Excerpt from publication: "From its beginning, the success or failure of William & Mary relied on the labor of black people who worked tobacco fields in Virginia and Maryland. King William and Queen Mary specified int he charter that the institution was to be funded with, ' the said revenue of a penny per pound, for every pound of tobacco aforesaid, with all its profits, advantages, and emoluments, to apply and lay out the same, for building and adorning the edifices and other necessaries for the said college'..."