CHAPTER III.

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF SLAVERY.

The mildness of slavery in Pennsylvania impressed every observer. Acrelius said that negroes were treated better there than anywhere else in America. Peter Kalm said that compared with the condition of white servants their condition possessed equal advantages except that they were obliged to serve their whole life-time without wages. Hector St. John Crèvecoeur declared that they enjoyed as much liberty as their masters, that they were in effect part of their masters' families, and that, living thus, they considered themselves happier than many of the lower class of whites.[109] There is good reason for believing these statements, since a careful study of the sources shows that generally masters used their negroes kindly and with moderation.[110]

Living in a land of plenty the slaves were well fed and comfortably clothed. They had as good food as the white servants, says one traveller, and another says as good as their masters.[111] In 1759 the yearly cost of the food of a slave was reckoned at about twenty per cent. of his value.[112] Likewise they were well clad, their clothes being furnished by the masters. That clothes were a considerable item of expense is shown by the old household accounts and diaries. Acrelius computed the yearly cost at five per cent. of a slave's value.[113] In the newspaper advertisements for runaways occur particularly full descriptions of their dress.[114] Almost always they have a coat or jacket, shoes, and stockings.[115] It is true that when they ran away they generally took the best they had, if not all they had; but making due allowance it seems certain that they were well clad, as an advertiser declared.[116]

As to shelter, since the climate and economy of Pennsylvania never gave rise to a plantation life, rows of negro cabins and quarters for the hands never became a distinctive feature. Slaves occupied such lodgings as were assigned to white servants, generally in the house of the master. This was doubtless not the case where a large number was held. They can hardly have been so accommodated by Jonathan Dickinson of Philadelphia, who had thirty-two.[117]

In the matter of service their lot was a fortunate one. There seems to be no doubt that they were treated much more kindly than the negroes in the West Indies, and that they were far happier than the slaves in the lower South. It is said that they were not obliged to labor more than white people, and, although this may hardly have been so, and although, indeed, there is occasional evidence that they were worked hard, yet for the most part it is clear that they were not overworked.[118] The advertisements of negroes for sale show, as might be expected, that most of the slaves were either house-servants or farm-hands.[119] Nevertheless the others were engaged in a surprisingly large number of different occupations. Among them were bakers, blacksmiths, brick-layers, brush-makers, carpenters, coopers, curriers, distillers, hammermen, refiners, sail-makers, sailors, shoe-makers, tailors, and tanners.[120] The negroes employed at the iron-furnaces received special mention.[121] The women cooked, sewed, did house-work, and at times were employed as nurses.[122] When the service of negroes was needed they were often hired from their masters, but as a rule they were bought.[123] They were frequently trusted and treated almost like members of the family.[124]

When the day's work was over the negroes of Pennsylvania seem to have had time of their own which they were not too tired to enjoy. Some no doubt found recreation in their masters' homes, gossipping, singing, and playing on rude instruments.[125] Many sought each other's company and congregated together after nightfall. In Philadelphia, at any rate, during the whole colonial period, crowds of negroes infesting the streets after dark behaved with such rough and boisterous merriment that they were a nuisance to the whole community.[126] At times negroes were given days of their own. They were allowed to go from one place to another, and were often permitted to visit members of their families in other households.[127] Moreover, holidays were not grudged them. It is said that in Philadelphia at the time of fairs, the blacks to the number of a thousand of both sexes used to go to "Potter's Field," and there amuse themselves, dancing, singing, and rejoicing, in native barbaric fashion.[128]

If, now, from material comfort we turn to the matter of the moral and intellectual well-being of the slaves, we find that considering the time, surprising efforts were made to help them. In Pennsylvania there seems never to have been opposition to improving them. Not much was done, it is true, and perhaps most of the negroes were not reached by the efforts made. It must be remembered, however, what violent hostility mere efforts aroused in some other places.[129]

There is the statement of a careful observer that masters desired by all means to hinder their negroes from being instructed in the doctrines of Christianity, and to let them live on in pagan darkness. This he ascribes to a fear that negroes would grow too proud on seeing themselves upon a religious level with their masters.[130] Some weight must be attached to this account, but it is probable that the writer was roughly applying to Pennsylvania what he had learned in other places, for against his assertion much specific evidence can be arrayed.

The attention of the Friends was directed to this subject very early. The counsel of George Fox was explicit. Owners were to give their slaves religious instruction and teach them the Gospel.[131] In 1693 the Keithian Quakers when advising that masters should hold their negroes only for a term of years, enjoined that during such time they should give these negroes a Christian education.[132] In 1700 Penn appears to have been able to get a Monthly Meeting established for them, but of the meeting no record has come down.[133] As to what was the actual practice of Friends in this matter their early records give meagre information. It seems certain that negroes were not allowed to participate in their meetings, though sometimes they were taken to the meeting-houses.[134] It is probable that in great part the religious work of the Friends among slaves was confined to godly advice and reading.[135] As to the amount and quality of such advice, the well known character of the Friends leaves no doubt.

The Moravians, who were most zealous in converting negroes, did not reach a great number in Pennsylvania, because few were held by them; nevertheless they labored successfully, and received negroes amongst them on terms of religious equality.[136] This also the Lutherans did to some extent, negroes being baptized among them.[137] It is in the case of the Episcopalians, however, that the most definite knowledge remains. The records of Christ Church show that the negroes who were baptized made no inconsiderable proportion of the total number baptized in the congregation. For a period of more than seventy years such baptisms are recorded, and are sometimes numerous.[138] At this church, also, there was a minister who had special charge of the religious instruction of negroes.[139] It is possible that something may have been accomplished by missionaries and itinerant exhorters. This was certainly so when Whitefield visited Pennsylvania in 1740. Both he and his friend Seward noted with peculiar satisfaction the results which they had attained.[140] Work of some value was also done by wandering negro exhorters, who, appearing at irregular intervals, assembled little groups and preached in fields and orchards.[141]

Something was also accomplished for negroes in the maintenance of family life. In 1700 Penn, anxious to improve their moral condition, sent to the Assembly a bill for the regulation of their marriages, but much to his grief this was defeated.[142] In the absence of such legislation they came under the law which forbade servants to marry during their servitude without the master's consent.[143] Doubtless in this matter there was much of the laxity which is inseparable from slavery, but it is said that many owners allowed their slaves to marry in accordance with inclination, except that a master would try to have his slaves marry among themselves.[144] The marriage ceremony was often performed just as in the case of white people, the records of Christ Church containing many instances.[145] The children of these unions were taught submission to their parents, who were indulged, it is said, in educating, cherishing, and chastising them.[146] Stable family life among the slaves was made possible by the conditions of slavery in Pennsylvania, there being no active interchange of negroes. When they were bought or sold families were kept together as much as possible.[147]

In one matter connected with religious observances race prejudice was shown: negroes were not as a rule buried in the cemeteries of white people.[148] In some of the Friends' records and elsewhere there is definite prohibition.[149] They were often buried in their masters' orchards, or on the edge of woodlands. The Philadelphia negroes were buried in a particular place outside the city.[150]

Under the kindly treatment accorded them the negroes of colonial Pennsylvania for the most part behaved fairly well. It is true that there is evidence that crime among them assumed grave proportions at times, while the records of the special courts and items in the newspapers show that there occurred murder, poisoning, arson, burglary, and rape.[151] In addition there was frequent complaint about tumultuous assembling and boisterous conduct, and there was undoubtedly much pilfering.[152] Moreover the patience of many indulgent masters was tried by the shiftless behavior and insolent bearing of their slaves.[153] Yet the graver crimes stand out in isolation rather than in mass; and it is too much to expect an entire absence of the lesser ones. The white people do not seem to have regarded their negroes as dangerous.[154] Almost never were there efforts for severe repression, and a slave insurrection seems hardly to have been thought of.[155] There are no statistics whatever on which to base an estimate, but judging from the relative frequency of notices it seems probable that crime among the negroes of Pennsylvania during the slavery period--no doubt because they were under better control--was less than at any period thereafter.

But there was a misdemeanor of another kind: negro slaves frequently ran away. Fugitives are mentioned from the first,[156] and there is hardly a copy of any of the old papers but has an advertisement for some negro at large.[157] These notices sometimes advise that the slave has stolen from his master; often that he has a pass, and is pretending to be a free negro; and occasionally that a free negro is suspected of harboring him.[158]

The law against harboring was severe and was strictly enforced. Anyone might take up a suspicious negro; while whoever returned a runaway to his master was by law entitled to receive five shillings and expenses. It was always the duty of the local authorities to apprehend suspects. When this occurred the procedure was to lodge the negro in jail, and advertise for the master, who might come, and after proving title and paying costs, take him away. Otherwise the negro was sold for a short time to satisfy jail fees, advertised again, and finally either set at liberty or disposed of as pleased the local court.[159]

This fleeing from service on the part of negro slaves, while varying somewhat in frequency, was fairly constant during the whole slavery period, increasing as the number of slaves grew larger. During the British occupation of Philadelphia, however, it assumed such enormous proportions that the number of negroes held there was permanently lowered.[160] Notwithstanding, then, the kindly treatment they received, slaves in Pennsylvania ran away. Nevertheless it is significant that during the same period white servants ran away more than twice as often.[161]

Many traits of daily life and marks of personal appearance which no historian has described, are preserved in the advertisements of the daily papers. Almost every negro seems to have had the smallpox. To have done with this and the measles was justly considered an enhancement in value. Some of the negroes kidnapped from Africa still bore traces of their savage ancestry. Not a few spoke several languages. Generally they were fond of gay dress. Some carried fiddles when they ran away. One had made considerable money by playing. Many little hints as to character appear. Thus Mona is full of flattery. Cuff Dix is fond of liquor. James chews abundance of tobacco. Stephen has a "sower countenance"; Harry, "meek countenance"; Rachel, "remarkable austere countenance"; Dick is "much bandy legged"; Violet, "pretty, lusty, and fat." A likely negro wench is sold because of her breeding fast. One negro says that he has been a preacher among the Indians. Two others fought a duel with pistols. A hundred years has involved no great change in character.[162]

Finally, on the basis of information drawn from rare and miscellaneous sources it becomes apparent that in slavery times there was more kindliness and intimacy between the races than existed afterwards. In those days many slaves were treated as if part of the master's family: when sick they were nursed and cared for; when too old to work they were provided for; and some were remembered in the master's will.[163] Negroes did run away, and numbers of them desired to be free, but when manumission came not a few of them preferred to stay with their former owners. It was the opinion of an advocate of emancipation that they were better off as slaves than they could possibly be as freemen.[164]

Such was slavery in Pennsylvania. If on the one hand there was the chance of families being sold apart; if there was seen the cargo, the slave-drove, the auction sale; it must be remembered that such things are inseparable from the institution of slavery, and that on the other hand they were rare, and not to be weighed against the positive comfort and well-being of which there is such abundant proof. If ever it be possible not to condemn modern slavery, it might seem that slavery as it existed in Pennsylvania in the eighteenth century was a good, probably for the masters, certainly for the slaves.[165] The fact is that it existed in such mitigated form that it was impossible for it to be perpetuated. Whenever men can treat their slaves as men in Pennsylvania treated them, they are living in a moral atmosphere inconsistent with the holding of slaves. Nothing can then preserve slavery but paramount economic needs. In Pennsylvania, since such needs were not paramount, slavery was doomed.

FOOTNOTES:

[109] Acrelius, _Description of New Sweden_, 169 (1759); Kalm, _Travels_, I, 394 (1748); Hector St. John Crèvecoeur, _Letters from an American Farmer_, 222 (just before the Revolution).

[110] When one of Christopher Marshall's white servants "struck and kickt" his negro woman, he "could scarcely refrain from kicking him out of the House &c &c &c." MS. Remembrancer, E, July 22, 1779.

[111] Kalm, I, 394; St. John Crèvecoeur, 221. Benjamin Lay contradicts this, but allowance must always he made for the extremeness of his assertions. _Cf._ his _All Slave-Keepers Apostates_ (1737), 93.

[112] Acrelius, 169.

[113] St. John Crèvecoeur, 221; Kalm, I, 394; Acrelius, 169. Personal papers contain numerous notices. "To 1 pr Shoes for the negro ... 6" (sh.). MS. William Penn's Account Book, 1690-1693, p. 2 (1690). A "Bill rendered by Christian Grafford to James Steel" is as follows: "Making old Holland Jeakit and breeches fit for your Negero 0.3.0 Making 2 new Jeakits and 2 pair breeches of stripped Linen for both your Negeromans 0.14.0 And also for Little Negero boy 0.4.0 Making 2 pair Leather Breeches, 1 for James Sanders and another for your Negroeman Zeason 0.13.0." _Pa. Mag._, XXXIII, 121 (1740). The bill rendered for the shoes of Thomas Penn's negroes in 1764-1765 amounted to £7 7 sh. 3d., the price per pair averaging about 7 sh. 6d. Penn-Physick MSS., IV, 223. Also _ibid._, IV, 265, 267. _Cf._ Penn Papers, accounts (unbound), Aug. 19, 1741; Christopher Marshall's Remembrancer, E, June 1, 1779.

[114] Thus Cato had on "two jackets, the uppermost a dark blue half thick, lined with red flannel, the other a light blue homespun flannel, without lining, ozenbrigs shirt, old leather breeches, yarn stockings, old shoes, and an old beaver hat" ... _Pa. Gazette_, May 5, 1748. A negro from Chester County wore "a lightish coloured cloath coat, with metal buttons, and lined with striped linsey, a lightish linsey jacket with sleeves, and red waistcoat, tow shirt, old lightish cloth breeches, and linen drawers, blue stockings, and old shoes." _Ibid._, Jan. 3, 1782. Judith wore "a green jacket, a blue petticoat, old shoes, and grey stockings, and generally wears silver bobbs in her ears." _Ibid._, Feb. 16, 1747-1748.

[115] _Amer. Weekly Mercury_, Jan. 31, 1721; Jan. 31, 1731; _Pa. Gazette_, Oct. 22, 1747; May 5, 1748; Apr. 16, 1761; Jan. 3, 1782; _Pa. Journal_, Feb. 5, 1750-1751; _Pa. Mag._, XVIII, 385.

[116] _Pa. Gazette_, May 3, 1775. Supported by advertisements _passim_.

[117] MS. Dickinson Papers, unclassified. A farm with a stone house for negroes is mentioned in _Pa. Gaz._, June 26, 1746. "Part of these slaves lived in their master's family, the others had separate cabins on the farm where they reared families" ... "Jacob Minshall Homestead" in _Reminiscence, Gleanings and Thoughts_, No. I, 12.

[118] Kalm, _Travels_, I, 394. For treatment of negroes in the West Indies, _cf._ Sandiford, _The Mystery of Iniquity_, 99 (1730); Benezet, _A Short Account of that Part of Africa Inhabited by the Negroes_ (1762), 55, 56, note; Benezet, _A Caution and Warning to Great Britain and Her Colonies in a Short Representation of the Calamitous State of the Enslaved Negroes_ (1766), 5-9; Benezet, _Some Historical Account of Guinea_ (1771), chap. VIII. For treatment in the South, _cf._ Whitefield, _Three Letters_ (1740), 13, 71; Chastellux, _Voyage en Amérique_ (1786), 130. For treatment in Pennsylvania _cf._ Kalm, _Travels_, I, 394; St. John Crèvecoeur, _Letters_, 221. Acrelius says that the negroes at the iron-furnaces were allowed to stop work for "four months in summer, when the heat is most oppressive." _Description_, 168.

[119] _Mercury, Gazette_, and _Pa. Packet_, _passim_. Most of the taverns seem to have had negro servants. _Cf._ MS. Assessment Book, Chester Co., 1769, p. 146; of Bucks Co., 1779, p. 84.

[120] _Mercury_, Mar. 3. 1723-1724; Dec. 15, 1724; July 4, 1728; Aug. 24, 1732; _Gazette_, Feb. 7, 1740; Dec. 3, 1741; May 20, 1742; Nov. 1, 1744; July 9, Dec. 3, 1761; _Packet_, July 5, 1733.

[121] "The laborers are generally composed partly of negroes (slaves) partly of servants from Germany or Ireland" ... Acrelius, _Description_, 168. _Cf._ Gabriel Thomas, _An Historical and Geographical Account of the Province and Country of Pensilvania_ (1698), etc., 28.

[122] _Mercury_, Jan. 16, 1727-1728; July 25, 1728; Nov. 7, 1728. _Gazette_, July 17, 1740; Mar. 31, 1743. "A compleat washerwoman" is advertised in the _Gazette_, Oct. 1, 1761; also "an extraordinary washer of clothes," _Gazette_, Apr. 12, 1775; Penn-Physick, MSS IV, 203 (1740).

[123] _Gazette_, May 19, 1743; July 11, 1745; Nov. 5, 1761; May 15, 1776; Dec. 15, 1779. _Cf._ notices in William Penn's Cash Book (MS.), 3, 6, 9, 15, 18; John Wilson's Cash Book (MS.), Feb. 23, 1776; MS. Phila. Account Book, 38 (1694); MS. Logan Papers, II, 259 (1707); Richard Hayes's Ledger (MS.), 88 (1716).

[124] _Cf._ the numerous allusions to his negro woman made by Christopher Marshall in his Remembrancer. An entry in John Wilson's Cash Book (MS.), Apr. 27, 1770, says: "paid his" (Joseph Pemberton's) "Negro woman Market mony ... 7/6." The following advertisement is illustrative, although perhaps it reveals the advertiser's art as much as the excellence and reliability of the negress. "A likely young Negroe Wench, who can cook and wash well, and do all Sorts of House-work; and can from Experience, be recommended both for her Honesty and Sobriety, having often been trusted with the Keys of untold Money, and Liquors of various Sorts, none of which she will taste. She is no Idler, Company-keeper or Gadder about. She has also a fine, hearty young Child, not quite a Year old, which is the only Reason for selling her, because her Mistress is very sickly, and can't bear the Trouble of it." _Pa. Gazette_, Apr. 2, 1761.

[125] "Thou Knowest Negro Peters Ingenuity In making for himself and playing on a fiddle w^{th} out any assistance as the thing in them is Innocent and diverting and may keep them from worse Employmt I have to Encourage in my Service promist him one from Engld therefore buy and bring a good Strong well made Violin w^{th} 2 or 3 Sets of spare Gut for the Suitable Strings get somebody of skill to Chuse and by it".... MS. Isaac Norris, Letter Book, 1719, p. 185.

[126] See above, pp. 32-34.

[127] "Our Negro woman got leave to visit her children in Bucks County." Christopher Marshall's Remembrancer, D, Jan. 7, 1776. "This afternoon came home our Negro woman Dinah." _Ibid._, D, Jan. 15, 1776.

[128] Watson, _Annals_, I, 406. _Cf._ letter of William Hamilton of Lancaster: "Yesterday (being Negroes Holiday) I took a ride into Maryland." _Pa. Mag._, XXIX, 257.

[129] For the treatment of William Edmundson when he tried to convert negroes in the West Indies, _cf._ his _Journal_, 85; Gough, _A History of the People Called Quakers_, III, 61. _Cf._ MS. Board of Trade Journals, III, 191 (1680).

[130] Kalm, _Travels_, I, 397. "It's obvious, that the future Welfare of those poor Slaves ... is generally too much disregarded by those who keep them." _An Epistle of Caution and Advice, Concerning the Buying and Keeping of Slaves_ (1754), 5. This, however, is neglect rather than opposition.

[131] Fox's _Epistles_, in _Friend's Library_, I, 79 (1679).

[132] "An Exhortation and Caution to Friends Concerning buying or keeping of Negroes," in _Pa. Mag._, XIII, 267.

[133] Proud, _History of Pennsylvania_, 423; Gordon, _History of Pennsylvania_, 114.

[134] "Several" (negroes) "are brought to Meetings." MS. Minutes Radnor Monthly Meetings, 1763-1772, p. 79 (1764). "Most of those possessed of them ... often bring them to our Meetings." _Ibid._, 175 (1767).

[135] _Cf._ MS. Yearly Meeting Advices, 1682-1777, "Negroes or Slaves."

[136] Cranz, _The Ancient and Modern History of the Brethren ... Unitas Fratrum_, 600, 601; Ogden, _An Excursion into Bethlehem and Nazareth in Pennsylvania_, 89, 90; I _Pa. Arch._, III, 75; _Pa. Mag._, XXIX, 363.

[137] _Cf._ Bean, _History of Montgomery County_, 302.

[138] MS. Records of Christ Church, Phila., I, 19, 43, 44, 46, 49, 132, 168, 271, 273, 274, 276, 277, 280, 281, 282, 283, 288, 293, 306, 312, 314, 333, 337, 341, 342, 344, 352, 353, 359, 371, 379, 383, 388, 392, 397, 399, 416, 440, 441. Baptisms were very frequent in the years 1752 and 1753. Very many of the slaves admitted were adults, whereas in the case of free negroes at the same period most of the baptisms were of children.

[139] William Macclanechan, writing to the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1760, says: "On my Journey to New-England, I arrived at the oppulent City of Philadelphia, where I paid my Compliments to the Rev'd Dr. Jenney, Minister of Christ's Church in that City, and to the Rev'd Mr. Sturgeon, _Catechist to the Negroes_." H. W. Smith, _Life and Correspondence of the Rev. William Smith_, I, 238.

[140] "Many negroes came, ... some enquiring, have I a soul?" Gillies and Seymour, _Memoirs of the Life and Character of ... Rev. George Whitefield_ (3d ed.), 55. "I believe near Fifty Negroes came to give me Thanks, under God, for what has been done to their Souls.... Some of them have been effectually wrought upon, and in an uncommon Manner." _A Continuation of the Reverend Mr. Whitefield's Journal_, 65, 66. "Visited a Negroe and prayed with her, and found her Heart touched by Divine Grace. Praised be the Lord, methinks one Negroe brought to Jesus Christ is peculiarly sweet to my Soul." W. Seward, _Journal of a Voyage from Savannah to Philadelphia_, etc., Apr. 18, 1740.

[141] "This afternoon a Negro man from Cecil County maryland preached in orchard opposite to ours. there was Sundry people, they said he spoke well for near an hour." MS. Ch. Marshall's Remembrancer, E, July 13, 1779.

[142] "Then (the pror and Gov.) proposed to them the necessitie of a law ... about the marriages of negroes." _Col. Rec._, I, 598, 606, 610; _Votes and Proceedings_, I, 120, 121; Bettle, "Notices of Negro Slavery as connected with Pennsylvania," in _Mem. Hist. Soc. Pa._, VI, 368; Clarkson, _Life of Penn_, II, 80-82. Clarkson attributes the defeat to the lessening of Quaker influence, the lower tone of the later immigrants, and temporary hostility to the executive. More probably the bill failed because stable marriage relations have always been found incompatible with the ready movement and transfer of slave property; and because at this early period the slaveholders recognized this fact, and were not yet disposed to allow their slaves to marry.

[143] _Stat. at L._, II, 22. _Cf._ Commonwealth _v._ Clements (1814), 6 Binney 210.

[144] St. John Crèvecoeur, _Letters_, 221; Kalm, _Travels_, I, 391. Kalm adds that it was considered an advantage to have negro women, since otherwise the offspring belonged to another master.

[145] MS. Rec. Christ Church, 4239, 4317, 4361, 4370, 4371, 4373, 4376, 4379, 4381, 4404, 4405; MS. Rec. First Reformed Church, 4158, 4315; MS. Rec. St. Michael's and Zion, 109. Among the Friends there are very few records of such marriages. _Cf._ however, MS. Journal of Joshua Brown, 5 2d mo., 1774: ... "I rode to Philadelphia ... and Lodged that Night at William Browns and 5th day of the mo^{th} I Spent in town and Was at a Negro Wedding in the Eving Where Several pe^r Mett and had a Setting with them and they took Each other and the Love of God Seemd to be Extended to them".... A negro marriage according to Friends' ceremony is recorded in MS. Deed Book O, 234, West Chester. _Cf._ Mittelberger, _Journey_, 106, "The blacks are likewise married in the English fashion." There must have been much laxity, however, for only a part of which the negroes were to blame. "They are suffered, with impunity, to cohabit together, without being married, and to part, when solemnly engaged to one another as man and wife".... Benezet, _Some Historical Account of Guinea_, 134.

[146] St. John Crèvecoeur, _Letters_, 222.

[147] "Acco^t of Negroes Dr. ... for my Negroe Cuffee and his Wife Rose and their Daughter Jenny bo^t of W^m Banloft ... 76/3/10." MS. James Logan's Account Book, 90 (1714). "Wanted, Four or Five Negro Men ... if they have families, wives, or children, all will be purchased together." _Pa. Packet_, Aug. 22, 1778. _Cf._ also _Mercury_, June 4, 1724; June 21, 1739; _Independent Gazeteer_, July 14, 1792. _Cf._ however, Benezet, _Some Historical Account of Guinea_, 136; Crawford, _Observations upon Negro Slavery_ (1784), 23, 24; _Pa. Packet_, Jan. 1, 1780.

[148] This was not always the case. The MS. Rec. of Sandy Bank Cemetery, Delaware Co., contains the names of two negroes.

[149] MS. Minutes Middletown Monthly Meeting, 2d Book A, 171, 558, 559; _Pa. Mag._, VIII, 419; Isaac Comly, "Sketches of the History of Byberry," in _Mem. Hist. Soc. Pa._, II, 194. There were exceptions, however. _Cf._ MS. Bk. of Rec. Merion Meeting Grave Yard.

[150] Bean, _Hist. Montgomery Co._, 302; Martin, _Hist. of Chester_, 80; Kalm, _Travels_, I, 44; _Pa. Gazette_, Nov. 15, 1775.

[151] _Stat. at L._, IV, 59; _Col. Rec._, II, 18; 1 _Pa. Arch._ XI, 667; _Mercury_, Apr. 12, 1739; _Phila. Staatsbote_, Jan. 16, 1764, _Pa. Gazette_, Nov. 12, 1761. For an instance of a slave killing his master, _cf._ MS. Supreme Court Papers, XXI, 3546. This was very rare. _Pa. Mag._, XIII, 449. According to Judge Bradford's statement arson was "the crime of slaves and children." _Journal of Senate of Pa., 1792-1793_, p. 52; _Col. Rec._, IV, 243, 244, 259; XII, 377; MS. Miscellaneous Papers, Feb. 25, 1780. _Cf._ especially MS. Records of Special Courts for the Trial of Negroes; _Col. Rec._, IX, 648; MS. Streper Papers, 55.

[152] In 1737 the Council spoke of the "insolent Behaviour of the Negroes in and about the city, which has of late been so much taken notice of".... _Col. Rec._, IV, 244; _Votes and Proceedings_, IV, 171. As to pilfering Franklin remarked that almost every slave was by nature a thief. _Works_ (ed. Sparks), II, 315.

[153] The following has not lost all significance. "I was much Disturbed after I came our girl Poll driving her same stroke of Impudence as when she was in Philad^a and her mistress so hood-winked by her as not to see it which gave me much uneasiness and which I am determined not to put up with".... Ch. Marshall, Remembrancer, D, Aug. 4, 1777. _Cf._ also _Remarks on the Quaker Unmasked_ (1764).

[154] As shown by the very careless enforcement of the special regulations.

[155] Except immediately following the negro "insurrection" in New York in 1712. _Cf. Stat. at L._, II, 433; 1 _Pa. Arch._, IV, 792; 2 _Pa. Arch._, XV, 368.

[156] "A negro man and a White Woman servant being taken up ... and brought before John Simcocke Justice in Commission for runaways Who upon examination finding they had noe lawful Passe Comitted them to Prison" ... MS. Court Rec. Penna. and Chester Co., 1681-88, p. 75; MS. New Castle Ct. Rec., Liber A, 158 (1677); MS. Minutes Ct. Quarter Sess. Bucks Co., 1684-1730, p. 138 (1690); MS. Minutes Chester Co. Courts, 1681-1697, p. 222 (1694-1695). For the continual going away of Christopher Marshall's "Girl Poll," see his Remembrancer, vol. D.

[157] The following is not only typical, but is very interesting on its own account, since Abraham Lincoln was a descendent of the family mentioned. "RUN away on the 13th of _September_ last from _Abraham Lincoln_ of _Springfield_ in the County of Chester, a Negro Man named Jack, about 30 Years of Age, low Stature, speaks little or no _English_, has a Scar by the Corner of one Eye, in the Form of a V, his Teeth notched, and the Top of one on his Fore Teeth broke; He had on when he went away an old Hat, a grey Jacket partly like a Sailor's Jacket. Whoever secures the said Negro, and brings him to his Master, or to _Mordecai_ Lincoln ... shall have _Twenty Shillings_ Reward and reasonable Charges." _Pa. Gazette_, Oct. 15, 1730.

[158] _Mercury_, Apr. 18, 1723; July 11, 1723; _Gazette_, May 3, 1744; Feb. 22, 1775; July 28, 1779; Jan. 17, 1782; _Packet_, Oct. 13, 1778; Aug. 3, 1779. One negro indentured himself to a currier. _Gazette_, Aug. 30, 1775. Such negroes the community was warned not to employ. _Packet_, Feb. 27, 1779.

[159] The penalty was thirty shillings for every day. _Stat. at L._, IV, 64 (1725-1726). There was need for regulation from the first. _Cf. Col. Rec._, I, 117. An advertisement from Reading in _Gazette_, July 31, 1776, explains the procedure when suspects were held in jail. Such advertisements recur frequently. _Cf. Mercury_, Aug. 13, 1730 (third notice); _Gazette_, Dec. 27, 1774; _Packet_, Mar. 23, 1779.

[160] For negroes carried off or who ran away at this time _cf._ MS. Miscellaneous Papers, Sept. 1, 1778; Nov. 19, 1778; Aug. 20, 1779; and others. Numbers of strange negroes were reported to be wandering around in Northumberland County. _Ibid._, Aug. 29, 1780. In 1732 the Six Nations had been asked not to harbor runaway negroes, since they were "the Support and Livelihood of their Masters, and gett them their Bread." 4 _Pa. Arch._, II, 657, 658.

[161] So I judge from statistics which I have compiled from the advertisements in the newspapers.

[162] _Mercury_, Apr. 18, 1723; _Packet_, July 16, 1778; _Gazette_, June 12, 1740; Feb. 4, 1775; Jan. 3, 1776; July 2, 1781; _Gazette_, Nov. 17, 1748; Feb. 21, 1775. "'Old Dabbo' an African Negro ... call'd here for some victuals.... He had three gashes on each cheek made by his mother when he was a child.... His conversation is scarcely intelligible"; MS. Diary of Joel Swayne, 1823-1833, Mar. 27, 1828. _Mercury_, Aug. 6, 1730; _Packet_, Aug. 26, 1779; _Gazette_, July 31, 1739-1740; _Mercury_, June 24, 1725; _Packet_, June 22, 1789; _Packet_, Dec. 31, 1778; _Gazette_, Sept. 10, 1741; July 21, 1779; Sept. 11, 1746; Oct. 16, 1776; July 30, 1747; May 14, 1747; Oct. 22, 1747; Aug. 30, 1775; Mar. 22, 1747-1748; July 24, 1776; Apr. 23, 1761; July 5, 1775; _Packet_, Jan. 26, 1779.

[163] "My Dear Companion ... has really her hands full, Cow to milk, breakfast to get, her Negro woman to bath, give medicine, Cap up with flannels, as She is allways Sure to be poorly when the weather is cold, Snowy and Slabby. its then She gives her Mistriss a deal of fatigue trouble in attending on her." Ch. Marshall, Remembrancer, E, Mar. 25, 1779. "To Israel Taylor p order of the Com^s for Cureing negro Jack legg ... 4/10 To Roger Parke for Cureing negro sam ... /9/9." MS. William Penn's Account Book, 1690-1693, p. 8. A bill for £10 10 sh. 4d. was rendered to Thomas Penn for nursing and burying his negro Sam. Some of the items are very humorous. MS. Penn Papers, Accounts (unbound), Feb. 19, 1741. The bill for Thomas Penn's negroes, Hagar, Diana, and Susy, for the years 1773 and 1774, amounted to £5 5 sh. Penn-Physick MSS., IV, 253. An item in a bill rendered to Mrs. Margaretta Frame is: "To bleeding her Negro man Sussex ... /2/6." MS. Penn Papers, Accounts (unbound), June 5, 1742. St. John Crèvecoeur, _Letters_, 221. Masters were compelled by law to support their old slaves who would otherwise have become charges on the community. _Cf. Stat. at L._, X, 70; _Laws of Pa., 1803_, p. 103; _1835-1836_, pp. 546, 547. In very many cases, however, old negroes were maintained comfortably until death in the families where they had served. _Cf._ MS. Phila. Wills, X, 94 (1794). There are numerous instances of negroes receiving property by their master's wills. _Cf._ West Chester Will Files, no. 3759 (1785). For the darker side _cf._ Lay, _All Slave-Keepers Apostates_, 93.

[164] "Many of those whom the good Quakers have emancipated have received the great benefit with tears in their eyes, and have never quitted, though free, their former masters and benefactors." St. John Crèvecoeur, _Letters_, 222; _Pa. Mag._, XVIII, 372, 373; Buck, MS. _History of Bucks Co._, marginal note of author in his scrapbook. For the superiority of slavery _cf._ J. Harriot, _Struggles through Life_, etc., II, 409. Also Watson, _Annals_, II, 265.

[165] It has been suggested that it was milder than the system under which redemptioners were held, and that hence "Quaker scruples against slavery were either misplaced or insincere." C. A. Herrick, "Indentured Labor in Pennsylvania," (MS. thesis, University of Pa.), 89. An examination of the Quaker records would have shown that the last part of this statement is not true. See below, chaps. IV, V.