274 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS 



Well, if they are not inclined to escape, let us see if 

 they are inclined to rebel and take authority into their 

 own hands, when they have the power. 



In 1790, Beaufort and Colleton district in South Caro- 

 lina, contained 7,965 white inhabitants, and 30,798 slaves. 

 In 1840 the same districts contained 11,524 whites and 

 48,928 slaves. Liberty and Chatham counties, in Georgia, 

 in 1790, contained 3,759 white persons, and 12,226 slaves 

 — in 1840, there were 8,446 whites, and 16,892 slaves. 

 Powhatten, James City, King William, Amelia and Caro- 

 line counties in Virginia, contained, in 1790, 20,383 

 whites and 33,484 slaves — in 1840, 16,706 whites, and 

 29,193 slaves. 



Ten years of the above time was a period of war with 

 a nation that used every art in its power to excite insur- 

 rection among the slaves of the Southern States, yet in 

 no part of any of these districts, where the slaves so 

 much outnumber the whites, did any serious outbreak 

 against the authority of their masters ever occur, and 

 notwithstanding that, during periods of the war, it was 

 not uncommon for almost every able bodied man to rush 

 to the scene of danger, leaving their homes without any 

 other protection than the love that binds the slave to his 

 master, and teaches him to protect every thing that mas- 

 ter holds dear. 



In 1810 the parishes (which are equivalent to coun- 

 ties) of Point Coupee and St. Charles, in Louisiana, con- 

 tained 2,068 whites, and 5,508 slaves— in 1840, 2,961 

 whites, and 9,152 slaves. 



New Orleans and its precincts, in 1810, contained more 

 than three times as many slaves as whites, and during 

 the war, all Louisiana, and all the river counties of Mis- 

 sissippi, contained far more slaves than whites, and were 

 hemmed in by hostile Indians on all sides, while the 

 British ships were on the coast sending emissaries among 

 the slaves to urge them to rise upon the whites, or escape 

 and seek protection and a free passage and home, under 

 their flag; but, notwithstanding that this was in that 



