New England and the Slave Trade; Wm. and Mary Qrtly.; Vol. 2, No. 3

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New England and the Slave Trade

   R. A. Brock

   William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Papers, Vol. 2, No. 3
   (Jan., 1894), pp. 176-178.

                         NEW ENGLAND AND THE SLAVE TRADE.

            BY R. A. BROCK, SECRETARY OF THE SOUTHERN HISTORICAL SOCIETY

   The active agency of New England in supplying Virginia with slaves and in riveting the
deplorable and troublesome negro population on the South, has been, it may be admitted,
abundantly established(1).

   The following letter is, however, of interest in additional circumstantial illustration.

   It is from the Letter Book of William Fitzhugh, of "Bedford" (in King George County,
Virginia) an influential lawyer and planter.  The original of these letters, covering the
period 1679-1698, is in the library of Harvard University.  I possess a copy made in 1873
from a copy then owned by the late John M. Gordon, of Norfolk, Virginia, which, at my
request, he deposited with the Virginia Historical Society, a few years later:

   Mr. Fitzhugh to Mr. Jackson, of Piscataway, in New England:

                                             "February 11th, 1682-3.
"Mr. Jackson:
   As to your proposal about the bringing in Negroes next fall, I have this to offer & you
may communicate the same to your owners & employers that I will deal with them for so many
as shall amount to 50,000 lbs. Tobo & Cask, which will be about 20 hhds., under the
condition & at these ages & prices following, to say - to give 3,000 lbs. Tobo for every
Negro boy or girl that shall be between the ages of Seven & Eleven years old; to give
4,000 lbs. Tobo for every youth or
____________________________
   (1) See Moore's "History of Slavery in Masschusetts".  "Past Relation of Virginia to
Africal Slavery", R.A. Brock, Virginia Historical Collection, Vol. VI., and numerous other
works.

Page 177.

girl that shall be between the age of 11 & 15, & to give 5,000 bs. of Tobo for every young
man or woman that shall be above 15 years of age & not exceed 24, the said negroes to be
delivered at my landing some time in September next & I to have notice whether they will so
agree some time in August next.  And I do assure you and so you may acquaint them that upon
delivery & my receipt of the Negroes, according to the ages above mentioned and that they be
sound & healthful at their Delivery, I will give you such sufficient caution for the payment
of the Tobo accordingly the 20th Decr the next following as shall be approved of.  The ages
of the Negroes to be judg'd and dtermin'd by two or three such honest & reasonable men here
as your self shall nominate & appoint.  The whole of sum of the Tobo to be paid in the

compass of twenty miles, perhaps not so remote(1).
                                               Your wff."

   Tobacco, an important factor in the political economy of Colonial Virginia, had a vital
connection with the founding of William and Mary College.

   In 1692, a revenue was provided for its support by the imposition of one penny per pound
on all tobacco imported from Virginia and Maryland to other Colonies.

   It may be desirable that the pecuniary value of negro slaves at the period of the letter
be fixed.  Tobacco was hten worth about two pence per pound(2), the value of the slaves of
the ages stated would be respectively L12 10s., L16 14s.4d and L20 162.8d.  These prices
had nearly doubled at the period immediately preceding the American Revolution, when boys

and girls commanded from L20 to L30, and adusts from L40 to L60.

   At the latter period the value of the pound, Virginia currency, compared with the
pound sterling, as was two to three;
_____________________________
   (1) Points of delivery along the Rappahannock River.
   (2) Consult - "A Succinct Account of Tobacco in Virginia, 1607-1790", by R. A. Brock.
Tenth Census of the United States Statistics on Agriculture, pp. 212, 225.

Page 178.

thus the values decimally, then were, say, about from $67.00 to $100.00, and 133.00 to
$200.00.  At the close of the eighteenth century these last values had again about doubled.