Note 491 — Chapter III · (continued 2)

How rarely slaves were imported is shown by the fact that of 1,062 entries for duty (a negro imported for sale was taxed £4) during the period from the 11th of March, 1746, to the 31st of March, 1749, only 29 entries were of 49 slaves, and 5 of these were brought on speculation, the others being servants or seamen, and thus exempted from duty. Slavery and the slave traffic were never countenanced in New York, and much less in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, where the Quakers early declared themselves opposed to this institution.