USA > Massachusetts > Commonwealth history of Massachusetts, colony, province and state, volume 2 > Part 24
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It was in "public peace and safety" that Boston was to finish the century. A nation had been created. Its citizens had in Congressional halls and on battlefields worked in har- mony with other Americans, of all sorts and conditions of thought, secular and religious. The Puritan was not passing, but his municipal and in some degree his individual narrow- ness was ameliorating. The last decade before the Revolution saw a development of interest in political questions which could not have happened earlier. Witness an extract from the in- structions to the representatives, reported by Perez Morton, and passed by the town meeting of 1791.
"They Consider the right to relax from the Toils of In- dustry & the fatigue of Business by A resort to any rational and innocent amusement, as Constituting no inconsiderable part of the happiness of Civil Society and one of the essential blessings confirmed to them by A free constituting of Govern- ment.
"A Theatre where the Actions of great & Virtuous Men are represented Under every possible embellishment, which genius and eloquence can give will not only afford A rational and in- nocent amusement, but essentially Advance the interest of
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Public and Private virtue, will have a Tendency to Polish the Manners and habits of Society, to disseminate the Social af- fections, and to improve the literary taste of our rising Re- public."
A hundred years had brought about a sweeter temper, a freer outlook, a Boston Town which felt the leaven of national associations, a competent and self-respecting community. Still there was much to learn of tolerance and hospitality, but a love of liberty had lodged in men's minds and a habit of thought which the hundred years before the Revolution had strengthened. With that century behind him the Bostonian of 1800 was indeed a citizen of no mean city.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOSTON : RECORD COMMISSIONERS .- Reports (39 vols., Boston, 1880-1909) - The town records in full are to be found in these volumes and in the Boston Record reports of the City Registrar.
BRAYLEY, ARTHUR WELLINGTON .- A Complete History of the Boston Fire Department from 1630-1888 (Boston, Dale, 1889)-Contains matter concerning early conflagrations and the fire fighting force of early days.
ERNST, CARL W .- "Constitutional History of Boston, Massachusetts" (Pro- fessional and Industrial History of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, 3 vols., Boston, Boston History Co., 1894)-See Vol. III, pp. 9-173. ERNST, GEORGE A. O .- "A chronology of the Boston Public Schools" (BOSTON : FINANCE COMMISSIONER, Reports, Vol. VII, Boston, 1912)- See pp. 295-320.
HART, ALBERT BUSHNELL .- Practical Essays on American Government. (N. Y., Longmans, Green, 1894)-See pp. 133-146, "The Colonial Town Meeting ;" short essay on the New England town meeting, with several references to Boston.
HOSMER, JAMES K .- Samuel Adams (Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1900)- Hosmer understood the spirit of Adams and of Boston, and visualizes it admirably.
MASON, ALBERT .- "A Short History of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts; Part I, Judicial History prior to 1780" (Mass. Law Quarterly, 1916, Vol. II, pp. 82-100)-A judicial study which describes briefly the institution and status of the provincial courts. The same account appears in W. T. Davis, The New England States, Vol. III, chap. CXXXIV.
SAVAGE, EDWARD H., compiler .- Boston Events. A Brief Mention and the Date of more than 5,000 Events that Transpired in Boston from 1630 to 1880 (Boston, Tolman and White, 1884)-Catalogue of happenings in Boston since the earliest time. Provocative but should not be used without supporting statements from further research.
SCUDDER, HORACE E .- "The Provincial Period" (WINSOR, JUSTIN, editor, Memorial History of Boston, 4 vols., Boston, Osgood, 1882-1886)-See Vol. II, pp. 437-490. A careful and readable treatise on the town and its people and customs in the eighteenth century.
WINSLOW, OLA ELIZABETH .- Harper's Literary Museum; selected from Early American Writing (N. Y., Harper, 1927)-Contains much inter- esting colonial matter, including interesting items from newspapers, many of which were published in Boston.
WINSOR, JUSTIN, editor .- Memorial History of Boston (4 vols., 1882-1886) -Vol. II deals with the provincial period.
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CHAPTER IX
SOCIAL LIFE IN TOWN AND COUNTRY (1689- 1763)
BY ALLYN BAILEY FORBES Harvard University
RACE ELEMENTS IN MASSACHUSETTS
The history of the Province of Massachusetts is in effect a history of people of English stock, using only the English language and connected with England by ties of race, kin- ship, literature, commerce, and government. During the pro- vincial period there began a movement of non-English people to Massachusetts, though not on such a scale as to cause a serious social problem or to alter the dominant Anglo- Saxon cast of the community. The first group to arrive were Huguenots, fleeing from persecution after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. From the very first the attitude of the Boston authorities was sympathetic. In 1685 the Coun- cil had announced as a policy to be followed from then on with regard to these people, that upon taking the oath of al- legiance before the proper officials they should be allowed to take up residence in the colony and should enjoy as com- plete freedom of movement as any other of His Majesty's subjects. The Boston ministers were equally friendly in their greeting and were prompt to appeal to their congregations for material aid for the newcomers, who in many cases were destitute.
The problem of finding a permanent place for them was linked up with the problem of the frontiers, a policy which was followed with varying success with each of the new stocks that came to the colony.
From the opening of the eighteenth century the Province followed a general immigration policy. By the law of 1700
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258 SOCIAL LIFE IN TOWN AND COUNTRY 1
it was required that each master of a vessel should furnish the receiver of imposts with a complete list of his passengers, together with an account of their material status and physical condition. Each immigrant, moreover, was required to give security that the town in which he settled would not be charged with his support. Otherwise he was not allowed to stay in the Province, and the master of the vessel must carry him away. In 1724 exception was made for those newcomers bringing effects of £50 value (not including necessary house- hold goods and wearing apparel) ; likewise for all able-bodied husbandmen, marines, carpenters, laborers, and indentured ser- vants, provided they were not of vicious habits. The pur- pose of such legislation is obvious. It is really part of the system of provincial poor-laws. By sending them to the more remote and less settled areas it was hoped that new regions would be opened up, incidentally brightening the financial pros- pects of land speculators, and that a stronger defense against Indian raids would be created. The site chosen for the Hugue- nots was Oxford, and a settlement was begun in 1687. The experiment, however, was not successful. Serious difficulties with the Indians arose, largely due to the Huguenots' own impolitic conduct, and the place was abandoned in 1696. An attempt to revive it in 1699 lasted only till 1704. From then on, the great part of the Huguenots centered in Boston, where some of them, as the names Bowdoin, Fanueil, and Revere indicate, became prominent figures in the life of both town and province.
SCOTCH IRISH ELEMENT
The Scotch-Irish, several hundred of whom arrived in Bos- ton in 1718, were not so cordially received. The selectmen, in fact, were ready at once to take steps to secure the town from charges which might be incurred by reason of the great influx. It was not, however, an immigration of paupers. Thomas Lechmere, writing to John Winthrop at the time, said that it would be "much out of the way to think that these Irish are ser- vants. They are generally men of estates, and are come over hither for no other reason but upon encouragement sent from hence, upon notice given that they should have so many acres of land given them gratis to settle our frontier as a barrier
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against Indians." The real cause of the cool reception was the fear expressed by Lechmere that "these confounded Irish will eat us all up, provisions being most extravagantly dear, & scarce of all sorts."
Nevertheless, provision was made for settling these Scotch- Irish at Worcester, then a pioneer region. From that point in subsequent years they spread throughout western Massa- chusetts. The first migration, to Pelham, in 1738, indicates that this new element in the population presented difficulties in the way of social adjustment. Both race and religion (though the old and new elements were both Protestant) tended to create antagonisms which were bitterly resented. Those at Worcester, for instance, petitioned the General Court to call them Scots so that they might escape abuse and misrep- resentation as Irish, the term then generally applied to them. With their dispersal through the western counties, however, and their adaptation to the pioneer life, this problem doubtless became much less acute.
GERMAN AND ACADIAN ELEMENTS
In the middle of the eighteenth century there came to Massachusetts a thin trickle of Germans, the result of a definite move by the Provincial Government to encourage the immigration of "industrious and well disposed Protestant Foreigners," who might remedy the scarcity of labor and further the settlement of the frontier. In pursuance of the latter purpose two townships in the Berkshires were set apart in 1750 for groups of 120 German families who might be attracted by prospects of bettering their condition in the new world. Several hundred Germans came to the Province as a result of this campaign; but the means used to secure them were utterly discreditable.
One Joseph Crellius, a German living in Philadelphia, in return for the promise of 200 acres in each township under- took to get the desired immigrants. That he ever considered such terms sufficient is unlikely in view of his subsequent conduct. Toward both groups of Germans that he persuaded to emigrate he exercised the grossest deception ; with the result that, when they arrived in Massachusetts, the great part of
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them found themselves in debt for the passage for which they had presumably paid in full, and were forced to become indentured servants, which was undoubtedly Crellius's inten- tion from the first. Some of them later found their way to the place originally designed for them, and in 1757 a group of seven Germans purchased from the town of Lexington a 1000-acre tract in "Dorchester Canada," now Ashburnham. There is no evidence that the Germans as a racial group. played a significant part in the life of the Province.
A sad plight was that of the Acadians, some 2000 of whom were brought to Massachusetts at the time of the deportation in 1755. Little adapted as they were at best for fitting into their new environment, their situation was all the more dif- ficult because of their religion. On almost all other points, according to Hutchinson, the authorities were inclined to be sympathetic; on that vital one they were adamant, and the colonial opinion was in absolute agreement. But the Acadians were not a permanent problem. By 1760 fully one half of them had drifted out of the Province.
INDENTURED SERVANTS
Massachusetts, like the other colonies, received indentured servants, who held much the same social status and per- formed much the same function in society as in other parts of the country. Advertisements such as the following ( from the Weekly Journal of July 14, 1729) were common in the pro- vincial press before the Revolution. "To be sold by Mr. John Wheelwright, A Parcel of White Servants, both Male and Female, lately arrived from Europe, their Time from 4 to 11 Years, and are to be seen on board the Vessel at the Long Wharffe."
Laws were passed from time to time regarding servants, giving them certain guarantees that the person to whom they were bound would respect the distinction between their status and that of slaves. They could not, for instance, be sold out of the Province without their consent. They must be provided with wholesome and sufficient food, clothing, and lodging, convenient times for food and rest, and care while sick.
At the same time, they were made to realize that they were
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not freemen. Any who had been unfaithful, negligent, or unprofitable in service, even though they had been ill used, were not to be dismissed from their contract until they had made satisfaction according to the judgment of the authori- ties. Servants, like slaves, were not to be allowed to while away their time at the taverns.
Above all, steps were taken to prevent indentured servants from fleeing from the Province to avoid completing their term of service. In 1718 a law was passed providing that "every master of any outward bound ship or vessel that shall here- after carry or transport out of this province any person under age, or bought or hired servant or apprentice, to any parts beyond the seas, without the consent of . . . master, parent or guardian, signified in writing, shall forfeit the sum of fifty pounds." A runaway servant could be reclaimed by his master, as was the case with slaves. An advertisement in the Boston Gazette of January 1, 1770, is typical of many that can be found in the press of earlier years. "Ran away from Samuel Gilbert of Littleton, an indentured Servant Boy, named Samuel Gilson, about 17 years old, of a middling Stature for his age, and wears black curled Hair, he carried away with him a blue cloth Coat, a light colored Jacket with sleeves, one pair of worsted Stockings, two striped woolen Shirts, and one good linnen Shirt. He went away in company with a short thick set Fellow, who wore a green coat and a green Jacket double breasted, also a pair Indian green Stockings. Whoever shall take up and secure, or give information of said runaway, so that his master may find him again, shall receive a Reward of two dollars and all necessary charges from Samuel Gilbert."
Once the term of service had expired, the former bonds- man took his place in society without any apparent social stigma because of his beginnings. In many cases such people came to assume places of considerable importance in the com- munities where they subsequently made their homes.
NEGRO SLAVES
Although Massachusetts was from the very first politically a free society, the institution of chattel slavery existed through-
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out the colonial and provincial periods. In origin it was a phase of the colonial Indian policy, but long before the end of the seventeenth century a great part of those held in bondage were negroes. As early as 1641 slavery was given a definite legal basis in a section of the Body of Liberties, which has unaccountably been accepted as a declaration that freedom was the normal state of mankind. "There shall never be any bond slaverie, villinage or captivities amongst us un- less it be lawfull captives taken in just warres, and such strangers as willingly selle themselves or are sold to us. And these shall have all the liberties and Christian usages which the law of God established in Israell concerning such persons doeth morally require. This exempts none from servitude who shall be Judged thereto by Authoritie." By a later act (1698) children of slaves were definitely declared to be slaves. Thus protected by law, the institution grew. Governor Dudley reported 400 slaves in Boston in 1708, one-half of them born there; by 1742 the number had increased almost fourfold. For the Province as a whole, Governor Shute reported 2,000, including Indians, while the census of negroes taken in 1764- 1765 showed a total of 5,779, few of them free.
Such human property was amply protected. Runaway slaves found within the Province could be recovered like any other chattels. Hence many an issue of the provincial press contained such advertisements as this: "Ran-away from Capt. Nathanael Cary of Charlestown, on Saturday the 17th Cur- rant, a well set middle sized Madagascar Negro Woman, called Penelope, about 35 years of Age: With several sorts of Ap- parel; one whereof is a flowered damask Gown: she speaks English well. Whoever shall take up said negro Servant and her Convey to her above-said master, shall have sufficient Reward."
The presence of this race element in the community pre- sented certain social problems requiring legislation. There was, for instance, in 1705 an act "to prevent mixed issue," wherein it was provided that a negro of either sex having sexual relations with a white person should be sold out of the Province. Mixed marriages were prohibited, and a fine of £50 was to be imposed on any ministers performing such.
In many quarters was felt a fear of the negroes, not
TAKEN up aftray in Dorchefter, fome time fince, . dark coloured Bay Mare, with two ponia which mere Several Mackeril and Jome pieces of falt Fifb ... The Owner by applying to Mr Matthew Pymer of Dorcheller aforefaid, may have the Mare Oc again, paying Charges.
TO be Sold a likely Negro Boy about 18 Years of Age, Speaks good Englifb, and bath been used to aimoft all fort!" of Bxfinefs either; in Town of Country ; whoever inclines to parchafe faid Negro let them inquire of the Printer hereof.
R AN-away from his Mafer Nathanael Holbrook of Sherburn, on Wednesday the 19th of Sept laft. an Indian Lad of aboat 18 Years of Age, named John Pirteme : He is pretty well fett and if a guilty Countenance, and has foort Hair : He had en a grey Coat with Pewter Buttons, Leather Breeches, an eld tow Shirt, grey Stockings, good Shier and a Felt Hat.
W hofoover Shall take up the faid Servant, and convey him to bis Mafter in Sherburn, Shall have Forty Shillings Reward, and all riece fary Charges paid. We hear the faid Servant intended to change his Name, and his Clothes.
NT Perfon that has a Hat and Cane which is none A of their Own, are defired to bring or find them to the Printing- Houfe in Newbury-Street, and Shall Receive Ten Shillings as & Reward.
A L'L Perfons that have any Demands on the Eftate of John Burtolph, late of Bofion, Wine Cooper, deceas'd art defired to apply to his Relict Widow and Adminifratrix Mehitable B rolph for Payment ; and thofe Indebted to faid Eftate are de- fired to make Speedy Payment to faid Administratrix, as they would avoid further Trouble
A Wet Nurfe, with a good Breaft of Milk, that would go into a Family, may be heard of by enquiring of the Printer. S Tolen out of a Houfe in this Town, on Tuesday the 25th of September paft, feveral Yards of printed Linnen :w0 Pair of Childrens Scarlet Broad Cloth Shoes, ferveral Peices of Quality Bindings Whoever will inform the Printer thereef, fo that the Per- Jon who fiole them may be brought to Juftice, Shall ha've Forty Shil- lings Reward. And if Such Goods be offered to be Pam'd'or Sold, it is defired they may be flopt and notice gives as aforejaid.
W/ HEREAS Dr. Tucker, who lately dwelt at the North End of Bonton kas removed to his Farm at Chelmsford, and his Wife Martha refufes to dwell with him ; he therefore cau. tions all Perfons againft harbouring or entertaining his faid Wife as they would avoid the Trouble of a Law Suit ; and be defires that none would give Credit to his faidWife on his Account for he declares he will not pay any Debts contracted by her, while Separated from him
From an original in the Harvard College Library
ADVERTISEMENTS FROM The Boston Neres-Letter FOR OCTOBER 4-11, 1739
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wholly unjustified in view of the fact that many of them had been brought direct from Africa. Every attempt was made to circumscribe their movements lest they create grave disturbance. Such was an order of the Court of General Sessions in 1705 which directed "the several Constables and Tything men within the Town of Boston, frequently to walk the Streets of said Town after 9 at night, and more especially in the Evenings of the Lords-Day & Training-Days, to see if after that time, any Indian, Negro or Molatto Servant or Slave is found abroad unless upon some Errand of their Masters or Owners; As also to search all Houses that are suspected to Entertain such Servants or Slaves contrary to Law, and finding any such (if it be too late in the night) to restrain them in the Common Prison, Watch House, or Con- stable's House till morning, to be carried before a Justice of the Peace, to receive the Discipline of the House of Correc- tion, that all such Disorders be prevented." Of similar in- tent were provisions against negroes being served with intoxi- cants at the public houses.
Massachusetts did not undergo any race riot or such a panic as occurred in New York in 1727. Nevertheless individ- ual cases where slaves took violent measures against their master were not unheard of. In 1755 there was the case of Mark and Phillis, two negroes who murdered their master, Captain John Codman of Charlestown. Action was taken against them under the English common law of petit treason, and being found guilty, the woman was burned alive (perhaps previously strangled) and the man hanged.
Uneasiness over the growing number of slaves reflected itself in even more positive ways. In 1705 an attempt was made to discourage the importation of negroes by levying a duty of £4 a head on such as were brought into the Province and not reexported. This provision remained in force, with the ex- ception of a four-year period, until 1749. Nevertheless, as the records of the General Court show, it was frequently pos- sible to have it set aside.
It is even possible that the duty might have been increased were it not for the fact that Governor Belcher's instructions ordered him to veto such a measure. In 1767 a group were
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willing to go so far as to ban all importations of slaves, but their movement was a failure.
ANTI-SLAVERY IN MASSACHUSETTS
A few charitable persons were sufficiently concerned to probe deeper than matters of expediency. Of these the most distinguished was Samuel Sewall, who published in 1700 his famous and well-written anti-slavery tract, The Selling of Joseph. It starts off : “Forasmuch as Liberty is in real value next unto Life: None ought to part with it themselves, or deprive others of it, but upon most mature consideration." Moreover, he argues, "Originally, and Naturally, there is no such thing as Slavery." According to Exod. 21, 16, he says, "Manstealing is ranked among the most atrocious of Capital Crimes. What louder Cry can there be made of that Cele- brated Warning. Caveat Emptor!" Sewall challenges the authority for slavery cited by many from Genesis; nor is he impressed by the argument that to bring the negroes from a pagan country to the influences of a Christian community is a sufficient justification for their being enslaved. "Evil must not be done, that good may come of it." Sewall argued from expediency as well as from moral law, but public opinion as a whole was not ready as yet to take the course which he urged.
In fact, the practice of some holders in freeing their slaves was officially discouraged, as is seen in an act of 1702: "No Molatto or Negro Slave shall hereafter be manumitted, or Discharged or set Free, until sufficient Security be given to the Treasurer of the town or Place where such person dwells, in a valuable Sum, not less than Fifty Pounds." The people of Massachusetts did not intend to take any reckless steps that might cause a rise in the poor rates.
TREATMENT OF INDIANS
Although diminishing in numbers during the course of the eighteenth century, the Indians continued as an element in Massachusetts society, creating public problems that had to be met. Not a few of them were held as slaves. To a certain extent this was the result of the policy of earlier colonial times
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when Indians taken "in just warres" were held in bondage by the settlers. By the eighteenth century, however, the greater number thus used were being acquired from other colonies, particularly the Carolinas. In 1712 the General Court decided that such a practice was prejudicial to the public welfare. It was pointed out that "divers conspiracies, outrages, barbar- ities, murders, burglaries, thefts, and other notorious crimes and enormities" had been of late perpetrated by the Indian slaves; that they were "of a malicious, surley and revengeful spirit, rude and insolent in their behaviour, and very ungovern- able"; and that they were a great source of danger at a time when the Province was being subjected to the ravages of Indian warfare. Such importations were therefore prohibited in the future.
Not all the Indians, however, living amongst the whites were slaves, and for these there is much evidence that the authorities showed a solicitous regard. Some people had made the experiment of attempting to civilise the Indians by ap- prenticing them and their children to whites, and out of this naturally grew many abuses. In 1700 the General Court in- tervened and required that in the future the consent of two or more justices to such proceedings should be secured. In this way it was hoped that the terms made would be reasonable. Justices were also empowered to hear the complaint of any Indian regarding his indenture or apprenticeship and to settle such disputes.
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