History of the Negro Race in America Volume I Part 36

[418] McSherry's Hist. of Maryland, p. 86.

[419] Freedom and Bondage, vol. i. p. 249.

[420] McMahon's Hist. of Maryland, vol. i. p. 274.

[421] The following form was used for a long time in Maryland for binding out a servant.

This Indenture _made the ---- day of ---- in the ---- yeere of our Soveraigne Lord King_ Charles,_&c betweene ---- of the one party_, and ---- on the _other party_, Witnesseth, _that the said ---- doth hereby covenant promise, and grant, to and with the said ---- his Executors and a.s.signes, to serve him from the day of the date hereof, untill his first and next arrivall in_ Maryland: _and after for and during the tearme of ---- yeeres, in such service and imployment, as the said ---- or his a.s.signee shall there imploy him, according to the custome of the Countrey in the like kind.

In consideration whereof, the said ---- doth promise and grant, to and with the said ---- to pay for his pa.s.sing, and to find him with Meat, Drinke, Apparell and Lodging, with other necessaries during the said terme; and at the end of the said terme, to give him one whole yeeres provision of Corne, and fifty acres of Land, according to the order of the countrey. In witnesse whereof, the said ---- hath hereunto put his hand and seate, the day and yeere above written_.

Sealed and delivered in the presence of ----

--_Relation of the state of Maryland_, pp. 62, 63.

[422] Modern Traveller, vol. i. pp. 122, 123.

[423] McMahon's Maryland, vol. i. p. 278.

[424] 1st Pitkin's United States, p. 133.

[425] McMahone says of this convict element: "The pride of this age revolts at the idea of going back to such as these, for the roots of a genealogical tree; and they, whose delight it would be, to trace their blood through many generations of stupid, sluggish, imbecile ancestors, with no claim to merit but the name they carry down, will even submit to be called '_novi homines_,' if a convict stand in the line of ancestry."

[426] With perhaps the single exception of South Carolina, of which the reader will learn more farther on.

[427] American Annals.

[428] Dr. Holmes says, "The total number of mulattoes in Maryland amounted to 3,592," in 1755.

CHAPTER XVII.

THE COLONY OF DELAWARE.

1636-1775.

THE TERRITORY OF DELAWARE SETTLED IN PART BY SWEDES AND DANES, ANTERIOR TO THE YEAR 1678.--THE DUKE OF YORK TRANSFERS THE TERRITORY OF DELAWARE TO WILLIAM PENN.--PENN GRANTS THE COLONY THE PRIVILEGE OF SEPARATE GOVERNMENT.--SLAVERY INTRODUCED ON THE DELAWARE AS EARLY AS 1636.--COMPLAINT AGAINST PETER ALRICKS FOR USING OXEN AND NEGROES BELONGING TO THE COMPANY.--THE FIRST LEGISLATION ON THE SLAVERY QUESTION IN THE COLONY.--AN ENACTMENT OF A LAW FOR THE BETTER REGULATION OF SERVANTS.--AN ACT RESTRAINING MANUMISSION.

Anterior to the year 1638, the territory now occupied by the State of Delaware was settled in part by Swedes and Danes. It has been recorded of them that they early declared that it was "not lawful to buy and keep slaves."[429] But the Dutch claimed the territory. When New Netherlands was ceded to the Duke of York, Delaware was occupied by his representatives. On the 24th of August, 1682, the Duke transferred that territory to William Penn.[430] But in 1703 Penn surrendered the old form of government, and gave the Delaware counties the privilege of a separate administration under the _Charter of Privileges_.

Delaware inaugurated a legislature, but remained under the Council and Governor of Pennsylvania. But slavery made its appearance on the Delaware as early as 1636.[431]

"At this early period there appears to have been slavery on the Delaware. As one Coinclisse was 'condemned, on the 3d of February, to serve the company with the blacks on South River for wounding a soldier at Fort Amsterdam. He was also to pay a fine to the fiscal, and damages to the wounded soldier.' On the 22d, a witness testifying in the case of Governor Van Twiller, (the governor of New Neitherlands before Kieft,) who was charged with neglect and mismanagement of the company's affairs, said that 'he had in his custody for Van Twiller, at Fort Hope and Na.s.sau, twenty-four to thirty goats, and that _three negroes bought by the director_ in 1636, were since employed in his private service.' Thus it will be seen that slavery was introduced on the Delaware as early as 1636, though probably not in this State, as the Dutch at that time had no settlement here."[432]

And on the 15th of September, 1657, complaint was made that Peter Alricks had "used the company's oxen and negroes;" thus showing that there were quite a number of Negroes in the colony at the time mentioned. In September, 1661, there was a meeting between Calvert, D'Hinoyossa, Peter Alricks, and two Indian chiefs, to negotiate terms of peace. At this meeting the Marylanders agreed to furnish the Dutch annually three thousand hogsheads of tobacco, provided the Dutch would "supply them with negroes and other commodities."[433] Negroes were numerous, and an intercolonial traffic in slaves was established.

The first legislation on the slavery question in the colony of Delaware was had in 1721. "_An Act for the trial of Negroes_" provided that two justices and six freeholders should have full power to try "negro and mulatto slaves" for heinous offences. In case slaves were executed, the a.s.sembly paid the owner two-thirds the value of such slave. It forbade convocations of slaves, and made it a misdemeanor to carry arms. During the same year an Act was pa.s.sed punishing adultery and fornication. In case of children of a white woman by a slave, the county court bound them out until they were thirty-one years of age.

In 1739 the Legislature pa.s.sed an Act for the better regulation of servants and slaves, consisting of sixteen articles. It provided that no indentured servant should be sold into another government without the approval of at least one justice. Such servant could not be a.s.signed over except before a justice. If a person manumitted a slave, good security was required: if he failed to do this, the manumission was of no avail. If free Negroes did not care for their children, they were liable to be bound out. In 1767 the Legislature pa.s.sed another Act restraining manumission. It recites:--

"SECTION 2. _And be it enacted by the honorable John Penn, esq. with his Majesty's royal approbation, Lieutenant Governor and Commander in Chief of the counties of New-Castle, Kent and Suss.e.x, upon Delaware, and province of Pennsylvania, under the honorable Thomas Penn and Richard Penn, esquires, true and absolute proprietaries of the said counties and province, by and with the advice and consent of the Representatives of the freemen of the said counties, in General a.s.sembly met, and by the authority of the same_, That if any master or mistress shall, by will or otherwise, discharge or set free any Mulatto or Negro slave or slaves; he or she, or his or her executors or administrators, at the next respective County Court of Quarter Sessions, shall enter into a recognizance with sufficient sureties, to be taken in the name of the Treasurer of the said county for the time being, in the sum of Sixty Pounds for each slave so set free, to indemnify the county from any charge they or any of them may be unto the same, in case of such Negro or Mulattoe's being sick, or otherwise rendered incapable to support him or herself; and that until such recognizance be given, no such Negro or Mulatto shall be deemed free."[434]

The remainder of the slave code in this colony was like unto those of the other colonies, and therefore need not be described. Negroes had no rights, ecclesiastical or political. They had no property, nor could they communicate a relation of any character. They had no religious or secular training, and none of the blessings of home life.

Goaded to the performance of the most severe tasks, their only audible reply was an occasional growl. It sent a feeling of terror through their inhuman masters, and occasioned them many ugly dreams.

FOOTNOTES:

[429] Dr. Stevens in his History of Georgia, vol. i. p. 288, says, "In the Swedish and German colony, which Gustavus Adolphus planted in Delaware, and which in many points resembled the plans of the Trustees, negro servitude was disallowed." But he gives no authority, I regret.

[430] See Laws of Delaware, vol. i. Appendix, pp. 1-4.

[431] Albany Records, vol. ii, p. 10.

[432] Vincent's History of Delaware, p. 159.

[433] Ibid., p. 381.

[434] Laws of Delaware, vol. i. p. 436.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE COLONY OF CONNECTICUT.

1646-1775.

THE FOUNDING OF CONNECTICUT, 1631-36.--NO RELIABLE DATA GIVEN FOR THE INTRODUCTION OF SLAVES.--NEGROES WERE FIRST INTRODUCED SOME DURING THE EARLY YEARS OF THE COLONY.--"COMMITTEE FOR TRADE AND FOREIGN PLANTATIONS."--INTERROGATING THE GOVERNOR AS THE NUMBER OF NEGROES IN THE COLONY IN 1680.--THE LEGISLATURE (1690) Pa.s.sES A LAW PERTAINING TO THE PURCHASE AND TREATMENT OF SLAVES AND FREE PERSONS.--AN ACT Pa.s.sED BY THE GENERAL COURT IN 1711, REQUIRING PERSONS MANUMITTING SLAVES TO MAINTAIN THEM.--REGULATING THE SOCIAL CONDUCT OF SLAVES IN 1723.--THE PUNISHMENT OF NEGRO, INDIAN, AND MULATTO SLAVES, FOR THE USE OF PROFANE LANGUAGE, IN 1630.--LAWFULNESS OF INDIAN AND NEGRO SLAVERY RECOGNIZED BY CODE, SEPT. 5, 1646.--LIMITED RIGHTS OF FREE NEGROES IN THE COLONY.--NEGRO POPULATIONS IN 1762.--ACT AGAINST IMPORTATION OF SLAVES, 1774.

Although the colony of Connecticut was founded between the years 1631 and 1636, there are to be found no reliable data by which to fix the time of the introduction of slavery there.[435] Like the serpent's entrance into the Garden of Eden, slavery entered into this colony stealthily; and its power for evil was discovered only when it had become a formidable social and political element. Vessels from the West Coast of Africa, from the West Indies, and from Barbadoes, landed Negroes for sale in Connecticut during the early years of its settlement. And for many years slavery existed here, without sanction of law, it is true, but perforce of custom. Negroes were bought as laborers and domestics, and it was a long time before their number called for special legislation. But, like a cancer, slavery grew until there was not a single colony in North America that could boast of its ability to check the dreadful curse. When the first slaves were introduced into this colony, can never be known; but, that there were Negro slaves from the beginning, we have the strongest historical presumption. For nearly two decades there was no reference made to slavery in the records of the colony.

In 1680 "the Committee for Trade and Foreign Plantations" addressed to the governors of the North-American plantations or colonies a series of questions. Among the twenty-seven questions put to Gov. Leete of Connecticut, were two referring to Negroes. The questions were as follows:--

"17. What number of English, Scotch, Irish or Forreigners have (for these seaven yeares last past, or any other s.p.a.ce of time) come yearly to plant and inhabit within your Corporation. And also, what Blacks and Slaves have been brought in within the said time, and att what rates?

"18. What number of Whites, Blacks or Mulattos have been born and christened, for these seaven yeares last past, or any other s.p.a.ce of time, for as many yeares as you are able to state on account of?"[436]

To these the governor replied as follows:--

"17. _Answ_. For English, Scotts and Irish, there are so few come in that we cannot give a certain acco't. Som yeares come none; sometimes, a famaly or two, in a year. And for Blacks, there comes sometimes 3 or 4 in a year from Barbadoes; and they are sold usually at the rate of 22'li. a piece, sometimes more and sometimes less, according as men can agree with the master of vessells, or merchants that bring them hither.

"18. _Answ_. We can give no acco't. of the perfect number of either born; but fewe blacks; and but two blacks christened, as we know of."[437]

It is evident that the number of slaves was not great at this time, and that they were few and far between. The sullen and ofttimes revengeful spirit of the Indians had its effect upon the few Negro slaves in the colony. Sometimes they were badly treated by their masters, and occasionally they would run away. The country was new, the settlements scattered; and slavery as an inst.i.tution, at this time and in this colony, in its infancy. The spirit of insubordination among the slave population seemed to call aloud for legislative restriction. In October, 1690, the Legislature pa.s.sed the following bill:--