The Development of Slavery

Whereas complaint has been made to this Board by Capt Wm Pierce Esqr that six of his servants and a negro of Mr Reginold has plotted to run away unto the Dutch plantation from their said masters and did put the plan in Execution upon Saturday night being the 18th day July 1640...the Court taking the same into consideration, as a dangerous precident for the future time (if unpunished) did order that Christopher Miller a dutchman (a prince agent in the business) should receive the punishment of whipping and to have thirty stripes, and to be burnt in the cheek with the letter R and to work with a shakle on his legg for one whole year, and longer if said master shall see cause and after his full time of service is Expired with his said master to serve the colony for seven whole years, and the said Peter Wilcocke to receive thirty stripes and to be Burnt in the cheek with the letter R and, after his term of service is Expired with his said master to serve the colony for three years and the said Richd Cookson after his full time expired with his master to serve the colony for two years and a half, and the said Richd Hill to remain upon his good behaviour until the next offence and the said Andrew Noxe to receive thirty stripes, and the said John Williams a dutchman and a Chirugeon [surgeon] after his full time of service is Expired with his master to serve the colony for seven years, and Emanuel the Negro to receive thirty stripes and to be burnt in the cheek with the letter R. and to work in shakle one year or more as his master shall see cause, and all those who are condemned to serve the colony after their times are expired with their masters, then their said masters are required hereby to present to this board their said servants so condemned to the colony.

The court does order that the three servants shall receive the punishment of whipping and have thirty stripes [whips] apiece. One called Victor, a Dutchman, the other a Scotchman called James Gregory, shall first serve out their times with their master according to their Indenture Contracts, and one additional year apiece after the time of their service is expired...and after that service to their said master is expired, to serve the colony for three whole years apiece. And that the third [servant] being a negro named John Punch shall serve his said master for the remainder of his natural life…”

In 1641, Massachusetts authorities drafted the colony's Body of Liberties (their legal code), which included the provision that slavery would be allowed if “taken in just wars, [or] as willingly sell themselves or are sold to us." After the Body of Liberties was passed, references to English or non-white "slaves" were no longer used. In 1645, Massachusetts colonial leader John Winthrop favored exchanging Indian captives of war for Africans, stating “I do not see how we can thrive until we get a stock of slaves sufficient to do all our business…” In 1644, Boston traders made their first attempt to import slaves directly from Africa, a sign that local colonists were not satisfied with the small number of black slaves in the colony. By 1690, a French traveler in New England noted that “there is not a house in Boston, however small may be its means, that has not one or two negro laborers.” Boston merchants also began importing slaves directly from Africa, selling them in the West Indies, and bringing home sugar to make rum, which could then be sold in Europe or African in exchange for more slaves.

There was a really important, often overlooked symbiotic relationship between the mainland colonies, particularly New England, and the Caribbean. Islands like Barbados were dedicated to cash crops like sugar and tobacco, leaving little land for subsistence farming or cattle raising. The mainland colonies provided foodstuffs in exchange for sugar and enslaved people. Some enslaved people remained in New England, while many were sent to southern colonies. In addition, the colonies provided enslaved Natives to the Caribbean. Natives captured in the colonies could always run away, back to their communities. After wars with Natives, colonists would send captured Natives to the Caribbean in exchange for enslaved Africans. A few famous examples of this exchange include the Pequot War (1636-37), King Philip's War (1676), and the Yamasee War (1715). Recent studies, like this one from Brown University, study the motivations and impacts of colonial enslavement of Natives.

There shall never be any bond slaverie, villinage or captivitie amongst us unless it be lawfull captives taken in just warres, and such strangers as willingly selle themselves or are sold to us. And these shall have all the liberties and Christian usages which the law of God established in Israel concerning such persons doeth morally require. This exempts none from servitude who shall be judged thereto by Authoritie

Negroes [are] an heathenish brutish and an unsertaine dangerous kinde of people…[B]eing brutish slaves [they] deserve not for the basenesse of their condition to be tryed by the legall tryall of twelve Men of their appeares or neighborhood which truely neither can be rightly done as the Subjects of England are nor in execution to bee delayed towards them in case of such horrid crimes comitted[.] It is there fore enacted … [that] two Justices shall by their Warrant call to them three able good and legall freeholders shall heare & examine all evidences proofe and testimony of the fact.

If any Negro or slave whatsoever shall offer any violence to any Christian by striking or any other form of violence, such Negro or slave shall for his or her first offence be severely whipped by the Constable.

For his second offence of that nature he shall be severely whipped, his nose slit, and be burned in some part of his face with a hot iron. And being brutish slaves, [they] deserve not, for the baseness of their condition, to be tried by the legal trial of twelve men of their peers, as the subjects of England are.

And it is further enacted and ordained that if any Negro or other slave under punishment by his master unfortunately shall suffer in life or member, which seldom happens, no person whatsoever shall be liable to any fine therefore."

1660: BEE itt enacted That in case any English servant shall run away in company with any negroes who are incapable of makeing satisfaction by addition of time, Bee itt enacted that the English so running away in company with them shall serve for the time of the said negroes absence as they are to do for their owne by a former act.

1662: Whereas some doubts have arisen whether children got by any Englishman upon a Negro woman should be slave or free, be it therefore enacted and declared by this present Grand Assembly, that all children born in this country shall be held bond or free only according to the condition of the mother; and that if any Christian shall commit fornication with a Negro man or woman, he or she so offending shall pay double the fines imposed by the former act.

1667: Whereas some doubts have risen whether children that are slaves by birth, and by the charity and piety of their owners made partakers of the blessed sacrament of baptism, should by virtue of their baptism be made free, it is enacted and declared by this Grand Assembly, and the authority thereof, that the conferring of baptism does not alter the condition of the person as to his bondage or freedom; that diverse masters, freed from this doubt may more carefully endeavor the propagation of Christianity by permitting children, through slaves, or those of greater growth if capable, to be admitted to that sacrament.

1680: It shall not be lawful for any negroe or other slave to carry or arm himself with any gun, sword or any other weapon of defence, nor to depart from of his master's land without a certificate from his master or overseer…

1682: All Negroes, Moors [Muslim North Africans], mulattoes or Indians imported into this country who are not Christian at the time of their first purchase. . . and all Indians, which shall be sold by our neighboring Indians...are hereby deemed and taken to be slaves…

1705: All Negro, mulatto and Indians within this dominion...shall be held as real estate [property] for life…

In 1705, the Virginia Colony is the first to adopt “race” (blood quantum) laws that limits the civil and land rights of American Indians and Africans, based on blood degree: 1/2 Native ancestry = mulatto/not Native; 1/8 African ancestry = Black (Forbes, 2010). Any amount of African ancestry, no matter how remote, and regardless of phenotypical appearance, makes a person Black. For Indians, in stark contrast, any non-Indian ancestry compromises indigeneity, producing ‘half breeds,’ a regime that persists in the form of contemporary blood quantum regulations today. As opposed to enslaved people, whose reproduction augmented their owners’ wealth, Indigenous people obstructed settlers’ access to land, so their increase was counterproductive. In this way, the restrictive racial classification of Indians straightforwardly furthered the logic of elimination. This is the origin of the one-drop rule for African ancestry and the 1/2 or more rule for American Indians: If one was one drop African, they could be slave chattel; if they were less than 1/2 Native, their land could be taken, as they were deemed to be not Native and therefore not tied to land rights. Natives identified as mixed were designated “mulatto,” with associated limited civil rights parallel to Africans.

Their Servants, they distinguish by the Names of Slaves for Life, and Servants for a time. Slaves are the Negroes, and their Posterity [children], following the condition of the Mother, according to the Maxim, partus sequitur ventrem.1 They are call'd Slaves, in Respect of the Time of their Servitude, because it is for Life. Servants are those which serve only for a few Years, according to the time of their Indenture or the Custom of the Country. The Custom of the Country takes place upon such as have no Indentures. The Law in this Case is that if such Servants be under nineteen Years of Age, they must be brought into Court to have their Age adjudged; And from the Age they are judg'd to be of, they must serve until they reach four and twenty; But if they be adjudged upwards of nineteen, they are then only to be Servants for the Term of five Years.

The Male-Servants, and Slaves of both Sexes, are employed together in tilling and manuring the Ground, in sowing and planting Tobacco, Corn, &c. Some Distinction indeed is made between them in their Clothes and Food, but the Work of both is no other than what the Overseers, the Freemen, and the Planters themselves do.

Sufficient Distinction is also made between the Female-Servants, and Slaves; for a white Woman is rarely or never put to work in the Ground, if she be good for any thing else; and to discourage all Planters from using any Women so, their Law imposes Texas upon Female-Servants working in the Ground, while it suffers [allows] all other white Women to be absolutely exempted; Whereas on the other hand, it is a common thing to work a Woman Slave out of Doors; nor does the Law make any Distinction in her Taxes, whether her Work be Abroad [outside] or at Home. Because I have heard how strangely cruel, and severe the Service of this Country [use of slaves and servants in Virginia] is presented in some Parts of England, I can’t forbear affirming that the Work of their Servants and Slaves is no other than what every common Freeman does. Neither is any Servant requir'd to do more in a Day than his Overseer. And I can assure you with great Truth that generally their Slaves are not worked near so hard, nor so many Hours in a Day, as the Husbandmen and Day-laborers in England. An Overseer is a Man that, having served his time, has acquired the Skill and Character of an experienced Planter, and is therefore entrusted with the Direction of the Servants and Slaves.

To complete this account of Servants, I shall give you a short Relation [account] of the Care their Laws take, that they be used as tenderly as possible.

1. All Servants whatsoever have their Complaints heard without Fee or Reward; but if the Master be found Faulty, the charge of the Complaint is cast upon him, otherwise the Business is done ex Officio.

2. Any Justice of Peace may receive the Complaint of a Servant, and order everything relating thereto, till the next County-Court, where it will be finally determin'd.

3. All Masters are under the Correction and Censure of the County-Courts, to provide for their Servants good and wholesome Diet, Clothing, and Lodging.

4. They are always to appear upon the first notice given of the Complaint of their Servants, otherwise to forfeit the Service of them, until they do appear.

5. All Servants’ Complaints are to be receiv'd at any time in Court, without Process, and shall not be delay'd for want of Form; but the Merits of the Complaint must be immediately inquir'd into by the Justices; and if the Master cause any delay therein, the Court may remove such Servants, if they see Cause, until the Master will come to Trial.

6. If a Master shall at any time disobey an Order of Court made upon any Complaint of a Servant, the Court is empower'd to remove such Servant forthwith to another Master who will be kinder, giving to the former Master the Produce only (after Fees deducted) of what such Servants shall be sold for by Public Outcry.

7. If a Master should be so cruel as to use his Servant ill, that is fal[le]n sick or lame in his Service, and thereby render'd unfit for Labor, he must be remov'd by the Church-Wardens out of the way of such Cruelty and boarded in some good Planter’s House, till the time of his Freedom, the Charge of which must be laid before the next County-Court, which has Power to levy the same from time to time upon the Goods and Chattels (personal property) of the Master; After which, the Charge of such Boarding is to come upon the Parish in general.

8. All hired Servants are entitled to these Privileges.

9. No Master or a Servant can make a new Bargain for Service, or other Matter with his Servant, without the privity [equal relationship in the contract] and consent of a Justice of Peace, to prevent the Master’s Overreaching or scaring such Servant into an unreasonable Compliance.

10. The property of all Money and Goods sent over thither to Servants, or carry'd in with them, is reserv'd to themselves and remains entirely at their Disposal.

11. Each Servant at his Freedom receives of his Master fifteen Bushels of Corn (which is sufficient for whole Year)3 two new Suits of Clothes, both Linen and Woolen, and then becomes as free in all Respects, and as much entitled to the Liberties and Privileges of the Country as any other of the Inhabitants or Natives are.

12. Each Servant has then also a Right to take up fifty Acres of Land, where he can find any unpatented; But that is no great Privilege, for any one may have as good a right for a piece of Eight. This is what the Laws prescribe in Favor of Servants, by which you may find that the Cruelties and Severities imputed to that Country [Virginia] are an unjust Reflection. For no People more abhor the thoughts of such Usage than the Virginians, nor take more Precaution to prevent it.

Race as a social concept came about as a rationale for slavery. Slavery was not born of racism: rather, racism was the consequence of slavery. Slaves could not decide whether to work, or where or how,or simply what to do from moment to moment.Slavery first a foremost stripped people of their ability to act.

Related to the removal of freedom was slaves’ lack of control over their own family relationships and lives. Most slaves had no control over their destinies and no way out of slavery, even for their children, no matter how hard they worked.

The third problem slaves faced was violence. In interviews after the Civil War, whipping was the most important single attribute of slavery to which ex-slaves referred: 70% of slave narratives told of being whipped as slaves.

The fourth problem of slave life was the sense of racial inferiority that most whites believed and many black half-believed. Planters had slaves eat out of troughs along with their dogs or other animals, forcing them to compete for food.

Indentured servants were not in high quantity, and escape was easy for whites in the New World. The price paid for a white servant’s labor for ten years could buy a Negro for life. The reason for Negro slavery was economical, not racial. A Negro was worth four Indians. Negro labor was cheapest and the best. Sugar, tobacco and cotton required a large plantation and hordes of cheap labor. The Indian reservoir was limited, whereas the Negro reservoir was inexhaustible. Whereas Indians perished in the tropical climates due to disease, the Negro flourished, immune to many diseases and able to work long hours in the tropics.

The merchants are taking every day our natives, sons of the land and the sons of our noblemen and our relatives, because the thieves and men of bad conscience grab them wishing to have the things of this Kingdom which they are ambitious of, they grab them and get them to be sold...That is why we beg of Your Highness to help and assist us in this matter, commanding that they should nor send here either merchants or goods, because it is our will that in these Kingdoms there should not be any trade of slaves nor outlet for them…

...Many of our subjects greatly covet the goods which your men bring in our kingdoms from Portugal. To quench this uncontrollable thirst they kidnap many of our free or freed black subjects, even nobles...They sell them to the white men... As soon as the captives are under the white men’s power they are branded. This is how they are found by our guards when they board the ships. The white men then explain that they were bought but they cannot say from whom...

From the time of the arrival of the ships to their departure, which is usually about three months, scarce a day passes without some Negroes being purchased and carried on board; sometimes in small and sometimes in large numbers...The unhappy wretches are bought by the black traders at fairs, which are held for purchasing Negroes, at the distance of upwards of two hundred miles from the sea coast...At these fairs...several thousand captives are frequently exposed to sale who had been collected from all parts of the interior of the country....During one of my voyages, the black traders brought down, in different canoes, twelve to fifteen hundred Negroes who had been purchased at one fair. They consisted chiefly of men and boys...From forty to two hundred Negroes are generally purchased at a time by the black traders…

When the Negroes...are shown to the European purchasers, they first examine them relative to their age. They then minutely inspect their persons and inquire into the state of their health...if approved of, they are generally taken on board the ship the same evening...The men Negroes, on being brought aboard the ship, are immediately fastened together, two and two, by handcuffs on their wrists and by irons riveted on their legs. They are then sent down between the decks...The women also are placed in a separate compartment between the decks...they are frequently stowed so close, as to admit of no other position than lying on their sides...very few of the Negroes can stand the loss of their liberty and the hardships they endure…at one of the islands in the West Indies [Caribbean], I was witness to a sale by scramble, where about 250 Negroes were sold...the Negroes were landed and placed together in a large yard...the doors of the yard were suddenly thrown open and in rushed a considerable number of [slave] purchasers...Some instantly seized such of the Negroes as they could conveniently lay hold of with their hands...

That part of Africa, known by the name of Guinea, to which the trade for slaves is carried on, extends along the coast above 3400 miles, from Senegal to Angola, and includes a variety of kingdoms. Of these the most considerable is the kingdom of Benin, both as to extent and wealth, the richness and cultivation of the soil, the power of its king, and the number and warlike disposition of the inhabitants…

I was born, in the year 1745, in Effaka. The distance of this province from the capital of Benin and the sea coast must be very considerable; for I had never heard of white men or Europeans, nor of the sea…

As to the difference of colour between the [races] I shall not presume to account for it...I shall therefore refer to a fact as related by Dr. Mitchel. "The Spaniards, who have inhabited America, in the torrid [tropical] zone, have become as dark coloured as our native Indians...There is also another instance: of a Portuguese settlement at Mitomba, a river in Sierra Leona; where the inhabitants are bred from a mixture of the first Portuguese discoverers with the natives, and are now dark in their complexion, and in the woolly quality of their hair, perfect negroes, retaining however a smattering of the Portuguese language.

These instances, and a great many more...show how the complexions of the same persons vary in different climates... [it is hoped they] may tend also to remove the prejudice that some conceive against the natives of Africa on account of their colour. Surely the minds of the Spaniards did not change with their complexions!

When they [Africans] come among Europeans, they are ignorant of their language, religion, manners, and customs. Are any pains taken to teach them these? Are they treated as men? Does not slavery itself destroy the mind, and extinguish all its fire and every noble sentiment? Let the polished and haughty [vain] European recollect that his ancestors were once, like the Africans, uncivilized, and even barbarous. And should they too have been made slaves? Every rational mind answers, No. Let such reflections as these melt the pride of their superiority into sympathy for the wants and miseries of their [African] brethren, and compel them to acknowledge that understanding is not confined to feature or colour. If, when they look round the world, they feel exultation, let it be tempered with benevolence to others, and gratitude to God, "who hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth; and whose wisdom is not our wisdom, neither are our ways his ways.

One day, when all our people were gone out to their works as usual, and only I and my dear sister were left to mind the house, two men and a woman got over our walls, and in a moment seized us both; and, without giving us time to cry out, or make resistance, they stopped our mouths, and ran off with us into the nearest wood. Here they tied our hands, and continued to carry us as far as they could, till night came on…

The first object which saluted my eyes when I arrived on the coast was the sea, and a slave ship, which was then riding at anchor, and waiting for its cargo. These filled me with astonishment, which was soon converted into terror when I was carried on board. I was immediately handled and tossed up to see if I were sound by some of the crew; and I was now persuaded that I had gotten into a world of bad spirits, and that they were going to kill me. Their complexions too differing so much from ours, their long hair, and the language they spoke, (which was very different from any I had ever heard) united to confirm me in this belief...When I looked round the ship too and saw a large furnace or copper-boiling, and a multitude of black people of every description chained together...I no longer doubted of my fate; and, quite overpowered with horror and anguish, I fell motionless on the deck and fainted. When I recovered a little I found some black people about me, who I believed were some of those who brought me on board, and had been receiving their pay; they talked to me in order to cheer me, but all in vain. I asked them if we were not to be eaten by those white men with horrible looks, red faces, and loose hair. They told me I was not…

I was soon put down under the decks, and there I received such a smell in my nostrils as I had never experienced in my life: so that, with the loathsomeness of the stench, and crying together, I became so sick and low that I was not able to eat, nor had I the least desire to taste anything. I now wished for the last friend, death, to relieve me; but soon, to my grief, two of the white men offered me food; and, on my refusing to eat, one of them held me fast by the hands, and tied my feet, while the other flogged me severely. I had never experienced any thing of this kind before …

In a little time after, amongst the poor chained men, I found some of my own nation, which in a small degree gave ease to my mind. I inquired what was to be done with us; they tole me we were to be carried to these white people's country to work for them. I then was a little revived, and thought, if it were no worse than working, my situation was not so desperate: but still I feared I should be put to death, the white people looked and acted, as I thought, in so savage a manner; for I had never seen among any people such instances of brutal cruelty; and this not only shewn towards us blacks, but also to some of the whites themselves…

One day, when we had a smooth sea and moderate wind, two of my wearied countrymen who were chained together, preferring death to such a life of misery, somehow made through the nettings and jumped into the sea: immediately another quite dejected fellow also followed their example; and I believe many more would very soon have done the same if they had not been prevented by the ship's crew, who were instantly alarmed…

At last we came in sight of the island of Barbados...We were not many days in the merchant's custody before we were sold after their usual manner...—On a signal given, (as the beat of a drum) the buyers rush at once into the yard where the slaves are confined, and make choice of that parcel they like best…

O, ye nominal Christians! might not an African ask you, learned you this from your God, who says unto you, Do unto all men as you would men should do unto you? Is it not enough that we are torn from our country and friends to toil for your luxury and lust of gain? Why are parents to lose their children, brothers their sisters, or husbands their wives? Surely this is a new refinement in cruelty, which, while it has no advantage to atone for it, thus aggravates distress, and adds fresh horrors even to the wretchedness of slavery…

We mark'd the slaves we had bought in the breast, or shoulder, with a hot iron, having the letter of the ship's name on it, the place being before anointed with a little palm oil, which caus'd but little pain, the mark being usually well in four or five days, appearing very plain and white after.

When we had purchas'd to the number of 50 or 60 we would send them aboard, there being a cappasheir, intitled the captain of the slaves, whose care it was to secure them to the water-side, and see them all off; and if in carrying to the marine any were lost, he was bound to make them good, to us, the captain of the trunk being oblig'd to do the like, if any ran away while under his care, for after we buy them we give him charge of them till the captain of the slaves comes to carry them away: These are two officers appointed by the king for this purpose, to each of which every ship pays the value of a slave in what goods they like best for their trouble, when they have done trading; and indeed they discharg'd their duty to us very faithfully, we not having lost one slave thro' their neglect in 1300 we bought here.

There is likewise a captain of the sand, who is appointed to take care of the merchandize we have come ashore to trade with, that the negroes do not plunder them, we being often forced to leave goods a whole night on the sea shore, for want of porters to bring them up; but notwithstanding his care and authority, we often came by the loss, and could have no redress. When our slaves were come to the seaside, our canoes were ready to carry them off to the longboat, if the sea permitted, and she convey'd them aboard ship, where the men were all put in irons, two and two shackled together, to prevent their mutiny, or swimming ashore. The negroes are so wilful and loth to leave their own country, that they have often leap'd out of the canoes, boat and ship, into the sea, and kept under water till they were drowned, to avoid being taken up and saved by our boats, which pursued them; they having a more dreadful apprehension of Barbadoes than we can have of hell, tho' in reality they live much better there than in their own country; but home is home, etc: we have likewise seen divers of them eaten by the sharks, of which a prodigious number kept about the ships in this place, and I have been told will follow her hence to Barbadoes, for the dead negroes that are thrown overboard in the passage. I am certain in our voyage there we did not want the sight of some every day, but that they were the same I can't affirm.

We had about 12 negroes did wilfully drown themselves, and others starv'd themselves to death; for 'tis their belief that when they die they return home to their own country and friends again.

I have been inform'd that some commanders have cut off the legs and arms of the most wilful, to terrify the rest, for they believe if they lose a member, they cannot return home again: I was advis'd by some of my officers to do the same, but I could not be perswaded to entertain the least thought of it, much less put in practice such barbarity and cruelty to poor creatures, who, excepting their want of christianity and true religion (their misfortune more than fault) are as much the works of God's hands, and no doubt as dear to him as ourselves; nor can I imagine why they should be despis'd for their colour, being what they cannot help, and the effect of the climate it has pleas'd God to appoint them. I can't think there is any intrinsick value in one colour more than another, nor that white is better than black, only we think so because we are so, and are prone to judge favourably in our own case, as well as the blacks, who in odium of the colour, say, the devil is white, and so paint him ....

The present king often, when ships are in a great strait for slaves, and cannot be supply'd otherwise, will sell 3 or 400 of his wives to compleat their number, but we always pay dearer for his slaves than those bought of the cappasheirs ....

I LEFT England, says Mr. Moore, in July 1730, on being appointed a writer in the service of the Royal African company, and on the 9th of November came to an anchor in the mouth of the Gambia. As we sailed up that river near the shore, the country appeared very beautiful, being for the most part woody; and between the woods were pleasant green rice grounds, which after the rice is cut, are stocked with cattle. On the 11th we landed at James's Island, which is situated in the middle of the river, that is here at least seven miles broad. This island lies about ten leagues from the river's mouth, and is about three quarters of a mile in circumference. Upon it is a square stone fort regularly built , with four bastions; and upon each are seven guns well mounted, that command the river all round: beside, under the walls of the fort facing the sea, are two round batteries, on each of which are four large cannon well mounted, that carry ball of 24 pounds weight, and between these are nine small guns mounted for salutes.

Beside the fort, there are several factories up the river, settled for the convenience of trade; but they are all under the direction of the governor and chief merchants of the fort. For this purpose the company have here about three or four sloops of about 30 tons each, and about the same number of long boats; some of which are constantly employed in fetching provisions and water from the main for the use of the garrison, and the rest are employed in carrying goods up to the factories, and bringing from them slaves, elephants teeth, and wax.

On the 22d of February, one of the kings of Fonia came to the fort, and on his landing was saluted with five guns. He came to see the governor, or rather to ask for some powder and ball, in order to enable him to defend himself against some people with whom he was at war: he was a young man, very black, tall, and well set; was dressed in a pair of short yellow cotton-cloth breeches, and wore on his back a garment of the same cloth, made like a surplice: he had on his head a very large cap, to which was fastened part of a goat's tail, which is a customary ornament with the great men of this river; but he had no shoes nor stockings. He and his retinue came in a large canoe, holding about 16 people, all armed with guns and cutlasses. With him came two or three women, and the same number of Mundingo drums...

It may be here proper to observe, that there are many different kingdoms on the banks of the Gambia, inhabited by several races of people, as Mundingoes, Jolloiffs, Pholeys, Floops, and Portuguese. The most numerous are called Mundingoes, as is likewise the country they inhabit: these are generally of a black colour, and well set. When this country was conquered by the Portuguese, about the year 1420, some of that nation settled in it, who have cohabited with these Mundingoes, till they are now very near as black as they: but as they still retain a sort of bastard Portuguese language, called Creole, and as they christen and marry by the help of a priest annually sent thither from St. Jago, one of the Cape de verde islands, they still esteem themselves Portuguese Christians, as much as if they were actually natives of Portugal; and nothing angers them more than to call them Negroes, that being a term they use only for slaves...

In these countries the natives are not avaricious [greedy] of lands; they desire no more than what they use, and as they do not plough with horses or cattle, they can use but very little...The most general language used in these countries is the Mundingo; and whoever can speak it, may travel from the river's mouth up to the country of the Jencoes, or the merchants; a people so called, from their annually buying a great number of slaves there, and bringing them down to the lower parts of the river, to sell them to the Europeans...

The next language mostly used here is called the Creole Portuguese; though I believe it would be scarce understood at Lisbon: it is, however, sooner learnt by Englishmen, than any other language used on the banks of this river, and is always spoken by the linguists or interpreters; and these two I learnt whilst in the river....

Some of the Mundingoes have many slaves in their houses; and in these they pride themselves. They live so well and easily, that it is sometimes difficult to know the slaves from their masters and mistresses; they being frequently better cloathed, especially the females, who have sometimes coral, amber, and silver, about their wrists...The trade of the natives consists in gold, slaves, elephants teeth, and bees-wax. The gold is finer than sterling, and is brought in small bars...

The same merchants bring down elephants teeth,and in some years slaves to the amount of 2000, most of whom they say are prisoners of war; and bought of the different princes by whom they are taken. The way of bringing them is, by tying them by the neck with leather thongs, at about a yard distance from each other, 30 or 40 in a string, having generally a bundle of corn, or an elephant's tooth upon each of their heads...I cannot be certain of the number of merchants who carry on this trade; but there may perhaps be about 100 who go up into the inland country with the goods, which they buy from the white men, and with them purchase, in various countries, gold, slaves, and elephants...

They use asses, as well as slaves, in carrying their goods, but no camels or horses.

Beside the slaves brought down by the negro merchants, there are many bought along the river, who are either taken in war like the former, or condemned for crimes, or stolen by the people: but the company's servants never buy any which they suspect to be of the last sort, till they have sent for the alcalde, and consulted with him. Since this slave trade has been used, all punishments are changed into slavery; and the natives reaping advantage from such condemnations, they strain hard for crimes, in order to obtain the benefit of selling the criminal: hence not only murder, adultery, and theft, are here punished by selling the malefactor; but every trifling crime is also punished in the same manner. Thus at Cantore, a man seeing a tyger eating a deer, which he himself had killed and hung up near his house, fired at the tyger, but unhappily shot a man: when the king had not only the cruelty to condemn him for this accident; but had the injustice and inhumanity to order also his mother, his three brothers, and his three sisters, to be sold. They were brought down to me at Yamyamacunda, when it made my heart ache to see them; but on my refusing to make this cruel purchase, they were sent father down the river, and sold to some separate traders at Joar, and the vile avaricious king had the benefit of the goods for which they were sold.

Several of the natives of these countries have many slaves born in their families. This there is a whole village near Brucoe of 200 people, who are the wives, slaves, and children of one man. And though in some parts of Africa they sell the slaves born in the family; yet this is here thought extreamly wicked; and I never heard but of one person who ever sold a family slave, except for such crimes as would have authorised its being done, had he been free. Indeed, if there are many slaves in the family, and one of them commits a crime, the master cannot sell him without the joint consent of the rest: for if he does, they will run away to the next kingdom, where they will find protection.

Ivory, or elephants teeth, is the next principal article of commerce. These are obtained either by hunting and killing the beasts, or are picked up in the woods...

DELLA FOUNTAIN, enslaved in Louisiana, interviewed in Oklahoma, 1938:

My grandmother was captured in Africa. Traders come dere in a big boat and dey had all sorts of purty gew-gaws — red handkerchiefs, dress goods, beads, bells, and trinkets in bright colors. Dey would pull up at de shore and entice de colored folks onto de boat to see de purty things. Befo’ de darkies realized it dey would be out from shore. Dat’s de way she was captured. Fifteen to twenty-five would pay dem for de trip as dey all brought good prices.

LUKE DIXON, enslaved in Virginia, interviewed in Arkansas, ca. 1937:

Ma lived to be 103 years old. Pa died in 1905 and was 105 years old. I used to set on Grandma’s lap and she told me about how they used to catch people in Africa. They herded them up like cattle and put them in stalls and brought them on the ship and sold them. She said some they captured they left bound till they come back and sometimes they never went back to get them. They died. They had room in the stalls on the boat to set down or lie down. They put several together. Put the men to themselves and the women to themselves. When they sold Grandma and Grandpa at a fishing dock in New Port, Va., they had their feet bound down and their hands crossed, up on a platform. They sold Grandma’s daughter to somebody in Texas. She cried and begged to let them be together. They didn’t pay no ’tenshion to her. She couldn’t talk but she made them know she didn’t want to be parted. Six years after slavery they got together.

SILVIA KING, enslaved & interviewed Slave auction block, old St. Louis Hotel, New Orleans (1906 photograph) in Texas, ca. 1937

I know I was borned in Morocco, in Africa, and was married and had three chillen befo’ I was stoled from my husband. I don’t know who it was stole me, but dey took me to France, to a place called Bordeaux, and drugs me with some coffee, and when I knows anything ’bout it, I’s in de bottom of a boat with a whole lot of other niggers. It seem like we was in dat boat forever, but we comes to land, and I’s put on de [auction] block and sold. I finds out afterwards from my white folks it was in New Orleans where dat block was, but I didn’t know it den.

AYUBA SULEIMAN DIALLO (known as Job ben Solomon after his capture), was the son of a Muslim leader. He was captured in west Africa (Senegal) in 1730 when in his late twenties. Through the intercession of American abolitionists, he was able to return to Africa four years later:

In February, 1730. Job’s Father, hearing of an English Ship at Gambia River, sent him with two Servants to attend him, to sell two Negroes and to buy Paper, and some other Necessaries; but desired him not to venture over the River because the Country of the Mandingoes, who are Enemies to the People of Futa, lies on the other side. Job, not agreeing with Captain Pike (who commanded the Ship, lying then at Gambia . . . ) sent back the two Servants to acquaint his Father with it, and to let him know that he intended to go farther. Accordingly, having agreed with another Man, named Loumein Yoas, who understood the Mandingoe Language, to go with him as his Interpreter, he crossed the River Gambia, and disposed of his Negroes for some Cows.

As he was returning Home, he stopp’d for some Refreshment at the House of an old Acquaintance; and the Weather being hot, he hung up his Arms in the House while he refresh;d himself. Those Arms were very valuable; consisting of a Gold-hilted Sword, a Gold Knife, which they wear by their Side, and a rich Quiver of Arrows, which King Sambo had made him a Present of. It happened that a Company of the Mandingoes, who live upon Plunder, passing by at that Time, and observing him unarmed, rush’d in, to the Number of seven or eight at once, at a back Door, and pinioned Job before he could get to his Arms, together with his Interpreter, who is a Slave in Maryland still. They then shaved their Heads and Beards, which Job and his Man resented as the highest Indignity; tho’ the Mandingoes meant no more by it than to make them appear like Slaves taken in War.

On the 27th of February, 1730, they carried them to Captain Pike at Gambia, who purchased them; and on the first of March they were put on Board. Soon after Job found means to acquaint Captain Pike that he was the same Person that came to trade with him a few Days before, and after what Manner he had been taken. Upon this Captain Pike gave him leave to redeem himself and his Man; and Job sent to an Acquaintance of his Father’s, near Gambia, who promised to send to Job’s Father to inform him of what had happened, that he might take some Course to have him set at Liberty. But it being a Fortnight’s journey between that Friend’s House and his Father’s, and the Ship sailing in about a Week after, Job was brought with the rest of the Slaves to Annapolis in Maryland and delivered to Mr. Vachell Denton, Factor to Mr. Hunt, before mentioned. Job heard since, by Vessels that came from Gambia, that his Father sent down several Slaves, a little after Captain Pike sailed, in order to procure his Redemption; and that Sambo, King of Futa, had made War upon the Mandingoes and cut off great Numbers of them, upon account of the Injury they had done to his Schoolfellow.

The slaves had a very unhealthy look; being meagre [thin], dirty, and, without one exception, scorbutic [having scurvy, a deficiency in vitamin C]. There were on board, in all, two hundred and forty—viz. [namely] one hundred and seventy males and seventy females. Four slaves had already died...The men slaves were brought on deck for the first time since our sailing. They seemed exceedingly dispirited, and drooped very much: some of them also looked very sickly, and proved to be so. In some of their countenances [expressions] there appeared a settled gloom [sadness]; which the captain wished to attribute [assign] partly to their having been confined below for some days, and partly to their not seeing land. Both he and the officers seemed to think that they had mischief in their minds. While the ship was on the coast they had made an unsuccessful attempt to get possession of her [take over the ship and rebel]...

I observed to-day, as on former occasions, several of the slaves rejecting their food. The officer on duty

began to threaten to shake his cat [whip] at such as refused to eat. One argument he made use of was, that if they did not eat, they would soon be thrown into the sea...The slaves then made a shew [show] of eating, by putting a little rice into their mouths; but whenever the officer’s back was turned, they threw it into the sea.

The captain again wanted the slaves to dance; but they did not seem disposed [willing] to comply with [obey] his wish. He began to dance himself, by way of setting them an example; but they shewed [showed] no inclination [desire] to follow it, till the cat was called for. Then, indeed, they began to sing and skip about. A few, however, were content to have the cat smartly applied across their shoulders several times, before they would so much belie [oppose] their feelings as to make merry, when their heart was sad..

...if my state—possessed as I was of so many superior comforts; cheered by the hope of soon beholding friends who were dear to me; with various means in my power of amusing my thoughts and alleviating [easing] my sufferings; with the consolations [comforts] also arising from religion to support as well as to soothe the mind—if my state, under all these favourable circumstances, was so uncomfortable,—what must theirs have been whom I saw around me, extended naked on the bare boards; fettered [bound] with irons; deprived of every mean of chasing away the gloom of confinement [captivity]; unable when sick to reveal the cause of their complaints; strangers to any measure of that hope which makes the slave a freeman; ignorant of the fate which awaited them; filled with fears either of a horrid death or a cruel servitude [slavery]; and without the most distant prospect of never visiting their native land, or of beholding [seeing] the face of one of those friends or relatives from whom they had been forcibly torn!—It seems scarcely possible for the imagination to conceive [imagine] a state of more unmitigated [absolute] suffering than theirs. Their cup was full of pure, unmingled sorrow.”

With our ships, the great object is, to be full. When the ship is there, it is thought desirable she should take as many as possible. The cargo of a vessel of a hundred tons, or little more, is calculated to purchase from two hundred and twenty to two hundred and fifty slaves. Their lodging-rooms below the deck, which are three (for the men, the boys, and the women), besides a place for the sick, are sometimes more than five feet high, and sometimes less; and this height is divided towards the middle, for the slaves lie in two rows, one above the other, like books upon a shelf. I have known them so close, that the shelf would not, easily, contain one more. And I have known a white man sent down, among the men, to lay them in these rows to the greatest advantage, so that as little space as possible might be lost...

Epidemical [widespread] fevers and fluxes, which fill the ship with noisome and noxious effluvia [odors], often break out, and infect the seamen likewise, and thus the oppressors, and the oppressed, fall by the same stroke. I believe, nearly one-half of the slaves on board, have, sometimes, died; and that the loss of a third part, in these circumstances, is not unusual. The ship, in which I was mate, left the coast with two hundred and eighteen slaves on board; and though we were not much affected by epidemical disorders, I find by my journal of that voyage (now before me), that we buried sixty-two on our passage to South Carolina, exclusive of those which died before we left the coast, of which I have no account.

I believe, upon an average between the more healthy, and the more sickly voyages, and including all contingencies [possibilities], one fourth of the whole purchase may be allotted to the article of mortality [one fourth may die]: that is, if the English ships purchase sixty thousand slaves annually, upon the whole extent of the coast, the annual loss of lives cannot be much less than fifteen thousand.

It has been accounted a strange thing that the Negroes, being more than double the numbers of the Christians that are there, and they accounted a bloody people where they think they have power or advantages; and the more bloody by how much they are more fearful than others: that these should not commit some horrid massacre upon the Christians, thereby to enfranchise [empower] themselves and become Masters of the Island.

But there are three reasons that take away this wonder; the one is, They are not suffered [allowed] to touch or handle any weapons: The other, That they are held in such awe and slavery as they are fearful to appear in any daring act; and seeing the mustering of our men and hearing their Gun-shot (that which nothing is more terrible to them), their spirits are subjugated to so low a condition as they dare not look up to any bold attempt. Besides these, there is a third reason, which stops all designs [plans] of that kind, and that is, They are fetch'd from several parts of Africa, who speak several languages, and by that means one of them understands not another: For, some of them are fetch'd from Guinny and Binny, some from Cutchew, some from Angola, and some from the River of Gambia. And in some of these places where petty Kingdoms are, they sell their Subjects and such as they take in Battle, whom they make slaves; and some mean men sell their Servants, their Children, and sometimes their Wives; and think all good traffic [acceptable trade] for such commodities as our Merchants send them. When they are brought to us, the Planters buy them out of the Ship where they find them stark naked and therefore cannot be deceived in any outward infirmity. They choose them as they do Horses in a Market; the strongest, youthfulness, and most beautiful, yield the greatest prices. Thirty pound sterling is a price for the best man Negro; and twenty five, twenty six, or twenty seven pound for a Woman; the Children are at easier rates. . . .

When any of them die, they dig a grave, and at evening they bury him, clapping and wringing their hands and making a doleful sound with their voices. They are a people of a timorous and fearful disposition, and consequently bloody when they find advantages [opportunities]. If any of them commit a fault, give him present [immediate] punishment, but do not threaten him; for if you do, it is an even lay, he will go and hang himself to avoid the punishment. For, they believe a Resurrection and that they shall go into their own Country again and have their youth renewed. And lodging this opinion in their hearts, they make it an ordinary practice, upon any great fright or threatening of their Master, to hang themselves.

In a time when Victuals [food] were scarce, some of the high spirited and turbulent amongst them began to mutiny and had a plot against their Master...But this plot was discovered by some of the others who hated mischief, as much as they lov'd it; and so traduc'd them to their Master, and brought in so many witnesses against them as they were forc'd to confess...

I was born at Dukandarra, in Guinea, about the year 1729. My father’s name was Saungm Furro, Prince of the Tribe of Dukandarra. My father had three wives. Polygamy was not uncommon in that country, especially among the rich, as every man was allowed to keep as many wives as he could maintain. By his first wife he had three children. The eldest of them was myself, named by my father, Broteer. The other two were named Cundazo and Soozaduka. My father had two children by his second wife, and one by his third. I descended from a very large, tall and stout race of beings, much larger than the generality of people in other parts of the globe, being commonly considerable above six feet in height, and every way well proportioned. ...

On a certain time I and other prisoners were put on board a canoe, under our master, and rowed away to a vessel belonging to Rhode-Island, commanded by capt. Collingwood, and the mate Thomas Mumford. While we were going to the vessel, our master told us all to appear to the best possible advantage for sale. I was bought on board by one Robertson Mumford, steward of said vessel, for four gallons of rum, and a piece of calico, and called VENTURE, on account of his having purchased me with his own private venture. Thus I came by my name. All the slaves that were bought for that vessel’s cargo, were two hundred and sixty.

After all the business was ended on the coast of Africa, the ship sailed from thence to Barbadoes. After an ordinary passage, except great mortality by the small pox, which broke out on board, we arrived at the island of Barbadoes: but when we reached it, there were found out of the two hundred and sixty that sailed from Africa, not more than two hundred alive. These were all sold, except myself and three more, to the planters there.

The vessel then sailed for Rhode-Island, and arrived there after a comfortable passage. Here my master sent me to live with one of his sisters, until he could carry me to Fisher’s Island, the place of his residence. I had then completed my eighth year. After staying with his sister some time I was taken to my master’s place to live....

The first of the time of living at my master’s own place, I was pretty much employed in the house at carding wool and other household business. In this situation I continued for some years, after which my master put me to work out of doors. After many proofs of my faithfulness and honesty, my master began to put great confidence in me. My behavior to him had as yet been submissive and obedient. I then began to have hard tasks imposed on me.

Some of these were to pound four bushels of ears of corn every night in a barrel for the poultry, or be rigorously punished. At other seasons of the year I had to card wool until a very late hour. These tasks I had to perform when I was about nine years old. Some time after I had another difficulty and oppression which was greater than any I had ever experienced since I came into this country...

After I had lived with my master thirteen years, being then about twenty two years old, I married Meg, a slave of his who was about my age. My master owned a certain Irishman, named Heddy, who about that time formed a plan of secretly leaving his master. After he had long had this plan in meditation he suggested it to me. At first I cast a deaf ear to it, and rebuked Heddy for harboring in his mind such a rash undertaking. But after he had persuaded and much enchanted me with the prospect of gaining my freedom by such a method, I at length agreed to accompany him. Heddy next inveigled two of his fellow servants to accompany us. The place to which we designed to go was the Mississippi. Our next business was to lay in a sufficient store of provisions for our voyage. We privately collected out of our master’s store, six great old cheeses, two firkins of butter, and one whole batch of new bread. When we had gathered all our own clothes and some more, we took them all about midnight, and went to the water side. We stole our master’s boat, embarked, and then directed our course for the Mississippi river. We mutually confederated not to betray or desert one another on pain of death...

[not long after their escape began, Heddy betrayed the group, so Venture and his companions decided to return to their master].

I then thought it might afford some chance for my freedom, or at least a palliation for my running away, to return Heddy immediately to his master, and inform him that I was induced to go away by Heddy’s address. Accordingly I set off with him and the rest of my companions for our master’s, and arrived there without any difficulty. I informed my master that Heddy was the ringleader of our revolt, and that he had used us ill. He immediately put Heddy into custody, and myself and companions were well received and went to work as usual.

Not a long time passed after that, before Heddy was sent by my master to New-London gaol. At the close of that year I was sold to a Thomas Stanton, and had to be separated from my wife and one daughter, who was about one month old.

About one year and a half after that time, my master purchased my wife and her child, for seven hundred pounds old tenor. Towards the close of the time that I resided with this master, I had a falling out with my mistress. This happened one time when my master was gone to Long-Island a gunning. At first the quarrel began between my wife and her mistress. I was then at work in the barn, and hearing a racket in the house, induced me to run there and see what had broken out. When I entered the house, I found my mistress in a violent passion with my wife, for what she informed me was a mere trifle; such a small affair that I forbear to put my mistress to the shame of having it known. I earnestly requested my wife to beg pardon of her mistress for the sake of peace, even if she had given no just occasion for offence. But whilst I was thus saying my mistress turned the blows which she was repeating on my wife to me. She took down her horse-whip, and while she was glutting her fury with it, I reached out my great black hand, raised it up and received the blows of the whip on it which were designed for my head. Then I immediately committed the whip to the devouring fire.

When my master returned from the island, his wife told him of the affair, but for the present he seemed to take no notice of it, and mentioned not a word about it to me. Some days after his return, in the morning as I was putting on a log in the fire-place, not suspecting harm from any one, I received a most violent stroke on the crown of my head with a club two feet long and as large round as a chair-post. This blow very badly wounded my head, and the scar of it remains to this day. The first blow made me have my wits about me you may suppose, for as soon as he went to renew it, I snatched the club out of his hands and dragged him out of the door. He then sent for his brother to come and assist him, but I presently left my master, took the club he wounded me with, carried it to a neighboring Justice of the Peace, and complained of my master. He finally advised me to return to my master, and live contented with him till he abused me again, and then complain. I consented to do accordingly. But before I set out for my master’s, up he come and his brother Robert after me. The Justice improved this convenient opportunity to caution my master. He asked him for what he treated his slave thus hastily and unjustly, and told him what would be the consequence if he continued the same treatment towards me. After the Justice had ended his discourse with my master, he and his brother set out with me for home, one before and the other behind me.

When they had come to a bye place, they both dismounted their respective horses, and fell to beating me with great violence. I became enraged at this and immediately turned them both under me, laid one of them across the other, and stamped both with my feet what I would.

This occasioned my master’s brother to advise him to put me off. A short time after this I was taken by a constable and two men. They carried me to a blacksmith’s shop and had me hand-cuffed. When I returned home my mistress enquired much of her waiters, whether VENTURE was hand-cuffed. When she was informed that I was, she appeared to be very contented and was much transported with the news. In the midst of this content and joy, I presented myself before my mistress, shewed her my hand-cuffs, and gave her thanks for my gold rings. For this my master commanded a negro of his to fetch him a large ox chain. This my master locked on my legs with two padlocks. I continued to wear the chain peaceably for two or three days, when my master asked me with contemptuous hard names whether I had not better be freed from my chains and go to work. I answered him, No. Well then, said me, I will send you to the West-Indies or banish you, for I am resolved not to keep you. I answered him I crossed the waters to come here, and I am willing to cross them to return. For a day or two after this not any one said much to me, until one Hempsted Miner, of Stonington, asked me if I would live with him. I answered him that I would. He then requested me to make myself discontented and to appear as unreconciled to my master as I could before that he bargained with him for me; and that in return he would give me a good chance to gain my freedom when I came to live with him. I did as he requested me. Not long after Hempsted Miner purchased me of my master for fifty-six pounds lawful. He took the chain and padlocks from off me immediately after.

...This was the third time of my being sold, and I was then thirty-one years old. As I never had an opportunity of redeeming myself whilst I was owned by Miner, though he promised to give me a chance, I was then very ambitious of obtaining it. I asked my master one time if he would consent to have me purchase my freedom. He replied that he would...Being encouraged by the success which I had met in redeeming myself, I again solicited my master for a further chance of completing it. The chance for which I solicited him was that of going out to work the ensuing winter. He agreed to this on condition that I would give him one quarter of my earnings. On these terms I worked the following winter, and earned four pounds sixteen shillings, one quarter of which went to my master for the privilege, and the rest was paid him on my own account. This added to the other payments made up forty four pounds, eight shillings, which I had paid on my own account. I was then about thirty five years old.

The next summer I again desired he would give me a chance of going out to work. But he refused and answered that he must have my labor this summer, as he did not have it the past winter. I replied that I considered it as hard that I could not have a chance to work out when the season became advantageous, and that I must only be permitted to hire myself out in the poorest season of the year. He asked me after this what I would give him for the privilege per month. I replied that I would leave it wholly with his own generosity to determine what I should return him a month. Well then, said he, if so two pounds a month. I answered him that if that was the least he would take I would be contented.

Accordingly I hired myself out at Fisher’s Island, and earned twenty pounds; thirteen pounds six shillings of which my master drew for the privilege, and the remainder I paid him for my freedom. This made fifty-one pounds two shillings which I paid him. In October following I went and wrought six months at Long Island. In that six month’s time I cut and corded four hundred cords of wood, besides threshing out seventy-five bushels of grain, and received of my wages down only twenty pounds, which left remaining a larger sum. Whilst I was out that time, I took up on my wages only one pair of shoes. At night I lay on the hearth, with one coverlet over and another under me. I returned to my master and gave him what I received of my six months labor. This left only thirteen pounds eighteen shillings to make up the full sum for my redemption. My master liberated me, saying that I might pay what was behind if I could ever make it convenient, otherwise it would be well. The amount of the money which I had paid my master towards redeeming my time, was seventy-one pounds two shillings. The reason of my master for asking such an unreasonable price, was he said, to secure himself in case I should ever come to want. Being thirty-six years old, I left Col. Smith once for all. I had already been sold three different times, made considerable money with seemingly nothing to derive it from, been cheated out of a large sum of money, lost much by misfortunes, and paid an enormous sum for my freedom.

Sometime since there was a Proclamation published at Augustine [Spanish Florida], in which the King of Spain (then at Peace with Great Britain) promised Protection and freedom to all Negroes Slaves that would resort thither. Certain Negroes belonging to Captain Davis escaped to Augustine, and were received there. . . The good reception of the Negroes at Augustine was spread about. Several attempted to escape to the Spaniards, & were taken, one of them was hanged at Charles Town. . . .

On the 9th day of September last, being Sunday, which is the day the Planters allow them to work for themselves, Some Angola Negroes assembled to the number of Twenty; and one who was called Jemmy was their Captain. They surprised a Warehouse belonging to Mr. Hutchenson at a place called Stonehow [Stono]; they there killed Mr. Robert Bathurst and Mr. Gibbs, plundered the House and took a pretty many small Arms and Powder, which were there for Sale. Next they plundered and burnt Mr. Godfrey’s house and killed him, his Daughter and Son. They then turned back and marched Southward along Pons Pons, which is the Road through Georgia to Augustine. They passed Mr. Wallace’s Tavern towards daybreak, and said they would not hurt him, for he was a good Man and kind to his Slaves, but they broke open and plundered Mr. Lemy’s House and killed him, his wife and Child. They marched on towards Mr. Rose’s resolving to kill him; but he was saved by a Negroe who, having hid him, went out and pacified the others. Several Negroes joined them, they calling out Liberty, marched on with Colours displayed and two Drums beating, pursuing all the white people they met with, and killing Man Woman and Child when they could come up to them.

Colonel Bull, Lieutenant Governour of South Carolina, who was then riding along the Road, discovered them, was pursued, and with much difficulty escaped & raised the Country. They burnt Colonel Hext’s house and killed his Overseer and his Wife. They then burnt Mr. Sprye’s house, then Mr. Sacheverell’s, and then Mr. Nash’s house, all lying upon the Pons Pons Road, and killed all the white People they found in them. Mr. Bullock got off, but they burnt his House.

By this time many of them were drunk with the Rum they had taken in the Houses. They increased every minute by new Negroes coming to them, so that they were above Sixty, some say a hundred, on which they halted in a field and set to dancing, Singing and beating Drums, to draw more Negroes to them, thinking they were now victorious over the whole Province, having marched ten miles & burnt all before them without Opposition, but the Militia being raised, the Planters with great briskness pursued them and when they came up, dismounting, charged them on foot. The Negroes were soon routed though they behaved boldly, several being killed on the Spot, many ran back to their Plantations thinking they had not been missed, but they were there taken and Shot, Such as were taken in the field also, were, after being examined, shot on the Spot; and this is to be said to the honour of the Carolina Planters, that notwithstanding the Provocation they had received from so many Murders, they did not torture one Negroe, but only put them to an easy death.

All [slaves] that proved to be forced & were not concerned in the Murders & Burnings were pardoned. And this sudden Courage in the field, & the Humanity afterwards hath had so good an Effect that there hath been no farther Attempt, and the very Spirit of Revolt seems over. About 30 escaped from the fight, of which ten marched about 30 miles Southward, and being overtaken by the Planters on horseback, fought stoutly for some time and were all killed on the Spot. The rest are yet untaken. In the whole action about 40 Negroes and 20 whites were killed.

The Lieutenant Governour sent an account of this to General Oglethorpe, who met the advices on his return from the Indian Nation. He immediately ordered a Troop of Rangers to be ranged, to patrol through Georgia, placed some Men in the Garrison at Palichocolas, which was before abandoned, and near which the Negroes formerly passed, being the only place where Horses can come to swim over the River Savannah for near 100 miles, ordered out the Indians in pursuit, and a Detachment of the Garrison at Port Royal to assist the Planters on any Occasion, and published a Proclamation ordering all the Constables &c. [etc.] of Georgia to pursue and seize all Negroes, with a Reward for any that should be taken. It is hoped these measures will prevent any Negroes from getting down to the Spaniards.

De first Cato slave we knows ’bout, was plum willin’ to lay down his life for de right, as he see it. Dat is pow’ful fine for de Catoes who has come after him. My granddaddy and my daddy tell me plenty ’bout it, while we was livin’ in Orangeburg County, not far from where de fightin’ took place in de long ago.

“My granddaddy was a son of de son of de Stono slave commander. He say his daddy often take him over de route of de rebel slave march, dat time when dere was sho’ big trouble all ’bout dat neighborhood. As it come down to me, I thinks de first Cato take a darin’ chance on losin’ his life, not so much for his own benefit as it was to help others. He was not lak some slaves, much ’bused by deir masters. My kinfolks not ’bused. Da[t] why, I reckons, de captain of de slaves was picked by them. Cato was teached how to read and write by his rich master.

“How it all start? Dat what I ask but nobody ever tell me how 100 slaves between de Combahee and Edisto rivers come to meet in de woods not far from de Stono River on September 9, 1739. And how they elect a leader, my kinsman, Cato, and late dat day march to Stono town, break in a warehouse, kill two white men in charge, and take all de guns and ammunition they wants. But they do it. Wid dis start, they turn south and march on.

“They work fast, coverin’ 15 miles, passin’ many fine plantations, and in every single case, stop, and break in de house and kill men, women, and children. Then they take what they want ’cludin’ arms, clothes, liquor and food. Near de Combahee swamp, Lieutenant Governor Bull, drivin’ from Beaufort to Charleston, see them and he small a rat. Befo’ he was seen by de army he detour into de big woods and stay ’til de slave rebels pass.

“Governor Bull and some planters, between de Combahee and Edisto [rivers], ride fast and spread de alarm and it wasn’t long ’til de militiamen was on de trail in pursuit of de slave army. When found, many of de slaves was singin’ and dancin’ and Cap. Cato and some of de other leaders was cussin’ at them sumpin awful. From dat day to dis, no Cato has tasted whiskey, ’less he go ’against his daddy’s warnin’. Dis war last less than two days but it sho’ was pow’ful hot while it last.

“I reckon it was hot, ’cause in less than two days, 21 white men, women, and chillun, and 44 Negroes, was slain. My granddaddy say dat in de woods and at Stono, where de war start, dere was more than 100 Negroes in line. When de militia come in sight of them at Combahee swamp, de drinkin’ dancin’ Negroes scatter I de brush and only 44 stand deir ground.

“Commander Cato speak for de crowd. He say: ‘We don’t lak slavery. We start to jine de Spanish in Florida. We surrender but we not whipped yet and we is not converted.” De other 43 men say: ‘Amen.’ They was taken, unarmed, and hanged by de militia. Long befo’ dis uprisin’, de Cato slave wrote passes for slaves and do all he can to send them to freedom. He die but he die for doin’ de right, as he see it.”

III. And for the better keeping slaves in due order and subjection, be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that no person whatsoever shall permit or suffer any slave under his or their care or management, and who lives or is employed in Charlestown, or any other town in this Province, to go out of the limits of the said town, or any such slave who lives in the country, to go out of the plantation to which such slave belongs, or in which plantation such slave is usually employed, without a letter superscribed and directed, or a ticket...which ticket shall be signed by the master or other person having the care or charge of such slave...

V. And it shall be further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any slave who shall be out of the house or plantation where such slave shall live, or shall be usually employed, or without some whiter person in company with such slave, shall refuse to submit or undergo the examination of any white person, it shall be lawful for any such white person to pursue, apprehend, and moderately correct such slave; and if any such slave shall assault and stricke such white person, such slave may be lawfully killed.

VIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any person shall be maimed, wounded or disabled, in pursuing, apprehending, or taking any slave that is runaway or charged with any criminal offence, or in doing any other act, matter or thing, in obedience to or in pursuance of the direction of this Act, he shall receive such reward from the public, as the General Assembly shall think fit; and if any such person shall be killed his heirs, executors or administrators, shall receive the like reward.

XL. And whereas, many of the slaves in this Province wear clothes much above the condition of slaves, for the procuring whereof they use sinister and evil methods: For the prevention, therefore, of such practices for the future, Be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That no owner or proprietor of any Negro slave, or other slave, (except livery men and boys,) shall permit or suffer such Negro or other slave, to have or wear any sort of apparel whatsoever, finer, other, or greater value than Negro cloth, duffels, kerseys, osnabrigs, blue linen, check linen or coarse garlix, or calicoes, checked cottons, or Scotch plaids...

XXXVI. And for that as it is absolutely necessary to the safety of this Province, that all due care be taken to restrain the wanderings and meetings of Negroes and other slaves, at all times, and more especially on Saturday nights, Sundays, and other holidays, and their using and carrying wooden swords, and other mischievous and dangerous weapons, or using or keeping of drums, horns, or other loud instruments, which may call together or give sign or notice to one another of their wicked designs and purposes...

Be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that it shall be lawful for all masters, overseers and other persons whosoever, to apprehend and take up any Negro or other slave that shall be found out of the plantation of his or their master or owner, at any time, especially on Saturday nights, Sundays or other holiday, not being on lawful business, and with a letter from their master, or a ticket, or not having a white person with them...

And whatsoever master, owner or overseer shall permit or suffer his or their Negro or other slave or slaves, at any time hereafter, to beat drums, blow horns, or use any other loud instruments or whosoever shall suffer and countenance any public meeting or feastings of strange Negroes or slaves in their plantations, shall forfeit ten pounds, current money, for every such offence...

XLVII. And whereas, many disobedient and evil minded Negroes and other slaves, being the property of his Majesty’s subjects of this Province, have lately deserted the service of their owners, and have fled to St. Augustine and other places in Florida, in hopes of being there received and protected; and whereas, many other slaves have attempted to follow the same evil and pernicious example, which, (unless timely prevented,) may tend to the very great loss and prejudice of the inhabitants of this Province; Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the passing of this act, any white person or persons, free Indian or Indians, who shall, on the south side of Savannah river, take and secure, and shall from thence bring to the work house in Charlestown, any Negroes or other slaves, which within the space of six months have deserted, or who shall hereafter desert, from the services of their owners or employers...for each grown man slave brought alive, the sum of fifty pounds; for every grown woman or boy slave above the age of twelve years brought alive, the sum of twenty five pounds; for every Negro child under the age of twelve years, brought alive, the sum of five pounds; for every scalp of a grown Negro slave with the two ears, twenty pounds; and for every Negro grown slave, found on the south side of St. John’s river, and brought alive as aforesaid, the sum of one hundred pounds; and for every scalp of a grown Negro slave with the two ears, taken on the south side of St. John’s river, the sum of fifty pounds.

LVI. And whereas, several Negroes did lately rise in rebellion, and did commit many barbarous murders at Stono and other parts adjacent thereto; and whereas, in suppressing the said rebels, several of them were killed and others taken alive and executed; and as the exigence and danger the inhabitants at that time were in an exposed to, would not admit of the formality of a legal trial of such rebellious Negroes, but for their own security the said inhabitants were obliged to put such Negroes to immediate death; to prevent, therefore, any person or persons being questioned for any matter or thing done in the suppression or execution of the said rebellious Negroes, as also any litigious suit, action or prosecution that may be brought, sued or prosecuted or commenced against such person or persons for or concerning the same; Be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that all and every act, matter and thing, had, done, committed and executed, in and about the suppressing and putting all and every the said Negro and Negroes to death, is and are hereby declared lawful, to all intents and purposes whatsoever, as fully and amply as if such rebellious Negroes had undergone a formal trial and condemnation, notwithstanding any want of form or omission whatever in the trial of such Negroes; and any law, usage or custom to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding.

I must now give your Lordships an account of a bloody conspiracy of some of the slaves of this place, to destroy as many of the inhabitants as they could....when they had resolved to revenge themselves, for some hard usage they apprehended to have received from their masters (for I can find no other cause) they agreed to meet in the orchard of Mr. Crook in the middle of the town, some provided with fire arms, some with swords and others with knives and hatchets. This was the sixth day of April, the time of the meeting was about twelve or one clock in the night, when about three and twenty of them were got together. One...slave to one Vantilburgh set fire to [a shed] of his masters, and then repairing to his place where the rest were, they all sallyed out together with their arms and marched to the fire. By this time, the noise of the fire spreading through the town, the people began to flock to it. Upon the approach of several, the slaves fired and killed them. The noise of the guns gave the alarm, and some escaping, their shot soon published the cause of the fire, which was the reason that nine Christians were killed, and about five or six wounded. Upon the first notice, which was very against them, but the slaves made their retreat into the woods, by the favour of the night. Having ordered the day following, the militia of this town and the country of West Chester to drive [to] the Island, and by this means and strict searches in the town, we found all that put the design in execution, six of these having first laid violent hands upon themselves [committed suicide], the rest were forthwith brought to their tryal before ye Justices of this place....In that court were twenty seven condemned, whereof twenty one were executed, one being a woman with a child, her execution by than means suspended. Some were burnt, others hanged, one broke on the wheel, and one hung alive in chains in the town, so that there has been the most exemplary punishment inflicted that could be possibily thought of.

1702

• Slaves may not gather in groups larger than three.

• Slaves who break this law will receive 40 lashes on the naked back.

• Masters may punish their slaves for any misdeed in any way they wish except killing them or cutting off their limbs.

1706

• Masters are no longer obligated to free slaves who convert to Christianity.

• Children born to enslaved women are slaves for life.

1707

• Newly freed black people may not own or inherit land.

1708

• Any slave who murders his or her master will be tortured and killed.

• Any slave who plots with others to murder his or her master will be tortured and killed.

1712

• Any slave who plots with others to revolt will be tortured and killed.

• No slave can ever own a gun or pistol.

• No black person who becomes free after 1712 may own a house or pass property on to their children.

• To free a slave, the master must pay a 200-pound bond, to cover the costs should the freed slave ever become a public charge.

1713

• No slave 14 years or older may go out after dark without a lantern.

1722

• Funerals for slaves and free African Americans must be held during daylight.

1731

• Slaves could not gamble for money

• Slaves who rode a horse too fast or dangerously in the city could be whipped

New York Weekly Journal: April 15, 1734.

To be Sold, a Young Negro Woman about 20 Years old, she dos all sorts of House work; she can Brew, Bake boil soft Soap, Wash, Iron & Starch; and is a good dairy Woman. She can Card and Spin at the great Wheel, Cotton, Linen and Woolen. She has another good property, she neither drinks Rum nor smoes Tobacco, and she is a strong healthy Wench. She can Cook pretty well for Roast and Boyld; she can speak no other language but English. She had the Small Pox in Barbados when a child. Enquire of the Printer here of and known the Purchase. N.B. She is well Clothed.

New York Evening Post: December 17, 1744.

RAN away from John Thornton at White-Stone-Ferry in Flushing, a new Negro Fellow named Prince, he can't scarce speak a Word of English; he is a short Fellow, about 20 Years of Age, had on when he went nothing but an Ozenbrigs Shirt, and a Pair of Tow-Trowsers, and a striped worsted Cap; he also has taken with him a short Gun well mounted with Brass. Whoever takes up the said Negro Fellow an Gun, and brings him to his said Master, shall have three Pounds Reward and all reasonable Charges paid by me,

JOHN THORN.

Frothingham's Long Island Herald: May 31, 1791.

Ran away from the Subscriber, about three years and a half ago, a Negro man, named Tom, between 90 and 100 years of age, had on when he went away, a snuff coloured great coat, white plush breeches, blue yarn stockings; one leg somewhat shorter than the other; about 4 feet high, Africa born, spoke very broken. Whomever will bring said Negro to his master shall receive SIX PENCE Reward, and no charges paid by

LEMUEL PEIRSON.

N.B. All persons are forbid harbouring said Negro at their peril.

Southampton, May 31, 1791

STEPHEN. “he is a brisk, sensible lad, about 16 Years of Age, is very artful and cunning, has been much whipt, which his Back will shew” 8-15 May 1746

CAESAR. “he is a very cunning subtle Fellow, can read very well, and write a little; it is suppos’d he will endeavor to pass for a free Man, and follow the Shoemaker’s Trade as he understands a little of the Business.” 20 March 1752

JACK. “He is a very ingenious fellow, can do cooper’s work [make wooden barrels], and is supposed to have a pass from some villainous person or other, and will endeavour to pass as a freeman; and as he is a sensible arch [crafty] fellow, probably he will attempt to make his escape from off this continent.” 19 March 1767

CHARLES AND HIS WIFE. “[Charles] is very ingenious at any work; he has been used to hire his time, and has a pass of Joseph Jones for that purpose which was not taken in when I sold him to Lockhart. He took his wife with him, a Mulatto, about 19 years old, about 5 feet and a half high, a very likely well shaped woman, and very ingenious at any work. The above slaves will endeavour to pass for free man and woman, and as the man is a sensible arch fellow, he will probably attempt to make his escape from off this continent” 14 May 1767

FREDERICK. “he is an artful cunning fellow. . . I have some suspicion he will endeavour to get on board some vessel and go out of the colony as a free man.” 15 September 1768

PETER DEADFOOT. “he is so ingenious a fellow, that he can turn his hand to anything; he has a great share of pride, though he is very obliging, is extremely fond of dress; and though his holiday clothes were taken from him, when he first attempted to get off, yet, as he has probably passed for a freeman, I make no doubt he has supplied himself with others, as such a fellow would readily get employment.” 22 September 1768

CHARLES. “an artful cunning fellow . . . He is a sawyer and shoemaker by trade, and carried with him his shoemaker's tools. The said fellow reads very well, and is a great preacher, from which I imagine he will endeavour to pass for a free man. . . The said fellow run away the 16th of February 1765, and was absent near two years.” 23 September 1769

FAUQUIER. “ has a smooth insinuating way of talking . . . being an artful subtle fellow, [I] imagine he will go as much in disguise as possible, to prevent suspicion.” 15 November 1770

Forasmuch as liberty is in real value next to life, none ought to part with it themselves, or deprivate others of it, but upon most mature consideration.

The numerousness of slaves at this day in the province, and the uneasiness of them under their slavery, has put many upon thinking whether the foundation of it be firmly and well laid, so as to sustain the vast weight that is built upon it. It is most certain that all men, as they are the sons of Adam, are coheirs, and have equal right unto liberty, and all other outward comforts of life....

Originally and naturally, there is no such thing as slavery. Joseph was rightfully no more a slave to his brethren than they were to him; and they had no more authority to sell him than they had to slay him....

And all things considered, 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 free, and indeed they can seldom use their freedom well; yet their continual aspiring after their forbidden liberty renders them unwilling servants. And there is such a disparity in their conditions, color, and hair that they can never embody with us and grow up into orderly families, to the peopling of the land, but still remain in our body politic as a kind of extravasat[ed] blood.... Moreover, it is too well known what temptations masters are under to connive at the fornication of their slaves, lest they should be obliged to find them wives, or pay their fines....

It is likewise most lamentable to think, how in taking Negroes out of Africa and selling of them here, that which God has joined together men do boldly rent asunder--men from their wives, parents from their children. How horrible is the uncleanness, mortality, if not murder, that the ships are guilty of that bring great crowds of these miserable men and women. Methinks, when we are bemoaning the barbarous usage of our friends and kinfolk in Africa, it might not be unseasonable to inquire whether we are not culpable in forcing the Africans to become slaves among ourselves. And it may be a question whether all the benefit received by Negro slaves will balance the account of cash laid out upon them, and for the redemption of our own enslaved friends out of Africa, besides all the persons and estates that have perished there.

Objection 1. These blackamoors are of the posterity of Ham, and therefore under the curse of slavery (Gen. 9:25-27).

Answer....If this ever was a commission, how do we know but that it is long since out of date?...But it is possible that by cursory reading this text may have been mistaken....

Objection 2. The Negroes are brought out of a pagan country into places where the Gospel is preached.

Answer. Evil must not be done that good may come of it....

Objection 3. The Africans have wars one with another. Our ships bring lawful captives taken in those wars.

Answer....If they be between town and town, provincial or national, every war is upon one side unjust. An unlawful war can't make lawful captives. And by receiving, we are in danger to promote and partake in their barbarous cruelties.

As to your second query, if enslaving our fellow creatures be a practice agreeable to Christianity, it is answered in a great measure in many treatises at home, to which I refer you. I shall only mention something of our present state here.

Like Adam, we are all apt to shift off the blame from ourselves and lay it upon others, how justly in our case you may judge. The Negroes are enslaved [in Africa] by the Negroes themselves before they are purchased by the masters of the ships who bring them here. It is, to be sure, at our choice whether we buy them or not; so this then is our crime, folly, or whatever you will please to call it. But our Assembly, foreseeing the ill consequences of importing such numbers amongst us, hath often attempted to lay a duty upon them which would amount to a prohibition, such as ten or twenty pounds a head. But no governor dare pass a law, having instructions to the contrary from the Board of Trade at home. By this means they are forced upon us, whether we will or will not. This plainly shows the African Company has the advantage of the colonies, and may do as it pleases with the [London] ministry.

Indeed, since we have been exhausted of our little stock of cash by the [French and Indian] war, the importation has stopped; our poverty then is our best security. There is no more picking for their [slave traders'] ravenous jaws upon bare bones, but should we begin to thrive, they will be at the same again ....

This is our part of the grievance, but to live in Virginia without slaves is morally impossible. Before our troubles, you could not hire a servant or slave for love or money, so that unless robust enough to cut wood, to go to mill, to work at the hoe, etc., you must starve, or board in some family where they both fleece and half starve you. There is no set price upon corn, wheat, and provisions, so they take advantage of the necessities of strangers, who are thus obliged to purchase some slaves and land. This, of course, draws us all into the original sin and the curse of the country of purchasing slaves, and this is the reason we have no merchants, traders, or artificers of any sort but what become planters in a short time.

A common laborer, white or black, if you can be so much favored as to hire one, is a shilling sterling or fifteen pence currency per day; a bungling carpenter two shillings or two shillings and sixpence per day; besides diet and lodging. That is, for a lazy fellow to get wood and water, £19.16.3 current per annum; add to this seven or eight pounds more and you have a slave for life.

I have said there are 40,000 Negroes in the province, these if valued as new Negroes from Africa are now sold, may be reckoned at £20 sterling per head, but this valuation does not satisfy me for when it is considered that many of these are natives of Carolina, who have no notion of liberty, nor no longing after any other country, that they have been brought up among white people, and by white people have been made, at least many of them, useful mechanics, as coopers, carpenters, masons, smiths, wheelwrights, and other trades, and that the rest can all speak our language, for we imported none during the war. I say when it is considered that these are pleased with their masters, contented with their condition, reconciled to servitude, seasoned to the country, and expert at the different kinds of labour in which they are employed, it must appear difficult if not impracticable to ascertain their intrinsic value. I know a gentleman who refused five hundred guineas for three of his slaves, and therefore there is no guessing at the value of the strong seasoned handy slaves, by the prices of weak, raw, new Negroes.

Such a tendency has the slave-trade to debauch men’s minds, and harden them to every feeling of humanity! For I will not suppose that the dealers in slaves are born worse than other men ⎯ No; it is the fatality of this mistaken avarice that it corrupts the milk of human kindness and turns it into gall. And had the pursuits of those men been different, they might have been as generous, as tender-hearted and just, as they are unfeeling, rapacious and cruel. Surely this traffic cannot be good which spreads like a pestilence and taints what it touches! which violates that first natural right of mankind, equality and independency, and gives one man a dominion over his fellows which God could never intend! For it raises the owner to a state as far above man as it depresses the slave below it; and, with all the presumption of human pride, sets a distinction between them, immeasurable in extent, and endless in duration! Yet how mistaken is the avarice even of the planters? Are slaves more useful by being thus humbled to the condition of brutes, than they would be if suffered to enjoy the privileges of men? The freedom which diffuses health and prosperity throughout Britain answers you ⎯ No.

When you make men slaves, you deprive them of half their virtue, you set them in your own conduct an example of fraud, rapine, and cruelty, and compel them to live with you in a state of war; and yet you complain that they are not honest or faithful! You stupify them with stripes [i.e., from whipping], and think it necessary to keep them in a state of ignorance; and yet you assert that they are incapable of learning; that their minds are such a barren soil or moor that culture would be lost on them; and that they come from a climate where nature, though prodigal of her bounties in a degree unknown to yourselves, has left man alone scant and unfinished, and incapable of enjoying the treasures she has poured out for him! ⎯ An assertion at once impious and absurd. Why do you use those instruments of torture? Are they fit to be applied by one rational being to another; And are ye not struck with shame and mortification to see the partakers of your nature reduced so low? But, above all, are there no dangers attending this mode of treatment? Are you not hourly in dread of an insurrection?

"It has been notified … that eight black males and two black females who had run away from the city of San Jorge [Charlestown], arrived to that presidio asking for the holy water of baptism, which they received after being instructed in the Christian doctrine. Later on, the chief sergeant of San Jorge visited the city with the intention to claim the runaways, but it was not proper to do so, because they had already become Christians .... As a prize for having adopted the Catholic doctrine and become Catholicized, as soon as you get this letter, set them all free and give them anything they need, and favor them as much as possible. I hope them to be an example, together with my generosity, of what others should do."

In 1693, King Charles II of Spain ordered his Florida colonists to give runaway slaves from British colonies freedom and protection if they converted to Catholicism and agreed to serve Spain. The fugitive slaves from South Carolina who made it to Spanish Florida could expect to gain more control over their own lives, even as Spanish slaves. Between the late 17th and the mid-18th centuries, an unknown number of slaves from South Carolina successfully escaped to Florida. Spanish records note at least six separate groups of slaves who escaped from South Carolina to St. Augustine between 1688 and 1725. This policy of refuge encouraged fugitive slaves to flee to Spanish Florida with the hope of a better life if they made it to a Spanish outpost, and it gave the Spanish a weapon to use against the British. Spain’s policy toward runaways took laborers from the British colony and boosted its own colonial population to oppose the British.

After Montiano granted freedom to Menéndez, he established the village of Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mosé for black citizens of St. Augustine. The appellation “Gracia Real” indicated that the king established the town. Saint Teresa de Avilés was the town’s patron saint, and Mose was the name of the site prior to settlement. Fort Mose was its unofficial name. There were nearly 40 free men and women at Fort Mose, including Menéndez and his wife María, who pledged to serve Spain and convert to Catholicism. According to British accounts, the first fort built was of stone and the community lived in dwellings outside of it. Although a white Catholic priest and a white Spanish officer were at the village, the governor considered Menéndez the head of the Fort Mose community and respected his military leadership.

The Spanish government emphasized its religious and humanitarian reasons for founding Fort Mose, but the village was also strategically placed to defend St. Augustine against British attacks. In 1739, African slaves in South Carolina killed over 20 British colonists and then tried but failed to escape to St. Augustine in a revolt called the Stono Rebellion. After the rebellion, an international war in Europe intensified competition between the colonies and their uneasy peace broke down.

In 1740, colonial governor James Oglethorpe of Georgia invaded Florida and burned Spanish outposts along the St. Johns River, as he led his force of British colonists and American Indian allies south to St. Augustine. They attacked the Florida capital and quickly captured Fort Mose. Because they lacked the fortifications to hold off Oglethorpe’s army, the Fort Mose community evacuated the town before the British arrived and escaped to St. Augustine. Soon afterward, the Fort Mose militia returned to take back their village from the British and won a conflict called the Battle of Bloody Mose. Beaten and unable to take the city, Oglethorpe retreated. The governor praised the bravery of Menéndez and his militia in a report of the battle to the king. After Oglethorpe’s attack, the Spanish abandoned the first Fort Mose and the black community returned to St. Augustine, where they integrated into mainstream Spanish colonial life.

The British took control of Florida during the American Revolution, and many of Fort Mose’s blacks evacuated with the Spanish to Cuba where their free status was recognized. Many, like Captain Menendez, were given small land grants near the town of Matanzas but by all accounts, these migrants did not have an easy time in the relocation to Cuba. The lands they had been granted were barren and most struggled to survive. Meanwhile, in Florida, the British established large plantations near St. Augustine with as many as 8,000 enslaved Africans exported from Carolina. The Seminoles near St. Augustine where now forced by the encroaching British settlements to find land elsewhere. The Spanish would return to Florida in 1784. By this point, America was a nation increasingly reliant on slavery, and as settlements spread, a steady stream of displaced Native Americans from Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina sought refuge in Spanish Florida. America would continue raiding Spanish Florida until the Adams-Onis Treaty (1819) ceded Florida to the United States.

In Spanish Florida, enslaved Africans had more rights than their counterparts in the British colonies. They could marry, own property, and purchase their own freedom. Free blacks, as long as they were Catholic, were not subject to legal discrimination. They owned property (although they could not hold office). No one was born into slavery. Marriage between whites and blacks was legal and the children of mixed raced marriages could inherit property. Labor in Spanish Florida also differed. Enslaved people worked in the task system rather than the gang system. In the task system, once the day's assignments (tasks) were done, enslaved people were free to do as they pleased the rest of the day. Sometimes this meant tending to one's own garden or hunting. Enslaved people could hire out their labor (or sell crops from their own gardens) in order to purchase their freedom. Decrees from 1544 and 1648 also prohibited masters from working slaves on Sundays and holidays. Masters who murdered slaves or disrupted their marriages were punished by law. Spanish colonies also tended to promote manumission to help build up a middle class of free blacks to help preserve the social order. And that social order was not predicated solely on race (although, as we have seen by the casta system, race certainly factored in). Free blacks enjoyed the same rights as whites: they owned land, served on juries, bore arms, served in the militia, and testified in court. They could not, however, hold political office. Black women who were married to white planters could enjoy an elite status (as could their "mulatto" children). The White Supremacy that took root in British North America seemed to be at least muted in Spanish colonies (see the ideas of Zephaniah Kingsley, for example).

Thus, while the British colonies sought to impose strict slave codes in fear of rebellion, Spanish colonies like Florida sought to prevent rebellion by easing restrictions and making society (slightly) more fluid. Of course, this was all still a system of exploitation. In drawing these comparisons, we are not saying "Oh, the Spanish were so nice to their slaves. How progressive!" Enslavement is still enslavement. But it is interesting to see how different societies imposed different codes and norms.

Whereas we have received information that because many blacks have been transported and continue to be transported daily to the Island of Hispaniola, and since there are very few Christians there, circumstances that may result in unrest and rebellion of the aforementioned blacks, who finding themselves vigorous yet enslaved, may either leave for the wilderness or escape from the farms and haciendas in which they are, as they have tried many times; and since we did not trust them and this could lead to other damages and inconveniences, and having discussed the matter in the Council of Indies, we recognize that it would be a great remedy to force blacks, who henceforward are transported to the said island or who are already there, to get married so that each has his own wife; this, along with the love that they have for their wives and children and the order of matrimony, shall foster peace among them and end other sins and inconveniences...

Likewise we are informed that while some Christian Spaniards have intended to get them married, many have not allowed this to happen, out of fear that the status of marriage would make them free, and relieve them from further service, which is not true; and in consultation with the King, we agreed to issue this letter mandating that heretofore each and any individuals who have received our licenses, either general ones as granted to the Island, or special licenses to transport black slaves to the Island of Hispaniola, be obliged to have half of their imported slaves be male and the other half be female, so that there be as many of one as of the other, so that they can be joined in legal and blessed matrimony, if it is their will and they so desire, under penalty of confiscation of such slaves, even when holding proper licenses; likewise, we order all residents of the island, who have or will in the future have black slaves, to get their slaves married within fifteen months of the proclamation of this letter, if the slaves so desire, because marriage must be voluntary and not coerced, under penalty of confiscation; and hereby we declare that if they are married with the consent of their lords and masters, they shall not be considered free but rather slaves, as if their matrimony had not occurred; and we order the President and council members of our Royal Audiencia, which resides in that island and other judicial authorities to completely keep, fulfil, and execute these provisions, under penalty of confiscation of all of their properties; and so that all of the above be well known and no one can claim ignorance, we order that this letter be publicly read in the plazas and markets of the city of Seville, and the cities, villages, and settlements of the Island of Hispaniola...