Wesley Corpus

III. We have now seen what kind of country it is, from which the Negroes are brought: and what sort of men (even white men being the judges) they were in their own country. Enquire we, thirdly, In what manner are they generally procured, carried to, and treated in _America_. 1. _First._ In what manner are they procured? Part of them by fraud. Captains of ships from time to time, invited Negroes to come on board, and then carried them away. But far more have been procured by force. The Christians landing upon their coasts, seized as many as they found, men, women and children, and transported them to _America_. It was about 1551, that the _English_ began trading to _Guinea_: at first, for gold and Elephant’s teeth, but soon after, for men. In 1556, Sir _John Hawkins_ sailed with two ships to Cape _Verd_, where he sent eighty men on shore to catch Negroes. But the natives flying, they fell farther down, and there set the men on shore, “to burn their towns and take the inhabitants.” But they met with such resistance, that they had seven men killed, and took but ten Negroes. So they went still farther down, till having taken enough, they proceeded to the _West-Indies_ and sold them.