sentenced to be taken
to South River to serve among the blacks there.[1] In 1644 Anthony,
a negro, is spoken of in the service of Governor Printz at Tinicum,
making hay for the cattle, and accompanying the governor on his
pleasure yacht.[2] In 1657 Vice-director Alricks was accused of using
the Company's oxen and negroes. Five years later Vice-director Beekman
desired Governor Stuyvesant to send him a company of blacks. In 1664
negroes were wanted to work on the lowlands along the Delaware. A
contract was to be made for fifty, which the West India Company would
furnish.[3] In the same year, when the English captured New Amstel,
afterward New Castle, the place was plundered, and a number of negroes
were confiscated and sold. From Peter Alricks several were taken; of
these eleven were restored to him.[4] At least a few were living on the
shores of the Delaware River in 1677.[5] A year later an emissary was
sent by the justices of New Castle to request most urgently permission
to import negroes from Maryland.[6]
Thus negroes had been brought into the country before Pennsylvania
was founded. Immediately after Penn's coming there is record of them
in his first counties. They were certainly present in Philadelphia
County in 1684, and in Chester in 1687.[7] Penn himself noticed them
in his charter to the Free Society of Traders. In 1702 they were
spoken of as numerous.[8] By that time merchants of Philadelphia made
the importation of negroes a regular part of their business.[9]
Thenceforth they are a noticeable factor in the life of the colony.
While there was an active demand for negroes, there was, nevertheless,
almost from the first, strong opposition to importing them. This is
evident from the fact that during the colonial period the Assembly of
Pennsylvania passed a long series of acts imposing restrictions upon
the traffic. In 1700 a maximum duty of twenty shillings was imposed
on each negro imported. Five years later this duty was doubled.[10]
By that time there had arisen a strong adverse sentiment, due partly
to economic causes, since the white workmen complained that their
wages were lowered by negro competition, and partly to fear aroused
by an insurrection of slaves in New York.[11] Accordingly in 1712 the
Assembly very boldly passed an act to prevent importation, seeking to
accomplish this purpose by making the duty twenty pounds a head. The
law was immediately repealed in England, the Crown not being disposed
to tolerate such independent action, nor willing to allow interference
with the African Company's trade.[12] Either the local feeling was too
strong, or the requirements were less, since in spite of this failure
there was for a while a falling off in the number imported.[13] A
more moderate duty of five pounds was imposed in 1715, but again the
English authorities interposed, repealing it in 1719. Meanwhile an act
to continue this duty had been passed in 1717-1718, but apparently it
was not submitted to the Crown. In 1720-1721 the five pound duty was
again imposed, this act also not being submitted. In 1722 the duty was
repeated, and once more the law expired by limitation before it was
sent up for approval.[14]
Up to this time restrictive legislation had been largely frustrated.
It had encountered not only the disapproval of certain classes in
Pennsylvania, but the powerful opposition of the African Company,
which could count on the decisive interposition of the Lords of
Trade.[15] The Assembly accordingly submitted the acts long after
they had been passed, and made new laws before the old ones had been
disallowed.[16] Nevertheless the number of blacks in the colony had
steadily increased, and in 1721 was estimated to be somewhere between
twenty-five hundred and five thousand.[17] The wrath of the white
laborers was correspondingly increased, and in this year they presented
to the Assembly a petition asking for a law to prevent the hiring of
blacks. The Assembly resolved that such a law would be injurious to the
public and unjust to those who owned negroes and hired them out, but
the restrictions on importing them were maintained.[18] In 1725-1726
the five pound duty was imposed again, and in the same year five pounds
extra was placed upon every convict negro brought into the colony. This
became law by lapse of time.[19]
In 1729 the duty was reduced to two pounds. This duty continued in
force for a generation, satisfactory partly because the opposition
to importing negroes seems to have been less strong, partly because
white servants proved to be cheaper and more adapted to industrial
demands.[20] The newspaper advertisements announce the arrival of many
more cargoes of servants than of negroes; this notwithstanding the fact
that white servants frequently ran away, often to enlist in the wars.
Referring to this fact a message from the Assembly to the governor says
that while the King has seemed to desire the importation of servants
rather than of negroes, yet the enlistment acts make such property so
precarious, that it seems to depend on the will of the servant and the
pleasure of the officer.[21] Nevertheless the number of negroes brought
in steadily dwindled. By 1750 importation had nearly ceased.[22]
A few years later the great efforts made in the last French and
Indian War caused loud complaints again about enlisting servants. It
was feared that people would be driven to the necessity of providing
themselves with negro slaves, as property in them seemed more secure.
This is probably just what occurred, for the increase of negroes is
said to have been alarming.[23] As a result restrictive legislation
was tried again in 1761, when the duty was made ten pounds. The law
was carried only after considerable effort. While the bill was in the
hands of the governor a petition was sent to him, signed by twenty-four
merchants of Philadelphia, who set forth the scarcity and high price of
labor, and their need of slaves. After two months' contest the bill was
passed. One provision of the act was that a new settler need not pay
the duty if he did not sell his slave within eighteen months.[24] In
1768 this act was renewed. In 1773 it was made perpetual, the former
law having been found to be of great public utility; but the duty was
raised to twenty pounds. Once more the act became law by lapse of
time.[25]
The act of 1773 was the last one which the Assembly passed to limit
the importation of negroes. Not only was the duty sufficiently high,
now, but its presence was hardly needed.[26] A silent but powerful
movement was overthrowing slavery in Pennsylvania; and in a short time
the outbreak of the Revolutionary War brought the traffic to an end.
Shortly thereafter, in 1780, the state did what England had never
permitted while she held authority: forbade the importation of slaves
entirely.[27]
The real reason for the passage of these laws is not always clear.
They may have been passed either to keep negroes out,[28] or to raise
revenue for the government.[29] An analysis of the laws themselves
seems to show that both of these purposes were constantly in mind.[30]
When, however, they are taken in connection with matters which they
themselves do not mention, namely, the predominance of the Quakers in
the colonial Assembly together with the abhorrence which they felt for
the slave-trade and later for slavery itself,[31] it becomes probable
that the predominant motive was restriction.[32] It is also probable
that while the obtaining of revenue was the obvious motive in many of
these acts, yet revenue was so raised precisely because Pennsylvania
desired to keep negroes out; that imported slaves were taxed largely
for reasons similar to those which caused the Stuarts to tax colonial
tobacco, and which lead modern governments to tax spirituous liquors
and opium. It may be added that Pennsylvania always held, both in
colonial times and afterwards, that England forced slavery upon her.
That there was much justice in this complaint the failure of the
earlier legislation goes far to sustain.[33]
The negroes imported were brought sometimes in cargoes, more often
a few at a time. They came mostly from the West Indies, many being
purchased in Barbadoes, Jamaica, Antigua, and St. Christophers.[34] As
a rule they were imported by the merchants of Philadelphia, and, being
received in exchange for grain, flour, lumber, and staves, helped to
make up the balance of trade between Philadelphia and the islands.[35]
A few seem to have been obtained directly from Africa. When so brought,
however, they were found to be unable to endure the winter cold in
Pennsylvania, so that it was considered preferable to buy the second
generation in the West Indies, after they had become acclimated.[36]
Some were brought from other colonies on the mainland, particularly
those to the south. At times Pennsylvania herself exported a few to
other places.[37] The prices paid in the colony naturally fluctuated
from time to time in accordance with supply and demand, and varied
within certain limits according to the age and personal qualities of
each negro. The usual price for an adult seems to have been somewhere
near forty pounds.[38]
As to the number of negroes in Pennsylvania at different times during
the colonial period almost any estimate is at best conjecture. Not only
are there few official reports, but these reports, in the absence of
any definite census, are of little value.[39] Apparently one of the
best estimates was that made in 1721, which stated the number of blacks
at anywhere between 2,500 and 5,000.[40] In 1751 it was at least widely
believed that there were in Philadelphia 6,000, and it is asserted
that the total number in Pennsylvania including the Lower Counties was
11,000.[41] It is probable that the same number was not much exceeded
in Pennsylvania proper at any time before 1790. In these estimates no
attempt was made to distinguish the free from the slaves. The number
of slaves, it is true, was very near the total at both these periods,
but after the middle of the century it began dwindling as the number
of negro servants and free men increased. In 1780 a careful estimate
placed the slaves at 6,000.[42] According to the Federal census of 1790
the number of negroes in Pennsylvania was 10,274.[43]
Of these negroes the great majority throughout the slavery period
were located in the southeastern part of Pennsylvania, in and around
Philadelphia. There were many in Bucks, Chester, Lancaster, Montgomery,
and York counties. There were negroes near the site of Columbia by
1726. John Harris had slaves by the Susquehanna as early as 1733.
In 1759 Hugh Mercer wrote from the vicinity of Pittsburg asking for
two negro girls and a boy. The tax-lists and local accounts reveal
their presence in many other places.[44] Doubtless a few might be
traced wherever white people settled permanently. In general it may
be said that they were owned in the English, Welsh, and Scotch-Irish
communities. The Germans as a rule held no slaves.
Where negroes were owned they were for the most part evenly
distributed, there being few large holdings. In rare instances a
considerable number is recorded as belonging to one man, and the
iron-masters generally had several. The tax-lists, however, indicate
that the average holding was one or two, except in Philadelphia among
the wealthier classes where it was double that number.[45]
The character of slavery in Pennsylvania was in many respects unique,
but in no way was this so true as in connection with the number of
negroes held. Generally speaking, the farther south a section lay the
more slaves did it possess. Thus there were fewer in New England than
in the middle colonies; there were fewer there than in the South. But
to this rule Pennsylvania was an exception, for it had fewer negroes
than New Jersey, and not half so many as New York.[46] This was due
to two sets of causes: the first, ethical; the second, economic. The
first of these are easily understood. They resulted from the character
of many of the people who settled Pennsylvania, their dislike for
slavery, and their refusal to hold slaves. The second are not so easily
traceable, but were doubtless more powerful in their influence, for
they were owing to the character of Pennsylvania's industrial growth.
The plantation system, which is most favorable to the increase of
slavery, never appeared in Pennsylvania. During the whole of the
eighteenth century the activities of the colony developed along two
lines not favorable to negro labor: small farming, and manufacturing
and commerce.[47] The small farms were almost always held by people
who were too poor to purchase slaves, at least for a long while, and
the kind of farming was not such as to make slavery particularly
profitable. In commerce no large number of negroes was ever employed,
while manufacturing demanded a higher grade of labor than slaves could
give. It is true that in some cases where there was an approach to
the factory system, and where the work was rough and needed little
skill, slaves could answer every purpose. For this reason at the old
ironworks negroes were in demand.[48] As a rule, however, this was not
the case. It was because of its industrial character that Pennsylvania
was peculiarly the colony of indentured white servants.
Furthermore, ethical and economic influences interacted with subtle
and powerful force. Barring all other considerations, the cost of a
slave was a considerable item, not to be afforded by a struggling
settler; hence slavery never attained magnitude on the frontier. Before
1700 Pennsylvania was all frontier; hence it had very few negroes. In
the period from 1700 to about 1750 the country between the Delaware
and the Susquehanna was filled up, and the early conditions largely
disappeared. It was then that the greatest number of negroes was
introduced. In the period between the middle of the century and the
Revolution this older country became well developed and prosperous;
farms became larger and better cultivated; there were numerous
respectable manufacturers and wealthy merchants. These men could
easily afford to have slaves, and large importations might have been
expected; but there was no great influx of negroes. Economic conditions
were favorable, but ethical influences worked strongly against it. In
this eastern half of Pennsylvania two racial elements predominated:
the Germans and the English Quakers. The Germans had abstained from
slave-holding from the first;[49] the Quakers were now coming to abhor
it.[50] The same play of causes was seen again in the "old West."
After 1750 in the mountains and valleys beyond the Susquehanna the
earlier frontier conditions were lived over again. Here the settlers
were largely Scotch-Irish, and had no dislike for slavery, but as yet
the conditions of their life did not favor it. When finally western
Pennsylvania passed out of the frontier stage, and its inhabitants
could purchase negroes, the days of slavery in Pennsylvania were nearly
over.[51] For all of these reasons from first to last Pennsylvania's
slave population remained small.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Breviate. Dutch Records, no. 2, fol. 5. In _2 Pennsylvania
Archives_, XVI, 234. _Cf._ Hazard, _Annals of Pennsylvania_,
49. The "Proposed Freedoms and Exemptions for New Netherland,"
1640, say, "The Company shall exert itself to provide the
Patroons and Colonists, on their order with as many Blacks as
possible".... _2 Pa. Arch._, V, 74.
[2] C. T. Odhner. "The Founding of New Sweden, 1637-1642",
translated by G. B. Keen in _Pennsylvania Magazine of History
and Biography_, III, 277.
[3] Hazard, _Annals of Pennsylvania_, 331; O'Callaghan, _Documents
relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York_,
II, 213, 214. The Report of the Board of Accounts on New
Netherland, Dec. 15, 1644, had spoken of the need of
negroes, the economy of their labor, and had recommended the
importation of large numbers. _2 Pa. Arch._, V, 88. See also
Davis, _History of Bucks County_, 793.
[4] _2 Pa. Arch._, XVI, 255, 256; Hazard, _Annals of
Pennsylvania_, 372. Sir Robert Carr, writing to Colonel
Nicholls, Oct. 13, 1664, says, "I have already sent into
Merryland some Neegars w^{c}h did belong to the late Governor
att his plantation above".... _2 Pa. Arch._, V, 578.
[5] The Records of the Court of New Castle give a list of the
"Names of the Tijdable prsons Living in this Courts
Jurisdiction" in which occur "three negros": "1 negro woman of
Mr. Moll", "1 neger of Mr. Alrichs", "Sam Hedge and neger".
Book A, 197-201. Quoted in _Pa. Mag._, III, 352-354. For the
active trade in negroes at this time _cf._ MS. Board of Trade
Journals, II, 307.
[6] "Wth out wch wee cannot subsist".... MS. New Castle Court
Records, Liber A, 406. Hazard, _Annals_, 456.
[7] "Ik hebbe geen vaste Dienstbode, als een Neger die ik gekocht
heb." _Missive van Cornelis Bom, Geschreven uit de Stadt
Philadelphia_, etc., 3. (Oct. 12, 1684). "Man hat hier auch
Zwartzen oder Mohren zu Schlaven in der Arbeit." Letter,
probably of Hermans Op den Graeff, Germantown, Feb. 12, 1684,
in Sachse, _Letters relating to the Settlement of Germantown_,
25. _Cf._ also MS. in American Philosophical Society's
collection, quoted in _Pa. Mag._, VII, 106: "Lacey Cocke hath
A negroe" ..., "Pattrick Robbinson--Robert neverbeegood his
negor sarvant".... "The Defendts negros" are mentioned in a
suit for damages in 1687. See MS. Court Records of Penna. and
Chester Co., 1681-1688, p. 72.
[8] MS. Ancient Records of Philadelphia, 28 7th mo., 1702.
[9] MS. William Trent's Ledger, 156. For numerous references to
negroes brought from Barbadoes, see MS. Booke of acc^{tts}
Relating to the Barquentine _Constant Ailse_ And^w: Dykes
mast^r: from March 25th 1700 (-1702). (Pa. State Lib.)
[10] _Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania_ (edited by J. T. Mitchell
and Henry Flanders), II, 107. _Ibid._, II, 285. The act of
1705-1706 was repeated in 1710-1711. _Ibid._, II, 383. _Cf._
_Colonial Records of Pennsylvania_, II, 529, 530.
[11] _Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives of the
Province of Pennsylvania_, I, pt. II, 132. _Stat. at L._, II,
433.
[12] MS. Board of Trade Papers, Proprieties, IX, Q, 39, 42. _Stat.
at L._, II, 543, 544.
[13] Jonathan Dickinson, a merchant of Philadelphia, writing to
a correspondent in Jamaica, 4th month, 1715, says, "I must
entreat you to send me no more negroes for sale, for our
people don't care to buy. They are generally against any
coming into the country." I have been unable to find this
letter. Watson, who quotes it (_Annals of Philadelphia_, II,
264), says, "Vide the Logan MSS." _Cf._ also a letter of
George Tiller of Kingston, Jamaica, to Dickinson, 1712. MS.
Logan Papers, VIII, 47.
[14] _Stat. at L._, III, 117, 118; MS. Board of Trade Papers,
Prop., X, 2, Q, 159; _Stat. at L._, III, 465; _Col. Rec._,
III, 38, 144, 171. During this period negroes were being
imported through the custom-house at the rate of about one
hundred and fifty a year. _Cf._ _Votes and Proceedings_, II,
251.
[15] In 1727 the iron-masters of Pennsylvania petitioned for the
entire removal of the duty, labor being so scarce. _Votes and
Proceedings_, 1726-1742, p. 31. The attitude of the English
authorities is explained in a report of Richard Jackson, March
2, 1774, on one of the Pennsylvania impost acts. "The Increase
of Duty on Negroes in this Law is Manifestly inconsistent with
the Policy adopted by your Lordships and your Predecessors for
the sake of encouraging the African Trade" ... Board of Trade
Papers, Prop., XXIII, Z, 54.
[16] _Votes and Proceedings_, II, 152; _Col. Rec._, II, 572, 573;
_1 Pa. Arch._, I, 160-162; _Votes and Proceedings_, 1766, pp.
45, 46. For a complaint against this practice _cf._ "Copy of
a Representat^n of the Board of Trade upon some pennsylvania
Laws" (1713-1714). MS. Board of Trade Papers, Plantations
General, IX, K, 35.
[17] O'Callaghan, _N. Y. Col. Docs._, V, 604.
[18] _Votes and Proceedings_, II, 347.
[19] _Stat. at L._, IV, 52-56, 60; _Col. Rec._, III, 247, 248, 250.
[20] _Stat. at L._, IV, 123-128; _Col. Rec._, III, 359; Smith,
_History of Delaware County_, 261. For a while, no doubt,
there was a considerable influx. Ralph Sandiford says (1730),
"We have _negroes_ flocking in upon us since the duty on them
is reduced to 40 shillings per head." _Mystery of Iniquity_,
(2d ed.), 5. Many of these were smuggled in from New Jersey,
where there was no duty from 1721 to 1767. Cooley, _A Study of
Slavery in New Jersey_, 15, 16.
[21] Cargoes of servants are advertised in the _American Weekly
Mercury_, the _Pennsylvania Packet_, and the _Pennsylvania
Gazette_, _passim_. As to enlistment of servants _cf._
_Mercury_, _Gazette_, Aug. 7, 1740; _Col. Rec._, IV, 437.
Complaint about this had been made as early as 1711. _Votes
and Proceedings_, II, 101, 103.
[22] Smith, _History of Delaware County_, 261; Peter Kalm, _Travels
into North America_, etc., (1748), I, 391.
[23] _Col. Rec._, VII, 37, 38.
[24] _Stat. at L._, VI, 104-110; _Votes and Proceedings_, 1761,
pp. 25, 29, 33, 38, 39, 40, 41, 52, 55, 63; _Col. Rec._,
VIII, 575, 576. "The Petition of Divers Merchants of the City
of Philadelphia, To The Honble James Hamilton Esqr. Lieut.
Governor of the Province of Pennsylvania, Humbly Sheweth, That
We the Subscribers ... have seen for some time past, the many
inconveniencys the Inhabitants have suffer'd, for want of
Labourers, and Artificers, by Numbers being Inlisted for His
Majestys Service and near a total stop to the importation of
German and other white Servants, have for some time encouraged
the importation of Negros, ... that an advantage may be
gain'd by the Introduction of Slaves, w^ch will likewise be
a means of reduceing the exorbitant Price of Labour, and in
all Probability bring our staple Commoditys to their usual
Prices." MS. Provincial Papers, XXV, March 1, 1761.
[25] _Stat. at L._, VII, 158, 159; VIII, 330-332; _Col. Rec._, IX,
400, 401, 443, ff.; X, 72, 77. The Board of Trade Journals,
LXXXII, 47, (May 5, 1774), say that their lordships had
some discourse with Dr. Franklin "upon the objections ...
to ... _imposing Duties amounting to a prohibition upon the
Importation of Negroes_."
[26] _Cf._ MS. Provincial Papers, XXXII, January, 1775.
[27] _Stat. at L._, X, 72, 73. It was forbidden by implication
rather than specific regulation. It had been foreseen that an
act for gradual abolition entailed stopping the importation of
negroes. _Pa. Packet_, Nov. 28, 1778; _1 Pa. Arch._, VII, 79.
[28] Professor E. P. Cheyney in an article written some years ago
("The Condition of Labor in Early Pennsylvania, I. Slavery,"
in _The Manufacturer_, Feb. 2, 1891, p. 8) considers
these laws to have been restrictive in purpose, and gives
three causes for their passage, in the following order of
importance: (a) dread of slave insurrections, (b) opposition
of the free laboring classes to slave competition, (c)
conscientious objections. I cannot think that this is correct.
(a) seems to have been the impelling motive only in connection
with the law of 1712, and seems rarely to have been thought
of. It was urged in 1740, 1741, and 1742, when efforts were
being made to pass a militia law in Pennsylvania, but it
attracted little attention. _Cf._ MS. Board of Trade Papers,
Prop., XV, T: 54, 57, 60.
[29] In a MS. entitled "William Penn's Memorial to the Lords of
Trade relating to several laws passed in Pensilvania,"
assigned to the year 1690 in the collection of the Historical
Society of Pennsylvania, but probably belonging to a later
period, is the following: "These ... Acts ... to Raise money
... to defray publick Exigences in such manner as after a
Mature delibera[~c]on they thought would not be burthensom
particularly in the Act for laying a Duty on Negroes" ... MS.
Pa. Miscellaneous Papers, 1653-1724, p. 24.
[30] 1700. 20 shillings for negroes over sixteen years of age, 6
for those under sixteen. No cause given. Apparently (terms
of the act) _revenue_.--1705-1706. 40 shillings--a draw-back
of one half if the negro be re-exported within six months.
Apparently _revenue_.--1710. 40 shillings--excepting those
imported by immigrants for their own use, and not sold within
a year. Almost certainly (preamble) _revenue._--1712. 20
pounds. The causes were a dread of insurrection because of
the negro uprising in New York, and the Indians' dislike
of the importation of Indian slaves. Purpose undoubtedly
_restriction_.--1715. 5 pounds. Apparently (character of
the provisions) _restriction_ and _revenue_.--1717-1718.
5 pounds. To continue the preceding. _Restriction_ and
_revenue_--1720-1721. 5 pounds. To continue the preceding.
_Revenue_ (preamble) and _restriction_.--1722. 5 pounds.
To continue provisions of previous acts. _Revenue_ and
_restriction_.--1725-1726. 5 pounds. _Revenue_ and
_restriction_.--1729. 2 pounds. Reduction made probably
because since 1712 none of the laws had been allowed to
stand for any length of time, and because there had been
much smuggling. _Revenue_ and _restriction_.--1761. 10
pounds. No cause given for the increase. _Restriction_
and _revenue_.--1768. Preceding continued--"of public
utility." _Restriction_ and _revenue_.--1773. Preceding made
perpetual--"of great public utility"--but duty raised to 20
pounds. _Restriction. Cf. Stat. at L._, II, 107, 285, 383,
433; III, 117, 159, 238, 275; IV, 52, 123; VI, 104; VII, 158;
VIII, 330.
[31] See below, chapters IV and V.
[32] "Man hat besonders in Pensylvanien den Grundsatz angenommen
ihre Einführung so viel möglich abzuhalten" ... _Achenwall's
in Göttingen über Nordamerika und über dasige Grosbritannische
Colonien aus mündlichen Nachrichten des Herrn Dr. Franklins_
... _Anmerkungen_, 24, 25. (About 1760).
[33] _Stat. at L._, X, 67, 68; 1 _Pa. Arch._, I, 306. _Cf._ Mr.
Woodward's speech, Jan. 19, 1838, _Proceedings and Debates of
the Convention of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, to Propose
Amendments to the Constitution_, etc., X, 16, 17.
[34] "Aus Pennsylvanien ... fahren gen Barbadoes, Jamaica
und Antego. Von dar bringen sie zurück ... Negros."
Daniel Falkner, _Curieuse Nachricht von Pennsylvania in
Norden-America_, etc., (17O2), 192. For a negro woman from
Jamaica (1715), see MS. Court Papers, Philadelphia County,
1619-1732. Also numerous advertisements in the newspapers.
_Mercury_, Apr. 17, 1729, (Barbadoes); July 31, 1729,
(Bermuda); July 23, 1730, (St. Christophers); Jan. 21, 1739,
(Antigua). Oldmixon, speaking of Pennsylvania, says, "Negroes
sell here ... very well; but not by the Ship Loadings, as
they have sometimes done at Maryland and Virginia." (1741.)
_British Empire in America_, etc., (2d ed.), I, 316. _Cf._
however the following: "A PARCEL of likely Negro Boys and
Girls just arrived in the Sloop Charming Sally ... to be
sold ... for ready Money, Flour or Wheat" ... Advt. in _Pa.
Gazette_, Sept. 4, 1740. For a consignment of seventy see MS.
Provincial Papers, XXVII, Apr. 26, 1766.
[35] _Cf._ MS. William Trent's Ledger, "Negroes" (1703-1708).
Isaac Norris, Letter Book, 75, 76 (1732). For a statement of
profit and loss on two imported negroes, see _ibid._, 77. In
this case Isaac Norris acted as a broker, charging five per
cent. For the wheat and flour trade with Barbadoes, see _A
Letter from Doctor More ... Relating to the ... Province of
Pennsilvania_, 5. (1686).
[36] Some were probably brought from Africa by pirates. _Cf._ MS.
Board of Trade Papers, Prop., III, 285, 286; IV, 369; V, 408.
The hazard involved in the purchase of negroes is revealed in
the following: "Acco^t of Negroes D^r to Tho. Willen £17: 10
for a New Negro Man ... £15 and 50 Sh. more if he live to the
Spring" ... MS. James Logan's Account Book, 91, (1714). As to
the effect of cold weather upon negroes, Isaac Norris, writing
to Jonathan Dickinson in 1703, says, ... "they're So Chilly
they Can hardly Stir frõ the fire and Wee have Early beginning
for a hard Wint^r." MS. Letter Book, 1702-1704, p. 109. In
1748 Kalm says, ... "the toes and fingers of the former"
(negroes) "are frequently frozen." _Travels_, I, 392.
[37] _Mercury_, Sept. 26, 1723. MS. Penn Papers, Accounts
(unbound), 27 3d mo., 1741. Also _Calendar of State Papers,
America and West Indies, 1697-1698_, p. 390; _Col. Rec._, IV,
515; _Pa. Mag._, XXVII, 320.
[38] A Report of the Royal African Company, Nov. 2, 1680, purports
to show the first cost: "That the Negros cost them the
first price 5li: and 4li: 15s. the freight, besides 25li p
cent which they lose by the usual mortality of the Negros."
MS. Board of Trade Journals, III, 229. The selling price had
been considered immoderate four years previous. _Ibid._, I,
236. In 1723 Peter Baynton sold "a negroe man named Jemy ...
30 £." Loose sheet in Peter Baynton's Ledger. In 1729 a negro
twenty-five years old brought 35 pounds in Chester County.
MS. Chester County Papers, 89. The Moravians of Bethlehem
purchased a negress in 1748 for 70 pounds. _Pa. Mag._, XXII,
503. Peter Kalm (1748) says that a full grown negro cost
from 40 pounds to 100 pounds; a child of two or three years,
8 pounds to 14 pounds. _Travels_, I, 393, 394. Mittelberger
(1750) says 200 to 350 florins (33 to 58 pounds). _Journey to
Pennsylvania in the Year 1750_, etc., 106. Franklin (1751)
in a very careful estimate thought that the price would
average about 30 pounds. _Works_ (ed. Sparks), II, 314.
Acrelius (about 1759) says 30 to 40 pounds. _Description of
... New Sweden_, etc. (translation of W. M. Reynolds, 1874,
in _Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania_, XI),
p. 168. A negro iron-worker brought 50 pounds at Bethlehem in
1760. _Pa. Mag._, XXII, 503. In 1790 Edward Shippen writes
of a slave who cost him 100 pounds. _Ibid._, VII, 31. It is
probable that the value of a slave was roughly about three
times that of a white servant. _Cf. Votes and Proceedings_
(1764), V, 308.
[39] In 1708 the Board of Trade requested the governor of
Pennsylvania that very definite information on a variety of
subjects relating to the negro be transmitted thereafter half
yearly. Were these records available they would be worth more
than all the remaining information. _Cf._ MS. Provincial
Papers, I, April 15, 1708; 1 _Pa. Arch._, I, 152, 153.
[40] _N. Y. Col. Docs._, V, 604. As to the necessity for allowing
so large a margin in these figures _cf._ the following. "The
number of the whites are said to be Sixty Thousand, and of
the Black about five Thousand." Col. Hart's Answer, etc., MS.
Board of Trade Papers, Prop., XI, R: 7. (1720). "The number
of People in this Province may be computed to above 40,000
Souls amongst whom we have scarce any Blacks except a few
Household Servants in the City of Philadelphia" ... Letter
of Sir William Keith, _ibid._, XI, R: 42. (1722). Another
communication gave the true state of the case, if not the
exact numbers. "This Government has not hitherto had Occasion
to use any methods that can furnish us with an exact Estimate,
but as near as can at present be guessed there may be about
_Forty five thousand_ Souls of _Whites_ and _four thousand_
Blacks." Major Gordon's answer to Queries, _ibid._, XIII, S:
34. (1730-1731).
[41] William Douglass, _A Summary, Historical and Political, ...
of the British Settlements in North-America_, etc. (ed.
1755), II, 324; Abiel Holmes, _American Annals_, etc., II,
187; Bancroft, _History of the United States_ (author's last
revision), II, 391.
[42] Letter in _Pa. Packet_, Jan 1, 1780. This made allowance
for the numerous runaways during the British occupation of
Philadelphia. Also _ibid._, Dec. 25, 1779; 1 _Pa. Arch._, XI,
74, 75. For a higher estimate, 10,000, for 1780 but made in
1795, see MS. Collection of the Records of the Pa. Society for
the Abolition of Slavery, etc., IV, 111.
[43] Slaves, 3,737; free, 6,537. Other enumerations occur, but are
evidently without value. Oldmixon (1741), 3,600. _British
Empire in America_, I, 321. Burke (1758), about 6,000. _An
Account of the European Settlements in America_, II, 204. Abbé
Raynal (1766), 30,000. _A Philosophical and Political History
of the British Settlements ... in North America_ (tr. 1776),
I, 163. A communication to the Earl of Dartmouth (1773),
2,000. MS. Provincial Papers, Jan. 1775; 1 _Pa. Arch._, IV,
597. Smyth (1782), over 100,000. _A Tour in the United States
of America_, etc., II, 309.
[44] MS. (Samuel Wright), A Journal of Our Rem(oval) from Chester
and Darby (to) Conestogo ... 1726, copied by A. C. Myers;
Morgan, _Annals of Harrisburg_, 9-11; _Col. Rec._, VIII, 305,
306. Tax-lists printed in 3 _Pa. Arch._ Also Davis, _Hist.
of Bucks Co._, 793; Futhey and Cope, _Hist. of Chester Co._,
423 425; Ellis and Evans, _Hist. of Lancaster Co._, 301;
Gibson, _Hist. of York Co._, 498; Bean, _Hist. of Montgomery
Co._, 302; Lytle, _Hist. of Huntingdon Co._, 182; Blackman,
_Hist. of Susquehanna Co._, 72; Creigh, _Hist. of Washington
Co._, 362; Bausman, _Hist. of Beaver Co._, I, 152, 153;
Linn, _Annals of Buffalo Valley_, 66-74; Peck, _Wyoming; its
History_, etc., 240.
[45] MS. Assessment Books, Chester Co., 1765, p. 197; 1768, p. 326;
1780, p. 95; MS. Assessment Book, Phila. Co., 1769. As early
as 1688 Henry Jones of Moyamensing had thirteen negroes. MS.
Phila. Wills, Book A, 84. An undated MS. entitled "A List of
my Negroes" shows that Jonathan Dickinson had thirty-two.
Dickinson Papers, unclassified. An owner in York County is
said to have had one hundred and fifty. 3 _Pa. Arch._, XXI,
71. This is probably a misprint.
[46] In 1790 the numbers were as follows: New York, 21,324 slaves,
4,654 free, total 25,978; New Jersey, 11,423 slaves, 4,402
free, total 15,825; Pennsylvania, 3,737 slaves, 6,537 free,
total 10,274.
[47] On Pennsylvania's amazing commercial and industrial activity
see Anderson, _Historical and Chronological Deductions of the
Origin of Commerce_, etc. (1762), III, 75-77.
[48] See below, p. 41.
[49] See below, chapters IV and V.
[50] See below, _ibid._
[51] Nevertheless slavery took root in the western counties, and
lingered there longer than anywhere else in Pennsylvania.