Query 7. What is the condition of emancipated
blacks? Is any & what provision made
for their education & maintenance, dur-
ing infancy, or in a state of decrepitude,
age or insanity ?
If a comparison be made between the former & present
condition of this class of people, it may be sd that
unless liberty
be reckoned as a compensation of many inconveniences
& hardships the former condition was pref of most
of ym was preferable to the present. They have
generally tho' not wholly
left the Country Towns & resorted to the maritime towns.
Some have incorporated & their breed is mixed with ye Indians of Cape
Cod and Martha's Vineyd & the breed of
Indians are sd to be meliorated by the mixture
Some
Some are industrious & prudent & a few have acquired
pro-
perty; but the greater part too many, are improvident &
indolent;
tho' a subsistence here for labouring people is
very easily
obtained. Having been educated in families where
they had not been used to provide for themselves in youth
they know not how to do it in age. Having been used
accustomed
to a more plentiful & even luxurious mode of living in ye houses of
their masters
they are uncomfortable in their present situation.
They often suffer by damp unwholesome lodgings because they are unable to
pay ye rent of better &
are subject to infirmities & diseases, especially in the
winter. Those who serve in families of the whites on wages, if
steady & prudent, are ye best fed & clad & most healthy
but many of those who have families of their own to
support are oppressed