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at the distance of sixty years, there will be one-third of the number at its first commencement: that it will require above a century to complete it; and that the number of blacks under twenty-eight, and consequently bound to service, in the families they are born in, will always be at least as great, as the present number of slaves. These circumstances I trust will remove many objections, and that they are truly stated will appear upon enquiry.[1] It
- ↑ As it may not be unacceptable to some readers to observe the operation of this plan, I shall subjoin the following statement:
PRELIMINARY REMARKS.
1. The number of slaves in Virginia by the late census being found to be 292,427, they may now, in round numbers be estimated at300,000 2. Let it be supposed that the males and females are nearly or altogether equal in number. 300,000 3. According to Dr. Franklin, the people of America double their numbers in about twenty-eight years; and according to Mr. Jefferson, the negroes increase as fast as the whites, they will therefore double, at least every thirty years. 4. Let it be supposed that in thirty years one half of the present race of negroes will be extinct. 5. Let it be supposed that in forty-five years there will not remain more than one-fifth of the present race alive.
