THE AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE. A DISCOURSE DELIVERED IN THE CITY OF NEW-HAVEN, SEPTEMBER 9, 1790, BEFORE THE CONNECTICUT SOCIETY FOR THE PROMOTION OF FREEDOM. BY...PASTOR OF THE FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH IN SAID CITY by Dana, James - 1791

New Haven: Thomas and Samuel Green, 1791. Half title, 33, [1 blank] pp. Disbound. Half title toned with some spotting. Early leaves lightly spotted at lower portion. Good+. The 'Connecticut Society for the Promotion of Freedom, and the Relief of Persons Unlawfully Holden in Bondage,' formed in 1790 by Yale men, was one of the earliest American anti-slavery societies. Ezra Stiles was its first President. Its mission-- not abolitionist-- was to enforce Connecticut's gradual emancipation statute and thus secure the freedom of those 'unlawfully' held as slaves. Dana's was the first of several annual orations delivered before this rather short-lived organization. The oration is a history of the African slave trade, from its beginnings in the 14th century to the brisk contemporary international traffic in Africans. Bristling with data in the form of elaborate tables and footnotes, the Discourse demonstrates that "eight millions of slaves have been shipped in Africa for the West-India islands and the United States; ten millions for South America; and, perhaps, two millions have been taken and held in slavery in Africa." He delineates American participation in this horrible trade, distinguishes biblical slavery from the contemporary bondage of Africans, and-- despite the Society's limited goals-- emphasizes that American "principles of liberty" are inconsistent with slavery. FIRST EDITION. Evans 23308. LCP 2908. Dumond 46. Not in Work, Weinstein, Blockson.