“Act against importation of slaves—­“No Indian, negro, or mulatto slave shall at any time hereafter be brought or imported into this State, by sea or land, from any place or places whatsoever, to be disposed of, left or sold, within this State."[449]

The above bill was brief, but pointed; and showed that Connecticut was the only one of the New-England colonies that had the honesty and courage to legislate against slavery.  And the patriotism and incomparable valor of the Negro soldiers of Connecticut, who proudly followed the Continental flag through the fires of the Revolutionary War, proved that they were worthy of the humane sentiment that demanded the Act of 1774.

FOOTNOTES: 

[435] In the Capital Laws of Connecticut, passed on the 1st of December, 1642, the tenth law reads as follows. “10.  If any man stealeth a man or mankind, he shall be put to death.  Ex. 21 16.”  But this was the law in Massachusetts, and yet slavery existed there for one hundred and forty-three (143) years.

[436] Conn.  Col.  Recs., 1678-89, p. 293.

[437] Ibid., p. 298.

[438] Conn Col Recs., 1689-1706, p. 40

[439] Ibid. 1689-1706, pp. 375, 376.

[440] Conn.  Col.  Recs., 1706-16, p. 52.

[441] Ibid., pp 51, 53.

[442] Conn.  Col.  Recs., 1706-16, p. 233.

[443] Conn.  Col.  Recs., 1717-25, pp. 390, 391.

[444] Ibid., 1726-35, p. 290.

[445] Conn.  Col.  Recs., 1706-16, pp. 515, 516.

[446] Hazard, State Papers, vol. ii. pp. 1-6.

[447] Conn.  Col.  Recs., vol. i. p. 349.

[448] Pres.  Stiles’s MSS.

[449] Freedom and Bondage, vol. i. pp. 272, 273.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND.

1647-1775.

     COLONIAL GOVERNMENT IN RHODE ISLAND, MAY, 1647.—­AN ACT
     PASSED TO ABOLISH SLAVERY IN 1652, BUT WAS NEVER
     ENFORCED.—­AN ACT SPECIFYING WHAT TIMES INDIAN AND NEGRO
     SLAVES SHOULD NOT APPEAR IN THE STREETS.—­AN IMPOST-TAX ON
     SLAVES (1708).—­PENALTIES IMPOSED ON DISOBEDIENT
     SLAVES.—­ANTI-SLAVERY SENTIMENT IN THE COLONIES RECEIVES
     LITTLE ENCOURAGEMENT.—­CIRCULAR LETTER FROM THE BOARD OF
     TRADE TO THE GOVERNOR OF THE ENGLISH COLONIES RELATIVE TO
     NEGRO SLAVES.—­GOVERNOR CRANSTON’S REPLY.—­LIST OF
     MILITIA-MEN, INCLUDING WHITE AND BLACK SERVANTS.—­ANOTHER
     LETTER FROM THE BOARD OF TRADE.—­AN ACT PREVENTING
     CLANDESTINE IMPORTATIONS AND EXPORTATION OF PASSENGERS,
     NEGROES, OR INDIAN SLAVES.—­MASTERS OF VESSELS REQUIRED TO
     REPORT THE NAMES AND NUMBER OF PASSENGERS TO THE
     GOVERNOR.—­VIOLATION OF THE IMPOST-TAX LAW ON SLAVES
     PUNISHED BY SEVERE PENALTIES.—­APPROPRIATION BY THE GENERAL
     ASSEMBLY, JULY 5, 1715,