hear my requests are complied with and till then must struggle with a hard Winter, scarcity of Provisions, and rub through many more difficulties with all the patience I am endued with and ever be, Sir, Your most humble Serv Jo" URMSTONE C. Objections to the Prohibition of Rum and Slaves in Georgia, 17381 Georgia was founded in 1733 under the leadership of General J. E. Oglethorpe as an asylum for "all the useless Poor in England, and distressed Protestants in Europe." A charter was granted containing various restrictions and conditions and the control of the colony was placed in the hands of a board of trustees. Among the clauses governing the colony were two which prohibited the importation of rum and of slaves. These soon became a bone of contention between the colonists and the trustees. A petition was drawn up by the settlers and sent to the trustees in London, asking that these restrictions be removed. THE First of February, 1732-3, Mr. Oglethorpe arrived at Georgia with the first Embarkation, consisting of Forty Families, making upwards of One Hundred Persons, all brought over and supported at the Publick Charge. The First Thing he did after he arrived in Georgia, was to make a kind of solemn Treaty with a Parcel of fugitive Indians, . . . and all of them have been ever since maintain'd at the Publick Charge, at vast Expence, when many poor Christians were starving in the Colony for Want of Bread; SECONDLY, He prohibited the Importation of Rum, under Pretence, that it was destructive to the Constitution, and an Incentive to Debauchery and Idleness: However specious these Pretences might seem, a little Experience soon convinced us, that this Restriction was directly opposite to the Well-being of the Colony: . . . THE THIRD Thing he did, was regularly to set out to each Freeholder in Savannah, Lots of Fifty Acres, in three distinct Divisions, viz. The Eighth Part of One Acre for a House and Garden in the Town: Four Acres and seven-eighths, at a small Distance from Town; and Forty five Acres at a considerable Remove from thence. No regard was had to the Quality of the Ground in the Divisions, so that some were altogether Pine Barren, and some Swamp and Morass, far surpassing the Strength and Ability of the Planter: . . . But these 1 A True and Historical Narrative of the Colony of Georgia, in America. By Pat. Tailfer et al. (Charles Town, 1741). In Force, Tracts and Other Papers (Washington, 1835), I, no. iv, 20–3. and many other Hardships were scarcely felt by the few People that came there, so long as Mr. Oglethorpe staid, which was about Fifteen Months: They work'd hard indeed, in Building some Houses in Town; but then they labour'd in common, and were likewise assisted by Negroes from Carolina, who did the heaviest Work: But at1 Mr. Oglethorpe's going to England, the growing fame of the Colony was thereby greatly increased, so that as it has been before observ'd, People, in Abundance, from all Parts of the World, flock'd to Georgia. Then they began to consider and endeavour, every one according to his Genius or Abilities, how they might best subsist themselves. Some, with great Labour and Expence, essayed the Making of Tar:2 This, as 'tis well known to the Trustees, never quitted Costs: Others tried to make planck and saw Boards; which, by the great Price they were obliged to sell them at, by Reason of the great Expence of white Servants, was the chief Means of ruining those who thought to procure a Living by their Buildings in Town; for Boards of all kinds, could always be bought in Carolina, for half the Price that they were able to sell them at; but few were capable to Commission them from thence, and those who were so, were prevented from doing it, upon Pretence of discouraging the Labour of white People in Georgia. Those who had Numbers of Servants and Tracts of Land in the County, went upon the Planting of Corn, Pease, Potatoes, &c. and the Charge of these who succeeded the best, so far exceeded the Value of the Produce, that it would have saved three fourths to have bought all from the Carolina Market. The Falling of Timber was a Task very unequal to the Strength and Constitution of white Servants; and the Hoeing the Ground, they being exposed to the sultry Heat of the Sun, insupportable; and it is well known, that this Labour is one of the hardest upon the Negroes, even tho' their Constitutions are much stronger than white People, and the Heat no Way disagreeable nor hurtful to them; but in us it created inflamatory Fevers of various kinds, both continued and intermittent; wasting and tormenting Fluxes, most excruciating Cholicks, and Dry-Belly-Achs; Tremors, Vertigoes, Palsies, and a long Train of painful and lingring nervous Distempers; which brought on to many a Cessation both from Work and Life; especially 1 Before he departed, a Vessel with about twenty Families of Jews arrived all of whom had Lots assigned them; and likewise a Vessel with forty transported Irish Convicts, whom he purchased, altho' they had been before refused at Jamaica, and who afterwards occasioned continual Disturbances in the Colony. 2 Mr. Causton, the Trustees Store keeper, mostly at their Charge, made a Tarr Kiln, which turned out to no Advantage. as Water without any Qualification was the chief Drink, and Salt Meat the only Provisions that could be had or afforded; And so general were these Disorders, that during the hot Season, which lasts from March to October, hardly one Half of the Servants and working People, were ever able to do their Masters or themselves the least Service; and the Yearly Sickness of each Servant, generally speaking, cost his Master as much as would have maintained a Negro for four Years. These Things were represented to the Trustees in the Summer of 1735, in a Petition for the Use of Negroes, signed by about Seventeen of the better Sort of People in Savannah; In this Petition there was also set forth the great Disproportion betwixt the Maintenance and Cloathing of white Servants and Negroes. This Petition was carried to England and presented to the Trustees, by Mr. Hugh Stirling, an experienced Planter in the Colony; but no Regard was had to it, or to what he could say, and great Resentment was even shewn to Mr. Thompson, the Master of the Vessel in which it went. D. Answer of the Trustees, 17391 The trustees refused to accede to the petition of some of the landholders of Georgia to permit the introduction of rum and slaves and to alter the tenure of the lands. Some years later, however, the influence of the Carolinas proved irresistible and both these restrictions were broken down. To the Magistrates of the Town of Savannah, in the Province of Georgia. The Trustees for establishing the Colony of Georgia in America, have received by the Hands of Mr. Benjamin Ball of London, Merchant, an attested Copy of a Representation, signed by You the Magistrates, and many of the Inhabitants of Savannah, on the 9th of December last, for altering the Tenure of the Lands, and introducing Negroes into the Province, transmitted from thence by Mr. Robert Williams. The Trustees are not surprized to find unwary People drawn in by crafty Men, to join in a Design of extorting by Clamour from the Trustees an Alteration in the Fundamental Laws, framed for the Preservation of the People, from those very Designs. . . . And the Trustees are the more confirmed in their opinion of the Unreasonableness of this Demand, that they have received Petitions from the Darien, and other Parts of the Province, representing the Inconvenience and Danger, which must arise to the good People of 1 A True and Historical Narrative of the Colony of Georgia, in America. By Pat. Tailfer et al. (Charles Town, 1741). In Force, Tracts and Other Papers (Washington, 1835), I, no. iv, 51-3. the Province from the Introduction of Negroes. And as the Trustees themselves are fully convinced, that besides the Hazard attending that Introduction, it would destroy all Industry among the white Inhabitants; and that by giving them a Power to alien their Lands, the Colony would soon be too like its Neighbours, void of white Inhabitants, filled with Blacks, and reduced to be the precarious Property of a Few, equally exposed to Domestick Treachery, and Foreign Invasion; and therefore the Trustees cannot be supposed to be in any Disposition of granting this Request; and if they have not before this signified their Dislike of it, this Delay is to be imputed to no other Motives, but the Hopes they had conceived, that Time and Experience would bring the Complainants to a better Mind: And the Trustees readily join Issue with them in their Appeal to Posterity, who shall judge between them, who were their best Friends; Those, who endeavoured to preserve for them a Property in their Lands, by tying up the Hands of their unthrifty Progenitors; or They, who wanted a Power to mortgage or alien them: Who were the best Friends to the Colony, Those who with great Labour and Cost had endeavoured to form a Colony of His Majesty's Subjects, and persecuted Protestants from other Parts of Europe, had placed them on a fruitful Soil, and strove to secure them in their Possessions, by those Arts which naturally tend to keep the Colony full of useful and industrious People, capable both to cultivate and defend it; or Those, who, to gratify the greedy and ambitious Views of a few Negroe Merchants, would put it into their Power to become sole Owners of the Province, by introducing their baneful Commodity; which, it is well known by sad Experience, has brought our Neighbour Colonies to the Brink of Ruin, by driving out their white Inhabitants, who were their Glory and Strength, to make room for Black, who are now become the Terror of their unadvised Masters. Signed by Order of the Trustees, this 20th Day of June, 1739. Benj. Martyn, Secretary. E. Unprofitableness of Slavery, 17741 By 1774 the tobacco lands of Virginia had been pretty well exhausted as a result of wasteful methods of cultivation, and the combination of slavery and worn-out lands was clearly unprofitable. This conclusion was reached by the tutor in the family of a rich Virginia planter. 1 Journal and Letters, 1767-1774. By Philip V. Fithian. Edited by J. R. Williams (Princeton, 1900). Also in American Historical Review, V, 304, 307. Mr. Carter now possesses 60000 Acres of Land; and about 600 Negroes. But his Estate is much divided, and lies in almost every county in this Colony; He has Lands in the Neighbourhood of Williamsburg, and an elegant and Spacious House in that City. He owns a great part of the well-known Iron-Works near Baltimore in Maryland. And he has one or more considerable Farms not far from Anapolis. . . . Monday, April 4. After Supper I had a long conversation with Mrs. Carter concerning Negroes in Virginia, and find that She esteems their value at no higher rate than I do. We both concluded, (I am pretty certain that the conclusion is just) that if in Mr. Carters, or in any Gentlemans Estate, all the Negroes should be sold, and the money put to Interest in safe hands, and let the Lands which these Negroes now work lie wholly uncultivated, the bare Interest of the Price of the Negroes would be a much greater yearly income than what is now received from their working the Lands, making no allowance at all for the trouble and Risk of the Masters as to the Crops and Negroes. How much greater then must be the value of an estate here if these poor enslaved Africans were all in their native desired Country, and in their Room industrious Tenants, who being born in freedom, by a laudable care, would not only inrich their Landlords, but would raise a hardy Offspring to be the strength and the honour of the Colony. EXCHANGE I. COMMODITY MONEY A. Commodity Money in North Carolina, 17491 Throughout the whole of the colonial period there were continuous complaints as to the scarcity of money. The reasons for this were obvious: the colonists were for the most part poor people who did not bring much money with them; and what they did bring was speedily sent back to England in exchange for more needed supplies and manufactured commodities. As the colonies were thus drained of metallic money resort must be had to substitutes therefor to carry on domestic exchange, and various commodities were made to do service as money, often being given the legal tender quality. Such a list as that authorized in North Carolina was fairly typical of all the early colonies. The Province of North Carolina was first settled by People from Virginia in low circumstances who moved hither for the benefit of 1 Letter of Governor Johnston to the Board of Trade (1749), in Colonial Records of North Carolina. Edited by W. L. Saunders (Raleigh, 1886), IV, 920—1. |