In 1645, Edward Downing wrote his brother-in-law, Governor Winthrop, expressing the desire for a “juste warre” with the Pequot so he could trade captive Indians for black slaves on the transatlantic market. His comments show the outlook of the elite at least, if not others as well: “The colony will never thrive . . . until we get . . . a stock of slaves sufficient to doe all our business.”
