POSTLETHWAITE, MALACHY

Considerations on the Revival of the Royal-British Assiento; between his Catholic Majesty, and the Honourable The South Sea Company. vii, 47 pages. 8vo, disbound. London, 1749 FIRST EDITION. The Assiento was a treaty first signed by Spain and Great Britain in 1713, giving exclusivity to the slave trade with the Spanish sugar colonies in the West Indies. The original agreement allowed for 144,000 slaves to be removed from Africa over a period of 30 years. However, not only was that figure greatly exceeded, but given the rate of death during "Middle-Passage", at least 3 times the number of slaves was taken to make the adjustment for loss during the trip. When the original agreement ended in 1743 the treaty was renegotiated, being ratified finally in 1750, with the slave trade continuing in British hands for the next 86 years.