re but 300 slaves.[218]
In 1671, Governor Berkeley stated that there were only 2,000 slaves in
Virginia, although the population was at that date about 40,000.[219]
Near the end of the century, the number of negroes brought to the
colony increased very much. The Royal African Company, which had
obtained the exclusive right to trade in slaves with the English
possessions, stimulated this human traffic to such an extent that
negroes were soon found in every part of Virginia. By the year 1700
the number of slaves was about 6,000.[220] The negroes proved more
suited to the needs of the planters than the white servants, for they
served for life, were docile and easy to manage, stood well the
unhealthful conditions in the tobacco fields, and, most important of
all, they cheapened vastly the cost of production. The wealthy
planters who had for so many years been limited in the amount of land
they could place under cultivation by the number of servants they
could procure, now found it possible to extend the scope of their
operations. Before the end of the century such men as Byrd and Carter
and Fitzhugh owned scores of slaves. It was this circumstance more
than any thing else that accounts for the increased prosperity of the
colony which is so noticeable during the first quarter of the 18th
century.[221]

The more prosperous and capable members of the middle class shared to
some extent the benefits resulting from negro labor. Many that had
been unable to secure servants now bought slaves and thus were able to
increase very much the output of their plantations. The shortness of
the time that the servants served, the great cost of transporting them
to the colony and the risk of losing them by death or by flight, had
made it impossible for the small farmers to use them in cultivating
their fields. Since negro labor was not attended with these
objections, many planters of humble means bought slaves and at one
step placed themselves above the class of those that trusted to their
own exertions in the tilling of their fields. When once a start had
been made, the advance of their prosperity was limited only by the
extent of their ability and industry. Some became quite wealthy.
Smythe, writing in 1773, stated that many of them formed fortunes
superior to some of the first rank, despite the fact that their
families were not ancient or so respectable.

Those members of the middle class who were unable, through poverty or
incapacity, t