[21] For petitions of towns, cf. Felt, Annals of Salem (1849), II. 416; Boston Town Records, 1758–69, p. 183. Cf. also Otis's anti-slavery speech in 1761; John Adams, Works, X. 315. For proceedings, see House Journal, 1767, pp. 353, 358, 387, 390, 393, 408, 409–10, 411, 420. Cf. Samuel Dexter's answer to Dr. Belknap's inquiry, Feb. 23, 1795, in Deane (Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 5th Ser., III. 385). A committee on slave importation was appointed in 1764. Cf. House Journal, 1763–64, p. 170.
[22] House Journal, 1771, pp. 211, 215, 219, 228, 234, 236, 240, 242–3; Moore, Slavery in Massachusetts, pp. 131–2.
[23] Felt, Annals of Salem (1849), II. 416–7; Swan, Dissuasion to Great Britain, etc. (1773), p. x; Washburn, Historical Sketches of Leicester, Mass., pp. 442–3; Freeman, History of Cape Cod, II. 114; Deane, in Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 5th Ser., III. 432; Moore, Slavery in Massachusetts, pp. 135–40; Williams, History of the Negro Race in America, I. 234–6; House Journal, March, 1774, pp. 224, 226, 237, etc.; June, 1774, pp. 27, 41, etc. For a copy of the bill, see Moore.
[24] Mass. Hist. Soc. Proceedings, 1855–58, p. 196; Force, American Archives, 5th Ser., II. 769; House Journal, 1776, pp. 105–9; General Court Records, March 13, 1776, etc., pp. 581–9; Moore, Slavery in Massachusetts, pp. 149–54. Cf. Moore, pp. 163–76.
[25] Moore, Slavery in Massachusetts, pp. 148–9, 181–5.
[26] Washburn, Extinction of Slavery in Massachusetts; Haynes, Struggle for the Constitution in Massachusetts; La Rochefoucauld, Travels through the United States, II. 166.
[27] Moore, Slavery in Massachusetts, p. 225.
[28] Perpetual Laws of Massachusetts, 1780–89, p. 235. The number of slaves in Massachusetts has been estimated as follows:—
| In | 1676, | 200. | Randolph's Report, in Hutchinson's Coll. of Papers, p. 485. |
| " | 1680, | 120. | Deane, Connection of Mass. with Slavery, p. 28 ff. |
| " | 1708, | 550. | Ibid.; Moore, Slavery in Mass., p. 50. |
| " | 1720, | 2,000. | Ibid. |
| " | 1735, | 2,600. | Deane, Connection of Mass. with Slavery, p. 28 ff. |
| " | 1749, | 3,000. | Ibid. |
| " | 1754, | 4,489. | Ibid. |
| " | 1763, | 5,000. | Ibid. |
| " | 1764–5, | 5,779. | Ibid. |
| " | 1776, | 5,249. | Ibid. |
| " | 1784, | 4,377. | Moore, Slavery in Mass., p. 51. |
| " | 1786, | 4,371. | Ibid. |
| " | 1790, | 6,001. | Ibid. |
[29] R.I. Col. Rec., I. 240.