In May 1779, Samuel Hasford and several other residents of All Saints Waccamaw were "robbed of a number of their negroes, by a party of the British." The British took the slaves aboard a ship bound for a British port, but two American ships from Massachusetts captured the ship and the slaves; the slaves were carried to Boston. Hasford and several other owners fitted out a vessel "at a considerable Expense" and journeyed to the North to retrieve their slaves but were unable to do so because under the laws of Massachusetts the slaves were entitled to their freedom. The petitioner argues "that such Proceedings on the part of the said supreme Court of Massachusetts Bay are contrary to the Spirit, and Subversive of the Intention and meaning of the Articles of the Confederation." Furthermore, such actions "are highly detrimental to the property of the Inhabitants of this State, and if acceded to ... will inevitably tend to the certain ruin and annihilation of the planting-Interest, by holding out a Temptation to the Slaves, to take refuge in the State of Massachusetts Bay, where they will remain secure in their Liberty." Hasford prays for "such relief as to your Honourable House shall seem just, and Expedient."
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Repository: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina
