The History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave Trade by the British Parliament (1808), Volume IIClarkson, Thomas
History
The History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave Trade by the British Parliament (1808), Volume II
Clarkson, Thomas
Slave trade -- Africa
He would now proceed to establish his second proposition, That from
henceforth a very considerable increase might be expected. This he might
support by a close reasoning upon the preceding facts. But the testimony of
his opponents furnished him with sufficient evidence. He could show, that
wherever the slaves were treated better than ordinary, there was uniformly
an increase in their number. Look at the estates of Mr. Willock, Mr.
Ottley, Sir Ralph Payne, and others. In short, he should weary the
committee, if he were to enumerate the instances of plantations, which were
stated in the evidence to have kept up their numbers only from a little
variation in their treatment. A remedy also had been lately found for a
disorder, by which vast numbers of infants had been formerly swept away.
Mr. Long also had laid it down, that whenever the slaves should bear a
certain proportion to the produce, they might be expected to keep up their
numbers; but this proportion they now exceeded. The Assembly of Jamaica had
given it also as their opinion, "that when once the sexes should become
nearly equal in point of number, there was no reason to suppose, that the
increase of the Negros by generation would fall short of the natural
increase of the labouring poor in Great Britain." But the inequality, here
spoken of, could only exist in the case of the African Negros, of whom more
males were imported than females; and this inequality would be done away
soon after the trade should cease.
But the increase of the Negros, where their treatment was better than
ordinary, was confirmed in the evidence by instances in various parts of
the world. From one end of the continent of America to the other their
increase had been undeniably established; and this to a prodigious extent,
though they had to contend with the severe cold of the winter, and in some
parts with noxious exhalations in the summer. This was the case also in the
settlement of Bencoolen in the East Indies. It appeared from the evidence
of Mr. Botham, that a number of Negros, who had been imported there in the
same disproportion of the sexes as in West India cargoes, and who lived
under the same disadvantages, as in the Islands, of promiscuous intercourse
and general prostitution, began, after they had been settled a short time,
annually to increase.
But to return to the West Indies.--A slave-ship had been many years ago
wrecked near St. Vincent's. The slaves on board, who escaped to the island,
were without necessaries; and, besides, were obliged to maintain a war with
the native Caribbs: yet they soon multiplied to an astonishing number; and,
according to Mr. Ottley, they were now on the increase. From Sir John
Dalrymple's evidence it appeared, that the domestic slaves in Jamaica, who
were less worked than those in the field, increased; and from Mr. Long,
that the free Blacks and Mulattoes there increased also.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account