Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division

Starting in the 1730s, the enslaved populations of Maryland and Virginia were growing rapidly by natural increase. By the end of the century, tobacco, rice, and indigo cultures were in decline. These two factors contributed to the emergence of both states as major exporters of slaves. The 1870 census figures for Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas show a great number of African Americans born in these two Upper-South states.