Note 679 — Chapter XII · OBLIGATORY CIVIL MARRIAGE IN THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES (continued 2)

According to Hurd, Law of Freedom and Bondage, I, 225, "the involuntary servitude of Indians and negroes in the several colonies originated under a law not promulgated by legislation, and rested upon the prevalent views of universal jurisprudence, or of the law of nations, supported by the express or implied authority of the home Government." Compare Washburn, "The Extinction of Slavery in Mass.," 4 Mass. Hist. Coll. (1857), IV, 333-46; the same in Procds. Mass. Hist. Soc. (1855-58), 188 ff.; and Belknap's answer to Tucker's Queries (1795), in 1 Mass. Hist. Coll., IV, 191-211, which on the points under consideration is very superficial and misleading.