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288 HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
The Southern States, naturally, grew restive under this system of tribute-
and to keep them submissive to it, two things were necessary—to limit, as far
as possible, the growth of the South, and hasten that of the North; and to
increase the power of the Federal government, which the North hoped to control. These measures, of course, the South strenuously resisted; and the
antagonism of these two policies, working in manifold ways, which cannot be
recited here, form the political history of the country.
As the system of African slavery was the distinguishing feature of the
industry of the South, at an early period the division between the States came
to be marked by the existence or absence of slavery. This, however, was not
the case at the foundation of the republic, when slavery existed in all the
States, which, as colonies, had received it—some, indeed, involuntarily—from
the mother-country.
The African slave-trade, undertaken by British vessels, first in 1561,
between the Guinea coast and the Spanish West Indies, soon expanded into
large proportions. In 1689 the British government entered into a convention
with Spain, by which she agreed to provide her West India dependencies with
African slaves. In 1713, the South Sea Company undertook a similar contract, and for thirty years furnished slaves at the rate of four thousand eight
hundred per annum. The trade being exceedingly profitable, grew apace;
and in 1760, General O'Hara, Governor of Senagambia, reported that "in the
previous fifty years, no less than 70,000 blacks had been deported per annum
from that country alone"—an aggregate of 3,500,000 slaves.
Great Britain, finding the supply practically inexhaustible, sought to
enlarge her market for so profitable a commodity, and began to send them to
her American colonies, and even to force them upon them, as has been shown
in an earlier page of this history. Slavery, however, in a limited extent, had
long been established in America. In 1620, the year in which the Puritans
sailed for New England, a Dutch ship from the coast of Guinea brought to
Virginia twenty African slaves, who were sold to the planters at Jamestown.
This was the beginning of African slavery on the continent.1
At that time but a small district of country, in the neighborhood of
Jamestown, had been cleared for cultivation. The low lands were filled with
stagnant and marshy pools, and the colonists suffered greatly from malarious
diseases. It was supposed that the negro, a native of the tropics, would be
found more capable of enduring the hardships of field labor under a sultry
sun than the natives of Europe; and that they could be advantageously
employed in clearing and cultivating the rich alluvial lands along the rivers,
and thus fitting them for the abode of the white race. The result even
exceeding the expectations of the colonists, further importations were made,
not only into Virginia, but the other colonies; and thus the system overspread the whole of British America.2
1 The first slave in Maryland was one brought 2 Slavery, as a social condition, existed in
from Bermuda by the first colonists. Massachusetts almost from the beginning of the
| Title | History of Maryland - 3 |
| Creator | Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas) |
| Publisher | J. B. Piet |
| Place of Publication | Baltimore |
| Date | 1879 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000319 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | 288 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. The Southern States, naturally, grew restive under this system of tribute- and to keep them submissive to it, two things were necessary—to limit, as far as possible, the growth of the South, and hasten that of the North; and to increase the power of the Federal government, which the North hoped to control. These measures, of course, the South strenuously resisted; and the antagonism of these two policies, working in manifold ways, which cannot be recited here, form the political history of the country. As the system of African slavery was the distinguishing feature of the industry of the South, at an early period the division between the States came to be marked by the existence or absence of slavery. This, however, was not the case at the foundation of the republic, when slavery existed in all the States, which, as colonies, had received it—some, indeed, involuntarily—from the mother-country. The African slave-trade, undertaken by British vessels, first in 1561, between the Guinea coast and the Spanish West Indies, soon expanded into large proportions. In 1689 the British government entered into a convention with Spain, by which she agreed to provide her West India dependencies with African slaves. In 1713, the South Sea Company undertook a similar contract, and for thirty years furnished slaves at the rate of four thousand eight hundred per annum. The trade being exceedingly profitable, grew apace; and in 1760, General O'Hara, Governor of Senagambia, reported that "in the previous fifty years, no less than 70,000 blacks had been deported per annum from that country alone"—an aggregate of 3,500,000 slaves. Great Britain, finding the supply practically inexhaustible, sought to enlarge her market for so profitable a commodity, and began to send them to her American colonies, and even to force them upon them, as has been shown in an earlier page of this history. Slavery, however, in a limited extent, had long been established in America. In 1620, the year in which the Puritans sailed for New England, a Dutch ship from the coast of Guinea brought to Virginia twenty African slaves, who were sold to the planters at Jamestown. This was the beginning of African slavery on the continent.1 At that time but a small district of country, in the neighborhood of Jamestown, had been cleared for cultivation. The low lands were filled with stagnant and marshy pools, and the colonists suffered greatly from malarious diseases. It was supposed that the negro, a native of the tropics, would be found more capable of enduring the hardships of field labor under a sultry sun than the natives of Europe; and that they could be advantageously employed in clearing and cultivating the rich alluvial lands along the rivers, and thus fitting them for the abode of the white race. The result even exceeding the expectations of the colonists, further importations were made, not only into Virginia, but the other colonies; and thus the system overspread the whole of British America.2 1 The first slave in Maryland was one brought 2 Slavery, as a social condition, existed in from Bermuda by the first colonists. Massachusetts almost from the beginning of the |
