Description
- Abstract:
- Once a ship was fully loaded, owners delivered a formal letter of instructions to the captain, specifying his destination, outlining his responsibilities, and making provision for various contingencies, including the loss of cargo, captain, or crew. This document, dated September 10, 1764, is a copy of the letter of instructions that the Brown brothers delivered to Esek Hopkins on the eve of the Sally's departure for Africa. The letter orders Hopkins to sail to the Windward Coast of Africa, to "Dispose of your Cargo for Slaves," and to proceed to Barbados or to any other American port where the captives could be sold to best advantage. The letter also instructs Hopkins to return to Providence with "four likely young slaves," aged about fifteen years, for the family's own use. For his services, the captain was offered a "privilege" of ten slaves to sell on his own account, as well as the standard captain's commission of four slaves for every one hundred and four he delivered alive.
Access Conditions
- Rights
- No Copyright - United States
- Restrictions on Use
- Collection is open for research.
Citation
Nicholas Brown & Co.,
"Nicholas Brown & Co to Esek Hopkins"
(1764).
Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:303238/
Relations
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Collection:
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Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice
An archive of a wide array of historical documents, from the records of slaving voyages to student commencement orations, digitized in support of the work of the University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice. The collection contains over one hundred …...