1778: "An Act for the Recovery of the Duties On Negroes and Mulatto Slaves, Which on the Fourth Day of July, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy-Six, Were Due To This State and Have Since Accrued, and for Appointing a Collector of the Said Duties"

Contents

Introduction

In 1773, the 1761 Act imposing a duty of £10 on imported Black slaves was made perpetual, requiring no continuation, and an additional duty of £10 was laid on top of the existing duty, for a total duty per enslaved person brought into Pennsylvania of £20. Lawmakers justified the increase by citing the "great public utililty" of the initial Act, and "And ... the laying an additional duty on negroes and mulatto slaves imported into this province will be of still greater public advantage." Much of this "public advantage" was undoubtedly derived from the increasing anti-slavery sentiment in Philadelphia.

Revenue collected from the duties on imported slaves was earmarked for use of the Crown. That changed with the declaration of independence from Great Britain on July 4, 1776. However no immediate provision was made for making the change. Thomas Coombe, who had been appointed the Collector of Special Duties by the Act of 1761, at some point after July 1776 simply stopped collecting duties and recording the landing and entry of imported slaves.

Prosecution of the war was expensive, and Pennsylvania's revolutionary government soon began searching for revenue sources. It's not clear why it took a full two years for a law to be passed remedying the shortfall in collecting duties on imported slaves. The Act below, passed in September 1778, appointed wealthy merchant Walter Shee as Collector. Shee had emigrated from Ireland with his two sons about 1745, already wealthy from an inheritance, and promptly established the mercantile and shipping firm Walter Shee and Sons. Shee and his sons were early signers of the Non-Importation agreement of 1765, an early protest action against the Crown.

Shee was charged with seizing the books, dockets, minutes and papers of previous Collector Thomas Coombe, who had since retired to his estate "Auburn" in Chestnut Hill, and determining what was still owed and due. In addition, Shee was to collect and record all imported slaves in the same books, continuing the records that Coombe had begun. The Act also specifies the legal steps necessary should the previous Collector, Coombe, fail to comply with Shee's demand for the papers and records. It is possible that Pennsylvania lawmakers were uncertain of Coombe's loyalties at this time. His son, the Rev. Thomas Coombe, was known to have Loyalist sympathies even though he initially seemed to support the cause of independence, and was arrested in 1777 as a Loyalist. But the father Thomas Coombe was never accused of being a Loyalist.

Follwing passage of the Act, Pennsylvania residents were duly notified of their obligations by the publication of the Act, as well as by advertisements placed by Shee, that if they had landed, imported or otherwise brought any Black slaves into the state since July 4, 1776, they had three months to report such entries to Shee or one of his deputies and to pay the duties.

This Act became moot after the 1761 Duties Act was repealed by adoption of the 1780 Gradual Abolition Act.

Image above is from the Pennsylvania Packet or the General Advertiser, 31 October 1778, page 1.

(Section I, P. L.) Whereas by an act of the general assembly of the former government of Pennsylvania passed the fourteenth day of March one thousand seven hundred and sixty-one, entitled “An act for laying a duty on negroes and mulatto slaves imported in this province,” a duty of ten pounds was laid on every negro and mulatto slave imported, landed or brought into the said province for sale. And several other regulations were made for collecting and applying the said duty:

(Section II, P. L.) And whereas by another act of the said general assembly passed the twenty-sixth day of February one thousand seven hundred and seventy-three, the additional duty of ten pounds was laid on every negro and mulatto slave imported, and not excepted in the said first-mentioned act.

(Section III, P. L.) And whereas upon the declaration of the independence of this and the rest of the United States of America, the office of the collector of the said duties has been vacated and no new officer appointed by the legislature of this state. In consequence whereof the entries of negroes and mulatto slaves since brought into this state could not be properly made and the duties laid on them collected. For remedying whereof, and that the said duties may be collected and recovered, and that all the regulations made by the aforesaid two acts of general assembly may fo rthe future be put in due execution:

[Section I.] (Section IV, P. L.) Be it enacted, and it is hereby enacted by the Representatives of the Freemen of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and by the authority of the same, That [Walter Shee] of [the city of Philadelphia, merchant,] shall be, and is hereby appointed collector of the duties, and receiver of all fines, forfeitures and penalties imposed by the aforesaid two acts of general assembly.

And he is hereby authorized, enjoined and required to demand and receive of and from the late collector of the said duties, all bonds and securities taken in pursuance of the said acts, and all books, minutes and papers to the said office of collector of the duties on negroes and mulatto slaves belonging, and from the person and persons who by virtue of any such bond or otherwise owe any duty or duties, fine or fines, and their sureties to demand and receive the same, and upon refusal to prosecute and sue for the recovery thereof, and also to do, execute and perform all and every the acts, matters and things enjoined to be done and performed by the collector of the said duties, in the said two recited acts, and by this act he the said [Walter Shee] before he enters upon the execution of his said office, giving bond with one or more sufficient sureties to the treasurer of this state, for the time being in the sum of one thousand pounds for the due execution of his trust, and having taken the oath or affirmation of allegiance as prescribed by the laws of this state.

[Section II.] (Section V, P. L.) And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all persons who are resident within this state, and have at any time since the fourth day of July one thousand seven hundred and seventy-six imported or brought into any place under the laws and government thereof any negro or mulatto slave or slaves, either for sale or for their own families’ service, or have purchased, hired or maintained such negroes or mulattoes, shall within the space of three months next after the publication of this act, make a true entry thereof with the said collector at Philadelphia, or his deputies in the several counties and pay the duties by the said two several acts imposed, or give the security thereby required, or if no deputy of the said collector be known in the county, make a return to the clerk of the court of general quarter sessions of the peace of the county where any such negro or mulatto slave has been first imported or removed to, or is then, or has been at any time before living.

And the clerk of the said court is hereby enjoined and required to take and enter such return in the same book, or on the same file where the returns of constables about negroes imported are entered, to which returns the collector shall have free access. And the person and persons who shall within the said space of three months make such entry or report, and give such security as aforesaid, shall be, and is hereby indemnified, freed and discharged of and from all penalties, fines and forfeitures in and by the said two recited acts, set upon persons not making such entries, and giving such securities as thereby is directed. Otherwise the person and persons, who have since the fourth day of July one thousand seven hundred and seventy-six, imported, sold, purchased, hired or maintained within this state any such negro or mulatto slave, and shall not within the said space of three months make the entry by this act directed to be made, shall upon due conviction thereof forfeit such negro or mulatto, or if he has already disposed thereof, or the negro or mulatto has died or run away, then the value of such negro and mulatto.

[Section III.] (Section VI, P. L.) And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if the late collector of the duties on negro and mulatto slaves, shall upon the proper demand of the said [Walter Shee] refuse or neglect to deliver up to him the bonds, securities, books, minutes and papers to the office of the collector of the aforesaid duties belonging, and the said [Walter Shee] shall make complaint thereof to any one justice of the peace of the city or county where the said late collector dwelleth, such justice shall issue his warrant in the nature of capias, causing the officer to be brought before him, and if the complaint shall be supported by good evidence the said justice shall commit him to the common gaol of the county, there to remain without bail or mainprise until the said bonds, securities, books, minutes and papers shall be delivered up as aforesaid.

[Section IV]. (Section VII, P. L.) And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That in case of the death, removal or refusal to act of the person herein appointed collector, or of any future collector, it shall and may be lawful for the general assembly for the time being, to appoint another collector by resolve: And in case any vacancy shall happen in the recess of the house, the president or vice-president in council shall then have the said appointment.

Passed September 7, 1778. See the Act of Assembly passed March 14, 1761; and the Act of Assembly passed March 1, 1780.

• The Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania from 1682 to 1801, Compiled Under the Authority of the Act of May 19, 1887 by James T. Mitchell and Henry Flanders, Commissioners, Volume 6, Regular Sessions of 1761, page 104, Act 467.
• The Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania from 1682 to 1801, Compiled Under the Authority of the Act of May 19, 1887 by James T. Mitchell and Henry Flanders, Commissioners, Volume 6, Regular Sessions of 1761, page 110, Act 468.
• The Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania from 1682 to 1801, Compiled Under the Authority of the Act of May 19, 1887 by James T. Mitchell and Henry Flanders, Commissioners, Volume 8, Regular Sessions of 1773, page 330, Act 681.
• The Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania from 1682 to 1801, Compiled Under the Authority of the Act of May 19, 1887 by James T. Mitchell and Henry Flanders, Commissioners, Volume 9, Regular Sessions of 1778, page 274, Act 810.
• Gary B. Nash, "Slaves and Slave Owners in Colonial Philadelphia," William and Mary Quarterly, 30, April 1973, pp. 223-256.
• Darold D. Wax, "Negro Imports Into Pennsylvania, 1720-1766," Pennsylvania History, 32, no. 3, July 1965, p. 256.
• "Thomas Coombe Sr. (97)," APS Members Bibliography, American Philosophical Society, online at https://membib.amphilsoc.org/member/pub/97, accessed 02 July 2025.
• "Thomas Coombe Jr. (337)," APS Members Bibliography, American Philosophical Society, online at https://membib.amphilsoc.org/member/pub/337, accessed 02 July 2025.

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