A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE BOARD OF UNIVERSITY STUDIES OF THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY IN CONFORMITY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY, 1910 BY EDWARD RAYMOND TURNER Professor of History in the University of Michigan THE LORD BALTIMORE PRESS BALTIMORE, MD., U. S. A. 1911...

The Introduction of Negroes into Pennsylvania. There were negroes in the region around the Delaware river before Pennsylvania was founded, in the days of the Dutch and the Swedes. As early as 1639 mention is made of a convict sentenced to be taken to South River to serve among the blacks there. [1] In 1644 Anthony, a negro, is spoken of in the service of Governor Printz at Tinicum, making hay for the cattle, and accompanying the governor on his pleasure yacht. [2] In 1657 Vice-director Alricks w

Legal Status of the Slave. The legal origin of slavery [52] in Pennsylvania is not easy to discover, for the statute of 1700, which seems to have recognized slavery there, is, like similar statutes in some of the other American colonies, very indirect and uncertain in its wording. Before this time, it is true, there occur instances where negroes were held for life, so that undoubtedly there was de facto slavery; but by what authority it existed, or how it began, is not clear. It may have grown u

Social and Economic Aspects of Slavery. The mildness of slavery in Pennsylvania impressed every observer. Acrelius said that negroes were treated better there than anywhere else in America. Peter Kalm said that compared with the condition of white servants their condition possessed equal advantages except that they were obliged to serve their whole life-time without wages. Hector St. John Crèvecœur declared that they enjoyed as much liberty as their masters, that they were in effect part of thei

The Breaking up of Slavery—Manumission. In Pennsylvania the disintegration of slavery began as soon as slavery was established, for there were free negroes in the colony at the beginning of the eighteenth century. [166] Manumission may have taken place earlier than this, for in 1682 an owner made definite promise of freedom to his negro. [167] The first indisputable case now known, however, occurred in 1701, when a certain Lydia Wade living in Chester County freed her slaves by testament. [168]

The Destruction of Slavery—Abolition. The events which led to the extinction of slavery in Pennsylvania fall naturally into four periods. They are, first, the years from 1682 to about 1740, during which the Germans discountenanced slave-holding, and the Friends ceased importing negroes; second, the period of the Quaker abolitionists, from about 1710 to 1780, by which time slavery among the Quakers had come to an end; third, from 1780 to 1788, the years of legislative action; and finally, the per

Edward Raymond Turner was born May 28, 1881, in Baltimore, Maryland, where he obtained his earlier education. After receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts at St. Johns College, Annapolis, 1904, he taught in the Baltimore schools. He entered the Johns Hopkins University in 1907, and was Fellow in History 1909–1910. A reference to p. 111 in note 87 on p. 29 seems incorrect. The final page of this text is p. 88. The following likely printer’s errors were corrected:...