Estimates For The Slave Population
The Roma slaves were not included in the tax censuses and as such, there are no reliable statistics about them, the exception being the slaves owned by the state. Nevertheless, there were several 19th century estimates. According to Djuvara, the estimates for the slave population tended to gravitate around 150,000-200,000 persons, which he notes was equivalent to 10% of the two countries' population. At the time of the abolition of slavery, in the two principalities there were between 200,000 and 250,000 Roma, representing 7% of the total population.
| Year | Source | Moldavia | Wallachia |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1819 | Dionisie Fotino | - | 120,000 |
| 1837 | Mihail Kogălniceanu | 200,000 | |
| 1838 | Félix Colson | 139,255 | 119,910 |
| 1844 | Ferdinand Neigebaur | - | 180,000 |
| 1849 | Paul Bataillard | 250,000 | |
| 1857 | Jean Alexandre Vaillant | 137,000 | 125,000 |
| 1857 | Jean Henri Abdolonyme Ubicini | 100,000 | 150,000 |
| 1859 | census (emancipated slaves) | 250,000 | |
Read more about this topic: Slavery In Romania
Famous quotes containing the words estimates, slave and/or population:
“Writing a book I have found to be like building a house. A man forms a plan, and collects materials. He thinks he has enough to raise a large and stately edifice; but after he has arranged, compacted and polished, his work turns out to be a very small performance. The authour however like the builder, knows how much labour his work has cost him; and therefore estimates it at a higher rate than other people think it deserves,”
—James Boswell (1740–1795)
“To give liberty to a slave before he understands its value is, perhaps, rather to impose a penalty than to bestow a blessing ...”
—Frances Wright (1795–1852)
“A multitude of little superfluous precautions engender here a population of deputies and sub-officials, each of whom acquits himself with an air of importance and a rigorous precision, which seemed to say, though everything is done with much silence, “Make way, I am one of the members of the grand machine of state.””
—Marquis De Custine (1790–1857)