The very small growth shown here would barely account for the natural increase among the slaves by virtue of the high birth rate. The mortality rates were about the same for slaves as for whites. The relative decline was undoubtedly due to the rising prices for slaves which were sent to the South and the consequent decreasing value of a slave's labor to the Kentuckian. He knew beyond a doubt that the time would eventually come when he would have to part with his slave and that portion of the holders who were not averse to selling their chattels did so during this period.
FOOTNOTES:
[234] Hening's Statutes, Vol. X, p. 50.
[235] Hening's Statutes, Vol. XI, p. 309; Treat, P. J., National Land System, p. 235.
[236] Ibid., Vol. X, pp. 35-45.
[237] Winterbotham, An Historical Geographical Commercial and Topographical View of the United States, Vol. 3, pp. 156-157.
[238] Kentucky Land Grants, Book 13, p. 59.
[239] Ibid., Book 8, p. 228.
[240] Shaler's Autobiography, p. 33.