"Gentlemen and ladies, accept these wishes sincere,
And I wish you all a happy new year."
_Boston, January 1st, 1797._
DEAR FRIEND,
To answer your last, wherein you desire me to send you the exact state of
negro slavery in this country, is a task to which I am unequal.
You will conceive the great difficulty of obliging you in this request,
when you are informed, that on this subject each individual state has it's
own laws. The only point in which they are unanimous, is to prohibit their
importation, either from the Coast of Africa, or the West Indies. I can
only inform you in general terms, that in the _southern states_ there
is little alteration in the negro code since the revolution; of course the
laws are nearly the same as in the British West India islands. In the
_middle states_, though negro slavery is allowed, their situation has
been considerably meliorated, by a variety of laws in their favour, some
tending to their gradual emancipation, others to render their servitude
less irksome, &c.
Societies are formed in several of the large towns to enforce these
lenient laws, and to purchase the freedom of a few of the most deserving
slaves. The quakers, beside liberating all their negroes, have contributed
liberally towards the funds these societies have established, for carrying
their benevolent intentions into effect.
