Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 06.djvu/478

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KEGBO IN AMERICA 405 NEOBO IN AMERICA as a system until 1661. In the records of the county courts, Negroes are desig- nated as "servants," never as "slaves." (See Russell, "The Free Negro in Vir- ginia, 1619-1865," pp. 22-25; Ballagh, "White Servitude in Virginia," p. 45.) The Negroes were first imported into Massachusetts from Barbadoes 1636 or 1637; into New York about 1650; into Maryland 1632. In New Jersey the date is indefinite, although the word "slave" occurs in 1664. In Delaware about 1702. First heard of in Pennsylvania in 1688 through the memorial of Francis Daniel Pastorius of Germantown. Slavery was recognized officially in Connecticut in 1650; in Rhode Island in 1652; in New Hampshire in 1714; in North Carolina in 1715; in South Carolina in 1682; m Georgia in 1749. These dates are sig- nificant in that they show the presence and distribution of the Negro over the area of the United States. (See Braw- ley, "A Short History of the American Negro"; "The Negro Year Book.") Population. — In 1625. six years after the first Negroes were brought to Vir- ginia, there were only twenty - three, twelve males and eleven females. In 1659 there were 300; in 1683, 3,000; in 446; New York, 91,709; New Orleans, La., 89,262; Baltimore, Md., 84,749; Philadelphia, Pa., 84,459. Four cities of 25,000 or more, with one-half the popu- lation Negro, are Jacksonville, Fla., 50.8 per cent.; Montgomery, Ala., 50.6 per cent.; Charleston, S. C, 52.8 per cent.; Savannah, Ga., 51.1 per cent. The balance of distribution and the percentage of population has been some- what disturbed by the migration of 1918, but it seems to have readjusted itself to pre-war conditions in the large South- ern cities. Economic Conditions. — The Negro is capable of the hardest kind of work under climatic conditions often intoler- able to whites. During the period of slavery the race was engaged chiefly in agriculture and in manual labor. The following tables show the distribution by occupation : In 1910 the number of Negroes 10 years of age and over in gainful occupa- tions was: 5,192,535, or 71.0 per cent, of total Negro population of this age; by sex the number was, males, 3,187,554; females, 2,013,981. Negroes constitute 13.6 per cent, of all persons in gainful occupations. Per cent, of total population in gainful occupations. . . , Per cent, all males in gainful occupations Per cent, all females in gainful occupations Per cent, of all Negro males in gainful occupations. Per cent, of all Negro females in gainful occupations. NUMBER OF NEGROES IN EACH MAIN CLASS OF OCCUPATIONS OCCUPATION 1910 1900 INCREASE Number Per cent. Agricultural pursuits 2,893,674 69,929 1,099,715 425,043 704,174 2.143,176 41,324 1,324,160 209,154 275,149 750,498 22,605 ♦224,445 215,889 429,025 35 47 ♦17 103 Manufacturing and mechanical pursuits 156 1708, 12,000; in 1712, 23,000; in 1756, 120,156; in 1774, 200,000, or 14 per cent of the population. The first census in 1790 showed the Negro constituting 19.3 per cent, or 757,208, of which 697,899 were slaves. In 1910 the census returns give 9,827,763. DistHbution of Population. — Negroes are distributed in the United States as follows: The South, 8,749,427; the North, 1,027,674; the West, 50,662. In 1910 classification by sex was as follows: Males, 4,885,881; females, 4,941,882. Georgia has the largest Negro popu- lation of any State. In 1910 there were 1,176,987. The State of Mississippi the largest percentage, 56.2 per cent. The five cities with the largest Negro population are: Washington, D. C, 94,-

  • Decrease.

A larger proportion of persons 10 years of age and over in the United States were engaged in gainful occupa- tions in 1910 than in 1900. This in- crease was especially marked for the Negroes. The census reports on occupations for 1900 appeared to indicate that in such trades as carpentry, plastering, black- smithing, etc.; Negroes were losing ground. The 1910 census on occupations indicates that the Negro has made gains in practically all the trades in which he appeared in 1900 to be losing ground. In recent years there has been a large increase in the number of Negroes working in factories. They are, to a large extent, doing the rougher, semi- skilled work. A marked tendency to-