In 1704, 4,475. _Doc. rel. Col. Hist. New York_, V. 605. " 1710, 7,935. _Ibid._ " 1712, 8,330. Scharf, _History of Maryland_, I. 377. " 1719, 25,000. _Doc. rel. Col. Hist. New York_, V. 605. " 1748, 36,000. McMahon, _History of Maryland_, I. 313. " 1755, 46,356. _Gentleman's Magazine_, XXXIV. 261. " 1756, 46,225. McMahon, _History of Maryland_, I. 313. " 1761, 49,675. Dexter, _Colonial Population_, p. 21, note. " 1782, 83,362. _Encyclopaedia Britannica_ (9th ed.), XV. 603. " 1787, 80,000. Dexter, _Colonial Population_, p. 21, note. * * * * * _Chapter III_ THE FARMING COLONIES. 10. Character of these Colonies. 11. The Dutch Slave-Trade. 12. Restrictions in New York. 13. Restrictions in Pennsylvania and Delaware. 14. Restrictions in New Jersey. 15. General Character of these Restrictions. 10. ~Character of these Colonies.~ The colonies of this group, occupying the central portion of the English possessions, comprise those communities where, on account of climate, physical characteristics, and circumstances of settlement, slavery as an institution found but a narrow field for development. The climate was generally rather cool for the newly imported slaves, the soil was best suited to crops to which slave labor was poorly adapted, and the training and habits of the great body of settlers offered little chance for the growth of a slave system. These conditions varied, of course, in different colonies; but the general statement applies to all. These communities of small farmers and traders derived whatever opposition they had to the slave-trade from three sorts of motives,--economic, political, and moral. First, the importation of slaves did not pay, except to supply a moderate demand for household servants. Secondly, these colonies, as well as those in the South, had a wholesome political fear of a large servile population. Thirdly, the settlers of many of these colonies were of sterner moral fibre than the Southern cavaliers and adventurers, and, in the absence of great counteracting motives, were more easily led to oppose the institution and the trade. Finally, it must be noted that these colonies did not so generally regard themselves as temporary commercial investments as did Virginia and Carolina. Intending to found permanent States, these settlers from the first more carefully studied the ultimate interests of those States.