Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 2.djvu/88

 thirty were imported by Tabitha and Matilda Scarborough of the Eastern Shore. In other instances it did not rise above thirteen.

There are many indications that previous to 1650 the Dutch were either directly or indirectly chiefly instrumental in introducing the negro into Virginia. In 1655, Colonel Scarborough, one of the most distinguished planters of the Eastern Shore, is stated to have visited Manhattan, where he purchased many slaves, whom he afterwards transported to his own home. The Dutch vessels, however, were in the habit of landing Africans in the Colony. The trade was doubtless interrupted by the war which broke out in 1653 between Holland and England, but as soon as peace was restored it was resumed, although not to the extent which the landowners desired. In 1659, the General Assembly sought to promote the importation of negroes in Dutch bottoms by granting to Dutch masters the valuable privilege of sending out the tobacco, which had been exchanged for slaves introduced, free from the duty of ten shillings a hogshead which was imposed upon all foreign ships, and subject only to the duty of two shillings required upon the casks exported to England. The action of the Assembly was soon rendered nugatory by the return of the Stuarts, and the rigid enforcement of the Navigation laws. Previous to this event the English merchants who had taken part in the traffic