Moore, G.H., Slavery in Massachusetts (1866)

NOTES
ON THE
HISTORY OF SLAVERY
IN
MASSACHUSE TTS
BY
GEORGE
H.
MOORE
LIBRARIAN OF THE NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY
iis
nescit,
primam
esse historiae
dicere audeat? deinde ne quid veri
legem, ne quid falsi non audeat?

Cic. de Orat. t n., 15.
tf
OF THE OF
rT^v
^L
\
UNIVERSITY
NEW-YORK
D.
APPLETON &
CO.
^&
445
BROADWAY
MDCCCLXVI
Entered, according to Act of Congrefs, in the year 1866, by
GEORGE
In the Clerk
s
H.
MOORE,
New
York.
Office of the Diftridt Court of the United States for the
Southern Diftridl of
Stereotyped by
JOHN
F.
TROW &
Co., 50 Greene Street,
New
York.
CONTENTS.
I.
EARLY HISTORY OF SLAVERY IN MASSACHUSETTS. PURITAN THEORY AND PRACTICE OF SLAVERY.
io
II.
THE LAW
OF SLAVERY IN MASSACHUSETTS.
ITS
ESTABLISHMENT AND MODIFICATION.

HEREDITARY IN MASSACHUSETTS.
SLAVERY
RESOLVE IN
IO
III.
1646, TO RETURN STOLEN NEGROES TO AFRICA, NOT AN ACT HOSTILE TO SLAVERY. SLAVERY OF INDIANS IN MASSACHUSETTS. AT
.
30
TEMPT TO SELL CHILDREN OF QUAKERS. . IV. STATISTICS OF SLAVE-POPULATION. LEGISLATION

CONCERNING SLAVES AND
TION OF SLAVE-PROPERTY.
SLAVERY.
30
48
TAXA
48 72
THE
SLAVE-TRADE.
V. EARLIEST ANTI-SLAVERY MOVEMENTS IN

RICA, IN
AME
RHODE ISLAND AND PENNSYLVANIA.
CHARACTER AND CHIEF-JUSTICE SEWALL. CONDITIONS OF SLAVERY IN MASSACHUSETTS.

JAMES OTIS
ERY.
TRINES.
S
PROTEST AGAINST NEGRO-SLAV
JOHN ADAMS SHUDDERS AT

. .
...
.
HIS
DOC
72111
in
VI.
"
THE FREEDOM
MOVEMENTS
SUITS."
SLAVERY CHALLENGED.
IN
THE LEGISLATURE BETWEEN

.
. 1767 AND 1775. VII. THE DOCTRINE OF PRIZE IN NEGROES.
^7
ACTION OF MASSACHUSETTS IN NATIONAL 1776. LEGISLATION ON THE SUBJECT. HISTORY OF THE DOCTRINE. SOUTH CAROLINA SLAVES CAPTURED BY THE BRITISH, AND RECAPTURED
BY MASSACHUSETTS VESSELS OF WAR. LEGIS-
102116
IV
Contents.
LATIVE AND JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS OF MASSA
CHUSETTS.
......
IN
148
176
VIII. PROGRESS
OF PUBLIC
MASSACHUSETTS
OPINION ON SLAVERY IN DURING THE REVOLUTION.

1777.
ATTEMPT TO ABOLISH SLAVERY

GRESS.
SUBJECT REFERRED TO THE CONTINENTAL
THE CONSTITUTION
OF 1778.
CON CON
o/
TROVERSY ON NEGRO EQUALITY. FREE NEGROES.

IX.
.....
THE QUESTION
IN
STATUS
176200
THE CONSTITUTION
TION OF SLAVERY.
JUDICIAL
OF 1780.
ALLEGED ABOLI
EXAMINED.
LEGISLATION
1781-83.
THE
200
223
JENNISON SLAVE-CASES.
APPEAL OF SLAVE
LEGISLATION
OWNERS TO THE LEGISLATURE.

X. ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE-TRADE.
AGAINST
NEGROES.
EXPULSION OF NEGROES
CONCLUSION.
FROM THE STATE.

APPENDIX.
224
242
A.
THE MILITARY EMPLOYMENT

MASSACHUSETTS.
.....
OF
NEGROES IN
243246
246
250
ADDITIONAL NOTES, ETC. C. JUDGE SAFFIN S REPLY TO JUDGE SEWALL, 1701.

B.
251256
NOTES ON THE HISTORY OF

SLAVERY IN MASSACHUSETTS.
I.
find the
earlieft
records of the hiftory
of flavery in Maflachufetts at the period of the Pequod War a few years after the
Puritan fettlement of the colony. Prior to that time an occafional offender againft the laws was
puniftied by being fold into flavery or adjudged to fervitude; but the inftitution firft appears clearly and di-
of Indians captured in war. tinctly in the enflaving may hereafter add a iketch of the theories which
We
were
held to juftify the bondage of the heathen, but at prefent limit ourfelves to the collection of facts to illuftrate
our general
flavery
left
fubjecl.
And
at the outfet
is
we defire
to fay
that in this hiftory there
men
anywhere.
The
nothing to comfort proftains which flavery
hasj
on the proud efcutcheon even of Maflachufetts,]
are quite as fignificant of its hideous character as the\
Notes on the Hi/lory of
fatanic defiance
of
God and Humanity which accom
panied the laying of the corner-flone of the Slave holders Confederacy. The ftory of the extermination of the Pequods is
well
known* It was that warlike tribe who, in the early months of "that fatal year," 1637, were re ported by Governor Winflow to Winthrop as follows
:
<c
The
Pecoats follow their fifhing
&
planting as
Their women of efteem & they had no enemies. to are children Long Ifland with a ftrong gard gone at Pecoat. They profefle there you mail finde them, and as they were there borne & bred, there their
if
bones mall
Englifh.
be buried,
if
&
rott
in defpight of the
But
the
braggs will soon
fall."
Lord be on our fide, their M. H. S. Coll., iv., vL, 164.
The
extracts
which follow explain themfelves and
hardly require comment. Roger Williams, writing from Providence [in June, fc I underftand it 1637] to John Winthrop, fays:
would be very
Pequts which are taken
gratefvll to our neighbours that fuch as fall to them be not enflaved, like thofe
in
warr ; but (as they fay is their be vfed kindly, haue howfes generall cuftome) becaufe they voluntarily fields given them goods if not receaved will choofe to come in to them,
&
&
&
but of
S.
[go] to the enemie or turne wild I rim themfelues : this more as I mall vnderftand. M. H.
.
.
."
Coll., iv., vi.,
195.
in
fc
Again [probably
July,
1637]
It
having
againe pleafed the Moft High to put into your hands another miferable droue of Adams degenerate feede,
&
our brethren by nature,
am
bold
(if I
may not
Slavery in Majfachufetts.
offend in
one
to requeft the keeping I haue fixed of the children.

it)
&
bringing vp of
this
mine eye on
but
I will
little
one with the red about
his neck,
not
be peremptory in loving pleafure for

iv., vi.,
my
choice,
but
will reft in
your
him or
any,"
&c.
M. H.
S. Coll.,
195-6.
Again [probably i8th September, 1637]: "Sir, concerning captiues (pardon my wonted boldnefs) the Scripture is full of mysterie & the Old Teftament
of types.
"
If they have deserued death
tis
"If
they
?
haue not deserued
sinn to spare death then what

:
punimments
"
weaknd
perpetuall flaverie. doubt not but the enemie may lawfully be children despoild of all comfort of wife
Whether
&
&
&c., but I befeech you well weigh it after a due time of trayning vp to labour reftraint, they ought not to be fet free so as without danger of adioyning yet
&
to the
enemie."
M. H.
S. Coll., iv., vi., 214.
Later in the fame year [Nov. 1637] Roger

liams,
Wil
who had promifed

"
tercede for them,

kindly"
certain fugitive flaves to in to write that they might be vfed
fulfilled his
promife in a
letter to
Winthrop,
ill
in which, after ftating
their complaints of
usage,
&c., he adds
"
My
humble
defire
is
that
all
that haue thefe
poor wretches might be exhorted
as to
&
walke wifely
iuftly towards them, so to make mercy eminent, for in that attribute the Father of mercy moft mines
to
vi.,
Adams
miserable
ofspring."
M. H.
S.
Co!!. y iv.,
218, 219. Hugh Peter writes to
John Winthrop from Salem
4
"
Notes on the Hiftory of

1637)
:
.
(in
Mr. Endecot and my

etc.
felfe falute
you
in
the
Lord Jefus,
:
Wee haue heard of a diuidence of
women and
mare, viz. thinke good.

vi.,
children in the bay and would bee glad of a a young woman or girle and a boy if you
/ wrote
to
you for fome boyes for Ber
mudas, which I thinke

95-
is conjiderable"
M. U.S. Coll.,
iv.,
have a application of Hugh Peter we glimpse of the beginning of the Colonial Slave-Trade. fome boyes for the Bermudas," which wanted In
this
He
"
confiderable." he thought was It would feem to indicate that this difpofition of custom captive Indian boys was in accordance with
"
and previous practice of the authorities.

it is
certain that in the
Pequod War
At any rate, they took many

been
Some of thefe, who had "difposed prifoners. of to particular perfons in the country," Winthrop, i., 232, ran away, and being brought in again were
In July, 1637, Winthrop fays, "We had now flain and taken, in fent fifteen of the boys all, about feven hundred. to and two women Bermuda, by Mr. Peirce but he,
"branded
on the
fhoulder,"
ib.
We
miffing
throp,
it,
i.,
carried
them
to Providence
Ifle,"
Win
s
234.
The
learned editor of
Winthrop
Journal, referring to the fact that this proceeding in that day was probably juftified by reference to the
practice or inftitution of the Jews, very quaintly obcc Yet that cruel people never fent prifoners fo ferves,
far."
Ib., note.
Governor Winthrop, writing to Governor Brad ford of Plymouth, -28th July, 1637, an account of e their fuccefs againft the Pequods y Lords greate
"
Slavery in Maffachusetts.
mercies towards us, in our prevailing againft his
&
our
e
enimies"
"
says
fome to thofe of y river [the Connecticut Colony] and the reft to us. Of thefe we fend the male children to Bermuda, by Mr. William Peirce, & ye women & maid children e are difpofed aboute in y tounes. Ther have now been flaine and taken, in all, aboute 700." M. H. S. Coll.,
prifoners were devided,
The
360. Compare the order for difpofing of in Mass. Records, i., 201. Indian y fquaws," Bradford s note to the letter quoted above, fays
"
iv.,
e
iii.,
of their being fent to Bermuda

ried to
"
But y
were car
f Weft
Indeas."
Hubbard, the contemporary hiftorian of the Indian Of thofe who wer not Wars, fays of thefe captives,
"
fo defperate or fullen to fell their lives for nothing, but yielded in time, the male Children were fent to the
Bermudas, of the females fome were diftributed to the Englim Towns ; fome were difpofed of among the
other Indians, to
well as to
whom
they were deadly enemies, as
ourfelves."
Narrative, 1677, p. 130.
fubfequent entry in Winthrop s Journal gives us another glimpfe of the fubjecl, Feb. 26, 1638. Mr. Peirce, in the Salem ftiip, the Defire, re
"
turned from the Weft Indies after feven months.
He
had been at Providence, and brought fome cotton, and tobacco, and negroes, etc., from thence, and fait from Tertugos Winthrop, L, 254. He adds to this
;"
account that
Dry fiih and ftrong liquors are the commodities for thofe parts. He met there only two men-of-war, fet forth by the lords, etc., of Provi
"
dence with letters of mart,
who had taken
divers
prizes from the Spaniard and many negroes." Long afterwards Dr. Belknap faid of the flave-trade, that the
rum
of
diftilled in
traffick."
MafTachufetts was
"
the mainfpring
S. Coll, i., iv., 197. cc sent that the male children they JolTelyn fays, of the Pequets to the Bermudus." M.H.S. 258.
1
this
M. H.
Coll., iv., iii.,
36O.
cargo of women and children was probably not the only one fent, for the Company of
This
lingle
Providence Ifland, in replying from London in 1638, July 3, to letters from the authorities in the ifland,
direct fpecial care
to be taken of the
cc
Cannibal ne
Sain/fury s groes brought from New England." Calendar 1574 1660, 2y8. 2 And in 1639, wnen tne Company feared that the
>
great to be managed, the authorities thought they might be fold and fent to New England or Virginia. 7A, 296.
number of the negroes might become too
The
of the
"
fhip
Defire"
was a
veflel
of one hundred
in 1636,
and twenty tons,
built at
Marblehead
one
earliefl built in the Colony. Winthropj i., 193. In the Pequot War, fome of the Narraganfetts
ifland called the
Governor Winthrop Governor

and
"
in his will (1639-41) left to his fon

s
"
there
ii.,
my
Garden, adding, boat and fuch houfehold as is
I give
him
alfo
Adam his my Indians
there."
Winthrop s Journal^
360., App.
2
We would
have the Cannibal negroes brought from
New
England
P. R. O. inquired after, whofe they are, and fpeciall care taken of them." In the preface to the Colonial Calendar, p. Col. Ent. Bk., Vol. iv., p. 1 24. xxv., Mr. Sainfbury explains why no anfwers to the Company s letters are
in the State
Paper
Office.
The Bahama
Iflands
were governed abfolutely
by
Company in London, and unfortunately the letters received by the Company have not been preferred, or if fo, it is not known where they now are. MS. Letter.
a
Slavery in Majfachujetts.
joined the Englifh in part of the prifoners
its
profecution, and received a

flaves,
as
for their
fervices.
Miantunnomoh
twenty.
"
received eighty, Ninigret was to have Mather fays of the principal engagement,
the captives that were taken were about one hundred and eighty, which were divided between the two
Colonyes, and they intended to keep them as fervants, but they could not endure the Yoke, for few of
ters."
them continued any confiderable time with their mas Drake, 122, 146. Mather s Relation, quoted by
See alfo Hartford Treaty, Sept. 21, 1638, Drake, 39. Drake s Mather, 150, 151. in Drake, 125. Captain Stoughton, who aflifted in the work of
exterminating the Pequots, after his arrival in the enemy s country, wrote to the Governor of Maflachufetts
[Winthrop]
as follows
"
fhall receive forty-eight or fifty

. .
.
Concerning which, there is tioned, that is the faireft and largest that
them, to
It
is
By this pinnace, you women and children. one, I formerly men
my
I faw amongft have given a coate to cloathe her. defire to have her for a fervant, if it may
whom
ftand with your good liking, elfe not. There is a little fquaw that Steward Culacut desireth, to whom
he hath given a coate.
Lieut.
Davenport alfo
defireth
one, to wit, a fmall one, that hath three ftrokes upon her ftomach, thus: defireth her, if it +. will ftand with your liking. Sofomon, the Indian,
1||
He
defireth a
young
little
fquaw, which
know
not."
MS.
Letter in Mafs. Archives, quoted
by Drake, 171.
has preferved
indeed,
An
early traveller in
New England
for us the record of
one of the
at
earlieft, if not,
the very
firft
attempt
breeding of flaves in
Amer-
8
ica.
The
following paflage from JofTelyn
Account
at
of
Two
Voyages to
New
England, published
Lon
don
in 1664, will explain itfelf:

"The
clock in the morning
Second of Qttober^ [1639] a ôut 9 of the Mr. Mavericks Negro woman
came
chamber window, and in her own Countrey language and tune fang very loud and fhrill, go
to
my
ing out to her,
me
ufed a great deal of refpect to
wards me, and willingly would have exprefTed her grief in Englijh ; but I apprehended it by her coun
tenance and deportment, whereupon I repaired to my hoft, to learn of him the caufe, and refolved to
intreat
him
in her behalf, for that I underftood be
fore, that
me had
been a Queen in her own Coun-
trey, and obferved a very humble and dutiful garb ufed towards her by another Negro who was her maid, Mr. Maverick was defirous to have a breed of Ne
groes,
not yield by perfuafions to company with a Negro young man he had in his houfe he commanded him wilPd me nill d
;
and therefore feeing
me would
me
but
her
to
go
to
bed to
her,
which was no fooner done
me
difdain
again, this me took in high her beyond flavery, and this was the caufe of
kickt
him out
and fpent about ten years in this country, from 163839 and In fpeaking of the people of Bofton 1663 to 1671. he mentions that the people are well accommodated
twice,
"
Jo/elyn, 28. Joflelyn vifited

grief."
New England
with fervants
Negroes."
....
of thefe fome are Englifh, others
Ibid., 182.
Palfrey fays: "Before Winthrop s arrival there were two negro flaves in Maflachufetts, held
Mr.
9
Hiftory of
by Mr. Maverickj on Noddle
Ifland."
New
England,
II.,
30,
note.
it
If there
is
is
any evidence
to fuftain
this
ftatement,
certainly not in the
authority to which he refers.

inference
is
On
all
irrefiftible
from
the contrary, the the authorities to
gether, that the negroes of Mr. Maverick were a por tion of thofe imported in the firft colonial flave-fhip,
the Defire, of whofe voyage we have given the hiftory. It is not to be fuppofed that Mr. Maverick had
waited ten years before taking the fteps towards im proving his ftock of negroes, which are referred to
by JofTelyn. Ten years flavery on Noddle s Ifland would have made the negro-queen more familiar with the Englifh language, if not more compliant to the
brutal cuftoms of flavery. It will be obferved that this
firft
entrance into the
flave-trade was not a private, individual fpeculation. It was the enterprife of the authorities of the Colony.
And
on the ijth March, 1639, it was ordered by the General Court 3/ $s should be paid Leiftenant
""that
Davenport
repay
it
for the prefent, for charge
diflburfed for
it,
the flaves, which,
when they have earned
hee
c<
is
to
back
againe."
e
The
marginal note
is,
i.,
Lieft.
Davenport
to keep
flaues."
Majs. Rec.,
253.
Emanuel Downing, a lawyer of the Inner Tem ple, London, who married Lucy Winthrop, iifter of the elder Winthrop, came over to New England in The editors of the Winthrop papers fay of 1638. There were few more active or efficient friends him,
"
of the Maflachufetts Colony during its earlieft and moft critical period." His fon was the famous Sir
George Downing,
Englifti ambaflador at the
Hague.
io
In a
letter to his brother-in-law, "probably writ
ten during the

illustration
fummer of
1645,"
is
moft luminous
of the views of that day and generation

ilavery.
on the subject of human

"
He
is
warr with the Narraganfett

I
fays verie confider-
able to this plantation, ffor
doubt whither yt be not fynne in vs, hauing power in our hands, to fuffer them to maynteyne the worihip of the devill, which their paw wawes often doe 2lie, if upon a Juft warre
;
the
Lord mould
deliver
them
into
our hands, we
might eafily haue men, woemen and children enough to exchange for cores, which wilbe more gayneful
for I doe not fee pilladge for vs than wee conceive, how wee can thrive vntill wee gett into a flock of
slaves fufficient to doe
ren
children will
our buifmes, for our child hardly fee this great Continent
all
filled
with people, foe that our fervants will ftill defire freedom to plant for them felues, and not ftay but for
fuppofe you know verie cores cheaper than maynteyne 20
I
verie great wages. well how wee mall
And
one Englifhe fervant.

"
The mips
if
that mall bring

fait
all
home
laden with
Moores may come which may beare most of the

But
I
marvayle Conecticott mould any wayes hafard a warre without your advife, which they cannot mayntayne without your helpe."
chardge,
not
of
yt.
M. H.
S. Coll, iv., vi.,
65.
II.
WE
come now
the fubjed of
human bondage
to the era of pofitive legiflation on Mr. in America.
n
<c
Hurd,
the ableft writer
on
this fubject, fays
The
involuntary fervitude of Indians and negroes in the feveral colonies originated under a law not promulgated
by
legiflation,
verfal
and refted upon prevalent views of unijurifprudence, or the law of nations , fupported
by the exprefs or implied authority of the home Gov ernment/ Law of Freedom and Bondage, 216, i.,
225.
Under
faid to
this fanction flavery

all
may
very properly be
have originated in
it
not long before
made
its
the colonies, but it was appearance on the ftatutefirfl
book
in
MafTachufetts.
is
The
to be
ftatute
eftablifti-
ing flavery in America
found
in the
famous
CODE OF FUNDAMENTALS, or BODY OF LIBERTIES OF THE MASSACHUSETTS COLONY IN NEW-ENGLAND the firft code of laws of that colony, adopted in Decem
Thefe liberties had been, after a long the magiftrates and the people, exbetween ftruggle from traded the reluctant grafp of the former.
ber,
1641.
"
The
and thought much power
people had [1639] long defireda body of laws, their condition very unfafe, while fo refted in the difcretion of magiftrat.es."
Never were the demands of a free Winthrop) i., 322. eluded their people by public fervants with more of the contortions as well as wifdom of the ferpent.
Compare Gray
in
The
fcantinefs
hiftory of this attempt to trace with certainty to its origin the law in queftion. It is, however, obvious that it was
S., m., viii., 208. of the materials for the particular renowned code is fuch as to forbid the
M. H.
to provide for flavery as an exifting, subftantial fact, if not to reftrain the application of thofe higher-
made
12
law doctrines, which the magistrates muft have fomeThe times found inconvenient in adminiftration.
preamble to the Body of Liberties itfelf might have been conftrued into fome vague recognition of rights
in individual
members of fociety
power
although it of the moft arbitrary authority in the then actual holders of legiflative and executive power. Compare Had Hurd*s Law of Freedom and Bondage, i., 198.
they only learned to reafon as fome of the modern of MafTachufetts hiftory have done on this
fuperior to legiflative was promulgated by the pofTerTors
writers
the poor Indians and Negroes of that day have compelled additional legiflation if they might could not vindicate their rights to freedom in the gen For the firft article of the Declaration of eral court.
fubjecl,
Rights in 1780,
ing
is
only a new edition of

"
and founding
generalities
the glitter which prefaced the

latter,
cc
Body of
Liberties in 1641.
Under the
human
flavery exifted for nearly a century and a half without ferious challenge, while under the former it is faid to have been abolifhed by inference by a public opinion
which
ftill
continued to tolerate the flave-trade.
But
to the law
and the testimony.
The
ninetyfol
firfl article
of the
Body
of Liberties appears as
lows, under the head of

"
Liberties of Forreiners
and
Strangers.
flaverie, vil-
"
91.
There mail never be any bond

captivitie
linage or
amongft us unles
it
be lawfull
captives taken in jufl warres, and fuch Strangers as And willingly felle themfelves or are fold to us.
thefe mall
have
all
the liberties and Chriftian ufages
13
which the law of
God
eftablifhed in Ifraell concerning
This exempts .be Jfltall who fervltude from none Judged thereto by M. H. S. Coîii.^vm y 231, Authentic." Thefe laws were not printed, but were published 1 in manufcript under the fuperintendence of a com
fuch perfons doeth morally require.
mittee in which Deputy-Governor Endicott was aflbciated with Mr. Downing and Mr. Hauthorne, and,
Governor Winthrop fays, "eftablifhed for three years, by that experience to have them fully amended and
eftablifhed to be
9
perpetual."
Majs. Recordsy
IL,
i.,
344,
55. By the ninety346. Winthrop laft fection of this code, it was decreed as and eighth follows :
s
Journal,
Laftly becaufe our dutie and defire is to do nothing fuddainlie which fundamentally concerne us, we decree that thefe rites and liberties, mall be Audc<
98.
ably read and deliberately weighed at every Generall Court that mall be held, within three yeares next infueing, And fuch of them as mall not be altered or
repealed they mall ftand fo ratified,
"
That no man mall them due without punimment. infringe And if any Generall Court within thefe next thre yeares mall faile or forget to reade and confider them as abovefaid, The Governor and Deputy Gov ernor for the time being, and every Affiftant prefent
at fuch Courts, mall forfeite
Deputie 10 m. a
1
man
for each neglect,
20 m. a man, and everie which mall be
There is no reafon to doubt the authenticity of the ancient MS. which was the foundation of the very able and inftru&ive paper of the late Mr. Francis C. Gray on The Early Laws of Ma/achufetts" as a part of
"
which the Body of Liberties was printed
in 1843.
14
paid out of their proper eftate, and not by the Coun try or the Townes which choofe them, and whenfoever
there
amonge
erall
mall arife any queftion in any Court the Affiftants and AfTbciates thereof about
The GenCourt onely mall have power to interprett them." M. H. S. Coll., in., viii., 236, 237. It is not to be doubted that at the following fefthe explanation of thefe Rites and liberties. the lawes were read of the General Court, this in with accordance decree. And before over, of the three committees the expiration were ap years,
fions
"
pointed to revife the Body of Liberties, and orders relating to it were parTed every year afterward until
1648,
when
the laws were
firft
printed.
Gray
Re
fup-
ports, ix., 513^ Of this firft printed edition of the laws it pofed that no copy is now in exiftence. Ibid.
is
is
This
to be regretted, as a comparifon might poffome light on the change in the law of throw fibly flavery, which appears in all the fubfequent editions.
much
Although hitherto
highly important
;
entirely unnoticed, we regard it as for it takes away the foundation
of a grievous charge againft that God-fearing and lawcc For, if no perfon was ever born abiding people. into legal flavery in Maflachufetts," there was a moft
mocking chronic violation of law in that Colony and Province for more than a century, hardly to be recon
ciled with their hiftqrical reputation.
1
In the elaborate, learned, and moft valuable note of Mr. Gray, here
it is
referred to, the reader will
find references to all the original authorities, needlefs to repeat in this place. have been unable to veri fy his reference to Mafs. Records, n., 2, for proceedings of the General Court on the aoth May, 1642, in the common copies of that volume.
which
We
Slavery in Maffachujetts.
15
In the fecond printed edition, that of 1660, the law appears as follows, under the title
"
BOND-SLAVERY.
this
is
ITof;
Ordered by
Court
&
Authority there
it
That
there fhall never be any bond-flavery/
villenage or captivity amongft us, unles
be Lawful]
captives, taken in jufl warrs, [or JucH\ as \Jhall~\ will ingly fell themfelves, or are fold to us, and fuch fhall
have the
liberties,
Law
of
God
Chriftian ufuage, which the eftablifhed in Ifrael, Concerning fuch
&
perfons, doth morally require, provided this exempts none from fervitude, who mall be judged thereto by
Authority.
[1641.]"
Mafs. Laws, Ed. 1660,^.5.
brackets appear among the manufcript corrections of the copy which (former ly the property of Mr. Secretary Rawfon, who was
italicized in
The words
himfelf apparently the Editor of the volume) is now preferved in the Library of the American Antiquarian
It is plain, Society at Worcefter, in Maffachufetts. that the text however, printed required correction, and although no better authority can poffibly be de
manded than
error,
that of the Editor himfelf

in
it is
confirmed
by the subfequent edition of 1672,
which the fame
having been repeated in the text, is made the occasion of a correction in the printed table of errata.
There
felf ;
is
but the intention
want of accuracy even in this correction itis fo obvious that it cannot be

ftill
miftaken.
To
Mafs. Laws, Ed. 1672, pp. 10, 170. prevent any poflible doubt which may
linger in the
mind of any
reader at the end of the

firft
demonflration through which we ourfelves
arrived
at this refult,
add the following record evi dence afterwards difcovered which it will puzzle the moil aftute critic to make cc void and of none effect."
will
<c
we
In May, 1670, on the laft day of the month, a committee was appointed by the General Court to pervfe all our lawes now in force, to collect & drawe
vp any
literall errors
or mifplacing of words or fen-
tences therein, or any libertjes infringed, and to make a convenient table for the ready finding of all things therein, that fo they may be fitted ffor the preffe,
&
the fame to prefent to the next feffion of this Court, to be further confidered off approved by the Court."
&
Mafs. Records,
At
iv., ii., 453. the following feffion of the Court, the
com
:
mittee prefented their report accordingly, and on the 1 2th October, 1670, the following order was made
confidered of Court, having pervfed the returne of the comittee, to whom the revejw of the, lawes was referred, &c., by the Generall Court in
cc
The
&
May
cc
laft,
that in
*****
as
to
the litterall erratars, &c., do order
Page
5,
Ij
3,
tit.
Bondflauery, read
or fuch as
mall willingly/ &c." Mafs. Records, iv., ii., 467. As the circumftances under which all thefe laws
and
were originally compofed and after long minute difcuflion, examination, and repeated revifions, finally fettled and eftablifhed, forbid the fuppofition that flavery came in an unbidden or unwelcome gueft
liberties
fo is it equally impoffible to
admit that
this altera
tion of the fpecial law of flavery
important and
fignificant a
by the omiffion of so word could have been acci
dental or without motive.
Slavery in Maffachufetts.
17
If under the original law the children of enflaved

captives and ftrangers might poflibly have claimed exemption from that fervitude to which the recognized common law of nations afligned them from their
amendment, by finking out the word ftrangers/ removed the neceffity for alienage or foreign birth as a qualification for flavery, and took
birth
"
this
off the prohibition againft the children of flaves being cc born into legal flavery in Maffachufetts."
is true there is little probability that in thofe of thefe the natural little heathen, born in rights days a Chriftian land, would have been much regarded, or
It
that the owners of flave parents would have had much difficulty in quieting the title by having the.increafe
of their chattels duly "judged" to fervitude by in accordance with the civil law; ftill authoritie,"
which
there might have been color for the claim to freedom, this amendment effectually barred. And this
was in accordance, too, with the law of Mofes children of flaves remained flaves, being the cc born in the houfe." defcribed as
the
clafs
This Maffachufetts law of flavery was not a regu cc lation of the ftatus of indentured fervants. Bondnot the name of was their neither is fervice, flavery"
it
cc Liberties of Jervants" but thofe placed among the of Forreiners and ftrangers" And in all the editions
"
of the laws,
"
this diftinction is
maintained;
title.
"
Bondfer
flavery being invariably a feparate for a term of years would vants
White
hardly be defignated
as ftrangers,
1
and a careful ftudy of the whole fubjed:

in his letter to
John Cotton,
Scots,
whom God
delivered
into
Cromwell, July 28, 1651, fays: "the your hands at Dunbarre, and whereof

at leafl the
justifies
doubt whether the

all.
privileges of
fervants belonged to flaves at
law mufl be interpreted in the light of con temporaneous fads of hiflory. At the time it was
The
made
1.
(1641), what had
Indian flaves
authors to provide for? their captives taken in war.

its
2.
Negro
Haves
their
own
by
importations
purchafe
or
of
ex
"flrangers"
obtained
change.
3.
Criminals
condemned
to flavery as a punifh-
ment
In
for offences.
and only in this light, is their legiflation intelligible and confiflent. It is very true that the code of which this law is a part cc exhibits through out the hand of the practifed lawyer, familiar with the but principles and fecurities of Englifh Liberty who had ever heard, at that time, of the commonthis light,
;"
"
law rights of Indians and negroes, or anybody but Englimmen ?
"
elfe
Thus
flood the flatute through the whole colonial

it
period, and the Mofaic
was never expreffly repealed.

it
Bafed on
an abfolute recognition of code, as a flavery legitimate flatus, and of the right of one man to fell himfelf as well as that of another man to
is
buy him.
and
fetts
and the per of Indians and their children petual bondage negroes,
It fanclions the flave-trade,
their children s children,
and entitles MafTachuto precedence over any and all the other colonies
we have been
defirous (as
fundry were fent hither,
we
could) to
make
their
have not been fold for flaves to perpetuall fervitude, but for 6, or 7 or 8 yearesj as we do our owne." Hutchinforfs He certainly did not mean our owne Indians and negroes. Coll.y 235.
yoke
eafy.
They
"
"
19
in fimilar legiflation. It anticipates by many years of the fort to be found in the flatutes of Vir anything
ginia, or
like
it
is
her
i.,
fifler
Maryland, or South Carolina, and nothing to be found in the contemporary codes of colonies in New England. Compare Hildreth,
278.
Yet this very law has been gravely cited in a paper communicated to the MafTachufetts Hiftorical Society, and twice reprinted in its publications with
out challenge or correction, as an evidence that
far as it felt free to follow its
"
fo
own
inclinations,
un
controlled
by
the
action
of the mother
country,
Maflachufetts was hoftile to flavery as an
inftitution."
M. H. S. Coll., iv., iv., 334. Proc., 1855-58,^. 189. And with the ftatute before them, it has been perand repeated by all forts of authori historical and legal, up to that of the Chief ties, Juftice of the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth, that flavery to a certain extent feems to have crept in ; not probably by force of any law, for none fuch is found or known to exift." Commonwealth vs. Aves,
fiftently aflerted
"
8 Pickering,
208.
Shaw,
C. J.
leading cafe in Maflachufetts is that of Winchendon vs. Hatfield in error, iv Majs. Reports, 123. It relates to the fettlement of a negro pauper who had
The
been a flave
as early as 1757, and pafled through the hands of nine feparate owners before 1775. From the ninth he abfconded, and enlifted in the Mafla
chufetts
the eight-months men, at bridge, in the beginning of the Revolutionary
Army among
fervice
Cam
War.
His term of
again fold,
had not expired when he was in July, 1776, to another citizen of Mafla-
2o
chufetts, with
whom he lived about five weeks, when he enlifled into the three-years fervice, and his laft owner received the whole of his bounty and part of
his wages.
EDOM LONDON,
for fuch
was the name of
this
revolutionary patriot, in 1806 was "poor," and "had become chargeable" to the town in which he refided. That town magnanimoufly ftruggled through all the Courts, from the Justices Court up to the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth, to fhift the refponsibility for the maintenance and fupport of the old foldier from itfelf to one of the numerous other towns in which he had fojourned from time to time as the flave
of his eleven matters. but

in
it is
The attempt was

fettled
unfuccefsful
worthy of notice, as Chief Juflice Parfons,
the decifion
on the appeal,
important points concerning the laws

Maffachufetts.
"
feveral very of flavery in
He
said
Slavery was introduced into this country [MafTachufetts] foon after its firft fettlement, and was tol
erated until the ratification of the prefent Conttitution The iflue of the [the Constitution of 1780].
.
.
.
female flave, according to the maxim of the Civil law, was the property of her matter."
With
Dana,
regard to this latter
point,
Chief Juftice
ftated as the
in directing a jury, in 1796,
had
unanimous opinion of the Court, that a negro born in the State before the Conftitution of 1780, was born
free,
although born of a female flave. Chief Juftice Parfons, however, candidly declared
"it
that
common
very certain that the general practice and ufage had been oppofed to this opinion."
is
Slavery in Maffachujctts.
21
this
Chief Juftice Parker, in 1816, cautioufly confirmed view of the fubject by his predeceflbr. Andover
"
vs. Canton, 13 Mafs. Reports, 551-552..
The
practice was
...
to confider fuch ifTue as
and the property of the mafter of the parents, be fold and transferred like other chattels, and as aflets in the hands of executors and adminiftraHe adds, "we think there is no doubt that, tors." at any period of our hiftory, the iflue of a flave huf* band and a free wife would have been declared
flaves,
liable to
free."
children, if the ifTue of a marriage with a flave, would, immediately on their birth, become the
"His
property of his mafter, or of the mafter of the female

flave."
Notwithftanding
fpeech in the Senate,
that
flave
"in
all this,
in
Mr. Sumner
famous
all
June 28, 1854, he boldly afferted her annals, no perfon was ever born a
of
"if,
on the
of
fact,
the
bondage, it of Colony or Commonwealth."
in point Maflachufetts," and of flaves was fometimes held in was never by fanction of any ftatute-law
foil
iflue
And
fubject.
recent
writers of hiftory in
Maflachufetts
this
have aflumed a flmilar lofty and positive tone on

:
Mr. Palfrey fays "In fact, no perfon was ever born into legal flavery in Maffachufetts." Hift.
N.
Neither Mr. Sumner nor Mr. 30, note. authorities for their ftatements bePalfrey give any
E.y
ii.,
1
travelled through the northern parts of the United and 1808, referring to this fubjeft, fays While 1807 years flavery was maintained in Maflachufetts, there was a particular temptation to negroes for taking Indian wives, the children of Indian women being
Kendall,
who
States in the
"
acknowledged to be
tute, Vol. vii., p. 73.
free."
Travels, n., 179.
See Hift.
Coll.
E/ex
Infti-
Cafe ofPriscilla y &c. y againfl Simmons.
22

cafes in Majfachufetts Reports, iv., 128,
yond the
129
xvi., 73, and Cujhings Reports, x., 410, which are alfo referred to by Mr. Juflice Gray in a ftill more recent The diftinguifhed and authoritative publication. fo of this ability gentleman, long recognized and
acknowledged at the bar in Maflachufetts, ample honor to the bench to which he is

advanced.
will
do
fo juftly
We
entertain the higheft refpect for his
attainments, his
judgment, and
but in
error,
this inftance
we
his critical fagacity ; think he has fallen into a ferious
which not even the great weight of his authority

the
:
can eftablifh or perpetuate in hiftory. In an elaborate hiftorical note to

Oliver vs. Sale,
cc
>uincy
cafe
of
s Reports, 29,
he fays
Previoufly to the adoption of the State Conftitution in 1780, negro flavery exifted to fome extent, and negroes held as flaves might be fold, but all
children ofjlaves
So
been
diftincl:
were by law free" and pofitive an aflertion mould have
by unequivocal authority. In this cafe Mr. Gray gives us two or three dozen feparate refer ences. Thefe are numerous and conclusive enough
fortified
as to the fads in the
firft
claufes
of his ftatement
that negro flavery exifted in MafTachufetts, negro Haves might be fold ; but for the laft
and that and moft
important part of it, that all children of Jlaves were by law free ^ there is not an iota of evidence or author1
been
In the cafe of Newport vs. Billing, which Mr. Gray believes to have the lateft inftance of a verdift for the mafter," it was found by the
" "
highest court in MafTachufetts, on appeal from a fimilar decifion in the in that the faid Amos [Newport] was not a freeman* as he ferior court,
alledged, but the
Lj6%,foL 284.
As
proper Have of the faid Jofeph [Billing]. this feems to have been one of the fo-called
Records.,
"
freedom
23
the ity in the entire array, excepting Court in 1796, already referred to.
opinion of the
in 1796, the which has been fo often quoted to fuftain reputa tion of MafTachufetts for early and confident zeal
Court,"
This
cc
unanimous opinion of the
to carry the weight againft flavery, will hardly fuffice In the firft place, the fads proved to afligned to it.
the jury in the case itfelf were fet at naught by the Court in the ftatement of this opinion. quote them, omitting the peculiar phrafeology by which they
We
are difguifed in the report. An action was brought
by the inhabitants of Lit
tleton, to recover the expenfe of maintaining a negro, It was tried in againft Tuttle, his former mafter.
was Cato.
negro s name father, Scipio, was a negro flave when Cato was born, the property of Nathan Cato s mother, Chafe, an inhabitant of Littleton.
Middlefex, October Term, 1796.
The
His
named
named
Violet, was a negro in the fame condition, and the property of Jofeph Harwood. Scipio and Violet
were lawfully married, and had
iflue,
Cato, born in
Littleton, January i8th, 1773, a flave, the property of the faid Harwood, as the owner of his mother.
Mafs. Reports, iv., 128, note. But whatever may be inferred from thefe
taken in connection with the
"opinion"
facts
of the Court,
in 1796, we afk the attention of the reader to another cafe a little later, before the fame tribunal. In the
cafe
of Perkins, Town Treafurer offopsfield, vs. Emerson, tried in Eflex, the Court held that a certain negro
cafes,"
it
"
is
to be regretted that
whether
the faid
Amos
"
Mr. Gray did not afcertain from the was a native of Maflachufetts
!
files
24
girl
born in the Province
in
Wenham
in 1759,
was a
(lave belonging to Emerfon from 1765 to 1776, when flie was freed. This decifion was in November, 1799.
Danes Abridgment, n., 412. Thus it appears that the Supreme Judicial Court of Maffachufetts inftruded
a jury in 1796, by an unanimous opinion, that a negro born in the State before the Conftitution of 1780, was born free, although born of a female flave. Three
fame Court and the fame judges 1 (three out of four), held a negro girl born in the prov ince in 1759 to h ave keen the lawful flave of a citi zen of Maflachufetts from 1765 to 1776. In the
years
later,
the
latter cafe, too, the decifion
of the Court was given on the queftion of law alone, as prefented upon an agreed ftatement of the fads. MS. Copy of Court Rec
ords.
Connecticut prefents an illuftration of cc It is that of a fugitive flave, and great importance. in Hartford, 1703," of which an attempted refcue,
cafe in
account
bull
s
given in one of Mr. J. Hammond Trumadmirable articles on fome of the Connecticut

is
Statutes.
"The
Hiftorical Notes,
etc.,
case laid
before
1704,"
the
No. vi. Honorable General

of facts,
Affembly in October,
etc.,
after a ftatement
proceeds with reafons for the return of the fugi tive, fome of which we quote.
1
The
judges prefent at thefe
Terms
refpeftively
were the following,

in
viz.
Ottober Term, 1796, in Middlesex:
November Term, 1799,

Robert Treat Paine,
E/ex:
Francis Dana, Chief Juftice.
Francis Dana, Chief Jujlice.
Robert Treat Paine,

Increafe Sumner,
Theophilus Bradbury,
Nathan Cufhing, Thomas Dawes, jr.,
Nathan Cufhing,
Juftices.
Juftices.
cc
25
i.
According
to the
laws and conflant frattice of
this colony
and
all other plantations^ (as well as
by the
civil law) Juch ferjons as are born of negro bond-women are themfehes in like condition, that is, born in ferviNor can there be any precedent in this government, tude.
or any of her Majefly

trary}-
s plantations^
produced
this
to
the con
And
though the law of
colony doth not
fay that fuch perfons as are born of negro women and fuppofed to be mulattoes, mail be flaves, (which was needlefs, becaufe of the conflant frattice by which they are held as Juch^) yet it faith expreffly that * no man
mail put away or

etc.,
make
free his
which undeniably
mows
negro or mulatto flave, and declares an approba
tion of fuch fervitude, and that mulattoes
may be held
as flaves within this government." The value of this teflimony on the fubject is en
hanced by the character and pofition of the witnefs. He was Gurdon Saltonftall, born in Maflachufetts, the fon of a magiftrate, educated at Harvard College,
and afterwards Governor of Connecticut,

time the popular minifter of the
"at
that
New London church,
and nearly
as diftinguifhed at the bar as in the pulpit.
The
and confidential advifer of the governor (Winthrop), who was one of his parifhioners, his in fluence was already felt in the Colonial Councils, and he was largely entrufted with the management of public affairs. In general fcholarfhip, and in the extent of
friend
his profeffional ftudies,
both in divinity and law, he had probably no fuperior in the colony as an advo:
1
"
All Slave-Keepers Apoflates" p. 1 1 ., enumerating Lay, in his traft the hardships of the inftitution, fays, Nor doth this fatisfy, but their children alfo are kept in ad infinitum ,-..." flavery,
"
26
cate,
according to the testimony of his contemporaries, he had no equal." J. Hammond I rumbull s Hiftorical
Notes.
Backus, n., 35.
tfrumbull s Connecticut,
alfo
VoL
i.
(1797),
417. Mr. Trumbull
1722, as to the flatus Indian captive-flaves, in a memorial to the Legiflature, from which it is apparent that no doubt was enter
raifed in
mentions a queftion of the children of
tained as to the legal flavery of children of negroes or
imported Indians from beyond
feas.
Ample
of the
fact,
evidence
given elfewhere in these notes of Haves were actually the children that
is
held and taken
to
be
flaves,
the
owners of the mothers,

ferred like other chattels
liable to
property of the be fold and trans
and
as aflets in the
1
hands of
executors and adminiftrators.

in
This
;
many
thing more patent
portions of this hiflory to the reader.
comes out there is no one

fact
The
inftances are
numerous, and it is needlefs to recapitulate them here; but it may be proper to refer to the facts that in
the inductions
of
the
town of Leicefter
to their
representative in 1773, among the ways and means fuggefted for extinguishing flavery, they propofed
that every negro child that mall be born in faid government after the enacting fuch law fhould be free
<c
at the
fame age that the children of white people are," and in the petition of the negro flaves for relief in
1
"
bill
of
fale,
transfer the property in a
or other formal inftrument, was not neceflary to flave, which was a mere perfonal chattel, and
might
pafs, as other chattels,
Reports,
no.
by delivery." Milford vs. Bellingham, 1 6 Mafs. Governor Dudley s report to the Board of Trade on flaves
"in
and the
Amer.
flave-trade in Maffachufetts, etc., in 1708, ftated that
Boston,
there are 400 negro fervants, one half of whom fwere born
Stat. A/oc.,
i.,
here"
Collections
586.
Slavery in MaJJTachufetts.
27
1777 to the General Court of Maflachufetts, they cc their children (who were born in humbly pray that this land of liberty) may not be held as flaves after
they arrive at the age of twenty-one
Archives.
years."
Majs.
The
Revolutionary Rejolves, Vol. VIL, p. 132. Articles of Confederation of the United
Colonies of
commence with
coming
England, I9th May, 1643, which the famous recital of their object in to adinto thofe parts of America, viz.,*
"
New
vaunce the Kingdome of our Lord Jefus Chrift, and to enjoy the liberties of the Gofpell in puritie with recognize the lawful exiftence of peace," practically
flavery.
fourth Article, which provides for the due cc charge of all juft warrs adjuftment of the expenfe or whether offenfive or defenfive," concludes as fol
The
lows
"
And
that according to their different charge of
eich Jurifdiccon
of the warr
whether
it
(if
it
and plantacon, the whole advantage pleafe God to blefs their Endeavours)
be in lands, goods, or PERSONS, mall be proportionably devided among the faid Confederats."
Hazard,
Plymouth Records, ix., 4. The fame feature remained in the Conftitution of the Con
n., 3.
federacy to the end of

of 1672.
its exiftence.
See Ratification
Plymouth Records, x., 349. original of the Fugitive Slave Law provifion in the Federal Conftitution is to be traced to this
The
The agreement between Leifler of New York, and the Commiflioners of Maflachufetts, Plymouth, and Connecticut, May i, 1690, provided that e "all plunder and captives (if any happen) mail be divided to y officers and
1
foldiers
according to y Cuftome of Warr." N. T. Doc. Hift., n., 134, 157. Stoughton and Sewall were the Commiflioners for Maflachufetts.
28
Confederacy, in which Maflachufetts was the ruling The Commiflioners of the United Colonies colony.
found occasion to complain to the Dutch Governor in New Netherlands, in 1646, of the fact that the
Dutch agent
"
at
Hartford had harbored
Indian woman-flave, of whom Such a fervant is parte of
a fugitive they fay in their letter her mailer s eflate, and a

:
more
considerable parte than a for the rendition of fugitives,
beafl."
provision
etQ.,
was afterwards
the Englifh.
made by
treaty between the
Dutch and
Plymouth Colony Records, ix., 6, 64, 190. Hiflorians have generally fuppofed that the trans
actions in 1644-5, which Thomas Keyfer and one the latter a member of the church of James Smith,
firfl Boflon, were implicated, brought colonies the guilt of participating in the African Haves," Bancroft, i., 173-4.
"
upon the
traffic
in
The
the
firfl
account which we have given of the voyage of

colonial flave-fhip, the Defire, shows this to
have been an error, and that which we mall give of thefe tranfactions will expofe another of quite as much
importance.
Hildreth, in whofe hiflory the curious and inflructive dory of New England theocracy is narrated with scrupulous fidelity, gives fo clear an account of
this
bufinefs as to
require
quote him with

authorities,
flight
alteration, and we and references to the additions,

little
which he does not give in detail. This affair has been magnified by too precipitate an admiration into a protefl on the part of Maflachu
fetts againfl flavery
and the
flave-trade.
So
far,
firfl
how
code
ever,
from any fuch protefl being made, the
29
of laws in Maflachufetts eftablifhed flavery, as we have fhown, and at the very birth of the foreign commerce of New England the African flave-trade became a
regular buiinefs. ftaves and fifh to
cargoes of Madeira and the Canaries were ac-
The mips which took
cuflomed to touch on the coaft of Guinea to trade for

negroes, who were carried generally to Barbadoes or the other Englim Iflands in the Weft Indies, the de
mand
for
them
at
home
1 being fmall.
In the
cafe
referred to, inftead of
buying
negroes in the regular
courfe of
traffic,
which, under the fundamental law of
Maflachufetts already quoted, would have been per 2 the crew of a Bofton mip joined with fectly legal,
fome London veflels on the coaft, and, on pretence of fome quarrel with the natives, landed a murderer the expreflive name of a fmall piece of cannon at tacked a negro village on Sunday, killed many of the inhabitants, and made a few prifoners, two of whom fell to the mare of the Bofton In the courfe of fhip. a lawfuit between the mafter, mate, and owners, all this ftory came out, and one of the magistrates prefented a petition to the General Court, in which he charged the mafter and mate with a threefold offence,
"
"
"
One of our
mips, which went to the Canaries with pipe-ftaves in the
beginning of November laft, returned now [1645] an d brought wine, and fugar, and fait, and fome tobacco, which me had at Barbadoes, in exchange
for Africoes, which Jhe carried from the
ii.,
IJle ofMaio"
Winthrops Journal,
219.
2
bufmefs, they would allow him nothing for the negroes they give is worth quoting here
:
"
In awarding damages to Captain Smith againft his aflbciate in this but the reafon ;
4.
For the negars

nothing."
"
(they being none
of
his,
but flolen]
we
thinke
meete to alowe
This was
the Court
Mafs. Records, n., 129. opinion" by both howfes."

"
Ib. y HI., 58.
30

;
murder, man-ftealing, and Sabbath-breaking the two firfl capital by the fundamental laws of Maflachufetts,
The capital by the law of God." to crimes their doubted authority punifli magiftrates committed on the coaft of Africa but they ordered the negroes to be fent back, as having been procured
and
all
of them
cc
not honeftly by purchafe, but unlawfully by kidnap Mafs. Records, n., 67, 129, Hildreth, i., 282. ping.
136, 168, 176, 196;
in., 46, 49, 58, 84.
Winthrotfs
Journal, n., 243, 379. In all the proceedings of the General Court
this
on
occafion,
there
1
is
not a trace of anti-flavery
opinion or fentiment, ftill lefs of anti-flavery legiflation ; though both have been repeatedly claimed for
the honor of the colony.
Ill
THE
felves
colonifts of Mafiachufetts
affumed to them-
"a
right to treat the Indians

Amalekites,"
firfh
on the footing of
Canaanites or
them from the

Bancroft,
1
as forlorn
and practically regarded and wretched heathen,

refpect.
s
pofleffing few rights

in.,
which were entitled to

Bp. Berkeley
408.
Works,
in.,
247.
It is pofllble that the petition referred to in the
the Records
may
have related to
this fubjeft
following extraft from but it left no impreflion
which can be traced.
Mr. Blackleach his petition about the Mores was 29 May, 1644. confented to, to be comitted to the elders, to enforme us of the mind of
"
God
herein,
& then
further to confider
it."
Mafs. Records, n., 67.

as early as 1634,
John Blackleach, a merchant, was of Salem

fentative in 1636.
Mr. and repre-
Some of his
letters are printed in
M. H.
S. Coll., iv., vii.,
146-155.
31
Sermon before the
Soc.
for the Prop, of the Gospel, 1731,
/. 19.
Cotton Mather s fpeculations on their origin illuftrate the temper of the times*
"We
know not When

this
or
How
thefe Indians
firft
mighty Continent, yet we may guefs that probably the Devil decoy d thefe miferable Salvages hither, in hopes that the Gofpel of the Lord Jefus Chrift would never come here to
became Inhabitants of
deftroy or difturb his Absolute Empire over
them."
Magnalia, Book m., Part
in.
The
inftructions
to
United Colonies
from the Commiflioners of the Major Gibbons, on being fent

1645, further illuftrates
"
againft the Narraganfetts in this fpirit.
was directed to have due regard to the honour of God, who is both our fword and mield, and
to the diftance which
tians
is
He
to be obferved betwixt Chris

in
cc
and Barbarians, as well in warres as Of. this Hutchinfon says: negociations."
other
lt
was
indeed ftrange that men, who profefled to believe that God hath made of one blood all nations of men for to
dwell on
the face of the earth, mould upon every occafion take care to preferve this distinction. Per
all
haps nothing more effectually defeated the endeavors for Chriftianizing the Indians. It feems to have done
more
to
have funk their
fpirits, led
them
to
intem
s
perance, and extirpated the whole

Collection of Papers, 151.
race."
Hutchinfon
nies
In 1646, the Commiflioners of the United Colo made a very remarkable order, practically author
"
izing, upon feizure of
complaint of trefpafs by the Indians, the any of that plantation of Indians that ihall
32

offender."
entertain, protect, or refcue the

cc
The
order
further proceeds: And, becaufe it will be chargeable in prifone, and if they fhould efcape, Indians keeping they are like to prove more infolent and dangerous
after, that
upon fuch
feazure, the delinquent or fatis-
faction be againe
demanded, of the Sagamore or planta tion of Indians guilty or accefsory as before, and if it
be denyed, that then the magiftrates of the Jurifdiccon deliver up the Indians feafed to the party or parties indamaged, either to ferve, or to be mipped out and
exchanged for Negroes
as the caufe will juftly
beare."
Plymouth Records, ix., 71. The CommirTioners themfelves were not blind to
the feverity of this proceeding, although they alleged that it was juft."
"
There
are here
two features of historical importance
which the reader will not fail to notice, viz., the export for trade of Indians for Negroes, and the meafure of in thofe days between the colonifts and the "juftice"
natives.
It
maybe
obferved that in thefe notes we have not
drawn the
lines
that of the Maflachufetts
between the Plymouth Colony and In this connection Bay.
they may juftly be regarded as one ; indeed, they can not be feparated, for in thefe and fimilar proceedings,
to quote a fignificant proverb of that day, mouth faddle was always on the Bay horfe."
"
the Ply
In 1658, June 29, certain perfons were punifhed by by the County Courts at Salem and Ipfwich
fines
Quaker meeting and otherwife syding with the Quakers and abfenting themfelves from the publick ordinances." Among them were two children,
for attending a
cc
33
Daniel and Provided Southwick, fon and daughter to Lawrence Southwick, who were fined ten pounds, but their fines not being paid, and the parties (as is
pretending they have no worke and others likewife the have been fyned and more like to be fyned General Court were called upon in the following year, May n, 1659, to decide what courfe ihould be taken
ftated in the proceedings) eftates, refolving not to
"
"
for the fatisfaction of the fines.
This they
tion
did, after
due deliberation, by
a refolu-
County Treafurers to fell the faid perfons to any of the Englim nation at Virginia or Barbadoes in accordance with their law for the
empowering the
of poor and delinquent debtors. this they wrefted their own law from
fale
To
its
accomplish
juft applica
tion, for the fpecial
law concerning
fines
did not per
mit them to go beyond imprifonment for non-pay ment. Mafs. Laws, 1675, p. $i. Felt s Salem, u., 581. Mafs. Records, iv., i., 366. Mafs. Laws, 1675,
p.
6.
BiShop s N. E. Judged, 85. Hazard, n., 563. The father and mother of thefe children, who
had
before fuffered in their eftate and perfons, were at the fame time banifhed on pain of death, and took
refuge in Shelter
died.
Bifhop,
where they fhortly afterwards Mafs. Records, iv., i., 367. Hazard, n., 564. The on Treafurer, 83. attempting to find
I (land,
c<
paflage for the children to Barbadoes, in execution of the order of fale, found none willing to take or them." Thus the entire defign failed, only carry
through the reluctance of thefe mipmafters to aid in its confummation. SeweFs Hift. of the Bijhop, 190.
Quakers,
i.,
278.
3
34
Provided Southwick was fubfequently

year, in
"
in the
fame
company
with feveral other
Quaker
ladies,
cc commit whipt with tenn ftripes," and afterwards as the law directs." to be with ted to prifon proceeded
Mafs. Records,
iv.,
i.,
411.
indignant Quaker hiftorian, in recounting cc After fuch a manner ye have done thefe things, fays,
to the Servants of the
The
Lord, and for Jpeaking to one
another,
their Eftates,
for meeting together, ranfacking breaking open their Houfes, carrying

.
and
their Goods and Cattel, till ye have left none, then their wearing apparel, and then (as in Plimouth government) their Land ; and when ye have left them
away
nothing, fell them for this
which ye
call
Debt.
Search
the Records of former Ages, go through the Hiftories of the Generations that are pad ; read the Monuments
of the Antients, and fee if ever there wtrtjuch a thing as this fince the Earth was laid, and the Foundations
thereof in the Water, and out of the Water. ye Rulers of Bofton, ye Inhabitants of the Majfa. .
chufetts
What
ye?
fliall
fay unto
I
you?
Whereunto
have no
fhall I liken
Indeed,
am
I
at a {land, I
Nation with you to compare,

you to
I
parallel, I
am
muft fay of you, as eyes were open, Bofton,

out thus to
have no People with at a lofs with you in this point ; Balaam faid of Amalek when his
the firft of the Nations that IJrael in
their
>
came
to
war
again/I, to flop
way
Canaan from Egypt! Eiflwp s N. E. Judged, 90. At the time of King Philip s War, the policy and practice of the Colony of MafTachufetts, with regard
to flavery,
bafis
had been already long
fettled
of pofitive law.
Accordingly
the
upon the numerous
"
35
were difpofed of in the ufual captives taken in war way. The notes which follow are mainly from the
"
official
mow
records of the colony, and will be fufficient to the general current of public opinion and action
at that period.
In Auguft, 1675, the Council at Plymouth ordered company of Indians, "being men, weomen, and children, in number one hundred and
the fale of a
twelve,"
with a few exceptions.

"
The
Treafurer
made
the fale
in the countryes
later the
behalfe."
Plymouth Rec
ords, v., 173.
little
Council made a fimilar difpofi-
tion of fifty-feven
a fubmiffive
more (Indians) who "had come in Thefe were condemned to per way."
petual fervitude, and the Treafurer was ordered and to make fale of them, to and for the ufe appointed
"
of the collonie,
as
opportunity
may
prefent."
Ib.,
174.
accounts of the Colony of Maflachufetts for the late War," as receipts and expenditures during ftatedfrom 25th June, 1675, to tne 2 3& September,
"
The
1676, give
"
among
the credits the following
By
the following accounts received

:
in or as filver, viz.
"Captives;
for 188 prifoners at
war
397.13.00."
fold
Plymouth Records,
x.,
401.
in
There
Treafurer."
is
peculiar fignificance
the
phrase
which occurs
in the
It
away by the means fold into flavery. Mqfs. Rec

fent
Records
"
ords, v., 58.
The
ftatiftics
of the
traffic
carried
on by the Trea-
36
furers cannot be accurately afcertained

ces
now
at
command.
from any fourBut great numbers of Philip s
In people were fold as flaves in foreign countries. the beginning of the war Captain Mofeley captured
Plymouth. In Sep tember following one hundred and feventy-eight were put on board a veffel commanded by Captain Sprague, who failed from Plymouth with them for Spain.
eighty,
who were
confined
at
Drake, 224.
Thefe proceedings were not without witnefTes The Apoftle againft their injuftice and inhumanity. Eliot s earned remonftrance is a glorious memorial
of his
fearlefs
devotion to reafon and humanity
to
which neither rulers nor people of MafTachufetts were then inclined to liften.
"To
the
fitting at
Honorable the Governor and Council, Bofton this I3t. of the 6t, 75, the humble
petition of
felling
John
Eliot,
Sheweth that the terror of
away fuch Indians unto the Hands for perpetual m flaves, who mall yield up y felves to your mercy, is like to be an effectual prolongation of the warre, and
fuch an exafperation of them, as may produce we know not what evil confequences, upon all the land. Chrift
hath
faide, blefled are the
tain mercy.
...
it
mercy full for they mall ob This ufeage of them is worfe than death feemeth to me, that to fell them away for
to
fell
flaves is to hinder the
kingdom ...
inlargement of his [Chrift s] foules for money feemeth to me
If they deferve to die, it is a dangerous merchandize. far better to be put to death under godly governors,
who
will take religious care, that
that they
may
die penitently.
meanes may be ufed, Deut. 23 15-16.

.
If a fugitive fervant
37
from a Pagan Mafter might not
be delivered to his matter but be kept in Ifrael for the good of his foule, how much lefs lawful is it to fell
away foules from under the light of the gofpel, into a condition, where theire foules will be utterly loft, fo far as appeareth unto man." Plymouth Colony Records,
x.,
451-2.
Compare Mather
Magnalia, Book vn.,
109 (753)3 concerning the neglect to frojelyte the Indiansy

etc.
cc the Council gave nothing to mow that heed to the petition of Eliot," but a careful examina
There
is
tion of the archives difclofed only a report of a Com mittee of the General Court, dated Nov. 5, 1675, and
adopted by the Magiftrates and Deputies the fame 1 MS. day, by which feveral were to be fent away.
Letter.
In 1676, November 4th, it was ordered that where as there is an Acte or order made by the Councell of War bearing date July, 1676, prohibiting any male
1 Eliot appears alfo to have been the firft in America to lift up his voice againft the treatment which Negroes received in New England. To wards the end of his life, Cotton Mather ftates, He had long lamented
"
with a Bleeding and Burning Paflion, that the Englifh ufed their Negro s but as their Horfes or their Oxen, and that fo little care was taken about their immortal Souls ; he look d upon it as a Prodigy, that any wearing the
it
Name
of Chriftians mould fo
much have
the Heart of Devils in them, as to
prevent and hinder the Inftru&ion of the poor Blackamores, and confine the fouls of their miferable Slaves to a Defraying Ignorance, meerly for fear of
thereby lofmg the Benefit of their Vaffalage j but now he made a motion to the Englijh within two or three Miles of him, that at fuch a time and Place they would fend their Negro s once a week to him For he would then
:
Catechise them,
and Enlighten them, to the utmoft of

;
his
Things of their Everlafting Peace

Progrefs in this
Undertaking."
however, he did not
live to
Power in the make much

(325).
Mathers Magnalia, Book m., 207
Compare also p. 209 (327).
38
Indian captive to abide in this Jurifdiction that is above fourteen years of age att the beginning of his or their captivity, and in cafe any fuch fhould continue
in the Collonie after the
time then prefixed they fhould
be forfeit to the ufe of the
Court fees caufe to ratify and confirme that order and acte, and do therefore order that all fuch as have any fuch Indian male captive that they mall difpofe of them
1 ,
Gov
this
out of the Collonie by the firft of December next on paine of forfeiting every fuch Indian, or Indians to
the ufe of the Collonie
;
and the Conflables of each
town of
this Jurifdiction are hereby ordered to take notice of any fuch Indian or Indians flaying in any of the refpedive towns of this Collonie after the time
prefixed, and mall forthwith bring them to the Treafurer to be difpofed of to the ufe of the Government
as aforefaid.
Plymouth Records, xi., 242. a few, about five or fix, exceptions made to this order, in favor of certain Indians, who
There were
had been aflured by Capt. Benjamin Church that they

fhould not be fold to any foreign parts, upon good behavior, &c. /., 242.
The
in 1677,
MafTachufetts General Court
made an order
24 May, that the Indian children, youths or girls, whofe parents had been in hoftility with the Colony, or had lived among its enemies in the time
of the war, and were taken by force, and given or fold to any of the inhabitants of this Jurifdiction, fhould be
at the difpofall
of their mafters or their
affignes,
who
were to inflrud them in Civility and Chriftian reli Note the diftinftion Mafs. Records, v., 136. gion. between friendly Indians whofe children were to be held
until
39
in
24 years of
age, both in this order
and
Plymouth
Records, v., 207, 223. The Court, in the following year (1678), found cc caufe to prohibit all and every perfon and perfons
within our jurifdiction or elfewhere, to buy any of the Indian children of any of thofe our captive falvages
that were taken
and became our lawfull prifoners in
our
with the Indians, without fpecial leave, liking and approbation of the government of this
late warrs
jurifdiction.
/., 253. In the fucceeding year (1679),
^ e following entry
Indians bought by of Hatch Jonathan Capt. Church, the brothers of the mee woman, defireing might be releafed, appeared in Court with the faid Jonathan Hatch, and came to
appears in the records: "In reference unto feverall
competition with her for the freedom of both her and her hufband, which are two of the three Indians above
named and her brothers payed on that accompt the fume of three pounds iilver mony of New England, and have engaged to pay three pounds more in the
;
fame fpecie, and then the faid man and woman are to be releafed and for the third of the faid Indians, it being younge, the Court have ordered, that it mall
;
abide with the faid Jonathan Hatch untill it attains the age of 2.4 years, and then to be releafed for ever."
Plymouth Records^ vi., 1 5 It were well if the record were no worfe; but to all this is to be added the bafenefs of treachery and falfehood.
Many
of thefe prifoners furrendered, and
ftill
in voluntarily to fubmit, upon greater the promife that they and their wives and children
numbers came
40
fhould have their lives fpared, and none of them trans In one inftance, narrated ported out of the country.
by the famous Captain Church

"
<c <c
himfelf,
no
lefs
than
without any regard to were eight fcore perfons the promifes made them on their furrendering themfelves, carried away to Plymouth, there fold and trans
ported out of the
57.
country."
Church, 23, 24, 41, 51,
Baylies, in his
pp. 47, 48, gives

affair.
"
Memoir of Plymouth Colony, Part m., fome additional particulars of this
After the deftruction of Dartmouth, the Ply
mouth forces were ordered there, and as the Dart mouth Indians had not been concerned in this out them. By rage, a negotiation was commenced with
the perfuafions of Ralph Earl, and the promifes of Captain Eels, who commanded the Plymouth forces,
they were induced to furrender themfelves as prifoners,
and were conducted to Plymouth. Notwithftanding the promifes by which they had been allured to fubmit, notwithftanding the earneft, vehement, and in dignant remonftrances of Eels, Church, and Earl, the government, to their eternal infamy, ordered the whole to be fold as flaves, and they were tranfported out of
the country, being about one hundred and lixty in number. So indignant was Church at the commiffion
warmth and the
government never forgave the of his expremons, and the refentment that was then engendered induced them to withhold all command from this brave, fkilful, honeft, open-hearted and generous man, until the fear of utter
of this vile
act,
that the
bitternefs
destruction compelled them, fubfequently, to entrufl him with a high command. This mean and treach-
41
erous conduct alienated

ing,
all
the Indians
who were doubt
and even those who were ftrongly prediipofed to

Englim."
join the
Eaflon, in his Relation, p. 21, says : "Philip being flead ; about a 150 Indians came in to a Plimouth
Plimouth authority fould all Garrifon volentarly. for Slafes (but about fix of them) to be carried out of
the
country."
Church s authority from Plymouth Colony to demand and receive certain fugitives (whether men, women, or children) from the authorities of Rhode
Ifland government,
s
"
Auguft
28,
1676,
is
printed in
was War, p. 188. Hough Eaftoris King of fuch of them, and impowered to fell and difpofe
Philip* s
He
foe
many
as
he mall
fee caufe for, there
to the In
habitants or others, for Term of Life, or for fhorter time, as there may be reafons. And his actinge, here
in,
mall at
all
Times be owned and
juftefied
by the
faid
Collony."
did the Chriftian Indians or Praying Indians efcape the relentlefs hoftility and cupidity of the Befides other cruelties, instances are not whites.
Nor
wanting in which fome of thefe were fold as (laves, and under accufations which turned out to* be utterly falfe
and without foundation.

tian Indians.
Gookin s Hift. of the Chris
Some of them
in
his
cc
letter to
I
are probably referred to Boyle, Nov. 27, 1683, in

a great
by Eliot, which he
fays,
defire to take boldnefs to
A veflel
Indians,
(laves
;
propofe a requeft.
furprifed
carried
away
number of our
of our wars, to fell them for but the nations, whither me went, would not
in the times
42

Finally, fhe left
buy them.
they be,
fo
them
at
Tangier
there
many
as
live,
or are born there.
An
Englishman, a mafon, came thence to Bofton, he told
me
they defired I would ufe fome means for their re turn home. I know not what to do in it but now
;
it is
in
my
heart to
move your honour,
fo to meditate,
that they may have leave to get home, either from thence hither, or from thence to England, and fo to get home. If the Lord mall pleafe to move your charit
able heart herein, I mail be obliged in great thankfulnefs, and am perfuaded that Chrift will, at the great
day, reckon
them, for his
among your deeds of charity done unto name s fake." M. H. S. Coll., in., 183. Cotton Mather furnimes another extract appropri
it
"
ate in this connection.
Moreover,
tis
Prophefy
in
Deut. 28, 68. The
Lord
way
fhall bring thee into Egypt again with Jhips, by the whereof Ifpake unto thee. Thou Jhalt fee it no more
again ; and there Jhall ye be fold unto your Enemies, and no Man Jhall buy you. This did our Eliot imagine
accomplifhed,
late
when
Wars upon them, were
the Captives taken by us in our fent to be fold, in the
Coafls lying not very remote from Egypt on the Mediterranean Sea, and fcarce any Chapmen would
offer
in.,
to
take them
off."
Mather
Magnalia,
Book
Part in.
Everett, in one of the moil elaborate of his finifhed and beautiful orations, has narrated the ftory
Mr.
of two of the
laft
captives in that famous war, in a
paffage of furpafling eloquence which
we venture
to
quote
"
Prefident Mather, in relating the encounter of
43
but one of the war, He fays, Philip hardly efcaped with his life alfo. had fled and left his feage behind him, alfo his fquaw and fon were taken captive, and are now prifoners at
the ist of Auguft, 1676, the
c
laft
brought that grand enemy into great mifery before he quite deftroy him. It muft needs be bitter as death to him to lofe his
Plymouth.
Thus hath God
wife and only fon (for the Indians are marvellous fond and affectionate towards their children) befides other
relations,
alfo.
and almoft
all
his fubjects,
and country
what was the fate of Philip s wife and his fon ? This is a tale for hufbands and wives, for parents and children. Young men and women, you cannot underftand it. What was the fate of Philip s wife and child ? She is a woman, he is a lad. They
"
And
did not furely hang them. No, that would have been The boy is the grandfon, his mother the mercy. daughter-in-law of good old Maflafoit, the first and
beft friend the
Englifh ever had in
New
England.
Philip is flam, and his war riors fcattered to the four winds, they will allow his wife and fon to go back the widow and the orphan
Perhaps
perhaps
now
to
finifh
wildernefs.
their days and forrows in their native They are fold into flavery, Weft Indian
flavery
the cool breezes of
an Indian princefs and her child, fold from Mount Hope, from the wild free
dom
of a
New England foreft,

!
to gafp
under the
!
lafh,
c beneath the blazing fun of the tropics Bitter as death Is there anything, I do aye, bitter as hell not fay in the range of humanity is there anything
;
animated,
that
would not
ftruggle
againft
this?"
44
Everett
s

Addrejs at Bloody Brook, 1835; Church, 62,
his
63, 67, 68.
Well might the poet record

fate
"
fympathy
for their
Ah
happier they,
who
in the ftrife
For freedom fell, than o er the main, Thofe who in galling flavery s chain
Still
bore the load of hated
life,
Bowed
to bafe talks their generous pride,

!"
And
fcourged and broken-hearted, died
or in view of this phafe of civilization and progrefs,

figh for that elder ftate,
"
when
all
were
firft
Free as nature
made man,
ran."
Ere the bafe laws of fervitude began,
When
In the
labors,
wild in woods the noble favage
profecution
of his
admirable historical
Ebenezer Hazard, of Philadelphia, endeavored to afcer tain what was done with the fon of Philip. He wrote to the late Judge Davis, of Bofton, who was
.unable, at that
time, to
in
give a fatisfactory anfwer.
Mr. Hazard
died
1817; but Judge Davis was
afterwards enabled to furnim a very interesting account of the affair, derived from documents communicated
to
him by
Nahum
thefe
Mitchell, Efq.
cc
that the ques whether the boy mould be put to death, was ferioufly agitated, and the opinion of learned divines was requefted on the fubjecl. The Rev. Mr. Cotton,
tion,
From
documents he learned
of Plymouth, and the Rev. Mr. Arnold, of field, gave the following anfwer
:
"
Marmby our
The
queftion being
propounded
s
to us
honored
rulers,
whether Philip
fon be a child of
45
death
Our
anfwer, hereunto
is,
that
we do acknow
to be morall, and there ledge, that rule, Deut. 24: 16, fore perpetually binding, viz., that in a particular act
of wickednefs, though capitall, the crime of the parent doth not render his child a fubject to punifhment by
the civill magiftrate
;
yet,
upon
ferious confideration,
we humbly conceive that the children of notorious traitors, rebells, and murtherers, efpecially of fuch as
have bin principal leaders and actors in fuch horrid villanies, and that againfl a whole nation, yea the whole Ifrael of God, may be involved in the guilt of
their parents, and may,fafoa republic^ be adjudged to death, as to us feems evident by the fcripture inftances
of Saul, Achan, Haman, the children of whom were cut off, by the fword of Juftice for the tranfgreffions of their parents, although concerning fome of thofe
children,
it
being co-acters therein.

September
7 th, 1670.
be manifeft, that they were not capable of Samuel Arnold,
John
Cotton."
Increafe Mather, of Bofton, offers thefe fentiments on the queftion, in a letter to Mr. Cotton,
The Rev.
October 30, 1676. :c If it had not been out of

writing,
fon.
I
mould have
faid
mind, when I was fomething about Philip s
my
It is
neceffary that
fome
effectual courfe
mould
be taken about him. He makes me think of Hadad, who was a little child when his father, (the Chief Sachem of the Edomites) was killed by Jpab ; and,
had not others

that
fled
away with him,
am
apt to think,
David would have taken a courfe, that Hadad mould never have proved a fcourge to the next
generation."
46
Keith, of Bridgewater, took a view of thefubjed, and gave more benignant interpretations. In a letter to Mr. Cotton of the fame
different
The Rev. James
date with Dr.
Mather
s,
he
"
fays,
long to hear
what becomes of Philip s wife and his fon. I know there is fome difficulty in that pfalm, 137, 8, 9, though I think it may be confidered, whether there be not fome fpecialty and fomewhat extraordinary in it. That law, Deut. 24: 16, compared with the commended
example of Arnafias, 2 Chron. 25 4, doth fway much with me, in the cafe under confideration. I hope God will direct thofe whom it doth concern to a good iffue.
:
Let us join our prayers, at the throne of grace, with all our might, that the Lord would fo difpofe of all
public motions and affairs, that his Jerufalem in this wildernefs may be the habitation of juftice and the
mountain of holinefs
that fo
it
may
be, alfo, a quiet

down."
habitation, a tabernacle that mall not be taken
The
modern
queftion thus ferioufly agitated would not, in times, occur in any nation in Chriftendom.
Principles of public law, fentiments of humanity, and the mild influence of the Gofpel, in preference to a recurrence of the Jewifh difpenfation, fo much regarded
1 by our anceftors in their deliberations and decisions, would forbid the thought of inflicting punifhment on
children for the offences of a parent. It is gratifying co learn, that, in this inftance, the meditated feverities
were not carried into execution, but that the merciful

1
favour of the prifoner.

is
In this difcuflion, however, both fcripture rule and example were in The cafe quoted by Mr. Keith from 2 Chronicles
dire&ly in point.
ten in the law in the
But he flew not their book of Mofes," &c.

"
children, but did as
it
is
writ
fpirit
47
Mr. Keith s fuggeftions pre In a letter from Mr. Cotton to his brother vailed. Mather, on the 2oth of March following, on another
manifefted
in
fubject,
there
is
this
incidental
"
boy goes now
to be fold/
remark Davis s Morton

1
Philip
s
Memorial,
a
Appendix, pp. 3 53- 5. In the winter of 16756,
Major Waldron,
Com-
mifnoner, and Magiftrate for a portion of territory claimed by Maflachufetts (now included in that of
known
Maine), iflued general warrants for feizing every Indian to be a manflayer, traitor, or confpirator.
Thefe precepts, which afforded every man a plaufible pretext to feize fufpected Indians, were obtained by
purpofes of kidnapping and flave-trading. One with his veflel lurked about the mores of Pemaquid, and notwithftanding warning and remonftrance, fucceeded in kid napping feveral of the natives, and, carrying them into Similar outrages foreign parts, fold them for flaves.
feveral
mipmafters for the
mod
fhameful
were committed farther

"
eaft
upon
the Indians about

in the leaft
Cape
Sable,
who never had been

"
manner
guilty of any injury done to the adds to his account of this affair,
is
Englifh."
Hubbard
the thing alleadged too true as to matter of Fact, and the perfons that did it, were lately committed to prifon in order to
their further
tryal."
If the careful refearch of Mafla
chufetts antiquarians can difcover

trial,
it
conviction zndjuft
any record of the punimment of thefe offenders,
be an honorable addition to their hiftory far more creditable than the conftant reiteration of the
will
ftory of
"
the negro
interpreter"
"
in 1646,
which has
been
fo
long in fervice,
to bear witnefs againft y e
48

in behalf
haynos and crying finn of man-ftealing," r r "The Gen all Co of Maffachufetts.

te"
of
Hubbarfs
s
Narrative, 1677, pp. 29, 30.

53
1
-
Williamjon
Maine,
i.,
After the death of King Philip, fome of the In dians from the weft and fouth of New England who
had been engaged in the war, endeavored to conceal themfelves among their brethren of Penacook who had
not joined in the war, and with them of OfTapy and
Pigwackett who had made peace.
By
"contrivance"
(as
favors ftrongly of treachery,
Mather calls it) which four hundred of thefe
Indians were taken prifoners, one half of whom were declared to have been acceflbries in the late rebellion;
and being
"
fent to
Bofton, feven or eight of them,
who were known

in foreign
parts."
to have killed
;
any Englishmen, were
condemned and hanged
the reft were fold into ilavery
Some of
and
thofe very Indians,
who were
thus seized
fold, afterwards
made
their
way home, and found
opportunity to fatisfy their revenge during the war with the French and Indians known as King William s
War.
Book
Belknap,
vii.,
i.,
143,
245.
Mather
Magnalia,
55 (699).
IV.
AT firft, the number of flaves in MafTachufetts was comparatively fmall, and their increafe was not large until towards the clofe of the feventeenth century.
Edward Randolph,
in 1676, in an anfwer
to feveral
49
"not
heads of inquiry, &c., ftated that there were
above 200 flaves in the colony, and thofe are brought He alfo mentioned from Guinea and Madagafcar." that fome mips had recently failed to thofe parts
from MafTachufetts. Hutchinfon s Collection of Papers, Governor Andros reported that the pp. 485, 49 5.
flaves
were
not numerous in
flaves,
cc
1678
not
many
fervants,
men."
and but few
proportionable with free
N.
T. Col. Doc., in., 263.
In May,
certain
1680,
Heads of Inquiry from
Governor Bradftreet anfwered the Lords of the Com
mittee for Trade and Foreign Plantations. his ftatements are the following
:
"
Among
flaves
There hath been no company of blacks or
brought into the country fince the beginning of this plantation, for the fpace of fifty years, onely one fmall
Veflell
about two yeares

to Madagafcar,
fince,
after
twenty months
brought hither betwixt forty voyage and fifty Negroes, moil women and children, fold here for io/., I5/. and 2O/. apiece, which flood the mer
chant, in near 4O/. apiece: "Now and then, two or three Negroes are brought hither from Barbadoes and
other of his Majeftie
plantations, and fold here for
about twenty pounds apiece. So that there may be within our Government about one hundred or one
hundred and twenty
There
are a very few
blacks borne here, I think not above [five] or fix at the moft in a year, none baptized that I ever heard
of.
"
337. following century changed the record. Many of flaves were "brought into the coun companies"
.
."
M.H.S.
Coll., in., viii.,
The
try,"
and the
inftitution flourished
and waxed
ftrong.
50
Judge Sewall referred
to the
"
numeroufnefs
"
of
Gov. Dudley s the flaves in the province in 1706. in of Board the to Trade, 1708, gave four report hundred as then in Bofton, one half of whom were
born there
villages
;
and
in
one hundred other towns and
one hundred and fifty more making a total hundred and fifty. He ftatedthat negroes were found unprofitable, and that the planters there pre cc who are ferviceable in war pres ferred white fervants
of
five
ently,
and
after
become
planters."
From January
24,
1698, to 25 December, 1707, arrived in Maflachufetts.
two hundred negroes
Gov. Shute
information to the Lords of Trade,
in 1720, Feb. 17, gave the number of flaves of Maflachufetts at 2,000, including a few Indians. added
He
that, during the fame year, thirty-feven male and fixteen female negroes were imported, with the remark,
"
No
great difference for feven years
laft
paft."
Felt^
Coll Amer. Stat.
Ape.,
i.,
586.
In 1735, there were 2,600 negroes in the Province. In 1742, there were 1,514 in Bofton alone. Douglafsy Thefe are probably very imperfect eftii., 531. is well known that as it mates, regular enumerations
of the population were confidered very objectionable by the people of the Bay. Some recalled the number
ing of Ifrael by David, and perhaps all were jealous of the poflible defigns of the Government in England
in obtaining accurate information of their numbers and refources. It is a curious fact that the firft cenfus in Maflachufetts,
was
a cenfus
of negro
flaves.
In 1754, an account of property in the Province

liable to taxation
being required, Gov. Shirley fent a
fpecial mefTage to
:
51
the
Houfe of
Reprefentatives, in
which he faid There is one part of the Eftate, viz., the Negro Slaves, which I am at a lofs how to come at the knowl
"
without your afliftance." Journal^ p. 119. the fame day, November 19, 1754, the Legis lature made an order that the Affeffors of the feveral
edge
of,
On
towns
within the Province, forthwith fend into the fecretary s office the exact number of the
diftricts
and
both males and females, iixteen years old and upwards, within their refpective towns and dis
negro
flaves,
tricts.
Ib^
This enumeration, as corrected by Mr. Felt, gives an aggregate of 4,489. The census of Negroes in 1764-5, according to the fame authority, makes their
number
5,779, in
;
1776,
in
5,249
in
1784, 4,377, in
1786, 4,371
and
2
1790 (by the United States
census) 6,ooi.
The
chufetts, in
royal instructions to
curious illuftration of
Andros,
in
1688,
it"
as
"the
"
way of putting
flaves,"
in
Mafla-
Mr. FELT
account of
this
cenfus of
in the Collections
of the American Statiflical Affbciation, Vol. I., p. 208. He fays that the General Court pafled this order for the purpofe of having an accurate account of flaves in our Commonwealth, as a fubjecJ In which the people
"
were becoming much inter efted, relative to the caufe of liberty ! There is not a particle of authority for this fuggeftion fuch a motive for their aftion never exifted anywhere but in the imagination of the writer himfelf
"
be regretted that we have no official authorities on the fubjeft of the changes in this clafs of population during the period from 1776 to There is a moft extraordinary, if not incredible, ftatement made by 1784. the Duke de la Rochefoucault Liancourt in his Travels through the United
It is to
States
was publifhed
"
fays,
fetts
It is
years 1795, 1796, and 1797, of which a tranflation in 1799. In at work, Vol. n., page 166, he to be obferved, that, in 1778, the general cenfus of Maflachuin the
in
London
included eighteen thoufand flaves, whereas the fubfequent cenfus of

fix
1790 exhibits only
tlioufand
blacks."
$2
pafs a England, required him to which inhuman of for the law may feverity reftraining be ufed by ill mafters or overfeers towards the wherein provifion is to Chriftian fervants or flaves
Governor of
New
"
be made that the wilful killing of Indians and Negroes be punifhed with death, and a fitt penalty impofed for the maiming of them." N. T. Col. Doc.,, m., 547. The
reader will note the distinction in thefe inftructions
between the Chriftian fervants or Haves, and the It points to a feature of flavery Indians and Negroes. that at in MafTachufetts, time, which we propofe to
notice in another portion of thefe notes. The Law of 1698, Chapter 6, forbids trading or cc Indian, molato or negro fervant trucking with any
or (lave, or other
perfons,
known
diflblute, lewd,
is
and diforderly
fufpicion."
of
whom
there
juft caufe of
Such perfons were to be punifhed by whipping for fo trading with money or. goods improperly obtained. The Law of 1700, Chapter 13, was enacted to pro tect the Indians againft the exactions and oppreflion which fome of the Englifh exercifed towards them
"
by drawing them to confent
to covenant or bind
themfelves or children apprentices or fervants for an unreafonable term, on pretence of or to make fatisfaction for
fome fmall debt contracted or damage done Other flmilar acts were afterwards pafled by in 1718 and 1725, the latter having a claufe to protect them againft kidnapping. In 1701, the Reprefentatives of the town of Bofton
them."
were
defired to promote the encouraging the bring white of fervants, and to put a period to Negroes ing
"
being
flaves."
Drakes
Bojton, 525.
M. H.
S. Coll., n.,
viii.,
53
184.
We
made under
this instruction
have no knowledge of the efforts of the town of Bofton, but
Indeed, the very they failed to accomplifh anything. next enadment concerning flavery was a ftep back
ward inftead of an advance towards reform a meafure which turned out to be a permanent and effective
barrier againft emancipation in Maffachufetts. The Law of 1703, Chapter 2, was in reftraint of
the
"
Manumiffion, Difcharge, or Setting free" of Molatto or Negro flaves." Security was required
"
againft the contingency of thefe perfons becoming a none were to be accounted charge to the town, and
"
free for
whom
fecurity
is
not given
;"
but were
"
to
be the proper charge of their refpective mafters or miftreffes, in cafe they ftand in need of relief and
fupport, notwithftanding any manumiflion or inftrument of freedom to them made or given," etc. 1
practice
flaves, to relieve the mafter
was prevailing to manumit aged or infirm from the charge of fup-
porting them.
1
To
prevent this practice, the act was
Jonathan Sewall, writing to John Adams, February 31, 1760, puts the
following cafe:
"
A man, by will, gives his
negro
his liberty,
and leaves him a legacy.
executor confents that the negro mail be free, but refufeth to give bond to the feleftmen to indemnify the town againft any charge for his
fupport, in cafe he mould become poor, (without which, law, he is not manumitted,) or to pay him the legacy.
The
by the province
Query. Can he recover the legacy, and
how ?
two cafes the legal principle that the intention of the teftator, to be collefted from the words, is to be obferved in the conftru&ion of a will, applied it to the cafe prefented as
John Adams,
in
reply, after illuftrating in
follows, viz.
"
plainly intended that his negro mould have his liberty and a legacy ; therefore the law will prefume that he intended his executor fhould do all that without which he could have neither. That this in-
The teftator
54
paffed.
C. J. Parfons. Winchendon vs. Hatfield in error, This act was ftill in force as iv Mafs. Reports, 130. late as June, 1807, when it was reproduced in the
revifed laws,
and continued until a much
later
<->
period
to o govern the decifions of courts affecting; the fettle-
An unfuccefsful attempt to be found duly noticed in a fubfequent repeal it, will portion of thefe notes.
ment of town paupers.
The Law
of 1703, Chapter
4,
Negro and Molatto fervants or

after nine o clock, etc.
flaves, to
prohibited Indian, be abroad
of 1705, Chapter 6, "for the better pre of a punimes Spurious and Mixt Iffue, &c. venting for improper intercourfe with Molattoes and Negroes
;"
The Law
whites,
by
felling
them out of the Province.
It alfo
demnification was not in the teftator

will
any more than
it
tator did not
know
s mind, cannot be proved from the could be proved, in the firft cafe above, that the tes a fee fimple would pafs a will without the word heirs 5
nor than, in the fecond

for ever,
cafe, that the devife
of a
truft,
that
might continue
I
would convey a
fee fimple without the like words.

is,
take
it,
therefore, that the executor of this will
implication, obliged to givebonds to the town treafurer, and, in his refufal, is a wrong doer ; and I can not think he ought to be allowed to take advantage of his own wrong, fo
by
much
as to allege this
want of an indemnification to evade an
aHon
of the
cafe brought for the legacy
by the negro
himfelf.
But why may not the negro bring a fpecial a6tion of the cafe againft the executor, fetting forth the will, the devife of freedom and a legacy, and then the neceffity of indemnification by the province law, and then a refufai to and, of confequence, to fet free and to pay the legacy ?
indemnify,
Perhaps the negro
is
free
at
common
law by the
devife.
Now,
the
province law feems to have beenjnade only to oblige the mafter to main tain his manumitted (lave, and not to declare a manumifTion in the matter s
lifetime, or at his death, void.
hand and feal, without giving bond wards repent and endeavor to recall the negro
under
his
Should a mafter give a negro his freedom, to the town, and mould after
into fervitude,
mafter?"
would not
Adams"
that
inftrument be a fufficient difcharge againft the

i->
5i>
55-
55
for ftriking a Chris punifhes any Negro or Molatto be tian, by whipping at the difcretion of the Juftices
fore
whom
he
may
be convided.
It alfo prohibits
mar
and or Molattoes riage of Chriftians with Negroes the of Pounds a perfons upon Fifty irnpofes penalty
It provides againft unjoining them in marriage. reafonable denial of marriage to Negroes with thofe
of the fame nation,

Ufage,
ing."
by any Matter
to
"any
Law,
or
Cuftom,
the
contrary notwithftand-
This provifo againft the unreafonable denial of Legislation marriage to negroes is very interefting. of abufe exercife and the authority arbitrary againft It was proves its exiftence and the previous practice. as true then as it is now that the inftitution of flavery
was inconfiftent with the juft
morality.
rules
of
Chriftian
In Pennfylvania,
five years before,

<c
William Penn
had propofed to
his Council,
the neceflitie of a law
e [among others] about y marriages of negroes." The fubject was referred to a committee of both houfes of
the legislature, and refulted in a Bill in the Aflembly,

regulating Negroes in their Morals and Marriages, which was twice read and rejected. Penn. Col. etc.,"
"for
Rsc. y
i.,
598. 606.
Votes of Affembly,
i.,
120,
121.
This proportion of Penn was in accordance with the views of George Fox, whofe teftimony in regard to the treatment of flaves, given at Barbadoes in 1671, is
elfewhere referred to in these notes.
In his
"
Gofpel
Family Order, being a ihort difcourfe concerning the Ordering of Families, both of Whites, Blacks, and
Indians,"
he particularly enforced the neceflity of
56
looking after the marriages of the blacks, to see that there was fome order and folemnity in the manner, and that the marriages mould be recorded, and mould
be binding for Phil 1843.
life.
See
The Friend VoL xvn. 29,

y
4/0.,,
No
could
Chriftian
to be
man
or
woman, Quaker
at the loofenefs
or Puritan,
fail
mocked
of
all
such
One folitary ties and relations under the flave fyftem. witnefs againft flavery in MafTachufetts in 1700, re c ferred to the well known Temptations Mafters were
under to connive
left
at the Fornication
of their Slaves,
they
mould be obliged
to find
them Wives or pay
The laws againft the Sewally 1700. of commerce the sexes were an awkward part irregular of a fyftem which eftablifhed and protected flavery,
their
Fines."
and marriage (fuch

flaves.
as
it
was) faved the expenfe of
conftant fines to mafters and miftrefles for delinquent
But what protection was there

ftate
for the married
or
?
fanction of marital or parental rights
and
duties
fanction either,
This law did not and could not protect or and muft have been of little practical
the
flaves.
value
to
Governed by the humor or
intereft
of the mafter or miftrefs, their marriage was not a matter of choice with them, more than any Who was to judge whether other action of their life.
not
?
P
the denial of a mafter or miftrefs was unreafonable or
And
1
what remedy had the
flave
in
cafe
of
denial
The owner of
a valuable female flave
was to
1 The cafe of The Inhabitants of Stockbridge vs. The Inhabitants of Weft Stockbridge regarding the fettlement of a negro pauper (who had been a foldier in the American Army of the Revolution) prefents a decifion of the
57
life
confider what
all
the rifks of health and
were to
be, and whether the increafe of ftock 1 the lofs of fervice.
would reimburfe
breeding of flaves was not regarded with Dr. Belknap fays, that cc negro children were favor. confidered an incumbrance in a family ; and when
2
The
weaned, were given away like puppies." M. H. S. Coll., i., iv. 3 200. They were frequently publicly advertifed
"to
be given
off.
away,"
fometimes with the

to any one
additional inducement of a
fum of money
is
who would take them At the fame time
there
no room for doubt that
there were public and legalized marriages among flaves in MafTachufetts, fubfequently to the paflage of this
aft
the fubfeof 1705. Mr. Juftice Gray ftates that, of Bofton other and towns mow that records quent
"
their
banns were publifhed like thofe of white perfons. 3
in 1817, not only recognizing the of the abfolute legal continuance of flavery in that State in the years 1770 -1777 ; but fettling a point of law which is interefting in this connexion.
faft
Supreme Judicial Court of Maflachufetts
At
that time
Jla<ve
"
no contract
for the
could
made with the have maintained no aftion
fulfil his
promife [a promife to
was binding on the mafter ; had he failed to emancipate] which was an undertaking
f
jla<ve
again/I him,
merely voluntary on his part." Mafs. Reports, xiv., 257. 1 Bill of Sale of a Negro Woman Servant in Bofton in 1724, recites that Whereas Scipio, of Bofton aforefaid, Free Negro Man and Laborer,
"
Servant of the faid purpofes Marriage to Margaret, the Negro Now to the Intent that the Dorcas Marfhall [a Widow Lady of Bofton] faid Intended Marriage may take Effeft, and that the faid Scipio may
:
Woman
Enjoy the faid Margaret without any Interruption," etc., me is duly fold, with her apparel, for Fifty Pounds. N. E. Hifl. and Gen. Reg., xviu., 78. 2 So early as the poet Hefiod, married flaves, whether male or female, were efteemed inconvenient. Works and Days, line 406, alfo 602-3.
tion
Mr. Charles C. Jones, of Georgia, in his work on the Religious Inflrucof the Negroes in the United States, publifhed at Savannah, in 1 842, gives, pp. 34, 35, memoranda of four inftances of the kind, which he ob-
58
In 1745, a negro flave obtained from the Governor and Council a divorce for his wife s adultery with a In 1758, it was adjudged by the Superior white man. Court of Judicature, that a child of a female flave c never married according to any of the forms prefcribed
who
fent,
by the laws of this land/ by another flave, had kept her company with her matter s conwas not a baftard." Quincy s Reports, 30, note.
liberal
This judgment indicates
views with regard to
the law of marriage as applied to flaves, although we fufpect there was fpecial occafion for the exercife of
charity and
mercy which might deprive
it
of any
authority as a leading cafe. It is perfectly well known that it

fettled in Maflachufetts that
was practically
baptifm was not emanci
although there is no evidence in their ftatutes fhow that the quettion was ever mooted in that colony, as it was in other colonies, where legislation was found neceflary to eftablifh the doctrine. Still it was in the power of matters in Maflachu fetts to deny baptifm to their flaves, as appears from
pation
to
the following extract, from Matthias Plant to the Secretary of the Society for the Propagation of the
Anfwers to Queries, from Newbury, October 25, 1727 6. Negroe Slaves, one of them is defirous of
Gofpel,
"
etc.
baptifm, but denied by her Matter, a woman of wonder

ful fenfe,
and prudent
in matters, of equal
in Religion with moft of her fex, far exceeding her own nation that ever yet I heard of."
"
knowledge any of
ferved in looking over the old record of (for Entryes for Publications marriages) within the town of Bofton, two in the year 1707, and two in 1710.
"
59
About baptism of
bought with monie," younger Winthrop, June 14, 1666, and M. H. S. Coll. in., x., 60. 62.
borne in the houfe, or see letter of Davenport to the

flaves
cc
poftscript.
cc
From Palfrey gives it as his opinion, that the reverence entertained by the Fathers of New Eng
Mr.
land for the nuptial tie, it is fafe to infer that (lave hufbands and wives were never parted." Hift. N. E. y
ii.,
30, note.
The
Fathers of
New
England
filial
alfo
cherimed a due regard for parental and

it is
refponfibilities, yet children were feparated. Refting upon "the law of God, eftablifhed in Ifrael," the Puritan could have had no
certain that {lave
duties and mothers and
fuch a condition of mar fcruple about this matter riage to the flave mufl have been regarded as an
axiom
as
it
was by the Hebrew.

Palfrey
s
4, 5, 6.
Mr.
Compare Exodusy .xxi., inference is not warranted by
the fads.
fetts parTed
In 1786, the legiflature of the State of Maflachuan Act for the orderly Solemnization of
"
<c
Marriage,"
enacted
that
by the feventh fection whereof no person authorized by this
it
was
to
act
marry mall join in marriage any white perfon with any Negro, Indian or Mulatto, under penalty of fifty pounds and all fuch marriages mall be abfolutely null and void." The prohibition continued until
;
1843, wnen it was repealed by a fpecial "act relating to marriage between individuals of certain races." The statute of 1705 alfo provided an import duty
of four pounds per head on every Negro brought into the Province from and after the ist day of May, 1706, for the payment of which both the veflel and matter
60
were anfwerable.
penalty of double the
amount of
"
the duty on each one omitted was impofed for refufal or neglect to make the prefcribed entry of Number,
drawback Names, and Sex, in the Impoft Office." was allowed upon exportation and the like advantage was allowed to the purchafer of any Negro fold
within the Province, in cafe of the death of his Negro within six weeks after importation or bringing into the Province.
fays that, in 1727, "the traffic in flaves appears to have been more an object in Bofton
fH/lr.
Drake
than at any period before or

"
Hift. of Bofton, 574, and in the following year (1728) an additional more effectually to fecure the Duty on the Im
fince."
Ad
portation of
Negroes"
was paffed, by which more
ftringent regulations were adopted to prevent the smuggling of fuch property into the Province, and the
drawback was allowed on all negroes dying within twelve months. This act expired by its own limitation in 1735, but another of a fimilar character was paffed in 1739,
which recognifed the old law of 1705 as being ftill in 1 It reduced the time for the drawback on the force. death of negroes to fix months after importation.
Free Negroes not being allowed to train in the
1737, Col. Royal petitions the General Court, that, having from Antigua, he has with him feveral flaves for his own ufe, and not to fell, and therefore prays that the duty on them be remitted. The duty was 4 a-head. This petition was laid on the table, and refts there
"
Dec.
7,
lately arrived
yet."
aft of 1739 was for ten years, and have found no repeal of the old law, but the proceedings concerning the aft propofed in 1767 would feem to mow all the old a6h of Impoft to be expired or obfolete.
Brooks
Medford, 435.
The
therefore expired in 1749.
We
Militia, an
61
ad
them
the
to
do
fervice
pafled in 1707, Chapter 2, required on the highways and in cleaning
an equivalent. Thirty-three free in the minutes of the Select mentioned were negroes men of Bofton, in 1708, to whom, according to this law, two hundred and eighteen days of labor were
ftreets, etc., as
afligned
Lymans
the highways and other public works. The fame ad prohibited them Report, 1822.
upon
to entertain any fervants of their

miftrefles.
own
color in their
houfes, without permiflion of the refpective mafters or
In 1712, an act was pafled prohibiting the importa tion or bringing into the Province any Indian fervants The preamble recites the bad character of or flaves.
the Indians and other flaves,
"being
of a malicious,
and revengeful behaviour, and very

furley
fpirit
rude and infolent in their
ungovernable."
glimpfe of
poflible future reform is to be caught in this act, for cc it difcouragerecognizes the increafe of flaves as a
ment to the importation of White Chriftian Servants." But its chief motive was in the peculiar circumftances
of the Province
fact that great
"under
the forrowful effects of the

"
Rebellion and Hoftilities
numbers of Indian
of the Indians, and the flaves were already
held in bondage in the Province at the time.
This
act
had a
fpecial reference to
Southern In
dians, the
chiefly
Tufcaroras
entered
from
and others, captives in war, South Carolina. Governor Dudley

into
afterwards
correfpondence with
other
colonial governors, about preventing the fale of In dians from that Province to the Northern colonies.
Similar acts were
pafled
by Pennfylvania
in
1712,
62
New
Hampfliire in 1714, and Connecticut and Rhode
Ifland in 1715. Under the earlier! laws of taxation in Maflachufetts,

flaves
muft have been rated

"
(if
taxed at
all)
as polls,
the owners paying for them as for other fervants and This continued fuch as take not wages." children,
until the period of the Province Charter, when, in the male flave of fixteen years old "every
year 1692,
and upwards
In 1694,
cc
"
was rated
"
at
Twenty Pounds
Eftate."
all
Negro
s,
Molattoes and Indian Ser
of 16 years old and up wards, at the rate of iid. per poll fame as other polls." In 1695, "all Negro s, Molatto, and Indian Ser vants, males of 14 years of age and upward at the
vants, as well
male
as female,
rate of 2O/. eftate,
and Females
at
i^l. eftate,
unlefs
difabled
by
infirmity."
fame year rated cc as mode was continued in 1696, 1697, and 1698, in the to the found judgment and latter year "according
difcretion of the Afleflbrs, not excluding faculties." faculties was a prominent fea This rating for
"
They were fubfequently in the other perfonal eftate," which
"
ture in the early tax-laws of Maflachufetts, and was con 1 tinued after the commencement of the prefent century.
It was applied to white men in Maflachufetts from the beginning, being intended as a juft valuation for
thofe
who had
arts, trades,
<c
and
faculties,
by the pro
to bear the
duce of which they were

publick charge than
1
more enabled
laborers and
common
Workmen,
"
Mr. Felt
for faculties,
the rating memoranda, under the date of 1829, long a prominent item in our former tax-a6ls, and not unfrefays, in his
quently made a fubjeft of pleafant remark, has been dropped, like other Coll. Amer. Stat. Affoc., I., 502. See also pp. notions of ancient cuftom.""
*97>
374-
as Butchers, Bakers, Brewers, Victuallers, Smiths,
63
Car
penters, Taylors, Shoemakers, Joyners, Barbers, Millers
and
manual perfons and The law Ed. Artifts." Mqfs. Laws, 1672, p. 24. of 1698, however, appears to have been the firft, if not the only one, in which this feature was applied to
Mafons,
with
all
other
the
"Negroes,
Molattoes and
Indians"
in
bondage;
and may be
grefs, for it
an indication of prowas an admiflion that thefe unfortunate

juftly regarded as
"
creatures had
if
faculties,"
1
valuable to their owners,
not to themfelves.
There was
little
variation in thefe laws during the
entire colonial period all Indian, Negro, and latto fervants continuing to be rated as perfonal pro perty excepting that occafionally fome of thofe who
Mu
were fervants for a term of years, but not for were numbered and rated as polls.
feature of the legislation of Maflachufetts. lowing extract from Judge Sewall s Diary
life,
In 1716, an attempt was made to modify this
The
is
fol
copied
from the
original.
Though quoted by
Coffin, in his
Hiflory of
1
New bury,
188, and Felt, in the Coll. Amer.
The early records of the town of Bofton preferve the fa6l that one Thomas Deane, in the year 1661, was prohibited from employing a negro
in the
reafon
manufacture of hoops under a penalty of twenty millings, for what is not ftated. Lyman s Report, 1822. Phillis Wheatley s was not
s
the only inftance, in Bofton, of the negro
provement. worthy Englifhman, Richard Dalton, Efq., a great admirer of the Greek daffies, becaufe of the tendernefs of his eyes, taught his negro boy, Csefar, to read to him diftinftly any Greek writer, without underftanding the meaning or
Little
capacity for intellectual
im
interpretation.
is
Douglafs,
advertifed:
ii.,
"
345.
In
the Bofton
Chronicle for September 21, 1769,
To
be
fold, a
negroe boy,
who canfpeak
the French language,
and very
fit
Likely for a
Valet."
64

i.,
Stat. AJJociation,
586,
it
is
not correctly printed by

.
either.
I
eflayed June 22, "1716. j and Negroes being rated with Horfes and Hogs but Col. Thaxter bro t it back could not prevail. [from
;
"
to prevent
Indians
the Deputies],
"
r [their] gave as a reafonofy to make a New were Nonagreement, They juft going
"
"and
Valuation."
This concife mention of Judge SewalFs benevolent indicates that he had firft propofed the matter eflay," and in the Council, of which he was then a member
"
that the Council agreeing, their decifion was fent down But the Houfe to the Houfe for their concurrence.
non-concurred
and
that they declined Council, for the reafon that

;"
fignified by Colonel Thaxter, their afTent to the refolve of the

"they
were juft going to
make a New Valuation and as in the preceding valuations of the property of their constituents, Indian,
Mulatto ilaves had been prominent articles, they muft keep on flill in the old track; Indians, Negroes, and Mulattoes muft ftill be valued as property, and for this fpecies of property their owners muft ftill be taxed. MS. Letter of Rev. Samuel Sew all. In 1718, all Indian, Negro, and Mulatto fervants
Negro,
and
for
life
were eftimated
as other Perfonal Eftate
viz
Each male fervant/0r life above fourteen years of age, at fifteen pounds value each female fervant for life, above fourteen years of age, at ten pounds value.
;
The
or
might make abatement for caufe of age Indian, Negro, and Mulatto Male infirmity. fervants for a term of years were to be numbered and
afleflbr
1
65
In rated as other Polls, and not as Perfonal Eftate. 1726, the afleflbrs were required to eftimate Indian,
Negro, and Mulatto fervants proportionably as other Perfonal Eftate, according to their found judgment
and difcretion. In 1727, the rule of 1718 was reftored, but during one year only, for in 1728 the law was the fame as that of 1726 ; and fo it probably remained, including all fuch fervants, as well for term of years
as for
life,
in the rateable eftates.
We
have feen the
fupply
bills for
1736, 1738, 1739, and 1740, in which
this feature is the fame.
thus they continued to be rated with horfes, oxen, cows, goats, fheep, and fwine, until after the commencement of the War of the Revolution.
And
We
have not feen the law, but Mr. Felt ftates that cc in 1776 the colored polls were taxed the fame as the Coll. Amer. white polls, and fo continued to
be."
Stat. Affoc.,
i.,
475.
Seealfofp. 203, 311, 345, 411.
In the inventory of Captain Paul White, in 1679, In 1708, an Indian boy was "one negrow 3O/."
from South Carolina brought 357. An Indian girl brought fifteen pounds, at Salem, in Auguft, 1710. The higheft price paid for any of a cargo brought into Bofton, by the floop Katherine, in 1727, was eighty The eftate of Samuel Morgaridge, who died pounds.
in 1754, included the following
1337.
6s.
8</."
"
Item, three negroes

Coll.
Coffin s
i.,
EJ/ex Inftitute,
"
14.
Newbury, 188, 336. Felts Salem, n., 416.

as it
The Guinea Trade," known and branded by all

1
was called then,
fince
civilized nations as piracy,
Another
aft
of the year 1718 forbade, under heavy penalties, Matters

"
of Ships to carry off

5
any bought or hired fervant or
apprentice."
66
whofe beginnings we have noticed, continued to flourifh under the aufpices of Maflachufetts merchants down through the entire colonial period, and long after the boafted Declaration of Rights in 1780 had
the legal existence of flavery within the Felt s Salem, n., 230, 261, 265, limits of that State.
terminated
(?)
To gratify thofe who are curious to 288, 292, 296. fee what the instructions given by refpectable mer
chants in Maflachufetts to their flave captains were in the year 1785, we copy them from Felfs Salem, u.,
1 probably the only ipecimen extant.
28990;
"
"
Nov.
12, 1785.
Capt
"
Our
brig,
of which you have the command, being cleared at
the office, and being in every other refpeft complete for fea ; our orders are, that you embrace the firft fair wind and make the beft of
your way
to the coafl
of Africa, and there inveft your cargo in
flaves.
As
flaves, like other articles,

;
when brought
;
to market, generally appear
to the beft advantage
therefore, too critical an infpeftion cannot

to fee that
be
is
paid to
them before purchafe
no dangerous diftemper
lurking about them, to attend particularly to their age, to their counte nance, to the ftraightnefs of their limbs, and, as far as poffible to the
goodnefs or badnefs of their conftitution, &c. &c., will be very confiderable objects.
"
Male or female
flaves,
;
whether
full
grown or
head
not,
ticularly inftrucl
you about
and on
this
fhall
we cannot par only obferve, that

people require
prime male
flaves generally fell beft in
any market.
No
more kind and tender treatment to exhilarate their Ipirits, than the Africans ; and, while on the one hand you are attentive to this, re member that on the other hand, too much circumfpeftion cannot be
obferved by yourfelf and people, to prevent their taking the advantage
1
Brooks
Medford preferves
s
fimilar inftru6Hons in 1759,
and a fpecimen
Felt s
of the flave captain

2
day-book on the coaft of Africa, pp. 436-7.

Salem, u.,
This
veflel
was probably the Brig Favorite. Compare
287 and 291.
of fuch treatment by infurredtion, &c.
67
confider that on
When you
the health of your flaves, almoft your whole voyage depends ; for all but mortality, feizures and bad debts, the underwriters other
rifques,
are accountable for

veflel,
your with lime or brimftone, and

well as
"
; you will therefore particularly attend to fmoking warning her with vinegar, to the clarifying your water
to cleanlinefs
among your own
people, as
among the flaves. As the factors on the
coaft
have no laws but of their
and of courfe fuch
as fuit their
own
is
the Israelites of old, do whatfoever
making, convenience, they therefore, like right in their own eyes ; in con-
own
fequence of which you ought to be very careful about receiving gold duft, and of putting your cargo into any but the bell hands, or if it can
credit.
flops,
be avoided, and the fame difpatch made, into any hands at all, on any If you find that any faving can be made by bartering rum for
if
even
and fupplying your people with fmall ftores, you will do it ; or you cannot do it without a lofs, it is better done than left un
for ihifts
done;
neceflary.
As our
of clothes, particularly in warm climates, are very intereft will be confiderable, and as we fhall make
infurance thereon, if any accident fliould prevent your following the

it be your firft objecl: to proteft publicly, reafon were You are to and for what obliged to deviate. you why, have four flaves upon every hundred, and four at the place of fale ; the
track here pointed out, let
priviledge of eight hogflieads, and thefe are all the compenfations

"
two pounds
eight ihillings per
month
you
are to expect for the voyage.

privilege,
Your
firft
mate
is
to
have four hogflieads
and your
fecond mate two, and wages as per. agreement. No flaves are to be feledted out as priviledged ones, but muft rife or fall with the general fales of the cargo, and average fhall expeft to hear accordingly.
We
from you, by every opportunity to Europe, the Weft Indies, or any of thefe United States ; and let your letters particularly inform us, what
you have done, what you
We
are then doing, and what you expeft to do. could wifh to have as particular information as can be obtained, refpefting the trade in all its branches on the coaft ; to know if in any
it is probable a load of N. E. Rum could be fold for bills of exchange on London, or any part of Europe ; or, for gold duft ; and what defpatch in this cafe might be made.
"
future time,
You
will be careful to get this information

if
from gentlemen of
veracity, and know of them
any other articles would anfwer from
68
this

quarter.
We
would anfwer, with any good write us upon the fubjeft, and
fhould be glad to enter into a contract, if the terms If any fuch would factor for rum, &c.
enclofe a
memorandum with
the prices
annexed, fuch letters and memorandums mail be duly attended to. are in want of about five hundred weight of camwood, and one large
elephant
s
We
tooth of about 80
Ibs.,
which you will

as to fell
Ibs.
obtain.
If fmall teeth
lofs,
can be bought from 15 to 30

three millings,
curiofities
Ibs., fo
here without a
at
you may purchafe zoo

coaft,
Should you meet with any
on the
of a fmall value, you
gallons of
rum
for them.
Upon your
call
Pierre
advife
s,
Martinico, and
deftination.
may expend 40 or 50 you will touch at St. on Mr. John Mounreau for your further
return
fubmit the conducting of the voyage to your good judgment and prudent management, not doubting of your belt endeavours to ferve our intereft in all cafes ; and conclude with
and
We
committing you to the almighty Difpofer of

"
all
events.
We
wifh you health and profperity,

"
And
are your friends
and
owners."
flaves purchafed in Africa were chiefly fold in the Weft Indies, or in the Southern colonies ; but
The
when
thefe markets were glutted, and the price low, fome of them were brought to Maflachufetts. The ftatiftics of the trade are fomewhat scattered, and it is difficult to bring them together, but enough is known
to bring the fubject
home
to us.
In 1795, one in
formant of Dr. Belknap could remember two or three entire cargoes, and the Doctor himfelf remembered
one fomewhere between 1755 anc^ J 7^5 which confifted Sometimes the verTels of almoft wholly of children.
the neighboring colony of
fold their
prime
flaves in the
Rhode Ifland, after having Weft Indies, brought

fale.
the remnants of their cargoes to Bofton for
Coll.
M. H.
where
The
i., iv., 197. records of the flave-trade and flavery every are the fame the fame difregard of human
.,
69
rights, the fame indifference to fuffering, the fame contempt for the oppreffed races, the fame hate for
thofe
who
are injured.
It has
been afferted that in
Maflachufetts, not only were the miferies of flavery mitigated, but fome of its worft features were wholly unknown. But the record does not bear out the fuggeftion ; ferve the
and the traditions of one town at lead pre1 memory of the moil brutal and barbarous
raifing (laves for the
market."
of
"
all,
Barry
Han
over, 175.
The firft
among
newfpapers publifhed in America illuftrate their advertisements the peculiar features of
and in their fcanty columns of intelligence may be found thrilling accounts of the barbarous murders of matters and crews by the hands of their flave-cargoes. 2 The cafe of the Amiftad negroes had its occafional parallel in the colonial
refer,
the inftitution to which
we
hiftory of the traffic excepting that the men of a had England fympathy at home in the iyth
1
New
and
8th centuries, which was juftly withheld from their Nor Spanifh and Portuguefe imitators in the i9th.
was that region wholly exempt from the terror by day and by night of flave infurredlions. In Coffin s Newbury, 153, is a notice of a confpiracy of Indian and negro flaves "to obtain their inalienable rights,"
apparently a fcheme of fome magnitude.

1
"
The
flave-trade
can be fupported only by barbarians j for
civilized
nations purchafe flaves, but do not produce them." Gibbon, Extraits de man Journal, Oft. 19, 1763. What would the hiftorian of the Decline and
Fall of the
Roman Empire have
faid of the Virginia of the nineteenth cen
tury!
2
Eofton
in
News Letter, No. 1399, Neva England News Letter, No. 1422, No. 1423.
Weekly Journal, No. 214,
jo
the advantages of advertifing came to be underftood, the defcriptions of flave property became
As
more frequent and explicit. Negro men, women, and children were mixed up in the fales with wearing ap 1 very good parel, Gold Watches, and other Goods
"
Barbados
Rum"
is
offered with
2
that has had the Small

"Likely
"
Pox"
young negro and competitors offer

"a
negro
men and women juft arrived" 3 men new and negro boys who have been in the
negro
4
country fome time," and parcel of negro boys and
alfo
"juft
1
arrived, a choice
girls."
man
a
born in the country,

6
"a
and bred
7
likely negro Farmer, fit for any
"A
fervice,"
negro
woman
about 22 years old, with
boy about
to be
man
age
cc &c., a likely negro wo fix months of of about child a and about 19 years
months,"
Jold together or
apart"
and
cc
a likely
negro
man, taken by execution, and to be fold auction at the Royal Exchange Tavern in
at
fix
by pub lick King Street,
o clock this
afternoon,"
muft conclude thefe
extracts.
At
this
point
it
may be
neceffary to interpofe a
caution with reference to the judgment which muft be pronounced againft the policy which has been illuftrated
1
Bofton
News
Letter,
No, 1402.
N. E. Journal, No. aoo.
6 6
4 N. E. Journal, No. 230. N. E. Journal, No. 217. Bofton News Letter, No. 1438, Auguft i2th to i9th, 1731. This man was offered for fale by the Widow and Adminiftratrix to
the Eftate of
7
Bofton
Thomas Amory News Letter, No.
in 1731.
Bofton
News
Letter,
No. 1413.
1487, July 2oth to July 27th, 1732.
N. E. Weekly Journal, No. 267, May ift, 1732. Bofton Gazette and Country Journal, No. 594, Auguft 18, 1766. no evidence This advertifement is a conclufive anfwer to the claim that
9
The
"
is
found of fuch taking

314.
in execution in MafTachufetts."
Dane s Abridgment,
II.,
in thefe notes
;
71
and
has fo clearly ftated

requires very
It
little
a recent writer of Englifh hiftory our own views, that his language
change here.
to mifread hiftory and to forget the change of times, to fee in the Fathers of New England mere commonplace flavemongers ; to themfelves they
would be
appeared as the elect to whom God had given the heathen for an inheritance ; they were men of ftern
who, believing themfelves of Providence, imitated the example and aflumed the privileges of the chofen people, and
intellect
and
fanatical faith,
the favorites
for their
and worft ads they could claim In feizing and of the fanction religious conviction. enflaving Indians, and trading for negroes, they were
wildeft
but entering into pofTeflion of the heritage of the faints and New England had to outgrow the theol of the Elizabethan Calvinifts before it could underogy
;
ftand that the Father of
Heaven
refpected neither
perfon nor color, and that his arbitrary favor if more than a dream of divines was confined to fpiritual privileges. Compare Froudes Hiftory of England, Vol.
viii.,
480.
was not until the ftruggle on the part of the colonifts themfelves to throw off the faft-clofing {hackles of Britim oppreffion culminated in open
It
refiftance to the
mother-country, that the inconfiftency of maintaining flavery with one hand while pleading or ftriking for freedom with the other, compelled a re luctant and gradual change in public opinion on this
fubject.
If it be true that at no period of her colonial and provincial hiftory was Maflachufetts without her
72
"
"

the v/hole fyftem ; their ex powerlefs in that day and generation.
againft
proteftants
ample was
a Sewall,
fell
The words and
thoughts of a Williams, an Eliot, and unheeded and unnoticed on the ears and
hearts of the magiftrates and people of their time, as the acorn fell two centuries ago in the forefts by which
they were furrounded.
V.
BUT
the
humane
efforts
of Roger Williams and
John Eliot to abate the feverity of judgment againft captives, and mitigate the horrors of flavery in
Maflachufetts, hardly againft the inftitution
amounted
itfelf.
to a pofitive proteft In their time there was
no public opinion
little exercife
againft flavery,
and probably very
of private judgment againft it. Even the inner not the had Quakers light yet disamong clofed its enormity, or awakened tender confciences to
its
utter wickednefs.
There were two

1
fignal exceptions to the general
the Hiftorical Magazine, a was included among thofe indicated as having been in advance of their contemporaries on this fubjeft. The reference was to Paul Dudley, An EfTay on who was the author of a tracl, publifhed in 1731, entitled,
this fentence, as originally printed in
"
In
"
Dudley
"
the Merchandife of Slaves and Souls of
Men.
With an Application
to the trat
to the
Church of
Rome."
This
it
title,
and references
;
the impreflion that
was
againft Slavery
gave us but an opportunity recently en
by
others,
joyed of examining the traft itfelf, showed the miftake. It is altogether ( an an oration againft Application to the Church of Rome," in fa6t,
"
Popery,"
of which
Maffachufetts had a
much
greater horror than of
flavery.
73
on this fubjed, theory and practice of that period both of which deferve to be had in everlafting re membrance. We fhall make no apology for noticing
in this place, although their connection with the is very remote. hiftory of flavery in MafTachufetts and Orders made at the Generall the
them
Among
"
Ads
Court of Election held at Warwicke this i8th day of The Commiffioners of Provi May, anno 1652," dence and Warwicke being lawfully mett and fett," on the fecond day of their feffion (i9th May, 1652), enaded and ordered as follows, viz.
"
"WHEREAS, there is a
common
courfe pradifed
buy negers, to that end they among Englishmen may have them for fervice or flaves for ever ; for the
to
preventinge of fuch pradices among us, let it be ordered, that no blacke mankind or white being forced by covenant bond, or otherwife, to ferve any
man
or his aflighnes longer than ten yeares, or untill they come to bee twentiefour yeares of age, if they bee taken in under fourteen, from the time of their
cominge within the liberties of this Collonie. And at the end or terme of ten yeares to fett them free, as is the manner with the Englim fervants. And that
man
away
that will not let
them goe
free,
or fhall
fell
them
elfewhere, to that
end that they
may
be enflaved
to others for a long time, hee or they fhall forfeit to
the Collonie forty pounds." R. I. Records, i., 248. This noble ad ftands out in fblitary grandeur in
the middle of the feventeenth century, the firfl legis lative enadment in the hiftory of this continent, if
not of the world, for the fuppreflion of involuntary fervitude. But, unhappily, it was not enforced, even
74
in the
towns over which the authority of the

1
Com-
miffioners extended.
other exception to which we have referred is to be found in the following declaration againfb llavery
The
by the Quakers of Germantown, Pennfylvania, in 1688. Thefe were a "little handful" of German Friends from Cresheim, a town not far from Worms,
in the Palatinate.
We
in
are
indebted
to
the
curious
and zealous
Kite, of Philadelphia, for the It appeared publication of this interefting memorial.

refearch of
Mr. Nathan
^he Friend, Vol. xvii., No. 16, January 13, 1844. The paper from which Mr. Kite copied was the
original.
At
the foot of the addrefs,
John Hart, the

his minute,
clerk of the
Monthly Meeting, made
and
that paper having been then forwarded to the Quar terly Meeting, received a few lines from Anthony
Morris, the clerk of that body, to introduce it to the Yearly Meeting, to which it was then directed.
This is to the monthly meeting held at Richard Worrell s cc Thefe are the reafons why we are againfl the Is there any that traffic of men-body, as followeth
"
would be done or handled

fold or
fearful
at this
manner
viz., to
?
be
made
a flave for all the time of his life

at fea,
How
and faint-hearted are many

being afraid
it
fee a flrange veflel,
when they mould be a Turk,
Compare Arnold,
I.,
240.
We
omit
fo
his
miftaken deference to Mafla-
chufetts in regard to the
A61 of 1646
fented as a proteft againft flavery.

174, and Hildreth,
I.,
long mifunderftood or mifrepreAlfo Bancroft, I., See ante, pp. 28-30.
373.
75
and they fhould be taken, and fold for flaves into Turkey. Now, what is this better done, than Turks do ? Yea, rather it is worfe for them, which fay they for we hear that the moil part of fuch are Chriftians
;
negers are brought hither againft their will and conNow, though fent, and that many of them are flolen.
they are black, we cannot conceive there

liberty to
is
more
have them
flaves,
as [than]
it
is
to have
There is a faying, that we fhould do to all men like as we will be done ourfelves ; making no difference of what generation, defcent, or
other white ones.
colour they are.
And thofe who fteal or rob men, and thofe who buy or purchafe them, are they not all Here is liberty of confcience, which is right alike? and reafonable here ought to be likewife liberty of the body, except of evil-doers, which is another cafe. But to bring men hither, or to rob and fell them In Europe, there againft their will, we fland againft.
;
are
opprefled for confcience-fake ; and here there are thofe opprefled which are of a black colour.
many
that men muft not commit adultery fome do commit adultery in others, feparating wives from their hufbands, and giving them to others and fome fell the children of thefe poor creatures to Ah do confider well this thing, you other men. who do it, if you would be done at this manner and You furpafs if it is done according to Chriflianity Holland and Germany in this thing. This makes an ill report in all thofe countries of Europe, where they hear of [it,] that the Quakers do here handel men as
And we who know
they handel there the cattle. And for that reafon fome have no mind or inclination to come hither.
76

fhall
And who
it ?
Truly, we cannot do
:
maintain this your caufe, or plead for fo, except you fhall inform
that Chriftians have liberty to Pray, what thing in the world
us better hereof, viz.

practife thefe things.
can be done worfe towards us, than if men mould rob or fteal us away, and fell us for flaves to flrange
countries
children.
;
feparating hufbands from their wives and Being now this is not done in the manner
at,
we would be done
and
[by]
therefore,
we
contradict,
who
wife,
are againft this traffic of men-body. And we profefs that it is not lawful to fteal, mutt, like-
avoid to purchafe fuch things as are ftolen, but
rather help to flop this robbing and ftealing, if poflible. And fuch men ought to be delivered out of the hands
of the robbers, and fet free as in Europe. Then is Pennfylvania to have a good report, inftead, it hath now a bad one, for this fake, in other countries
:
Efpecially whereas the Europeans are defirous to know in what manner the Quakers do rule in their province ; and moft of them do look upon us with an envious
eye.
But
evil
?
"If
if this
is
done
well,
what mail we fay
is
done
once thefe flaves (which they fay are fo wicked and flubborn men,) mould join themfelves fight for their freedom, and handel their mafters and miftrefTes, as they did handel them before ; will thefe mafters and
miftrefTes take the
fword
poor
flaves, like, as
?
we
at hand and war againft thefe are able to believe, fome will
not refufe to do
much
"
right to fight for their freedom, as you keep them flaves ? confider well this thing, if it is
Or, have thefe poor negers not as have to
Now
good or
77
to handel
bad.
And
in cafe
you
find
it
to be
defire
good
and require you hereby lovingly, that you may inform us herein, which at this time never was done, viz., that Chris
thefe blacks in that manner,
tians
we
have fuch a liberty to do
fo.
To
the end
we
mall be fatisfied on this point, and fatisfy likewife our good friends and acquaintances in our native country,
to
whom
"
it
is
a terror,
or fearful thing, that

at
men
mould be
This
y
e
1
handelled fo in Pennfylvania.
is
from our meeting

at
Germantown, held
s.
8th of the id month, 1688, to be delivered to the
monthly meeting
Richard Worrell
cc
GARRET HENDERICH, DERICK OP DE GRAEFF,

FRANCIS DANIEL PASTORIUS, ABRAM OP DE GRAEFF.
"
At our monthly
e meeting, at Dublin, y joth 2d
e mo., 1688, we having infpected y matter, above men tioned, and confidered of it, we find it fo weighty that
we think
not expedient for us to meddle with it e e it to here, y confideration of y e tenor of e it quarterly meeting y being related to y
it
but do rather commit

;
truth.
"On
behalf of y e monthly meeting,

"Jo.
HART.
"
This abovementioned, was read
in
our quarterly
88,
meeting, at Philadelphia, the
e 4th of y 4th mo.,
and was from thence recommended to the yearly meet ing, and the above faid Derrick, and the other two
mentioned
therein, to prefent the
fame to y e above
78
faid meeting, it being a thing this meeting to determine.

cc
of too great weight for
e Signed by order of y meeting. cc
ANTHONY
MORRIS."
Yearly Meeting, held at Bur lington in the fame year, record the refult of this firft
effort
The minutes o/ the

among
the Quakers.
cc
At a Yearly Meeting,
day of the yth Month,

cc
held at Burlington the 1688.
paper being here prefented by fome German Unlawfulnefs Friends Concerning the Lawfulnefs
&
of Buying Keeping of Negroes It was adjudged to be fo not proper for this Meeting to give a Pofitive Judgment in the Cafe It having fo general a Rela
tion to
&
many
It."
other Parts
&
therefore at prefent they

the
Forbear
copied by
Soc. Coll.,
ExtracJ from
Kite.
Original
Nathan
i.,
Compare
Bettle, in
Minutes, Penn. Hift.
365.
as
Richard Baxter has been reprefented

echoed the opinions of Puritan have already Bancroft, in., 412.
cc
having
that the
Maflachufetts."
We
mown
Puritans of Maflachufetts were not hoftile to flavery. Neither was Baxter ; for he expreflly recognized the
lawfulnefs of the purchafe and ufe of
men
as flaves,
The although he denounced principal point of his Chriftian Directory (publifhed in 1673) in this matter, was concerning the religious
man-ftealing as piracy.
flave.
obligations growing out of the relation of matter and Works, iv., 212-20., xvn., 330., xix., 210.
79
Morgan Godwyn, a clergyman of the Church of England, who wrote and publifhed in 1680 "The Negro s and Indian s Advocate, fuing for their AdmiiTion into the
Church,"
doubt of the lawfulnefs
hardly intimates a of their flavery, while he

etc.,
pleads for their humanity and right to religion againft a very general opinion of that day, which denied them both.
Dean
Berkeley, in his famous fermon before the
Venerable Society in 1731, fpeaks of "the irrational contempt of the Blacks, as Creatures of another Spe
cies,
who had no
Sacraments."
right to be inftructed or admitted to
the
Sermon, p. 19.
George Keith (then Quaker), whose paper againft the practice was faid to be given forth by the appointment of the meeting held by him in the city
of Philadelphia, about the year 1693, gave a ftrict that they mould fet their negroes charge to Friends at liberty, after fome reafonable time offervice." Gabriel
"
And
Thomas s Hiftory of Pennfylvania, etc., 1698,^. 53, 54. This was probably the pamphlet quoted by Dr. Frank lin in his letter to John Wright, 4th November, 1789. Works , x., 403.
Keith appears fimply to have repeated the words of George Fox in Barbadoes in 1671, when he urged the religious training of the negroes, as well as kind
treatment, in place of cruelty towards them, as the manner of fome hath been and is ; and that after
<c
certain
free."
years of fervitude
Journal^
n.,
they
140.
mould make them For a more particular
account of this teftimony of Fox, see The Friend, Vol. xvn., pp. 28, 29. 4to. Phil. Tne explicit 1843.
8o
anfwer of
the charge that the Quakers taught the negroes to rebel," fhows very clearly that antiflavery doctrines were no part of the Quaker creed at
that time.
Ibid., pp.
1
47~9>
Fox to
"
Compare 454.
"
See aljo
Ralph
s Brief Examination, etc., Preface. that people for half a century afterwards were as greedy as any Body in keeping Negroes for
Sandifora"
And
their
Gain,"
fo as to
proved of
moufly."
cc
it
as
induce the belief that they ap a People with one confent unani-
"
Ralph Sandiford, in 1729, in his Brief Examination," etc., thus bemoaned the fact,
Lay, 84.
cc
"that
hath defaced the prefent Difpenfation." Had the Friends flood clear of this Practice,
it
that
might have been anfwered to the Traders in Slaves that there is a People called Quakers in Pennit
fylvania that will not
own
this practice in
Word
or
Deed, then would they have been a burning and a mining Light to thefe poor Heathen, and a Precedent
to the Nations throughout the Univerfe which might have brought them to have feen the Evil of it in
themfelves, and glorifyed the Lord on our Behalf, and like the Queen of the Eafty to have admired the Glory and Beauty of the Church of God. But inftead thereof, the tender feed in the Honeft-hearted
is
under Suffering, to fee both Elders and Ministers as it were cloathed with it, and their offspring after them of their Parents Iniquity filling up the Meafure
;
which
may
be fuffered
that
till
fuch
Time that Recompence
is juft to all his Creatures opens that of this World has blinded. Though I Eye god would not be underftood to pervert the Order of the
from
Him
the
Body, which
confifts
of Servants and Matters, and the
81
cannot fay to the Foot, / have no need of thee ; but it is the Converting Men s Liberty to our Wills, who have not, like the Gibeonites, offered themfelves
Head
willingly, or poft, but are

defires to
is
by Confent given their Ear to the Doormade fuch by Force, in that Nature that Lord it over their Fellow Creatures, is what by
all Chriftians."
:
to be abhorred
pp. 9, 10.
"
But in Time Again, he fays in another place this dark Trade creeping in amongft us to the very
Miniftry, becaufe of the profit by it, hath fpread over others like a Leprofy, to the Grief of the Honefthearted."
Preface.
Public fentiment and opinion againft flavery were firft aroufed and ftimulated in America in the latter
part of the feventeenth century by fympathy for the Chriftian captives, Dutch and Englim, who were en-
by the Turks and the pirates of Northern Lay s "All Slave-keepers Apoftates." The efforts to ranfom and releafe thefe unfortunate perfons, excited by the terrible forrow of relatives and friends, kinfmen and countrymen, brought home to fome minds (though few) the injuftice of their own dealings
flaved
Africa.
with the negroes.
The
earlieft writers againft flavery
argument with peculiar force and unction, but with little effect. They feem to have made no
urged that
impreflion on the legiflation of the colonies, and curious and zealous refearch only can recover the
memorials of their righteous teftimonies.
The
earlieft
pofitive public challenge to flavery in
Maflachufetts of which
in the year 1700,
6
we have any knowledge, was

a learned, pious,
lifts
when
magiftrate entered the
and honored and founded his alone,
82
folitary blafl in the ears of his brother magiftrates and the people, who liftened in amazement and wonder,
His per not unmingled with forrow and contempt. formance is all the more remarkable from the fact
ftands out in the hiftory of the time feparate and the voice of one crying in the wildernefs." diflinct as
that
it
"
SAMUEL SEWALL,
at
that
time a Judge of the

:
Superior Court, and afterwards Chief-Juftice, pubcc The Selling of limed a brief tract in 1700, entitled It filled three pages of a folio Jqfeph a Memorial"
Eofton of the Maffameet, ending with the imprint chujetts ; Printed by Bartholomew Green and John Allen.
c<
June ztfhy 1700." The author prefented a copy of this tract not only to each member of the General Court at the time
"
of
its
publication, but alfo to
numerous clergymen
and
literary
MS.
Letter.
gentlemen with whom he was intimate." Compare BriJJToty i., 224. Although thus
it
extenfively circulated at that day,
has for
many
years been known apparently only by tradition, as nearly all the notices of it which we have feen are con
fined to the fact of its publication early in the eight eenth century, the date being nowhere correctly ftated.
Beyond
the
this, it
appears to have been

is
our hiftorians, firft time in the prefent century. Indeed, we have met with no quotation even from it later than 1738,
and
unknown to now reproduced probably for
when
it
was reprinted
flavery took an
earlier
earlier fruit, than in
where antiand deeper root, and bore 1 any other part of America.
in Pennfylvania,
1 It was reprinted as a part of Benjamin that keep the Innocent in Bondage, Apoftates
Lay
.
s trail,
.
,"
"
All Slave-Keepers
in
which
it
occupies
Its rarity
83
and peculiar
is
placing the reprint

nection.
It
interefl will juftify us in before our readers in this con
fomewhat remarkable
that fo fignal a
"
teftimony againfl flavery fhould have efcaped the rethe hiftoric fearch of thofe who have in their cuftody
fame"
of Maflachufetts.
its
It
is
moft honorable
me
morial of
"
venerated author.
THE SELLING OF JOSEPH A MEMORIAL.

By the Hon ble JUDGE SEWALL
in
New
England.
;
"
FORASMUCH as LIBERTY is in
to
real value next unto Life

it,
None ought
"
part with
it
or deprive others of themjelvcs,

at this
but
upon mojl mature
confederation.
The Numeroufnefs of Slaves
Day
in the Province,
and the
Uneafinefs of them under their Slavery, hath put many upon thinking whether the Foundation of it be firmly and well laid ; fo as to fuftain
the Vaft
as
Weight
that
is
built
upon
it.
It
is
moft certain that
all
Men,
they are the Sons of Adam, are Co-heirs, and have equal Right unto GOD hath given the Liberty, and all other outward Comforts of Life.
Earth [with
1
all its commodities] unto the Sons of Adam, PfaL, 115, hath made of one Blood all Nations of Men, for to dwell on all the face of the Earth, and hath determined the Times before and the bounds of their Habitation : That they Jhould appointed,
6.
And
then as we are the Offspring of GOD, feek the Lord. Forafmuch &c. Ads 17. 26, 27, 29. Now, although the Title given by the laft ADAM doth infinitely better Men s Eftates, refpefting GOD and themfelves
;
and grants them a moft
beneficial
and
inviolable Leafe under
the Broad Seal of Heaven,
yet through the Indulgence the outward Eftate of all and every of their Children,
who were of GOD to
before only Tenants at Will ; our Firft Parents after the Fall,
remains the
Phila pp. 199-207 inclufive. The title of Lay s traft gives the imprint, but it was not published until the delphia, Printed for the Author, 1737 following year. See The American Weekly Mercury, No. 973, Aug. 17-24,
"
5"
is
73 8, and following numbers ; efpeciallyNo. 982, Oft. 19-26, 1738, in which printed the repudiation of Lay and his book, by the Yearly Meeting.
84
fame
So that Originally, and Naturally, there is no as to one another. a Slave to his fuch thing as Slavery. Jofeph was rightfully no more Brethren, than they were to him ; and they had no more Authority to
Sell him, than they
fell
him
Twenty
PotipJiar Gen. 37, 20, 27, 28.
And if they had nothing to do to bargaining with them, and paying down Neither could pieces of Silver, could not make a Title. have any better Intereft in him than the I/hmaelites had.
had to Slay him.
the I/hmaelites
For he that mall in this cafe plead Alteration feems to have forfeited a great part of his own claim to of Property, Humanity. There is no proportion between Twenty Pieces of Silver
and
LIBERTY.
The Commodity
in
itfelf is
the Claimer.
If
Arabian
any quantities, moft are afraid to meddle with it^ though they might have itateafy rates ; left it mould have been wrong taken from the Owners, it mould kindle a fire to the Confumption fully
Gold be imported
of their whole Eft ate,

buying
a Horfe, or a little
Tis pity there mould be more Caution ufed in lifelefs duft, than there is in purchafmg
are the Offspring of
Men
and
Women
Whereas they
GOD, and
their
Liberty
is,
Auro
"
pretlojior
Omni.
And
feeing
GOD
hath
faid,
He
that Stealetha
Man, and
be
Selleth
kirn,
or if he be
1
Exod. 21,
is
6.
found This Law
in his
Hand, hejhall furely
put
to
Death.
being of Everlafting Equity, wherein

:
ranked among the moft atrocious of Capital Crimes Stealing louder Cry can there be made of that Celebrated Warning,
ManWhat
Caveat Emptor!
"
And
all
things confidered,
it
would conduce more
to the
Welfare
of the Province, to have White Servants for a Term of Years, than to have Slaves for Life. Few can endure to hear of a Negro s being
made
their
free
and indeed they can feldom ufe

afpiring after their
their
Freedom
well
yet
continual
Unwilling Servants.
And
there
is
forbidden Liberty, renders them fuch a difparity in their Conditions,

us,
ftill
Colour, and Hair, that they can never embody with
&
grow up
in
of the orderly Families, to the Peopling
Land
but
remain in our
Body
as
Politick as a kind
of extravafat Blood.
As many Negro Men

Train
there are
among
us, fo
many empty
Places are there in our
Bands, and the places taken up of Men that might make Hufbands for And the Sons and Daughters of New England would our Daughters.
become more
like
85
out of Doors.
Jacob and Rachel, if this Slavery were thruft quite Moreover it is too well known what Temptations
;
Matters are under, to connive at the Fornication of their Slaves
left
It or pay their Fines. they mould be obliged to find them Wives, feems to be practically pleaded that they might be lawlefs ; tis thought
much
of,
that the
Law mould
;
have
fatisfaclion for their Thefts,

to It
and
other Immoralities
rarely engraven
by which means, Holinefs

this
the
is
Lord
is
more
moll
upon
fort
of Servitude.
likewife
lamentable to think,
how
in taking
of them here, That which GOD afunder ; Men from their Country, Hulbands from their Wives, Parents
Negroes out of Africa, and felling has joined together, Men do boldly rend
How horrible is the Uncleannefs, Mortality, if their Children. not Murder, that the Ships are guilty of that bring great Crouds of
from
thefe miferable
Men
and
Women.
Methinks when we are bemoaning
the barbarous Ufage of our Friends and Kinsfolk in Africa, it might not be unreafonable to enquire whether we are not culpable in forcing
the Africans to queftion whether the Accompt of
become
all
Slaves amongft ourfelves.
And
for the
it
may be
the Benefit received by

laid out
Negro
;
Slaves will balance
Cam
upon them
and
of our own enflaved Friends out of Africa.

Eftates that have periihed there.
Befidesall the Perfons
Redemption and
Obj. i. Thefe Blackamores are of the Poflerity of Cham, are the under Gen. 9, 25, 26, 27. therefore Curfe of Slavery.
"
"
and
Anf.
Of
all
Offices,
one would not beg
this
viz.
;
Uncall d
for,
to be an Executioner of the Vindictive
Wrath of God
the extent and

;
duration of which
is
to us uncertain.
it
is
If this ever was a Commiffion

?
How
found
do we know but that

it
long fince out of Date
Many
have
to their Coft,
that a Prophetical Denunciation
of Judgment
his mafter,
againft a Perfon or People,
would not warrant them

all
to inflict that evil.
If
it
would, Hazael might juftify himfelf in

Israelites
it
is
he did againft
and the
"
from 2 Kings
8, 10, 12.
But
poffible that
been miftaken.
by curfory reading, this Text may have For Canaan is the Perfon Curfed three times over,
without the mentioning of Cham.

entailed
Good
Expofitors fuppofe the Curfe
on him, and
that this Prophefie
tirpation of the
Canaanitcs, and in
was accomplifhed in the Ex the Servitude of the Gibeonites.
86
Vide Pareum.
but of Ciifh.

Whereas the Blackmores
Pfal.
are not defcended of
Canaan,
Princes JJiall come out of Egypt [Miz68, 31. raim]. Ethiopia [Cufh] Jhall foon Jiretch out her hands unto God. Under which Names, all Africa may be comprehended ; and their
Promifed Converfion ought to be prayed for. Jer. 13, 23. Can the This mows that Black Men are the Ethiopian change his Skin ?
Pofterity of Ciifh.
their Colour.
Who
for
time out of mind have been diftinguimed by

true,
And
want of the
Ovid
affigns a fabulous caufe
of
it.
Sanguine turn credunt in corpora
summa
<vocato
JEthiopum populos nigrum
traxtffe colorem.
Metamorph.
"
lib. 2.
Obj.
into
2.
The Nigers are brought out of a Pagan Country,

is
places where the Gofpel

"
preached.
it.
Anf. Evil muft not be done, that good may come of
The
extraordinary and comprehenfive Benefit accruing to the Church of God, and to perfonally, did not rectify his Brethren s Sale of
Jojeph
him.
"
Obj.
3.
The Africans have Wars one with another
Our
Ships bring lawful Captives taken in thofe wars.
For aught is known, their Wars are much fuch as were Anjiu. between Jacob*s Sons and their Brother jfofeph. If they be between Town and Town ; Provincial or National Every War is upon one
"
fide Unjuft.
An
I
Unlawful
War
can
make lawful
Captives.
And by
receiving,
Cruelties.
we
are in danger to promote, and partake in their Barbarous
am
fure,
if
Brewflers to take the Air, and Fish
fome Gentlemen mould go down to the And a ftronger Part} from Hull
:
mould
furprife them,
and
fell
them
for Slaves to a Ship
outward bound
they would think themfelves unjuftly dealt with ; both by Sellers and And yet tis to be feared, we have no other Kind of Title to Buyers.
our Nigers. Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that do to you, do you even JJiould fo to them : for this is the Law the Matt. 12. 7, Prophets.
men and
Obj. 4. Abraham had Servants bought with his Money and born in his Houfe.
"
87
corded,
Anf. Until the Circumftances of Abraham s purchafe be re no Argument can be drawn from it. In the mean time,
Charity obliges us to conclude, that He knew it was lawful and good. "It is Obfervable that the Israelites were forbidden the ftriclily
buying or felling one another for Slaves. Levit. 25. 39. 46. Jer. 34. 8-22. And GOD gaged His Bleffing in lieu of any lofs they might conceit they fuffered thereby, Deut. 15. 18. And fince the partition
Wall
is
broken down, inordinate Self-love mould likewife be demolifhed.

Chriftians
to
GOD
expects that Chriftians

Spirit.
frame of
Israelites
mould be of a more Ingenuous and benign mould carry it to all the World, as the
it
were
carry
one towards
another.
And
for
Men
obftinately to perfift in holding their
Neighbours and Brethren under the Rigor of perpetual Bondage, feems to be no proper way of gaining Aflurance that God has given them Spiritual Freedom. Our Blefled
Saviour has altered the Meafures of the ancient Love Song, and fet it to a molt Excellent New Tune, which all ought to be ambitious of
Matt. 5. 43. 44. John 13. 34. Thefe Ethiopians, as black as they are, feeing they are the Sons and Daughters of the Firft Adam, the Brethren and Sifters of the Laft ADAM, and the Offspring
Learning,
of
GOD
"
They ought
to be treated with a Refpecl: agreeable.
Servitus perfe&a voluntaria, inter Chriftianum
& Chriftianum,
ex parte fervi patientis Jape eft licita, quia eft necejfaria ; fed ex exercendo, vix poteft effe parte domini agentis, procurando licita ; quia non convenit regular illi generali : Qucecunque volueritis
&
&
utfadant
"
vobis homines, ita
& vosjacite
eis.
Matt.
7. 12.
Perjeda Jervitus pctncz, non poteft jure locum habere, delido gravi quod ultimum Jupplicium aliquo modo meretur
Libertas ex naturali aftimatione proxime accedit eidem a multis prczferrifolet.
"
ni/i
:
ex
quia
ad vitam ipjam^
2.
3."
&
Ames. Cas. Confc. Lib.
5.
Cap. 23.
Thes.
fignally and clearly did Judge Sewall expofe the miferable pretences on which flavery and the flavetrade were then juftified in Maflachufetts, as they con tinued to be long years after he flept with his
"
Thus
fathers."
And
cc
defire that
he exhibited in his correfpondence his the wicked practice of flavery might be

"
88
taken away, as well as his ftrong conviction that there no great progrefs in Gofpellizing till would be
"
then."
It
is
Henry Newman, Dec. Jan., 1714-15. manifefl that he was far in advance of his day and
Letter
to
"
generation in thefe views, and he has himfelf left the cc record that he met more frowns and hard words
than fympathy lenged, nor was
His teftimony did not go unchal

its
publication allowed to pafs with
out reply. JOHN SAFFIN, a judge of the fame court with Judge Sewall, and a flaveholder, printed an anfwer the next year, of which we regret to fay we
have been able to find no copy. Could it be found, it would undoubtedly be an interefling document and
very important in illustration of the hiftory of flavery
in Maflachufetts.
in
it
We might naturally expect to find fome references to the laws, the principles, and
1 the practices of the Puritan Fathers of that colony.
Magazine
Since this portion of our work was firft printed, in the Hiftorical for June, 1864, Sewall s tracl has been reprinted by the Mafla-
chufetts Hiftorical Society,
from an
original prefented to
its
Library by the
Hon. Robert C. Winthrop. Proc. M. H. S., 1863-64, pp. 161-5. what is of much more importance in this connexion, a copy of
anfwer has been difcovered.
It is a fmall quarto, entitled
"
And,
Saffin s
Brief and
Candid Anfwer to a JOSEPH whereunto

|
late
j
Printed
j
Sheet entituled
|
THE
SELLING OF
way
is annexed, a True and Particular Narrative by of Vindication of the Author s Dealing with and Profecution of his Negro Man Servant for his vile and exhorbitant Behaviour towards his
|
|
Mafter and
reprefented
[
his
|
Tenant,
to their Prejudice
Bofton:
feflion
Printed in
Shepard which hath been wrongfully and Defamation, By JOHN SAFFIN, Efqr. the Year 1701." The original is now in the pos;
:
j
Thomas
of GEORGE BRINLEY, Efq., of Hartford, Conn. are indebted to the refearch and fagacity of Mr. J. HAMMOND TRUMBULL, Prefident of the Connecticut Hiftorical Society, for the difcovery of Saffin s traft and perSaffin s original petitions to the mifiion to make the prefent ufe of it.
We
General Court in regard to

print, etc., etc.,
this affair, one referring to his pamphlet as in are preferved in the Mafs. Archives, ix., 152, 153.
89
The
following letter
illuftrates the fubject further,
from Judge Sewall, which was addrefled

John Higginfon.
Apr.
13, 1706.
"
To the Rev d
& aged Mr.
"
Sir,
"
account
it
a great
Favour of God,
that I have
been priviledged with the Acquaintance and Friendfhip of many of the Firft Planters in New England :
Six years agoe since I The next year a Sheet in defence of Liberty. printed I forbore after, Mr. Saffin Jet forth a -printed Anjwer.
troubling the Province with any Reply, untill
and the Friendfhip of your felf, // is now near larly oblig d me.
as fuch, has particu
I Jaw a
very Severe Aft pajfling againft Indians and Negros, and then I Reprinted that Queftion, as I found it ftated and anjwered in the Athenian Oracle ; which I knew nothing
of before
laft
Autumn was twelve
moneths,
Amidft the dentally cafl my Eye upon it. hard Words I have met with for this Undertaking, it is no Jmall refrejhment to me, that I have the Learned,
when I acci Frowns and
Reverend &? Aged Mr. Higginfon for my Abetter.

the interpojition of this
By
and
have
Br eft-Work, I
hope
to
carry on
I
manage
this Enterprife with Safety and Succejs. inclofed the Prints. I could be glad of your
Anfwer
to one Cafe
viz.,
much
it
Whether
to
in agitation among us at this day : be not for the Honor of G. and of
N. E.
referve entire
and untouch d the Indian
Plantation of Natick, and other Lands under the fame Circumftances ? that the lying of those Lands
unoccupied and undefired by the Englifh, may be a valid and Lafting Evidence, that we defire the Con-
UNIVERSITY
90
verfion and Wellfare of the Natives, and would by no means Extirpat them, as the Spaniards did ? There
is
one thing more
would mention, and
that
is,
am
verily perswaded that the Set time for the Drying up of the Apocalyptical Euphrates, is very nigh 5 if not
come
earneftly befpeak the Afliftance of your ch I do with Prayers in that momentous Concern the more Confidence, becaufe you were Lifted in that
:
and
Service above
afrefh into
fifty years ago. the Confederation.
Pray,
Sir
Come
Let
me
alfo entreat
your Prayers for me, and my family, that the BlerTmg of G. may reft upon the head of every one in it by reafon of the good will of Him who dwell d in the
Bum.
My fervice
to
Madam
cc
Higginfon.
am,
O.
Sir,
Your humble
Serv*.
CC
C
i^-.
"
are unable to give any account of the Act Indians and Negroes, whofe feverity induced againft Thefe Sewall to renew his efforts in their behalf.
efforts
We
were probably fuccefsful, as none appears to have been pafTed into a law at all anfwering to his defcription in its provifions, and in point of time or
;
if paffed, it
muft have been fpeedily repealed. If the Act referred to mould be found, it might furnifh a
ftriking illuftration of the views of the time concern ing the ftatus of thefe unhappy races of men.
We
tion"
as
mall therefore re-produce here "that Ques cc ftated and anfwered in the Athenian Oracle,"
which Sewall ufed to fo good purpofe in defending the rights of Indians and Negroes againft the hoftile legis lation of MafTachufetts, in the early years of the
eighteenth century.
91
From
"
the Athenian Oracle, Vol. n., pp.
460-63.
We read in Gen. 17. 12: And he that is eight days old be Circumcifed among you, every Man-child in their Generation. He that is born in the Houfe, or bought with Money of any Stranger This was God s Covenant with Abraham, that is not of thy Seed.
Q"
{hall
and
in
him with
all the
Jews
into the
World, being
aboli/hed,
and
which Covenant by Chri/Ps coming the Covenant of Baptifm infti-
tuted in its Jlead ; The Queftion is, Whether thofe Merchants and Planters in the Weft Indies, as well all other parts of the World, that buy Negroes, or other Heathen Servants or Slaves, are not indifpenfably
bound to bring fuch Servants to be Baptized, as well as Abraham was to Circumcife his Stranger Servants ? Confequently, whafs to be thought of thofe Chriftian Mqflers, who refufe to let wou d have fuch Servants be baptized ; becaufe if they were, they
their freedom at
a certain term of Years allowed by the Laws of the

this
fever
"
al Plantations ?
A.
We
have met with

s
with the Gentleman

in the
it.
defire,
we
ll
Queftion before, though to comply here give it a larger Anfwer ; tho*
obferve a falfe fuppofition in the wording of Covenant with Abraham was aboliihedby the Covenant he made with us by our Saviour, and confequently they are two
firft
Place,
s
we muft
That God
different
Covenants
with two different Seals
whereas they were rather the fame Covenant, we fay the Covenant God made with Abra ;
ham, was not
makes by Chrift with
Covenant of Works, but of Faith, as well as that he all Believers ; nay, was the very fame with it,
Chrift being promifed in

faid,
God
That
is
in his
feedJliould all the
Covenant with Abraham, when twas Nations of the Earth be blejfed ;

;
which
interpreted of Chrift
by the infpired Writers
and
this is
way of Arguing, Rom. 4. n. 13. He received the Sign of Circumcifion, a Seal of the Righteoufnefs of the Faith, which he had yet being uncircumcifed, that he might be
further evident from the Apoftles
Father of
for the
"
believe, though they be not Circumcifed ; that hejhould be the Heir of the World, was not to Promife or to his the but Law Abraham, ; Faith, etc. feed through
all
them that
through
Now
to the Queftion.
his
If
Abraham was
oblig d to Circumcife
all
that
were born of
Houfe, and that were bought with money of
92
the Stranger (the Samaritan Verfion has it <T3?*i5 Barbarak, whence Bap/fopos a Barbarian, names that all Nations have ever fmce flung at one another, and the Hebrews as often call d by it among the Greeks
as any.
If he was to do
to
this,
ought not
all
Chriftians
by Parity of
Reafon
do the
like
by
their Slaves
is
and Servants ?
We
anfwer,
Go/pel twas to Abraham, who indeed faw Chrift, and rejoic d, but twas in darker Types and Prophecies. But in order to a more full fatisfaction of this Difficulty, it may be further convenient to enquire; whe
ther
Yes, and much more,
as the
now more
clearly revealed than
Negro
Preparation
is
Children are to be Baptized, and for grown Perfons what To the firil, a great Man of our required of em ?
opinion,
;
Church was of an
as well as
That
Negro
Child ought to be baptiz
d,
any others
is
the Promife reaching
To
all that
were afar
off]
as well as
to Believers
and
their Children,
and in
;
this cafe,
the right
of the child
all,
in the Mafter,[i] not the Slave
and
if Chrift
dy d
;
for
why mould not

refift
the Vertues of his

for
Death be apply d
to
all
who do
nothing to
it,
the warning
away
their Original
Pravity?
Again,
If Infants were in argue in the cafe of Infant Baptifm. the Covenant before Chrift, how come they fmce to be excluded ? So
as
;
we
we may here, and perhaps more generally If all Infants, born in Abraham s houfe, or bought with Money of the Stranger or Barbarian (who often fold their own Children then, as they do now) if they were then to have the Seal of the Covenant, how have they fmce forfeited
it
r
Why
mayn
they be capable of a nobler Seal,

all
tis
true, but yet
of
the fame
Covenant made with
Seed, in
whom,
of
St.
as before, all
Mankind by Chrift, that promif d Nations mould be blefled, and the breach
as
repaired that
was made
in
Adam ;
was,
we
are fure, the exprefs
opinion
Jerom, who
in his difputation
with
the
Pelagian,
Why are Infants Baptized, Ep. 17, has remarkable Expreffions. The Orthodox anfwers, That in Baptifm their fays the Pelagian ?
a meeting of the General Aflbciation of the Colony of ConneHIt was inquired whether the infant flaves of Chriftian matters cut, 1738, may be baptized in the right of their mafters they folemnly promifing to
l
At
"
train
them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord
and whether
it is
the
duty of fuch mafters to offer fuch children and thus religioufly to promife. Both queftions were affirmatively anfwered. Records as reported by
C. Chapin, D. D., quoted in Joneses Religious Injlruftion of the Negroes,
Re<v.
etc. y
34-]
Sins
?
93
may be remitted. The Pelagian replies, Where did they ever The Orthodox rejoyns, that S. Paul ihall anfwer for him, who the Rom., Death reign d from Adam to Mofes, fays in the fifth of even over thofe who had notjihrtd, according to the Jimilitude of Adam s Tranfgreffion. And he quotes St. Cyprian in the fame place,
fin
both to
to
and our Purpofe, That if Remiffion of Sins is given even greater and more notorious Sinners, and none is Excepted from Grace, none prohibitedfrom Baptifm, much lefs ought an Infant to
his
his own, but only that of his be deny d Baptifm, who has no Sin of Father Adam to anfwer for. This for Children, and there s yet lefs doubt of thofe who are of Age to anfwer for themfelves, and would
tion of the
foon learn the Principles of our Faith, and might be taught the Obliga Vow they made in Baptifm, as there s little doubt but Abra
ham
inftrufted his
the Nature of Circumci/ion, before he Circumcif d
Heathen Servants, who were of Age to learn, in them ; nor can we

18. his
much lefs from God s own noble Teftimony of him, Gen. know / him, that he will command his Children and 19. and theyfhall keep the way of the Lord. Houfehold,
conclude
"
What
Covetoufnefs of their Matters,

venture their Souls
;
then mould hinder but thefe be Baptized ? If only the who for fear of lofmg their Bodies, will
Heathens ?
to efteem the greater notorious Matter of Facl, that they are fo far from perfuading thofe poor Creatures to Come to Baptifm, that they difcourage them from it, and rather hinder them as much as
which of the two are we

is
Now
that this
poffible,
many of the wretches, as we have been informed, this we believe, none that are concern d in the if are Plantations, ingenuous, will deny, but own they don t at all they care to have them Baptized. ^Talk to a Planter of the Soul of a
though
earneftly defire
it
;
Negro, and he
ll be apt to tell ye (or at leaft his Actions fpeak it loudly) that the Body of one of them may be worth twenty Pounds ; but the Souls of an hundred of them would not yield him one
Farthing
and therefore he
is
not at
all felicitous
about them, though

their
if it
the true Reafon
indeed, becaufe of that
Cuftom of giving them
Freedom
able
;
after turning Chriftians,
which we know not
be Reafon-
we
are fure the Father of the Faithful did not fo
by thofe Ser
vants
Tis no where required in Scripture. St. Paul indeed bids Matters not be cruel and their unreafonable to Slaves, efpecially if Brethren or Chriftians ; but he no where bids them
whom
he had Circumcifed.
94
give

em
their Liberty,
nor do
all
Chriftianity alter any Civil
Right
nor
do
his
the fame Apoftle, in
his excellent Plea for
Mafter tis his Duty to fet him Free. ; all and forgive him ; nay, he tells Servants, tis their Duty, in whatever ftate they are call d therein to abide ; befides, fome Perfons,
receive
Onejimus, once tell he defires is, he d again
nay, Nations feem
to
be born for Slaves
particularly
many of
the
Barbarians in Africa, who have been fuch almoft from the beginning of the World, and who are in a much better Condition of Life, when Slaves among us, then when at Liberty at Home, to cut Throats and
Eat one another, efpecially when by the Slavery of
their Bodies, they
are brought to a Capacity of Freeing their Souls from a
much more
Though in the mean time, if there be fuch a unfupportable Bondage. Law or Cuftom for their Freedom, to encourage em to Chriftianity, be it reafonable or otherwife, this is certain, that none can excufe thofe
who
for
that
being Chriftians
Reafon mould any way hinder or difcourage em from fome of whofe excufes are almoft too fhameful to ;
feem
to reflecl:
repeat, fince they
on the Chriftian Religion,
as if that
made Men more
untradtable and ungovernable, than
when bred
in
Ignorance and Heathenifm, which muft proceed from the Perverfenefs of fome Tempers, as before, fitter for Slaves than Freedom ; or for
want of good
or Laftly,
Inftrudlion,
when they have nothing but
the
name of
Chriftianity, without underftanding
From
any thing of the Obligation thereof; the bad Examples of their Mafter s themfelves, who
live fuch lives as often fcandalize thefe honefter Heathens."
We
fhall force
no inferences from
this
document
as to the character of the legiflation againft which it was diredted. It is an argument for the "right to
Religion/
tice
in that
day
fo univerfally denied, in prac
at leaft,
to
enflaved Indians and Negroes, and
their offspring, that it would be flrange, if true, that Maffachufetts furnilhed any but occafional exceptions
to the prevailing rule.

1
"
Slaves were admitted to be church
members
at a period
when church
This
members had peculiar political privileges." Quincfs Reports, is Mr. Justice Gray s ftatement on the following authorities
30, note.
:
95
"
to have previoufly noticed Sewall s effay brutes rated with and Indians Negroes being prevent
a
We
"
Three years later, in the tax-laws, in the year 1716. new occafion prefented itfelf for the renewal of his
of the oppreffed. A mafter had killed and was about to anfwer for the offence One of the judges feems to have before the Court. defired the aid and counfel of the Chief Juftice in his
efforts in behalf
his negro flave,
A
by
Mo. 2. 13. [1641]. Wlnthrop^s Journal, n., 26, and Savage s note. negro maid, fervant to Mr. Stoughton of Dorchefter, being well approved divers years experience, for found knowledge and true godlinefs, was
"
1.
received into the church and

inftances have
2.
baptized."
Mr. Savage
fince."
note
"
is,
Similar
been
common enough
"
ever
Ancient Charters, 117.
To
the end the

:
body of
the freemen
may
no
as
be preferred of honeft and good men man (hall be admitted to the freedom of
are
Hiftory U.
"
It is
ordered, that henceforth
this
Commonwealth, but fuch

fervant, the
members of fome of the churches within

3.
the limits of this
jurifdiftion."
Bancroft
S. t I.,
360.
The
bondman, might
be a
church, and therefore a freeman of the Company." Notwithftanding this array of authority, we muft fuggeft our doubts,
member of the
i ft. Whether the notice itfelf by Winthrop is not a palpable evidence of the extraordinary and exceptional charafter of the incident that a negro maid-fervant mould be baptized and received into the church ? Mr. Savage s remark cannot be regarded as authority, not being fuftained by references
to
any
is
fimilar inftances.
2d.
Whether
a fingle inftance has ever been found
of Maflachufetts, during the period referred to, in which a fervant or bondman, black or white, actually became a freeman
or
in the hiftory
known
of the
Company
fome pleafing fpeculations on this topic. negro flave might be a member of the church, and this faft prefents a curi ous queftion. As a church-member, he was eligible to the political franand if he (hould be aftually invefted with it, he would have a part in chife making laws to govern his mafter, laws with which his mafter, if a noncommunicant, would have had no concern, except to obey them." Touchin
"
Mr. Palfrey indulges
ftone wifely faid there was much virtue in If," and Dr. South has a maxim that we are not to build certain rules on the contingency of human
"
"
a6Hons."
Whether
the hiftorian recalled either
"
inftance,"
we cannot fay 5
but here he evidently recognized the impropriety of conftrufting hiftory on a frame of conje&ural contingencies, and frankly admitted at the end of his
96
preparations for the cafe, and Sewall s Letter-Book preferves the following memoranda of what he com
municated.
The poorer! Boys and Girls in this Province, fuch as are of the loweft Condition ; whether they be
"
Englim, or Indians, or Ethiopians They have the fame Right to Religion and Life, that the Richer! Heirs have. cc And they who go about to deprive them of this
:
Right, they attempt the bombarding of
HEAVEN,
their
and the
heads.
cc
Shells they throw, will
fall
down upon
own
Juftice Davenport, Sir, upon your defire, have fent you thefe ghiotations, and my own Senti"
Mr.
improbable that the Court would have made a flave while a of the Company, though he were a communicant." His emu England, n., 30, note. As to baptifm of flaves in Maflachufetts, tory of fee ante, pp. 58-59. Compare Nurd s Lanv of Freedom and Bondage, Fol.i.,
note,
flave
it
is
member
pp. 165, 210, 358.
The famous French
Code Noir of 1685 obliged every
and properly inftrufted in the doc planter to have his Negroes baptized, Nor was this the only important and hu trines and duties of Chriftianity.
mane
any
to provifion of that celebrated ftatute,
which we may feek
in vain for
Colonial legiflation. Its influence was felt in Eng parallel in Britifh land, and may have given rife to thofe humane inftruclions, one of which
we have
"
his Majefty s Governors already quoted (p. 52). Another required with the afliftance of our Council to find out the beft means to facilitate and encourage the Converfion of Negros and Indians to the Chriftian
N. T. Col. Doc., in., 374. Evelyn, in his Diary, gives an interof the determination of the King, James II., on this pointaccount efting At Winchefter, 16 September, 1685, he fays, may not forget a refolu tion which his Majefty made, and had a little before entered upon it at the
Religion."
"I
tions
Council Board at Windfor or Whitehall, that the negroes in the Planta mould all be baptized, exceedingly declaiming againft the impiety of miftaken opinion that they would be their mafters it, out of a
prohibiting
;
ipfo
fatfo free
but
his
Majefty
to perfifts in his refolution

for."
have them chris

245.
tened, which piety the Bifhop bleflfed him good Bifhop Ken, the Chriftian Pfalmift.
Works,
II.,
This was
ments.
I
97
pray
GOD,
the Giver and Guardian of
Life, to give his gracious Direction to you, and the other Juftices ; and take leave, who am your brother
and moft humble
fervant,
cc
Samuel Sewall.
"
Bofton, July 20, 1719.
inclofed alfo the Selling of Jqfeph, tract out of the Athenian Oracle.
"
and
my Ex
"
To
Addington Davenport, Efqr., etc., going of Sandwich, for killing his Negro."
to
Judge
Sam1 Smith
.
That fuch arguments were

garded of meaning.
as appropriate
neceflary, or
even re
a fact full
on fuch an
occafion,
is
have previoufly intimated a doubt whether the flave could claim any right or privilege of protection under the laws which were known as the
Liberties of Servants ; and in connection with the inftructions to Andros in 1688, we have called the at
<c
We
"
tention of the reader to the diftinction between the

Chriftian fervants or (laves
and the Indians and Negroes.
The
former were to be protected againft the inhuman feverity of ill-mafters or overfeers, while the latter
were to be
that the
"
fo far
advanced in the
"
fcale
wilful killing
fitt
of them mould
"
of humanity, be punifhed
with death, and a of them."
penalty impofed for the maiming
We
mine what were the
cannot, however, at prefent attempt to deter actual legal restraints upon the
power of a matter over his flave, in MafTachufetts. We do not know that the materials for fuch a deter7
98
mination
exift
anywhere fave in fuch records as remain of thofe ancient tribunals of the Colony and Province by which alone the rights of perfons and of property were then, as now, judicially afcertained and regulated
There
are
abundant modern ftatements of opinion on
thefe points, but we cannot recall a {ingle inftance in which thefe ftatements are fortified by good and fuffi-
cient testimony from the ancient and records or authorities ; and we cannot
contemporary doubt that the
reader of thefe notes will fympathize in our defire to For example, in reft on fads rather than opinions.
the
particular
cafe
above
referred
to,
the
awful
folemnity with which the Chief Juftice communicates his charge to his brother magiftrate when about to
"judge"
mafter for
"killing
;
his
Negro,"
gives
peculiar intereft to the refult
and
it is
greatly to be
regretted that the record of the trial, conviction, and punimment of fuch an offender mould be concealed
among
hung
the neglected rubbim of any MafTachufetts Court-Houfe, If Samuel Smith of Sandwich was
for the
murder of his {lave in Maflachufetts in the year 1719, it is due to the hiftoric fame of the
Province that the world mould
know
it
We
are perfectly aware that the opinion has pre

"
vailed that the negro or mulatto or Indian {lave in
Maflachufetts,
always had
many
rights
which raifed
him far above the abfolute {lave." Thefe are nowhere more favorably ftated than by Nathan Dane, in his great work on Âmerican Law. Abridgment, n., 313.
He
confiders the fubject in eight points of view

cc
i.
The
mafter has no control over the religion
99
of fuch
other
"
flave,
any more than over the religion of any

; ;
member of his family 2. None over his life

3.
if
he killed him, he was

;
punifhable as for killing a

"
freeman
The
mafter was liable to his flave
action, for
beating,
wounding or immoderately
chaftifing him, as
much
"
as for
immoderately correcting an apprentice, or

flave
a child;
was capable of holding property, as a devifee or legatee, and as recovered for wounds, etc.,
4.
The
fo
much
"
fo, if
the mafter took away fuch property, his
flave could fue

5.
If one took
him by prochein ame ; him from his mafter without
his
confent, he could not have trover, but only fue, as for taking away his other fervant ; on the whole the flave
had the right of property and of life, as apprentices an apprentice is a had, and the only difference was fervant for time, and the flave is a fervant for life/
In Connecticut, the flave was, by ftatute, fpecially for bidden to contract ; no fuch ftatute is recollected in
Maflachufetts
"
6.
If a flave married a free
woman, with the con

his mafter
fent of his mafter, he
was emancipated, for
with a
had fuffered him to contract a relation inconfiftent c ftate of flavery ; hereby the mafter abandoned his right to him as a flave, as a minor child is emanci pated from his father when he is married/ Ld. Ray
mond, 356;
"
7.
ftates
flave however could be fold, and in fome be taken in execution for his matter s debts ; but
is
;
no evidence
Maflachufetts
found of fuch taking
in execution in
ioo
cc

8.
On
the principles of the Englifli
Common
Law, men may

fo clearly,
be
by our
and Jlaves for life Property in a negro prefent law.

for crimes,
i
made
[was] acquired without deed,
Dal.,
169."
points had been well taken and could be fortified by the neceflary amount of hiftorical
Now,
if all thefe
teftimony, they would unqueftionably
make
very
But unhappily they are mainly theoretical ftatements derived from abftract reafoning on general principles, of which no fuch applications were thought of in the period to which they are afligned. Yet the formality with which they are ftated, and the dignified place they hold in a book of great authority, give them an importance beyond the conjectures which are
good
cafe.
was mitigated
generally ventured as to how far the lot of the flave in Maflachufetts.
Mr. Dane copied them with but

chiefly in favor of Maflachufetts,
flight alterations,
treatife
from the
of
pp. 340-41, no to the reference published ftatutes, nor to any judicial decifions on any point,
in
Judge Reeve on
"
Dome/lie
Relations"
1816.
There
is
excepting as here quoted, either in original or copy. Shall we be accounted prefumptuous, if we add a
few comments as well as a reference to the
facts
already
prefented, which muft throw great doubts over the whole array of rights thus claimed as having been ac
corded to flaves in Maflachufetts
The
man.
right to
as
recognized
Mr.
life was not clearly to bond-flave and free belonging equally Dane altered Judge Reeve s flatement of
religion
and
the latter point.
Judge Reeve
cc
faid,
if
he killed him,
101
he was
man."
liable to the
fame punifhment
as for killing a free
The
alteration
indicates the
arifen in the
"
nature of the
doubt which may have
mind of Mr.
kill
Dane when he wrote
The ing a freeman." incident which we have prefented of the mafter called to anfwer before the Court for the fact of killing his
So too, in the negro fhows this. the Bruite Creature Code, even
"
he was punifhable as for it, No doubt he was punifhable.
firft
Maflachufetts
"
is
protected againft
by the very next ftatute after Tirrany and Crueltie a fignificant fequence that which eftablifhes flavery
"
"
be remembered that the original law of all the liber flavery in Maflachufetts gave to flaves ties and Chriftian ufages which the law of God, eftablet it
"
Here
lifhed in Ifrael concerning fuch perfons, doth morally

require."
Now
the
Mosaic Law here recognized and

"
reenacted did not protect the life of a heathen flave life againft his mafter s violence, by the penalty of
for
life,"
and
although
fuch
violence
might be
is
punifhed, the kind and degree of punifhment
not
now
is
to be afcertained. Exodus, xxi., 20, 21.
And there
marked
Hebrew,
the
diftinction to be obferved in regard to the though a flave, who is favorably compared
with the hired fervant and fojourner in contraft with
bondman.
"
Leviticus, xxv., 39, 40.

"
To
what
the
extent the
rigor
of heathen bondage
"
among
Jews was foftened into
liberties
and Chriftian
ufages"
among
the Puritans
is
a queftion of fact
in
this as
and not of
all
opinion.
What
was morally required by the law of

in
Ifrael,
God
eftablifhed
in
fimilar
bufinefs, was a matter referved for their own decifion, in their own General Court and other tribunals. And
IO2

law feems to have
this general provifion in the original
been the only one to which the (lave could appeal, or more properly by which the conduct of the matter
could be regulated, in the government and difpofition of his chattel. It is certain that moft of the fpecial provifions of the law refpeding matters and fervants had no application to flaves, and we have already expreffed the doubt whether flaves enjoyed any of the privileges
of fervants under that law.
Where
in
is
the evidence that Indians and Negroes
bondage were entitled to protection as other fervants ? and that the mailer was liable to his flave s action for
beating, wounding, or immoderately chattifmg, etc. ? It is far more probable that the condition of the
fervant was practically affimilated to that of the Have, than that the flave fliared any of the privileges accorded
by ftatute to the fervant. It would add much to our knowledge on this fubjed, if the examples mould be adduced to mow at what period in the hittory of MafTachufetts the Indian and negro flave Jirfl acquired a flatus in Court as a profecutor, or in any other
capacity than as a criminal at the bar, before which he was often enough called to anfwer under the unjufl
and unequal legiflation of that period. If it was at any time before the American Revolution how came
it
to pafs that, in 1783, a fine of forty millings againfl C a matter for beating, bruifing, and otherwife evilly
his negro-flave, gave a mortal wound intreating in Maflachufetts And to flavery further, if a flave
"
cc
?"
could recover againft his matter damages for cruelty,
why was
ame
"
neceflary to refort to the fuit to enable him to keep his recovery

it
"
by prochein
?
103
Again, where is the evidence that flaves were capable of holding property, etc., beyond the occa-
and exceptional permiflion to enjoy fome privi a peculium, with the profits of which they leges might in fome cafes be enabled even to purchafe their manumiflion ? Could flaves take and hold real eftate
(lonal
as
in
Maflachuietts
"
No
"
fervant,
either
man
or
was permitted maid," commodity whatfoever
to give,
fell
or truck any
without licenfe from their
Matters, during the time of their fervice, under pain of fine, or corporal punifhment, at the difcretion of
the Court, as the offence mall deferve." Mafs. Laws, Is it probable that a flave was on Ed. 1672, p. 104. in better this refpect than a white ferv any footing
ant?
As
to the
form of action by which a mailer mould
fue for the unlawful taking of his flave without his confent the only examples of fuch fuits in Mafla
chufetts to which
we
are able to refer, contradict the
opinion that he could not have trover, but muft fue in trefpafs per quod Jervitium amifit. Goodfpeed v. Gay,
Mafs. Sup, Court Records, 1763, foL 47, 101. Allifon v. The right to maintain Cockran, Ibid. 1764, foL 103. trover for a negro was a matter of courfe in Mafla
chufetts, for there can be
no queflion as to the fact that he might be held and fold as a chattel under the laws of that Colony and Province, and trover lies by any one who has any fpecial property in a chattel, with the right to immediate pofleflion. Compare Gray, in Quincys Reports, 93, note, where all the authorities
are cited.
The marriage of flaves in
Maflachufetts has already
IO4
been noticed, and it is obvious that the legiflators of Maflachufetts never intended that fuch marriages fhould confer any rights or impofe any duties which
and it were incompatible with the ftate of flavery may fafely be alleged that no inftance can be produced
;
of the emancipation of a flave as a legal confequence 1 of marriage with a free woman.
The candor
of the admiflion
in
"that
a flave
how
is debts," unhappily quali cc that no is found of the aflertion evidence fied by The fuch taking in execution in Maflachufetts."
ever could be fold, and execution for his matter s
fome
ftates
be taken in
only reafon
hunted
either
was not found was, that it was not for the failure to find it muft have been
it
from want of difpofition or

faid
lack
of
dili
gence.
enough on thefe topics to put Thofe thofe who are mofl interefted upon inquiry. who are familiar with fuch refearches and have oppor tunities of eafy reference to the records and files of the
Courts in Maflachufetts during the period of which
But we have
we
are writing, can probably collate a fufficient number of examples to fettle all thefe queftions by authority.
They
will
all
undoubtedly
illuftrate the
gradual ameliora
tion of
the various forms of oppreflion, but thefe be held to mark the era of their hiftorical muft changes If they prove that the doubts we have development.
1
We
356,"
Lord Raymond, have been unable to verify the reference to as to the analogous emancipation of a minor child "from his father
"
when he
203.
is
married
"
but
we have
laws of Maflachufetts
know
high authority for the ftatement that the of no fuch emancipation. 15 Mafs. Reports^
105
be moft grati
fied
fuggefted are not well founded, with the refult.
we
fliall
The ultimate theory of flavery in all ages and na tions has been reduced to a very brief and compreDr. Maine, in his admirable treahenfive ftatement.
tife
on Ancient Law,
fays that
"
the fimple wifli to
ufe the bodily powers of another perfon as a means of miniftering to one s own eafe or pleafure is doubtlefs
nature."
the foundation of flavery and as old as human And again, there feems to be fomething
"
the inftitution of flavery which has at all times either {hocked or perplexed mankind, however little habituated to reflection, and however flightly advanced
in in the cultivation of its
moral
inftincts."
To
fatisfy
the confcience of the mafter, the Greeks eftabliflied the idea of intellectual inferiority of certain races and
confequent natural aptitude for the fervile condition. The Romans declared the doctrine of a fuppofed agree
ment between
victor
and vanquifhed,
in
which the
firft
flipulated for the perpetual fervices of his foe, and the other gained in confideration the life which he had
legitimately forfeited.
Compare Maine, 16266.
The Puritans
of
New England appear to have been
neither fliocked nor perplexed with the inflitution, for
which they made ample provifion in their earlieft code. They were familiar with the Greek and Roman ideas
on the fubject, and added the conviction that flavery was eftabliflied by the law of God, and that Chris tianity always recognized it as the antecedent Mofaic
practice.
On
thefe foundations,
held
fetts
?
its
place fo
long
is it ftrange that it in the history of Maflachu-
io6
It has
been said that the
firft
ftep
towards the
of the importation of
deftrudion of flavery was the reftraint or prohibition flaves. But it would be abfurd
humane
his
to regard laws for this purpofe as an expreffion of confideration for the negroes. Graham, in
hiftory,
characterizes fuch
in
view of the moft
ftringent one ever made

"impudent
abfurdity."
any of the Colonies, as an

Hift.
U.
iv.,
78.
We
have already noticed the Maflachufetts ads of 1705, with the additional ads of 1728 and 1739, imposing and enforcing the collection of an import duty of four
pounds per head upon

Province.
all
negroes brought into the

in the
ads themfelves, nor have we been able to find any evidence, that they were intended other than as revenue ads, beyond that which
There
is
no indication
we have prefented
in thefe notes.
have heretofore quoted the inftrudion of the town of Bofton in 1701. It is not improbable that it was the refult of Judge SewalFs efforts in 1700.
Fruitlefs as
it
We
was,
it
mows
that even then
fome were
wife
enough to fee that the importation of negroes was not fo beneficial to the Crown or Country as that of
In 1706, an eflay or
"
white fervants would be.
"
Com
is not Jo profit putation that the Importation of Negroes was published in Bofton, able as that of White Servants
which may properly be reproduced here.

firft
It
was the
newfpaper
article
againft
the
importation of
America, and appeared in the negroes We Bofton News-Letter, No. 112, June 10, 1706.
publifhed in
are inclined to attribute this
Sewall.
article
alfo
to
Judge
"
107
of Bqfton, in of 44 Negroes
By
laft
Year
Bill
of Mortality for the
Town
Lift
Number
dead
laft
100 News-Letter^Q. are furnifhed with a

year,
Head, amounts
which being computed one with another at 3O/. per to the Sum of One Thoufand three hundred and
this
Twenty Pounds, of which we would make
Remark
That
the
Im
porting of Negroes into this or the Neighboring Provinces is not fo beneficial either to the Crown or Country, as White Servants would be.
"
For Negroes do not carry Arms to defend the Country

Thieves,
as
Whites do.
Negroes are generally Eye-Servants, addifted to Stealing, Lying and Purloining.
"
great
much
They do not People we mould be ftrengthened

"
againft
our Country as Whites would do whereby an Enemy.
"
By Encouraging
fomewhat
the Importing of
White
Men
Servants, allowing
moil Hufbandmen in the Country might be furnifhed with Servants for 8, 9, or io/. a Head, who are not able to
to the Importer,
launch out 40 or 5o/. for a Negro the Man then might buy a White
"
now common
Price.
Man
Servant
we
to ferve
years,
and Boys
lofs
for the
fame price to Serve
fuppofe for io/. 6, 8, or io
years; If a
dies,
tis
White Servant
die, the
Lofs exceeds not io/. but if a
Negro
a very great
to the
Hufbandman
Three years
Intereft
of the price of the Negro, will near upon if not altogether purchafe a
White
"
Man
Servant.
If Neceffity call for it, that the Hufbandman muft fit out a Man againft the Enemy j if he has a Negro he cannot fend him, but if he
has a
White
Servant,
twill
anfwer the end, and perhaps save his Son at
home.
"
in
as already faid to bring Servants, there needed not be fuch Complaint againft Superiors Impreffing our Children to the War, there would then be Men enough
Were Merchants and Mafters Encouraged
Men
to be
had without Impreffing.

bringing in of fuch Servants
"The
would much enrich
this
Province
becaufe
Hufbandmen would not only be

are already under
that
able far better to
manure
what Lands
great deal
more
fet
Improvement, but would alfo improve a now lyes wafte under Woods, and enable this
about railing of Naval Stores, which would be greatly advantageous to the Crown of England, and this Province. For the raifmg of Hemp here, fo as to make Sail-cloth and
Province to
"
io8
Cordage to furnifh but our own fhipping, would hinder the Importing confiderable fum in a year to make Returns for which we it, and fave a
now
do, and in time might be capacitated to furniih England not only with Sail-cloth and Cordage, but likewife with Pitch, Tar, Hemp, and
other Stores which they are

tions.
now
obliged to purchafe in Foreign
Na
Suppofe the Government here mould allow Forty Shillings perhead for five years, to fuch as fhould Import every of thefe years
"
100 White
Men
Servants, and each to ferve
years, the coft
would be
but 2OO/. a year, and a looo/. for the 5 years.
The
firft
100 Servants,
being free the 4th year they ferve the 5th for Wages, and the 6th there is 100 that goes out into the Woods, and fettles a 100 Families
to Strengthen
lies
and Baracado us from the Indians, and

fucceffively.
alfo a
100 Fami
more every year

"
And
here you fee that in one year the
Town
of Bofton has
loft
I32O/. by
44 Negroes, which
lefs
is
alfo
a lofs to the
Country
for the
in general,
and
for a
the Country
*
lofs (if it may be improperly be fo may have 500 Men in 5 years time
called) for a looo/.
44 Negroes
dead in one year.
certain
computed both
at 6o/.
perfbn within thefe 6 years had two Negroes dead which would have procured him iix white Ser
vants at io/. per head to have Served 24 years, at 4 years apiece, without running fuch a great rifque, and the Whites would have ftrengthened the Country, that Negroes do not.
"
Twould do
well that none of thofe Servants be liable to be
Im-
prefled during their Service of

"
Landing. That fuch Servants being Sold or Tranfported out of this Prov ince during the time of their Service, the Perfon that buys them be
liable to
Agreement
at their first
pay
3/.
into the
Treafury."
third of a century after the publication of Judge Sewall s tract, another made its appearance, entitled
Testimony againft that Anti-Chriftian Practice of making Slaves of Men Wherein it is fhewed to be contrary to the Difpenfation of the Law, and Time of the Gofpel, and very oppofite both to Grace and
<c
Nature.
By Elihu
Coleman.
Matthew
7.
12.
Slavery in Majfachiifetts.
109
Therefore
all
things whatfoever ye
would that men
fhould do unto you, do ye even fo to them, for this Printed in the year is the Law and the Prophets.
1733."
MS.
Copy
quarian
Society.
Library of the American Anti This writer was a minifter of the So

in the
His work was ciety of Friends, and of Nantucket. written in 1729-30. Coffins Newbury, p. 338. Macfs
Nantucket) p. 279. At the Nantucket
was determined
meeting, that
l
as
cc
Monthly Meeting, in 1716, it e y fenfe and judgment of this

life."
it is
not agreeable to truth for Friends
to purchafe flaves
and hold them term of
acy s
Nantucket , p. 281.
In 1755, March 10, the town of Salem authorized a petition to the General Court againft the importa
There may Felt s Salem, n., 416. have been other occafional efforts of this fort, but they
tion of negroes.
muft have been comparatively few and
fruitlefs.
thus noticed the moft important, if not the only anti-flavery demonftrations which appear in the hiftory of MafTachufetts down to the period im
We have
mediately preceding the Revolution.
Excepting thofe
already mentioned, we know of no public advocates for the flave in that Colony and Province until the
cry of refinance to Britifh tyranny began to refound through the Colonies.
James Otis s great fpeech in the famous Caufe of the Writs of Affiftance in 1761 the firft fcene of the
firft
to the arbitrary claims of Great declared the rights of man, inherent and in In that fpeech the poor negroes were not alienable.
ad of oppofition
Britain
no
None ever afTerted their rights in ftronger forgotten. Adams s Works, x., 315. Mr. Bancroft terms. s to a Otis "proteft againfl negro flavery" postpones
later year
"
(1764),
when he
translated the
<c
fcathing
of Montefquieu in his aflertion and proof of the rights of the Britifh Colonies. This difference in
fatire
not material for our prefent purpofe. Many years were to pafs away before his views on this fubject were accepted by the children s children of thofe
time
is
to whom his words then founded like a rhapfody and an extravagance. It was a ftrong arm, and it ftruck a fturdy blow, but the wedge recoiled and flew out from the tough
black knot of flavery, which was deftined to outlaft the fiercer!: fires of the Revolution in MaiTachufetts,
thus kindled with live coals from the altar of univerfal
liberty.
John Adams heard the words of

dered at the dodrine he
his
taught,"
"to
Otis, and
"
fhud-
and to the end of

at
long
life
continued
fhudder
the confe-
quences that
may
be drawn from fuch
premifes."
Yet
John Adams
Works,
x.,
"adored
the idea of gradual
abolitions."
315.
For
his later views
on emancipation,
see Works, vi., 511., x., 379.
views exprefled by Otis muft have founded ftrangely in the ears of men who "lived (as John
The
Adams
when when
himfelf fays he did) for many years in times the practice [of flavery] was not difgraceful, the beft men in my vicinity thought it not incharacter."
confiftent with their
Works,
x.,
380.
If
there was a prevailing public fentiment againft flavery as has been conftantly claimed of in Maflachufetts
late
in
the people of that day, far lefs demonftrative than their descendants, had an extraordinary way of
not fhowing it. Hutchinfon, who was undoubtedly the man of his time moft familiar with the hiftory of
.
his native province, fays in his firft volume, publifhed in 1764, p. 444, "Some judicious perfons are of
opinion that the permiffion of flavery has been a
This is certainly the indication publick mifchief." of a very mild type of oppofition by no means of a
pervading public fentiment. John Adams was not alone in his aftonifhment at
Thefe ideas were new as the ideas expreffed by Otis. they were ftartling to the people of Maffachufetts in
that day. And to the calm judgment of the hiftorian there is nothing ftrange in the fact that the foremoft
time in that province mould have fhuddered at^the doctrines which Otis taught. More than
his
man of
a century paffed away before fervitude could be removed
the ancient badges of from the colored races in

all
Maffachufetts, if indeed it be even now true that none of thofe difabilities which fo ftrongly mark the focial ftatus of the negro flill linger in the legiflation of that
State.
VI.
AMONG
change
in
the flrongeft
indications of the
this fubjed,
coming
for
opinion
"
on
the
"fuits
as they are called, liberty," challenge attention. They are alfo known as fuits for freedom," and fuits for
"
fervice,"
in
which
flaves
"
fued their mailers for free-
ii2

after they
dom and for recompence for their fervice, had attained the age of twenty-one years."
Coll.,
i.,
M. H.
.
S.
iv.
202.
a cafe in Connecticut as early as
There had been
was fummoned to anfwer, 1703, in which cc to Abda, a mulatto, in an before a County Court, action of the cafe, for his unjuft holding and detaining the faid Abda in his fervice as his bondfman, for the
a matter
fpace of one year

2o/.
I2/.
laft
paft."
The damages
were laid at
The
refult
cc
was a verdict againft the mafter for
thereby virtually eftablifhing Abda s J. H. ^rumbuW s Notes from the right to freedom."
damages
Conn. Courant, Nov. 9, 1850. In Original Papers, etc. this cafe, the ground on which the {lave refted his
claim appears to have been his white blood.
The
earlier!
of thefe
cafes
in
MafTachufetts,
of
which we have any knowledge, is noticed in the Diary It was in the Superior Court at of John Adams. Under date of Wednefday, Novem Salem, in 1766.
Attended Court; heard the trial ber 5th, he fays: of an action of trefpafs, brought by a mulatto woman,
<c
for
is
damages, for reftraining her of her

;
liberty.
This
called fuing for liberty

fort,
the
firft
action that ever I
knew of the
many."
1
though
u., 200.
have heard there have been
Works,
If
any of thefe decifions
in Maflachufetts fustalned the claims for wages,
they are in strong contrast with the highest Englifh authority of the period. Many aftions were brought in the Englifh Courts, by negro flaves against their masters for wages ; but Lord Mansfield, the great oracle of the
Com
mon Law, was accustomed to

"
deal very fummarily with them.

:
He
has
left
a very emphatic record on this point When flaves have been brought here, and have commenced aftions for their wages, I have always nonfuited the plaintiff." The King v. the In
habitants of
Thames
Ditton.
4 Doug.,
300.
Slavery in Ma/achufetts.
113
of Jenny fuppofe this to have been the cafe Slew vs. John Whip-pie, jr., the record of which we
We
copy
"
here.
JENNY SLEW of Ipfwich in the County of Eflex, fpinfter, Pltff., JOHN WHIPPLE, Jun., of faid Ipfwich Gentleman, Deft., in a Plea of Trefpafs for that the faid John on the 2pth day of January, A. D.
agft.
held
1762, at Ipfwich aforefaid with force and arms took her the faid Jenny, and kept her in fervitude as a flave in his fervice, and has
reftrained her of her liberty
from that time
to the fifth of
March
laft
without any lawfull

injuries againft the
faith the
right
peace
& authority fo to do and did her & to the damage of faid Jenny Slew
other
as (he
fum of twenty-five pounds. This action was firft brought at laft March Court at Ipfwich when & where the parties appeared & the cafe was continued by order of Court to the then next term when &
where the
PltfF
appeared
&
the faid John
Whipple Jun, came by Ed
mund Trowbridge,
there
is
Efq. his
attorney
&
defended
when he
faid
that
no fuch perfon in nature as Jenny Slew of Ipfwich aforefaid, this the faid John was ready to verify wherefore the writ Spinfter, & mould be abated & he prayed judgment accordingly which plea was
overruled by the Court and afterwards the faid John by the faid Ed mund made a motion to the Court & praying that another perfon might
endorfe the writ
& be fubjeft to coft if any mould finally be for the Court but the Court rejected the motion and then the Deft, faving his plea in abatement aforefaid faid that he is not guilty as the plaintiff con tends, & thereof put himfelf on the Country, & then the caufe was con
tinued to this term, and
now
of joining
iflue
s
on the Deft
the PltfF. referving to herfelf the liberty s plea aforefaid in the appeal fays that
is
the defendant
plea aforefaid
an inefficient anfwer to the

is
Plaintiff
not held to reply thereto & me is ready to verify wherefore for want of a fufficient anfwer to the Plaintiff s declaration aforefaid me prays judgment for her damages &
declaration aforefaid and
by law me
cofts
&
the defendant confenting to the waving of the demurrer

his
on the
appeal faid
plea aforefaid
is
good
&
becaufe the PltfT refufes to

is
It reply thereto He prays judgment for his coft. Court that the defendant s plea in chief aforefaid is
confidered by the good & that the faid
John Whipple recover of the
faid
Jenny Slew
cofts tax at
the Pltff appealed to the next Superior Court of Judicature to be holden 8
H4
for this
rects

County
&
entered into recognizance with fureties as the law di

effect."
for profecuting her appeal to

,
Records of
Ike.
Inferior
Court of C. C. P., Vol.

"
(Sep. 1760
to
July ij66),page
502.
JENNY SLEW of Ipfwich, in the County of EfTex, Spinfter, Appel lant, verfus JOHN WHIFFLE, Jr. of faid Ipfwich, Gentleman Appellee from the judgment of an Inferior Court of Common Pleas held at Newburyport within and for the County of Eflex on the laft Tuefday of
pellee
September 1 765 when and where the appellant was plaint., and the ap was defendant in a plea of trefpafs, for that the faid John upon
the zpth day of January,
A. D. 1762,
Jenny held
at
and arms took her the

flave in his fervice
faid
&
Ipfwich aforefaid with force kept her in fervitude as a
to the fifth of
do
&
has reftrained her of her liberty from that time lawful right or authority fo to did other injuries againft the Peace & to the damage of the faid
&
March 1765 without any
Jenny Slew,
ferior Court,
as
me
faith,
the
fum of twenty-five pounds,
at
which In
judgment was rendered upon the demurrer then that the This faid John Whipple recover againft the faid Jenny Slew cofts. appeal was brought forward at the Superior Court of Judicature &c.,
holden
at
Salem,
Tuesday
laft
of
laft
term of
this
this
for the County of Eflex on the firft from whence it was continued to the November, Court for this County by confent & fo from thence
within
&
unto
Court, and
now both
parties appeared
iffue
&
the demurrer afore
faid being
The cafe after full hearing was com mitted to a jury fworn according to law to try the fame who returned
faid
waived by confent & Inferior Court & on file.
joined upon the plea tendered at
their verdict therein
upon
oath, that
is
to fay, they find for appellant
reverfion of the former judgment four pounds

It
s
money damage
&
cofts,
judgment be reby verfed & that the faid Slew recover againft the faid Whipple the fum of four pounds lawful money of this Province damage & cofts taxed
therefore confidered
9/. 95. 6d.
"Exon. iffiied
the Court, that the former
4 Dec.
1766."
Records of the Superior Court of
Judicature (Vol. 17 66-7) , page 175.
The
cafe
of Newport vs. Billing
has
been pre-
It is not improbable vioufly noticed, p. 22, note. that this was the cafe in which John Adams was en-
115
gaged, in the latter part of September, 1768, when he attended the Superior Court at Worcester and the
<c
next week proceeded to Springfield, where

dentally engaged
mafter."
was
acci
in a caufe
n., 213.
between a negro and his
Works,
The
next cafe was that which has been for
more
than half a century the grand cheval de bataille of the champions of the hiftoric fame of Maffachufetts the
cafe
of James v. Lechmere, in Middlefex, in 1769.

is
This
the cafe referred to in a recent paper read

"
before the Maffachufetts Hiftorical Society, in which the writer felt at liberty to indulge a pride equally
juft
and generous, that
here, in the Courts
of the
Lord Mansfield [in the cafe of Somerfet] was anticipated by two years, in favor of perfonal freedom and human rights." M. H. S.
Province, the ruling of
Proc., 1863-4, p. 322.
"
That
is
to fay, as the
fame
writer expreffes it elfewhere, in the cafe of James v. the right of a mafter to hold a flave had Lechmere, been denied, by the Superior Court of Maffachufetts,
and upon the fame grounds, fubftantially, as thofe 1 upon which Lord Mansfield difcharged Somerfet, when his cafe came before him." Wajkbunfs Judi
cial Hift.
1
of Mafs.y
202.
up
Compare
alfo
is
M. H.
S.
The
abfurdity of the claim fet
for Maffachufetts
not diminimed
by the fa& that no cafe in the hiftory of Englifh Law has been more misunderftood and mifreprefented than the Somerfet cafe itfelf. Thirteen years later (27 April, 1785), Lord Mansfield himfelf ftated
that his decifion went no farther than that the mafter cannot by expresfly force compel the flave to go out of the Kingdom." At the fame time he alfo faid, with reference to the alleged extinction of villenage, villains in
"
"
But the change of cuftoms grofs may day. The King v. and manners has effectually abolifhed them in point of facV The Inhabitants of Thames Ditton, 4 Doug., 300. In the lame year, the
in
point of law
fubfift at this
1 1
Proc.,
1855-58, pp. 190-91, and

is
Coll.,
iv.,
iv.,
pp.
334-5a pity to difturb thefe cherifhed fancies, but as having the truth is that this cafe, fo often quoted It
"
determined the unlawfulnefs of flavery in MafTachufetts, is Jhown by the records and files of Court to have
been brought up from the Inferior Court by /ham demurrer, and, after one or two continuances, fettled by the parties.
Rec., 1769, fol.
note.
196."
Gray
in
Quincys Reports, 30,

in paffing another in-
We
muft not omit to note
terefting fad recently developed. the fubjedt of the great Englim
James Somerfet,
"
fuit for liberty/
was not a Virginia or Weft India
flave, as has
been
fame great exponent of Englifh Law expresfly recognized property in (laves on board a (lave-trader, in an a6Hon on a policy of affurance. The demand on the policy was for the lofs of a great many (laves by mutiny. Jones vs.
Add to all this the notorious fafts i Term Schmoll. Reports, 130, note. that (laves were bought and fold in England long after the time when it Lord Mansfield firft eftablifhed the grand doftrine has been alleged that
"
that the air of
too pure to be breathed by a (lave j that it was not until 1807 that (he abolimed her (lave-trade, and twenty-feven weary years more elapfed before (he fet her (laves free in her colonies ; and
"
England
is
we
ary, national
can, without referring to the earlier hiftory of her royal and parliament and individual patronage of flavery and the (lave-trade, or her
cowardly fympathy with the (laveholders rebellion, eftimate the value of Earl RufTeH s recent declaration, that Great Britain has always been hoftile
The Britifh nation have always entertained, and ftill entertain, to (lavery. the deepeft abhorrence of laws by which men of one color were made
"
(laves
of
men of
another color.
The
efforts
by which the United
States
Government and Congrefs have (haken
off flavery have, therefore, the
warmeft fympathies of the people of thefe Kingdoms." Earl Rujfell to Mr. Adams, Augufl 20, 1865. No language or hiftory within our knowledge furnishes fit epithet or parallel for fuch confummate hypocrify and recklefs
It would be an infult to the hiftoric difregard of the truth of hiftory. fame of that unhappy Jewish fel to refer to the Pharifees. Perhaps it is
"
"
enough. to fay
it is
the
"
empty
palaver"
of a British Prime Minifter
1 1
generally ftated, but a negro-flave from Maflachufetts where he lived with his owner, Mr. Charles
!
Stewart, who held an office in the cuftoms and refided in Bofton. Proc. M. H. ., 1863-64, p. 323.
Mr. Stewart
ber following.
left
Bofton on the
firft
of October,
1769, and arrived
in
London on
the tenth of
Novem
He
was accompanied by
firft
this {lave,
who continued
feize
veflel
in his fervice until the
of October,
1771, when he ran away.
and fecure
His owner found means to him, and had placed him on board a
bound for Jamaica, in the cuftody of the cap This tain, who was to carry him there to be fold. was on the 26th November, 1771. He was refcued by a writ of habeas corpus, and the proceedings in
the cafe terminated in his releafe on the 22d June,
a cafe in Nantucket, about the years 1769-1770, in which Mr. Rotch, a member of the Society of Friends, received on board a veflel called
There was
the Friendfhip, at that time engaged in the whalefifhery, and commanded by Eliftia Folger, a young
(lave
by the name of Bofton," belonging to the heirs of William Swain. At the termination of the voy
" "
"
Bofton his proportion of the pro age, he paid to ceeds. The mafter, John Swain, brought an action
againft the captain
of the
veflel,
in the
Court of
Common
{lave
;
Pleas of Nantucket, for the recovery of his but the jury returned a verdict in favor of the manu defendant, and the {lave is faid to have been
"
mitted by the
Swain took an appeal magiftrates." from this judgment to the Supreme Court at Bofton, but never profecuted it, Lymaris Report, 1822.
n8
Another

cafe
is
mentioned
in a letter
of
Thomas
Pemberton, dated at Bofton, March 12, 1795, in reply to the Circular of Dr. Jeremy Belknap, dated
Bofton, February 17, 1795? as follows: The firft inftance I have heard of a negro re"
quefting his freedom as his right belonged,
am
in
it,
in
formed,
to
Dr. Stockbridge, of Hanover,
mouth County.
by
afliftance
1770."
His mafter
refufed to grant
it,
Ply but
of lawyers he obtained
this
about the
year
Mr. Gray mentions

in EfTex, 1772, in
the cafe of Cafar vs. Taylor, the wife of a flave was not which
" "
the defendant and in an aclion of falfe imprifonment was not permitted under the general iffue to prove that the plaintiff was
allowed to
teftify againft
him,"
his
flave."
ûincys Reports, 30,
note.
In September or October, 1773, an action was brought in the Inferior Court, in Effex, againft Richard Greenleaf, of Newburyport, by Caefar
[Hendrick], a colored man,

flave,
whom
letter
he claimed as his
for
holding him
in
bondage.
He
laid
the
damages pounds. port, October loth, fays, "We Court week when the novel cafe of Caefar againft
mafter
in
at fifty
from Newbury have lately had our

his
an
action of fifty
pounds
lawful
money
flavery was litigated damages before a jury of the County, who found for the John plaintiff eighteen pounds damages and cq/ls."
for detaining
in
.
him
Lowell, Efq., afterward Judge Lowell, was counfel for the plaintiff. Coffin s Newbury, 241, 339.
Nathan Dane notices this and Digeft of American Law.
cafe in his
Abridgment
He
fays:
Slavery in MaJJTachuJetts.
"As
119
early as
1773,
many
negroes claimed their
freedom, and brought actions of trefpafs againft their A. D. 1773, one Csefar mailers for reftraining them. his mafter, and declared that brought trefpafs againft he, with force and arms, aflaulted the plaintiff and
imprifoned him, and fo with force and arms againft the plaintiff s will, hath there held, kept, and reftrained
him
in fervitude, as the faid
G.
s flave,
for fo
long a time, etc. In this cafe the mafter protefted the plaintiff was his mulatto Jlave, and that he, the mafter, was not held
"
by law to anfwer him was not guilty. The
but for plea the mafter faid he matter parties agreed any fpecial
might be given in evidence, etc. Counfel, Farnham and Lowell." Danes Abridgment, n., 426. Another cafe is mentioned as brought on at the Inferior Court of Common Pleas for the County of Effex for July term [1774], between Mr. Caleb Dodge of Beverly, and his negro fervant, in which the referees gave a verdict in favor of the negro, by which he obtained his freedom, there being no law of the The Watch for province to hold a man to ferve
"
life."
man
Alarm,
etc., p. 28, note.

cc
Yet the writer of
this
abolifhing of this vile pamphlet fuggefted the either cuftom of flave-making, by a law of the prov ince, Common Law, (which I am told has happily
fucceeded in
releafement."
many
inftances of late) or
by
a voluntary
Ibid., p. 27.
alfo
Mr. Dane
Taylor,
:
refers
to
the cafe of
C^far vs.
and gives the following view of the fubjecl

thefe cafes there feem to have been doubts
generally
"In
I2O

in Maffachufetfcs
;
if flavery exifted
the caufes were
generally argued on general principles ; the matters urged, in fupport of flavery, the practice of ancient and
fome modern nations

10
alfo the Provincial Statutes
of
5
W.
"
3.3
ch.
6.
&
Anne,
ch. 2.;
and 4
&
Anne,
ch. 6.
argued that by Englifh Law, Jlavery could not exift, and that we had nothing to do with any other, except the Provincial Statutes ; that
plain tiffs
The
was merely by implication, and that natural liberty was never to be taken away
if thefe eftabliftied flavery, it
by implication that at common law partus nonjequitur ventrem y though it might be otherwife by the civil law, which England, in this cafe, had never adopted ; that marriage and providing for children was a right and a duty which only free perfons could perform ; that the Gofpel forbid men to fell their brethren and
; ;
that
the plaintiffs
were
Chriftians,
and,
if
held in
;
flavery, could not
even villainage is But it was ad the common law abhorred flavery. mitted by the plaintiff s counfel, that flavery might
be
perform their Chriftian duties that abolifhed by Englifh law, and that
and the defendants urged, and it feems long to have been underftood, that the Provincial Statutes did expreffly recognize and establifh flavery, as in the cafes above ftated, and in
eftabliflied
by exprefs law
many
others.
"In
1773,
etc.,
fome
flaves did recover againft their
matters
but thefe
cafes are
could not be flaves in
no evidence that there the Province, for fometimes
matters permitted their flaves to recover to get clear of maintaining them as paupers when old and infirm ;
121
then generally underftood, of a judgment a againft the mafter on this point of flavery ; hence, the matters, very feeble defence was often made by
the
effect, as
efpecially
matters
when fued by the old or infirm flaves, as the could not even manumit their (laves, without
Dane
s
indemnifying their towns againft their maintenance, as
town
paupers."
Chief-Juftice Parfons
Abridgment, 11., 426-7. alfo, in the cafe of Winchen-
don vs. Hatfield in error, confirms this view. cc Several negroes, born in this country of
their
im
freedom of their matters ported flaves demanded by fuit at law, and obtained it by a judgment of court.
defence of the mafter was feebly made, for fuch was the temper of the times, that a reftlefs difcontented
flave
The
was worth
little
and when
his
freedom was ob
he became
tained in a courfe of legal proceedings, the mafter was
not holden for his future fupport, iv Mafs. Reports, 128.
if
poor."
The
reference
ftance that thefe

country,"
by the Chief-Juftice to the circumborn in this negroes litigant were

"
points to the queftion, whether hereditary flavery was legal in MafTachufetts ? which is alfo touched in the previous reference by the counfel for
the flaves, as ftated by Mr. Dane, to the difference between the rules of the Common Law and the Civil
Law.
The Rev. Dr. Belknap,

"
in his account
of thefe
fuits,
fays,
the part of the blacks it was pleaded, that the royal charter expreffly declared all perfons born or refiding in the province, to be as free as the King s
fubjects in Great Britain
On
by the laws of Eng land, no man could be deprived of his liberty but by
;
that
122
the

;
judgment of his peers
that the laws of the
prov
ince respecting an evil exifting, and attempting to mitigate or regulate it, did not authorize it ; and, on
fome
occaflons, the plea was, that though the flavery of the parents be admitted, yet no difability of that kind could defcend to children." M. H. S. Coll.,, i.,
iv.,
203.
the arguments here noticed were urged in thefe various fuits, and whether in any of them
far
How
thefe points were judicially ftated and determined, we are unable to fay. have previoufly examined the
We
in Maflachufetts ; legal hiftory of hereditary flavery and it may be proper in this connection to add fome-
thing with refpect to the other pleas mentioned by Belknap. And firft, the alleged rights of the Indians
and Negroes under the royal
charter,
and laws of
England. The proviflon referred to is fubftantially the fame in both Colony and Province charters, and is in the words following, viz
:
and every of the fubjects of us, our heirs and fucceflbrs, which go to and inhabit within our faid province and territory, and every of their children which fliall happen to be born there, or on the feas in going thither, or returning from thence,
"
That
all
fhall
free
have and enjoy all liberties and immunities of and natural fubjects within the dominions of us,
fucceflbrs, to all intents, conftructions,
our heirs and
and purpofes whatfoever, as if they and every of them were born within our realm of England."
Liberties in 1641, which declares the civil privileges of the inhabitants of the Colony, might alfo have been referred to in this
to the
The preamble
Body of
line
123
of argument. Still, it is a hiftorical fad that the the of royal charters, and the Common Law guaranties of England as a perfonal law of privilege, did not ex
tend to Aliens, Negroes, or Indians
1
.
that the laws of the province other plea, an evil exifting, and attempting to mitigate refpecting
"
The
or regulate
it
did not authorize
it,"
could avail no
thing againft the other ftern hiftorical fact that flavery exifted in MafTachufetts "by virtue and equity of an
exprefs Law of the Country warranting the fame, eftablimed by a General Court, and fufficiently pub-
limed
or in cafe of the defect of a
Law
.
in
ticular cafe,
by the word of God,

Court."
to be
any par judged by
the General
Was
it
faid that the
colony-law
was annulled with the Charter, by the authority of which it was made ? Still the ufage had prevailed and acquired force as the common law of the Province.
The
validity of the
judgment
againft the Charter in
1684, which was denied by the Houfe of Commons, and cc queftioned by very great authority in England," was never admitted in Maflachufetts. 9 Gray, $iy. There was nothing in the repeal of the Colony charter
to affect the private rights of the colonifts. Ibid., 518. And generally the rights of the inhabitants, as well as
the penalties to which they might be fubjeded, con tinued to be determined by the effect and according to the form of the colonial and provincial legiflation, i. e. the common law of Maflachufetts, rather than by
1
See
Kurd
Lanu of Freedom and Bondage

:
in
the
United States, VoL
a perfeft treafure-houfe of law and hiftory on its pp. 196, 197, 201 fubjeft, for which every ftudent of American Hiftory owes him a large
I.,
debt of gratitude.
124
the ancient 7 Cujhing,
common
76, 77.
law of England. 5 Pickering, 203.

13 Pickering, 258. 13
Metcalf,
68-72.
But whatever may have been the pleas or argu ments in thefe fuits, or the opinions which influenced
their various refults
"
the fact remains that, although the bonds of flavery may have been loofened
;
"
"
"
by
thefe proceedings,
favor
of
liberty,"
the verdicts of juries in the legal effect of fuch verdicts

"
and
reached none but the parties immediately concerned ; and the inflitution of flavery continued to be recog
nized by law in
MafTachufetts,
it.
defying
all
direct
attempts to deftroy
The queftion however had been raifed, and flavery cc the conwas challenged. Dr. Belknap fays, that M. H. S. troverfy began about the year 1766." We fhall endeavor to indicate the Coll. i., iv., 201. principal features of its progrefs in their juft relations,
without difparagement and without exaggeration. The town of Worcester, by inftructions in 1765,
ufe his influence to required their reprefentative to to an unchriftian and im law to that a end obtain put
politic practice
"
and that he give

Majefly
fuch
a
of making flaves of the human fpecies, his vote for none to ferve in His
s Council, who will ufe their influence againft law/ Eoflon News-Letter, June 4, 1765,
quoted by Buckingham, Newfpaper Literature, i., 31. The town of Bofton, in May, 1766, intruded
their Reprefentatives as follows, viz.
total abolifhing
"
And
for the
of flavery
among
us, that
you move
for a law to
prohibit the importation and the pur-
125
s
chasing of (laves for the 1822.
future."
Lyman
Report,
This action was confirmed by a new vote in the At the Town- Meet ing on the i6th following year.
of March, 1767, the queftion came up, as to whether the Town would adhere to that part of its Inftructions,
Bofton,
and
it
paffed
It
in
is
the
alfo
affirmative.
faid,
Drakes
728-9.
true of a later period only, that
though probably "In fome of the
country towns they voted to have no flaves among them, and that their matters be indemnified from any
expence, [after they had granted them freedom] that might arife by reafon of their age, infirmities, or in
ability to fupport themfelves."
Letter of Mr. Thomas
P emberton
to
Dr. Jeremy Belknap, Bo/ton,
Mch.
12,
In 1767, an anonymous trad: of twenty octavo

pages againft flavery
entitled
Friend"
cc
made
its
Confederations on Slavery,
It was appearance. in a Letter to a
It was written by Nathaniel Appleton, a merchant of Bofton, afterwards a member of the firft Committee of Correfpondence and a zealous patriot
during the Revolutionary druggie.

morial^ 360
Appleton
Me
Web-
On March
fter
2d, 1769, the reverend
Samuel
"
an earned of Salifbury, Maflachufetts, publifhed An extract is addrefs to my country on flavery."

given by
3381
Mr.
Coffin in his Hiftory of Newbury, p.
The
the Legiflature on the fame day,

fubfide"
See/>o/2,
/>.
reader will note the coincidence of this proceeding with that in when it was Ordered, that the Matter
"
127.
126
James Swan,
Bofton, publifhed
"
Scotfman,"
and merchant
in
"
Difluafion to Great Britain
and the Colonies, from the Slave-Trade to Africa It feems to have mewing the Injuflice thereof, been in cc the form of a fermon," and the writer was
etc."
apparently better
fatisfied
with a fecond edition revifed
and abridged, which he put forth in 1773, at the earneft defire of the Negroes in Bofton, in order to anfwer the purpofe of fending a copy to each town.
In
1767,
the
firft
movement was made
in
the
fla-
Legiflature to procure the paflage of an act againft very and the flave-trade.
On
able
the ijth March, a
bill
cc
was brought into the
Houfe of
Reprefentatives
to prevent the unwarrant
and unufual Practice or Cuftom of inflaving Man kind in this Province, and the importation of flaves It was read a firft time, and the into the fame."
queftion was moved, whether a fecond reading be referred to the next feflion of the General Court ?
which was pafled
in the negative.
Then
it
was moved,
that a claufe be brought
into the bill, for a limitation
to a certain time,
pafled in the affirmative

that the bill
and the queftion being put, it and it was further ordered, be read again on the following day, at ten
;
Journal, 387. cc to prevent the unwarrant the i4th, the bill able and unnatural Practice," etc., was read a fecond
o clock.
On
time, and the queftion was put whether the third This reading be referred to the next May feflion ?
it was ordered that the Bill pafled in the negative, and be read a third time on Monday next at three o clock.
Ibid.,
390.
127
preventing the un natural and unwarrantable Cuftom of enflaving Man kind in this Province, and the Importation of Slaves
the i6th,
"The
On
Bill for
into the Same, was

after a
"
Read according
to order,
and,
Debate, Ordered that the Matter fubftde, and that Capt. Sheaffe, Col. Richmond, and Col. Bourne, be a Com
mittee to bring in a Bill for laying a Duty of Import on Slaves importing into this Province." Ibld.^ 393.
the i yth, a Bill for laying a Duty of Import the Importation of Slaves into this Province upon was read a firft and fecond time, and ordered for a
third reading
On
on the next day
at eleven o clock. Ibid.,
408.
On the 1 8th, "the bill for laying an Import on the Importation of Negro and other Slaves, was read a third time, and the queftion was put, whether the enacting this bill mould be referred to the next May
feflion, that
?
the
thereupon tion was put,
Pafled in the Negative.
Minds of the Country may be known Then the Ques Whether a claufe fhall be bro t in to
Act
to the
limit the Continuance of the
Term
of one
Faffed in the Affirmative, and Ordered, that year ? In the after the Bill be recommitted." Ibid. y 411.
noon of the fame day, the bill was read with the amendment, and having parTed to be engrofled, was fent up by Col. Bowers, Col. Gerrim, Col. Leonard,
"
Ibid., 411. Capt. Thayer, and Col. Richmond." The bill was read a firft time in the Council on the
1 9th of March, and on the 2oth was read a fecond time and pafTed to be engrofled as taken into a new On being fent down to the Houfe of Repredraft."
"
128
fentatives

for concurrence,
cc
afternoon of the fame day, it was Read and unanimoufly non-con curred, and the Houfe adhere to their own Vote.
in the
Sent up for
Records,
concurrence."
Ibid.
Compare Gen. Court

loft.
May
And
May 1767,^. 485. 1763 thus the bill difappeared and was
to
It
was the neareft approach to an attempt to abolifh flavery, within our knowledge, in all the Colonial and
Provincial
legislation
of MafTachufetts.
The
bills
againft the importation of (laves cannot juftly be re garded as direct attempts to abolim the inftitution of
flavery,
whatever
may have been
the motives which
action concerning them. The bill is has not been and it not un of itfelf found, 1767 likely that its provifions may have been lefs pofitive
influenced the
and
ftringent than its title, which is the chief author little anti-flavery reputation it enjoys. ity for what Could it be recovered, it might illuminate the record
we have
generally.
given, and throw

It is
much light on the fubject from the record that what apparent
the height to which the zeal of the agitation of the fubject on carried had anti-flavery this occaflon, it was duly ordered, that the Matter 1 so that it was only an Impoft Act which fubflde
ever
may have been
"
;"
finally
tried
to
ftruggle
forth
into
it
exiftence,
and
in the effort. periflied at abolition, the failure

it
If indeed
was an attempt
was
fo flgnal
and
decifive that
as
was not renewed until ten years afterward, when,

fliall fee, it
we
1
failed again.
The reader will fee hereafter, in the frequent ufe of this parliamentary con the Legiflature of MafTachufetts, that an order to "fub/ide phrafe by tinued to be their favorite method of reducing anti-flavery inflammation.
"
129
That
volcano,"
terror of infurrection,
illuftrated in the
common
often and aptly phrafe of fleeping over a

To
cc
that continuous
and awful dread which
feels, but hates to acknowledge, we have already faid, was not unknown even in MafTachufetts, where the fervile clafs was always a com
confcious tyranny
paratively fmall element of the population.
In times
commotion and popular excitement, the more imminent, and the fear was more was danger
of
civil
freely exprefled.
During the difficulties between the people of the town of Bofton and the Britim foldiers in 1768, John
Wilfon, a captain in the 59th Regiment, was accufed of exciting the flaves againft their matters, afluring
them
that the foldiers had

;
come
to procure their free
dom
and
"
that,
with their
afliftance,
they
mould
be able to drive the Liberty Boys to the devil." He was arrefted on the complaint of the felectmen, and was bound over for trial ; but, owing to the manoeu
"
vres of the Attorney-General, the indictment was quafhed, and Wilfon left the Province about the fame
time."
is
Drake s Bofton, 754. There was a fimilar alarm in September, 1774. It noticed in one of the letters of Mrs. John Adams
to her hufband, dated at Bofton Garrifon,
22d Sep
tember, 1774.
cc
There has been
in
town
confpiracy of the
At prefent it is kept pretty private, and negroes. was difcovered by one who endeavored to difluade them from it. He being threatened with his life,
applied to Juftice Quincy for protection. They con ducted in this way, got an Irifhman to draw up a pe9
130
tition to the
Governor [Gage], telling him they would he would arm them, and en fight for him provided if he them to liberate conquered. And it is faid gage
that he attended fo
much
to
it,
as to confult
Percy
upon
and one Lieutenant Small has been very bufy and active. There is but little faid, and what fteps
it,
I they will take in confequence of it I know not. in the wifh moft fincerely there was not a (lave prov to fcheme moft a it ince iniquitous always appeared
;
me
and
this
to fight ourfelves for what plundering from thofe who
we
are daily robbing

as
have
good
a right
to freedom as
fubjecV
we have. You know Adams Letters, i., 24.
my mind upon
In 1771, the fubject of the Slave-Trade was again On the I2th April, introduced into the Legiflature.
in that year, a bill
Slaves
from
to prevent the Importation of Africa" was read the firfl time and
"
ordered to a fecond reading on the following day at On the ijth,, the bill ten o clock. Journal, 211.
was read the fecond time, and the further confideration was postponed till the following Tuefday morning. On the i6th the bill was re-committed. Ibid., 215.
Ibid.,
On
219. the
of Negro to-morrow firft time and ordered a fecond reading On the 2oth, it was at eleven o clock." Ibid., 234. read a fecond time and ordered to be read again on
"
Bill to prevent the Importation 9th, a Slaves into this Province" was read the
"
"
Monday
1
next,
at
Three o
clock."
On
the 22d,
it
Brigadier-General the Right Honorable Hugh, Earl Percy, after wards Duke of Northumberland, was Colonel of the 5th Regiment, or Northumberland Fufileers, at that time (rationed in Bofton.
131
was read the third time, and patted to be engrofled. Ibid., 236. On the 24th, it was read and patted to be
enadted.
It
Ibid., 240.
was duly fent to the Council for concurrence, and on the fame day, James Otis, Efq., came down from the honorable Board, to propofe an Amendment
"
on the engrofled bill for preventing the Importation of Slaves from Africa, and laid the Bill on the Table cc The Houfe took the propofed Amend whereupon
;"
ment
into consideration, and concur
d with the honor
able Board therein, then the Bill was fent
up
to the
honorable
Ibid., 242-3. have been unable to procure any record of the doings of the Council on the fubject, excepting
Board."
We
the following
entry in the Records of the
General
Court
"
Wednefday, April 24, 1771, etc. etc. An c An Ad: to prevent the grofled Bill intituled
En Im
portation of Negro Slaves into this Province having patted the Houfe of Reprefentatives to be Enacted. In Council, Read a third time and patted a con
currence to be
enacted."
This
act failed to obtain the
approval of Governor
Hutchinfon, and we are fortunately able to prefent

his views
on the
fubject, as
communicated to Lord
Hillfborough, Secretary of State for the Colonies, in

a letter dated
cc
May,
1771.
which prohibited the importation of Slaves Negro appeared to me to come within his s Inftruction to Sir Francis Majefty Bernard, which reftrains the Governor from Aflenting to any Laws of a new and unufual nature. I doubted befides
Bill
The
132

this Bill which,
it is faid,
whether the chief motive to
was a fcruple upon the minds of the People in many parts of the Province of the lawfulnefs, in a meerly moral refpect, of fo great a reftraint of Liberty, was
well founded, flavery by the Provincial Laws giving no right to the life of the fervant and a flave here con-
would be who had bound himfelf for a term of years exceeding the ordinary term of human life, and I do not know that it has been de
fidered as a Servant
not have a Property in Goods, nothe is called a Slave. withftanding 1 bills will I have reafon to think that thefe three
termined he
"
may
be again offered to me in another Semon, I having in timated that I would tranfmit them to England that I
might know his Majefty s pleafure concerning them." 27 Mqfs. Archives, 159-60. Thefe are interefting and important fuggeftions. It is apparent that at this time there was no fpecial
governor of Maffachufetts, forbidding his approval of acts againft the Have-trade, flutchinfon evidently doubted the genuinenefs of the
inftruction to the
royal
cc
chief motive
"
tion of the
bill,
which was alleged to be the infpirathe fcruple againft meerly moral

"
"
flavery ; but his reafonings furnifh a ftriking illuftration of the changes which were going on in public opinion, and the gradual softening of the harftier
The non features of flavery under their influence. the Colonies, by importation agreements throughout
which America was trying to thwart the commercial felfiflinefs of her rapacious Mother, had rendered the
1
The
other
two
bills
were a Marine Corporation Bill and a Salem
Militia Bill.
133
provincial viceroys peculiarly fenfitive to the flighted: manifeftation of a difpofition to approach the facred
and precincts of thofe prerogatives by which King Parliament aflumed to bind their diftant dependencies :
which Maflafrom chufetts had imperfectly learned New York was equally offensive to them, whether it interfered with
and the
"
fpirit
of non-importation
"
their cherifhed
"
trade with
Africa,"
or their favorite
monopolies elfewhere. In 1773, e attempt to difcourage the flave-trade was renewed. The reprefentatives from Salem had
been inftrudted,
fetts
"
May
18, 1773, to ufe their exertions
to prevent the importation of negroes into Maflachuas repugnant to the natural rights of mankind,
prejudicial to the
Province."
and highly
nals,
ii.,
Felt,
An
416.
to
The town
"
of Medford
alfo directed
their
final
member
ufe his utmoft influence to have a
period put to that
mod
cruel,
inhuman and un-
chriftian practice, the

etc. y
flave-trade."
Swans
Diffuafton 9
Revifed Ed. y 1773, p. x.
The town
of Leicefter,
19, 1773, inftructed their reprefentative fubject, as follows :

"
May
on
this
we have the higheft regard for (fo as even to revere the name of) liberty, we cannot behold but
And,
as
with the greateft abhorrence any of our fellow crea tures in a ttate of flavery.
to ufe your ut "Therefore we ftrictly enjoin you moft influence that a flop may be put to the flavetrade by the inhabitants of this Province ; which, we
apprehend,
either
may
be effected by one of thefe two ways
by
laying a heavy
duty on every negro im
ported or brought from Africa or elfewhere into this
34
or,
by making a law, that every negro brought or imported as aforefaid mould be a free man
Province;
or
woman
it
;
as
tion of
foon as they come within the jurifdicand that every negro child that mail be
government after the enacting fuch law fame age that the children of white people are; and, from the time of their birth till they are capable of earning their living, to be main
faid
born in
mould be
free at the
in which they are born, or at the the of Province, as mail appear moft reafonexpenfe
tained
by the town
able.
"
Honorable Houfe of Reprefentatives mall think of a more But be heartily glad of it. eligible method, A e mall whether you can juftly take away or free a negro from
will the blacks
or,
if
Thus, by enacting fuch a become free;
law, in procefs of time
the
his mafter,
illegally
;
who
fairly
is
for fuch
purchafed him, and (although the purchafe of any perfon againrt

it
their confent, unlefs
be for a capital offence) which
the cuftom of this country has juftified him in, we mall not determine but hope that unerring Wifdom
;
will direct
you
in this
and
in all
your other important
undertakings/*
The town
voted,
May
Waftiburn s Leicefter, 442. of Sandwich, in Barnftable County, 18, 1773, "that our reprefentative is in-
ftructed to
endeavor to have an Act parled by the Court, to prevent the importation of Jlaves into this country, and that all children that mall be born of
fuch Africans as are
7
now
flaves
among
age."
us, mall, after
fuch Act, be free at 21 years of
Freeman
His
tory of Cape Coo , n., 114. There may have been other towns in which fimilar
135
meafures were taken to influence the action of the

Legiflature, but we have no knowledge of any beyond The negroes themfelves alfo thofe already noticed.
began to move in the matter, encouraged by the of liberty which was rife in the land." fpirit
"
On the 25th June, 1773, in the afternoon feflion of the Houfe of Reprefentatives, a petition was read
of Felix Holbrook, and others, Negroes, praying may be liberated from a State of Bondage, and made Freemen of this Community and that this
"
that they
Court would give and grant to them fome part of the unimproved Lands belonging to the Province, for a Settlement, or relieve them in fuch other Way as
{hall
this it
feem good and wife upon the Whole." Upon was cc ordered, that Mr. Hancock, Mr. Green-
leaf, Mr. Adams, Capt. Dix, Mr. Paine, Capt. Heath, and Mr. Pickering coniider this Petition, and report what may be proper to be done." Journal, p. 85. This Committee on the Petition of Felix Hol brook, and others, in behalf of themfelves and others ; praying to be liberated from a State of Slavery, re on the 28th June, 1773, P.M., "that the ported"
"
further Confideration of the Petition be referred
till
next
Seflion,"
and
it
was
fo
referred accordingly.
Ibid., 94.
other indications of the growing intereft in the fubject, is the fact that at the annual commence
Among
College, Cambridge, July 21, 1773, a forenfic difputation on the legality of enflaving the Africans was held by two candidates for the bachelor s
ment of Harvard
degree
namely, Theodore Parfons and Eliphalet Pearfon, both of whom were natives of Newbury*
;
136
The queftion was "whether the flavery, to which Africans are in this province, by the permiflion of law, The fubjedted, be agreeable to the law of nature
?"
work was publifhed

bury, 339.
at Bofton, the
fame year, in an
Coffin s
oclavo pamphlet of forty-eight pages.
New-
following letter alfo mows that the bufinefs before the Legiflature was not wholly neglected or for
The
gotten during the interval between the feffions.
SAMUEL ADAMS TO JOHN PICKERING, JR.

"Bofton,
Jan
7.
8,
1774.
"Sir,
As the General Aflembly will undoubtedly meet on the 26th of this month, the Negroes whofe petition lies on file, and is referred for confi deration, are very felicitous for the Event of it, and been in having formed that you intended to confider it at your
"
Hours in the Recefs of the Court, they earwifh neftly you would compleat a Plan for their Re lief. And in the meantime, if it be not too much
leifure
Trouble, they afk

a
it
as a favor that
Letter
enable
me
to
you would by communicate to them the

I
general outlines of your Defign.

regard,"
am, with
fincere
etc.
On
a
the 26th January, 1774, P.M.,
"
a Petition
of
number of Negro Men, which was entered on the Journal of the 25th of June laft, and referred for Conread again, together with a Memorial of the fame Petitioners and Ordered,
Seflion,"
iideration to this
was
"
that
Mr. Speaker, Mr.
Pickering,
Mr. Hancock, Mr.
137
Adams, Mr.
Phillips,
Mr.
Paine, and
Mr. Greenleaf
confider the fame and
report."
Journal, 104.
All this preliminary preparation refulted at length cc in a Bill to prevent the Importation of Negroes
and others
read the
as Slaves into this
Province,"
which was
firft
time on the id March, 1774, and ordered
On the to be read again the next day. Ibid., 221. 3d, it was read the fecond time in the morning, and
and pafled to be engrofled, when it was fent up to the Council Board for concurrence, by Col. Gerrim, Col. Thayer, Col. Bowers, Mr. Pickering, and Col. Bacon. Ibid., 224. On the 4th March, the bill was returned as pafled
in the afternoon the third time,
"
in Council with Amendments."

5th, the
ibid.,
ibid.,
Ibid.,
226.
On
the
Houfe voted
;
to concur with the Council,

bill to
228
237.
and on the 7th, pafled the
be enacted.
On
the 8th,
it
received th.ej5.nal fanction
of the Council, and only required the approval of the Governor to become a law. That approval, however, it failed to obtain ; the only reafon given in the record
the Secretary faid [on returning the approved that his Excellency had not had time to confider bills] 1 the other Bills that had been laid before him." Ibid.,
cc
being
243. Compare alfo for Council proceedings, General Court Records, xxx., 248, 264. To this hiftory, derived from the records, we are
fortunately able to add a copy of the Bill itfelf, which is preferved in the Mafs. Archives, Dome/lie Relations,
1643-1774,
1
Vol. 9,
457.
The
3oth, 1774.
General Court was prorogued March 9th, and diflblved March General Court Records, xxx., 280-81.
138
ANNO REGNI
REGIS GEORGII TERTII &c DECIMO QUARTO
AN ACT to
Slaves
prevent the importation of Negroes or other Perfons as this Province ; and the purchaiing them within the and fame; for making provifion for relief of the children of fuck
into
as are already fubjefted to Jlavery Negroes Mulattoes born within this Province.
& Indians
WHEREAS
the Importation of Perfons as Slaves into this Province

intereft
has been found detrimental to the
of
his
Majefty
fubjedls
being apprehended beneficial to the Province

therein;
And
it
that the abolition thereof will be
the Governor Council and Houfe of therefore Enacted by after the Tenth Day of April next mail that whofoever Reprefentatives
Be
it
import or bring into this Province by Land or Water any Negro or other Perfon or Perfons whether Male or Female as a Slave or Slaves
fhall for
Province
ered
each and every fuch Perfon fo imported or brought into this forfeit and pay the fum of one hundred Pounds to be recov
>
by prefentment or indiclment of
recovered to be to his Majefty for the ufe of this
Grand Jury and when fo Government or by

:
action of debt in any of his Majefty s Courts of Record and in cafe of fuch recovery the one moiety thereof to be to his majefty for the ufe
of
this
Government
be
the other moiety to the Perfon
or Perfons
who
fhall fue for the
fame.
that
And
it
further Enacted
from and
after the
Tenth Day of
that mall purchafe any Negro or April next any Perfon or Perfons other Perfon or Perfons as a Slave or Slaves imported or brought into
Perfon
and pay for every Negro or other to be recovered and difpofed of in the Pounds purchafed Fifty fame way and manner as before diredled. And be it further Enacted that every Perfon, concerned in im
this
Province
fo
as aforefaid fhall forfeit
into this Province, or purchafmg any fuch Negro porting or bringing or other Perfon or Perfons as aforefaid within the fame ; who fhall be
unable, or refufe, to pay the Penalties or forfeitures ordered by this A61 ; fhall for every fuch offence fuffer Twelve months imprifonment
without Bail or mainprife,
Provided allways that nothing

fubjedl to the Penalties
in this aft contained fhall
extend to
aforefaid the Maftej-s, Mariners,
Owners or
139
the faid Tenth Day Freighters of any fuch Veflel or Veflels, as before next ihall have failed from any Port or Ports in this Province, of
April
for
or any Port or Ports not within this Government, for importing as or Perfons Perfon other or Province this into any Negro bringing
Slaves
who
in the profecution of the
brought into the fame.
fame voyage may be imported or Provided he mail not offer them or any of
not be conftrued to extend to any
them
for fale.
alfo that this a6l (hall
Provided
fuch Perfon or Perfons, occafionally hereafter coming to refide within this Province, or paffing thro the fame, who may bring fuch Negro or other Perfon or Perfons as neceflary fervants into this Province pro
vided that the ftay or refidence of fuch Perfon or Perfons mail not exceed Twelve months or that fuch Perfon or Perfons within faid time
fend fuch
to be
Negro
or other Perfon or Perfons out of this Province there

alfo that
and remain, and
during faid Refidence fuch Negro or
other Perfon or Perfons mall not be fold or alienated within the fame.
nothing in this ad containedJhall extend or be conftrued to extendfor retaining or hold or any Negro or other ing in perpetual
V And be it further Enabled and declared that

fervitude
Perfon
Perfons
now
in/laved within this Province but that every fuch Negro or or other Jhall be intituled to all the Benefits
Perfon
Perfons
fuch
Negro or
to,
in
cafe
other Perfon or Perfons might by this ad had not been made.
Law
have been intituled
In the Houfe of Reprefentatives fecond Time. March 3, 1774.

engrofTed.
March Read
2,
1774.
Read
firft
&
a third
Time &
pafled to be
Sent up for Concurrence.
T. GUSHING, Spkr.
In Council
March 3, Time and pafled

ment
at
1774.
a
Read
firft
Time.
4.
Read
a fecond
Concurrence to be EngrofTed with the Amend dele the whole Claufe. Sent down for Concurrence.
THOS. FLUCKER,
In the Houfe of Reprefentatives March 4, 1774.
curred.
Secry.
Read and con
T. GUSHING, Spkr.
That portion of the
title
to the bill which
we have
140
italicized is ftricken
alfo
out in the original.

the
claufe
We
have
retained
and
italicized
which was
by the amendment of the Council. They form a part of the hiftory of the bill, though not of the bill itfelf as paffed to be enafted."
flricken out
"
Such was the r.efponfe of the Great and General Court of MafTachufetts to the petition of her negroflaves in 1773-4. They prayed that they might be cc liberated from a State of Bondage, and made Free men of the Community and that this Court would give and grant to them fome part of the unimproved Lands belonging to the Province for a Settlement, or relieve them in fuch other Way as mall feem good arid wife upon the Whole." Not one of their prayers was
;
anfwered.
It
would feem that an attempt was made
bill, an indirect legiflative approval of fome of the doctrines maintained by Counfel for
to include in the
the negroes in the

failed
"
freedom
fuits
;"
but even
this
of
a prohibitory act againft the importation ; flaves was offered to the Governor for his ap
it
and
proval, which obtained.
was known beforehand could not be
Whether Hutchinfon had actually received an inftruction from the Crown on the fubject at this time or not, there is no room for doubt as to the general
She had aided her colonial policy of Great Britain. to become me had encouraged flaveholders ; offspring
her merchants
in
tempting them to acquire

all
flaves
me
herfelf excelled
;
her
competitors
in
flave-
ftealing
and from the reign of Queen Anne, the flave-trade was among her moft envied and cherimed
monopolies,
its
protection and increafe being a princi-
141
The great pal feature in her commercial policy. of the Treaty of Utrecht, as the Queen distinction
"
"
expreffly called it, for furniming the

years, in the
was that the Afliento or Contract
Spanim Weft Indies with Negroes, mould be made with England, for the term of thirty
fame manner_as
for ten
it
the French
years
before.
had been enjoyed by Queen s Speech,
6 June, 1712.
This was what her great ftatesmen and divines of the Church of England were fo eager and proud to
For all her facrifices in the fecure for their country war, the millions of treafure she had fpent, the blood
!
of her children
fo prodigally fhed,
with the glories of
Blenheim, of Ramillies, of Oudenarde, and Malplaquet, England found her confolation and reward in 1 seizing and enjoying, as the lion s fhare of refults of
the
Grand Alliance
againft the
Bourbons, the exclu!
five right for thirty years of felling African flaves to the Spanim Weft Indies and the Coaft of America
wonder
cc
Compare Macknighfs Bolingbroke, 346-8. that men who had thus been taught to believe
that the
Who
will
Negro-Trade on the Coaft of Africa was the chief and fundamental fupport of the Britim in America, mould frown Colonies and Plantations
"
upon
legiflation in the colonies fo utterly inconfiftent
with the interefts of Britim Commerce, or that the

1
By
the articles of the
Grand Alliance, England and
all
the other states
fubfcribing them were pledged neither to enter into any feparate treaty with the enemy, nor feek to negotiate for themfelves any exceptional privi
lege to the exclufion of the other
this
members of the Confederacy.
Of courfe
obligation was totally difregarded by England, who infisted on the conceflion of the Afliento Contrail by France and Spain before the pro-
pofals for peace
were even communicated to the
rest
of the Allies
142

efforts
of Maffachufetts in 1774, fhould be met by Hutchinfon and Gage with the fame fpirit which, in 1775, dictated the reply of the Earl of
modeft
Dartmouth
to the earner! remonftrance of the
Agent
:
of Jamaica againft the policy of the government cc cannot allow the colonies to check or dis
We
courage, in any manner, a

nation."
traffic
fo beneficial to the
Bridges
Jamaica, n., 475.
Notes.
cannot be accufed of belittling the refiftance thus prefented to any colonial interference with the
flave-trade,
We
when we
exprefs our regret that the legis
lative annals
repeal
the
of Maflachufetts record no attempt to local laws by which flavery had been
and maintained. Such a meafure, which mould alfo have granted the relief prayed for by the negroes in their petition, and embodied the
eftablifhed,
regulated,
wife fuggeflions of the town of Leicefter (ante, p. 133), might well have encountered lefs ferious oppofition
from the fervants of the Crown than

act
this twice-re
of 1774. l jected non-importation In the brief feflion of the General Court at Salem,
Hutchinfon s fucceflbr, Gage, the laft Royal Governor, had commenced his adminiftration, the fame bill fubftantially, for the variations are unimportant, was hurried through the forms of legis It was introduced, read a firft, fecond, and lation. third time, and pafled to be engrofTed on the fame day,
in June, 1774, after
1
The
rhetorical flourifties with
decifion in the
famous
cafe of Somerfet
which Lord Mansfield ornamented his would have furnimed an excellent
preamble to fuch an aft. The cafe was well known in Maflachufetts, having been reprinted more than once. But the General Court of Mafla
chufetts
had no more intention than Lord Mansfield had power to abolifh
flavery at that period.
143
On the i6th, the engroffed loth June. Journal^ 27. In bill was read and pafTed to be enaded. Ibid., 41.
the Council, on the fame day, it was read a third time Gen. Court and pafled a concurrence to be enacted.
On the following day, June iyth, Records, xxx., 322. Like that of which the General Court was diffolved.
it
was a copy, the
bill
cc
appears
not to have been con-
fented to by the
Governor."
The fad
much
is
not to be difguifed that thefe efforts
were political movements againft the government as

as anything elfe. Sympathy for the flave, and moral fcruples againft flavery, became lefs urgent and troublefome after the royal negative had become
powerlefs againft the legiflation of the people of The fad that mofl of the States were Maffachufetts.
flow or relaxed their efforts, after the power
their hands,
came
into
by the not diminifh would Country," the credit due to Maffachufetts, if me had taken the But that honor is not hers lead and maintained it. Nor did the feparate adion of any of the States
"uncontrolled
and they were
adion of the Mother
effectually limit,
traffic.
much
lefs
deftroy,
this
infamous
The
by all Odober, 1774,

tation,
Continental Affociation, adopted and figned the members of the Congrefs on the 2oth of
for carrying into effect the
non-impor
non-confumption, and non-exportation refolve of the 27th of September, provided for the difcontinuance of the Slave-Trade. The Continental Con
grefs,
on the 6th of April, 1776, formally cc Rejolved, That no flave be imported into any of the thirteen United Colonies." There is reafon to be.
144
lieve
aSTent

that
this
resolution
received
s
the
unanimous
Dec. of Independence, But no provifion was made in the Articles of p. 42. Confederation to hinder the importation of Slaves, and
this pernicious
of the Congrefs.
Force
commerce was never
abfolutely crufhed
it
power of the nation was exercifed againSl under the authority of the Conftitution.
until the
Slavery, however, was not forgotten or neglected In the firft Provincial Congrefs for want of notice.
of MaSTachufetts, October 25, 1774,

into Congrefs a letter di rected to Doct. Appleton, purporting the propriety, that while we are attempting to free ourfelves from
"
Mr. Wheeler brought
our prefent embarraSTments, and preferve ourfelves
from
Slate
Slavery, that
we
alfo
take into consideration the
vince.
and circumSlances of the negro Slaves in this pro The fame was read, and it was moved that a Committee be appointed to take the fame into con
After fome debate thereon, the queftion whether the matter now fubSlde, and it
affirmative."
sideration.
was put,
paSTed in the
Journals, 29.
In May, 1775, the Committee of Safety (Han cock and Warren s Committee) came to a formal refolution, which is certainly one of the moSl Signifi
cant documents of the period. Refolded, That it is the opinion of this Com mittee, as the conteSl now between Great Britain and
"
the Colonies refpects the liberties and privileges of the latter, which the Colonies are determined to
maintain, that the admiSTion of any perfons, as foldiers, into the army now raising, but only fuch as are freemen, will be inconSlflent with the principles that
145
are to be fupported, and reflect dishonor on this Colony, and that no flaves be admitted into this army
upon any
confideration
whatever."
This refolution being communicated to the Pro

vincial Congrefs (June 6, 1775), was read, and ordered It was to lie on the table for further confideration.
probably allowed to
The pofition. flaves into the Maflachufetts

flavery as
former proprohibition againft the admiffion of

fubfide,"
cc
like the
Army
clearly recognizes
Worcefter having petitioned the Committee of Correfpondence of the
The
an exifting inftitution. negroes of Briflol and
county to aflift them in obtaining their free dom, it was refolved, in a Convention held at Wor That we abhor the enflaving cefter, June 14, 1775,
latter
"
of any of the human

in
this
negroes mall be a door opened, or opportunity prefent for anything to be done towards the emancipation of the
negroes, we will ufe our influence and endeavor that fuch a thing may be brought about." Lincoln s Hift.
and particularly of the and that whenever there country,

race,
of
Wore efter, no.
The
avail
high tory writers of 1775 were not flow to themfelves of the argument of inconfiftency
againft the whigs of the day. Negroe flaves in Bofton

"
One
!
writer faid:
!
It cannot be
It
is
neverthelefs very true.
grounded their nature/ and have refolved

*
For though the Boftonians have rebellions on the immutable laws of

c
in their
Town Meetings, that

founded
in
It is the
firft
principle in civil fociety,
nature and reafon, that no law of fociety can be binding on any individual, without his confent given by himfelf
10
146
in
reprefentative of his own free election ; yet, notwithftanding the immutable laws of nature, and this public refolution of their own in
perfon, or
by
his
Town Meetings, they actually have in town two thoufand Negroe flaves, who neither by themfelves in
perfon, nor by reprefentatives of their own free elec tion ever gave confent to their prefent ftate of bond
age."
Meins
June
On
Sagittarius s Letters, pp. 38, 39. 5th, 1774, two difcourfes on liberty
in
were
delivered at
the North Church
Newburyport, by
Nathaniel Niles, M. A., which were printed in a brief paflage near the pamphlet of fixty pages. clofe of the firft difcourfe prefents a ftrong argument
againft the inftitution.
pp. 37, 38.
In 1774, Deacon Benjamin Colman, of Byfield Church, Newbury, Maflachufetts, made himfelf con
spicuous in his neighborhood by his exertions againft In the Eflex Journal, of Newburyport, flavery.
July 20, 1774, an he fays

:
1
eflay
of his was published, in which

is
law in this fome feeble province, and although there have been and fet them at the to break yoke attempts made is not effected, but they are ftill liberty, yet the thing
this iniquity
eftabliftied
cc
And
by
kept under the

bury, 340.
civil
yoke of bondage.
Coffin s
New
In the following year, Sept. 16, 1775, the fame zealous deacon addreffed a letter to a member of the
General Court, by whom (he thought) this idolatry mould be thrown down, and a reformation take place
"
by the authority of
that legiflative
power."
His
the love of freedom, which was then the appeals to
147
cry of the whole land, are moft forcible, and his ftrong fears of the further judgments of God as a confecc capital fin of thefe States," flavery, quence of this of He concludes with the follow are full warning. ing paragraph, which is not lefs interefling in this
connection from the fpecial reference to Bofton in his pious improvement of an important fad already
fet
forth in thefe
<c
Notes
But, Sir, you may be ready too haftily to con clude from this writing that my mind is fo fattened
upon the flave-trade, as if it were the only crime that we were chargeable with, or that God was chaftening
have faid before, fo fay I again, our are tranfgreffions multiplied, but yet this crime is more particularly pointed at than any other.
us
for.
I
As
WAS
BOSTON THE FIRST PORT ON THIS CONTINENT THAT BEGAN THE SLAVE-TRADE, and are they not the firft Jhut
up by an oppreffive atty and brought almoft
wherefore, Siry though
to defolation,
we may
not be peremptory in apply
ing the judgments of God, yet
providences without a remark. entreat and befeech you by all the love
this
cannot pajs over fuch But to conclude. I
you have
for
you have for this diftrefled, American Colonies in bleeding province, that you exert yourfelf, and improve your general, utmoft endeavors at the Court to obtain a difcharge
town, by
all
the regard
as for the
for the flaves

I
mould
if this
If this was done, to deliverance arife to us, but expect fpeedy is and continued maintained by flill opprejjion
their bondage.
from
foul mall authority, I can only fay, for that crime." Ibid. y 342. places
my
weep in
fecret
148
VII.
IN the autumn of 1776, fympathy for the
flave in
Maflachufetts received a frefh impulfe. Two negro on the for were advertifed men, captured high feas,
fale at
auction, as a part of the cargo and appurte nances of a prize duly condemned in the Maritime 1 Court. This advertifement roufed the fpirit of
hoftility to flavery to a
remarkable degree, and the
Legiflature were excited to begin the work of reform apparently with great earneftnefs and vigor.
Friday, Sept. 13, 1776, at the afternoon feffion, the Maflachufetts Houfe of Reprefentatives Refohed, That Wednefday next, at three o clock
"
On
in the afternoon, be afligned for choofing a committee to be joined with a Committee of the Honorable
Board, to take under confideration the condition of

the African Slaves, now in this State, or that hereafter may be brought into it, and to report." Jour. H. of
R.y 105.
We
later,
find
no record of proceedings
little
in accordance
a
with this refolution until a

that
more than
month
it
when, on the i9th of October,
1776,
was
"Ordered,
Mr.
Sergeant, Mr. Murrey, Mr.
Appleton, and Capt. Stone, with fuch as the honorable

This was the Hannibal, a floop of fixty tons, commanded by William and taken while on a voyage from Jamaica to Turk s IslandAm. Archives, v., in., 258. An advertifement in the Nenv England Chronicle, Auguft 15, 1776, announces the Maritime Court for ye Middle
1
Fitzpatrick,
Diftrift to
be held at Bofton, 5th September, 1776, to try the Juftice of the of the Sloop called the Hannibal, etc., and her Cargo and Appur Capture tenances.
149
join be a Committee to take under confideration the condition of the African flaves now in
this State [or that
Houfe may
may
be hereafter brought into this
State] or
may be
Journal H. of R., p. 127.
hereafter brought into it and report." This refolution was con
curred in by the Council, and William Sever, Benja min Greenleaf, and Daniel Hopkins, Efqrs., were
Vol. xxxiii., p. 55.
Gen. Court Records, joined on the part of the Board. have made diligent fearchfor
We
further action under this refolution and appointment of the Committee, but have failed to difcover any The matter was probably "allowed to trace of it.
"
fubiide
again.
On
firft
the fame day, however, in which the Houfe determined to give attention to the condition of
the African {laves, on the ijth of September, 1776, their refolution to that effect was immediately followed
by another
to prevent the fale of two negro men lately brought into this State, as prifoners taken on the high feas, and advertifed to be fold at Salem, the
"
1 Journal^ p. 105. The 7th inft., by public auction." refolve does not appear on the Journal, but from the files preserved among the Archives of the State, we
are enabled to prefent

viz.
:
it
as
thus originally patted,
"!N
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SEPT.

Houfe
13,
1776:
"
WHEREAS
this
is
credibly informed that two negro
men
lately-
brought into this State as prifoners taken

tifed to
"
on the High Seas are adver

is
be fold at Salem, the
That Rtfolved,
1 7th inftant, by public auftion, the felling and enflaving the human fpecies
150
direft violation

of the natural
rights
alike
vefted in
all
men by
their
Creator, and utterly inconiiftent with the avowed principles on which this and the other United States have carried their ftruggle for liberty
even to the
laft
appeal, and therefore, that
all
the faid negroes be
and they hereby are forbidden
perfons connected with to fell them or in
any manner to treat them otherways than is already ordered for the treatment of prifoners of war taken in the fame veflell or others in the
like employ and if any fale of the by declared null and void.
"
faid negroes mail be
made,
it is
here
Sent up for concurrence,

"
SAMI*.
FREEMAN, Speaker, P. T.
"In
new
Read and concurred as taken into a Council, Sept. 14, 1776. Sent down for concurrence. draught.
the
"In
JOHN AVERY, Dpy. Secy. Houfe of Reprefentatives, Sept. 14, 1776. Read and nonSent up for concurred, and the Houfe adhere to their own vote.
concurrence.
J.
WARREN, Speaker.
"In
Council, Sept. 16, 1776. Read and concurred as new draft. Sent down for concurrence.
now
taken into
as
"In
the
Houfe of Reprefentatives,
Sept. 16, 1779.
JOHN AVERY, Dpy. Secy. Read and con
curred.
J.
ff
WARREN, Speaker.
Confented
JER.
to.
POWELL,
SEVER,
JABEZ FISHER,
B.
W.
B. GREENLEAF,
WHITE, MOSES GILL,

HOPKINS,
BENJ. AUSTIN,
CALEB GUSHING,
B.
DAN L.
CHADBOURN,
JOHN WHETCOMB, ELDAD TAYLOR,

S.
WM.
DAN
PHILLIPS,
D. SEWALL,
L
HOPKINS."
HOLTEN,
We
give a
more
particular account of the legiflathis refolve, derived
tive hiftory
and progrefs of
from
the journals.
151
The fubjed: reappears on the Journal of the Houfe of the I4th September, as follows David Sewall, Efq., brought down the refolve
:
"
which patted the Houfe yefterday, forbidding the fale of two negroes, with the following vote of Council Read and In Council, Sept. 14, 1776. thereon, viz.
:
Sent down concurred, as taken into a new draught. for concurrence. Read and non-concurred, and the
Houfe adhere
currence."
to their
1
own
vote.
Sent up for con
Ibid.,
06.
The members of the Council prefent on the I4th September, 1776, were
JAMES BOWDOIN, BENJAMIN GREENLEAF, RICHARD DERBY, JER. POWELL, CALEB CUSHING,
BENJAMIN CHADBURN,
MOSES GILL,
BENJAMIN AUSTIN, SAMUEL HOLTEN, BENJAMIN WHITE, HENRY GARDNER,
JABEZ FISHER,
WILLIAM SEAVER, JOHN WINTHROP,
WILLIAM PHILLIPS, DAVID SEWALL,

JOSEPH CUSHING, DANIEL HOPKINS.
etc.,
THOMAS CUSHING, ELDAD TAYLOR,

General Court Records,
p. 581.
The
Council Minutes, as contained in the General
March 13, 1776 Sept. 18, 1776,^. under the date of September I4th, 1776, give 5812, the refolve as finally patted, with the addition, cc In Read and concurred. Confented to by the Council. major part of the Council." This, however, is an
Court Records,
error,
as
appears
not only from the entry on the
152
Journal of the Houfe and the original document from the files as given above, but alfo from the following minute of the Council in the fame volume of Records.
Under
date of i6th September
the following
mem
bers of Council being prefent,
JER. POWELL,
BENJAMIN GREENLEAF,
JOHN WINTHROP, JNO. WHETCOMB, WILLIAM SEAVER, BENJAMIN CHADBURN,

JABEZ FISHER,
ELDAD TAYLOR, WILLIAM PHILLIPS,

CALEB CUSHING, SAMUEL HOLTEN,
DAVID SEWALL,
Rev. Mr. [John] Murray came up with a Meflage from the Houfe to acquaint the Board that it was
their defire
to
know whether
the refolve refpecting
the fale of Negroes at Salem had parTed.

Sewall, Efq., went down with a mefTage to the Hon. Houfe that it was under confideraacquaint tion of the Board. Ibid., pp. 585, 589.
David
the fame day, i6th September, 1776, the final difpofition of the matter in the Houfe is thus recorded
in their journal.
On
Efq., brought down the refolve fale of two the forbidding negroes, with the following
"
John Whitcomb,
vote of Council thereon,
viz.
In Council, Sept. 16,
Read and concurred, as now taken into a new 1776. Sent down for concurrence. Read and draught.
concurred."
Ibid. y The refolve, as finally 109. the General Court, appears in the printed pafled by volume of refolves for that period.
153
"LXXXIII.
Refolve forbidding the
fale
of two Negroes brought in
as
Prifoners; Pafled September 14, [i6th,] 1776.

"
Whereas
this
Court
is
credibly informed that
the lately taken on
High
Seas,
on board the
two Negro Men floop Hannibal, and
brought into
the
1
"
this State as Prifoners, are
advertized to be fold at Salem,
7th inftant, by public Auction : That all Perfons concerned with the faid Negroes be, Refolved, and they are hereby forbidden to fell them, or in any manner to treat them otherwife than is already ordered for the Treatment of Prifoners
taken in like manner
;
and
if
any Sale of the
faid
Negroes mall be
made
hereby declared null and void ; and that whenever it mall that appear any Negroes are taken on the High Seas and brought as Prifoners into this State, they mall not be allowed to be Sold, nor
it is
treated
any otherwife than

Manner."
as Prifoners are
ordered to be treated
who
are taken in like
Rejblves^ p. 14.
The high-toned, bold, and unequivocal declaration of anti-flavery principles, with which it originally fet out, is gone ; but it is flill the mofl honorable docu
ment of MafTachufetts
negro.
legiflation
concerning
the
To
it is
underftand this
tures,
importance and properly to of fubjecl: negro captures and recap neceflary to extend our inquiry beyond the
appreciate
its
limits of the legiflation of a fingle Colony ; and we mall therefore make no apology for prefenting to the reader in this place the refults of our examination of
the
national
legiflation
and action
with
reference
thereto,
importance was obvious, and the of an uniform rule was too apparent to neceflity admit of a doubt. Accordingly the Continental ConIts practical
grefs,
on the I4th of October, 1776
after the
jufl one month in the proceedings Legiflature of MafTachu-
54

concerning the two negroes
captured in the Hannibal appointed a fpecial Committee of three members (Mr. Rich. Henry Lee, Mr. Wilfon, and to conSider what is to be done with Ne Mr. Hall) of war, in the fervice of the groes taken by veffels have found no report of this United States."
fetts
<c
We
Committee, nor are we able to fay what action, if any, was taken until a later period of the war. The Continental Congrefs, by refolutions of 25th
November, 1775, had recommended
it
to the feveral
or give jurifdiction to the Legislatures to erect Courts, the for Courts in being, purpofe of determining con
from the beginning, Congrefs cerning captures. Still, of exercifed the power controlling, by appeal, the
feveral admiralty jurifdidions of the States.
Journal,
6th March, lid May, 1779, lift March, ^th May, Journal H. of R. Pa., Jan. 31, 1780. 1780. a rule of the distribution Congrefs had prefcribed of prizes, and an early act of MaSTachufetts is curiouSly
illustrative
By Chapter ded that diftribution Should take place according to the Laws of this Colony, when prizes were taken by the Forces or the Inhabitants thereof; and when they Shall be taken by the fleet and army of the United ac Colonies, then to distribute and difpofe of them
and Orders of the Congrefs. cording to the Refolves Compare Chapter x., 1776, and Chapter i., 1775, p. 9. MaSTachufetts ratified the Articles of Confedera
tion in 1778,
of the doctrine of a divided fovereignty. XVI. of the laws of 1776, it was provi
and the confederation was completed
March
United
iSt,
1781.
The
ninth
article
gave to the
States in Congrefs aSTembled the fole and ex-
155
clufive right of eftablifhing rules for deciding, in all
what captures on land or water fhall be legal, and in what manner prizes taken by land or naval forces in the fervice of the United States fhall be
cafes,
divided or appropriated, as well as eftablifhing courts

for receiving
cafes
and determining
finally
appeals in
all
of captures.
legiflate
Accordingly, Congrefs proceeded to
on
the fubjed, and, during the year 1781, completed an

ordinance, afcertaining what captures on water fhall
be lawful, in purfuance of the powers delegated by the On the 4th of June, confederation in fuch cafes. was an ordinance reported for eftablifhing a 1781,
court
of appeals,
etc.
On
the
25th of the fame
month
July,
bated,
the fubject was difcuffed, and, on the I7th of 1781, the ordinance having been further de
was recommitted, and the committee were inftructed to prepare and bring an ordinance for regu of the admiralty courts of the lating the proceedings
feveral States in cafes of capture, to revife and colled: into one body the refolutions of Congrefs and other
convenient rules of decifion, and to
call
upon the
powers
feveral Legiflatures to aid by necefTary provifions the referved to Congrefs by the Articles of Con
federation on the fubject of captures from the enemy. On the 2ift of September, 1781, Congrefs refumed
the fecond reading of the ordinance refpecling cap tures, and on the queftion to agree to the following paragraph, the yeas and nays were required by Mr.
On the recapture by Matthews, of South Carolina a citizen of any negro, mulatto, Indian, or other
"
perfon from
whom
labor or fervice
is
lawfully claimed
156

citizen, fpecific reftitution fhall
by another
be adjudged
to the claimant, whether the
original capture fhall
have been made on land or water, a reafonable falvage being paid by the claimant to the recaptor, not exceed
ing one-fourth part of the value of fuch labor or fervice, to be eftimated according to the laws of the State of which the claimant fliall be a citizen : but if the
fervice of fuch negro, mulatto, Indian or other perfon,
captured below high water mark, mail not be legally claimed by a citizen of thefe United States^ he mall be fet
at
liberty."
was adopted by a vote of twenty ayes to two Both noes were from the South Carolina noes.
It
delegates.
By
the
method of voting
in that Congrefs,
the vote was feven States in the affirmative, and one
The affirma four States not voting. in the negative tive States were Georgia, Virginia, Maryland, PennYork, Rhode liland, and Maflachufetts. fylvania, States not voting, North Carolina , Delaware, Jerfey, and Connecticut, although all their delegates the 2yth Sep prefent voted in the affirmative.
New
New
On
tember, when
the ordinance
came up
for a third read
ing, an attempt this paragraph,
was made to obtain a fecond vote on but it was ruled to be out of order.
The
ordinance was farther debated
November
8,
13,
30, and fome important changes were made, which will appear on comparifon of the pafTages in italics.
It
was
"
finally pafled,
apparently without oppofition,
on the 4th of December, 1781, as follows: On the recapture by a citizen of any negro, mulatto, Indian, or other perfon, from whom labor
or fervice
is
lawfully claimed
by a
State or a citizen of
157
a State, fpecific reftitution fhall be adjudged to the claimant, whether the original capture fhall have been
or water, and without regard to the time of poffeffion by the enemy, a reafonable falvage being paid by the claimant to the recap tor, not exceeding i~4th
made on land
of the value of fuch labor or
fervice, to
be eftimated
according to the laws of the State under which the claim /hall be made.
But if the fervice of fuch negro, mulatto, Indian, or other perfon, captured below high water mark, mall not be legally claimed within a year and a day
from
cc
Thus
thejentence of the Court, he mail be fet at the action of the legiflative authorities
liberty."
colonial
or ftate and continental or national

affirmation of the received law
was virtually an on the fubject, which
was founded on the doctrine of poft liminium derived from the civil law.
This, however, applied only to recaptures.
fpecial provifion for cafes of capture belonging to the enemy to whom
is
There
no
of ilaves
probably the old
doctrine was held to apply, that they were lawful prize, and as fuch liable to fale for the benefit of the
captors.
rule.
This had been the general,
if
not univerfal,
Sir Leoline Jenkins, in a letter written in
1674,
prize-veflel, fays that it will not be controverted that on the ilatute of Prize
"
refpecting negroes in a
Dutch
negroes are to be reputed
Goods and merchandizes

of
in this mip, as they are, generally fpeaking, a part
the
commerce of
thofe
parts."
Wynne
Hurd.
Life of Sir
L.
Jenkins, $. 707, quoted by John C.
Negroes, captured
in
Canada, during the wars
158
between the Englifh and French, were fent to the
Weft India
138, 140.
I {lands
for fale.
Col. Doc., x., 131.;
bis,
In 1747, the Englifh having captured a
negro fervant, the French took pains to reclaim him, but the Englifh refufed to furrender him on the
ground that every negro is a Jlave, wherever he happens N. T. be, and in whatever Country he may refide. Col. Doc., x., 210. This precedent was referred to in a fimilar cafe in 1750, with a fimilar decifion, which was acquiefced in by both Englifh and French. Ib., 213.
to
See alfo the 47th article of Capitulation for the Sur render of Canada in 1760. N. T. Col. Doc., x., 1118. In 1761, upon the reduction of Martinico, Maj.to be fold,
Gen. Monckton ordered the negroes which were taken and the money to be divided amongft
attached
to
his
the fubalterns
250.
army.
Ibid.,
vin.,
During the American War, the flaves of the rebel colonifts were regarded by the Englifh as proper The N. E. Chronicle, fubjects of prize and booty.
July
when
to
1776, ftates that the "negroes carried off the [Britifh] Army and Fleet were obliged to evacuate the Town and Harbor [of Bofton] were fent
4,
Louisburgh, to dig Coal for their Tyrannical Thefe Blacks, were commanded by a cer Mafters.
It was eftimated that not Captain Lindfey." than 30,000 were carried off from Virginia. Hil-
tain
lefs
dreth, in., 355.
Andthoufands were
carried off
from
South Carolina, Georgia, and other States. Mr. Jefferfon, in his letter to Gordon, refers to thofe who were fent to the Weft Indies, and exchanged for rum,
fugar, coffee,
and
fruit.
Works,
11.,
427.
159
In 1779,
proclamation
"
Sir
:
Henry Clinton
iflued the following
By
his Excellency, Sir
HENRY CLINTON, K. B.,

all
General,
and Com
mander -in- Chief of
His Majejly
:
Forces within the Colonies

Scotia to
lying on the Atlantic Ocean, from

indufive, &c., &c., &c.
Nova
Wejl Florida,
PROCLAMATION.
"
WHEREAS, The Enemy have adopted
a practice of enrolling
do hereby give Notice, that all NEGROES taken in Arms, or upon any military Duty, (hall be purchafed for [the public fervice at] a ftated price; the Money to be
NEGROES
among
their troops
paid to the Captors.

"
But
do moil
ftrictly
forbid any Perfon to
fell
or claim Right
take refuge with
over any NEGROE, any part of this Army

defert the
the Property of a Rebel,

:
who may
And
full
do promife to every NEGROE
who
mall
Rebel Standard
Security to follow within thefe Lines
any
occupation which he
fhall think
"
proper.
Given under
my Hand, at Head-Quarters, PHILIPSBURGH, the 3Oth day of June

"H.
1779.
CLINTON.
"
By
his
Excellency
"
Command,
Secretary."
JOHN SMITH,
When
added
this
proclamation was
firft
iflued, the
it.
enclofed within brackets were not in

in the publication
words They were

with a
two months
a
later
ftatement
printers.
that
the
omiflion was
miflake of the
This method of dealing with captive negroes was

not confined to the Britifh
Army
at that time.
the capture of Stony Point by General Wayne, three negroes were taken among the fpoils, and al
At
though we have not been able to determine what
dif-
160
pofition was finally
made of them,
the fubject
is
the following letter
of General
eft
Wayne on
not without inter-
here.
Writing from
New Windfor
on the 25th
:
July, 1779, to Lieut.-Col. Meigs, he fays cc The wifh of the officers to free
the
three
Negroes
after a
few Years Service meets

as
hearty approbation, but other Incidents
the Chance of
my moft War or
may prevent the officer [owner] from the Intention of the Officers, it will with Complying be proper for the purchafer or purchafers to fign a
Condition
"
in the
.
Orderly Book.
would chearfully join them in their Im mediate Manumiffion if a few days makes no mate
. .
rial
difference,
could wifh the be
fale
put off until a
Confultation
may
on
1 1
had, and the opinion of the

Bufinefs."
Officers taken Point, pp.
this
Dawfons
Stony
in,
8.
which arofe out of the breaches of the Treaty of Peace in 1783, which put negroes on the fame footing with any other article of property,
difcuffions
The
and the fettlement made by Mr. Jay
Treaty
in
1794, furnifh an authoritative ftatement of the pre the flatus of vailing views of public law concerning
negroes.
cc
Hamilton,
is
in his Camillus,
No.
III., fays
Negroes, by the law of the States, in which

allowed,
are
flavery
They, perfonal property. on the principle of thofe laws, like horfes, cattle, and other moveables, were liable to become booty and belonged to the enemy [captor] as foon American Remem as they came into his hands.
therefore,
"
brancer^
i.,
57.
Gen. Wafhington, the Continental Congrefs, and
161
the Commiflioners appointed by Congrefs in 1783 to fuperintend the embarkation of the Britifh from New
York,
Indeed the ComWilliam S. Smith, and miffioners, Egbert Benfon, Daniel Parker, mowed conclufively that they had no
all
concurred in this view.
and other property, as being precifely on the fame footing and felected a claim for a negro as one of the ftrongeft that could be found to enforce a compliance with the ftipulation in the Seventh Article of the Treaty.
hefitation in confidering negroes,
horfes,
;
Nor
did the Britifh Miniftry at any period of the
negotiations raife any queftion as to this doctrine. The differences of opinion, and the arguments of
both parties in the National Congrefs, only confirm the fact, which indeed is obvious enough from the language of the Article.
1795, during the firft feflion of the fourth Congrefs, when the Houfe of
in
This was
Reprefentatives embraced many of the ableft men in Debates on the Britifh Treaty, Part n., the country.
pp.
129,
147,
253,
Great Britain, pp. After the laft war with England fimilar difficulties and difcuffions arofe with reference to the firft article
2912, 301. 59.
Papers relative
to
of the Treaty of Ghent, which protected the rights of our citizens in their "flaves or other private pro After a long ftruggle of the characteriftic perty."
diplomacy of Great Britain to evade it, a large fum was paid as indemnity for the flaves carried off in
violation of the treaty ftipulation. The doctrine of prize in negroes
fell
only with the
Slave-Trade, and the Courts of England were very As late as 1813, Sir William flow to recognife its fall.
1 1
62
Scott
as
at
"
condemned one hundred and ninety-nine (laves, good and lawful prize to the captors," declaring the fame time that "flaves are deemed perjonal pro
and pafs to the captors under the words of the Goods or Merchandizes/ i Dodfons
earlier! judicial recognition,
perty,
Prize Act,
Reports, 263.
The
within our
know
ledge, of the fact that negroes were no longer to be cc good and lawful prize to the in the United States Diftrict Court, in was captors,"
held and taken as
South Carolina, in July, 1814. It appears that the The Court previoufly queflion was regarded as new. had not proceeded to condemnation of Haves brought but ordered their confinement as in as prize of war 1 And in fome cafes, they had been received prifoners.
;
as fuch
The
Britifh authority resident at Charlefton. intereft of parties requiring a formal decifion on

filed, in this
by the
the point of prize, the libel was
cafe,
Jofeph Almeida, Captain of the American Privateer Caroline, v. Certain Slaves. Mr. Juftice Drayton faid he
had never had any doubt on the fubjed, and declared cc Slaves captured in time of war cannot be nor will the Diftrid Court of the libelled as prize
that
:
United States confider them as prifoners of war. The Court confiders the difpofition of them as a matter of State, in which the judiciary fhould not interfere."
Hall
s
Law
In view of
folve of
Journal, v., 459. all thefe fads, the MafTachufetts

juftly challenges
Reour
September i6th, 1776,

It lights
admiration.
1
up
the dreary record with a

by
They were
informally confidered as prifoners, not fo decreed
Court.
163
fudden and
brilliant glare,
great darknefs. declaration of principles, in

legiflature,
its
of a light mining in Although morn of its magnanimous

as
its
ftill
terms would
progrefs through the introduce a new theory
and
practice into the law of nations, annihilating the doctrine of prize in negroes, which had been every
where maintained before, and which continued with If it was really adhered to, out queflion elfewhere.
it
deferves
all
the honor that has been claimed for
it
as a long ftride in advance of all the world in civiliza But the Legiflature of Maflation and humanity.
chufetts could only regulate the action of their
own
prize Courts and their own citizens, and did not at that time attempt to give law to the whole continent. They then recognized the fact that they could not
diveft the title of flave-owners in the other Colonies
in captured flaves, and their obligation to reftore them in cafes of recapture. Called upon to deal with a
negroes, under circumftances more embarramng than in the cafe already detailed, they appear to have been fatisfied with their own declared
larger
number of
of
pofition, and did not attempt to extend the principle their new rule to all negro flaves who came or were
brought within their jurifdiction. In the month of June, 1779, the
prize-mip,
Victoria, was brought into the port of Bofton. Victoria was a Spanifh {hip which had cleared
The
from
was
South Carolina
for Cadiz.
On
her paflage
me
attacked by an Englifh privateer, made a fuccefsful refiftance, and captured her aflailant, who had on
board thirty-four negroes which had been taken from the plantations of feveral gentlemen in South Carolina.
164
on board and Spaniard, after taking the negroes few her. days after injuring the veffel, difmifled
The
ward the fhip
fell in
with and was taken by two Britim
On letters of marque and ordered into New York. her paflage there fhe was recaptured by the Hazard
and Tyrannicide, two veflels in the fervice of MaflaOn the 21 ft chufetts, and brought fafely into port. of June, by order of the Board of War, me was placed
in charge of Capt. Johnfon, to direct the unloading, im The Board of etc., in behalf of the State.
War
mediately reprefented to the Legiflature the facts relating to the negroes thus "taken on the high feas and brought into the State;" being evidently unable
to apply the refolution of 1776 to this cafe. On the 2jd of June, 1779, it was ordered in the
Houfe of
Reprefentatives,
"that
Gen. Lovell, Capt.
Adams, and Mr. Cranch be a committee to confider what is proper to be done with a number of negroes
brought into port in the prize fhip called the Lady
The next day, "the com Journal, p. 60. Gage."" mittee appointed to take into confideration the ftate and circumftances of a number of negroes lately
brought into the port of Bofton, reported a refolve directing the Board of War to inform our delegates
in Congrefs
of the
ftate
of
facts
relative to
them, to
put them them to be fupplied and employed." Ibid., pp. 63, 64. The refolution w.as immediately pafled and concurred It appears in the printed volume, in by the Council.
into the barracks on Caftle Ifland, andcaufe
among
1
the Refolves of June, 1779.

"
This name of
"
Lady Gage
is
probably a miftake, for
this
proceed
ing evidently led to the refolution of the following day.
*
165
CLXXX.
Refolve on
the Reprefentation
of the Board of
War
refpecling a
number of negroes captured and brought
into this State.
Faffed June 24, 1779.

"
On
the reprefentation
refpe&ing a
made to this Court by the Board of War, number of negroes brought into the Port of Bofton, on
:
board the Prize Ship Vi&oria

"
that the Board of War be and they are hereby directed Refolved, forthwith to write to our Delegates in Congrefs, informing them of the
State of
Fa&s
relating to faid Negroes, requefting
them
to give
informa
fo
tion thereof to the Delegates
from the State of South Carolina, that
proper meafures
to their defire.
"
may
be taken for the return of faid Negroes, agreeable
And
it
is
further
Refblved,
that the
Board of
War
be and they
hereby are directed to put the faid Negroes, in the mean time, into the barracks on Caftle Ifland in the Harbor of Bofton, and caufe them to
be fupplied with fuch Provifion and Clothing as (hall be neceflary for their comfortable fupport, putting them under the care and direction
of fome Prudent perfon or

the able-bodied
Perforts,
whofe
bufinefs
it
mail be to fee that
ufefully employed during their flay in on the Fortifications on faid Ifland, or eHewhere within the carrying faid Harbor ; and that the Women be employed according to their And that the faid Board of War ability in Cooking, Warning, etc.
men may
be
keep an
exacl;
Account of
51.
their
Expenditures in
fupporting faid
Negroes."
Rejolms,p.
tion.
This refolve was immediately carried into execu On the 28th of June, Edward Revely, the
"
deliver Thos. Knox prize-mafter, was ordered to from fhip Victoria the Negroes that are on board
for the purpofe of their being fent to Caftle Ifland pr. Order of Court/ and accordingly there were
"34
Negroes
delivered."
War
Ifland
ordered the
i Ib.
the fame time, the Board of "iffue to the Negroes at Caftle

i
At
of Beef,
Ib.
of Rice pr.
orders of Lt.-Col. Revere, the
the day," upon commandant of Caftle
66

*
Ifland.
Minutes Board of War*

is
His
:
letter ofinftruc-
tions
from the Board
as follows
"
War
Office, 28 June, 1779.
cc
Lt.-Col. Revere,
"
Agreeable to a Refolve of Court we fend to Cattle Ifland and place under your care the following
Negroes, viz.
:
[19]
Men,
[10]
[
Women,
Children,
5]
Port in the Spanim retaken lately brought into this Ship Victoria. The Men are to be employed on the Fortifications there or elfewhere in the Harbor, in the moil ufeful manner, and the Women and Children,
according to their ability, in Cooking, Warning, etc. They are to be allowed for their fubfiftence One Ib.
of Bee
and one
Ib.
of Rice per day each, which
Com-
miflary Salifbury will furnifh upon your order, and this to continue until our further orders,
cc
By Order of the
Board."
In accordance with the refolve of Court, the Board

of War, by their Prefident, Samuel P. Savage, addrefled a letter to Meflrs. Gerry, Lovell, Holten, in the Conti etc., etc., delegates from MafTachufetts
nental Congrefs, dated War Office, 29 th June, 1779, in which are fet forth the principal facts in the cafe,
and the inftrudions of the Legiflature.

the Prefident fays,
cc
In conclufion,
Every
neceflary for the fpeedy
difcharge of thefe people, we have no doubt you will take, that as much expenfe as poflible may be faved
to thofe
167
who
call
themfelves their
owners."
This
letter alfo gives the
number of
:
the negroes, and the
names of the
"
feveral
gentlemen from whofe plantations
they were taken,

5
viz.
Men 4 Women 4
Mr.
Boys
Girl belonging to
to
"9
Wm. Vryne. Men i Woman belonging

Pawley.
Mr. Anthony
"
i
"
Man belonging to Mr. Thomas Todd. Men 3 Women belonging to Mr. Henry
Lewis.
<c
Men
Women
belonging to Mr. William
"
calls
Pawley. of the negroes is an elderly fenfible man, himfelf James, and fays he is free, which we have
One
no reafon
to
he with the
place called
doubt the truth of. He alfo fays that of the Negroes were taken from a Mafs. Archives, Vol. 151, Georgetown."
reft
292-94. Thefe negroes were not all detained at Caftle One Ifland, until their owners were heard from.
method of providing
lowing extract
"
for
them
is
noticed in the fol
there
In 1779, Col. Paul Revere, who commanded [Caftle Ifland] had feveral orders from the
let
Council to
Ifland]
part of
as
them [negroes quartered on the

with perfons in different condition of fuch licenfe was,
live
fervants,
towns.
An
exprefs
they fhould be returned whenever the public authori

ties required."
Felt: Coll.
Am.
Stat. Affoc.,
i.,
206-7.
Thefe orders of the Council began as foon as the negroes were fent to the Ifland, the firft one we have
68
found bearing date June joth, 1779^ by which Mr. fuch as Jofhua Brackett was to have a Negro Boy he may choofe," etc. Mafs. Archives^ VoL 175, 374.
"
See alfo fimilar order for three Negro Boys to be delivered to Hon. Henry Gardner, July 5, 1779.
//., 385Moft of them, however, muft have remained

Caftle Ifland, as appears
ftance that fuch a return
at
from
a return of the negroes
there, October I2th, 1779.
It is a fingular circum-
mould be made, apparently
to the Legiflature, with a brief
from John Hancock documents connected with

from which we copy,
142, 170.
and touching report, one of the moft interefting
The original, this fubject. is in the Mafs. Archives, Fol.

italics
The
portions which are in
are in the
autograph of Hancock.
r BOSTON, Oft 12, 1779.
.
Return of
y"
Negroes
at
Caftle
Ifland,
Viz.
Negro Men.
1.
ANTHONY.
PARTRICK.
9. JACK.
2.
3.
10.
GYE.
RHODICK.
PADDE.
II. JUNE. 12.
4. ISAAC.
5.
QUASH.
BOBB.
13. JACK. 14. FULLER.

15. LEWIS.
6. 7.
8.
ANTHONEY ADAM.
The above men arejlout fellows.

Negro Boys.
No.
i.
SMART.
RICHARD.
2.
Boys veryfmall.
Negro Woomen.
169
Girls.
Negro
No.
i.
KITTEY.
No.
i.
LYSETT.
SALLY.
2. 3.
LUCY.
MILLEY.
LANDER.
2.
3.
MERCY.
4.
Pretty large.
RatherJlout.
Gentlemen,
The
Cloathing.
Scituation
of
thefe
Negroes
is
pitiable with,
refpecl
to
I am.
Gen*.
Your very hum.

Oft. 12, 1779.
Serv*.
John Hancock?
On the 1 5th of November, 1779, a petition was read in the Council, from Ifaac Smith, John Codman> and William Smith, in behalf of William Vereen and
others, of the State of
praying that a
South Carolina, then in Bofton, number of Negroes which were taken
from them by a Britim privateer, and retaken by two armed vefTels belonging to Maflachufetts, might be
delivered to them.
petition, ordered as the Honorable
cc
The
Council,
upon hearing the
that Mofes Gill, Efq., with fuch Houfe mall join, be a Committee
to take into confideration this petition, and report what may be proper to be done thereon." The refolution was immediately fent to the Houfe, who concurred, and joined Capt. Williams of Salem, and Mr. Davis of Bofton, for the Committee.
On
the
7th of November, another petition was
prefented in Council,
from John Winthrop,

"
"
pray-
1 John Hancock had been appointed Captain of the Caftle and Fort on Governor s Ifland," on the 6th of Oftober, 1779. Refolves, CLXXVIII,
p.
in.
Compare Journal, pp. 54,
60.
jo
into this ing that certain negroes, who were brought be delivered Hazard and State by the tyrannicide, may This petition was alfo committed to the to him."
committee appointed on the petition of Ifaac Smith and others," by a concurrent vote of both Houfes. On the 1 8th of November, Jabez Fiiher, Efq., brought down a report of the Committee of both
"
"
petition of Ifaac Smith, being by way of refolve, directing the Board of War to deliver fo many of the negroes therein mentioned, as are now
alive.
rence."
Houfes on the
Faffed in Council, and fent down for concur The order of the Houfe is, cc Read and con
curred, as taken into a

concurrence."
new
draught."
Sent up for
It
I
is
printed
among
the refolves of
November,
/79-
"
XXXI.
"
Refolve
relinquiming
this
8,
State
claim to a
number of
Negroes, pafled
November
1779.
Whereas
this State
by the
number of negroes were re-captured and brought into armed veflels Hazard and Tyrannicide, and have fmce
expenfe of
this State,
:
been fupported of faid Negroes

"
at the
and
as the original
owners
now
apply for
them
Therefore Refolved^ That this Court hereby relinquiih and give faid up any claim they may have upon the faid owners for re-capturing Provided they pay to the Board of War of this State the exnegroes
:
and cloathing of the Negroes pence that has arifen for the fupport
aforefaid."
Refolves, p. 131.*
Maffachufetts act of April 12, 1780, more and effectually providing for the fecurity, fupport,
The
exchange of prifoners of war brought into the State,

1
The
"
original refolve
is
in
Mafs. Archives,
fhip
Viaoria,"
Vol. 142, 29,

"
and
is
en-
dorfed
Negroes captured in the
and
Entered page
454."
171
was patted in accordance with the Refolutions of

Congrefs, adopted January ijth, 1780. Laws, 1780, It declares with reference to Chap, v., pp. 283, 4.
War, whether captured by the Army of the United States, or armed Ships or Navy VerTels of any of the United States, or by the Subjects,
<c
all
Prifoners of
or
Troops, Ships, or Veflels of

brought into the fame, or
War
,
of
this State,
and
caft
on more by fhipwreck
all
on the
coaft thereof
fuch prifoners, fo
brought in or caft on more (including Indians, Ne groes, and Molatoes) be treated in all refpects as prifoners of war to the United States, any law or refolve of this Court to the contrary notwithftanding."
previous law of 1777, repealed by this
act,
con
tained no fpecial provifion concerning this clafs of

captures.
On
Laws, 1777, Chap, xxxv., p. 114. Friday, the 2jd of January, 1784, Governor
fent a meflage to the Legiflature, tranfmitting papers received during the recefs from October 28th, 1783, to January 2ift, 1784, "among which (he
fays)
is
Hancock
South Carolina,
one from his Excellency the Governor of refpecting the detention of fome
Negroes here, belonging to the fubjects of that State. I have communicated it to the Judges of the Supreme Court their obfervations Judicial upon it are with the Papers. I have made no reply to the letter, judging it beft to have your decifion upon The Secretary, Journal H. of R., Vol. iv., pp. 308, 9.
it."
communicating the meflage to the Houfe, faid he had laid the papers before the Senate, with his Ex
in
cellency
p. 310.
requeft to fend
them
to the
Houfe.
Ibid.,
172
the fame day, in the Senate, the meflage was read with accompanying papers, and referred to a
On
joint committee of both Houfes.
Senate Journal, iv.,
277. Houfe Journal, iv., 311. On the 23d of March following, a report of the committee, by way of order," was read and accepted
"
in the Senate,
and concurred
in
by the Houfe. Senate
In the Houfe, "The Hon. Mr. Warner brought down the report of the Committee on Governor GerrardV letter, being an Order requefting
Journal, iv., 441.
a copy of the opinions of the Judges of the Supreme Judicial Court on the cafe complained of, for the information of the
his Excellency the
Governor to tranfmit
faid
Governor
order
is
Gerrard."
Houfe Journal,
The
1784.
"
printed
among
iv., 496. the Refolves, March,
CLXXI.
letter
Order requefting the Governor to write to Governor Guerard of South Carolina, inclofing the
of the Judges of the Supreme Judicial Court,
2jd, 1784.
March
"
Ordered, that his Excellency the Governor be requefted to write to Excellency Benjamin Guerard,
Governor of South Carolina, inclofing for the informa tion of Governor Guerard, the letter of the Judges of the Supreme Judicial Court of this Commonwealth,
with the copy in the faid letter referred to, upon the fubject of Governor Guerard* s letter, dated the fixth
Odober,
1
1783."
p. 141.
State of South Carolina
Benjamin Guerard was Governor of the
from
1783 to 1785.
173
We have
referred to
made
among
diligent efforts to find the papers the files preferved in the State-
have alfo El oufe at Bofton, but without fuccefs. endeavored to procure them from the Archives of the
We
no more fatisfactory refult. Fortunately, however, we have been favored with the following extracts and memorandum, which
State of South Carolina, with
were made by Mr. Bancroft at Columbia,

years ago.
From Mr.
Bancroft
s
S. C., feveral
MSS., America, 1783, Vol. n.
GOVERNOR GUERARD TO GOVERNOR HANCOCK,

6th October, 1783.
That fuch adoption is favoring rather of the Tyranny of Great Britain which occafioned her that no act of Britifh Tyranny the lofs of thefe States
EXTRACT.
"
could exceed the encouraging the negroes from the State owning them to defert their owners to be
emancipated
that it feems arbitrary and domination for the Judicial Department of any one afluming State, to prevent a reftoration voted by the Legifla-
ture and ordained by Congrefs. That the liberation of our negroes difclofed a fpecimen of Puritanifm I
mould not have expected from gentlemen of my Profeffion."
MEMORANDUM.
carried off
cc
He
had demanded
fugitives,
by the Britifh, captured by the North, and not given up by the interference of the Judiciary/ Governor Hancock referred the fubject to the
"
Judges."
174
JUDGES GUSHING AND SARGENT TO GOVERNOR
HANCOCK,
EXTRACT.
"
Bofton, Dec. 20, 1783.

this
How
determination
is
an attack
freedom, dignity, independence, and of South Carolina, we are unable to con fovereignty ceive. That this has any connection with, or relation
upon
the
fpirit,
to
Puritanifm, we believe
as
it
comprehenfion
is
above y r Excellency s above ours. We mould be

is
do anything inconfiflent with the Union of the States, which is and mufl continue to be the ban s of our Liberties and Independence; on the
fincerely forry to
contrary
we wim
it
may
be ftrengthened, confirmed,
and endure for
ever."
Whether Governor Hancock recognized

;
in
the
fubjects of this correfpondence any of his old Caftle Ifland acquaintances, does not appear but we enter tain no doubt that they were the fame, or a part of the
fame negroes whofe pitiable" condition "with refpect to cloathing," he had reported to the authorities in October, 1779. Why or how it happened that any of
"
them were ftill within the jurifdiction of Maflachufetts, we cannot explain. The exigencies of the war in South Carolina, which was threatened or invaded and
overrun during the greater part of the intervening period (1779-83), may have prevented fome of the
owners from profecuting promptly their intention to

reclaim their flaves or returning with them to that State. The flaves themfelves may have become
familiar with their
to remain with their
new homes, and willing or defirous new matters in the various towns
to which they
175
had been
fcattered,
and where they had
been permitted to live under the orders of Council, and their new matters may have become warmly inUnder fuch cirterefted in the defire to keep them.
cumftances the authorities
may have found
it difficult
to obtain a compliance with the agreement to return them when called for, without enforcing the reclama
tion in the courts of law.
Add
to all this, the difcc
pofition of fome of the Supreme Court judges

fubftitute an
to
unwritten higher law, interpreted by individual confcience, for th,e law of the land and the decrees of human tribunals" and we mall not be furprifed at the refult indicated in thefe imperfect morials of the proceedings in 17835*84.
me
We
may
chufetts
more
expect from future refearches in Maflalight on this as well as other points

;
indicated in thefe Notes

thefe deficiencies
and we
may
cc
compel
truft efpecially that a difcovery of the

"
opinions of the Judges.
They would furnim an

of the
ftate
ex
and progrefs tremely important of anti-flavery ideas in 1783, bearing directly on the conftruction of the Constitution of 1780, which we have ftill to difcufs. The only additional item we have found which may bear on this cafe is the following
illuftration
:
In the Supreme Judicial Court of the Common wealth of Maflachufetts, Suffolk, 26th Auguft, 1783, the following named negroes were brought up on
habeas corpus and difcharged, the Court declaring the mittimus inefficient to hold them.
Affa Hall, wife of Prince Hall,
Quafh,
Robert,
176
John
Polly,
Anthony,
Peggy* wife of faid Anthony.
Jack Phillips,
George Polly,
Records, 1783, fol. 177, 178.
VIII.
WE
lution.
opinion on
the time.
return again to trace the progrefs of public flavery in MafTachufetts during the Revo
It
is indicated in part by the public prefs of William Gordon, afterward well known as the author of a hiftory of the Revolution, was very bufy as a writer on this and kindred topics. In
Letter
cc
(of a feries), dated Roxbury, September 21,

:
1776, he fays
The Virginians
c
begin their Declaration of Rights
with faying,
that all men are born equally free and have certain inherent natural rights, and independent, of which they cannot, by any compact, deprive themfelves or their pofterity among which are the enjoy
;
ment of
c
they
The Congrefs declare that hold thefe truths to be felf-evident, that all
life
and
liberty.
are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among The thefe are life, liberty and purfuit of happinefs.
men
Continent has rang with affirmations of the like im our genuine fentiments, port. If thefe, Gentlemen, are and we are not provoking the Deity, by acting hypo
critically to ferve a turn, let
us apply earneftly and heartily to the extirpation of flavery from among ourLet the State allow of nothing beyond fervifelves.
177
tude for a ftipulated number of years, and that only for feven or eight, when perfons are of age, or till
and let the defcendants of the Afri they are of age cans born among us, be viewed as free-born ; and
:
be wholly at their own difpofal when one-and- twenty, the latter part of which age will compenfate for the 1 expenfe of infancy, education, and fo on.
"
In the Independent Chronicle, November 14, 1776, there is a Plan for the gradual extermination of flavery out of the Colony of Connecticut. It was fent to the publifhers by Dr. Gordon, from Roxbury, Nov.
very fevere on flaveholders, and portraying the death-bed fcene of one of them, raifes the query, whether he is finner or faint ? Gordon
2,
1776.
This plan
is
well pleafed, to have the abfurdity of perpetuating flavery expofed, I am not for unfainting every man that through the power of
I
himfelf fays, than that, tho
<c
mall fay nothing further of the plan,
am
prevailing prejudice and

befaved?"
cuftom,
:
is
inconfiftency and abfurdity
for if fo,
chargeable with who then can
"
Son of Liberty
calls
"
writes vigoroufly againft
flavery in the
1776. laws be in exiftence

revelation."
He
Independent Chronicle, November 28, loudly for legiflation, etc,, "that no

contrary to found reafon and
period, advertifements of flave-property were common in the newfpapers. quote a few

this
At
We
fpecimens
1
the
The methods propofed in this letter do not give any countenance to modern theories that flavery was illegal, and that hereditary flavery was
always contrary to law in Maflachufetts. 12
178
From
"
the Independent Chronicle, Oftober 3, 1776.
To
fit
be
SOLD A
ftout, hearty, likely
NEGRO
GIRL,
for either
Town
or Country.
Inquire of
Mr. Andrew
Gillefpie,
Dorchejler,
Odo.
i.,
From
"
the fame, Oftober 10.
hearty
NEGRO MAN, with

away."
a fmall
fum of
Money
to
be given
From
"
the fame,
November
likely
28.
To
SELL
Hearty
NEGRO WENCH
about 12 or 13 Years of Age, has had the Small Pox, can walh, iron, card, and fpin, etc., for no
other Fault but for want of
Employ."
From
"
the fame, February 27, 1777. a
WANTED
NEGRO GIRL between

which
a
12 and
will
20 Years of Age,
for
good Price
be
given, if ihe can be recommended."
From
"
the Continental Journal, April 3, 1777.
To
be
SOLD,
;
a likely
NEGRO MAN,
fmall- pox,
two years
fort
old, has
had the
twentycan do any
of bufinefs
"
fold for
want of employment."
To
be
SOLD,
a large,
commodious Dwell
ing Houfe, Barn, and Outhoufes, with any quan tity of land from I to 50 acres, as the Purchafer
mail
choofe within 5 miles of Boflon.
Alfo a
fmart well-tempered NEGRO BOY of 14 years old, not to go out of this State and foldfor 1 5 years
only, if he continues to behave
well."
From
"
the Independent Chronicle, for
May
8,
1777.
a likely
ftrong
ftands
To be SOLD, NEGRO GIRL,

all
want of employ,
forts
about 18 years old, underof houfehold bufinefs, and can be
well recommended."
179
Thefe and fimilar advertifements drew forth the following communication to the Printers from Dr. Gordon ; but without any immediate effect, if we may judge from the fact that the laft advertifement above was continued in the fame paper in which was publimed
MR- GORDON
<
HINT ON SLAVERY.
May
15, 1777.
Independent Chronicle,
Meflleurs Printers,
"
WOULD hope
that
you
are the
Sons of Liberty
principle, and not merely from intereft, wifh you therefore to be conflftent, and never more to admit the fale of negroes, whether boys or girls, to be advertifed Such advertisements in the prefent in your papers.
from
The multiplicity of feafon are peculiarly mocking. bufinefs that hath been before the General Court may
apologize for their not having attended to the cafe of flaves, but it is to be hoped that they will have an opportunity hereafter, and will, by an Act of the State,
put a final flop to the public and private fale of them, which may be fome help towards eradicating flavery
from among us. nations of men,

earth, I
If
God
hath
made of one blood,

on
all
all
for to dwell
the face of the
can fee no reafon
why
a black rather than a
white
man mould
be a
flave.
"
Your humble
Servant,
"WILLIAM
"
GORDON.
N. B.
mean
the above as a hint alfo to the
other
printers."
to
But although the Bofton newfpapers ftill continued advertife flave-property, and, as we mall hereafter
180
fee, in
Notes on the Hiflory of

a
reader,
manner even more mocking to the modern it is to this period we are to refer the laft
attempt in the Legiflature to put an end to flavery in It is the moft emphatic, if indeed it Maflachufetts.
is
not the only
direct, attack
made on
that inflitution
this
The Legiflature were alfo at in all their legislation. time beginning their firft eflay at conftitution-
making the eftabliftiment of a new fyftem of govern ment for the State. The failure of this attack on
flavery was as (ignal
the
method by which
curious illuftration
and complete as poffible, while it was accomplished prefents a of the growth of the fentiment and
It is not amifs to remember^ principle of nationality. firft lafl and and only direct and formal that in the
attempt to abolim flavery in Maflachufetts, the pop ular branch of the Legiflature of that State laid the bill for that purpofe on the table, with a direction
cc
that application be
made
to Congrefs
on the fubject
thereof."
1777, another petition of MarTachufetts flaves was prefented to the Legis

the
1
On
8th of March,
lature,
appears from the following entry on the Journal of that date C a number of petition of Lancafter Hill, and
as
:
other negroes, praying the Court to take into confideration

their
ftate
whereby they may that freedom which is the natural right of all men. Read and committed to Judge Sergeant, Mr. Dalton, Mr. Appleton, Col. Brooks, and Mr. Story."
of bondage, and pafs an act be reftored to the enjoyment of
The
original
petition
is
preferved
furnifhes
among
the
Archives of MarTachufetts, and
fome addi-
tional
181
interefting
particulars.
"
pafTage of an ad, the enjoyment of that freedom, which

right of
all
They pray for the whereby they may be reftored to

is
the natural
in
men, and
their children
(who were born

9
this land of liberty]
may
not be held as Jlaves after they
arrive at the age of twenty-one years.
figned
by
petition is Lancafter Hill, Peter Befs, Brifler Slenfen,
The
Prince
Hall,
(his
Funelo
mark).
Jack Pierpont (his X mark), Nero X mark), and Newport Sumner (his X
"
date January ijth, 1777, and has Mar. 18. Judge Ser the following endorfement:
It bears
Mr. Dalton, Mr. Appleton, Coll. Brooks, Mr. Story, Mr. Lowell and to confider y e matter at Majs. Archives, Revolutionary large Mr. Davis/
geant,
Refolves, Vol. vn., f. 132.
The
addition of
cc
Mr. Lowell and

"
to confider
ye
indicates further proceed matter at large Mr. Davis are unable to give, in confequence of ings, which we
the deficiencies in
to us.
The
the copies of the Journals known action of the Legiflature, however, refultall
which was probably drawn by Judge firfl named of this committee. Sargent, who was the
ed in a
bill,
a Bill 9th, 1777, the for Act Practice of hold entitled an preventing cc a firft time, and in was read Slavery perfons
On Monday
afternoon,
"
June
"
ing ordered to be read again on Friday next, at 10 o clock, On the ijth, the bill was read A. Journ.y 19.
"
M,"
Debate thereon, it was moved and feconded, That the fame lie upon the Table, and that Application be made to Congrefs on the and the Queftion being put, it fubject thereof; in the Affirmative, and Mr. Speaker, Mr. pafled
a fecond time,
and
after
82
Wendell, and Col. Orne, were
appointed a
Com
mittee to prepare a letter to Congrefs accordingly, and On the following day, Satur Journ., 25. report."
the Committee appointed to prepare day, June 1 4th, a Letter to Congrefs, on the fubjecl: of the Bill for preventing the Practice of holding Perfons in Slavery,
"
reported."
lie."
Their report was Read and Ordered to We find no further trace of it. Journ.y 25.
"
"STATE
OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY.
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD, 1777. of holding perfons in Slavery,
"
An
aft for preventing the praftice
tf
WHEREAS, the
praftice of holding Africans

is
and the children born

a civil
;
of them, or any other perfons, in Slavery,

government, at a time when they are
unjustifiable in
afTerting their natural
freedom
wherefore, for preventing fuch a practice for the future, and eftabliming to every perfbn refiding within the State the invaluable blefling of
liberty.
"Be
it
in General
all
Enaffed, by the Council and Houfe of Reprefentatives^ Court aflembled, and by the authority of the fame, That
1
perfons, whether black or of other complexion, above 2
years of
age,
now
held in Slavery, mall, from and after the day of next, be free from any fubjeftion to any mafter or miftrefs,
their fervitude
who
or
have claimed
by right of purchafe, heirlhip,

all
free gift,
otherwife, and they are hereby entitled to

ileges
the freedom, rights, priv
and immunities that do, or ought of right
fubjects of this State,
to belong to any of the any ufage or oiftom to the contrary notwith
standing.
the authority aforefaid r that all written or deeds, bargains, conveyances, or contracts without writing, for whatfoever, conveying or transferring any property in any perfon,
"
And
be
it
Enaded, by
fales
or to the fervice and labor of any perfon whatfoever, of
more than
twenty-one years of age, to a third perfon, except by order of fome court of record for fome crime, that has been, or hereafter fhall be
made, or by
"
their own voluntary contract for a term not exceeding feven years, fhall be and hereby are declared null and void.
And
WHEREAS, divers perfons now have in
their fervice negroes,
mulattoes or others
183
who
ters
are
now
firmities,
have been deemed their flaves or property, and of earning their living by reafon of age or in incapable and may be defirous of continuing in the fervice of their mas
be
it
who
or miftrefles,
therefore.
that whatever negro or mulatto,
who
Enabled, by the authority aforefaid, mall be defirous of continuing in
the fervice of his mafter or miftrefs, and (hall voluntarily declare the
fame before two
juftices
of the County in which faid mafter or miftrefs
refides, mail have a right to continue in the fervice, and to a mainte
nance from their mafter or
miftrefs,
and
if
they are incapable of earning
their living, mail be fupported

heirs,
by
the faid mafter or miftrefs, or their

this a6l to the
during the
lives
of faid fervants, anything in
con
trary notwithftanding.
"
Provided, neverthelefs, that nothing in
this aft
mail be under-
ftood to prevent any mafter of a veflel or other perfon from bringing into this State any perfons, not Africans, from any other part of the
world, except the United States of America, and felling their fervice for a term of time not exceeding five years, if twenty-one years of age, or, if under twenty-one, not exceeding the time when he or fhe fo
brought into the State

veflel or other
fhall
in confideration of the tranfportation
be twenty-fix years of age, to pay for and and other charges faid mafter of
at,
perfon
fo
may have been
agreeable to contracts
made
with the perfons

behalf, before
tranfported, or their parents or guardians in their
Archives
they are brought from their own country." Revolutionary Refolves, Vol. vii. t p. 133.
Mafs.
Ordered to lie till the fecond Wednefday of the next Seflion of the It was not taken up at that time, General Court." nor at any other time that we can difcover.
bill is,
"
An
endorfement on the
We
author of
have faid that Judge Sargent was probably the this bill. He was a very ftrong advocate
of anti-flavery doctrines, and fubfequently, in his career as a Judge of the Supreme Court, had a principal
agency in accomplishing the overthrow of flavery by judicial conftruclion, without the aid of legislation in
which he had
failed.
184

is
There
among
the archives of MafTachufetts the
following draft of a bill, evidently the original of the preceding aft, which appears to have been written by
Judge Sargent on the back of a note addrefTed to him by Rev. Dr. Eliot3 an eminent minifter of Bofton who took a very prominent part in the patriotic pro
ceedings of the Revolutionary period.
"IN
Y K YEAR OF OUR LORD 1/77.

y wicked
e
"
AN ACT
for preventing
&
unnatural Practice of holding
Perfons in Slavery.
"WHEREAS
e
unnatural practice in this
ftate
of holding certain
Perfons in Slavery,
more
particularly thofe tranfported from Africa

e
&
e y children born of fuch
contrary to y laws of Nature, a e fcandal to profefTors of y Religion of Jefus, & a difgrace to all good Governments, more efpecially to fuch who are ftruggling againft Opperfons,
is
preffion
&
in favour
of y e natural
&
unalienable Rights of
human
nature
ff
Wherefore
in
fome meafure
to fecure the bleffings of
freedom to
fuch
"
who mail be hereafter born within this Be it Enabled by y e Council & Houfe
State
of Reprefentatives in gene
that
after
all
e
e e by y authority of y fame e mall be born within y limits of this ftate from &
ral
court aflembled
&
perfons
who
day of
Bond
next whether their parents be black or white, or efteemed or free, of whatfoever nation, People or condition, fuch perfons e born as afores d mall be & hereby are intitled to all y freedom, Rights,
Liberties, privileges
&
immunities that do or of light ought to belong
unto free
e
&
natural born fubjects of this State, any ufage or cuftom to
y contrary notwithftanding
e e y effectual preventing of y unnatural practice of felling and a transferring promifcuoufly property in our fellow creatures, dis
"
And
for
graceful to fore
human
nature,
&
a fcandal to profeffing chriftians

all
There
Be
it
Enatted by y e authority aforefaid that
bargains, fales,
other writings or contract without writing whatfoever e for y conveying or transferring of any property in our fellow creatures e or of y labour or fervice of any perfons whatfoever of more than
conveyances
&
185
twenty-one years of age to a third perfon other than of fuch perfon

voluntarily make himfelf a party to fuch Inftruments or or where he fhall be fubjedted to fuch fale, or fervice by vir writings
fhall
who
order of fome court of Record, made after y e day of next mail be null & void to all intents, conilructions & pure pofes whatfoever, any Law, Ufage or cuftom to y contrary in any wife
tue of y
notwithftanding."
Majs.
Archives
Vol.
142,58.
of September, 1777, a petition was read in the Houfe of Reprefentatives, from the felectthe
On
nth
men
of the town of Woburn, praying an abatement of their quota of men for the Continental Army, for
Slaves, Idiots, Infane, Captives, &c.,

age. tition.
The
and thofe under to had leave their pe withdraw petitioners
A trace of the exercife of private judgment and one phafe of public opinion foon afterwards, on this fubject, may be feen in the following extract from the
Journal of the Houfe of Reprefentatives, 24th Sep tember, 1777 "A Petition of Jofeph Prout of Scarborough,
:
fetting forth that Mr. William Vaughan lately told his two Negroes that by an Act of Court all Negroes
were made
fince left
faid
in confequence whereof they have one of them and has hired himfelf to him, him who from withholds the Petitioner, Vaughan,
free,
therefore praying relief. Read and difmifTed." p. 86. As the efforts towards the formation of a State
Conftitution gradually ftrengthened and took fhape, the fubject of flavery and the flatus of the negro came
up again and
and
interefls,
again.
There was a conflict of opinions and the newfpapers of the day bear wit-
nefs to its
progrefs.
The
friends of the negro did
86
Notes on the Htftory of
not by any means have it all their own way. The mufes were invoked on both fides. In the Independ ent Chronicle of the 29th Jan., 1778, nearly a column of the paper is occupied with about one hundred lines of verfe ridiculing negro equality, which was refponded
to
1
by another production
in verfe in the
paper of the
2th February. This brought out a rejoinder, alfo in verfe, in the following week, Feb. i9th, 1778. The difcuflion was not confined to thefe poetical
champions. As early as the 8th of January, 1778, Doctor Gordon took up one phafe of the bufinefs with an article in the Independent Chronicle, in which
he faid
"
Would
it
not be ridiculous, inconfiflent and un-
jufl, to exclude freemen
from voting for reprefentatives
and
fenators,
fkins are black,

fied for
though otherwife qualified, becaufe their tawny or reddifh ? Why not difquali-
being long-nofed, mort-faced, or higher or lower than five feet nine ? black, tawny or reddifh
fkin
unfavorable an hue to the genuine fon of liberty, as a tory complection. Has any other State difqualified freemen for the color of their fkin ?
is
not
fo
I do not recollect any ; and if not, the difqualification militates with the propofal in the Confederation, that the free inhabitants of each State mall, upon removing
into any other State, enjoy all the privileges and im munities belonging to the free citizens of fuch State."
regard to the proceedings of the LegiflatureConvention of 17771778, little is known ; but the
draft
With
of a
Conftitution
debated
at length,
prepared, which was approved by the Convention, pre-
was
fented to the Legiflature, and fubmitted to the people,
187
by
whom
it
was
rejected.
Barry
Hiftory of Mafs., n.,
75-
have been fortunate enough to recover a frag in the Convention, which bears on our fubjed. It mows that there was a continued conteft in that body between thofe who fupported and
We
ment of the debates
thofe
who oppofed negro

and
equality, in which the latter
was after debate ; not unconfcioufly or without notice that a majority of the Legiflature of Maflachufetts, fpecially inftrucled to frame the organic law for the new State, delibe
carried the day
alfo that it
rately,
in the year
1778, excluded negroes, Indians,

rights of citizenftiip.
and mulattoes from the

From
Mr. WILLIS.
the Independent Chronicle, September 23, 1779.
Pleafe to infert the following in your Independent Chronicle,
and
you
will oblige the publick
friend
and humble servant,
JOHN BACON.
Stockbridge, Sept. 10, 1779.
"
and
Open thy mouth, judge KING SOLOMON. needy."
righteoujly, plead the caufe
of the poor
The
subftance of a fpeech delivered in the late Convention, on a
mo
tion being
"except
made
for reconfidering a vote,
by which
this
claufe,
article
Negroes, Indians and Mulattoes," in the twenty-third of the report of the Committee, was inferted.
:
Mr. PRESIDENT
been oppofed
for, I
As
to that claufe, the erafure
have from the beginning of thefe debates of which has now been moved
beg leave briefly to lay the reafons of honorable Convention.

In the
firft
my
oppofition before this
place,
Mr.
Prefident,
by
retaining this claufe in our
Conftitution,
tion
we make
ourfelves fingular, or nearly fo.
No
Conftitu-
on the Continent, one only excepted, bears the leail complexion of this kind. Say the honorable and patriotick Convention of Pennof Rights, Art. 7 fylvania, in their Bill
"
all
free
men
having a fufE-
88

common
intereft with,
cient evident
and attachment
to the
community,
conftitu-
have a right to
tions in general
cleft officers, or
be elected into
late
office."
The
But be
which have been formed of

fpirit
through the Continent,

this as it
breathe a like confiftent and genuine
of liberty.
may,
Sir,
whether we hereby make ourfelves
fingular or not, I
have
other reasons to offer for being in favor of the motion. By holding up this claufe in our conftitution, we fap the foundation of that liberty
which we are now defending at the expenfe of all that blood and treafure which we fo liberally part with in the profecution of the prefent war with Great Britain ; by holding up this claufe, we contra
dict
the fundamental
oppofition to that
oppofition, Sir, I
reciprocal,
which we engaged in our prefent principle on which we engaged in this power. take to be this, that reprefentation and taxation are
principle on
The
that we, not being reprefented in the Parliament of Great
Britain, Parliament
had no
right to tax us without our confent.

this
When
the Parliament of Great Britain affumed
power and plead the
charter of this (then) Province to juftify their claim,
we
in
our turn,
not only plead the fame charter in oppofition to fuch claim, but even
contended, that on fuppofition the charter gave them this power, yet it was a power fo inconfiftent with the eflential natural rights of men, that no contract whatever could, in fuch cafe, bind us. On this prin
ciple, Sir,
we engaged in the prefent war, on this principle we fuppofe ourfelves juftified in refilling, even to blood, that power which would thus arbitrarily exact upon us; and on the fame principle, I
conceive, the perfons excepted in the claufe
tion,
now
before the
Conven
which making If Mr. let Great Britain not, Prefident, making againft any gentleman point out the difference between the two cafes ; no efTential difference has yet been pointed out by any gentleman who has fpoke
would be
juftified in
the fame oppofition againft us

:
we
are
to the queftion,
and no fuch
difference, I prefume, does in fact exift.

is
But
am
apprised of an objection that

"
made by gentlemen on
the oppofite fide.
They
(without any mare in
by being protected by our laws the reprefentation) they fecure benefits which are
fay,
that
fully equivalent to the tax
which we lay upon them." This, Sir, is the which Great Britain pretend to fupport their claim very argument by of taxing us ; and I confefs, Sir, it appears to me, in every view, as
their pretenfions fully to juftify
with refpect to
us, as
it
does ours with
refpect to thofe perfons
who
are the fubject of the prefent debate.
So
that,
this
189
by retaining this claufe in our conftitution, we bring ourfelves into unhappy dilemma, that either in one cafe or the other, we mult, out of our own mouth, and by our own conduct, be condemned. So
far as
we can
juftify
our conduct in our prefent oppofition to Great

as it relates to thofe
Britain, fo far it
muft be condemned
who
are
men
all,
tioned in the article
now
before us and vice verfa.
But
this is
not
Mr.
Prefident
Who
are to fet a value
on the privileges which thefe
Do we allow them a voice in people enjoy under our government ? fet a price the contract ? By no means. upon our own commodi
We
ty,
as
and oblige them to give it whether they will or not ; and this, not to the luxuries of life, not as to the necejjaries of life only, but even
life itself.
And
if
we may
benefits
take
upon
us,
without their confent, to
fet
a value
which they receive from our laws, and upon make them pay accordingly, we may, on the fame principle, fet thefe benefits at a higher or lower price, and fo tax them in a greater or lefs
thofe
proportion according to our our own avowed principles, if

this
own fovereign pleasure. According we may take from them one farthing
to
in
way, we may by the fame rule, take from them every farthing Nay more, we may fubject them to perpetual fervitude, they poflefs. as being no more than a juft compenfation for the benefit they receive
in having their lives protected
by our laws
and
if this
is
not to eftablifh
pretended, are I am ut
flavery
by
a conftitution, the foundations of which,
it is
laid in the
terly
moft extenfive principles of liberty, I confefs, Sir, ignorant of what the terms liberty andjlavery mean.
it
is
But
the cafe
that by gentlemen on the oppofite fide, now before the Convention is widely different from that
further urged
"
between us and Great
Britain,
that
Great Britain aflume a right to
that the impofe taxes on us of which they pay no part themfelves, more they lay upon us, the lefs they have to pay themfelves, that
hence there
bitant
at
is
to
them
a ftrong inducement to bear us
down by exor
whereas we, in taxing thefe people, tax ourfelves ; the fame time." But who, Mr. Prefident, perceives not the futility
taxation
this argument ? If we are to tax them, not as members of our community, but as receiving particular benefits from our laws, what fecurity can they have that we mall not multiply taxes upon them
and deceit of
in proportion to the value
upon
thefe fuppofed benefits.
which our caprice or covetoufnefs may fet And whether we tax ourfelves at the
is
fame time that
we
tax them, or not,
wholly immaterial
They
are
190
taxed ourfelves

on which we
are
to be taxed on quite a different footing from that

as"
not belong to our community, ; perfons yea, and the more we lay upon them, the lefs we mail certainly have to pay
ourfelves.
who do
But
it is Hill
further urged
thefe perfons are

legiflation."
that by gentlemen on the other fide, foreigners^ and therefore not intitled to a voice in
"
But
how does
this
appear, Mr. Prefident

foreigners
?
color, conflitutes
them
? What, unlefs it be their Are they not Americans ? Were
they not (moil of them at leaft) born in this country ? Is it not a faft, that thofe who are not natives of America, were forced here by us,
but to every principle of juftice gentlemen would tell us what they mean by foreigners. Do they mean by it, fuch perfons, whofe anIf fb, who of us is not a ceflors came from fome other country ?
contrary, not only to their
?
own wills,
and humanity
I wifh, Sir, thefe
foreigner
Or do
all
they
mean
to include
under the denomination of
foreigners,
thofe
who
are not born in this State,
how
long foever
they may have lived among us, whatever property they may have ac quired, whatever connexions they may have formed, or however they may have been incorporated with us by our prefent laws and conftitution
?
Thefe people,
Sir,
by our prefent
conftitution, are intitled to the
fame privileges with any of their fellow-fubjecls ; and by what authority we are now to wrell thefe rights and privileges from them, I cannot And I hope, Sir, that right, conceive, unlefs by dint of mere power.
as
founded in mere power,
is
not to receive a fanftion from our confti
tution.
But there
is
one argument more which has been urged by gentle
men on
which
is
the oppofite fide, as being of great weight and importance^ That by erafing this claufe out of the conftitution, we this,
"
cafe, Sir, it
mail greatly offend and alarm the Southern States." Should this be the would be furprifing indeed But can it be fuppofed, Mr.
!
Prefident, that any of the fifter States will be offended with us, becaufe
we don t
more,
fee
fit
to
will they
do that which they themfelves have not done ? Nay, be offended or alarmed that we do not violate thofe
eflential rights
of
human
care to eftablifh and fecure
nature which they have taken the moft effectual ? It will not bear a fiippofition ; the argu
ment,
In
Sir,
is
moft ridiculous and abfurd.
fine, Sir, I
hope we mail not be
fo inconfiftent
with ourfelves,
fo deftitute
191
rights of
this
of
all
regard to
this
common
juftice
and the natural

to
men,
as
to fufFer
form of conflitution
go abroad with
exceptionable claufe ; I hope the motion will obtain, and the claufe be reprobated by the Convention. But mould this not be the cafe, mould it
eventually appear that there
walls, I
ftill
is
fo great a
want of virtue within
thefe
hope there will be found among the people at large, virtue to enough trample under foot a form of government which thus faps the foundation of civil liberty, and tramples on the rights of men.
have already intimated that thefe liberal and On the contrary, enlightened views did not prevail.
the
<c
We
Conftitution and
Form
Bay,
of Government for the

agreed
State
of
Maflachufetts
upon by
the
Convention of
State, for their
faid State,
laid before the feveral
February 28, 1778, to be towns and Plantations in faid

Difapprobation,"
Approbation or
has
the following article:
V. Every male inhabitant of any town in this State, being free, and twenty-one years of age, except
"
ing Negroes^ Indians and molattoes, mall be intitled to vote for a Reprefentative or Reprefentatives, as the
cafe
may
be.
.
,"
etc.
This not only excludes Negroes, Indians, and Molattoes from the chief right of citizenfhip, but alfo
recognizes the exiflence of flavery in the State
it
;
and
was rejected by an overwhelming vote, we although have feen no evidence that this feature of the inftru-
ment
might be expected in a community already prepared for negro emancipa tion and enfranchifement. In the famous EfTex Refult, the ableil document on the fubject now to be found
elicited fuch oppofition as
1
The
remainder of the feftion relates to refidence and property quali
fications, etc.
192
an elaborate report, written by Theophilus Parfons, of a Committee appointed by the Ipfwich Convention
for the exprefs purpofe of ftating the non-conformity of this Conftitution to the true principles of govern ment applicable to the territory of the Maflachufetts
Bay
the fifth article
is
not referred to
and the
exiftence of flavery, although earneftly deprecated, is clearly recognized, as well as the impracticability of
immediate emancipation. The opinions and confent of the majority muft be collected from perfons, delegated by every freeman of the State for that purpofe. Every freeman who
"
hath fufficient difcretion mould have a voice in the

All the members of . election of his legiflators. the State are qualified to make the election, unlefs they
. .
have not
fufficient difcretion, or are fo fituated as to
have no
wills
of their own.
Perfons not twenty-one

.
years old are deemed of the former clafs. Slaves are of the latter clafs and have men alfo.
. . .
. .
Wo
no
wills.
?
But
are flaves
ment
We
feel
members of a free govern the abfurdity, and would to God,
the fituation of America and the tempers of its in habitants were fuch, that the flaveholder could not
be found in the
pp. 28, 29.
land."
Rejult of the Convention,
etc.,
of the colored
Dr. Gordon continued his zealous championship races, and in one of his letters on the
1 propofed Conflitution attacked this Fifth Article in a moft pungent ftyle of oppofition. Gordon s rela1
Letter No. n., to the
Freemen of the Maflachufetts Bay, dated Rox-
bury, April ad, 1778, publifhed in the Continental Journal, April gth,
1778.
193
tions with the Legiflature had been moil intimate, as Chaplain to both Houfes, and he well knew how
We
reluctantly the partifans of flavery were giving ground. quote the paflages referred to : The complexion of the 5th Article is blacker
"
than that of any African and if not altered, will be an everlafling reproach upon the prefent inhabitants and evidence to the world, that they mean their own
; ;
rights only,
liberty.
I
and not thofe of mankind, in
their cry for

fo
remember
not, that
any State have been
inconfiftent as to declare in their Conftitution,
how
ever they may practice, that a freeman mall not have the right of voting, merely becaufe of his being a Negro, an Indian, or a Molatto. I am forry the
Convention did not take the hint when given in time, and avoid this public fcandal. It hath been argued, that were Negroes admitted to vote, the Southern States would be offended, and we mould be foon crowded with them from thence. This would be to fuppofe the Southern States as weak as the argument. Will not the Negroes be as likely to crowd into the
State, if they may be free, though they are debarred the right of voting ? Will any be fo hardy as to fly in the face of all the declarations through the Conti
Negroes are made to be, and are fit for nothing but flaves ? Let fuch know, that in Jamaica, there are a number of free Negroes, who,
nent, and affert that the
refenting the tyranny of their mafters, freed themfelves from flavery, and continued in a ftate of war for
feveral years,
letters patent,
King George the lid., by two empowered gentlemen to conclude a treaty of peace and friendfhip with them, which was
till
at length
13
194

ift
done on the
is
flill
their liberties confirmed.
of March, 1739, wherein they had The exception of Indians
their anceflors having been for of the country. As to Molattoes merly proprietors We mould have been they mould have been defined.
told,
more odious,
whether
it
Negro, or
alfo
intended the offspring of a white and of a white and Indian and whether
;
the immediate offspring alone, or any of their remote defcendants, fo that the blood of a white being inter
mixed with that of

contaminated to the
Negro or Indian,
it
mould be
latefl pofterity,
and cut off the
male offspring to the hundredth generation, from the right of voting in an election.
wipe off
ticular.
Gentlemen, blot out the exception, and thereby from the country in general, the difgrace that has been brought upon it by the Convention in par
If any are afraid, that the Bay inhabitants will, in confequence of it, at fome diftant period, be come Negroes, Indians or Molattoes, let the General
cc
Court guard
againft
it
by future Acts of
State."
Dr. Gordon had already become very obnoxious to the members of the Legiflature, and was fummarily difmifled from his office of Chaplain to both Houfes, April 4th-6th, 1778, in confequence of his Letter I,
publifhed in the Independent Chronicle, April 2d, 1778, in which he was faid to have "rafhly reflected
upon the General

conduct," etc.
Court,"
and
"mifreprefented their
In Bofton, the fubject of flavery became the source
of angry contention, which grew into public diforder and riots. Thomas Kench, in Col. Craft s Regiment of Artillery, then on Caftle Ifland, had applied to the
195
Legiflature for leave to raife a detachment of negroes This was on the third of April, for military fervice.
1778. On the feventh of the fame month he addrefsed a fecond letter to the Council, as follows
:
"
The
letter I
wrote before
heard of the difturb-
ance with Col. Scares, Mr. Spear, and a number of other gentlemen, concerning the freedom of negroes, It is a pity that riots should be in Congrefs Street.
committed on the
occafion, as
it is
juftifiable
that ne
groes mould have their freedom, and none amongft us be held as flaves, as freedom and liberty is the
grand controverfy that we are contending for ; and I truft, under the fmiles of Divine Providence we mall
obtain
it,
if all
our minds can but be united; and
putting the negroes into the fervice will prevent much uneafinefs, and give more fatisfaction to thofe that are
offended at the thoughts of their fervants being free. I will not enlarge, for fear I mould give offence ; butfubfcribemyfelf," &c. Mafs. Arch., Vol. 199, 80, 84.
<c
Conftitution failed to pafs the ordeal of the popular judgment, fo far as an opinion could be gathered from the very partial returns made of the
The propofed
hundred and twenty towns neglected to exprefs any opinion at all ; and but twelve thoufand to perfons, out of the whole State, went to the polls
votes.
anfwer in any way.
Two-fixths of them, however,
voted
Thus
all
iv., 214. the Conftitution was rejected, negro claufe and have no means of as maring the fame fate.
in the
negative.
Adams
Works:
We
certaining the exact ftate of parties on this fubject; but there can be no doubt that there was a wide dif
ference of opinions
among
the people.
196
From the proceedings of the town of Bofton, it does not appear that the citizens of that place objected to the negro exclusion, although they were unanimous
againft the constitution.
In Cambridge
it
was voted
down unanimoufly, men, more than 21

GRO, INDIAN or
all
the voters prefent being Free NE years of age, and neither

"a
MOLATTO."
Independent Chronicle:
June
4,
1778.
contrary, the
town of Dartmouth notes the inconfiftency of excluding the negroes, &c., and favors
their equal recognition, but at the fame time aflures the public that there is no Negro, Indian or Molatto
On the
among
It
their voters.
is
not by any the negro was placed on the footing period, of political equality with the white man in Mafiachuif ever,
Continental Journal, June, 1778. means well afcertained at what
Public opinion has been juftly characterized At as a power often quite as ftrong as the law itfelf.
setts.
once the great Ruler, Lawgiver, and Judge of the Anglo-Saxon race, it has held its throne and feat of
judgment nowhere more firmly than in MafTachuThe flave was emancipated by the force of fetts. and the fame authority, without the public opinion abfolute declaration and forms of law, continued to
"
;"
exclude the negro from actual practical equality of

civil
and
political as well as focial rights.
A
toes,"
"petition
who were
of feveral poor negroes and mulatinhabitants of the town of Dart
mouth, dated at that place on the loth of February, 1780, shows the condition they were in at that time.
They humbly
"
reprefent
That we being
chiefly
of the African extract, and
197
by reafon of long bondage and hard flavery, we have been deprived of enjoying the profits of our labor or the advantage of inheriting eftates from our parents,
our neighbors the white people do, having fome of us not long enjoyed our own freedom yet of late,
as
;
cuftom and practice of the country, we have been, and now are, taxed both in our polls and that fmall pittance of eftate which,
contrary to the invariable
through much hard labor and induftry, we have got together to fuftain ourfelves and families withall. We
be hard ufage, and will doubtlefs (if continued) reduce us to a ftate of beg gary, whereby we fhall become a burthen to others,
apprehend
it,
therefore, to
if
not timely prevented by the interpofition of your
juflice
and power,
petitioners further
"Your
mow,
that
hend ourfelves to be aggrieved,
in that, while
we appre we are
not allowed the privilege of freemen of the State , having no vote or influence in the election of thoje that tax us, yet many of our color (as is well known) have
cheerfully entered the field of battle in the defence of the common caufe, and that (as we conceive) againft a fimilar exertion of power (in regard to taxation),
too well
known
"We you would take our unhappy cafe into your ferious con(ideration, and, in your wifdom and power, grant us
to need a recital in this place. moft humbly request, therefore, that
relief
from taxation, while under our prefent deprefled

&c.
circumftances,"
This petition was addrefled "to the Honorable Council and Houfe of Reprefentatives, in General
Court aflembled,
for the State of Maflachufetts Bay,
198
in

England."
New
The
lofs or
imperfections of the
journals of this period prevent us from knowing what, if any, action was had on this petition, but a memo
randum
the story
"
in the handwriting of the leading petitioner,

tells
on the copy from which the above was taken,

:
This
is
the copy of the petition which

in the
we did
for
deliver unto the

relief
Honorable Council and Houfe,

days of our
diftrefs.
from taxation
But
we
received none.
JOHN
CUFFE,"
Another copy of the petition was found, with the date, "January 220!, 1781," not iigned, by which it would appear that they intended to renew their appli
cation to the
government
for relief.
The
taxes,
records of the town of
Dartmouth
that thefe colored inhabitants refifted
fhow the payment of

alfo
and the 22d of April, 1781, they applied to the
felectmen of the town, "to put a fhroke in their next warrant for calling a town-meeting, fo that it may legally be laid before faid town, by way of vote, to know the mind of faid town, whether all free negroes
and mulattoes fliall have the Jame privileges in this faid town of Dartmouth as the white people refpecting places of profit, choofing of officers, and
have>
the like, together with all other privileges in all cafes that mall or may happen or be brought in this our
faid
Town
It has
of
Dartmouth."
Nell
Colored Patriots of
the Revolution, pp.
8790.
been ftated that thefe proceedings refulted in eftablifhing the right of the colored man to the elective franchife in MafTachufetts, and that a law was
enacted by the legiflature granting
him
all
the privi-
199
Ibid., pp. 90, 77. leges belonging to other citizens. But we can find no evidence to corroborate this ftate-
ment, which
is
alfo
entirely inconfiftent with fubfe-
quent
legiflation.
of the negro in Maflachufetts was by no means definitely determined. Dr. Belknap gave, as the refult of his inquiries on the
late as 1795, the political flatus
cc fubject, the ftatement that they were equally the protection of the laws as other people.
As
under
Some
gentlemen
(fays he) whom I have confulted, are of that opinion, they cannot elect, nor be elected, to the offices of government \ others are of a different opin
Mr. Thomas Pemberton was one of the perfons referred to by Dr. Belknap, and in his letter of March 12, 1795, fays expreflly that "the qualifica
ion."
tions required by the Maflachufetts Conftitution pre vents the people of colour from their being electors
or elected to any public office." Dr. Belknap continues, For

"
my own
part, I fee
nothing
either
in
the conftitution which difqualifies
them
from electing or being elected, if they have the other qualifications required ; which may be obtained by blacks as well as by whites. Some of them cer
tainly do vote in the choice of officers for the ftate and federal governments, and no perfon has appeared to
conteft their right. Inftances of the election of a black to any publick office are very rare. I knew of but
one, and he was a town-clerk in one of our country towns. was a man of good fenfe and morals, and had a fchool education. If I remember right, one of
He
his parents
was black and the other either a white or

dead."
mulatto.
He is now
M. H.
$. Coll., i., iv.,
208.
200
queftion muft have been regarded as of little practical importance, for the relative number of ne groes was fmall ; and of thofe all but a very infignificant fraction were excluded by the property qualifica tion. Had it been regarded with intereft enough to
call for
The
for
doubt what
an authoritative decifion, there it would have been.
is
little
room
IX.
come now to the Conflitution of 1780, the inftrument by which it is alleged that flavery was abolifhed in MafTachufetts. In the illuftration of our
fubject, its hiftory is very important, careful and accurate criticism.
WE
and demands
After the failure of the attempt in 1778, a conven

tion of delegates chofen for the purpofe was decided upon to form a Conftitution of government. They
were elected in the fummer of 1779, and met at Cam bridge on the i ft of September of that year. On the
3d they refolved
to prepare a Declaration of Rights of the people of the MafTachufetts Bay, and alfo to proceed to the framing a new Conftitution of Govern
ment.
the next day, Sept. 4th, a Committee of thirty perfons was chofen to prepare a Declaration of On the 6th Rights and the form of a Conftitution.
On
September, the Convention adjourned until the 28th October, for the purpofe of giving the Committee time to prepare a report. Immediately upon the
adjournment, the General Committee met in Bofton, and delegated the duty of preparing a draught of a
201
Conftitution to a fub-committee of three
members
James Bowdoin, Samuel Adams, and John Adams. By this fub-committee the tafk was committed to
John Adams, who performed

eral
it.
The
preparation
of a Declaration of Rights was intrufted by the Gen
Committee
ftatement with regard to
Rights
alone. His own The Declaration of is, was drawn by John Adams but the article
to
Mr. Adams
it
"
refpecting religion, or older and graver perfons than myfelf, who be more likely to hit the tafte of the public/
was referred to fome of the clergy
would
MS.
Letter of John
Adams
to
William D. Williamjon, 25
iv.,
February,
483, note.
1812,
quoted in WiUiamfoifs Maine, n,

215-16.
Adams s Works :
Article of the Declaration of Rights, as reported to the Convention, was as follows : "ART. i. All men are born equally free and in
firft
The
dependent, and have certain natural, eflential and unalienable rights among which may be reckoned the
:
right of enjoying and defending their lives and liber ties ; that of acquiring, porTeffing, and protecting their
property; in fine; that of feeking and obtaining their

fafety
and happinefs." Report, p. 7. This article, as reported, met with no oppofition, elicited little or no discuflion, and was accepted with but flight and unimportant verbal amendments. It ftands thus in the Conftitution of Journal, p. 37.
Maflachufetts
"ART. i.
:
All
men
are
born
free
and equal, and

;
have certain natural, eflential, and unalienable rights among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying, and defending their lives and liberties that of ac;
2O2
quiring, poflefling, and protecting property ; in fine, that of feeking and obtaining their fafety and happinefs."
Conftitution, p. 7.
Its
firft
language is nearly the fame with that of the article of the Bill of Rights of Virginia, written
by George Mafon, and adopted by her Convention on the 1 2th of June, 1776, when "Virginia pro
claimed the Rights of Man." Bancroft, vin., 381. The fame language, common in thofe days, became
more
familiar in the Declaration of Independence, on the 4th of July, 1776, and in the Pennfylvania De
claration of Rights, July 1 5th and this affirmation of natural
September 2 8th, 1776 and even unalienable

;
rights had long ceafed to be a novelty before MafTachufetts repeated it in her Convention of 1779-80.
fubmitted to the people in March, adopted by a popular vote in June, and the new government went into operation on the 25th of
October, 1780. It is a remarkable ftatement for a Maflachufetts
writer to make, but it is undoubtedly true, that cc much intereft has been felt of late years to know when, and
The
Conftitution was
under what circumftances, ilavery ceafed to exift in M. H. S. Coll., iv., iv., 333. The Maffachufetts."
fad that Daniel Webfler had not been able
a few
years before his death to determine this queftion fatisfactorily, is pretty good evidence that it was doubtful; and will go far to juftify a good degree of caution in
its
decifion.
In 1836,
Chief- Juftice
Shaw made an
interefting ftatement
"
on this point: or by what act particularly, flavery was abolifhed in Maflachufetts, whether by the adoption
How
203
of the opinion in Somerfet s cafe, as a declaration and modification of the common law, or by the Declaration
of Independence, or by the Conftitution of 1780, it is not now very eafy to determine, and it is rather a matter of curiofity than utility ; it being agreed on all
hands, that if not abolifhed before, it was fo by the Declaration of Rights." Commonwealth v. Aves, 18
Pickering, 209.
Few perfons can now be found hardy enough to date the abolition of flavery in Maffachufetts from
Lord Mansfield
s
decifion in
the Somerfet cafe, or
the Declaration of Independence. But the received opinion in Maflachufetts is, that the firft article of the Declaration of Rights was not fimply the decla ration of an abftract principle or dogma, which might
be wrought out into a practical fyftem by fubfequent legiflation, but was intended to have the aftive force
and conclufive authority of law ; to divefl the title of the matter, to break the bonds of the flave, to annul
the condition of fervitude, and to emancipate and fet
free
by
its
own
force
its
and
efficacy,
without awaiting
judicial decifion.
the enforcement of
principles
by
Compare 7 Gray, 478. 5 Leigh, 623. We have made diligent inquiry, fearch, and ex amination, without difcovering the flighteft trace of
pofitive
contemporary evidence to fhow that this The family traditions which opinion is well founded. have defignated the elder John Lowell as the author of the Declaration, and afligned the intention to
abolifh flavery as the exprefs motive for its origin, The will not ftand the teft of hiflorical criticifm.
truth
is,
that the bold judicial conftruction
by which
204
it
was afterwards made the instrument of virtual aboli tion, was only gradually reached and fuftained by public
opinion the Court having advanced many fteps fur ther than was intended by the Convention or underftood by the people, in their decifion on this fubjedL If it were poffible that fuch a purpofe could have
been avowed in the Convention and wrought into their work, without oppofition, it certainly could not have
Such a converfion pafTed abfolutely without notice. would be too fudden to be genuine ; and if we follow
the facts
in
their
natural
into
chronological
its
order,
the
actual refult
will fall
due place and petition
without force or violation of the truth of hiftory. Now there is no evidence of oppofition, either in
the Convention or out of
this
it.
Not even
a notice of
day
important revolution, in the newfpapers of the or elfewhere, has rewarded our earneft and careful
fearch.
John Adams,
the author of the Bill of Rights,
was not in favor of immediate emancipation (see ante, The moft ftrenuous anti-flavery men were p. no). unconfcious of any fuch intention or refult for a long
and the newfpapers continued to adof vertife the fales There is no negroes as before. to fo mow that a was thing great change contemplated
time afterward
;
or realized, and thofe who maintain it would have us believe that the people of MafTachufetts, like the Romans on another memorable occafion, fuddenly
became quite another people. 1

addrefs of the Convention, on fubmitting the refult of their labors to their conftituents, makes no
1
"
The
Ad
eft
primum nuntium
cladis
Pompeianae populus Romanus repente
fa&us
alius."
205
allufion whatever to this fubject. one can read it forth as it does the fetting principal features of the
No
new plan of government, the grounds and reafons upon which they had formed it, with their explana.
tions of the principal parts of the fyftem and retain the belief that they had confcioufly, deliberately, and intentionally adopted the firft claufe in the Declara
tion of Rights for the exprefs purpofe of aboliming The fame Bill of Rights flavery in MafTachufetts.
cc no part of the property of any indi provided that with vidual, can, juftice, be taken from him, or applied
to public ufes, without his
own
confent, or that of the
reprefentative body of the people," and, in another cc no fubject mall be ... deprived of his claufe, that but by the judgment of his peers, or the law property
of the
land."
Conftitution, p. 10,
n. Did
the
members
of that Convention intend deliberately to diveft the recognized title to property of their fellow-citizens,
amounting to not lefs than half a million of dollars,^ without a word of explanation of the high grounds of juftice or public policy on which they bafed their
action
?
nection, the entire proceedings and arguments of counfel, by which the refult of virtual abolition was finally fecured ;
as well as in the legiflative
all
it
If any further evidence is needed in this con may be found in the fubfequent fuits, with
proceedings which followed
and
iv
->
utterly inconfiftent with the theory of a direct intentional abolition by the Convention and
People.
Compare Wafliburn^
in
M. H.
S.
Coll., iv.,
333346.
We
have
faid that earneft anti-flavery
men
at that
time were not aware of the alleged intention of the
206

abolifli
Convention to
flavery
by the declaration
in
Deacon Colman, of Newbury, A controverfy againfl flavery as early as 1774- 7 5. between him and his confervative minifter, as fhown in the Church Records from 1780 to 1785, demonftrates
the Bill of Rights. the earneft efforts of
We
have previoufly referred to
this
fact.
The
minifler was
the
father of
in the
Theophilus State of Maffachufetts

of the
cc
Law."
Parfons, afterwards fo well

as
known
the
"
Chief Juftice
s
Giant
In the Deacon
:
Teftimony and
De
claration, he fays
The
flaves
in
this
State have
petitioned for
Liberty and Freedom from Bondage, fince our
bles began, in the moft importunate and humble ner ; yet they art not Jet free in a general way. .
Trou man
.
.
Magiftrates, Minifters and common people have had a hand in this Iniquitous Trade Should
you
plead, Sir, the Law of the Land, or the practice of the people, as an excufe in your favour ; I anfwer,
that neither the law of the land, nor the
commonnefs
of the people of the Crime
at all
practice in this affair, alters the nature for that which is : Wrong in its
made right by any law or of men." s Coffin Newbury : 342-50. practice This was written November 7th, 1780, after the
nature, can never be
own
eflabHfhment of the new government, and months

after the
Convention had completed

it
their
work and
fubmitted
to the people. The records of the church at Byfield contain a long account of the controverfy between Mr. Parfons
and
his zealous anti-flavery
deacon
neither of
whom
appears to have been aware that flavery, which was
207
the fubject of their difpute, had been abolifhed, either or otherwife. "virtually"
As
late as the
who had
been fuf pended
jd of November, 1783, the deacon, from communion on account of the
violence of his zeal againft the inftitution, addrefled the
brethren by a communication, in which he declared

that they
had mut him out of
their
communion
cc
for
bearing Teftimony againft the deteftable practice of Slave keeping, and making merchandife of human
adds, "you can t but be fenfible the practice of Slave keeping is Reprobated, and Abhorr d by the moft Godly people through this State," etc.
people."
He
All seem to be utterly ignorant of the abolition inten tion of the firft claufe in the Declaration of Rights.
See Coffin s
New bury : pp. 342 et seqq. Let us turn again to the newfpapers. Have the advertifements, which provoked the indignation of Doctor Gordon in 1776, difappeared before the new Conftitution and the firft article of the Bill of Rights ? Let the following felections anfwer the query They are from papers publifhed during the continuance of
!
the Convention, and the year following, until fix months after the new government went into operation.
From
"
the Continental Journal,
November
25, 1779.
To
be
SOLD A
fault,
likely
NEGRO GIRL, 16
employ."
years
of Age, for no
but want of
From
"
the fame,
December
i6th, 1779.
To
be
SOLD, A
Strong likely
NEGRO
GIRL,"
&c.
From
"
the Independent Chronicle,
March
9th, 1780.
To
be
SOLD,
for
want of employment, an
nxteen."
exceeding likely
NEGRO GIRL, aged
208
From
"

the fame,
be
March 3oth and April

for
6th, 1780.
no other SOLD, very Cheap, Reafon than for want of Employ, an exceeding
To
NEGRO BOY, aged fifteen. NEGRO GIRL, aged feventeen."

Active
Alfo, a likely
From
"
Auguft
17, 1780.
To
be
SOLD,
a likely
NEGRO
BOY."
From
"
the fame,
Auguft 24th and September
yth.
To
be
SOLD or LETT,
NEGRO
for a term of years,

GIRL."
a ftrong, hearty, likely
From
"
the fame, Oft. i9th and 26th, and Nov. 2d.

be
To
SOLD,
a likely
fit
NEGRO BOY, about

Gentleman,
eighteen years of Age,

to tend horfes or to
for to ferve a
work
in the
Country."
From
"
the fame, Oftober 26th, 1780.

a likely
To
be
SOLD,
NEGRO BOY, about

on
a
13
years old, well calculated to wait
Gentleman.
Inquire of the
"
Printer."
To
be
SOLD,
a likely
young
Cow
and CALF.
Inquire of the
Printer."
Independent Chronicle, Dec. i4th, 21 ft, 28th, 1780.

"
breed,
take
it,
NEGRO CHILD, foon expefted, of a good may be owned by any Perfon inclining to
and Money with
it."
Continental Journal, Dec. 21, 1780, and Jan. 4, 1781.

"
To
be
SOLD,
a hearty, ftrong
fit
NEGRO WENCH,
country."
about 29 years of age,
for
town or
terms of the following announcement indi notions of Freedom were begin cate the fact that their way into other heads befides thofe to find ning
"
The
"
of matters and
miftrefles.
From
"
209
1781.
March
i,
To
be
GRO WENCH,
to be
ftrong,
SOLD, an extraordinary likely NE 1 7 years old, fhe can be warranted

healthy and good-natured, has no
of Freedom, has been always ufed to a Farmer s Kitchen and dairy, and is not known to
notion
have any
failing,
but being with Child, which

*
is
the only caufe of her being
fold."
This advertifement, which was repeated for two weeks after in the papers of the 8th and I5th March, muft clofe our quotations of this fort. If it was not
the
laft
!
been
published in Maflachufetts, it ought to have It brings us in point of time to the period in
which
flave
fuits growing out of the relations of matter and were brought in the courts of law, which ulti
mately refulted in extending the Declaration in the Bill of Rights to enflaved Indians and Negroes
preaching deliverance to the captives, and fetting at the virtual abolition liberty them that were bruifed
of flavery.
No contemporaneous report appears to be extant, of the decifions by which the general queftion of the legality of flavery in Maflachufetts was determined.
1806, in the cafe fo fre cc in the firfl action quently quoted before, ftated that, came before the of the which matter, involving right
Chief-Juftice Parfons,
in
1
greateft
This reminds us of the period in Britifh hiftory when Ireland was the mart for Englifh flaves. In thofe days, when any one had more
children or fervants than he could keep, he took them to the ready market of Briftol, and there found Irifh merchants, ready to purchafe. Malmes-
bury
affirms, that
fale
it
was no uncommon thing

n., Notes, 455-6.
to behold
young
girls, ex-
pofed to
there, in a ftate
of pregnancy, which raifed their value
Bridge
Jamaica:
2io
the
Judicial Court after the eftablifhment of the Conftitution, the judges declared that, by virtue
Supreme
firft
of the Declaration of Rights, flavery in this State was no more." iv. Mafs. Reports, 128. The report does not ftate -what cafe was here referred
of the
article
to,
and there has been

thofe
confiderable difference of
referred to the fubjecl. opinion among are and The accounts various inconfiftent, agreeing that a determination in one gradually only refpect,
who have
grew up to
tion.
notwithstanding the failure of every attempt to deflroy it by legifla-
confider Jlavery as abolifhed,
The
cc
Mum
of Elizabeth Freeman, better known as has been ftated by fome as the turningBet,"
cafe
;
in which Judge Theodore point of legal decifion the defended flave, who was pronounced Sedgwick The biographer of Mr. Sedgwick in the New free.
American Cyclopaedia
was the
firft
<c
fruit
This, it is believed, of the declaration in the Maffachufays

c
:
fetts Bill
of Rights that
all
men
are
born
in
free
and
equal,
1
fetts."
and led to the end of flavery

de
la
MafTachu-
Rochefoucault Liancourt gives an account of the termination of flavery in MafFachu-
The Duke
which
is
more interefting that it may have been derived from Mr. Sedgwick himfelf, with whom
fetts,
the
he was acquainted at Philadelphia, and whofe hofpiHe fays "In tality he enjoyed in MafTachufetts.
:
1781, fome negroes, prompted by private

1
fuggeftion.,
this cafe as
Edinburgh Review, for January, 1864, reprefents having occurred in 1772, and the refult of the Maflachufetts Conftitution of 1780
!
writer in the
:
21
maintained that they were not flaves they found ad vocates, among whom was Mr. Sedgwick, now a mem ber of the Senate of the United States ; and the caufe
was carried before the Supreme Court. Their counfel pleaded, i. That no antecedent law had eftabliihed
flavery,
and that the laws which feemed
to fuppofe
it
were the offspring of error in the

:
legislators,
who had
no authority to enact them 2. That fuch laws, even if they had exifted, were annulled by the new Conftitution. They gained the caufe under both the and folution of this firft queftion that afpects was brought forward fet the negroes entirely at liber ty, and at the fame time precluded their pretended owners from all claim to indemnification, Since they
:
were proved to have poSTeSTed and held them in flavery without any right. As there were only a few flaves in MaSTachufetts_, the decifion paSTed without opposition,
and banifhed
etc., ii.,
all
further idea of
flavery."
Travels,
166, 212-13.
to a queftion
"a
John Quincy Adams, in reply by John C. Spencer, ftated that
put
note had been
given for the price of a flave in 1787.
This note was
fued, and the Court ruled that the maker had received no consideration, as man could not be fold. From that time forward, flavery died in the Old Bay State."
Nell
Colored Patriots, 59.

is
now, however, little room for doubt that the leading cafes were thofe concerning a flave named Quork Walker, belonging to Nathaniel Jennifon, a farmer of the town of Barre, in Worcefter County. The flave deferted his mafter, and was received and
There
employed
as a fervant
by John Caldwell,
a neighbor,
212
alfo a farmer.
1
The
flave
had been beaten and imhis
prifoned,
and otherwife maltreated by
mafter,
whether before or after his defertion, or both, does not Out of thefe principal facts grew the feries appear.
of addons in the Courts which we are
iketch.
now
briefly to
Court of
Two of them were commenced in the Inferior Common Pleas for the County of Worcefter,
at the June Term in 1781. They were entitled, Nathaniel Jennijon vs. John and Seth Caldwelly and ghiork Walker vs. Nathaniel Jennijon.
was a fuit for damages for enticing away from his mafter, etc., which refulted in a the flave verdict againft the friends of the flave, and an aflefsfirft
The
ment of damages
ful
at twenty-five
2
pounds
(257.) in
law
gold or
ftlver,
or bills of public credit equivalent

at
thereto, and cofts of fuit in favor of the mailer.
in like
this
money?
From
judgment the
friends of the flave appealed. The fecond was a fuit for
and beating,
the mafter.
a
etc.,
The
damages for aflault which refulted in a verdict againft jury found that the faid Quork was
freeman, and
not the proper negro flave of the
defendant, and aflefled damages for the plaintiff in the fum of fifty pounds (5O/.) in lawful gold or filver,
or bills of public credit equivalent thereto.
were taxed at
6/.
iu. jd, like money,
The cofts From this
judgment the mafter appealed. Both appeals came on at the next Term of the Su1
Jennifon
in right of his wife,
wife was a Caldwell, and he acquired pofleffion of this flave, who owned him before marriage. It may be that this
controverfy originated in fome family quarrel. 2 The amount of cofts is not itated in the record.
213
perior Court, held at Worcefter on the third Tuefday (i8th) of September, 1781, before Judges Sargent, Sewall,
and Sullivan.
firft
Nathaniel Jennifon, Apf 1 ., vs. )uork Walker, the recorded refult was "And now the Appellant being called comes into Court, but does
cafe,
In the
not produce and give into Court attefted copies of the writ, Judgment, or of the Evidences filed in the In
ferior Court, as the law directs, wherefore
it
is
order
ed that
his
default
be
recorded."
Docket September
jTVra, 1781, in Worcefter. Records, iy8i,foL 79. In his fubfequent attempts to procure a re-entry of this caufe, Jennifon grounded his petition to the Legifla-
ture on the allegation that he had confided in his Council to produce the papers from the Court of
"
Common Pleas, which papers the faid Council failed to produce^ by means whereof he became defaulted,
and judgment was rendered
Refolves, 1782,^. 182.
againft
him."
Majs.
Quork Walker9
Comp*., vs. Nathaniel Jennifon , ac

"
cordingly obtained an affirmation of the judgment. As recorded in the Superior Court, it is a Judgment
for 5o/. Gold or Silver, or Bills of public Credit of the new Emiffion equivalent i 7~8th for one Silver
Dollar.
Damage and
cofts taxed at yl. los. yd.
Exon.
iflued Feb. 6th,
1782."
The
Legiflature granted a
5th, 1782. proceedings on this
ftay of execution by their refolve of
March
Rejolvesy p. 182.
The
legiflative
fubjecl will be noticed hereafter. In the appeal of the fecond cafe, John Caldwell et the aL Afp is . vs. Nathaniel Jennifon, the Jury found
"
Appellants not guilty in manner and form as the
214

;"
Appellee in his Declaration has alleged

accordingly had
and they
Judgment
for Cofts.
Records, 1781,
fol
79, 80.
array of counfel in this cafe was diftinguifhed, being, for the Appellants, Caleb Strong and Levi Lincoln ; and for the Appellee, Simeon Strong, John
The
Mr. Wamburn, in Sprague, and William Stearns. cc on Extinction of the paper Slavery in Maflachufetts," gives an interefting account of thefe fuits,
his
and prints (C the Jubftance" of Mr. Lincoln s brief, which is fo important as to provoke our flncere regret that he did not print it entire and without modifica tion. M. H. S. Coll., iv., iv., 340-44.
The
refult
of the
civil
actions
friends of the flave to proceed ftill ; indictment was found at the fame Term of the
encouraged the further and an

"
(September, 1781) againft the mailer

battery, and
falfe
for
Court aflault and
imprifonment."
It
was not tried
until nearly
two years later, April Term, 1783, when the defendant was found guilty and fentenced to be
fined 40^.5
pay
mitted
fol. 85.
till
of profecution, and ftand com Records y 1783, fentence be performed.

cofts
a notice of this trial,

"
Dr. Belknap wrote and printed, in the year 1795, which we copy.
In 1781, at the Court in Worcefter County, an indictment was found againft a white man for affaulting, beating, and imprifoning a black. at the Supreme Judicial Court in 1783.
He
was tried
His defence
was, that the black was his flave, and that the beating, etc., was the neceflary reftraint and correction of the
mafter.
This was anfwered by citing the aforefaid
215
claufe in the declaration of rights. The judges and of opinion that he had no right to imprifon jury were
He was found guilty and fined This decifion was a mortal wound to 40 fliillings. flavery in MafTachufetts." M. H. S. Cot!., i., iv., 203. When owners of flaves found that under the new
or beat the negro.
regime they were to be held
liable in
damages
for
correction of their flaves, they were not flow to fee the neceflary confequences, and at once appealed to the
Legiflature, if they approved the judgment of the Court, to releafe them from the ftatute obligations
growing out of
in
their relations
under the law of flavery

diminifli
MafTachufetts.
fine
Nor
did their anxiety
and imprifonment for criminal breach of the peace were added to civil damages for the fame offence. Had the members of the Convention entertained the
when
would have been no room
opinions which have fince been afcribed to them, there left for doubtful conftruction of general principles, for all the laws which fustained flavery would have been exprefsly repealed, by the very firfl legiflatures under the Constitution, in
which many of the fame men were prefent. But the Legiflature confidered, hefitated, and did nothing. Their proceedings would feem to have been governed by caprice, if we did not recognize the difficulties under
which they labored, and the various and conflicting elements which controlled them. The firfl: movement in the Legiflature was made
about the fame time the fuits were begun at WorIn the Houfe of Reprefentatives, on the 9th cefter.
at
of June, 1781,
it
was
<c
Ordered, that
a
Mr.
Lowell,
Col. Afliley, and
Mr. Robbins be
Committee with
216
fuch as the honorable Senate fhall join, to confider a
Remonftrance of a number of perfons owning negro Jervants, and to report what may be proper to be done thereon." Mr. Lowell promptly declined to ferve on this committee, for the next entry is, "Mr.
Lowell
room."
is
excufed, and Dr.
Dunfmore
is
put on
in his
Journal, Vol. n., p. 50.

a
The
order was fent
up
the
for concurrence,
and we find on the fame day, in
concurrence in the appointment of Senate, "Doct. Denfmore in the room of Mr. Lowell refigned,
excufed by the Houfe." On the Journal, u., 24. 1 2th of June, the Senate refufed to concur in the
"
tion of
Order of the Houfe on the Remonftrance and peti Nathan Jennifon and others owning Negro
Ibid., 28.
Servants"
We
have been unable to find
this
memorial, in
which other flaveholders befides Jennifon joined, ap parently with a remonftrance againft the very firft
fteps in thofe proceedings whofe refults they In all the fubfequent difficulty in foretelling.
had no
applica tions for legiflative relief, Jennifon appears alone. In the Houfe of Reprefentatives, on the 28th of
January, 1782, a petition was read from Nathaniel Jennifon, praying for leave to re-enter an appeal of
an action againft
Quock Walker, which had been de
faulted through the neglect of his counsel, at the Su preme Judicial Court next to be holden at Worcefter.
was referred to Mr. Metcalf, Mr. Smead, and Mr. Chamberlain, who reported the fame day a refolve granting his prayer, which was read and accepted, and
It
fent
up
for concurrence.
Journal, Vol. u., 487, 492.
The
Senate,
on the I4th of February, refufed to
217
concur, Journal, Vol.
n.,
263, but
on the 5th of
patted a refolve directing, on the petition of Jennifon, that the petitioner ferve the adverfe party
March
with an attefted copy of the Petition, and to fhow caufe. This refolve was concurred in by the Houfe.
Ibid.,
300.
the
1
It
is
printed in
the
book of
refolves,
March, 1782,^. 182.
On
8th of April, 1782, this matter came
up
again in the Senate, Jennifon having complied with the previous refolve ; and his petition, together with the anfwer of Quock Walker, was read. It was then
"
ordered, that Ifrael Nichols, Efq., with fuch as the Houfe mould join be a Committee to confider this
Petition and the Anfwer, hear the parties and report." On the following day, the Houfe concurred and ap pointed MefTrs. FefTenden and White upon the joint
their
"
Committee. This committee of both Houfes prefented report on the 2pth of April, on which it was
Ordered that the Petition
lie till fufficient
evidence
Senate be produced that the petitioner loft his Law/ Houfe Journal, n., 676. Journal, n., 344, 363. The next movement opens a wider view of the
whole
In the Houfe of Reprefentatives, on the 1 8th of June, a new petition was prefented from
affair.
Nathaniel Jennifon, cc fetting forth that he was de prived of ten Negro Servants by a judgment of the
Supreme
Judicial
c
Conftitution,
Court on the following claufe of the That all men are born free and equal/
and praying that if faid judgment is approved of, he may be freed from his obligations to fupport faid
negroes."
Journal, in., 99.

s
Jennifon
notice original memorial, of which the
218

is
on the Journal
"
an
abftract, is
ftill
preferved.
He
fhows that by the Bill of Rights pre refpedfully fixed to the Conftitution of Government, it is among
other things declared
c
that
all
men
are born free
and
equal/
fubjeffi
which
of much
clauje in thejaid Conftitution has been the
that the Judges of the Supreme Judicial Court have Jo conftrued the fame as to deprive your memorialift of a great part of his pro
altercation
dijpute
and
perty, to
which he thought his title good, not only by ancient and eftablifhed ufage, but by the Laws of the
Land. That your Memorialift having been pofTefTed of Ten Negro Servants, moft of whom were born in his family, fome of them young and helplefs, others
old and infirm,
tion of the
is
now informed
that
by
the determina
Supreme Judicial Court, the Jaid Clauje in the

isJo to
Bill of Rights
be conftrued, as to operate to the total

all
dijcharge and manumiffion of

ever.
What
it
Negro Servants whatjothe true meaning of faid Claufe in the
Conftitution
to fay, but
is,
your Memorialift
is
will
not undertake
appears to him the operation thereof in

very different from
manner aforementioned,
People apprehended at the time the fame argues that they could not
He
"
what the was eftabliftied" mean to offend
the Southern States in fo capital a point with them, and thereby to endanger the Union, and what is more,
they could not
mean
to eftablifh a doctrine
repugnant
word of God." He enforces the latter argument by abundant quotation from the 25th chapter of Leviticus; and concludes his memorial with an earneft appeal to the Legiflature, that if fervants are to be made free, their mafters may
and contradictory
to the revealed
alfo
be emancipated
regarding the ftatute obligation
219
to provide for the freedmen whenever they fhould be in want, as a fpecies of flavery alfo inconfiftent with the
Bill
of Rights.
cc committed to Jennifon s Memorial was at once Colonel Pope, Mr. Stow, and Dr. Manning." Journal, find no further direct trace. of it, but, in., 99.
We
three days afterward, a bill was introduced into the Houfe, entitled "an Act repealing an Act entitled an
Act
was of the General Court.
which relating to Molatto and Negro flaves ; read a firft time and referred to the next feflion
"
The act Journal^ in., 418. thus propofed to be repealed was the old Province Law of 1703, Chap. 2, whofe provifions in reftraint of emancipation, etc., we have previoufly noticed
and whofe repeal would be in ac cordance with the alternative proportion in the me
(ante, pp.
534)
morial of Jennifon. Whether they were flimulated by the new views cc fufficient evidence of the fubject in the Houfe, or
to fatisfy them that Jennifon had been produced had cc lofl his law," we cannot fay; but on the 3d
"
of July, 1782, the Senate pafTed another resolve, "on the petition of Nathaniel Jennison, permitting him
to re-enter his appeal, etc., at the Court at Worcefter." They fent it
rence, but, this time, the
Supreme
Judicial
down
for concur
Houfe
refufed to concur.
Senate Journal, in., 109. Having taken the initiative towards repealing the old laws concerning the rights and obligations of
matters
and
(laves,
they
may have thought

action,
it
un-
necefTary to
promote
judicial
until
the
fyftem fhould be perfected.
Nearly
three
new months
22O
afterward,
on the 26th of September, 1782, they
fent
a meflage to the Senate to requeft that the petition (and refolve thereon) of Mr. Nathaniel Jennifon, "on
of the Senate, might be fent down to the Houfe Journal, in., 203. Senate Journal, in., 151. find no further action
the
files
Houfe, which was done.
We
of either branch of the Legislature on this petition. 1 At the next feflion of the General Court, on the
yth of February, 1783, the bill for repealing the Act of 1703, which had been fo referred, was brought up
and
read,
and
"Saturday,
thereof."
10 o clock, affigned for the
fecond reading
On
the 8th,
"
the
bill
was
Houfe Journal, in., 436. taken up and debated.
Whereupon it was ordered that Mr. Sedgwick, Gen. Ward, Mr. Dwight, Mr. Dane, and Mr. Cranch, be
a Committee to bring in a
principles
i ft.
:
bill
upon
the following
Declaring that there never were legal flaves

in this
Government.
all
2d.
Indemnifying
Mafters who have
held
flaves in fact.
3d.
To make
fuch provifions for the fupport of Negroes and Molattoes as the Commit tee may find moft expedient." Ibid., 444.
Nathaniel Jennifon appears again with a petition in the Houfe, on the agth of May, 1784, praying that a judgment obtained againrt him in a court of law might be fet afide. It was referred to a committee, who re
Debate ported, on the ad of June, 1784, a refolve granting its prayer. On the 4th of June, the com enfued, and the refolve was re-committed. mittee reported another refolve for flaying the execution therein mentioned
in part,
currence.
trial. This was accepted and fent up for con have been unable to afcertain 19-20, 30, 37. whether the judgment and execution referred to have any connection with the flave cafes.
and granting a new

Journal,
v.,
We
221
intituled an
On
the 28th of February,
"a
Bill
Act refpecting Negroes and Molattoes was read the firft time, and Saturday, 10 o clock, affigned for the
It was read a fecond reading thereof." Ibid., 529. fecond time on the firft of March ; and, on the 4th,
was read a third time, patted to be engroffed, and fent In the Senate, on up for concurrence. Ibid., 537.
An Act respect the firft time, Molattoes was read and ing Negroes for the fecond and ten o clock to-morrow is affigned
the yth of March,
"a
Bill entitled
reading."
But
laft
it
Senate Journal, in., 413. never had that fecond reading;

legiflative annals
and
this
attempt in the
of Maffachufetts,
to provide, at the fame time, for the hiftory and law of flavery within her own borders, came to an un
its hiftory more of its failure, the caufes fully explained, efpecially much additional light may be thrown upon the ftate
timely end, like all its predecefforso If the bill mould be found, and
of public opinion in Maffachufetts on

in 1783.
As
fubject to the propofed declaration, that there
this
never were legal flaves in Maffachufetts, we need only that its authors could hardly have been familiar fay,
with
all
the fads of that
determined to fum up that, nor the proportion to indemnify mafters for their loffes by emancipation from this illegal and
hiftory which they thus Neither in a contradiction.
which never had any lawful exiftence, was ever heard of again in that day and generation.
illufive flavery,
But the
failure to
make
fuitable
provifion for the
to ferious fupport of Negroes and Mulattoes, led and difficulties, great embarraffment in the law-courts
222
Legislature, conftant and continued litigation, in which the State authorities, towns, and individuals con
tinued ftruggling until the last pauper Indian, negro, or mulatto, who had been a (lave, relieved himfelf
and the community by dying off. 1 It is a humilia ting fact, which mould not be omitted here, that the moil diftincl: and permanent evidence of fervice
of the colored patriots of the Revolution, belonging to MafTachufetts (moft of whom were or had been flaves), has been found in the reports of the law
courts in pauper cafes.
in
comparifon of the condition of the negro MafTachufetts, before and after emancipation, Dr.
Upon
unlefs liberty be reckoned as a Belknap faid that, for compenfation many inconveniencies and hardc<
Many
petitions
port of pauper negroes.

inftructed to report
were prefented to the Legiflature concerning the sup The committee on the revision of the laws were
who was refponsible. "Journals, ix., 85, 125. In 1790, Houfe were requefted to decide whether they were chargeable to the State or Towns. In 1793, on the 8th of March, a Bill de Ib., X., 230. termining Indians, Negroes, and Mulattoes, who are objects of charity, to
the
"
be the poor of
ted to
21,
this commonwealth," was read in the Houfe, and commit Mr. Sewall, Mr. Thompson, and Mr. Smead. Mafs. Spy, March Dr. Belknap ftated, in 1795, that the queftion had not then 1793.
been decided,
iv.,
either in the Legiflature or
by the
courts.
M. H.
S. Coll., I.,
Hampfhire, 1795, the court decided that certain flaves had gained a fettlement where their mas ters were fettled, and therefore were not chargeable on the commonwealth
vs. Greenfield, in
208.
In the cafe of Shelbume
as State paupers. They gave no opinion on the point, whether they were to be the charge of the town, or of their late matters 5 nor was this point decided when James Sullivan communicated the report of this cafe, with
M. H. S. Coll., I., v., 46, 47. In the cafe of The Inhabitants of Shelburne vs. The Inhabitants of Greenfield, 1795, the children of two negro flaves were confidered to have their fettlement in the
others, for publication in 1798.
latter town, becaufe their parents had a fettlement there under their matter ; although the parents were married, and their children born, in Shelburne.
MS.
referred
to in
Andover
vs.
Canton, 13 Mafs. Reports, 552.
"
223
mips, the former condition was in mofl cafes prefe This was in 1795. In 1846 a Maflachufetts author wrote as follows refpecting their defcendants
rable.
remaining in the State

"A
prejudice has exifted in the community, and
ftill
exiils againft
them on account of
their color,
and
on account of
their being the defcendants of flaves.
obtain employment on equal terms with the whites, and wherever they go a fneer is paffed
They cannot
upon them,
act
fportive inhumanity were an have been, and are, moftly ferThey vants, or doomed to accept fuch menial employment as the whites decline. They have been, and are,
as if this
of merit.
fcattered over
the
Commonwealth, one or more

all
in
over two thirds of
the towns
they continue poor,
with fmall means and opportunities for enjoying the focial comforts and advantages which are fo much at
the
command
is
of the whites.
Thus, though
their
legal rights are the
fame
as
thofe of the whites, their
condition
renders exiftence
tion of
one of degradation and dependence, and lefs valuable, and impairs the dura
.
life itfelf.
Owing
to their color
and the
prejudice againft them, they can hardly be faid to re ceive even fo cordial a fympathy as would be
. . .
mown
1
to
them
in
in ^Jlave flate,
owing to
s
their different
petition
fociety."
Chickering
Statistical
Fiew y
In view of thefe fads, it will hardly be deemed p. 56. flrange, that the fame writer calmly contemplated their extinction as a race, comforting himfelf with the
reflection,
that
"many
inftances
hiftory."
of fimilar difplaceIbid.,
ment
are to be
found
in
pp.
59-60.
224
X.
WE
have
ftill
to notice
two
acts
of legiflation in
Maflachufetts, which were patted in the year 1788 eight years after the alleged termination of flavery in that State by the adoption of the Conftitution. Thefe
acts
were parTed jufl
after the
adoption of the Federal
Conftitution by the State Convention. The firft is the only one directly and pofltively hoftile to flavery to be found among all their ftatutes.
a very remarkable fact that the reluctance of the Legiflature to meet the fubject fairly and fully in
It
is
front
mould have
left their
tionable a fliape. With the unfuccefsful choice of her fable fuitor, they feem to have wifhed to fay,
at
"
ftatute-book in fo ques Portia, glowing with delight
A gentle riddance
Let
all
draw the
curtains
go
n., Sc.
of his complexion chufe
me
fo."
Merchant of Venice, Act
vm.
But neither the cupidity of
their flave-trading
merchants, nor the peculiar improvidence of the negro the one fharpened by fuccefsful gain, the other
hardened into hopelefs acquiefcence with pauperifm would permit this "gentle riddance/ and although
"
the
"
curtains
have been
"
drawn
"
over thefe dis
agreeable features for nearly a century, the hiftorian of flavery muft let in the light upon them.
early as 1785, the Legiflature inftituted an inquiry as to the meafures proper to be adopted by them to difcountenance and prevent any inhabitant
As
of the Commonwealth being concerned in the flave-
trade.
225
fubjed, Jan. 2 5th,
committee was appointed on the 1785 William Heath and John Lowell on the part of the Senate, and Mr. Reed, Mr.
joint
Hofmer, and Mr. Sprague, of the Houfe.
The
in
quiry was alfo extended to the condition of negroes then in the Commonwealth, or who might thereafter
come or be brought
Bills
into it. H. ofR. Journals, v., 222. were prepared and referred to the Committee on the Revision of the Laws, with inftruction to revife all
the laws refpecting negroes and mulattoes, and report at the next fitting of the General Court. Ib., 342.
In the following year, March i, 1786, a joint order was made for a committee to report meafures for pre
venting negroes coming into the Commonwealth from other States. H. of R. Journals, vi., 463. Another
fimilar order
was made by the Houfe of Reprefenta-
tives in 1787. Journals, vn., 524. Earlier in the fame year, February 4, 1787, a
num
ber of African blacks petitioned the Legiflature for aid to enable them to return to their native country.
Ib., vii.,
Quaker petition againft the flave381. trade was read in the Senate, June 20, 1787, and not accepted, but referred to the Revifing Committee,
directed to report a bill
who were
matter of negroes in this

Senate, Vol. vni., 81.
upon "the Commonwealth at

Vol. vni., 88.
fubjedl
large."
H. of R.,
(The prohibition
was
at
laft
of the flave-trade by Maflachufetts moil flagrant and effected in 1788..
outrageous cafe of kidnapping occurred in Bofton in the month of February, in that year. M. H. S. Coll.,
Additional particulars may be found by i., iv., 204. reference to the newfpapers of the day. Efpecially
15
226
The N. T. Packet, Feb. 26 and Aug. 29, 1788. This infamous tranfaction aroufed the public indignation,
all clafTes united in urging upon the Legislature the paflage of effectual laws to prevent the further profecution of the traffic, and protect the inhabitants of the State againfl the repetition of fimilar outrages. Rev. Dr. Jeremy Belknap was one of the foremoft
and
promoting the paflage of fome of his friends as to the

in
this act.
He
confulted
practicability of
improv
ing the occafion to effect the abolition of flavery in the State. His brother-in-law, Mr. Samuel Eliot, him that the time was moft opportune, with agreed
but
faid the difficulty in fuch cafes was,
who fhould
ftep forward,
and recommended him to fuggefl to
the Aflbciation of minifters, at their next meeting, a petition to the General Court, whofe feflion was then
about to commence
if
he failed to gain the co-opera
tion of the ministers, to apply to the Humane Society,, and at all events to have a petition drafted.
Mr. Belknap drew up

cc
a petition,
which
his friends
pronounced
gained the fupport of the Aflbciation, and of a large number of

amendment,"
incapable of
citizens befides.
1
The
blacks alfo prefented a peti
tion,
and there was
written by Prince Hall, one of their number, alfo that of the Quakers in 1787, al ready noticed, before the Legiflature. Life of Belknap,
159^60. i he movement was
fuccefsful,
and on the 26th of
Larch, 1788, the Legiflature of Maflachufetts pafled
The
petition of the negroes, 27th February, 1788,
Is
in the
Mafla
chufetts Spy, 24th April, 1788.
"
227
An
Aft
to
prevent the Slave-Trade, and for granting
Relief to the Families of fuch unhappy Perfons as may be
Kidnapped or decoyed away from this Commonwealth" that no citizen of this By this law it was enacted
"
refiding within the fame," mall import, tranfport, buy, or fell any of the inhabitants of Africa as flaves or fervants for term of
Commonwealth, or other perfon
on penalty of fifty pounds for every perfon fo mifufed, and two hundred pounds for every vefTel All infurance fitted out and employed in the traffic. made on fuch veffels to be void, and of no effect. And to meet the cafe of kidnapping, when inhabitants were
years,
carried off, -actions of

their
damage might be brought by
friends
moneys
the latter giving bonds to apply the recovered to the ufe and maintenance of the
cc
family of the injured party,
provifo was added,
That
this aft do not extend
to veffels
which have already Jailed\ their owners, factors, or commanders, for, and during their prefent voyage, or to
fliall
any infurance that
have been made, previous
to
the
far this provifo may be faffing of the fame" juftly held to be a legiflative fanction of the traffic, we It is obvious that the leave the reader to decide.
How
of Maffachufetts in 1788 was not ftrong enough againft the flave-trade, even under the atrocious provocation of kidnapping in the ftreets
"
public
fentiment"
of Bofton, to treat the pirates, who had already failed, Rome was not built in a day, as they deferved. neither could the modern Athens rejoice in an antiflavery Minerva, frefh in an inflant of the almighty cc public fentiment
fetts.
"
from the brain of Maffachu
228
This
act, as
we have
It
March, 1788. lefs hoflile to the pafTed on the following day, hardly negro than this was to flavery the pioneer of a feries of fimilar acts (though lefs fevere) which have fubjected the new States to mofl unfparing cenfure.
feen, patted on the 25th of was accompanied by another act,
The
fuppreffing
Maflachufetts
Law,
entitled
"An
att for
and punijhing of Rogues, Vagabonds, common and other idle, disorderly, and lewd Perjons" Beggars, was prefented in the Senate on the 6th of March, It went through the ufual flages of legiila1788. tion, with various amendments, and was finally pafTed
on the 26th of March, 1788.

ing very remarkable provifion
"V.
:
It contains the follow
Be
it
further enafted by the authority aforesaid
Reprefentatives in General Court aflembled], that no perfon being an African or Negro, other than a fubject of the Emperor of
[the Senate and
Houfe of
Mo
rocco, or a citizen of
(to
be evidenced by
a certificate
fome one of the United States from the Secretary of
the State of which he mall be a citizen), mall tarry within this Commonwealth, for a longer time than two
months, and upon complaint made

the Peace within this
to
any Juflice of
Commonwealth, that any fuch the fame more than two perfon has been within
months, the faid Juflice mall order the faid perfon to in cafe that depart out of this Commonwealth, and
the faid African or
faid,
Negro mall not depart
as afore-
any Juflice of the Peace within this
Common
wealth,
upon complaint and proof made that fuch this Commonwealth ten perfon has continued within days after notice given him or her to depart as afore-
faid, fhall
229
the faid perfon to any houfe of cor rection within the county, there to be kept to hard labour, agreeable to the rules and orders of the faid houfe, until the Seflions of the Peace, next to be holden
commit
within and for the faid county; and the matter of the faid houfe of correction is hereby required and directed to tranfmit an attefled copy of the warrant of commit
ment
to the faid
Court on the
trial at
firft
day of their
it
faid
feffion,
and
if
upon
the faid Court,
mail be
made
ued of this
to appear that the faid perfon has thus contin within the Commonwealth, contrary to the tenor
act,
ten ftripes,
mail be whipped not exceeding and ordered to depart out of this Com
he or
me
monwealth within ten days ; and if he or me mall not fo depart, the fame procefs mall be had and punifhment inflicted, and fo toties quoties" l The edition from which we copy is the earlieft
claffified
edition
of
"The
Perpetual
Laws of
is
"
the
Commonwealth of
found
lick
in
Maflachufetts,"
and
not to be
Part
I.
among
thofe relating to
Perfons,"
The Pubthe
IV.,"
and Private Rights of

"
nor
among
if
"Mifcellaneous"
Statutes, but in
Matters."
"Part
con
cerning
in
anything can be found which comes nearer legiflation branding color as a crime By this law, it will be obferved that all negroes,
Criminal
We
doubt
human
The
old provincial ftatute, from which this law was mainly copied,
provided for the correftion by whipping, etc., of the rogues and vagabonds (without dittinftion of color) for whofe benefit the original law was defigned
was
but in the progrefs of this law through the Legiflature, this feature 5 ftricken out of that portion of the bill, but the African or Negro
"
"
gained what the
Mafs.
Pro<v.
"rogue vagabond" Compare by the change. Laws 0/1699, Chap, vi., and Journal of H. of R. t vin., 500.
and
loft
230
fome one of the States, were required to depart in two months, on penalty of being apprehended, whipped, and ordered The procefs and punifhment could be re to depart. newed every two months. The only contemporary
refident in Maflachufetts, not citizens of
explanation of the delign of the law which we have met with is to the effect that it was intended to pre
vent fugitive flaves from reforting to that State, in hopes to obtain freedom, and then being thrown as a
deadweight upon that community. Belknap, 1795. enactment was faid to recent writer ftates that this
"
have been the work of her [Maflachufetts] leading to forefee the lawyers, who were fufficiently fagacious
dangerous confequences of that conftitutional provis ion which, on restoring fugitives from labor, not only threatened to difturb the public peace, but the {lability
of the
fyftem."
Amory
Life of Sullivan,
i.,
226, note.
We
give this illustration of legal fagacity in MarTait is worth, although we are fatisfied that the ftatute itfelf clearly illustrates the intention of
chufetts for what
thofe
who framed
it.
Expofitio contemporanea
eft
optima.
Realizing the "deadweight" already refting upon them in the body of their own free negroes (though
comparatively
<c
fmall
in
number),
they
"
evidently
"
to prevent any addition to it. fagacious" thought afcertain who were citizens muft Future refearch
it
of Maflachufetts in 1788, before we can fafely declare that even Maflachufetts Negroes, Indians, and Mulattoes,
were exempted from the alternative of
exile
The reader will not or the penalties of this ftatute. fail to notice below, the arbitrary and illegal extenfion of the ftatute, in its application to "people of color,
231
commonly
called
"
Mulatto es, prejumed to come within
the intention
of the law.
We
ment of
have met with one example of the enforce this law, which is almofl as as "fingular"
itfel
In the Maffachufetts Mercury, Bos ton, printed by Young and Minns, Printers to the Hon orable the General Court, September 16, 1800, No. 22,
Vol. xvi., the following notice occupies a
the ftatute
confpicuous
place, filling a
column of the paper
NOTICE TO BLACKS.
I
*HE
Officers
of Police having made return to
the Subfcriber of the names of the following perfons, who are Africans or Negroes, not fubjefts
of the Emperor of Morocco nor citizens of the United States, the fame are hereby warned and diredled to depart out of this Commonwealth
before
the loth
day of Odober next,
as
they
would avoid the pains and penalties of the law in that cafe provided, which was pafled by the Legis
lature,
March
26, 1788.
CHARLES BULFINCH,
Superintendant.
By
order
and
direction
of the Selectmen.
OF PORTSMOUTH.
Prince Patterson,
Eliza Cotton,
Flora
Nam.
RHODE ISLAND.
Thomas Nichols and Hannah Champlin,

Raney
Scott,
Philis Nichols,
Plato Alderfon,
Jack
Jeffers,
Thomas Gardner,
Violet Freeman,
Sylvia Gardner,
Julius
Holden,
CufFy Buffum,
Hagar Blackburn,
Polly Gardner,
Philis
Dolly Peach,
Sally Alexander,
Taylor.
232
Dinah

PROVIDENCE.
Miller,
Silvia
Hendrick,
Hall,
Rhode
Allen,
Nancy
Richard Freeman,
Elizabeth Freeman,
Nancy Gardner,
Margaret Harrifon.
CONNECTICUT.
Briftol
Morandy,
John Cooper,
Margaret Ruflell, Phoebe Johnfon,
Scipio Kent,
Phoebe Seamore,
Jack
Billings.
John Denny,
NEW LONDON. Thomas

NEW YORK.
Burdine,
Hannah
Burdine.
Sally Evens,
Sally
Freeman,
Czefar
Weft and
Peterfon,
Thomas
Henry
Hannah Weft, Thomas Santon,

Henry Wilfon, Edward Cole,
Polly Brown,
Sanderfon,
Robert Willet,
Mary
Atkins,
Spalding,
Amey
John Johnfon,
George Homes,
Rebecca Johnfon,
Prince Kilfbury,
Jofeph Hicks, Elizabeth Francis,
Abraham Fitch, Abraham Francis,

Sally Williams,
William Williams,
Rachel Pewinck,
Efther Dove,
David Dove,
Peter Bayle,
Thomas
Boftick,
Katy
Boftick,
Prince Hayes,
Margaret Bean, Samuel Benjamin,

Primus Hutchinfon.
Nancy Hamik,
Peggy Ocamum,
PHILADELPHIA.
Mary
Simon
Smith,
Jeffers,
Richard Allen,
Samuel Pofey,
Prince Wales,
Peter Guft,
Butterfield Scotland,
Peter Francies,
Elizabeth Branch,
William Brown,
Clariffa Scotland,
233
Cuffy Cummings,
Sally
John Gardner, Fortune Gorden,

Peter Larkin and
Gardner, Samuel Stevens.
BALTIMORE.
Jenny Larkin,
Stepney Johnfon,
Anne
VIRGINIA.
Melville.
James Scott,
Jane Jackfon,
Oliver
Nam, Thomas Thompfon.
John Evens, Cuffey Cook, Robert Woodfon,
NORTH CAROLINA,
James Jurden,
Janus Crage.
Polly Johnfon,
SOUTH CAROLINA.
Anthony George,
Catherine Gould, Cato Small, Richard Coy.
Peter Cane.
HALIFAX.
Charlotte Gould,
Philis Cole,
WEST
James Morfut and
INDIES.
Hannah,
his wife,
Mary
Davis,
George Powell,
Charles Sharp,
Peter Lewis, Peter Hendrick,
William Shoppo and

Ifaac Johnfon,
Mary Shoppo,
John Pearce,
Peter Branch,
Charles Efings,
Newell Symonds,
Peter George,
Rofanna Symonds, Lewis Victor,

John Laco,
Peter Jefemy,
Lewis Sylvefter,
Thomas
Fofter,
Rebecca Jefemy,
David
Bartlet,
Jofeph Lewis,
Thomas Grant, Hamet Lewis,

Mary Brown,
CAPE FRANCOIS.
John Harrifon,
Bofton Alexander.
Cafme Francifco and
Nancy,
his wife,
Mary Fraceway.
234

AUX CAYES.
Sufannah Rofs.
PORT AU PRINCE.
John Short.
JAMAICA.
Charlotte Morris,
John Robinfon. BERMUDA.
Thomas Williams. NEW PROVIDENCE.

Henry Taylor.
LIVERPOOL.
John Mumford.
AFRICA.
Francis
Thompfon,
John Brown,
James Melvile,
Mary
Jofeph,
Samuel Bean,
Calo Gardner,
Sophia Mitchel, Samuel Blackburn,
Jofeph Ocamunit
Hamlet
Earl,
Charles Mitchel,
Samuel Frazier,
Timothy
FRANCE.
Philips,
Jofeph ISLE OF FRANCE.

Jofeph Lovering.
LIST OF
INDIANS AND MULATTOES.

perfons
The
following
from
feveral of the
United States, being people of colour, commonly

called Mulattoes, are
intention of the
prefumed to come within the fame law ; and are accordingly warned and directed to depart out of the Com monwealth before the loth day of Oftober next.
RHODE ISLAND.
Peter Badger,
Waley Green,
Polly
Kelurah Allen, Silvia Babcock.

PROVIDENCE.
Adams,
Paul Jones.
CONNECTICUT.
235
John Brown,
Polly Holland,
John
Way
and
Nancy Way,
Leville Steward,
Peter Virginia,
Lucinda Orange,
Britton Doras,
Anna
Sprague,
Willis,
Amos
NEW-LONDON.
Frank Francies.
Hannah
Potter.
NEW-YORK.
Jacob and Nelly
mings,
Cum-
James and Rebecca Smith,

Judith
Chew,
John Schumagger,
Peggy Willouby,
Thomas Willouby,
John Reading, Charles Brown,
Mary
Reading,
John Miles,
Betfy Harris,
Hannah
Williams,
Duglafs Brown,
Sufannah Fofter,
Thomas
Burros,
Mary Thomfon,
Lucy Glapcion,
Eliza Williams,
James and Freelove Buck,
Lucy Lewis, Diana Bayle,
Caefar and Sylvia Caton,
Thompfon,
William Guin.
ALBANY.
Elone Virginia,
Abijah Reed and
Lydia Reed, Rebecca Reed and
Abijah Reed, Betfy Reed.

NEW-JERSEY.
Jr.,
Stephen Boadley,
Hannah
PHILADELPHIA.
Viftor.
Polly Boadley,
James Long,
Jeremiah Green,
Hannah Murray, Nancy Principefo,

George Jackfon, Mofes Long.
David Johnfon, William Coak,

MARYLAND.
Nancy
Guft.
23 6

BALTIMORE.
John Clark,
Hacker,
Sally Johnfon.
VIRGINIA.
Sally
Richard,
John Johnfon,
Anthony Paine,
William Hacker,
Betfy Guin,
Thomas Steward, Mary Burk,

Polly Lofours,
Lucy Brown.
AFRICA.
1 Nancy Doras.
This notice muft have been generally published in Bofton, and was copied in other cities without the We have met with it in the Com lift of names. mercial Advertifer of the 2oth September, 1800, and
the Daily Advertifer, 22d September, 1800, both in New York. Alfo in the Gazette of the United
States
and Daily Advertifer of 2jd September, 1800,

only comments of the Bofton prefs on the
in Philadelphia.
The
fubject which we have feen indicate that it was sim ply carrying out the original defign of the act, to abate
2
pauperifm ;
but references to
it
in the
New York and
Philadelphia papers
1
hint at another probable caufe

the Colored Patriots of the
Mr.
Nell, in his
work on
American Revo
lution, notices
Bofton, in
(pp. 96-97), an African Benevolent Society, inftituted at He fays, its benevolent objects were fet forth in the pre 1796.
"
its loyalty as follows the fame time, as true and faithful citizens of the
amble, which alfo expressed
Behaving
ourfelves, at
we
live,
and that we take no one into the Society

of their
the
"
Commonwealth in which who fhall commit any in
justice or outrage againft the laws
members of
above
African
Society."
A comparifon of this
members were
country."
He
adds a
lift
lift
of the
with that
mows
"
that one fourth of the
driven out of the
Com
monwealth
in 1800.
2 See The Independent Chronicle Africanus," in Advertifery Bofton, September 25, 1800.
and
the Universal
237
of this
ftatute.
flringent
and fweeping application of the
In the year 1800, the whole country was excited the difcovery of an alleged plot for a general infurby rection of negroes at the South. Gabriel, the negro-
though not the only victim. The affair aflumed at once a very ferious afpect, and the alarm was "awful" in Virginia and South Caro The party violence of the day was not flow to lina. make ufe of it, and it was doubtlefs true, that the principles of Liberty and Equality had been in fome
general, was the
"hero,"
degree infufed into the minds of the negroes, and that the incautious and intemperate ufe of thefe words by cc fierce democracie" of that day in Virginia may the
have infpired them with hopes of fuccefs. But the alarm was not confined to Virginia.
Even
in Bofton, fears were exprefTed and meafures of pre N. T. Advertijer, Sept. 26, 1800. vention adopted. The Gazette of the United States and Daily Advertifer, by C. P. Wayne, Vol. xvin., No. 2493,
Philadelphia, September 23, 1800, copies the

"
"No
tice
"
with thefe remarks
following notice has been publifhed in the Bofton papers : It feems probable, from the nature
The
of the notice, that fome fufpicions of the defign of the negroes are entertained, and we regret to fay there
is
too
much
caufe."
Such was the

tions.
act,
and fuch was one of
its
applica
Additional ads were pafTed in 1798 and 1802, but this portion was neither modified nor repealed.
It
appears
change.
the revifed edition of 1807, without In 1821, the Legiflature of MafTachufetts,

in
238
alarmed by "the increafe of a fpecies of population, which threatened to become both injurious and burdenfome," and, fully alive to "the neceffity of check
"
report a into the State of free the admiffion concerning
ing
it,
appointed a committee to
bill
Ne
groes and Mulattoes. In the Houfe of Reprefentatives, June 7, 1821, it was Ordered, that Meflrs. Lyman of Boflon, Bridgeman of Belchertown, Chandler of Lexington, be
"
Committee to take into confideration the expediency of making any alterations in the laws of this Com monwealth concerning the admiflion into a refidence
a
in this State of
Negroes and Mulattoes, with leave to
Journals, Vol. XLII., 62. report by bill or otherwife." On the I4th of June, the journal notes a Report on
the Free Negroes, detailing a ftatement of fads, and authorizing the appointment of a committee to report Read and accepted, and the a bill at the next feffion.
fame gentlemen were appointed.

next day, the
a
Ibid., 121.
On
the
Houfe
refufed to reconfider the vote for
committee, etc. Ibid., 129. At the next feffion, on the I5th of January, 1822, a "report of the Committee appointed at the laft
feffion
concerning the admiffion into this State of Free Negroes, praying to be difcharged from that
ordered to
accepted."
and the fame was fubjecl, was read, The was afterwards fame the table.
174.
lie
on
Ibid.,
This report, written by Theodore Lyman, Jr., chairman of the Committee, was printed. It justifies the motive which induced the appointment of the Committee by the following ftatements "that the
:
239
black convicts in the State Prifon, on the firft of Jan uary, 1821, formed 146^ part of the black population
of the State, while the white convicts, at the fame time, formed but 2140 part of the white population.
It
is
believed that a fimilar proportion will be found

all
to exift in
public eftablimments of this State; as

as
Poor-Houfes."
it
well
Prifons
cc
The Committee,
the refearch
however,
found
impoffible, after all
and deliberation
in their
power
to beftow
on the fub-
to accomplifh that duty which they undertook ject, by the direction of the Houfe of Reprefentatives.
They have not

vifions of
fucceeded in preparing a
bill,
the pro-
Houfe.
this
which they could conjcientioufly vindicate to this They have already found in the Statute Books of
in
Commonwealth, a law faffed
1788, regulating the

they be
enforced, and, ineffec
refidence in this State

lieve that this
of certain perfons of color
law has never been
has proved, they would never have been the authors of placing among the Statutes, a law Jo arbitrary in its principles, and in its operation Jo little accordant
tual as
it
with the
this
inftitutions, feelings,
Commonwealth.
and practices of the people of The Hiftory of that law has well
convinced the Committee that
no meafure (which
they could devife) would be attended with the fmalleft
good confequence. That it would have been mat ter of fatisfaction and congratulation to the Commit
tee if they
framing a law, which mould have received the approbation of this Legiflain
had fucceeded
and mould have promifed to check and finally to overcome an evil upon which they have never been able to look with unconcern. But a law, which
ture,
ftiould
produce that
effect,
would
entirely depart
from
240
that love of humanity, that refpect for hofpitality and for the juft rights of all clafTes of men, in the conftant
and
of which, the inhabitants of MafTachufetts have been fingularly confpicuous."

fuccefsful exercife
The committee, however,

of 1788.
did not
recommend
Is it poffible to avoid the repeal of the act inference that the true reafon of their failure to report
fuch as they were inftructed to prepare, was that they confidered the State amply protected by
a
bill,
new
the old law
It appears again in the revifed laws of 1823. An other additional act was parTed in 1825, but without
alteration of the provision againft negroes ; and this cc fo arbitrary in its principle, and in its opera ftatute, tion fo little accordant with the inftitutions, feelings
and
practices of the people of the Commonwealth," continued to difgrace the Statute-Book of MarTachufetts until
the
firft
day of April,
834, after which time
Although this committee did not accomplifh their afllgned taflc, they did achieve a further report, by way of addition, which deferves notice. it does not comport with the dignity of this State, to agreed that
1
"
They
withhold that brief ftatement of fats, to be found in its annals, concerning a ftatement which will prove the abolition of this trade in MafTachufetts
both highly honorable, and in perfeft accordance with that remarkable of wholefome and rational liberty, by which this Commonwealth has fpirit been greatly diftinguifhed from the earlieft period. But to the clear underthis fubjeft, the committee think ftanding and better elucidation of
it
ufeful
to introduce the following fhort account of the exiftence of Slavery in In the elaborate ftatement which follows, there are no im Maflachufetts."
to the reader of thefe notes ; portant fafts which are not already familiar but there is one idea which has, at leaft, the merit of novelty. After giving the general ftatiftics of the flave population, down to the time of the
"
Revolution, they fay,
Thefe
flaves
Dutch, from America

.
the
in Ne-iv
.
Tork, from the
were procured in feveral ways either Southern provinces in North

trade,"
Few came by
a direft
etc.
its
241
undiftinguifhed repeal, (in the general repealing fection of an act of March 29th, 1834, for the regu
lation of Gaols
left
"
and Houfes of Correction,) no longer

"
public opinion
to regulate its enforcement.
the exception of the repeal, already mentioned, ante, p. 59, of the law pro hibiting the intermarriage of whites with Indians, here
reft.
And
we
With
Negroes, or Mulattoes, and the obfcure ftatute of 1863, which terminated the long exclufion of the lat
ter
from the ranks of the State

laft
militia,
and perhaps
legiflation
obliterated the
veftige
of the formal
of
MafTachufetts againft them, there is nothing in the fubfequent hiftory or politics of the State relating to
The anti-flavery agita the fubject of thefe Notes. tions of the laft thirty years, in which Maflachufetts
has borne fo confpicuous a part, have little if any hiftorical connection with the exiftence of Slavery in
that
Commonwealth, As
"
"agreed
on
all hands," it
;"
was
confldered as abolimed and during and contefts which have ftormy portentous the of the it has been nation, changed hiftory put cc remembered only as for afide and covered," and
undoubtedly
thefe
"
gotten."
The
reader of thefe Notes cannot
fail
to notice the
ftrong refemblance in the mode of the extinction of flavery in Maflachufetts and that of villenage in
16
242
England.
1785, that
fifl
Notes on the Hiftory, Etc.
Of
the
latter
Lord Mansfield
faid,
in
"villains
in grofs
may
in point of law fub-
But the change of manners and cus toms has effectually abolifhed them in point of fad."
at this day.
If the parallel may be continued, Ante, p. 115, note. it could be faid with equal juftice that flavery, hav
ing never been formally prohibited by legiflation in
Maflachufetts, continued to "fubfift in point of law" until the year 1866, when the grand Conftitutional Amendment terminated it forever throughout the
limits
leaft
of the United States.
It
would be not the

although vir prohibition of
remarkable of the circumftances connected with
this ftrange
tually
and eventful
before,
hiftory, that,
abolifhed
the
actual
Kentucky, mould be accomplimed by the votes of South Carolina and

flavery in Maflachufetts as well as
Georgia.
APPENDIX.
A.
THE MILITARY EMPLOYMENT

neceffities
OF NEGROES IN MASSACHUSETTS.
THE
ments,
of the
fituation, for a
made everybody
a foldier
few years after the firft fettleindeed, put arms in the hands of
women and children. The General Court made

"
an order on the 27th of May, 1652, Scotfmen, Negeres and Indians inhabiting with or fervants to the Englilh from the age of fixteen to fixty years, fhal be lifted, and
that
all
are hereby enjoyned to attend traynings as well as the
Englifh."
At
the feffion in
it
May, 1656, however,

and Indians,
this
order was repealed,

:
fo far as
related to negroes
"
as follows
For the better ordering and
fettling
of
feverall cafes in the mili
tary companyes within this jurifdidlion, which, upon experience, are found either wanting or inconvenient, it is ordered and declared by this
thereof, that henceforth no negroes or Indians, although fervants to the Englifh, fhal be armed or permitted to trayne, and y* no other perfon mall be exempted from trayning but fuch as fome law doth priviledge, or fome of the county courts or courts of
Court and the authoritie
affiftants,
after
notice
of the partyes
defires, to
the officers of each

difmifs."
company
to
which they belonge, upon

1
juft caufe, fhal

"
The
vice,"
law, as printed in
years,"
age of fixteen
to
"
660, required every perfon above the duely attend all Military Exercife and fer-
with certain exceptions.

thofe
Neither Indians, Negroes, or Slaves

it is
are
at
among
exempted
but
reafonably certain that they were
no time permitted
to bear
arms during the period from 1656 down
to the
commencement of
the Revolution.
Gov.
Bradftreet, in
May,
1680, expreflly ftates, in anfwer to an inquiry
from the Committee for

able to bear arms
Trade and
"
Plantations as to the
number of men
We
account
all
generally from fixteen
to fixty that are healthfull
244
Appendix.
and ftrong bodys, both Houfholders and Servants fit to bear Armes, M. H. S. Coll., except Negros and Slaves, whom wee or me not"
HI., viii.,
336.
of
The next enaftment on the fubjeft was in the brief admmiftration Sir Edmund Andros. The Ad for fettling the militia, enafted by
terri
"
very unpopular Governor and his Council for his Majefty s tory and dominion of New England, March 24, 1687, provided
this
that
no perfon whatfbever above fixteen years of age remain unlifted by themfelves, matters, miftrefles or employers." Negroes and Indians
are not exempted by any provifion of this aft
; but it is extremely One of the ever went into practical operation. moft obnoxious of his meafures was his attempt to control the militia
doubtful whether
it
in
England. This is, however, not very important ; for after the Revolution and the eftablifhment of the new Province charter, Englifh the earlieft of the laws was the aft for regulating the militia among
New
1693
In Sewall
by which Indians and negroes were exempted from all trainings. As s traft againft flavery in 1 700 (ante, p. 84), he fays,
"
many Negro Men

there in our Train
as there are
Bands."
among
us, fo
many empty
places are
later publication in the
Bofton
News
Letter, June loth, 1706,
mows
that "Negroes
do not carry Arms to
defend the Country as Whites do," and further, that they could not be employed as fubftitutes for whites who were impreffed or drafted,
(ante, p. 107,)
A
amble
"
illuft rates
is
1 707 fubfequent aft for the regulating of free negroes, &c., The recital in the pre their exaft pofition more clearly.
that
in the feveral towns and precinfts within this province, there are feveral free negroes, and mulattoes able of body, and fit for
Whereas,
labor
who are
not charged with trainings, watches, and other fervices

s
required of her Majeftie benefit," &c.
fubjefts
whereof they have mare
in the
The
aft, therefore,
to trainings, &c., each able-bodied free
provided that they mould do fervice equivalent negro or mulatto fo many days*
benefit
work yearly
In
in repairing of the highways, cleanfing the llreets, or other
fervice for the
common common with all
of the place.
See ante, pp. 60, 61.
able to bear arms, they
their appearance at parade in cafes of ludden alarms,
were required to make where they were

officer
to attend fuch fervice as the
firft
commiffioned
of the military
Appendix.
company of
their prccindl fhould direct, during the time the
245
company
or, at
continued in arms.
rate, a fervice
This obvioufly points to menial fervice, different from that of the enrolled militia.
of things continued
the
any
This
ftate
down
firft
to the
commencement of the
adl
war of
aft
the Revolution, and
contemporary
mows
that
negroes could not be legally enrolled at that time.
The
general militia
dians,
of 1775, in providing for the enrolment, excepts "Negroes, In and mulattoes." The aft of May, 1776, providing for a rein
"
forcement to the American army, provides that Indians, negroes, and mulattoes, mail not be held to take up arms or procure any perfbn to do it in their room." The aft of November 14, 1776, to provide
reinforcements to the American army, excepts
mulattoes,"
"
Negroes, Indians, and
and the explanatory refolve parted on the 2pth of the fame
month
The refolve in alfo excepts "Indians, negroes, mulattoes, &c." the fame year for taking the number of all male inhabitants above fix"
teen years of age excepts
Indians, negroes,
and
mulattoes."
This
cenfus was doubtlefs taken with a view to the approaching neceflity for
a draft, and even here they are excluded, although they were apparently included in the poll-lifts at the fame time being rateable polls, if not
free citizens.
It
of
776-7 came
was only when the preflure of the terrible reverfes of the winter that they were included in the number of perfons
liable to draft.
January 6, 1777, was "for raifing every our and without any exceptions, complete quota," one feventh of all male perfons of fave the people called Quakers" A refolve in Auguft of the fame year fixteen years old and upwards.
refolve,
The
feventh
man
to
"
was
But this proceeding was not fimilar in its objeft and character. allowed to pafs without remonftrance, not by the negroes, but the white men. In the MafTachufetts Legiflature, March 5, 1778, a petition of Benjamin Goddard in behalf of the feleftmen, committee of fafety,
and
militia officers of the town of Grafton, praying that they may be excufed from raifing a feventh part of the blacks in faid town, they
being exempt from military duty and free occupants on their

eftate,
own
was read, and the petitioner had leave to withdraw his petition. During the remainder of the war the law appears to have regarded
"
as liable to military duty
or plantation within
at the
this State the
any perfon living or refiding in any town term of three months together but
;"
fame time, although they had the benefit of the example of
246
Rhode
{laves,
Appendix.
Ifland in the organization of their famous regiment of negro an attempt in Maflachufetts to authorize the formation of a does not appear to have been deemed advifable at the fimilar corps
"
time."
The war came

militia aft, pafled
to
an end, and, foon

"
March
after, the very firft general revived the old feature, and con 10, 1785,
"
tinued the exemption of from both negroes, Indians, and mulattoes train-band and alarm-lift. In the time of the infurreftion in 1786,
infurgents, to the
negroes offered their fervices to Governor Bowdoin, to go againft the number of feven hundred ; but the Council did not
advife fending them.
The
the
"
fubftance of the next law

"
way of putting
it
is the fame, although they changed by adopting the language of the United States
which negroes do not appear cluded in the enrolment.

law. in
"
among
the exempts, but are ex
The militia law of June 22, 1793, authorizes the enrolment of each and every free, able-bodied white male citizen of this, or any other of the United States, refiding within this Commonwealth,"
between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years y fave as excepted. This exclulion from military employment, and the privilege of
bearing arms, continued apparently without change until the year 1863, when, by Chapter 193 of the A6b of that year, approved April 27,
1
863, the Maflachufetts laws were

States,
made
to
conform
to thofe
of the
as
United
which had already recognized and accepted the negro
a foldier.
B.
ADDITIONAL NOTES, ETC.
Page 21. On the 9th of November, 1716, P.M., was prefented Houfe of Reprefentatives of Maflachufetts a Petition of Wil liam Brown, fon of a Freeman, by a Servant Woman, and has been fold as a flave, and is at prefent owned by Mr. Andrew Eoardman,
i.
to the
"
mowing
if this
that his faid Mafter will fet

will
him
at liberty,
and make him Free,
indemnify him from the Law relating to the Manumiflion of Negroes, as to maintaining of him in cafe of Age, Difability
Court
etc.,
Praying the Court to indemnify
him."
On
a
the following day, this Petition

:
was
"
further confidered,
and
the following
Vote pafled thereon, viz. Inafmuch as the Petitioner is able-bodied Man, and it cannot be fuppofed, that he is Manuyoung
Appendix.
mitted,
247
by
his
that the Prayer of the Petitioner be Granted.
Mafter, to avoid charge in fupporting him, Ordered^ And that the Petitioner
be deemed Free,
be given to indemnify the
and
in cafe
by his Mafter, although no fecurity where he dwells from charge by him, the Petitioner mail hereafter want Support, his faid Mafter
when
fet at liberty
Town
mail not be obliged to be at the charge thereof, any Law, Ufage, or Cuftom to the contrary notwithftanding." This order was fent up for
concurrence, concurred in and confented to by the Governor on the
fame day, November loth, 1716. Journal H. of R.j p. 36. General Court Records, x., p. 108.
2.
Page
firft
in the
51. Maflachufetts has enjoyed the diftinclion of appearing Cenfus of the United States without any flaves among her
population.
"
The
following anecdote connected with this fubjecl,
it is
believed,
has never been
made public. In 1 790 a cenfus was ordered by General Government then newly eftablilhed, and the Marfhal of
the
the
Maflachufetts diftrift had the care of making the furvey.

:
When
he
if any one faid that inquired forjlaves, moft people anfwered none he had one, the marfhal would afk him if he meant to be fingular, and
would
then was,
lift
that na other perfon had given in any. The anfwer If none are given in, I will not be fingular and thus the was completed without any number in the column for flaves." Life,
tell
him
"
;"
of Belknap, pp. 164-5.

Dr. Belknap
1795,
federal
is
s
own
account of
this cenfus,
written and publifhed in
as follows:
"In
government three columns for
1790, a cenfus of the United States was made by order of the the fchedule fent out on that occaflon contained ;
free
State of Maflachufetts
and
whites of feveral defcriptions, which, in the diftricl of Maine, amounted to 469,326; a

perfons,"
fourth for
"
all
other free
and
a fifth for
"
flaves."
There
being none put into the laft column, it became neceflary to put the blacks, with the Indians, into the fourth column, and the amount was Of this number, I fuppofe the blacks were upwards of 4000; 6001.
and of the remaining 2000, many were a mixed breed, between Indians ... In the fame cenfus, as hath been before obferved, and blacks
.
no
flaves are fet
down
to Maflachufetts.
This return, made by the
marfhal of the
abolition
diftrift,
may
be confidered as the formal evidence of the

efpecially as
ofjlavery in MafTachufetts,
no perfon has ap-
248
Appendix.
return."
peared to conteft the legality of the

199, 204.
3.
M. H.
S. Coll.,
i.,
iv.,
Page
"
53. In 1718, a committee of both Houfes prepared a bill
entitled
Aft for the Encouraging the Importation of White Male and the preventing the Clandeftine bringing in of Negroes and Molattoes." It was read in Council a firft time on the i6th of
Servants,
"
An
June, and alfo read a
fent
down recommended
"
"
to the
firft
time on the fame day.
The
next day
Houfe, where it was it was read a
fecond time, and

negative."
on the queftion
for a third reading, decided in the
Journal H. of R.,
15, 16.
General Court Records,
x.,
282.
4.
Pages 54, 90. The Aft of 1705, Chapter

it
6,
underwent fome
had pafled in the Houfe. It was read in Council on Monday the 3d of December, 1705, a firft time, "as The next day it was read a paff d in the Houfe of Reprefentatives."
changes in the Council, after
fecond and third time

to."
"
On
5.
the 5th
it
was
with fome Amendments and Additions agreed "Read and Voted to be pafled into an Aft."
General Court Records, vin., 187, 188, 190.
Page
61.
draft of
Governor Dudley
letter "concerning
Indian Captives from Carolina," was prefented and approved in the Houfe of Reprefentatives on the I5th of June, 1715. Journal, 28.
6.
Page
65.
recent examination of the collection of
Tax-Afts
in the pofleffion of Ellis
us to add that
Ames, Efq., of Canton, Maflachufetts, enables Indian, Negro, and Mulatto fervants were eftimated pro-
portionably as other perfonal eftate, according to the found judgment and difcretion of the Afleflbrs in each and every year from 1727 to
we have
fame
The afts for thefe years 1775, excepting 1730, 1731, 1749, 1750. not feen, but it is reafonably certain that the provifion was the
That of 1776 was probably fimilar to that as in all the others. of 1777, in which the Poll-Tax is levied on Male Polls above 16 years of age, including Negroes and Mulattoes, and fuch of them that are
under the government of a Mafter or Miftrefs, to be taxed to the faid Mafter or Miftrefs refpeftively, in the fame manner as Minors and
This method continued to 1791. The aft of Apprentices are taxed. minors, 1793 omits the mention of Negroes and Mulattoes, taxing
"
the In 1803, fuch as are under as above. apprentices and fervants immediate government" of a mafter, etc. In 1805, the fervants are
"
"
omitted, and there
is
a feparate feftion concerning minors.
Appendix.
"
249
"
Page 94, and note. With reference to the flave s right to Re we fhould have added a word refpefting the peculiar feparaligion,"
/.
tion
"
"
fear of polluting the
of the religious people of Maflachufetts and their well-known to which was afcribed, in this ordinances
;"
"
proper means to make men godly," very connection, that neglect of the mifery of New England." Stoddard^s which became Anfwer to
"
fome
Cafes of Confcience,
"
etc.,
1722, p.
12.
It
was the opinion of
this
writer that
if
they (fervants)
as the
had proper Helps, they might be

Ibid.
as
forward in Religion,
8.
Engtijfh"
Pages 97, 101.
Inftruftions fimilar to thofe given to
Andros in
1688 (ante, pp. 51-2, 96) were repeated to fubfequent governors of We have found no act pafled in accordance with the various colonies.
thefe
inftru&ions in Maflachufetts,
or any other colony or province
a law was enacted, in which Hampfhire excepting the diftindlion noted in the text between the Chriftian fervants or
;
New
where fuch
flaves,
and the Indians and Negroes,
is
emphatically illuftrated.
The
:
Province
Law
of 1718, Chap. 70,
is
as follows (Edit.
1771, p* 101)
An Ad for
retraining
Inhuman
Severities.
I. BE IT ENACTED by His EXCELLENCY the GOVERNOR, COUNCIL, and REPRESENTATIVES, convened in GENERAL ASSEMBLY, and it is here by ENACTED by the AUTHORITY of the fame , That for the prevention
and
reflraining
inhuman
feverities,
which by
evil mafters
or overfeers
may
be ufed towards their Chriftian fervants, that from and after the publication hereof, if any man frriite out the eye or tooth of his man-
fervant or maid-fervant, or otherwife

unlefs
it
maim
or disfigure them much,
be by meer cafualty, he mall let him or her go free from his fervice, and mail allow fuch further recompence as the court of quarter
feflions (hall
2.
adjudge him.
IT
is
AND
further ENACTED, and ORDAINED by the AUTHORITY

any perfon or perfons whatever within this province Indian or negro fervant or fervants, he mail be
aforejaid.
That
kill
if
mail wilfully
his
punifhed with death.

It
is
true, that Chriftian fervants

"
were protected
"
in Maflachufetts
law refpecVmg the liberties of fervants from which the provifions of the firft feftion of the foregoing law were copied ; but the relations of the Indian and Negro flaves and their mafters were ftill
by the
carlieft
250
Appendix.
regulated in accordance with the contemporary ftandards of opinion the law of God eftablifhed in concerning what was morally required by
"
Ifrael,"
or what
may be
defcribed as the New-Englifh-Hebrew-Chriftian
common
"
or cuftomary law.
is
The
familiar phrafe
"
treated worfe than
a ne^ro
hiftorical in MaflTachufetts.
Sewall s Diary, Ottober zotki

i.,
1701, quoted in Ouincy s Harv. Coll.,
490.
9. Pages 126-28. On the 25th of June, 1766, a petition was prefented in the Houfe of Reprefentatives, from Ezekiel Wood, the repre-
fentative for the
town of Uxbridge,
fetting forth that there
were in
faid
town two aged and infirm negroes not belonging there, etc. On the 28th, this petition was difmifled, and a Committee was appointed to bring in a bill at the next feflion for preventing Fraud in the fale of
Negroes.
led
An
a Bill intitu of November, in the fame year, read a firft A61 to prevent Frauds in the fale of Negroes was
On
the
"
ift
"
"
time and ordered a fecond reading on Tuefday next at Ten o clock." On the 4th, it was read a fecond time and recommitted for amendment.
The
mittee.
draft of the bill
is
preferved, as well as the report of the
com
450.
Mafs. Archives, Dome/lie Relations, 1643-1774, ^.9,449, It was intended to prevent fraudulent fales made by the original
Under its proto perfons of no refponfibility. purchafers or owners vifions, the towns were authorized to bring actions againft the next and each and every vendor from the original purvendor of
ability,
chafer or
owner was made
liable.
In
this
way
the maintenance of the
be provided for without charge to the towns. pauper negroes was to We find no further proceedings on the fubjeft until the 4th of
June,
1
767,
when
"
the
"
and
to provide for their
Bill to prevent Fraud in the fale of Negroes was read, and the Secretary was maintenance
"
ordered to
lay
on the Table the Aft
for laying a duty
of Import on
the Importation of
Negro or other Slaves

as
into this
feen,
it
Province,"
which
he accordingly did. The latter bill, the two houfes in March previous.
time,
we have
had
fallen
between
at this
Whether
to devife
was propofed,
by bringing them together
fome new movement on
the fubjeft
trace of further aftion
of either or both, we cannot afcertain, having found no upon them.
Appendix.
C. JUDGE BAFFIN
S
251
REPLY TO JUDGE SEWALL, 1701.
WHILE thefe meets are paffing through the prefs, we are kindly favored with the opportunity to make ufe of this extremely rare and are valuable, if not unique tract, from which we copy below.
We
indebted to the
generous
and
liberal courtefy
of GEORGE BRINLEY,
Efq., of Hartford,
Connecticut, for this moft interefting and import
ant addition to our work.
Compare
ante, pp. 83-88.
"
A
"
Brief and Candid Anfwer to a late Printed

Sheet, Entituled,
The
Selling of Jofeph.
THAT
Sheet, Entituled,
Honourable and Learned Gentleman, the Author of a The Selling of Jofeph, A Memorial, feems from
this
thence to draw very

ill
conclufion,
that becaufe the Sons of
Jacob did
in felling their Brother

it
is
Jofeph
to the I/hmaelites,
who were
Negroes, though among Chriftians; which Conclufion I prefume is not well drawn from the Premifes, nor is the cafe parallel ; for it was unlawful
for the Israelites to Sell their Brethren upon any account, or pretence But it was not unlawful for the Seed of Abra whatfoever during life. ham to have Bond men, and Bond women either born in their Houfe,
Heathens, therefore
utterly unlawful to
Buy and
Sell
or bought with their

14.
Money,
1
as
6.
it
is
written of
Abraham, Gen.
46
v.
14.
&? 21.
10.
6? Exod. 21.
:
Levit. 25. 44. 45,
After the
giving of the
the Gibeomtes
"
Law
is
And
in
a fufficient proof
little
Jojh. 9. 23. That famous Example of where there no other.
To
to
fpeak a
to the
Gentlemans
firft
Aflertion
That none
ought part with their Liberty themfelves, or deprive others of it but upon mature con/ideration ; a prudent exception, in which he
grants, that
Liberty.
denies
it,
of Adam
confideration a man may be deprived of his then prefently in his next Pofition or Aflertion he viz. : It is moft certain, that all men as they are the Sons are. Coheirs, and, have equal right to Liberty, and all other
upon fome
And
Comforts of Life, which he would prove out of Psal. 115. 16. The Earth hath he given to the Children of Men. True, but what is all this to the purpofe, to prove that all men have equal right to
Liberty, and
all
outward comforts of
this life
which Pofition feems
252
to
Appendix.
Order
that
God hath fet in the World, who hath and orders of men, fome to be High and Honourable, fbme to be Low and Defpicable ; fome to be Monarchs, Kings, Princes and Governours, Mafters and Commanders, others to
invert the
Ordained
different degrees
be Subjects, and to be
degrees,
Commanded;
;
Servants of fundry forts
and
bound
to
main during their be a meer parity among men, contrary to 1 2 from the 1 3 to the 26 verse, where he
parifon) the different forts
obey yea, fome to be born Slaves, and so to re Otherwife there would lives, as hath been proved.
that of the Apoftle,
fets
I
Cor.
forth (by
way of com-
of the Members of the Body, inbut not equal, and of like dignity. So God hath fet different Orders and Degrees of Men in the World, both in Church and Common weal. Now, if this Pofition of parity
and
of
offices
digitating that they are all
ufe,
mould be
true,
it
would then follow

in the
that the ordinary Courfe of Divine
World mould be wrong, and unjuft, (which we muft not dare to think, much lefs to affirm) and all the facred Rules, Precepts and Commands of the Almighty which he hath given the Son
Providence of
God
of
Men to obferve and keep in their refpe&ive Places, Orders and Degrees, would be to no purpofe ; which unaccountably derogate from the Divine Wifdom of the moft High, who hath made nothing in vain,
all his
but hath Holy Ends in "In the next place,
this
Difpenfations to the Children of men. worthy Gentleman makes a large Difcourfe
concerning the Utility and Conveniency to keep the one, and inconveniency of the other; refpedling white and black Servants, which
conduceth moft to the welfare and benefit of

concludes to be white men,
before Blacks
;
this
Province
which he
who
are in
?
many
it
refpefts to be preferred
it
is
who
doubts that
doth
therefore follow, that
Servants (for altogether unlawful for Chriflians to buy and keep Negro in Confcience have them thofe but that that this is the Thefis) ought
to fet
live in
them
free,
any known
it
tion whether
money they coft (for we muft not to be his opinion ; but it is a Ques feems fin) But if he could ever was the Gentleman s practice ?
and
fo lofe all the
this
perfwade the General Aflembly to
make an Aft, That
all
that have
the Publick Negroes, and do fet them free, mail be Re imburfed out of into the Treafury, and that there mail be no more Negroes brought he Country ; tis probable there would be more of his opinion ; yet for thereto to confent the ; would find it a hard tafk to bring Country
Appendix.
253
then the Negroes muft be all fent out of the Country, or elfe the remedy would be worfe than the Difeafe ; and it is to be feared that
thofe Negroes that are free, if there be not
fome
ftricl
courfe taken with
them by Authority, they will be a plague to this Country. Again, If it mould be unlawful to deprive them that
"
are lawful
Captives, or
Bondmen of
their
feems to be more unlawful to
being Heathens ; it deprive our Brethren, of our own or
Liberty for
Life
other Chriftian Nations of the Liberty, (though but for a time) by binding them to Serve fome Seven, Ten, Fifteen, and fome Twenty
Years, which oft times proves for their whole Life, as
many have been
which
this
in
effecl: is
the fame in Nature, though different in the time, yet
was allow d among the
conftant practice of our the
Jews by the Law of God ; and is the own and other Chriftian Nations in the World
:
which our Author by his Dogmatical AfTertions doth condemn as Irreligious ; which is Diametrically contrary to the Rules and Precepts which
"
God
And
tive Stations, Callings,
hath given the diverfity of men to obferve in their refpecand Conditions of Life, as hath been obferved.
to illuftrate his Aflertion our
Comparifon the
Law
of
God
againft
man
Author brings in by way of Stealing, on pain of Death

s
:
Intimating thereby, that Buying and Selling of Negro fevere Sentence that Law, and fo deferves Death :
is
a breach of
But herein he
begs the Queftion with a

there
is
Caveat Emptor.
to the People
For, in that very
Chapter
a Difpenfation
of Israel, to have Bond men,
Women
and Children, even of their own Nation in fome cafe ; and Rules given therein to be obferved concerning them ; Verfe the ^th. And in the before cited place, Levit. 25. 44, 45, 46. Though the Israelites were forbidden (ordinarily) to make Bond men and Women
of their
own
Nation, but of Strangers they might
the words run thus,
verse 44.
Both thy Bond men, and thy Bond maids which thou Jhalt have Jliall be of the Heathen, that are round about you : of them
13.
JJiall you
the
"
Buy Bond men and Bond maids, &c. See also, i Cor. 12. Free, which mows that in the times of New Teftament, there were Bond men alfo, &c. In fine, The fum of this long Haurange, is no other, than to com
Whether we be Bond or
of Men, and the pare the Buying and Selling of Negro s unto the Stealing no bears his which Brethren, proportion therewith, Selling of Jofeph by
nor
is
there any congruiety therein, as appears
by the foregoing Texts.
254
"
Appendix.
his
Our Author doth further proceed to anfwer fome Obje&ions of own framing, which he fuppofes fome might raife.
"Obj
eft.
i.
That
thefe
Blackamores are of the Posterity of
therefore under the Curfeof Slavery. Gen. 9. 25, 26, 27. The which the Gentleman feems to deny, faying, they ware the Seed
Cham, and
of Canaan
"
Curfed, &c. Whether they were fo or Anjw.
that were
not,
we
or
mall not difpute
this
may
not only the feed of Captives of other Heathen Nations

fuffice, that
"
Canaan, but any lawful may be made Bond men as hath
Cham
been proved.
into places
That the Negroes are brought out of Pagan Countreys where the Gofpel is Preached. To which he Replies, that we mujl not doe Evil that Good may come of it. Anf. To which we anfwer, That it is no Evil thing to bring
Obj,
2.
"
them out of
"
their
own Heathenish Country, where
they
may have
the
Knowledge of the True God, be Converted and Eternally faved. Obj. 3. The AfFricans have Wars one with another ; our Ships
bring lawful Captives taken in thofe Wars.
"
To
which our Author anfwers Conjefturally, and Doubtfully, for
ought we know, that which may or may not be ; which is infignificant, and proves nothing. He alfo compares the Negroes Wars, one Nation with another, with the Wars between Jofeph and his Brethren. But
where doth he read of any fuch War ? We read indeed of a Domeftick Quarrel they had with him, they envyed and hated Jofeph ;
but by what is Recorded, he was meerly paffive and meek as a Lamb. This Gentleman farther adds, That there is not any War but is on onefide, &c. Be it fo, what doth that fignify We read of unjiifl
:
lawful Captives taken in the Wars, and lawful to be Bought and Sold without contracting the guilt of the Agrejfors ; for which we have the example of Abraham before quoted ; but if we muft ftay while both
parties
all to
Warring are in the right, there would be no lawful Captives at be Bought ; which feems to be rediculous to imagine, and contrary to the tenour of Scripture, and all Humane Hiftories on that fubjecl:.
"Obj.
4.
Abraham had
born in his Houfe.
Gen. 14. 14.
Servants bought with his Money, and To which our worthy Author
anfwers, until the Circumftances of Abraham s no Argument can be drawn from it.
pur chafe
be recorded,
Appendix.
"
255
AnJ.
nothing.
To which we Reply, this is alfo Dogmatical, and proves He farther adds, In the mean time Charity Obliges us to
knew
it
conclude, that he
yields the cafe
;
was lawful and good.

are in Charity
Here
the gentleman
for if
we
bound
to believe
Abrahams
practice, in buying
good
all
then
is
it
and keeping Slaves in his houfe to be lawful and follows, that our Imitation of him in this his Moral
; who is the Father of Rom. 4. 1 6. of all, Our Author Quotes two more places of Scrip
Action,
as
warrantable as that of his Faith

believe.
them that
"
In the clofe
and Jer. 34, from the 8. to the 22. v. ; Levit. 25. 46, prove that the people of Ifrael were ftridly forbidden the Buying and Selling one another for Slaves : who queftions that ? and what is
ture, viz.
To
that to the cafe in
hand ?
What
ftrange
Sell
piece of Logick
is
this ?
Tis unlawful for Chriflians to Buy and
one another for
flaves.
Ergo,
"
It is
unlawful to
Buy and
Sell
Negroes that are lawful CaptivM

all
Heathens.
And
after a Serious
Exhortation to us
to
Love one another

5,
This 43, 44. worthy Gentleman concludes with this Aflertion, That thefe Ethiopeans as Black as they are, feeing they are the Sons and Daughters of the firft Adam; the Brethren and Sifters of the Second Adam,
according
to
the
Command
of Christ.
Math.
and
"
the Offspring
of God ; we ought
it
to treat
them with a
refpetl
agreeable.
Ans.
We
it
grant
for a certain
and undeniable
verity,
That
all
Mankind
are the Sons and Daughters of Adam-)
and the Creatures of

are
God
deny
lieve
But
doth not therefore follow that
we
bound
to love
and refpecl
;
all
men
alike
this
under favour we
fee
mud
take leave to
we
ought in charity,
in a regular
Eftates, as to
if
we
our Neighbour in want, to re

are not
them
way, but
much of our
Kinfmen
to love,
:
bound to give them fo make them equal with our felves, because
we
they are our Brethren, the Sons of
Adam,
no, not our

all,
own
natural
We
are Exhorted to do
good unto
but
them who are of the Houjhold of Faith, Gal. 6. 10. honour and refpeft all men according to the gift of God that I may love is in them my Servant well, but my Son better;
:
efpecially to And we are
begins at
home,
it
would be a
violation of
common
Charity prudence, and a
breach of good manners, to treat a Prince
like a Peafant.
And
this
256
Appendix.
worthy Gentleman would deem himfelf much negle&ed, if we mould mow him no more Defference than to an ordinary Porter And there
:
fore thefe florid expreflions, the Sons
and Daughters of the Firft Adam, the Brethren and Sifters of the Second Adam, and the Offspring of God, feem to be mifapplied to import and infmuate, that we ought to
all
tender Pagan Negroes with

the beft of men.
love, kindnefs,
and equal refpect
as to
By all which it doth evidently appear both by Scripture and Reafon, the practice of the People of God in all Ages, both before and after the giving of the Law, and in the times of the Gofpel, that
"
Bond men, Women and Children commonly kept by holy and good men, and improved in Service ; and therefore by the Com mand of God, Lev. 25, 44, and their venerable Example, we may
there were
keep
Bond men, and
ufe
them
in
our Service
ftill ;
yet with
all
can
dour, moderation and Chriftian prudence, according to their condition confonant to the Word of God.
ftate
and
"
The Negroes
Character.
"
Cowardly and cruel are thofe Blacks Innate, Prone to Revenge, Imp of inveterate hate. them t foon efpies He that
exafperates
in Mischief and Murder
their very eyes.
Libidinous, Deceitful, Falfe
and Rude,
tell,
Thejpume IJJue of Ingratitude. The Premifes confidedd, all may
How
near good Jofeph they are
parallel"
V
|
OF
THE
UNIVERSITY
By
the
same Writer
THE TREASON OF
"Mr.
LEE.
The Treafon of Command in the By GEORGE H.
Society.
Lee
Plan
March
29,
1777."
American
Charles Lee, Major-General, Second in Army of the Revolution.

Librarian of the
MOORE,
i
New York
Hiftorical
Two Steel Portraits, and Two Litho vol., 8vo, cloth. of Three dollars. Fac-fimiles Documents. graph
"
It
is
a clear
in the history of the Revolution.
and most interesting development of one of the strangest events It is as important as it is curious, for the acts and
held so high a rank in the army and in the public estimation
affect the character
motives of a
man who
should be known.
tions
They
of others, and throw light on transac
which could not otherwise be
explained."
JARED SPARKS.
11
Your paper was
certainly the
most instructive one ever presented (within

it
my
observation) to any one of our Historical Societies.

"
far
and near.
The work does you The story
great credit
is
is
full
of
interest,
of facts collected from

I
well told, the criticism careful and discriminating.
feel certain it will bring
cution.
sist
Go
make American
have read
you much reputation for its completeness and manner of exe on ; and you will win honor for yourself, while you will as
it
to
History what
ought
to
be."
GEORGE BANCROFT.
"
it
with great
interest.
It
is
a curious, valuable, and conclusively
argued contribution to our Revolutionary
history."
GULIAN
"
C.
VERPLANCK.
* * * copy of your beautiful monograph. I rejoice that you have found the means (and made such good use of them) of put
I
am
greatly indebted to
you
for a
ting his worthlessness beyond all
question."
EDWARD EVERETT.
I
"
You
have done a good service
to history.
ran
it
through with the greatest

C.
interest."
ROBERT
"
WINTHROP.
Many
thanks
him."
for
<
Lee
Treason.
*
F.
Moore has made out the

(of S. C.)
case against
W.
"
DE SAUSSURE
The Treason
it
of Lee
is
placed beyond doubt, and the original documents estab
lishing
are
Esq., on that
subject."
published in the recent highly valuable monograph of G. Everett s Life of Washington.
H. Moore
(2)
as the most valuable, contribution to our Revolutionary history that has appeared for many a day, and assure our readers that the perusal of its elegant and eloquent pages cannot but repay the few hours that it
s
"
We
commend Mr. Moore
work
will
require."
"
Historical
this
Magazine.
essay to
its
style."
We
commend
the attention of historical students, admiring the

Express.
great pleasure,
simplicity and lucidity of

"
A work
which we have read with
wen
it
^^^
t ] le
attention of our readers, and
we take
great pleasure in
recommending
to
them."
Boston Post.
"
This beautifully printed volume
is
the war of the Revolution.
It establishes
an important contribution to the history of beyond a question the treason of one of
ington."
"
the most distinguished generals of that war, Providence Journal.
who was
second in
command
to
Wash
The
researches of
Mr. Moore
reflect great
credit
on
his industry
and penetra
tion as a historical student,
and we unite with those better capable of judging than
ourselves, that he has brought to light important facts,
which tend more
to clear
up
obscure points in our Revolutionary history than any thing that has appeared since the events alluded to took place." Providence Journal.
"
The volume abounds with
curious details, and will
be read with great interest
by the student of American
history."
N.
T. Tribune.
book."
No
"
student of American history can afford to be without this
R.
I.
Schoolmaster.
One of the most valuable contributions to our Revolutionary history that has * * Mr. Moore s carefulness and ever been published. completeness of re search are fine qualities of the historian, Chris happily exhibited in this volume."
tian
Intelligencer.
"
Sound judgment, thorough research, just appreciation of character, an acute perception of the logical connection of events chronologically disjoined, and a ready
command of clear, precise, and make a volume, which, taken in
appropriate language, have enabled

all
its
Mr. Moore
to
bearings,
may
unhesitatingly be pronounced
the most important monograph ever contributed to the history of the Nciv York Times. pendence."
"
War
of Inde
Crammed with
the valuable results of original investigations.

a
documents never before published, and throwing

interesting episode of the Revolution."
new and unexpected

Post.
light
Alany of the on a very
Evening
Also:
HISTORICAL NOTES
Pamphlet.
8vo.
ON THE EMPLOYMENT
Army
of the Revolution.
Fifty cents.
of Negroes in the American
24 pages.
[PROSPECTUS.]
THE
STATUTES AT LARGE OF NEW-YORK

1664-1691.
The laivs of a nation form the most instructive portion of
its
history"
propose to publish the

first
STATUTES AT LARGE OF
NEW YORK
from 1664
to 1691.
The
tion
English Laws were established in the Province immediately after the reduc
by King Charles
of the Dutch in New-Netherland, by the authority of Letters Patent granted II. to his brother, James, Duke of York, March I2th, 1664.
"
These laws, since known as the Duke s Laws," were altered, explained, and amended by the same authority during the succeeding years until 1683, when the first Representative Assembly met in New- York. Laws were enacted by this
Assembly in that and the following
year,
and a second Assembly met and enacted
others in the year 1685, after the accession of

ever,
James
II. to
the throne.
This,
how
was the only meeting of an Assembly in New- York during his reign for in 1686 he abolished the Assembly, and made his Governor and Council the legislature of the Province. Several acts were passed by this body in the years 1687 and 1688 j
acts of the Assembly summoned by Leisler during the troubles which attended the Revolution, complete the Body of Laws which it is now proposed
and these, with the
to pubiish.
Of
all
these statutes, fragments only are accessible to the student either of

It
is
Law
or History.
until after the era
no printing-press was established in New- York of the English Revolution of 1688 ; and the laws were published
well
known
that
many being preserved only in the public records $ and the Acts of Assemblies were so neglected, that the historian, also one of the principal for the most lawyers of the time, declared more than a century ago, that they were
in manuscript,
the
first
"
part rotten, defaced, or
lost."
In the
is
first
volume of the Collections of the New- York
Historical Society there
of Laws, and in the Appendix to the Revised Laws of 1813 are imperfect copies of three of the Acts of the First Assembly, while in one instance (and but one, I believe), another Act of the same Assembly is recited
a copy of the East
Hampton Book
The printed laws of New- York begin an enactment of a subsequent legislature. with the year 1691, and, with the exceptions just mentioned, the whole body of laws of the first twenty-six years of the English government of New- York exists only in
in
scattered, obscure,
and
fast perishing
manuscripts.
Their importance
the basis of
all
is obvious, for they are subsequent legislation in respect to the subjects to which they relate.
to the lawyer as well as the historian
(2)
They tend to show the progressive state of our laws, with the various changes they have undergone from the commencement, and serve to throw great light on the
"
historical transactions
"
of the colonial period.
Instances have not been wanting,
and may yet occur, in which,

proper to
guide."
though they do not govern, they may be found
will comprise the Nicolls Code as originally promulgated in 1665 the Alterations, Additions, and Amendments of 1665 and 16665 the "Duke
Laws,"
The volume
as
approved and established in i667~ 68; the Orders of the General Court of
1667 to 1683; the Acts of Assembly of 1683, 1684, and 1685; the Acts of the Governor and Council from 1686 to 1689; and the Acts of the Assembly summoned by Leisler in 1690. Various illustrative documents will be given, with a Historical Introduction and
Notes,
Assizes and the Governor and Council, from
among which
New- York from 1664

proval, and the
will be found biographical notices of the English Governors of to 1691. I propose to add fac-similes of various acts of
ap
and thorough analytical index. It will be printed in the best manner, in large octavo form, and will make a volume of not less than three hundred pages.
PRICE, FIVE DOLLARS, payable on delivery.
volume
will be completed by a full
GEORGE
Librarian of the
H.
MOORE,
Historical Society.
New- York
NEW-YORK,
October,
1862.
If sufficient encouragement
will be continued
nearly two
is given to warrant the undertaking, the work through the remainder of the Colonial period 1691-1775. Of thousand statutes enacted during these years by thirty-two different
Assemblies, not one-third have been printed in the various collected and revised
editions,
and
all are
long since out of print.
RETURN
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NOTES

dicere audeat? deinde ne quid veri

legem, ne quid falsi non audeat?

Entered, according to Act of Congrefs, in the year 1866, by

Office of the Diftridt Court of the United States for the

Co., 50 Greene Street,

EARLY HISTORY OF SLAVERY IN MASSACHUSETTS. PURITAN THEORY AND PRACTICE OF SLAVERY.

ESTABLISHMENT AND MODIFICATION.

TEMPT TO SELL CHILDREN OF QUAKERS. . IV. STATISTICS OF SLAVE-POPULATION. LEGISLATION

V. EARLIEST ANTI-SLAVERY MOVEMENTS IN

RHODE ISLAND AND PENNSYLVANIA.

CHARACTER AND CHIEF-JUSTICE SEWALL. CONDITIONS OF SLAVERY IN MASSACHUSETTS.

PROTEST AGAINST NEGRO-SLAV

JOHN ADAMS SHUDDERS AT

THE LEGISLATURE BETWEEN

. 1767 AND 1775. VII. THE DOCTRINE OF PRIZE IN NEGROES.

OPINION ON SLAVERY IN DURING THE REVOLUTION.

ATTEMPT TO ABOLISH SLAVERY

SUBJECT REFERRED TO THE CONTINENTAL

TROVERSY ON NEGRO EQUALITY. FREE NEGROES.

OWNERS TO THE LEGISLATURE.

FROM THE STATE.

THE MILITARY EMPLOYMENT

ADDITIONAL NOTES, ETC. C. JUDGE SAFFIN S REPLY TO JUDGE SEWALL, 1701.

NOTES ON THE HISTORY OF

records of the hiftory

that in this hiftory there

nothing to comfort proftains which flavery

on the proud efcutcheon even of Maflachufetts,]

are quite as fignificant of its hideous character as the\

Notes on the Hi/lory of

God and Humanity which accom

Pecoats follow their fifhing

braggs will soon

Lord be on our fide, their M. H. S. Coll., iv., vL, 164.

which follow explain themfelves and

Pequts which are taken

Coll., iv., vi.,

our brethren by nature,

to requeft the keeping I haue fixed of the children.

one with the red about

be peremptory in loving pleafure for

If they have deserued death

haue not deserued

sinn to spare death then what

S. Coll., iv., vi., 214.

Later in the fame year [Nov. 1637] Roger

who had promifed

tercede for them,

certain fugitive flaves to in to write that they might be vfed

in which, after ftating

that haue thefe

poor wretches might be exhorted

218, 219. Hugh Peter writes to

John Winthrop from Salem

Notes on the Hiftory of

Mr. Endecot and my

Wee haue heard of a diuidence of

mare, viz. thinke good.

you for fome boyes for Ber

mudas, which I thinke

and previous practice of the authorities.

certain that in the

At any rate, they took many

letter to his brother-in-law, "probably writ