~The Slave-Trade and the "Association."~ At the outbreak of the
Revolution six main reasons, some of which were old and of slow growth,
others peculiar to the abnormal situation of that time, led to concerted
action against the slave-trade. The first reason was the economic
failure of slavery in the Middle and Eastern colonies; this gave rise to
the presumption that like failure awaited the institution in the South.
Secondly, the new philosophy of "Freedom" and the "Rights of man," which
formed the corner-stone of the Revolution, made the dullest realize
that, at the very least, the slave-trade and a struggle for "liberty"
were not consistent. Thirdly, the old fear of slave insurrections, which
had long played so prominent a part in legislation, now gained new power
from the imminence of war and from the well-founded fear that the
British might incite servile uprisings. Fourthly, nearly all the
American slave markets were, in 1774-1775, overstocked with slaves, and
consequently many of the strongest partisans of the system were "bulls"
on the market, and desired to raise the value of their slaves by at
least a temporary stoppage of the trade. Fifthly, since the vested
interests of the slave-trading merchants were liable to be swept away by
the opening of hostilities, and since the price of slaves was low,[2]
there was from this quarter little active opposition to a cessation of
the trade for a season.
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