Negro cloth
Coarse, strong, and inexpensive cloth used for slaves' clothing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Negro cloth or Lowell cloth was a coarse and strong cloth used for slaves' clothing in the West Indies and the Southern Colonies.[1][2][3] The cloth was imported from Europe (primarily Wales) in the 18th and 19th centuries.[4][5]
The name Lowell cloth came from the town Lowell in Massachusetts, United States, where the cloth was produced.[6]
The Act of 1735
Types
Negro cloth was a woven material made of cotton or blended coarse threads also homespun.[11][12][13][14] These were inexpensive and lower grades of cloth.[4] Certain long cloths of coarser varieties and Salampore were among recognized Indian materials; the Dutch merchants called them ''Guinea or Negro cloth.'' [15][16][17] ''Guinea cloth'' was a generic term for various inferior Indian piece goods traded for the purpose,[18] such as inexpensive dyed plain and patterned calicoes like stripes and checks.[19][20]
