province. The rising spirit of independence enabled the colony, in 1773,
to restore the prohibitive duty of £20 and make it perpetual.[37] After
the Revolution unpaid duties on slaves were collected and the slaves
registered,[38] and in 1780 an "Act for the gradual Abolition of
Slavery" was passed.[39] As there were probably at no time before the
war more than 11,000 slaves in Pennsylvania,[40] the task thus
accomplished was not so formidable as in many other States. As it was,
participation in the slave-trade outside the colony was not prohibited
until 1788.[41]

It seems probable that in the original Swedish settlements along the
Delaware slavery was prohibited.[42] This measure had, however, little
practical effect; for as soon as the Dutch got control the slave-trade
was opened, although, as it appears, to no large extent. After the fall
of the Dutch Delaware came into English hands. Not until 1775 do we find
any legislation on the slave-trade. In that year the colony attempted
to prohibit the importation of slaves, but the governor vetoed the
bill.[43] Finally, in 1776 by the Constitution, and in 1787 by law,
importation and exportation were both prohibited.[44]


14. ~Restrictions in New Jersey.~[45] Although the freeholders of West
New Jersey declared, in 1676, that "all and every Person and Persons
Inhabiting the said Province, shall, as far as in us lies, be free from
Oppression and Slavery,"[46] yet Negro slaves are early found in the
colony.[47] The first restrictive measure was passed, after considerable
friction between the Council and the House, in 1713; it laid a duty of
£10, currency.[48] Governor Hunter explained to the Board of Trade that
the bill was "calculated to Encourage the Importation of white Servants
for the better Peopeling that Country."[49] How long this act continued