Note 28 — SECTION III.

Within ten years from 1840 to 1850, the number of slaves in South Carolina has increased by 56,786. In 1840, there were 327,934 slaves; in 1850, 384,720. This is an increase of more than 17 per cent. The slaves of all shades are comprised in this account, but the pure Negroes form the great majority, and it is probable that to them exclusively is owing the large increase in the number of slaves. The number of cross-breeds cannot be ascertained by the statistics given. It would, besides, be impossible to distinguish in the reports given the Mestizos born from the union of Mulattoes and Mulatresses, and those from whites and blacks. Statistics thus throw no light upon the question, whether the Mulatto race maintains itself. But there is a peculiar class of men of colour which is the object of attention of certain governments, who maintain with satisfaction that this class notably diminishes. It is the class of free men of colour, enjoying certain civic rights very inconvenient for the slave states. There was a time when the enfranchisement of coloured men had no obstacles to contend with, and the number of free men of colour increased rapidly. Many white owners gave freedom to their natural children. But when restrictive laws were introduced, the number of free coloured men began diminishing. They no longer ally themselves with the Whites, who despise them, nor with the slaves, and are thus reduced to intermarry between themselves. The census of Charleston gave, in 1830, the number of free coloured men and their descendants as amounting to 2,107; in 1848 it was reduced to 1,492, a diminution of 605 in 2,107, more than 29 per cent. The Charleston Mercury published these figures to show that the class of freed slaves need not excite any apprehension in South Carolina, and that the Governor carried his zeal too far in proposing to expel that class. Such an enormous decrease depends, no doubt to a great extent, on the small number of births. There is another circumstance which might have contributed to reduce the caste; which is, that any freed individual, or his descendant, once leaving the state, is not permitted to return; this, however, forms but a minor cause of the decay. (See Charleston Medical Journal, May 1851, vol. vi, p. 381).