their approval of the conveyance. This privilege was allowed to the Indians of Northampton in 1654, the consent of a majority of the town being taken as voicing the sentiment of the whole population.[1] So strong was the inclination of the tribes to sell their lands when they were permitted to give a legal title, that in 1656 the Assembly interposed, being prompted to this step by the constant necessity of having to assign them new soil in order to prevent the restlessness and dissatisfaction which would have ensued among them if they had been in possession of no area of country acknowledged to be their own. It was still lawful for them to transfer their lands if they had first obtained the consent of the Assembly, but this consent, it is evident, was not at this time very readily given.[2]
The disposition of the English settlers to take possession of the grounds of the Indians, either by forcible entry or by fraudulent devices, had been carried so far by 1658, that the authorities again grew apprehensive lest if this should be permitted to continue without restraint, the tribes inhabiting the country adjacent to the plantations, deprived of all means of earning a subsistence either in planting or by the chase, would become discontented, and so be led into enterprises that might result in great loss of life and property to the whites. The Assembly de-
- ↑ Hening’s Statutes, vol. I, p. 391. The deeds of the Indians were placed on record like ordinary conveyances. An example will be found in the Records of Northampton County, original vol. 1657-1666, May 6, 1662.
- ↑ Hening’s Statutes, vol. I, p. 396. It was, however, remarkable that the Assembly not infrequently gave their consent to the conveyance of Indian lands for what appears to have been a very small consideration. Thus, in 1662, the king of Mattapony sold his town and five thousand acres to the colonists for fifty match coats. See Records of Rappahannock County, original vol. 1656-1664, p. 249.
