ABSTRACT
The objections to the slave trade which most deserve attention are, that it is destructive to our seamen; that it encourages the Africans to wage war, or to make convicts, in order to provide slaves, and that, through improper treatment when on board, a great proportion die miserably before they reach the West Indies. The great object of procuring, the best treatment for the Negroes in the West Indies, and of encouraging their population, and a gradual cessation of the importation of slaves, must be attained through the several assemblies of those islands. By their imposing a duty on the import of Negroes from Africa, and giving that duty as a bounty on every Negro reared within the island, the importation of African slaves would, in the course of a few years, become less necessary, and in due time it would cease of course.
