THE BREAKING UP OF SLAVERY--MANUMISSION.
In Pennsylvania the disintegration of slavery began as soon as slavery
was established, for there were free negroes in the colony at the
beginning of the eighteenth century.[166] Manumission may have taken
place earlier than this, for in 1682 an owner made definite promise
of freedom to his negro.[167] The first indisputable case now known,
however, occurred in 1701, when a certain Lydia Wade living in Chester
County freed her slaves by testament.[168] In the same year William
Penn on his return to England liberated his blacks likewise.[169]
Judging from the casual and unexpected references to free negroes
which come to light from time to time, it seems probable that other
masters also bestowed freedom. At any rate the status of the free negro
had come to be recognized about this time as one to be protected by
law, for when in 1703 Antonio Garcia, a Spanish mulatto, was brought
to Philadelphia as a slave, he appealed to the provincial Council,
and presently was set at liberty.[170] In 1717 the records of Christ
Church mention Jane, a free negress, who was baptized there with her
daughter.[171]
This freeing of negroes at so early a time in the history of the colony
is sufficiently remarkable. It might be expected that manumission
would have been rare; and, indeed, the records are very few at first.
Nevertheless a law passed in 1725-1726 would indicate that the practice
was by no means unusual.[172]
It is not possible.to say what was the immediate cause of the passing
of that part of the act which refers to manumission. It may have been
the growth of a class of black freemen, or it may have been the desire
to check manumission;[173] but it was probably neither of these things
so much as it was the practice of masters who set free their infirm
slaves when the labor of those slaves was no longer remunerative.[174]
This practice together with the usual shiftlessness of most of the
freedmen makes the resulting legislation intelligible enough. It
provided that thereafter if any master purposed to set his negro free,
he should obligate himself at the county court to secure the locality
in which the negro might reside from any expense occasioned by the
sickness of the negro or by his inability to support himself. If a
negro received liberty by will, recognizance should be entered into by
the executor immediately. Without this no negro was to be deemed free.
The security was fixed at thirty pounds.[175]
Whatever may have been the full purpose of this statute, there can
be no question that it did check manumission to a certain extent. A
standing obligation of thirty pounds, which might at any moment become
an unpleasant reality, when added to the other sacrifices which freeing
a slave entailed, was probably sufficient to discourage many who
possessed mildly good intentions. Several times it was protested that
the amount was so excessive as to check the beneficence of owners:[176]
and on one occasion it was computed that the thirty pounds required
did not really suffice to support such negroes as became charges, but
that a different method and a smaller sum would have secured better
results.[177] The burden to owners was no doubt felt very grievously
during the latter half of the eighteenth century, when manumission was
going on so actively, and it is known that the Assembly was asked to
give relief.[178] Nevertheless nothing was done until 1780 when the
abolition act swept from the statute-books all previous legislation
about the negro, slave as well as free.[179]
In spite of the obstacles created by the statute of 1725-1726, the
freeing of negroes continued. In 1731 John Baldwin of Chester ordered
in his will that his negress be freed one year after his decease. Two
years later Ralph Sandiford is said to have given liberty to all of
his slaves. In 1742 Judge Langhorne in Bucks County devised freedom
to all of his negroes, between thirty and forty in number. In 1744 by
the will of John Knowles of Oxford, negro James was to be made free
on condition that he gave security to the executors to pay the thirty
pounds if required. Somewhat before this time John Harris, the founder
of Harrisburg, set free the faithful negro Hercules, who had saved his
life from the Indians. In 1746 Samuel Blunson manumitted his slaves
at Columbia. During this period negroes were occasionally sent to the
Moravians, who gave them religious training, baptized them, and after
a time set them at liberty. During the following years the records of
some of the churches refer again and again to free negroes who were
married in them, baptized in them, or who brought their children to
them to be baptized.[180] At an early date there was a sufficient
number of free black people in Pennsylvania to attract the attention of
philanthropists; and it is known that Whitefield as early as 1744 took
up a tract of land partly with the intention of making a settlement
of free negroes.[181] Up to this time, however, manumission probably
went on in a desultory manner, hampered by the large security required,
and practised only by the most ardent believers in human liberty. The
middle of the eighteenth century marked a great turning-point.
The southeastern part of Pennsylvania, in which most of the negroes
were located, was peopled largely by Quakers, who in many localities
were the principal slave-owners, and who at different periods during
the eighteenth century probably held from a half to a third of all
the slaves in the colony. But they were never able to reconcile this
practice entirely with their religious belief and from the very
beginning it encountered strong opposition. As this opposition is
really part of the history of abolition in Pennsylvania it will be
treated at length in the following chapter. Here it is sufficient to
say that from 1688 a long warfare was carried on, for the most part by
zealous reformers who gradually won adherents, until about 1750 the
Friends' meetings declared against slavery, and the members who were
not slave-owners undertook to persuade those who still owned negroes to
give them up.
The feeling among some of the Friends was extraordinary at this time.
They went from one slaveholder to another expostulating, persuading,
entreating. It was then that the saintly John Woolman did his work;
but he was only the most distinguished among many others. It is hardly
possible to read over the records of any Friends' meeting for the
next thirty years without finding numerous references to work of this
character; and in more than one journal of the period mention is made
of the obstacles encountered and the expedients employed.[182]
The results of their efforts were far-reaching. Many Friends who
would have scrupled to buy more slaves, and who were convinced that
slave-holding was an evil, yet retained such slaves as they had,
through motives of expediency, and also because they believed that
negroes held in mild bondage were better off than when free. Against
this temporizing policy the reformers fought hard, and aided by the
decision of the Yearly Meeting that slaveholders should no longer
participate in the affairs of the Society, carried forward their work
with such success that within one more generation slavery among the
Friends in Pennsylvania had passed away.
During the period, then, from 1750 to 1780 manumission among the
Friends became very frequent. Many slaves were set free outright,
their masters assuming the liability required by law. Others were
manumitted on condition that they would not become chargeable.[183]
Some owners gave promise of freedom at the end of a certain number of
years, considering the service during those years an equivalent for the
financial obligation which at the end they would have to assume.[184]
Often the negro was given his liberty on condition that at a future
time he would pay to the master his purchase price.[185] In 1751 a
writer said that numerous negroes had gained conditional freedom, and
were wandering around the country in search of employment so as to pay
their owners. The magistrates of Philadelphia complained of this as a
nuisance.[186]
Just how many slaves gained their freedom during this period it is
impossible to say. The church records mention them again and again; and
they become, what they had not been before, the occasion of frequent
notice and serious speculation.[187] Other people began now to follow
the Friends' example,[188] and the belief in abstract principles of
freedom aroused by the Revolutionary struggle gave further impetus to
the movement.[189] In every quarter, now, manumissions were constantly
being made.[190] Any estimate as to how many negroes, servants and
free, there were in Pennsylvania by 1780 must be largely a conjecture,
but it is perhaps safe to say that there were between four and five
thousand.[191]
The act of 1780, which put an end to the further growth of slavery in
Pennsylvania, marked the beginning of the final work of the liberators.
Coming at a time when so many people had given freedom to their slaves,
and passing with so little opposition in the Assembly as to show that
the majority of Pennsylvania's people no longer had sympathy with
slavery, it was the signal to the abolitionists to urge the manumission
of such negroes as the law had left in bondage. The task was made
easier by the fact that not only was the value of the slave property
now much diminished, but a man no longer needed to enter into surety
when he set his slaves free. Doubtless many whose religious scruples
had been balanced by material considerations, now saw the way smooth
before them, or arranged to make the sacrifice cost them little or
nothing at all. During this period manumission took on a commercial
aspect which formerly had not been so evident. This was brought about
in several ways.
Sometimes negroes had saved enough to purchase their liberty.[192]
Many, as before, received freedom upon binding themselves to pay
for it at the expiration of a certain time.[193] In this they often
received assistance from well-disposed people, in particular from the
Friends, who had by no means stopped the good work when their own
slaves were set free.[194] At times the entire purchase money was paid
by some philanthropist.[195] Frequently one member of a negro family
bought freedom for another, the husband often paying for his wife, the
father for his children.[196] Furthermore it had now become common
to bind out negroes for a term of years, and many owners who desired
their slaves to be free, found partial compensation in selling them
for a limited period, on express condition that all servitude should
be terminated strictly in accordance with the contract. By furthering
such transactions the benevolent tried to help negroes to gain
freedom.[197] Occasionally the slave liberated was bound for a term of
years to serve the former master.[198] Even at this period, however,
negroes continued to be manumitted from motives of pure benevolence.
Some received liberty by the master's testament, and others were held
only until assurance was given the master that he would not become
liable under the poor law.[199]
As the result of the earnest efforts that were made slavery in
Pennsylvania dwindled steadily. In the course of a long time it would
doubtless have passed away as the result of continued individual
manumission. As a matter of fact, it had become almost extinct within
two generations after 1750. This was brought about by work that
affected not individuals, but whole classes, and finally all the people
of the state; which was designed to strike at the root of slavery and
destroy it altogether. This was abolition.
FOOTNOTES:
[166] It is of course possible that some of these negroes had been
servants, and that their period of service was over.
[167] "Where As William Clark did buy ... An negor man Called and
knowen by the name of black Will for and during his natrill
Life; never the Less the said William Clark doe for the
Incourigment of the sd neagor servant hereby promise Covenant
and Agree; that if the said Black Will doe well and Truely
sarve the said William Clark ... five years ... then the said
Black Will shall be Clear and free of and from Any further
or Longer Sarvicetime or Slavery ... as wittnes my hand this
Thurteenth day of ... June Anno; Din; 1682." MS. Ancient Rec.
of Sussex Co., 1681-1709, p. 116.
[168] "My will is that my negroes John and Jane his wife shall be
set free one month after my decease." Ashmead, _History of
Delaware County_, 203.
[169] "I give to ... my blacks their freedom as is under my hand
already" ... MS. Will of William Penn, Newcastle on Delaware,
30th 8br, 1701. This will, which was left with James Logan,
was not carried out. Penn's last will contains no mention of
his negroes. He frequently mentions them elsewhere. _Cf._ MS.
Letters and Papers of William Penn (Dreer), 29 (1689), 35
(1690); _Pa. Mag._, XXXIII, 316 (1690); MS. Logan Papers. II,
98 (1703). _Cf._ also Penn. MSS., Official Correspondence, 97.
[170] _Col. Rec._, II, 120.
[171] Jane "a free negro woman" ... MS. Rec. Christ Church, 46.
[172] "Whereas 'tis found by experience that free negroes are an
idle, slothful people and often prove burdensome to the
neighborhood and afford ill examples to other negroes" ... "An
Act for the better regulating of Negroes in this Province."
_Stat. at L._, IV, 61.
[173] "Our Ancestors ... for a long time deemed it policy to
obstruct the emancipation of Slaves and affected to consider a
free Negro as a useless if not a dangerous being" ... Letter
of W. Rawle (1787), in MS. Rec. Pa. Soc. Abol. Slavery.
[174] _Votes and Proceedings_, II, 336, 337.
[175] "An Act for the better regulating of Negroes in this
Province." _Stat. at L._, IV, 61 (1725-1726).
[176] "This is however very expensive for they are obliged to make
a provision for the Negro thus set at liberty, to afford him
subsistence when he is grown old, that he may not be driven by
necessity to wicked actions, or that he may be at anybody's
charge, for these free Negroes become very lazy and indolent
afterwards." Kalm, _Travels_, I, 394 (1748).
[177] _Cf. Votes and Proceedings, 1767-1776_, p. 30. The author
of _Brief Considerations on Slavery, and the Expediency of
Its Abolition_ (1773) argued that the public derived benefit
from the labor of adult free negroes, and that the public
should pay the surety required. By an elaborate calculation
he endeavored to prove that a sum of about five shillings
deposited at interest by the community each year of the
negro's life after he was twenty-one, would amply suffice for
all requirements. Pp. 8-14 of the second part, entitled "An
Account Stated on the Manumission of Slaves." He says "As the
laws stand at present in several of our northern governments,
the act of manumission is clogged with difficulties that
almost amount to a prohibition." _Ibid._, 11.
[178] _Votes and Proceedings, 1767-1776_, p. 696.
[179] _Stat. at L._, X, 72.
[180] Martin, _History of Chester_, 480; Watson, _Annals_, II,
265; _Pa. Mag._, VII, 82; Davis, _History of Bucks County_,
798; MS. in Miscellaneous Collection, Box 10, Negroes;
Morgan, _Annals of Harrisburg_, 11; Smedley, _History of the
Underground Railroad in Chester_, etc., 27; _Pa. Mag._, XII,
188; XXIX, 363, 365; MS. Rec. Christ Church, 46, 352, 356,
379, 400, 403, 404, 440, 441, 455, 475, 4126, 4330, 4356; MS.
Rec. First Reformed Church, 4126, 4248; MS. Rec. St. Michael's
and Zion, 97.
[181] _Cf._ Conyngham's "Historical Notes," in _Mem. Hist. Soc.
Pa._, I, 338.
[182] See below, p. 74.
[183] MS. Miscellaneous Papers, 1684-1847, Chester Co., 101 (1764).
[184] They were generally held longer than apprentices or white
servants--until twenty-eight or thirty years of age, but many
of the Friends protested against this. MS. Diary of Richard
Barnard, 24 5 mo., 1782; M.S. Minutes Exeter Monthly Meeting,
Book B, 354 (1779).
[185] "I do hereby Certify that Benjamin Mifflin hath given me
Directions to sell his Negro man Cuff to himself for the Sum
of Sixty Pounds if he can raise the Money having Repeatedly
refused from Others seventy Five Pounds and upwards for him."
MS. (1769) in Misc. Coll., Box 10, Negroes.
[186] _Pa. Gazette_, Mar. 5, 1751.
[187] _Cf._ Benezet, _Some Historical Account of Guinea_, 134, 135,
where he laments the difficulties under which free negroes
labor. Also same author, _A Mite Cast into the Treasury_,
13-17, where he argues that negro servants should not be held
longer than white apprentices.
[188] "Die mährischen Brüder folgten diesem rühmlichen Beispiel;
so auch Christen von den übrigen Bekenntnissen." Ebeling, in
_Erdbeschreibung_, etc., IV, 220.
[189] _Cf._ preamble to the act of 1780. _Stat. at L._, X, 67, 68. A
negro twenty-one years old was manumitted because "all mankind
have an Equal Natural and Just right to Liberty." MS. Extracts
Rec. Goshen Monthly Meeting, 415 (G. Cope).
[190] MS. General Quarter Sessions of the Peace, Phila. Co.,
1773-1780. Franklin, Letter to Dean Woodward, Apr. 10, 1773,
in _Works_ (ed. Sparks), VIII, 42.
[191] In 1751 the number of negroes in Pennsylvania, including
Delaware, was thought to be 11,000. _Cf._ above, p. 12. The
negroes in Pennsylvania alone by 1780 probably did not exceed
the same number. Of these 6,000 were said to be slaves. _Cf._
above, _ibid._ In some places by this time manumission was
nearly complete. _Cf._ W. J. Buck, in _Coll. Hist. Soc. Pa._,
I, 201.
[192] MSS. Misc. Coll., Box 10, Negroes.
[193] MS. Rec. Pa. Soc. Abol. Sl., I, 19, 27, 29, 43, 67, and
_passim_.
[194] A MS. dated Phila., 1769, contains a list of persons who had
promised to contribute towards purchasing a negro's freedom.
Among the memoranda are: "John Head agrees to give him Twenty
Shillings and not to be Repaid ... John Benezet twenty
Shillings ... Christopher Marshall /7/6.... If he can raise
with my Donation enough to free him I agree to give him three
pounds and not otherwise I promise Saml Emlen jur ... Joseph
Pemberton by his Desire [Five _erased_] pounds £3." MS. Misc.
Coll., Box 10, Negroes.
[195] Misc. MSS. 1744-1859. Northern, Interior and Western Counties,
191 (1782).
[196] In 1779 a negro of Bucks County to secure the freedom of his
wife gave his note to be paid by 1783. In 1782, having paid
part, he was allowed to take his wife until the next payment.
In 1785 she was free. MS. Rec. Pa. Soc. Abol. Sl., I, 27-43.
In 1787 negro Samson had purchased his wife and children for
ninety-nine pounds. _Ibid._, I, 67. James Oronogue, who had
been hired by his master to the keeper of a tavern, gained by
his obliging behavior sixty pounds from the customers within
four years' time, and at his master's death was allowed to
purchase his freedom for one hundred pounds. He paid besides
fifty pounds for his wife. _Ibid._, I, 69. When Cuff Douglas
had been a slave for thirty-seven years his master promised
him freedom after four years more. On the master agreeing to
take thirty pounds in lieu of this service, Douglas hired
himself out, and was free at the end of sixteen months. He
then began business as a tailor, and presently was able to buy
his wife and children for ninety pounds, besides one son for
whom he paid forty-five pounds. _Ibid._, I, 72. Also _ibid._,
I, 79, 91.
[197] "Wanted to purchase, a good Negro Wench.... If to be sold on
terms of freedom by far the most agreeable." _Pa. Packet_,
Aug. 22, 1778. In 1791 Caspar Wistar bought a slave for sixty
pounds "to extricate him from that degraded Situation" ...,
his purpose being to keep the negro for a term of years only.
MS, Misc. Coll., Box 10, Negroes. Numerous other examples
among the same MSS.
[198] "I, John Lettour from motives of benevolence and humanity ...
do ... set free ... my Negro Girl Agathe Aged about Seventeen
Years. On condition ... that she ... bind herself by Indenture
to serve me ... Six years".... MS. _ibid. Cf._ MS. Abstract
Rec. Abington Monthly Meeting, 372 (1765).
[199] "I Manumit ... my Negro Girl Abb when she shall Arrive to the
Age of Eighteen Years ... (on Condition that the Committee
for the Abolition of slavery shall make entry according to
Law ... so as to secure me from any Costs or Trouble on me
or my Estate on said Negro after the age of Eighteen Years)
... Hannah Evans." MS. Misc. Coll., Box 10, Negroes. _Cf._
_Stat. at L._, X, 70. At times this might become an unpleasant
reality. _Cf._ MS. State of a Case respecting a Negro (Ridgway
Branch).