“SECTION 2. And be it enacted by the honorable John Penn, esq. with his Majesty’s royal approbation, Lieutenant Governor and Commander in Chief of the counties of New-Castle, Kent and Sussex, upon Delaware, and province of Pennsylvania, under the honorable Thomas Penn and Richard Penn, esquires, true and absolute proprietaries of the said counties and province, by and with the advice and consent of the Representatives of the freemen of the said counties, in General Assembly met, and by the authority of the same, That if any master or mistress shall, by will or otherwise, discharge or set free any Mulatto or Negro slave or slaves; he or she, or his or her executors or administrators, at the next respective County Court of Quarter Sessions, shall enter into a recognizance with sufficient sureties, to be taken in the name of the Treasurer of the said county for the time being, in the sum of Sixty Pounds for each slave so set free, to indemnify the county from any charge they or any of them may be unto the same, in case of such Negro or Mulattoe’s being sick, or otherwise rendered incapable to support him or herself; and that until such recognizance be given, no such Negro or Mulatto shall be deemed free."[434]

The remainder of the slave code in this colony was like unto those of the other colonies, and therefore need not be described.  Negroes had no rights, ecclesiastical or political.  They had no property, nor could they communicate a relation of any character.  They had no religious or secular training, and none of the blessings of home life.  Goaded to the performance of the most severe tasks, their only audible reply was an occasional growl.  It sent a feeling of terror through their inhuman masters, and occasioned them many ugly dreams.

FOOTNOTES: 

[429] Dr. Stevens in his History of Georgia, vol. i. p. 288, says, “In the Swedish and German colony, which Gustavus Adolphus planted in Delaware, and which in many points resembled the plans of the Trustees, negro servitude was disallowed.”  But he gives no authority, I regret.

[430] See Laws of Delaware, vol. i.  Appendix, pp. 1-4.

[431] Albany Records, vol. ii, p. 10.

[432] Vincent’s History of Delaware, p. 159.

[433] Ibid., p. 381.

[434] Laws of Delaware, vol. i. p. 436.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE COLONY OF CONNECTICUT.

1646-1775.

     THE FOUNDING OF CONNECTICUT, 1631-36.—­NO RELIABLE DATA
     GIVEN FOR THE INTRODUCTION OF SLAVES.—­NEGROES WERE FIRST
     INTRODUCED SOME DURING THE EARLY YEARS OF THE
     COLONY.—­“COMMITTEE FOR TRADE AND FOREIGN
     PLANTATIONS.”—­INTERROGATING THE GOVERNOR AS THE NUMBER OF
     NEGROES IN THE COLONY IN 1680.—­THE LEGISLATURE (1690)
     PASSES A LAW PERTAINING TO THE PURCHASE AND TREATMENT OF