The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-12-07
SLAVERY IN VIRGINIA.
HISTORY or THE INSTITUTION
FROM INCEPTION.

ptdity OF its Growth--fsars OF Insurree-
t,ou--Richmond Alarmed.
II IA very well known that negro slaves
were first introduced into Virginia 10 the
year 1919. But many people are under
misapprehension ~ to how this came ABOUT
Whenever the fact 10 asserted the inference
naturally follows that the hard-hearted ana
avarfclous English adyenturer had made II
point TO send out after some OF these inno-
cent?. who had already been nade capu'es
bv their own race and held for barter with
the white traders who might be cruising
along the coasts OF Western Africa IN
search of human cargoes. This was not al
ali the fact In regard 90 the first settlers OF
Virginia. IL should be remembered mat II
was only thirteen years after the LANDING ..
jamestown that these slaves were brought
into this colony. The colonists baa no 'lIne
M be sending AFTER African slaves, nor
would IL probably have ever entered their
minds 70 have done so had not the negroes
been brought TO the James river by Others:
II vas with great difficulty that they ceuiu
then maintain themselves In the midst OF
the seyerities and trials 10 which they were
exposed. Their first object was 70 ger
frm footing in the country. Inis hasing
been accomplished, 1t would have been
time enough 70 begin new adventures OF
,ry Experiments in their new and uncertain
mode Of life. The Dutch traders, who have
the credit OF bringing these negroes mo
the colony, IL IL said, did not really Intend
entering the waters OF Virginia, Dut were
driven In between the capes OF the ohess-
neake by stormy weather. Not that the!
wore innocent OF the slave trade, Dy no
means: for they were on their way
70 the markets OF the West lndla
Islands 10 sell these very negroes
to the Spanish planters when tney WeIe
forced 10 fiDd safety in James riyer IRON
the gales outside. Nor are they TO be con
sidered responsible Tor having SOU nes,oo ~
~ the Virginia planters. The condition OF
the colony at that time did not recommend
IL as a market for slaves. Had this been
otherwise. IL would not have been necessary
that, a tempest should direct their trading
ships 10 a port considered favorable TO that
pecuIiar traffic. Their yigilant and adVen-
iurous owners would have soon made TINS
discovery for themselves. The fact IS ihe
planters were themselves responsible iVI
The introduction OF African slavery lhto
Virginia, not knowing at the time wha'
they were dong.
FIRST PURCHASE OF NEGROES.
When IL was announced that vessel with
negroes on board for sale had anchored ID the
lower waters Of the James, two or three gen.
tIemen went unsolicited, and of their own
wills. 10 inspect the newly arrived YES
sci aud Its cargo. Ii 10 probable they
were prompted as much by curiosity as by
n desire for gain. They were well aware,
however, that negro slave labor was pront'
able i'm the West India Islands, owned 10y
the Spaniards, and they were on TINS ac-
count induced to try the experiment In Var
GINA. Hence it Is said they purchased q
few. The cultivation of tobacco was JUST
then becoming an important feature o.
colonial production, and 1t was thought
these natives OF q tropical climate wOulu ne
peculiarly useful in the growing OF ihis
Valuable staple. Whatever may have been
the motives of the cOlonists, their experr
iment, although abundantly successiu
10 them and their immediate successors
has proved in these modern days a direiu
and undated calamity.
IL isa noticeable fact that it was through
unexpected means that the whites had final
Nv established successful footing on The
shores OF Virginia, and that 1t was also by
what is called an accident that their future
associates Of the black race afterwards be
came so important part of their social and
national autonomy. When christopher
Newport left the mouth Of the Thames tt
restore the colony on the shores Of N0Ftl
Carolina Al tempest drove his little Meet
not into the haven where he would be, Du
into the vet unknown waters OF The Chesa
peake. and so when the cruel SLAYER wa
scudding along his sinister way towards
the markets Of the caribbean sea it was al
unpropitious gale that turned the Prov %
his ship TO other and stranger shores.
SMALL BEGINNING.
From this small beginning the African
race began in Virginia. They do not appear
u have greatly increased in numbers at first
From 1919 10 lG49 only about three hun
bred had been imported, and in the follow
ing twenty years, as late AS the year 1910
not more than two or three ship-loads haG
been brought into the colony. What an op
portunity in the meantime had been lost
How easily the germ of all our future woe
might have forever been destroyed coul,
some prophetic eve have penetrated the III
evitable future!
At the beginning Of the eighteenth century
the negro slaves in Virginia had reached
the number Of twenty-three thousand, anC
were rapidly overtaking the relative In
crease of the white population. The caus'
OF this WAS chiefly due 10 the unusus
foreign demand for supplies from the colony
Chief among these were tobacco and snip
stores. During the great continental
wars. which came 80 near exhaustin,
the Golfers OF Queen Anne's treas
ury, the former had become an importan
factor In maintaining the national credit
while the royal navy aud merchant marine
were proporiiOnately benefited by the latter
These results had the effect of increasin;
the demand for slaves for agricultural pur
poses, Great numbers were now imported
under the sanction Of the home Govern
ment, and the desire for gain stimulated b.
the success Of the trade.
PROFITABLE TRAFFIC.
The traffic must have been very profitable
also TO the Government. An incident oc
curing in 1851 illustrates the vigilance
with which the officers OF the CUSTOM
guarded against violations OF the lmp0st
laws. A ship called the "BIistoF" appeared
of the Eastern Shore with a cargo OF ne
groes and elephants teeth" The owner
OF the vessel and cargo had taken the trouble
20 fnd out that the man-of-war usually
cruising along that coast was not then OF
duty, and therefore yentured near the shore
where was good place Tor landing I'M
slaves and ivory. Having employed help II
doing this, the slaves were safely landed
Unfortunately for the owners a storm caln'
nm. The ship was wrecked. The collector
OF the district, Captain Cole, appeared OF
the ground, seized the vessel, crew ant
cargo, and the latter being forfeited TO thu
Crown, WAS sold by him according TO law
The chief port OF entry was then at York
Dnmfries, Walkerton, and Hampton hal
their share OF the colonial commerce, bu
the merchants Of the ancient city, at thu
gate OF one OF the finest harbors In thu
world, had gotten the start Of their rivals o
the other towns. They did thriving bust
ness in the slave-trade. Some Of them be
came experts in the traffic. They ha(
learned 10 observe the difference in the ne
groes needed by their friends and custom
ers from the interior. From these they hat
found out that negro youths from certain
parts OF the Dark Continent made bette
-.h.nds,v and were therefore more salua
BILE, A native Of Western Africa, for in
stsace, usually brought thirty pounds
whereas a Madagascar negro Away
commanded at least ten pounds
more. large fortunes were made b,
many OF the best people aboet this time
and 10 deal in human flesh was considered
no more at variance with good morals ant
social standing than was the traffic in hemp
or In barley or tobacco. Under the impetu
OF trade and the enterprise OF Spotswood
who in the meantime had become Lieuten
ant-(iovernor, the colony grew and pros
pered. II about the time OF his accession