1695, Duty Act:  10_s._ 1704, " " 20_s._ 1715, " " " 1717, " " additional duty of 40_s._ (?). 1754, " " " " 10_s._, total 50_s._ 1756, " " " " 20_s._ " 40_s._ (?). 1763, " " " " L2 " L4. 1771, " " " " L5 " L9. 1783, Importation prohibited.

 [36] Compleat Coll.  Laws of Maryland (ed. 1727), p. 191;
      Bacon, Laws of Maryland at Large, 1728, ch. 8.

 [37] Bacon, Laws, 1754, ch. 9, 14.

 [38] Ibid., 1763, ch. 28.

 [39] Laws of Maryland since 1763:  1771, ch. 7.  Cf. Ibid.: 
      1777, sess.  Feb.-Apr., ch. 18.

[40] Ibid.:  1783, sess.  Apr.-June, ch. 23.

[41] “The last importation of slaves into Maryland was, as I
am credibly informed, in the year 1769”:  William Eddis,
Letters from America (London, 1792), p. 65, note.

The number of slaves in Maryland has been estimated as follows:—­

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