Chapter 3

FOOTNOTES:[98]Acts Gen. Assembly of S.C. from Feb., 1791, to Dec., 1794, inclusive, Vol. I., 215.[99]Hurd: Law of Freedom and Bondage, Vol. II., p. 74-75.[100]Laws of the State of Delaware, 1793, p. 105.[101]Mr. Miner, of Pennsylvania, in a speech in Congress, January 6, 1829, read the following presentment made by the Grand Jury at Alexandria in 1802. "We the Grand Jury for the body of the County of Alexandria in the District of Columbia, present as a grievance the practice of persons coming from distant parts of the United States into this district for the purpose of purchasing slaves."—Gales and Seaton's Register of Debates in Congress, Vol. V., p. 177. At this time the foreign slave trade was prohibited by statutes in all the states.[102]Claibourne: Mississippi as a Province, Territory, and State, Vol. I., p. 144.[103]It is to be remembered that this was just before the opening of the foreign slave trade by South Carolina.[104]Monette: History of the Valley of the Mississippi, Vol. II., pp. 177-191, 269, 295, 547. Niles' Register, Sept. 13 and Oct. 18, 1817.[105]Census 1870. Population and Statistics, p. 4, 7 (recapitulation).[106]Annals of Congress, 16th Congress, 2nd Session, p. 77.[107]Above Chap. I. Vincent Nolte, p. 189. Am. Col. So. Reports, Vol. I., p. 94. Du Bois, p. 111.[108]Clay's Col. Society Speech, Dec. 17, 1829.[109]William Darby travelled all through the Southwestern part of the country from about 1805 to 1815, and wrote two books: "A Geographical Description of the State of Louisiana, Mississippi and the Territory of Alabama", published in 1817, and the Emigrants' Guide, 1818. He visited both Natchez and New Orleans. F. Cumming Sketches of a Tour to the Western Country, 1807 to 1809. John Bradbury: Travels in the Interior of America in the years 1809-10-11, including a description of Upper Louisiana, together with the Illinois and Western Territories. Christian Scutz: Travels on an Inland Voyage Through the States of New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and through the territories of Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, and New Orleans in the years 1807, 1808. Vincent Nolte: Fifty Years in Both Hemispheres. And others.[110]Niles' Reg., Vol. XIII., p. 119, Oct. 18, 1817.[111](Paulding): Letters from the South, pp. 122, 128.[112]Hunt's Merchants' Magazine, Vol. VI., p. 473.[113]Birkbeck: Notes on a Journey from the Coast of Virginia to the Territory of Illinois, p. 25. Palmer: Journal of Travels in the United States, p. 142. Francis Hall, Travels in Canada and the United States, p. 358.[114]Fearon: Sketches of America, p. 268.[115]Facts Respecting Slavery, p. 2 in (Yale) Slavery Pamphlet, Vol. LXI.[116]Acts of the General Assembly of Georgia, p. 139.Note.—From 1810 to 1820 slaves increased in Georgia about 44,000, or 43 per cent. The illicit foreign traffic to this State was great during part of this time. Torrey says in 1817, that it was common for masters in Maryland, Delaware and District of Columbia to endeavor to reform bad slaves by threatening to sell them to Georgia. Torrey: Portraiture of Slavery in United States, p. 37.[117]Census 1870, Vol. Pop. and Statistics, p. 7.[118]Ibid., p. 4.[119]Ibid., pp. 4, 6, 7.[120]Monette: History of Mississippi Valley, Vol. II., p. 515.[121]Census 1870. Pop. and Social Statistics, pp. 4, 6, 7.[122]In 1810 there were in Louisiana 34,660 slaves and 7,585 free colored (census reports); according to Monette (Vol. II., p. 515) in 1815 there were about 45,000 blacks. It is reasonable to suppose that at least 8,500 of these must have been free negroes as there were 10,476 free negroes in Louisiana in 1820. (Census reports.)[123]Monette: Vol. IV., pp. 281, 433, 444, 445. Evans: A Pedestrious Tour, p. 173. Niles' Reg., Vol. XIII., pp. 40, 119. Sept. 13, Oct. 18, 1817.[124]State Papers, 16th Congress, 1st Session, Vol. III., Doc. 42. Niles' Reg., May 2, 1818, Jan. 22, 1820; Sept. 6, 1817. Wm. Jay: Miscellaneous Writings, p. 277, Chap. I. above.[125](Isaac Candler): A Summary View of America during a Journey in 1822-23; p. 273.[126](Wm. Newnham Blane): An Excursion through the United States and Canada, p. 226.[127]Basil Hall: Travels in North America, Vol. II., p. 219.[128]Ibid.: p. 220. Niles' Reg., Dec. 27, 1828.[129]Du Bois, p. 128.[130]Hunt's Merchants' Magazine, Vol. VI., p. 473.[131]Woodbury's Report, p. 13.[132]Ibid.[133]Quoted from the African Repository, Vol. V., p. 381.[134]Niles' Reg., Nov. 26, 1831.[135]Richmond Enquirer, Aug. 30, 1831.[136]Dew: Debates in Virginia Legislature, p. 59. In (Yale) Slav. Pamp., Vol. XLVII.[137]Acts Legislature Louisiana, 1831, p. 78.[138]Acts of Extra Sess. of 10th Leg. of Louisiana, p. 4.[139]Laws of Alabama, 1831-2, p. 12.[140]Slavery Speeches in Virginia Legislature, Richmond Enquirer, Jan. 19, 21, 24; March 30, 1832.[141]Dew: Debate in Virginia Legislature, p. 50. (Yale) Slav. Pamp., Vol. XLVII.[142]Hunt's Merchants' Magazine, Vol. VI., p. 473.[143]Census 1890, Statistics of Agriculture, p. 42.[144]Dew: Debates in Virginia Legislature, p. 49. (Yale) Sl. Pamp., Vol. XLVII. Dew made this statement in a paper in which his argument required him to prove that the greatest possible number were sent from Virginia.[145]Liberator, May 18, 1833.[146]Daily National Intelligencer, Feb. 10, 1836.[147]Snow Hill (Md.) Messenger and Worcester Co. Advertiser, May 14, 1832, Feb. 11, 1833, March 11, 1833. Winyaw Intelligencer (S.C.), Dec. 11, 1803. Norfolk and Portsmouth Herald, Jan. 16, 1826. Cambridge Chronicle (Md.), Feb. 12, 1831. Charleston (S. C.), Mercury, Feb. 18, 1833.[148]Village Herald (Princess Anne, Md.), Jan. 7, 1831.[149]The Virginia Herald (Fredericksburg, Va.), Jan. 2, 1836.[150]Slavery and the Internal Slave Trade, p. 17.[151]Ibid., p. 13.[152]Quarterly Anti-Slavery Magazine, Vol. II., p. 411.[153]Sl. and Internal Sl. Trade, p. 14. Christian Freeman, July 24, 1845.[154]The Mississippian, April 21, 1837.[155]Hammond: The Cotton Industry, Appendix I. De Bow's Review, Vol. XXIII., p. 475.[156]De Bow's Review, Vol. XXIII., p. 477.[157]Emancipator, Oct. 26, and Nov. 26, 1843.[158]De Bow: Industrial Resources, Vol. III., p. 349.[159]Ibid.: p. 275. Emancipator, Oct. 26, 1843.[160]Liberator, May 19, 1837, May 24, 31, 1839, April 30, 1847.[161]Hammond: Cotton Industry, Appendix I.[162]Quoted from the National Era, Sept. 27, 1849.[163]De Bow's Review. Vol. XXVI., p. 649.[164]Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin, p. 149.[165]De Bow's Review, Vol. XXII., pp. 216-218.[166]P.A. Morse, of Louisiana, De Bow's Review, Vol. XXIII., p. 480.Note.—The statement was made by a South Carolina delegate to the Southern Convention at Montgomery in 1858, that Virginia was then the best market in the Union for the slaves of his State. De Bow's Review, Vol. XXIV., p. 595.[167]Olmsted: Seaboard Slave States, p. 127.[168]Liberator, Jan. 12, 1855.[169]De Bow's Review, Vol. XXVI., p. 650.[170]Ibid.: Vol. XXII., p. 222.[171]De Bow's Review, Vol. XVIII., p. 628; Vol. XXII., pp. 216, 217, 218; Vol. XXIV., pp. 581, 585, 574, 588.[172]Ibid.: Vol. XXVII., p. 470.[173]New Orleans Picaynne, Jan. 8, 15, 1846; Feb. 3, Dec. 10, 1856; Jan. 7, 14, 1858; Dec. 31, 1859.[174]Sumner's Works, Vol. V., p. 62; Olmsted, Cotton Kingdom, Vol. I., (note) p. 58. Chambers: Slavery and Color, p. 148. Chase and Sanborn: The North and the South, p. 22.Note.—The estimate of 60,000 given in Hunt's Merchants' Magazine is scarcely worth consideration. Hunt's Magazine, Vol. XLIII., p. 642.[175]See Chap. I., this volume.[176]Census 1820 and 1830.[177]De Bow's Review, Vol. XXIII., p. 476.[178]Slavery and the Internal Slave Trade, p. 13.[179]Andrews: Sl. and Domestic Sl. Trade, pp. 174, 171, 117, 167. Smedes: Memorials of a Southern Planter, pp. 48-50. Cary: Slave Trade, Domestic and Foreign, p. 109. (Ingraham): The Southwest, Vol. II., p. 233.We have not taken into account the slaves brought by planters themselves independently of the traders. See Dew's "Debates," Pro-Slavery Argument, p. 361.[180]Other things which perhaps ought to be considered, but which do not seem to modify results are mentioned in this note; i.e., the mortality on the sugar plantations (Stearns' Notes on Uncle Tom's Cabin, pp. 174-5), and the deaths caused by removal of slaves from a northern climate (Olmsted: Journey in the Back Country, 122; Chambers: Slavery and Color, 147-8). Negroes advertised for sale in the far South were often advertised as acclimated (Mississippi Republican, Sept. 17, 1823; Daily Picayune, Jan. 30, 1856). To offset the loss of life thus caused it is well to remember that the increase of slaves carried to the South was not taken into account, but treated as if they too were carried there. For instance, 1,000 slaves imported in 1830 would at a 20 per cent. rate of increase number 1,200 by 1840, or to take the middle date 1835, 1,100. So each 1,000 slaves brought in during the decade would increase by 100. If 40,000 were introduced by the illicit foreign traffic between 1830 and 1840, and 106,000 by the trade from the border States, it would mean a natural increase of 14,600 for the ten years. This it seems would offset both the deaths on the sugar plantation, and those caused by removal to another climate.Next to be considered are refugees and manumitted slaves; Miss Martineau said that there were about 10,000 negroes in Upper Canada about 1838, chiefly fugitive slaves (W. Travel., Vol. II., p. 101). The Census of 1860 reports that (Vol. Pop. XVI.) 1,011 slaves escaped in 1850, and only 803 in 1860, and that the slave population increased in slave states more than 20 per cent. during the 10 years, and free colored population in the free States only about 13 per cent. It is estimated in De Bow's Industrial Resources (Vol. III., p. 129) that about 1,540 annually escaped. (For other estimates see Seibert Underground R.R., pp. 192, 221 et seq.)The Census of 1860 reports that more than 3,000 were manumitted in census year of 1860, but this was more than twice as many as in 1850. (1860 Vol. Pop., p. XV.). To offset the fugitive slaves and those manumitted the following is given: kidnapped free negroes from a few hundred to two or three thousand yearly free negroes sold into slavery for jail fees, etc. Liberator, Nov. 19, 1841, July 17, 1834; Speech of Mr. Miner in Congress Jan. 7, 1829; (Sturge: A Visit to the U.S., p. 101) voluntary return to slavery—many States made laws before 1860 to provide for such action on the part of the slaves. (Hurd, Vol. II., p. 12, 24, 94, et seq.).The things as mentioned above do not modify the amount of the domestic slave trade as indicated by the statistical review in the text. If one should argue that the allowances we have made are not sufficient, we would ask him to take notice also that it is more than probable that most of the manumissions and escapes from slavery were in the border States, and to that extent lessens the amount of the apparent slave trade. It is impossible to be definite here, we can only approximate.[181]This about accords with Alexander, who said that by means of the internal trade about 4,000 or 5,000 arrived in the Southern States annually. Transatlantic Sketches, p. 230.[182]Between 1830 and 1840 the number of increase in South Carolina was only about 12,000, while during the previous decade it was about 57,000, if for no other reason showing her to be an exporting State.[183]Shaffner: The War in America, p. 256. (Ingraham): The Southwest, Vol. II., p. 237. It was rather hard to determine whether Missouri should be classed with selling or buying States. It is likely she did some of both as did some others. But practically all her increase after 1830 at least (aside from natural increase) seemed to be due to immigration from Kentucky and Virginia, though her increase was very large, we think she would rank as a selling State anyhow after 1830.[184]Census 1830 and 1840.[185]Chap. I., this volume.[186]Census 1840 and 1850.[187]Chap. I., this volume.[188]Census 1850 and 1860.[189]Chap. I., this volume.

FOOTNOTES:

[98]Acts Gen. Assembly of S.C. from Feb., 1791, to Dec., 1794, inclusive, Vol. I., 215.

[99]Hurd: Law of Freedom and Bondage, Vol. II., p. 74-75.

[100]Laws of the State of Delaware, 1793, p. 105.

[101]Mr. Miner, of Pennsylvania, in a speech in Congress, January 6, 1829, read the following presentment made by the Grand Jury at Alexandria in 1802. "We the Grand Jury for the body of the County of Alexandria in the District of Columbia, present as a grievance the practice of persons coming from distant parts of the United States into this district for the purpose of purchasing slaves."—Gales and Seaton's Register of Debates in Congress, Vol. V., p. 177. At this time the foreign slave trade was prohibited by statutes in all the states.

[102]Claibourne: Mississippi as a Province, Territory, and State, Vol. I., p. 144.

[103]It is to be remembered that this was just before the opening of the foreign slave trade by South Carolina.

[104]Monette: History of the Valley of the Mississippi, Vol. II., pp. 177-191, 269, 295, 547. Niles' Register, Sept. 13 and Oct. 18, 1817.

[105]Census 1870. Population and Statistics, p. 4, 7 (recapitulation).

[106]Annals of Congress, 16th Congress, 2nd Session, p. 77.

[107]Above Chap. I. Vincent Nolte, p. 189. Am. Col. So. Reports, Vol. I., p. 94. Du Bois, p. 111.

[108]Clay's Col. Society Speech, Dec. 17, 1829.

[109]William Darby travelled all through the Southwestern part of the country from about 1805 to 1815, and wrote two books: "A Geographical Description of the State of Louisiana, Mississippi and the Territory of Alabama", published in 1817, and the Emigrants' Guide, 1818. He visited both Natchez and New Orleans. F. Cumming Sketches of a Tour to the Western Country, 1807 to 1809. John Bradbury: Travels in the Interior of America in the years 1809-10-11, including a description of Upper Louisiana, together with the Illinois and Western Territories. Christian Scutz: Travels on an Inland Voyage Through the States of New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and through the territories of Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, and New Orleans in the years 1807, 1808. Vincent Nolte: Fifty Years in Both Hemispheres. And others.

[110]Niles' Reg., Vol. XIII., p. 119, Oct. 18, 1817.

[111](Paulding): Letters from the South, pp. 122, 128.

[112]Hunt's Merchants' Magazine, Vol. VI., p. 473.

[113]Birkbeck: Notes on a Journey from the Coast of Virginia to the Territory of Illinois, p. 25. Palmer: Journal of Travels in the United States, p. 142. Francis Hall, Travels in Canada and the United States, p. 358.

[114]Fearon: Sketches of America, p. 268.

[115]Facts Respecting Slavery, p. 2 in (Yale) Slavery Pamphlet, Vol. LXI.

[116]Acts of the General Assembly of Georgia, p. 139.Note.—From 1810 to 1820 slaves increased in Georgia about 44,000, or 43 per cent. The illicit foreign traffic to this State was great during part of this time. Torrey says in 1817, that it was common for masters in Maryland, Delaware and District of Columbia to endeavor to reform bad slaves by threatening to sell them to Georgia. Torrey: Portraiture of Slavery in United States, p. 37.

[117]Census 1870, Vol. Pop. and Statistics, p. 7.

[118]Ibid., p. 4.

[119]Ibid., pp. 4, 6, 7.

[120]Monette: History of Mississippi Valley, Vol. II., p. 515.

[121]Census 1870. Pop. and Social Statistics, pp. 4, 6, 7.

[122]In 1810 there were in Louisiana 34,660 slaves and 7,585 free colored (census reports); according to Monette (Vol. II., p. 515) in 1815 there were about 45,000 blacks. It is reasonable to suppose that at least 8,500 of these must have been free negroes as there were 10,476 free negroes in Louisiana in 1820. (Census reports.)

[123]Monette: Vol. IV., pp. 281, 433, 444, 445. Evans: A Pedestrious Tour, p. 173. Niles' Reg., Vol. XIII., pp. 40, 119. Sept. 13, Oct. 18, 1817.

[124]State Papers, 16th Congress, 1st Session, Vol. III., Doc. 42. Niles' Reg., May 2, 1818, Jan. 22, 1820; Sept. 6, 1817. Wm. Jay: Miscellaneous Writings, p. 277, Chap. I. above.

[125](Isaac Candler): A Summary View of America during a Journey in 1822-23; p. 273.

[126](Wm. Newnham Blane): An Excursion through the United States and Canada, p. 226.

[127]Basil Hall: Travels in North America, Vol. II., p. 219.

[128]Ibid.: p. 220. Niles' Reg., Dec. 27, 1828.

[129]Du Bois, p. 128.

[130]Hunt's Merchants' Magazine, Vol. VI., p. 473.

[131]Woodbury's Report, p. 13.

[132]Ibid.

[133]Quoted from the African Repository, Vol. V., p. 381.

[134]Niles' Reg., Nov. 26, 1831.

[135]Richmond Enquirer, Aug. 30, 1831.

[136]Dew: Debates in Virginia Legislature, p. 59. In (Yale) Slav. Pamp., Vol. XLVII.

[137]Acts Legislature Louisiana, 1831, p. 78.

[138]Acts of Extra Sess. of 10th Leg. of Louisiana, p. 4.

[139]Laws of Alabama, 1831-2, p. 12.

[140]Slavery Speeches in Virginia Legislature, Richmond Enquirer, Jan. 19, 21, 24; March 30, 1832.

[141]Dew: Debate in Virginia Legislature, p. 50. (Yale) Slav. Pamp., Vol. XLVII.

[142]Hunt's Merchants' Magazine, Vol. VI., p. 473.

[143]Census 1890, Statistics of Agriculture, p. 42.

[144]Dew: Debates in Virginia Legislature, p. 49. (Yale) Sl. Pamp., Vol. XLVII. Dew made this statement in a paper in which his argument required him to prove that the greatest possible number were sent from Virginia.

[145]Liberator, May 18, 1833.

[146]Daily National Intelligencer, Feb. 10, 1836.

[147]Snow Hill (Md.) Messenger and Worcester Co. Advertiser, May 14, 1832, Feb. 11, 1833, March 11, 1833. Winyaw Intelligencer (S.C.), Dec. 11, 1803. Norfolk and Portsmouth Herald, Jan. 16, 1826. Cambridge Chronicle (Md.), Feb. 12, 1831. Charleston (S. C.), Mercury, Feb. 18, 1833.

[148]Village Herald (Princess Anne, Md.), Jan. 7, 1831.

[149]The Virginia Herald (Fredericksburg, Va.), Jan. 2, 1836.

[150]Slavery and the Internal Slave Trade, p. 17.

[151]Ibid., p. 13.

[152]Quarterly Anti-Slavery Magazine, Vol. II., p. 411.

[153]Sl. and Internal Sl. Trade, p. 14. Christian Freeman, July 24, 1845.

[154]The Mississippian, April 21, 1837.

[155]Hammond: The Cotton Industry, Appendix I. De Bow's Review, Vol. XXIII., p. 475.

[156]De Bow's Review, Vol. XXIII., p. 477.

[157]Emancipator, Oct. 26, and Nov. 26, 1843.

[158]De Bow: Industrial Resources, Vol. III., p. 349.

[159]Ibid.: p. 275. Emancipator, Oct. 26, 1843.

[160]Liberator, May 19, 1837, May 24, 31, 1839, April 30, 1847.

[161]Hammond: Cotton Industry, Appendix I.

[162]Quoted from the National Era, Sept. 27, 1849.

[163]De Bow's Review. Vol. XXVI., p. 649.

[164]Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin, p. 149.

[165]De Bow's Review, Vol. XXII., pp. 216-218.

[166]P.A. Morse, of Louisiana, De Bow's Review, Vol. XXIII., p. 480.Note.—The statement was made by a South Carolina delegate to the Southern Convention at Montgomery in 1858, that Virginia was then the best market in the Union for the slaves of his State. De Bow's Review, Vol. XXIV., p. 595.

[167]Olmsted: Seaboard Slave States, p. 127.

[168]Liberator, Jan. 12, 1855.

[169]De Bow's Review, Vol. XXVI., p. 650.

[170]Ibid.: Vol. XXII., p. 222.

[171]De Bow's Review, Vol. XVIII., p. 628; Vol. XXII., pp. 216, 217, 218; Vol. XXIV., pp. 581, 585, 574, 588.

[172]Ibid.: Vol. XXVII., p. 470.

[173]New Orleans Picaynne, Jan. 8, 15, 1846; Feb. 3, Dec. 10, 1856; Jan. 7, 14, 1858; Dec. 31, 1859.

[174]Sumner's Works, Vol. V., p. 62; Olmsted, Cotton Kingdom, Vol. I., (note) p. 58. Chambers: Slavery and Color, p. 148. Chase and Sanborn: The North and the South, p. 22.Note.—The estimate of 60,000 given in Hunt's Merchants' Magazine is scarcely worth consideration. Hunt's Magazine, Vol. XLIII., p. 642.

[174]Sumner's Works, Vol. V., p. 62; Olmsted, Cotton Kingdom, Vol. I., (note) p. 58. Chambers: Slavery and Color, p. 148. Chase and Sanborn: The North and the South, p. 22.

Note.—The estimate of 60,000 given in Hunt's Merchants' Magazine is scarcely worth consideration. Hunt's Magazine, Vol. XLIII., p. 642.

[175]See Chap. I., this volume.

[176]Census 1820 and 1830.

[177]De Bow's Review, Vol. XXIII., p. 476.

[178]Slavery and the Internal Slave Trade, p. 13.

[179]Andrews: Sl. and Domestic Sl. Trade, pp. 174, 171, 117, 167. Smedes: Memorials of a Southern Planter, pp. 48-50. Cary: Slave Trade, Domestic and Foreign, p. 109. (Ingraham): The Southwest, Vol. II., p. 233.We have not taken into account the slaves brought by planters themselves independently of the traders. See Dew's "Debates," Pro-Slavery Argument, p. 361.

We have not taken into account the slaves brought by planters themselves independently of the traders. See Dew's "Debates," Pro-Slavery Argument, p. 361.

[180]Other things which perhaps ought to be considered, but which do not seem to modify results are mentioned in this note; i.e., the mortality on the sugar plantations (Stearns' Notes on Uncle Tom's Cabin, pp. 174-5), and the deaths caused by removal of slaves from a northern climate (Olmsted: Journey in the Back Country, 122; Chambers: Slavery and Color, 147-8). Negroes advertised for sale in the far South were often advertised as acclimated (Mississippi Republican, Sept. 17, 1823; Daily Picayune, Jan. 30, 1856). To offset the loss of life thus caused it is well to remember that the increase of slaves carried to the South was not taken into account, but treated as if they too were carried there. For instance, 1,000 slaves imported in 1830 would at a 20 per cent. rate of increase number 1,200 by 1840, or to take the middle date 1835, 1,100. So each 1,000 slaves brought in during the decade would increase by 100. If 40,000 were introduced by the illicit foreign traffic between 1830 and 1840, and 106,000 by the trade from the border States, it would mean a natural increase of 14,600 for the ten years. This it seems would offset both the deaths on the sugar plantation, and those caused by removal to another climate.Next to be considered are refugees and manumitted slaves; Miss Martineau said that there were about 10,000 negroes in Upper Canada about 1838, chiefly fugitive slaves (W. Travel., Vol. II., p. 101). The Census of 1860 reports that (Vol. Pop. XVI.) 1,011 slaves escaped in 1850, and only 803 in 1860, and that the slave population increased in slave states more than 20 per cent. during the 10 years, and free colored population in the free States only about 13 per cent. It is estimated in De Bow's Industrial Resources (Vol. III., p. 129) that about 1,540 annually escaped. (For other estimates see Seibert Underground R.R., pp. 192, 221 et seq.)The Census of 1860 reports that more than 3,000 were manumitted in census year of 1860, but this was more than twice as many as in 1850. (1860 Vol. Pop., p. XV.). To offset the fugitive slaves and those manumitted the following is given: kidnapped free negroes from a few hundred to two or three thousand yearly free negroes sold into slavery for jail fees, etc. Liberator, Nov. 19, 1841, July 17, 1834; Speech of Mr. Miner in Congress Jan. 7, 1829; (Sturge: A Visit to the U.S., p. 101) voluntary return to slavery—many States made laws before 1860 to provide for such action on the part of the slaves. (Hurd, Vol. II., p. 12, 24, 94, et seq.).The things as mentioned above do not modify the amount of the domestic slave trade as indicated by the statistical review in the text. If one should argue that the allowances we have made are not sufficient, we would ask him to take notice also that it is more than probable that most of the manumissions and escapes from slavery were in the border States, and to that extent lessens the amount of the apparent slave trade. It is impossible to be definite here, we can only approximate.

Next to be considered are refugees and manumitted slaves; Miss Martineau said that there were about 10,000 negroes in Upper Canada about 1838, chiefly fugitive slaves (W. Travel., Vol. II., p. 101). The Census of 1860 reports that (Vol. Pop. XVI.) 1,011 slaves escaped in 1850, and only 803 in 1860, and that the slave population increased in slave states more than 20 per cent. during the 10 years, and free colored population in the free States only about 13 per cent. It is estimated in De Bow's Industrial Resources (Vol. III., p. 129) that about 1,540 annually escaped. (For other estimates see Seibert Underground R.R., pp. 192, 221 et seq.)

The Census of 1860 reports that more than 3,000 were manumitted in census year of 1860, but this was more than twice as many as in 1850. (1860 Vol. Pop., p. XV.). To offset the fugitive slaves and those manumitted the following is given: kidnapped free negroes from a few hundred to two or three thousand yearly free negroes sold into slavery for jail fees, etc. Liberator, Nov. 19, 1841, July 17, 1834; Speech of Mr. Miner in Congress Jan. 7, 1829; (Sturge: A Visit to the U.S., p. 101) voluntary return to slavery—many States made laws before 1860 to provide for such action on the part of the slaves. (Hurd, Vol. II., p. 12, 24, 94, et seq.).

The things as mentioned above do not modify the amount of the domestic slave trade as indicated by the statistical review in the text. If one should argue that the allowances we have made are not sufficient, we would ask him to take notice also that it is more than probable that most of the manumissions and escapes from slavery were in the border States, and to that extent lessens the amount of the apparent slave trade. It is impossible to be definite here, we can only approximate.

[181]This about accords with Alexander, who said that by means of the internal trade about 4,000 or 5,000 arrived in the Southern States annually. Transatlantic Sketches, p. 230.

[182]Between 1830 and 1840 the number of increase in South Carolina was only about 12,000, while during the previous decade it was about 57,000, if for no other reason showing her to be an exporting State.

[183]Shaffner: The War in America, p. 256. (Ingraham): The Southwest, Vol. II., p. 237. It was rather hard to determine whether Missouri should be classed with selling or buying States. It is likely she did some of both as did some others. But practically all her increase after 1830 at least (aside from natural increase) seemed to be due to immigration from Kentucky and Virginia, though her increase was very large, we think she would rank as a selling State anyhow after 1830.

[184]Census 1830 and 1840.

[185]Chap. I., this volume.

[186]Census 1840 and 1850.

[187]Chap. I., this volume.

[188]Census 1850 and 1860.

[189]Chap. I., this volume.

CHAPTER IV

WERE SOME STATES ENGAGED IN BREEDING AND RAISING NEGROES FOR SALE?

As we now have a somewhat definite idea as to the amount of the domestic slave trade the next questions which naturally claim our attention are: Were some States consciously and purposely engaged in breeding and raising negroes for the Southern market, and also, what were the sources of supply for the trade? The former of these queries is, no doubt, the most controverted and difficult part of our subject.

The testimony of travellers and common opinion generally seems to have been in the affirmative. A quotation or two will suffice to show the trend: The Duke of Saxe Weimar says, "Many owners of slaves in the States of Maryland and Virginia have ... nurseries for slaves whence the planters of Louisiana, Mississippiand other Southern States draw their supplies."[190]

In a "Narrative of a Visit to the American Churches," the writer, in speaking of the accumulation of negroes in the Gulf States, says: "Slaves are generally bred in some States as cattle for the Southern market."[191]And the Rev. Philo Tower, writing about twenty years later draws a more vivid picture. "Not only in Virginia," he says, "but also in Maryland, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Missouri, as much attention is paid to the breeding and growth of negroes as to that of horses and mules.... It is a common thing for planters to command their girls and women (married or not) to have children; and I am told a great many negro girls are sold off, simply and mainly because they did not have children."[192]

Undoubtedly some planters in all the slave States resorted to questionable means of increasing their slave stock, but that it was a general custom to multiply negroes in order to have them to sell is very improbable.

Many of these travellers show prejudice. We have wondered, therefore, whether it were too much to assume that they had more thought for the effect their narrative would produce in the North or in England than for its truth. Is it not probable that foreigners may have got their information about breeding slaves when in the free States rather than actual evidence of such an industry where the industry was supposed to be carried on? It seems, at any rate, more thanprobable that the exceptional cases which they found were made to appear as the general rule. Then, too, the very fact that some States sold great numbers of slaves was sufficient evidence to some, no doubt, that they were engaged in the business of raising them for sale. It seems very natural that this should be inferred. Consequently travellers reported that certain sections were engaged in breeding and raising slaves for market. They made the accusation that the so-called "breeding States" were in the slave-breeding business for profit. But was it profitable? If not, why were they in this business?

A negro above eighteen years of age would bring on an average about $300 in the selling States from 1815 to, say, 1845. Sometimes he would bring a little more, sometimes less.[193]Between the age of ten and the time of sale we will suppose the slave paid for his keeping. But before that time he would be too small to work. There was always some defective stock which could not be sold;[194]this, taken in connection with the fact that all negroes did not live to be ten years of age, probably not more than half,[195]we shall be under the necessity of deducting about one-half of the $300 on this account. This will leave $150 or $15 per year for the possible expense of raising him. A bushel of corn a month would have been about $8 per year for corn; fifty pounds for meat $4. It is not likely he could have been clothed for less than $3, and the $15 is gone, with nothing left for incidentals. We think the above a very fair estimate.[196]In 1829 the average price of negroes in Virginia was estimated at only $150 each.[197]

Why did not the border slave States raise hogs instead of negroes? Bacon was at a good price during that period.[198]

The fact is the negroes probably increased without any consideration for their master's wishes in the matter. A planter could stop raising hogs whenever he might choose, but it seemed to be hardly within the province of the master to limit the increase of his negroes. And the better they were treated evidently the faster the increase. A man who had one or two hundred negroes, and had scruples about selling them, unless he should be able to add to his landed estate as they increased was in a bad predicament. It seems some such men had the welfare of their negroes at heart and used every means to keep them. Andrews tells of one:

"A gentleman," he says, "in one of the poorer counties of Virginia has nearly 200 slaves whom he employs upon a second rate plantation of8,000 or 10,000 acres, and who constantly brought him into debt, at length he found it necessary to purchase a smaller plantation of good land in another county which he continues to cultivate for no other purpose than to support his negroes."[199]

Sometimes men who were in prosperous circumstances would buy land as fast as their slaves increased and settle them upon it.[200]

Slaves were seldom sold until they were over ten years of age,[201]consequently if it were true that the border States made a business of breeding and raising them for sale we should naturally expect to find in these States a much greater proportion under ten than in the buying States. To determine the truth of this we shall have recourse to the Census Reports. The States of Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky and North Carolina, in 1830, had, in round numbers 984,000 slaves, of which 349,000 were under ten years of age, and 635,000 over. This shows that in theseStates there were 182 over ten years of age to every 100 under ten. Taking an equal number of the principal cotton-growing and slave-buying States, say, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee, we find that they had 346,000 over ten and 196,000 under ten,[202]consequently for every 176 of the former they had 100 of the latter. Therefore, at this time, the principal so-called "slave-breeding" States had a smaller number of slaves under ten years than an equal number of buying States. The numbers, it will be seen, differ as the ratios 100-182 and 100-176.

In 1840 there were in the Southern States about 2,486,000 slaves, of whom about 844,000 were under ten years of age, on an average, therefore, of 100 under ten to every 194 over. Taking each State separately we find that Virginia had just an average, having 100 of the former to 194 of the latter; Maryland, 100 to every 203; Delaware, 100 to 218; District of Columbia, 100 to 280; Kentucky, 100 to 179; North Carolina, 100 to 176; Missouri, 100 to 172; South Carolina, 100 to 205; Louisiana, 100 to 267; Mississippi, 100to 206; Florida, 100 to 220; Georgia, 100 to 188; Arkansas, 100 to 195; Tennessee, 100 to 170 and Alabama, 100 to 190.[203]Thus it is shown that the buying States of Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee each had more children in proportion to their slave population than Virginia; and that Maryland and Delaware had about the same proportion as the buying States of Mississippi, Florida and Arkansas. It would hardly be fair, however, to compare the District of Columbia with Louisiana.

In 1860 we find that the proportion of slave children under ten years of age is much less in all the States than in 1840.[204]In Virginia, at this time, there were 100 under ten years to 227 over that age; Delaware 100 to 233; Maryland, 100 to 229; Kentucky, 100 to 204; South Carolina, 100 to 224; North Carolina, 100 to 202; Missouri, 100 to 190; Georgia, 100 to 221; Louisiana, 100 to 285; Mississippi, 100 to 242; Texas, 100 to 209; Arkansas, 100 to 219;Tennessee, 100 to 200; Alabama, 100 to 221 and Florida 100 to 224.[205]This schedule shows that the buying States which had a greater number of slave children in proportion to their slave population in 1860, than Virginia, Maryland and Delaware, were Georgia, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Texas, and Florida.

It is noticeable in both schedules that the State of Louisiana is an exception. The proportion of children there was much less than in the other States. This is probably due to the strenuous work on sugar plantations. It is also noticeable that the Western States had the greatest proportional number of children, which is to be accounted for by the healthfulness of the climate and by its being a rich and prosperous farming section, where negroes were well fed and probably free from the malarial ailments of some other sections. The conditions, therefore, were very favorable to the prolific negro race.

We think it would be only natural that one should expect to have found in Virginia andMaryland, which have had to bear the brunt of the accusation of breeding slaves, the greatest proportion of children; not only because of the reiterated accusations, but also on account of the exportation of adult slaves from these States, which had the tendency to heighten the proportion of children in these States and lessen it in the States to which slaves were carried.

With regard to slave breeding, Shaffner, a native of Virginia, says: "From our own personal observation, since we were capable of studying the progress of human affairs, we are of opinion that there is less increase of the slaves of the so-called 'breeding States,' than of the more Southern of Gulf States.[206]"We doubt if there exists in America a slave owner that encourages the breeding of slaves for the purpose of selling them. Nor do we believe that any man would be permitted to live in any of the Southern States that did intentionally breed slaves with the object of selling them.[207]

Southerners generally have denied the accusation. When Andrew Stevenson, of Virginia, was minister to England, he was, upon one occasion, taunted by Daniel O'Connell with belonging to a State that was noted for breeding slaves for the South. He indignantly denied the charge.[208]And in 1839 the editor of the "Cincinnati Gazette" was much abused for asserting that Virginia bred slaves as a matter of pecuniary gain.[209]

Nehemiah Adams, a clergyman, went South in the early fifties biased against slavery, but says, "the charge of vilely multiplying negroes in Virginia is one of those exaggerations of which the subject is full, and is reduced to this: that Virginia being an old State fully stocked, the surplus black population naturally flows off where their numbers are less."[210]

It would seem that these States are not only practically freed from the charge of multiplying slaves and raising them for market as a business, but that, as a rule, they did not sell their slavesunless compelled to do so by pecuniary or other embarrassments.

Probably many planters were as conscientious about their slaves as Jefferson appears to have been. In a letter he says:

"I cannot decide to sell my lands. I have sold too much of them already, and they are the only sure provision for my children, nor would I willingly sell the slaves as long as their remains any prospect of paying my debts with their labor."[211]

It seems that he was finally compelled to sell some of them.[212]Madison parted with some of his best land to feed the increasing numbers of negroes, but admitted to Harriet Martineau that the week before she visited him he had been obliged to sell a dozen of them.[213]And Estwick Evans, who made a long tour of the country in 1818, says, "I know it to be a case, that slave holders, generally, deprecate the practice of buying and selling slaves."[214]No doubt, the planters were always glad to get rid of unruly and good-for-nothing negroes, and these were pretty sure to fall into the hands of traders.[215]The slave traders had agents spread over the States, where slaves were less profitable to their owners, in readiness to take advantage of every opportunity to secure the slaves that might in any way be for sale. They would, even when an opportunity occurred, kidnap the free negroes. They also sought to buy up slaves as if for local and domestic use and then would disappear with them.[216]And it was a common occurrence for plantations and negroes to be advertised for sale. In one issue of the "Charleston Courier" in the winter of 1835 were advertised several plantations and about 1,200 negroes for sale.[217]At such sales negro traders and speculators from far and near were sure to be on hand attracted by the prospect of making good bargains.[218]

Probably we could not better close this chapter than with a quotation from Dr. Baily, who was editor of the "National Era," a moderate antislavery paper. It appears to us that he correctly and concisely sums up the whole matter:

"The sale of slaves to the South," he says, "is carried on to a great extent. The slave holders do not, so far as I can learn, raise them for that special purpose. But here is a man with a score of slaves, located on an exhausted plantation. It must furnish support for all; but while they increase, its capacity of supply decreases. The result is he must emancipate or sell. But he has fallen into debt, and he sells to relieve himself of debt and also from the excess of mouths. Or he requires money to educate his children; or his negroes are sold under execution. From these and other causes, large numbers of slaves are continually disappearing from the State....

"The Davises in Petersburg are the great slave dealers. They are Jews, who came to that place many years ago as poor peddlers.... Thesemen are always in the market, giving the highest price for slaves. During the summer and fall they buy them up at low prices, trim, shave, wash them, fatten them so that they may look sleek and sell them to great profit....

"There are many planters who cannot be persuaded to sell their slaves. They have far more than they can find work for, and could at any time obtain a high price for them. The temptation is strong for they want more money and fewer dependents. But they resist it, and nothing can induce them to part with a single slave, though they know that they would be greatly the gainers in a pecuniary sense, were they to sell one-half of them."[219]

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