Every step in his narrative is
supported by references to unimpeachable authorities; and the
scholarly Monograph bears high testimony to the author's earnest
labor, painstaking research and unswerving fidelity. Should the
present work stimulate inquiry beyond the scope herein set before the
reader, he is most confidently referred to Professor Du Bois' book as
containing a complete exposition of the development and overthrow of
that awful crime.
It is from this work, however, that we shall obtain a nearer and
clearer view of the African planted upon our shores. Negro slavery
began at an early day in the North American Colonies; but up until the
Revolution of 1688 the demand for slaves was mainly supplied from
England, the slaves being white.[1] "It is probable," says Professor
DuBois, "that about 25,000 slaves were brought to America each year
between 1698 and 1707, and after 1713 it rose to perhaps 30,000
annually. "Before the Revolution the total exportation to America is
variously estimated as between 40,000 and 100,000 each year."
Something of the horrors of the "Middle Passage" may be shown by the
records that out of 60,783 slaves shipped from Africa during the years
1680-88, 14,387, or nearly one-fourth of the entire number, perished
at sea. In 1790 there were in the country nearly seven hundred
thousand Africans, these having been introduced by installments from
various heathen tribes.
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