An Account of Some of the Principal Slave Insurrections, and Others, Which Have Occurred, or Been A | Page 4

any bond slaverie, villinage or captivitie amongst
us unless it be lawfull captives taken in just warres, and such strangers
as willingly sell themselves. And these shall have all the liberties and

christian usuages, which the law of God established in Isreal
concerning such persons doth morally require. This exempts none from
servitude, who shall be judged thereto by authority."
"He that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand,
he shall surely be put to death."--Ex. 21:16.
In 1646, one James Smith, a member of Boston church, brought home
two negroes from the Coast of Guinea, and had been the means of
killing near a hundred more. In consequence of this conduct, the
General Court passed the following order:--
"The General Court conceiving themselves bound by the first
opportunity to bear witness against the heinous and crying sin of man-
stealing, as also to prescribe such timely redress for what is past and
such a law for the future, as may sufficiently deter all others belonging
to us to have to do in such vile and odious courses, justly abhorred of
all good and just men, do order that the negro interpreter with others
unlawfully taken, be by the first opportunity at the charge of the
country for the present, sent to his native country (Guinea) and a letter
with him of the indignation of the Court thereabouts, and justice thereof
desiring our honored Governor would please put this order in
execution."
From this time till about 1700, the number of slaves imported into
Massachusetts was not large. In 1680, Governor Simon Bradstreet, in
answer to inquiries from "the lords of his Majesties privy council," thus
writes:--
"There had been no company of blacks or slaves brought into the
country since the beginning of this plantation, for the space of 50 years,
only one small vessell about two yeares since after 20 month's voyage
to Madagasca brought hither betwixt 40 and 50 negros, most women
and children, sold for 10 pounds, 15 pounds and 20 pounds apiece,
which stood the merchants in near 40 pounds apiece one with another:
now and then two or three negros are brought hither from Barbados and
other of his majesties plantations, and sold her for about 20 pounds
apiece, so that there may bee within our government about 100 or 120,

and it may bee as many Scots brought hither and sold for servants in
the time of the war with Scotland, and most now married and living
here, and about halfe so many Irish brought hither at several times as
servants."
The number of slaves at this period in the middle and southern colonies
is not easily ascertained, as few books, and no newspapers, were
published in North America prior to 1704. In that year, the Weekly
News Letter was commenced, and in the same year the "Society for the
propagation of the Gospel in foreign parts opened a catechising school
for the slaves at New York, in which city there were then computed to
be about 1500 negro and Indian slaves," a sufficient number to furnish
materials for the "irrepressible conflict," which had long before begun.
The catechist, whom the Society employed, was "Mr. Elias Neau, by
nation a Frenchman, who, having made a confession of the Protestant
religion in France, for which he had been confined several years in
prison, and seven years in the gallies." Mr. Neau entered upon his
office "with great diligence, and his labors were very successful; but
the negroes were much discouraged from embracing the Christian
religion upon account of the very little regard showed them in any
religious respect. Their marriages were performed by mutual consent
only, without the blessing of the Church; they were buried by those of
their own country and complexion, in the common field, without any
Christian office; perhaps some ridiculous heathen rites were performed
at the grave by some of their own people. No notice was given of their
being sick, that they might be visited; on the contrary, frequent
discourses were made in conversation, that they had no souls, and
perished as the beasts," and "that they grew worse by being taught, and
made Christians."
In 1711, May 15, Gov. Gibbes, of South Carolina, in his address to the
Legislature of that Province, thus speaks:--
"And, gentlemen, I desire you will consider the great quantities of
negroes that are daily brought into the government, and the small
number of whites that comes amongst us: how insolent and
mischievous the negroes are become, and to consider the Negro Act

already made, doth not reach up to some of the crimes they have lately
been guilty of, therefore it might be convenient by some additional
clause of said Negro Act to appoint either by gibbets or some