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THE JOURNAL
OF
NEGRO HISTORY
Volume VI
1921
Table of Contents
Vol VI--January, 1921--No. 1
Fifty Years of Negro Citizenship C. G. WOODSON
Remy Ollier, Mauritian Journalist and Patriot CHARLES H. WESLEY
A Negro Colonization Project in Mexico J. FRED RIPPY
Documents
James Madison's Attitude toward the Negro
Advice Given Negroes a Century Ago
Some Undistinguished Negroes
Book Reviews
Notes
Proceedings of Annual Meeting
Vol VI--April, 1921--No. 2
Making West Virginia a Free State ALRUTHEUS A. TAYLOR
Canadian Negroes and the John Brown Raid FRED LANDON
Negro and Spanish Pioneer in New World J. FRED RIPPY
Economic Condition of Negroes of New York ARNETT G. LINDSAY
Documents
The Appeal of the American Convention of Abolition Societies
Correspondence
Book Reviews
Notes
Vol VI--July, 1921--No. 3
The Material Culture of Ancient Nigeria WILLIAM LEO HANSBERRY
The Negro in British South Africa D. A. LANE, JR.
Baptism of Slaves in Prince Edward Island WILLIAM RENWICK RIDDELL
Documents
Book Reviews
Notes
Vol VI--October, 1921--No. 4
The Negro Migration of 1916-1918 HENDERSON H. DONALD
Book Reviews
Notes
THE JOURNAL
OF
NEGRO HISTORY
VOL. VI--JANUARY, 1921--NO. 1
FIFTY YEARS OF NEGRO CITIZENSHIP AS QUALIFIED BY THE UNITED STATES
SUPREME COURT
THE HISTORIC BACKGROUND
The citizenship of the Negro in this country is a fiction. The
Constitution of the United States guarantees to him every right
vouchsafed to any individual by the most liberal democracy on the face
of the earth, but despite the unusual powers of the Federal Government
this agent of the body politic has studiously evaded the duty of
safeguarding the rights of the Negro. The Constitution confers upon
Congress the power to declare war and make peace, to lay and collect
taxes, duties, imposts, and excises; to coin money, to regulate
commerce, and the like; and further empowers Congress "to make all
laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution
the foregoing powers and all other powers vested by this Constitution
in the Government of the United States, or in any department or
officer thereof." After the unsuccessful effort of Virginia and
Kentucky, through their famous resolutions of 1798 drawn up by
Jefferson and Madison to interpose State authority in preventing
Congress from exercising its powers, the United States Government with
Chief Justice John Marshall as the expounder of that document, soon
brought the country around to the position of thinking that, although
the Federal Government is one of enumerated powers, that government
and not that of States is the judge of the extent of its powers and,
"though limited in its powers, is supreme within its sphere of
action."[1] Marshall showed, too, that "there is no phrase in the
instrument which, like the Articles of Confederation, excludes
incidental or implied powers; and which requires that everything
granted shall be expressly and minutely described."[2] Marshall
insisted, moreover, "that the powers given to the government imply the
ordinary means of execution," and "to imply the means necessary to an
end is generally understood as implying any means, calculated to
produce the end and not as being confined to those single means
without which the end would be entirely unattainable."[3] He said:
"Let the end be legitimate, let it be within the scope of the
Constitution, and all means which are appropriate, which are plainly
adapted to that end, which are not prohibited, but consist with the
letter and the spirit of the Constitution, are constitutional."
Fortified thus, the Constitution became the rock upon which
nationalism was built and by 1833 there were few persons who
questioned the supremacy of the Federal Government, as did South
Carolina with its threats of nullification. Because of the beginning
of the intense slavery agitation not long thereafter, however, and the
division of the Democratic party into a national and a proslavery
group, the latter advocating State's rights to secure the perpetuation
of slavery, there followed a reaction after the death of John Marshall
in 1835, when the court abandoned to some extent the advanced position
of nationalism of this great jurist and drifted toward the localism
long since advocated by Judge Roane of Virginia.
In making the national government the patron of slavery, a new sort of
nationalism as a defence of that institution developed thereafter,
however, and culminated in the Dred Scott decision.[4] To justify the
high-handed methods to protect the master's property right in the
bondman, these jurists not only referred to the doctrines of Marshall
already set forth above but relied also upon the decisions of Justice
Storey, the nationalist surviving Chief Justice Marshall. They
believed with Storey that a constitution of government founded by the
people for themselves and their posterity and for objects of the most
momentous nature--for perpetual union, for the establishment of
justice, for the general welfare and for a perpetuation of the
blessings of liberty--necessarily requires that every interpretation
of its powers have a constant reference to those objects. No
interpretation of the words in which those powers are granted can be a
sound one which narrows down every ordinary import so as to defeat
those objects.
In the decision of _Prigg_ v. _Pennsylvania_, when the effort was to
carry out the fugitive slave law,[5] the court, speaking through
Justice Storey in 1842, believed that the clause of the Constitution
conferring a right should not be so construed as to make it shadowy or
unsubstantial or leave the citizen without the power adequate for its
protection when another construction equally accordant with the words
and the sense in which they were used would enforce and protect the
right granted. The court believed that Congress is not restricted to
legislation for the execution of its expressly granted powers; but for
the protection of rights guaranteed by the Constitution, may employ
such means not prohibited, as are necessary and proper, or such as are
appropriate to attain the ends proposed. The court held, moreover, in
_Prigg_ v. _Pennsylvania_, that "the fundamental principle applicable
to all cases of this sort, would seem to be, that when the end is
required the means are given; and when the duty is enjoined, the
ability to perform it is contemplated to exist on the part of the
functionaries to whom it is entrusted." It required very little
argument to expose the fallacy in supposing that the national
government had ever meant to rely for the due fulfillment of its
duties and the rights which it established, upon State legislation
rather than upon that of the United States, and with greater reason,
when one bears in mind that the execution of power which was to be the
same throughout the nation could not be confided to any State which
could not rightfully act beyond its own territorial limits. All of
this power exercised in executing the Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 was
implied, rather than such direct power as that later conferred upon
Congress by the Thirteenth Amendment, which provided that Congress
should have power to pass appropriate legislation to enforce it.
As the Supreme Court decided in the case of _Prigg_ v. _Pennsylvania_
that the officers of the State were not legally obligated to assist in
the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1793, Congress passed
another and a more drastic measure in 1850 which, although unusually
rigid in its terms, was enthusiastically supported by the Supreme
Court in upholding the slavery regime. The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850
deprived the Negro suspect of the right of a trial by jury to
determine the question of his freedom in a competent court of the
State. The affidavit of the person claiming the Negro was sufficient
evidence of ownership. This law made it the duty of marshals and of
the United States courts to obey and execute all warrants and precepts
issued under the provisions of this act. It imposed a penalty of a
fine and imprisonment upon any person knowingly hindering the arrest
of a fugitive or attempting to rescue one from custody or harboring
one or aiding one to escape. The writ of habeas corpus was denied to
the reclaimed Negro and the act was _ex post facto_. In short, the
Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 committed the whole country to the task of
the protection of slave property and made slavery a national matter
with which every citizen in the country had to be concerned. In the
interest of the property right of the master, moreover, the Supreme
Court by the Dred Scott Decision[6] upheld this measure, feeling that
there was in Congress adequate power expressly given and implied to
enforce this regulation in spite of any local opposition that there
might develop against the government acting upon individuals to carry
out this police regulation. The Negro was not a citizen and in his
non-political status could not sue in a Federal court, which for the
same reason must disclaim jurisdiction in a case in which the Negro
was a party.
In the decision of _Ableman_ v. _Booth_[6a] the court in construing
the provision for the return of slaves according to the Fugitive Slave
Law of 1850 further recognized the master's right of property in his
bondman, the right of assisting and recovering him regardless of any
State law or regulation or local custom to the contrary whatsoever.
This tribunal then believed that the right of the master to have his
fugitive slave delivered up on the claim, being guaranteed by the
Constitution, the implication was that the national government was
clothed with proper authority and functions to enforce it. These were
reversed during the Civil War by the nation rising in arms against the
institution of slavery which it had economically outgrown and the
court in the support of the Federal Government exercising its unusual
powers in effecting the political and social upheaval resulting in the
emancipation of the slaves, again became decidedly national in its
decisions.
Out of Rebellion the Negro emerged a free man endowed by the State and
Federal Government with all the privileges and immunities of a citizen
in accordance with the will of the majority of the American people, as
expressed in the Civil Rights Bill and in the ratification of the
Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. A decidedly militant
minority, however, willing to grant the Negro freedom of body but
unwilling to grant him political or civil rights, bore it grievously
that the race had been so suddenly elevated and soon thereafter
organized a party of reaction to reduce the freedmen to the position
of the free people of color, who before the Civil War had no rights
but that of exemption from involuntary servitude. During the
Reconstruction period when the Negroes figured conspicuously in the
rebuilding of the Southern States they temporarily enjoyed the rights
guaranteed them by the Constitution. As there set in a reaction
against the support of the reconstructed governments as administered
by corrupt southerners and interlopers, the support which the United
States Government had given this first effort in America toward actual
democracy was withdrawn and the undoing of the Negro as a citizen was
easily effected throughout the South by general intimidation and
organized mobs known as the Ku-Klux Klan.
One of the first rights denied the Negro by these successful
reactionaries was the unrestricted use of common carriers. Standing
upon its former record, however, the court had sufficient precedents
to continue as the impartial interpreter of the laws guaranteeing all
persons civil and political equality. In _New Jersey Steam Navigation
Company_ v. _Merchants Bank_[7] the court speaking through Justice
Nelson took high ground in the defence of the free and unrestricted
use of common carriers, a right frequently denied the Negroes after
the Civil War. The court said that a common carrier is "in the
exercise of a sort of public office and has public duties to perform
from which he should not be permitted to exonerate himself without
assent of the parties concerned." This doctrine was upheld in _Munn_
v. _Illinois_[8] and in _Olcott_ v. _Supervisors_[9] when it was
decided that railroads are public highways established under the
authority of the State for the public use; and that they are none the
less public highways, because controlled and owned by private
corporations; that it is a part of the function of government to make
and maintain highways for the convenience of the public; that no
matter who is agent or what is the agency, the function performed is
_that of the State_; that although the owners may be private
companies, they may be compelled to permit the public to use these
works in the manner in which they can be used; "Upon these grounds
alone," continues the opinion, "have courts sustained the investiture
of railroad corporations with the States right of eminent domain, or
the right of municipal corporations, under legislative authority, to
assess, levy, and collect taxes to aid in the construction of
railroads."[10] Jurists in this country and in England had also held
that inasmuch as the innkeeper is engaged in a quasi public
employment, the law gives him special privileges and he is charged
with certain duties and responsibilities to the public. The public
nature of his employment would then forbid him from discriminating
against any person asking admission, on account of the race or color
of that person.[11]
In the _Slaughter House Cases_[12] and _Strauder_ v. _West
Virginia_[13] the United States Supreme Court held that since slavery
was the moving or principal cause of the adoption of the Thirteenth
Amendment, and since that institution rested wholly upon the
inferiority, as a race, of those held in bondage, their freedom
necessarily involved immunity from, and protection against all
discrimination against them, because of their race in respect of such
civil rights as belong to freemen of other races. Congress, therefore,
under its present express power to enforce that amendment by
appropriate legislation, might enact laws to protect that people
against deprivation, _because of their race_, of any civil rights
granted to other freemen in the same States; and such legislation may
be of a direct and primary character, operating upon States, their
officers and agents, and also upon, at least, such individuals and
corporations as exercise public functions and wield power and
authority under the State.
The State was conceded the power to regulate rates, fares of
passengers and freight, and upon these grounds it might regulate the
entire management of railroads in matters affecting the convenience
and safety of the public, such as regulating speed, compelling stops
of prescribed length at stations and prohibiting discriminations and
favoritisms. The position taken here is that these corporations are
actual agents of the State and what the State permits them to do is an
act of the State. The Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments made the
Negro race a part of the public and entitled to share in the control
and use of public utilities. Any restriction in the use of these
utilities would deprive the race of its liberty; for "personal liberty
consists," says Blackstone, "in the power of locomotion of changing
situation, of removing one's person to whatever places one's own
inclination may direct, without restraint, unless by due course of
law."
In several decisions the court had held that the purpose of the
Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments was to raise the Negro race from
that condition of inferiority and servitude in which most of them had
previously stood, into perfect equality of civil rights with all other
persons within the jurisdiction of the United States. In _Strauder_ v.
_West Virginia_,[14] and _Neal_ v. _Delaware_,[15] the court had taken
the position that exemption from race discrimination is a right of a
citizen of the United States. Negroes charged that members of their
race had been excluded from a jury because of their color. The court
was then of the opinion that such action contravened the Constitution
and, as was held in the case of _Prigg_ v. _Pennsylvania_, declared
it essential to the national supremacy that the agent of the body
politic should have the power to enforce and protect any right granted
by the Constitution.
In _Ex Parte Virginia_ the position was the same. In this case one
Cole, a county judge, was charged by the laws of Virginia with the
duty of selecting grand and petit jurors. The laws of that State did
not permit him in the performance of that duty to make any distinction
as to race. He was indicted in a Federal court under the act of 1875,
for making such discriminations. The attorney-general of Virginia
contended that the State had done its duty, and had not authorized or
directed that county judge to do what he was charged with having done;
that the State had not denied to the Negro race the equal protection
of the laws; and that consequently the act of Cole must be deemed his
individual act, in contravention of the will of the State. Plausible
as this argument was, it failed to convince the court; and after
emphasizing the fact that the Fourteenth Amendment had reference to
the acts of the political body denominated a State, "by whatever
instruments or in whatever modes that action may be taken" and that a
State acts by its legislative, executive and judicial authorities, and
can act in no other way, it said:
"The constitutional provision, therefore, must mean that no agency of
the State, or of the officers or agents by whom its powers are
exerted, shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal
protection of the laws. Whoever, by virtue of public position under a
State government, deprives another of property, life, or liberty
without due process of law, or denies or takes away the equal
protection of the laws, violates the constitutional inhibitions; and,
as he acts under the name and for the State, and is clothed with the
State power, his act is that of the State. This must be so, or the
constitutional prohibition has no meaning. Then the State has clothed
one of its agents with power to annul or evade it. But the
constitutional amendment was ordained for a purpose. It was to secure
equal rights to all persons, and, to insure to all persons the
enjoyment of such rights, power was given to Congress to enforce its
provisions by appropriate legislation. Such legislation must act upon
persons, not upon the abstract thing denominated as State but upon the
persons who are the agents of the State, in the denial of the rights
which were intended to be secured."[16]
The Supreme Court of the United States soon fell under reactionary
influence and gave its judicial sanction to all repression necessary
to establish permanently the reactionaries in the South and to deprive
the Negroes of their political and civil rights. It will be
interesting, therefore, to show exactly how far the United States
Supreme Court, supposed to be an impartial tribunal and generally held
in such high esteem and treated with such reverential fear, has been
guilty of inconsistency and sophistry in its effort to support this
autocracy in defiance of the well established principles of
interpretation for construing the constitutions and laws of States and
in utter disregard of the supremacy of Congress in the exercise of the
powers granted the government by the Constitution of the United
States.
THE RIGHT OF LOCOMOTION
In 1875 Congress passed a measure commonly known as the Civil Rights
Bill, which was supplementary of other measures of the same sort, the
first being enacted April 9, 1866.[17] and reenacted with some
modifications in sections 16, 17, and 18 of the Enforcement Act passed
August 31, 1870.[18] The intention of the statesmen advocating these
measures was to secure to the freedmen the enjoyment of every right
guaranteed all other citizens. The important sections of the Civil
Rights Bill of 1875 follow:
_Section 1._ That all persons within the jurisdiction of the
United States shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment
of the accommodations, advantages, facilities, and privileges of
inns, public conveyances on land or water, theatres, and other
places of public amusement; subject only to the conditions and
limitations established by law, and applicable alike to citizens
of every race and color, regardless of any previous condition of
servitude.
_Section 2._ That any person who shall violate the foregoing
section by denying to any citizen, except for reasons by law
applicable to citizens of every race and color, and regardless of
any previous condition of servitude, the full enjoyment of any of
the accommodations, advantages, facilities or privileges in said
section enumerated, or by aiding or inciting such denial, shall
for every such offense forfeit and pay the sum of five hundred
dollars to the person aggrieved thereby, to be recovered in an
action of debt, with full costs; and shall also, for every such
offense be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction
therefor, shall be fined not less than five hundred nor more than
one thousand dollars, or shall be imprisoned not less than thirty
days nor more than one year. _Provided_, That all persons may
elect to sue for the penalties aforesaid, or to proceed under
their rights at common law and by State statutes; and having so
elected to proceed in the one mode or the other, their right to
proceed in the other jurisdiction shall be barred: But this
provision shall not apply to criminal proceedings, either under
this act or the criminal law of any State: and provided further,
That a judgment for the penalty in favor of the party aggrieved,
or a judgment upon an indictment, shall be a bar to either
prosecution respectively.
Although the Negroes by this measure were guaranteed the rights which
were granted by the Constitution to every citizen of the United
States, the members of the Supreme Court of the United States instead
of upholding the laws of the nation in accordance with their oaths
undertook to hedge around and to explain away the articles of the
Constitution in such a way as to legislate rather than interpret the
laws according to the intent of the framers of the Constitution.
Subjected to all sorts of discriminations at the polls, in the courts,
in inns, in hotels, on street cars, and on railroads, Negroes had sued
for redress of their grievances and the persons thus called upon to
respond in the courts attacked the constitutionality of the Civil
Rights Bill, and the War Amendments, contending that they encroached
upon the police power of the States.
The first of these _Civil Rights Cases_ were: _United States_ v.
_Stanley_, _United States_ v. _Ryan_, _United States_ v. _Nichols_,
_United States_ v. _Singleton_, and _Robinson and wife_ v. _Memphis
and Charleston R. R. Co._ Two of these cases, those against Stanley
and Nichols, were indictments for denying to persons of color the
accommodations of an inn or hotel; two of them, those against Ryan and
Singleton, were, one on information, the other on indictments, for
denying to individuals the privileges and accommodations of a theatre.
The information against Ryan was for refusing a colored person a seat
in the dress circle of McGuire's Theatre in San Francisco; and the
indictment against Singleton was for denying to another person, whose
color was not stated, the full enjoyment of the accommodation of the
theatre known as the Grand Opera House in New York.
The argument to show the culpability of the State was that in becoming
a business man or a corporation established by sanction of and
protected by the State, such a person or persons discriminating
against a citizen of color no longer acted in a private but in a
public capacity and in so doing affected an interest in violation of
the State by controlling, as in the case of slavery, an individual's
power of locomotion. The Civil Rights Bill was appropriate legislation
as defined by the Constitution to forbid any action by private persons
which "in the light of our history may reasonably be apprehended to
tend, on account of its being incidental to quasi public occupations,
to create an institution." The act of 1875 in prohibiting persons from
violating the rights of other persons to the full and equal enjoyment
of the accommodations of inns and public conveyances, for any reason
turning merely upon the race or color of the latter, partook of the
specific character of certain contemporaneous, solemn and effective
action by the United States to which it was a sequel and is
constitutional.
Giving the opinion of the court in Civil Rights Cases,[19] Mr. Justice
Bradley said that the Fourteenth Amendment on which this act of 1875
rested for its authority, if it had any authority at all, does not
invest Congress to legislate within the domain of State legislation or
in State action of the kind referred to in the Civil Rights Act. He
believed that the Fourteenth Amendment does not authorize Congress to
create a code of municipal law for the regulation of private rights.
He conceded that positive rights and privileges are secured by the
Fourteenth Amendment but only by prohibition against State laws and
State proceedings affecting those rights.[20] "Until some State law
has passed," he said, "or some State action through its officers or
agents has been taken, adverse to the rights of citizens sought to be
protected by the Fourteenth Amendment, no legislation of the United
States under said amendment, nor any proceeding under such
legislation, can be called into activity; for the prohibitions of the
amendment are against State laws and acts under State authority."
Otherwise Congress would take the place of State legislatures and
supersede them and regulate all private rights between man and man.
Civil rights such as are guaranteed by the Constitution against State
aggression, thought Justice Bradley, cannot be impaired by the
wrongful acts of individuals unsupported by State authority in the
shape of laws, customs, or executive proceedings, for those are
private wrongs.
Justice Bradley believed, moreover, that the Civil Rights Act could
not be supported by the Thirteenth Amendment in that, unlike the
Fourteenth Amendment, the Thirteenth Amendment is primary and direct
in abolishing slavery. "When a man has emerged from slavery," said he,
"and by the aid of beneficent legislation has shaken off the
inseparable concomitants of that state there must be some stage in
the progress of his elevation when he takes the rank of a mere
citizen, ceases to be the special favorite of the laws, and when his
rights as a citizen or a man, are to be protected in the ordinary
modes by which other men's rights are protected." To eject a Negro
from an inn or a hotel, to compel him to ride in a separate car, to
deny him access and use of places maintained at public expense,
according to Justice Bradley, do not constitute imposing upon the
Negroes badges and incidents of slavery; for they are acts of
individuals with which Congress, because of the limited powers of the
Federal government, cannot have anything to do. The particular clause
in the Civil Rights Act, so far as it operated on individuals in the
several States was, therefore, held null and void, but the court held
that it might apply to the District of Columbia and territories of the
United States for which Congress might legislate directly. Since then
the court has in the recent _Wright Case_ declared null and void even
that part which it formerly said might apply to territory governed
directly by Congress, thus taking the position tantamount to reading
into the laws of the United States and the laws of nations the
segregation measures of a mediaeval ex-slaveholding commonwealth
assisted by the nation in enforcing obedience to its will beyond the
three mile limit on the high seas.
Although conceding that the Thirteenth Amendment was direct and
primary legislation, the court held that it had nothing to do with the
guarantee against that race discrimination commonly referred to in the
bills of complaint as the badges and incidents of slavery. The court
found the Fourteenth Amendment negative rather than direct and primary
because of one of its clauses providing that "no State shall make or
enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges and immunities of
citizens of the United States nor shall any State deprive any person
of life, liberty and property without due process of law, nor deny to
any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
The court was too evasive or too stupid to observe that the first
clause of this amendment was an affirmation to the effect that all
persons born and naturalized in the United States and subject to the
jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States and of the
State wherein they reside. In other words, the court held that if
there is one negative clause in a paragraph, the whole paragraph is a
negation. Such sophistry deserves the condemnation of all fairminded
people, when one must conclude that any person even without formal
education, if he has heard the English language spoken and is of sound
mind, would know better than to interpret a law so unreasonably.
In declaring this act unconstitutional the Supreme Court of the United
States violated one of its own important principles of interpretation
to the effect that this duty is such a delicate one, that the court in
declaring a statute of Congress invalid must do so with caution,
reluctance and hesitation and never until the duty becomes manifestly
imperative. In the decision of _Fletcher_ v. _Peck_,[21] the court
said that whether the legislative department of the government has
transcended the limits of its constitutional power is at all times a
question of much delicacy, which seldom, if ever, is to be decided in
the affirmative, in a doubtful case. The position between the
Constitution and the law should be such that the judge feels a clear
and strong conviction of their incompatibility with each other. In the
_Sinking Fund Cases_[22] the court said: "When required in the regular
course of judicial proceedings to declare an act of Congress void if
not within the legislative power of the United States, this
declaration should never be made except in a clear case. Every
possible presumption is in favor of the validity of a statute, and
this continues until the contrary is shown beyond a rational doubt.
One branch of the government cannot encroach on the domain of another
without danger. The safety of our institutions depends in no small
degree on a strict observance of this salutary rule." And this is
exactly what happened. The judiciary here assumed the function of the
legislative department. Not even a casual reader on examining these
laws and the Constitution can feel that the court in this case felt
such a clear and strong conviction as to the invalidity of this
constitutional legislation when that tribunal, as its records show,
had under different circumstances before the Civil War held a doctrine
decidedly to the contrary.
Mr. Justice Harlan, therefore, dissented. He considered the opinion of
the court narrow, as the substance and spirit were sacrificed by a
subtle and ingenious verbal criticism. Justice Harlan believed, "that
it is not the words of the law but the internal sense of it that makes
the law; the letter of the law is the body, the sense and reason of
the law the soul." "Constitutional provisions adopted in the interest
of liberty," said Justice Harlan, "and for the purpose of securing,
through national legislation, if need be, rights inhering in a state
of freedom, and belonging to American citizenship, have been so
construed as to defeat the end the people desire to accomplish, which
they attempted to accomplish, and which they supposed they had
accomplished, by changes in their fundamental law."
The court, according to Justice Harlan, although he did not mean to
say that the determination in this case should have been materially
controlled by considerations of mere expediency or policy, had
departed from the familiar rule requiring that the purpose of the law
or Constitution and the objects to be accomplished by any grant are
often the most important in reaching real intent just as the debates
in the convention of 1787 and the discussions in the _Federalist_ and
in the ratifying conventions of the States have often been referred to
as throwing important light on clauses in the Constitution seeming to
show ambiguity. The debates on the war amendment, when they were
proposed and ratified, were thoroughly expounded before the court in
bringing before that tribunal the intention of the members of
Congress, by which the court, according to a well established
principle of interpretation, should have been influenced in construing
the statute in question.
The court held that legislation for the enforcement of the Thirteenth
Amendment is direct and primary "but to what specific ends may it be
directed?" inquired Justice Harlan. The court "had uniformly held that
national government has the power, whether expressly given or not, to
secure and protect rights conferred or guaranteed by the
Constitution."[23] Justice Harlan believed then that the doctrines
should not be abandoned when the inquiry was not as to an implied
power to protect the master's rights, but what Congress might, under
powers expressly granted, do for the protection of freedom and the
rights necessarily inhering in a state of freedom.
The Thirteenth Amendment, the court conceded, did more than prohibit
slavery as an _institution_, resting upon distinctions of race, and
upheld by positive law. The court admitted that it "established and
decreed universal civil freedom throughout the United States." "But
did the freedom thus established," inquired Justice Harlan, "involve
more than exemption from actual slavery? Was nothing more intended
than to forbid one man from owning another as property? Was it the
purpose of the nation simply to destroy the institution and then remit
the race, theretofore held in bondage, to the several States for such
protection, in their civil rights, necessarily growing out of their
freedom, as those States in their discretion might choose to provide?
Were the States against whose protest the institution was destroyed to
be left free, so far as national interference was concerned, to make
or allow discriminations against that race, as such, in the enjoyment
of those fundamental rights which by universal concession, inhere in a
state of freedom?" Justice Harlan considered it indisputable that
Congress in having power to abolish slavery could destroy the burdens
and disabilities remaining as its badges and incidents which
constitute its substance in visible form.
The court in its defense had taken as an illustration that the
negative clause of the Fourteenth Amendment was not direct and
primary, that although the States are prohibited from passing laws to
impair the obligations of contracts this did not mean that Congress
could legislate for the general enforcement of contracts throughout
the States. Discomfitting his brethren on their own ground Harlan
said: "A prohibition upon a State is not a _power_ in _Congress or in
the national government_. It is simply a _denial_ of _power_ to the
State. The much talked of illustration of impairing the obligation of
contracts, therefore, is not an example of power expressly conferred
in contradistinction to that of this case and is not convincing for
this would be a court matter, not a matter of Congress. The Fourteenth
Amendment is the first case of conferring upon Congress affirmative
power by _legislation to enforce_ an express prohibition on the
States. Judicial power was not specified but the power of Congress.
The judicial power could have acted without such a clause. The
Fourteenth Amendment is not merely a prohibition on State action. It
made Negroes citizens of the United States and of the States. This is
decidedly affirmative. This citizenship may be protected not only by
the judicial branch of the government but by Congressional legislation
of a primary or direct character. It is in the power of Congress to
enforce the affirmative as well as the prohibitive provisions of this
article. The acceptance of any doctrine to the contrary," continued
Justice Harlan, "would lead to this anomalous result: that whereas
prior to the amendments, Congress with the sanction of this court
passed the most stringent laws--operating directly and primarily upon
States and their officers and agents, as well as upon individuals--in
vindication of slavery and the right of the master, it may not now, by
legislation of a like primary and direct character, guard, protect,
and secure the freedom established, and the most essential right of
the citizenship granted, by the constitutional amendments."
It did not seem to Justice Harlan that the fact that, by the second
clause of the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment, the States
are expressly prohibited from making or enforcing laws abridging the
rights and immunities of citizens of the United States, furnished any
sufficient reason for upholding or maintaining that the amendment was
intended to deny Congress the power, by general, primary, and direct
legislation, of protecting citizens of the several States, being also
citizens of the United States, against all discrimination, in respect
of their rights as citizens, which is founded on "race, color, or
previous condition of servitude." "Such an interpretation," thought
he, "is plainly repugnant to its fifth section, conferring upon
Congress power, by appropriate legislation, to enforce not merely the
provisions containing prohibitions upon the States, but all of the
provisions of the amendment, including the provisions, express and
implied, in the first clause of the first section of the article
granting citizenship." The prohibition of the State laws could have
been negatived by judicial interpretation without the Fourteenth
Amendment on the ground that they would have conflicted with the
Constitution.
The court said the Fourteenth Amendment was not intended to enact a
municipal code for the States. No one will gainsay this. This
Amendment, moreover, is not altogether for the benefit of the Negro.
It simply interferes with the local laws when they operate so as to
discriminate against persons or permit agents of the States to
discriminate against persons of any race on account of color or
previous condition of servitude. Of what benefit was it if it did not
do this? The constitutions of the several States had already secured
all persons against deprivation of life, liberty or property otherwise
than by due process of law, and in some form recognized the right of
all persons to the equal protection of the laws. If this be the
correct interpretation even, it does not follow that privileges which
have been granted by the nation, may not be protected by primary
legislation upon the part of Congress. Justice Harlan pointed out that
it is for Congress not the judiciary, to say that legislation is
appropriate, for that would be sheer usurpation of the functions of a
coordinate department. Why should these rules of interpretation be
abandoned in the case of maintaining the rights of the Negro
guaranteed by the Constitution?
The Civil Rights Act of 1875 could have been maintained on the ground
that it regulated interstate passenger traffic, as one of the cases,
_Robinson and Wife_ v. _Memphis and Charleston Railroad Company_,
showed that Robinson a citizen of Mississippi had purchased a ticket
entitling him to be carried from Grand Junction, Tennessee, to
Lynchburg, Virginia. This case substantially presented the question of
interstate commerce but the court reserved the question whether
Congress in the exercise of its power to regulate commerce among the
several States, might or might not pass a law regulating rights in
public conveyances passing from one State to another. The court
undertook to hide behind the fact that this specific act did not
recite therein that it was enacted in pursuance of the power of
Congress to regulate commerce. Justice Harlan, therefore, inquired:
"Has it ever been held that the judiciary should overturn a statute,
because the legislative department did not accurately recite therein
the particular provision of the constitution authorizing its
enactment?" On the whole, the contrary is the rule. It is sufficient
to know that there is authority in the Constitution.
In this decision, too, there was the influence of the much paraded
bugbear of social equality forced upon the whites. To use the inns,
hotels, and parks, established by authority of the government and the
places of amusement authorized as the necessary stimulus to progress,
to buy a railroad ticket at the same window, ride in the same
comfortable car on a limited train rather than incur the loss of time
and suffer the inconvenience of inferior accommodations on a slow
local train; to sleep and eat in a Pullman car so as to be refreshed
for business on arriving at the end of a long journey, all of this was
and is today dubbed by the reactionary courts social equality. Justice
Harlan exposed this fallacy in saying: "The right, for instance, of a
colored citizen to use the accommodations of a public highway, upon
the same terms as are permitted to white citizens, is no more a social
right than his right, under the law, to use the public streets of a
city or a town, or a turnpike road, or a public market, or a post
office, or his right to sit in a public building with others, of
whatever race, for the purpose of hearing the political questions of
the day discussed."
What did the Negro become when he was freed? What was he when,
according to section 2 of Article IV of the Constitution, he became by
virtue of the Fourteenth Amendment entitled to all privileges and
immunities of citizens in the several States?[24] From what did the
race become free? If Justice Bradley had been inconveniently
segregated by common carriers, driven out of inns and hotels with the
sanction of local law, and deprived by a mob of the opportunity to
make a living, would he have considered himself a free citizen of this
or any other country? "A colored citizen of Ohio or Indiana while in
the jurisdiction of Tennessee," contended Justice Harlan, "is entitled
to enjoy any privilege or immunity, fundamental in citizenship, which
is given to citizens of the white race in the latter State.
Citizenship in this country necessarily imports at least equality of
civil rights among citizens of every race in the same State." In
_United States_ v. _Cruikshank_[25] it was held that rights of life
and personal liberty are natural rights of man, and that "equality of
the rights of citizens is a principle of republicanism."
INCONSISTENCY OF THE COURT
In the case of _Hall_ v. _DeCuir_[26] the court reached an important
decision when an Act of Louisiana passed in 1869 to give passengers
without regard to race or color equality of right in the
accommodations of railroad or street cars, steamboats or other water
crafts, stage coaches, omnibusses or other vehicles, was declared
unconstitutional so far as it related to commerce between States.[27]
Here a person of color had been discriminated against by a Mississippi
River navigation company which was called to answer before a United
States court for violating this act.
Giving the opinion of the court, Chief Justice Waite said: "We think
it may be safely said that State legislation which seeks to impose a
direct burden upon inter-state commerce, or to interfere directly with
its freedom does encroach upon the exclusive power of Congress. The
statute now under consideration in our opinion occupies that
position." "Inaction by Congress," the court held, "is equivalent to a
declaration that interstate commerce shall remain free and
untrammelled." This meant that the carrier was "at liberty to adopt
such reasonable rules and regulations for the disposition of
passengers upon his boat, while pursuing her voyage within Louisiana
or without, as seemed to him best for the interest of all concerned.
The statute under which this suit is brought, as construed by the
State court, seeks to take away from him that power so long as he is
within Louisiana, and while recognizing to the fullest extent the
principle which sustains a statute unless its unconstitutionality is
clearly established, we think this statute to the extent that it
requires those engaged in the transportation of passengers among the
several States to carry colored persons in Louisiana in the same cabin
with whites is unconstitutional and void. If the public good requires
such legislation it must come from Congress and not from the States."
Justice Waite here expressed his fear as to the delicate ground on
which he was treading in saying: "The line which separates the powers
of the States from this exclusive power of Congress is not always
distinctly marked, and oftentimes it is not easy to determine on which
side a particular case belongs. Judges not infrequently differ in
their reasons for a decision in which they concur. Under such
circumstances it would be a useless task to undertake to fix an
arbitrary rule by which the line must in all cases be located. It is
far better to leave a matter of such delicacy to be settled in each
case upon a view of the particular rights involved." Thus the way was
left clear to vary the principle of interpretation according to the
color of the citizens whose rights might be involved.
In view of the subsequent decisions in separate car cases, moreover,
the following portion of Justice Waite's opinion as to a clause in the
law involved in the case of _Hall_ v. _DeCuir_ is unusually
interesting. "It does not act," said he, "upon the business through
the local instruments to be employed after coming within the State,
from without or goes out from within. While it purports only to
control the carrier when engaged within the State it must necessarily
influence his conduct to some extent in the management of his business
throughout his entire voyage. We confine our decision to the statute
in its effect upon foreign and interstate commerce, expressing no
opinion as to its validity in any other respect."[28]
With the rapid expansion of commerce in the United States and the
consequent necessity for regulation both by the State and the United
States, no power of Congress was more frequently questioned than that
to regulate commerce and no litigant concerned in such constitutional
questions easily escaped the consequences of the varying
interpretation given this clause by the United States Supreme Court.
The court, of course, accepted as a general principle that there are
three spheres for the regulation of commerce, namely: that which a
State cannot invade, that which the State may invade, when Congress
has not interfered, and that which is reserved to the State in
conformity with its police power. But as late as 1886 the
nationalistic school found some encouragement in the decision of the
_Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railway Company_ v. _Illinois_[29]
given by Justice Miller. He said: "Notwithstanding what is there said,
that is, in the decisions of _Munn_ v. _Illinois; C. B. and Q. R. R.
Company_ v. _Iowa_, and _Peik_ v. _Chicago and N. W. R. R. Co._,[30]
this court held and asserted that it had never consciously held
otherwise, that a statute of a State intended to regulate or to tax,
or to impose any other restriction upon the transmission of persons or
property or telegraphic messages, from one State to another, is not
within the class of legislation which the States may enact in the
absence of legislation by Congress; and that such statutes are void
even as to the part of such transmission which may be within the
State." Chief Justice Waite, and Justice Bradley and Justice Gray,
however, dissented for various reasons.
In the _Louisville Railway Company_ v. _Mississippi_,[31] however, in
1899, the court, evidently yielding to southern public opinion,
reversed itself by the decision that an interstate carrier could not
run a train through Mississippi without attaching thereto a separate
car for Negroes and had the audacity to argue that this is not an
interference with interstate commerce.[32] To show how inconsistent
this interpretation was one should bear in mind that in _Hall_ v.
_DeCuir_ the court had held that this was exactly what a State could
not do in that the statute acted not upon business through local
instruments to be employed after coming into the State, but directly
upon business as it comes into the State from without or goes out from
within, although it purported only to control the carrier when engaged
within the State. It necessarily influenced the conduct of the carrier
to some extent in the management of his business throughout his
entire voyage. "No carrier of passengers," said the court in _Hall_ v.
_DeCuir_, "can conduct his business with satisfaction to himself, or
comfort to those employing him, if on one side of a State line his
passengers, both white and colored, must be permitted to occupy the
same cabin, and on the other to be kept separate. Uniformity in the
regulation by which he is to be governed from one end to the other of
his route is a necessity in his business, and to secure it, Congress,
which is untrammelled by State lines, has been invested with exclusive
legislative power of determining what such regulation should be."
Giving the opinion in the Mississippi case, however, Justice Brewer
said: "It has been often held by this court that there is a commerce
wholly within the State which is not subject to the constitutional
provision and the distinctions between commerce among the States and
the other class of commerce between citizens of a single State and
conducted within its limits exclusively is one which has been fully
recognized in this court, although it may not be always easy, where
the lines of these classes approach each other, to distinguish between
the one and the other."[33] He might have added some other comment to
the effect that this court will not definitely draw the line of
distinction between such classes of commerce since it desires to leave
adequate room for evasion, because it had been unusually easy to find
such a line in cases in which the rights of Negroes were concerned and
such definite interpretation might interfere with the rights of white
men. Justices Harlan and Bradley dissented on the grounds that the law
imposed a burden upon an interstate carrier in that he would be fined
if he did not attach an additional car for race discrimination, and
that the opinion was repugnant to the principles set forth in that of
_Hall_ v. _DeCuir_.
The United States Supreme Court finally reached the position of
following the decision of _Ex Parte Plessy_ which justified the
discrimination in railway cars on the grounds that it is not a badge
of slavery contrary to the Thirteenth Amendment. This decision, in
short, is: So long, at least, as the facilities or accommodations
provided are substantially equal, statutes providing separate cars for
the races do not abridge any privilege or immunity of citizens or
otherwise contravene the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States
Constitution. In such matters equality and not identity or community
of accommodations is the extreme test of conformity to the
requirements of the amendment. The regulation of domestic commerce is
as exclusively a State function as the regulation of interstate
commerce is a Federal function. The separate car law is an exercise of
police power in the interest of public order, peace and comfort. It is
a matter of legislative power and discretion with which Federal courts
cannot interfere.
In _Hennington_ v. _Georgia_,[34] it was later emphasized that it had
been held that legislative enactments of the States, passed under the
admitted police powers, and having a real relation to the domestic
peace, order, health, and safety of their people, but which by their
necessary operation, affect, to some extent, or for a limited time,
the conduct of commerce among the States, are yet not invalid by force
alone of the grant of power of Congress to regulate such commerce;
and, if not obnoxious to some other constitutional provision or
destructive of some right secured by the fundamental law, are to be
respected in the courts of the Union until they are superseded and
displaced by some act of Congress passed in execution of power granted
to it by the Constitution. Of course, there was no other provision to
which such laws could be contrary after the Supreme Court had whittled
away the war amendments.
In the case of _Plessy_ v. _Ferguson_[35] the most inexcusable
inconsistency of the court was shown when the persons of color
aggrieved attacked the separate car law of Louisiana on the ground
that it conflicted with the Fourteenth Amendment. Giving the opinion
of the court, Justice Brown said: "So far, then, as a conflict with
the Fourteenth Amendment is concerned, the case reduces itself to the
question whether the statute of Louisiana is a reasonable regulation,
and with respect to this there must necessarily be a large discretion
on the part of the legislature. In determining the question of
reasonableness it is at liberty to act with reference to the
established usages, customs and traditions of the people, and with a
view to the promotion of the public peace and good order. Gauged by
this standard, we cannot say that a law which authorizes or even
requires the separation of the two races in public conveyances is
unreasonable, or more obnoxious to the Fourteenth Amendment than the
acts of Congress requiring separate schools for colored children in
the District of Columbia, the constitutionality of which does not seem
to have been questioned or the corresponding acts of State
legislatures."
Justice Harlan dissented, saying that he was of the opinion that the
Statute of Louisiana is inconsistent with personal liberty of white
and black in that State and hostile to both in the letter and spirit
of the Constitution of the United States. Justice Harlan rightly
contended that laws can have no regard to race according to the
Constitution. If they do, they conflict with the rights of State and
national citizenship and with personal liberty. The Thirteenth and
Fourteenth Amendments removed race from our governmental system. But
what has the court to do with the policy or expediency of legislation?
"A statute may be valid, and yet upon grounds of public policy, may
well be characterized as unreasonable." Accordingly Mr. Sedgwick, a
distinguished authority, says: "The Courts have no other duty to
perform than to execute the legislative will, without regard to their
views as to the wisdom or justice of the particular enactment."
"Statutes," said Justice Harlan, "must always have a reasonable
construction. Sometimes they are to be construed strictly; sometimes,
liberally, in order to carry out the legislative will. But, however
construed, the intent of the legislature is to be respected."
The decisions in the cases of _M. K. and T. Railway_ v. _Haber_[36]
and _Crutcher_ v. _Kentucky_,[37] are of some importance. In these
cases the court reiterated the doctrine that the regulation of the
enjoyment of the relative rights and the performance of the duties, of
all persons within the jurisdiction of a State belong primarily to
such a State under its reserved power to provide for the safety of all
persons and property within its limits; and that even if the subject
of such regulations be one that may be taken under the exclusive
control of Congress, and be reached by national legislation, any
action taken by the State upon that subject that does not directly
interfere with rights secured by the Constitution of the United States
or by some valid act of Congress, must be respected until Congress
intervenes.[38] The court by this time, however, had all but held that
the Constitution secured to the Negro no civil or political rights
except that of exemption from involuntary servitude, and that law for
the Negro is the will of the white man.
Further development of the doctrine as to the right of the State to
deprive a Negro of citizenship is brought out in the _Lauder
Case_.[39] The case was this: Lauder's wife purchased a first class
ticket from Hopkinsville to Mayfield, both places within the State of
Kentucky. She took her place in what was called the "ladies' coach"
and was ejected therefrom by the conductor and assigned a seat in a
smoking car, which was alleged to be small, badly ventilated, unclean
and fitted with greatly inferior accommodations. This road ran from
Evansville, Indiana, to Hopkinsville, Kentucky. It was held in the
Court of Appeals that the decision of the United States Supreme Court
in _Louisville, New Orleans and Railway_ v. _Mississippi_[40] and
_Plessy_ v. _Ferguson_[41] was conclusive of the constitutionality of
the act so far as the plaintiffs were concerned; and that the mere
fact that the railroad extended to Evansville, in the State of
Indiana, could in no wise render the statute in question invalid as to
the duty of the railroad to respect it.
In the case of _Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company_ v.
_Kentucky_,[42] this doctrine was carried to its logical conclusion.
The question was whether a proper construction of the separate car law
confines its operation to passengers whose journeys commence and end
within the boundaries of the State or whether a reasonable
interpretation of the act requires Negro passengers to be assigned to
separate coaches when traveling from or to points in other States. In
other such cases the Supreme Court of the United States had
interpreted the local law as applying only to interstate commerce. The
language of the first section of the Kentucky statute made it very
clear that it applied to all carriers. The first section of the
Kentucky law follows:
"Any railroad company or corporation, person or persons, running
or otherwise operation of railroad cars or coaches by steam or
otherwise, in any railroad line or track within this State, and
all railroad companies, person or persons, doing business in this
State, whether upon lines or railroads owned in part or whole, or
leased by them; and all railroad companies, person or persons,
operating railroad lines that may hereafter be built under
existing charters, or charters that may hereafter be granted in
this State; and all foreign corporations, companies, person or
persons, organized under charters granted, or that may be
hereafter granted by any other State, who may be now, or may
hereafter be engaged in running or operating any of the railroads
of this State, whether in part or whole, are hereby required to
furnish separate coaches or cars for travel or transportation of
the white and colored passengers on their respective lines of
railroad."
Any sane man can see that this law undertook to regulate interstate
commerce. Justice Brown, however, tried to square the opinion with
that of the Kentucky Supreme Court, upholding the law on the grounds
that it was constitutional in as much as it applied only to intrastate
passenger traffic, although the law plainly applies also to interstate
traffic.
Speaking further for the court, Justice Brown said: "Indeed we are by
no means satisfied that the Court of Appeals did not give the correct
construction to this statute in limiting its operation to domestic
commerce. It is scarcely courteous to impute to a legislature the
enactment of a law which it knew to be unconstitutional and if it were
well settled that a separate coach law was unconstitutional, as
applied to interstate commerce, the law applying on its face to _all_
passengers should be limited to such as the legislature were competent
to deal with. The Court of Appeals has found such to be the intention
of the General Assembly in this case, or at least, that if such were
not its intention, the law may be supported as applying alone to
domestic commerce. In thus holding the act to be severable it is
laying down a principle of construction from which there is no
appeal."
"While we do not deny the force of the railroad's argument in this
connection, we cannot say that the General Assembly would not have
enacted this law if it had supposed it applied only to domestic
commerce; and if it were in doubt on that point, we should
unhesitatingly defer to the opinion of the Court of Appeals, which
held that it would give it that construction if the case called for
it. In view of the language above quoted it would be unbecoming for us
to say that the Court of Appeals would not construe the law as
applicable to domestic commerce alone, and if it did, the case would
fall directly within the _Mississippi Case_.[43] We, therefore, feel
compelled to give it that construction ourselves and so construe it
that there can be no doubt as to its constitutionality." Here we have
a plain case of the United States Supreme Court declaring an act
severable because thereby it could apparently justify as
constitutional a measure depriving the Negroes of civil and political
rights, whereas in some other cases it has held other acts not
severable to reach the same end.
The court continued its reactionary course. In _Chiles_ v. _Chesapeake
and Ohio R. R. Company_[44] the court reiterated that "Congressional
inaction is equivalent to a declaration that a carrier may, by its
regulations, separate white and Negro interstate passengers. In
_McCabe_ v. _Atchinson, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company_,[45]
Justice Hughes giving the opinion of the court, followed the _Plessy_
v. _Ferguson_ decision. He did not believe, moreover, "that the
contention that an act though fair on its face may be so unequally and
oppressively administered by the public authorities as to amount to an
unconstitutional discrimination by the State itself, is applicable
where it is the administration of the provisions of a separate coach
law by carriers, which is claimed to produce the discrimination. The
separate coach provisions of Oklahoma[46] apply to transportation
wholly intrastate in absence of a different construction by State
courts and do not contravene the commerce clause of the Federal court.
The court held, however, that so much of the Oklahoma separate coach
law as permits carriers to provide sleeping cars, dining cars, and
chair cars for white persons, and to provide no similar accommodations
for Negroes, denies the latter the equal protection of the laws
guaranteed by the Constitution.
The most recent case, that of the _South Covington and Cincinnati
Street Railway, Plaintiff in error_ v. _Commonwealth of Kentucky_
shows another step in the direction of complete surrender to caste.
This company was a Kentucky corporation, each of the termini of the
railroad of which was in Kentucky. The complainant hoped to prevent
the segregation of passengers carried from Ohio into Kentucky. The
decision was that a Kentucky street railway may be required by statute
of that State to furnish either separate cars or separate compartments
in the same car for white and Negro passengers although its principal
business is the carriage of passengers in interstate commerce between
Cincinnati, Ohio, and Kentucky across the Ohio River. Such a
requirement affects interstate commerce only incidentally, and does
not subject it to unreasonable demands. In other words, this
inconvenience to the carrier is not very much and the humiliation and
burden which it entails upon persons of color thus segregated should
not concern the court, although they are supposed to be citizens of
the United States.
Justice Day dissented and Justices Van DeVanter and Putney concurred
on the ground that the attachment of a different car upon the Kentucky
side on so short a journey would burden interstate commerce as to cost
and in the practical operation of the traffic. The provision for a
separate compartment for the use of only interstate Negro passengers
would lead to confusion and discrimination. The same interstate
transportation would be subject to conflicting regulation in the two
States in which it is conducted. They believed that it imposed an
unreasonable burden and according to the dissentients was, therefore,
void.
JUSTICE IN THE COURTS.
One of the most important constitutional rights denied the Negroes is
that of justice in the courts. In as much as their former masters felt
enraged against the freedmen because of their sudden release from
bondage, they too often perpetrated upon the freedmen crimes for which
the Negro had no redress in courts, for white persons constituted the
accusers, the prosecutors, the judges, and the juries. Immediately
following the Civil War, before the amendments of the Constitution
enacted in the special behalf of the race were effected, Negroes were
by the Black Codes deprived of all of the rights of citizens and
nothing bore more grievously upon them than the deprivation of the
right to serve on juries. Some States had special laws carrying out
this prohibition. The first case of consequence requiring an
interpretation of the State law to this effect was that of _Strauder_
v. _West Virginia_,[47] already mentioned above. In this case the
court took high constitutional ground. It was held that "a law of West
Virginia limiting to white persons, twenty-one years of age and
citizens of the State, the right to sit upon juries, was a
discrimination which implied a legal inferiority in civil society,
which lessened the security of the right of the colored race, and was
a step toward reducing them to a condition of servility." The right of
a man of color that, in the selection of jurors to pass upon his life,
liberty, and property, there shall be no exclusion of his race and no
discrimination against them because of color, was asserted in a number
of cases, to wit: _Virginia_ v. _Rives_,[48] _Neal_ v. _Delaware_,[49]
_Gibbons_ v. _Kentucky_.[50]
In the case of _Bush_ v. _The Commonwealth of Kentucky_[51] the Negro
faced an additional difficulty in that the court held that wherein
there was no specific law excluding persons from service upon juries
because of their race or color, that the petitioner would have to show
evidence to that effect. In the case of _Smith_ v. _The State of
Mississippi_[52] it was held that the omission or refusal of officers
to include Negro citizens in the list from which jurors might be drawn
is not, as to a Negro subsequently brought to trial, a denial of equal
protection of laws. In the case of _Murray_ v. _The State of
Louisiana_[53] the decision was that the fact that a law confers on
the jury commissioners judicial power in the selection of citizens for
jury service, does not involve a conflict with the Fourteenth
Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, although in the
exercise of such power they might not select Negroes for jury service.
The case of _Williams_ v. _Mississippi_ was more interesting. The law
of that State prescribed the qualifications of voters and of grand and
petit juries and invested the administrative officers with a large
discretion in determining what citizens have the necessary
qualifications. As it appeared that in the use of their discretion
they would exclude Negroes from such juries it was contended that the
act of Mississippi was a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. The
court held, however, that the Mississippi law could not be held
repugnant to the Fourteenth Amendment merely on a showing that the law
might operate as a discrimination against the Negro race, in absence
of proof of an actual discrimination in the case under consideration.
This ground has often proved convenient for the Supreme Court of the
United States in dodging the question whether or not the Negroes must
be protected in the rights guaranteed them by the Constitution.
This case was decided in 1897 and two years later Mr. Justice Gray,
giving the opinion of the court in the case of _Carter_ v.
_Texas_,[54] said that the exclusion of all persons of African race
from a grand jury which finds an indictment against a Negro in a State
court, when they are excluded solely because of their race or color
denies him the equal protection of the laws in violation of the
Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, whether
such exclusion is done through the action of the legislature, through
the courts, or through the executive or administrative officers of the
State. This was substantially the position taken in the case of
_Strauder_ v. _West Virginia_ twenty years earlier.
The Negroes received some encouragement, too, from the decision of
_Rogers_ v. _Alabama_.[55] It was held that there had been a denial of
the equal protection of the laws by a ruling of a State court upon the
motion to quash an indictment on account of the exclusion of Negroes
from the grand jury list, which motion, though because of its being in
two printed octavos, was struck from the files under the color of
local practice for prolixity, contained an allegation that certain
provisions of the newly adopted State constitution, claimed to have
the effect of disfranchising Negroes because of their race, when such
action worked as a consideration in the minds of the jury
commissioners in reaching their decision. The court held in _Martin_
v. _The State of Texas_, however,[56] that a discrimination against
Negroes because of their race in the selection of grand or petit
jurors as forbidden by the Fourteenth Amendment is not shown by
written motion to quash, respectively, the indictment of the panel of
petit jurors, charging such discrimination where no evidence was
introduced to establish the facts stated in the omissions. It is not
sufficient merely to prove that no persons of color were on the jury.
As certain States wished to make the government further secure in the
elimination of Negroes from juries, after making the qualifications
for voters unusually rigid so as to exclude persons of African
descent, they easily established the same qualifications for jurors,
to relieve persons of color also from that service. In the case of
_Franklin_ v. _South Carolina_[57] the court held that there was no
discrimination against Negroes because of their race in the selection
of the grand jury made by the laws of South Carolina,[58] giving the
jury commissioner the right to select electors of good moral character
such as they may deem qualified to serve as jurors, being persons of
sound mind and free from all legal exceptions. A motion, therefore, to
quash an indictment against a Negro for disqualification of the grand
jurors who must be electors, because of a change in the State
constitution of South Carolina respecting the qualifications of
electors, did not violate the Act of Congress, June 25, 1868, and,
therefore, did not present to the Supreme Court of the United States a
question of a denial of Federal right where there is nothing in the
record to show that the grand jury as actually impaneled contained any
person who was not qualified as an elector under the earlier State
constitution, which was, according to the allegation, so made up as to
exclude Negroes on account of their color. The Supreme Court of the
United States then took no account of the intent or the spirit of the
law maker as this tribunal had been accustomed to do in cases of
constitutional import and left upon the Negro the burden of performing
the difficult task of showing that he had been discriminated against
on account of his color when the discrimination could be easily
effected without the possibility of his actually producing any
evidence that on the face of itself could convince the court.
SUFFRAGE
As already mentioned above the Negroes during this period were
struggling to retain the right of suffrage and, of course, were
attacking in the courts those restrictions primarily directed toward
the elimination of the Negroes from the electorate. The Supreme Court
of the United States generally shrank from these cases by disclaiming
jurisdiction. In _Ex Parte Siebold_,[59] _Ex Parte Yarborough_,[60]
and _In re Coy_,[61] however, the general jurisdiction of Federal
courts over matters involved in the election of national officers was
affirmed. The court held that it had jurisdiction in the election case
in _Wiley_ v. _Sinkler_,[62] when there was brought an action to
recover damages of an election board for wilfully rejecting a
citizen's vote for a member of the House of Representatives. In
_Swafford_ v. _Templeton_[63] a suit was brought for damages for the
alleged wrongful refusal by the defendants at an election of officers
to permit the plaintiff to vote at a national election for a member of
the House of Representatives. It was held that the court had
jurisdiction.
From the Supreme Court of the United States, however, the Negroes
received little encouragement, in as much as the right of suffrage,
with its requirements of property ownership and the literacy test,
could be withheld from the Negro without specifically discriminating
against any one on account of race or color. In _Southy_ v.
_Virginia_, 181 U. S., Revised Statutes, of the United States, Cont.
St. 1901, pages 37-42, providing that every person who prevents,
hinders, controls or intimidates another from exercising the right of
suffrage, to whom that right is guaranteed by the Fifteenth Amendment
of the Constitution of the United States, by means of bribery, etc.,
shall be punished, was held invalid as it was considered to be beyond
the constitutional power of Congress to act in such a case except in
that of race discrimination. If the discrimination is in a State or
municipal election, however, Congress may intervene, if the
discrimination is shown, but not until then.
In the case of _Giles_ v. _Harris_[64] there was brought to the
Supreme Court a bill in equity, complaining that Negroes qualified to
vote for members of Congress had been refused on account of their
color by virtue of the Alabama constitution, whereas white men were
registered to vote at such an election. Relief was asked for on the
basis of the Revised Statutes, Sec. 1979, praying that the Supreme
Court should order that the petitioner be registered and declare null
and void the special clause of the Alabama constitution. The court
answered this petition with certain observations disclaiming
jurisdiction largely for "want of merit in the averments which were
made in the complaint as to the violation of Federal rights."
The court held that if the registrars acting at this election in
Alabama had no authority under the new constitution, which the
petitioner prayed that the court might declare null and void, they
could not legally register the plaintiff. If they had authority, they
were within their right to use their discretion. If this clause in the
constitution should be struck down according to the prayer of the
plaintiff, there would be no board to which the mandamus could be
issued. The Supreme Court, therefore, held that no damage had been
suffered because no refusal to register by a board constituted in
defiance of the Federal Constitution could disqualify a legal voter
otherwise entitled to exercising the electorate franchise, since this
amounts to a decision upon an independent non-Federal ground
sufficient to sustain the judgment without reference to the Federal
question presented. It observed, moreover, that the bill imported that
the great mass of the white population intended to keep the blacks
from voting. To meet such an intent something more than ordering the
plaintiff named to be inscribed upon the lists of 1902 would be
needed.
Giving his dissenting opinion in this case, Justice Brewer showed that
"although the statute and these decisions thus expressly limit the
range of inquiry to the question of jurisdiction, it was held that
there is a constitutional question shown in the pleadings. The
certificate, therefore, might be ignored and the entire case presented
to the court for consideration.... Hence every case coming up on a
certificate of jurisdiction may be held to present a constitutional
question and be open for full inquiry in respect to all matters
involved." Brewer would not assent to the proposition that the case
presented was not a strictly legal one and entitling a party to a
judicial hearing and decision. "He is a citizen of Alabama entitled to
vote. He wanted to vote at an election for a Representative in
Congress. Without registration he could not, and registration was
wrongfully denied him. That many others were thus treated does not
deprive him of his right or deprive him of relief." Justice Harlan
dissented also giving practically the same argument as that of Justice
Brewer. He observed: "The court in effect says that although it may
know that the record fails to show a case within the original
cognizance of the Circuit Court, it may close its eyes to that fact,
and review the case on its merit." In view of the adjudged cases, he
could not agree that the failure of parties to raise a question of
jurisdiction relieved this court of its duty to raise it upon its own
motion.
There was thereafter presented a petition for modification of judgment
and for a rehearing June 1, 1903. The court ordered the decree of
affirmance changed adding these words: "So far as such decree orders
that the petition be dismissed, but without prejudice to such further
proceedings as the petitioner may be advised to make."
The case of _Giles_ v. _Teasley_[65] was, to some extent, of the same
sort. A Negro of Alabama who had previously been a voter and who had
complied with the reasonable requirements of the board of
registration, was refused the right to vote, for, as he alleged, no
reason other than his race and color, the members of the board having
been appointed and having acted under the provision of the State
constitution of 1901. He sued the members of the board for damages and
for such refusal in an action, and applied for a writ of mandamus to
compel them to register him, alleging in both proceedings the denial
of his rights under the Federal Constitution and that the provisions
of the State Constitution were repugnant to the Fifteenth Amendment.
The complaint had been dismissed on demurrer and the writ refused, the
highest court of the State holding that if the provisions of the
constitution were repugnant to the Fifteenth Amendment, they were void
and that the board of registers appointed thereunder had no existence
and no power to act and would not be liable for a refusal to register
him, and could not be compelled by writ of mandamus to do so; that if
the provisions were constitutional, the registrars had acted properly
thereunder and their action was not reviewable by the courts.
"The right of the Supreme Court to review the decisions of the highest
court of a State," said the national tribunal, "is even in cases
involving the violations by the provisions of a State constitution of
the Fifteenth Amendment, circumscribed by rules established by law,
and in every case coming to the court on writ of error or appeal the
question of jurisdiction must be answered whether propounded by the
counsel or not. Where the State court decided the case for reasons
independent of the Federal right claimed its action is not reviewable
on writ of error by the United States Supreme Court." It was held that
the writs of error to this court should be dismissed, as such
decisions do not involve the adjudication against the plaintiff in
error of a right claimed under the Federal Constitution but deny the
relief demanded on grounds wholly independent thereof." In _Wiley_ v.
_Sinkler_, and _Swafford_ v. _Templeton_, the registrars were legally
averred to be qualified.[66]
In the Maryland case of _Pope_ v. _Williams_[67] the court further
explained its position. While the State cannot restrict suffrage on
account of color, the privilege is not given by the Federal
Constitution, nor does it spring from citizenship of the United
States. While the right to vote for members of Congress is derived
exclusively from the law of the State in which they are chosen but has
its foundation in the laws and Constitution of the United States, the
elector must be one entitled to vote under its statute. A law,
therefore, requiring a declaration of intention to become citizens
before registering as voters of all persons coming from without
Maryland is not a violation of the Constitution.
In the case of _Guinn_ v. _United States_[68] the court held that the
literacy test was legal and not subject to revision but in this clause
of the constitution that part of a section providing for literacy was
closely connected with the so-called grandfather clause that the
United States Supreme Court declared both unconstitutional as it did
in the case also of _Myers_ v. _Anderson_,[69] coming from Annapolis,
Maryland, and in the case of _The United States_ v. _Mosely_, from
Oklahoma.[70] The clause referred to follows:
"No person shall be registered as an elector of this State or be
allowed to vote in any election herein, unless he be able to read
and write any section of the Constitution of the State of
Oklahoma; but no person who was on January 1, 1866, or at any
time prior thereto, entitled to vote under any form of
government, or who at that time resided in some foreign nation,
and no lineal descendant of such person, shall be denied the
right to register and vote because of his inability to read and
write sections of such constitution. Precinct election inspectors
having in charge the registration of electors shall enforce the
provisions of this section at the time of registration, provided
registration be required. Should registration be dispensed with,
the provisions of this section shall be enforced by the precinct
officer when electors apply for ballots to vote."
The court held that this was a standard of voting which on its face
was in substance but a revitalization of conditions which when they
prevailed in the past had been destroyed by the self-operative force
of the Thirteenth Amendment.
EDUCATIONAL PRIVILEGES
These suffrage laws left the Negroes in an untoward situation for the
reason that there was little hope that, with the educational
facilities afforded them, that they would soon be able to meet the
same requirement of literacy as that which might not embarrass the
whites offering themselves as jurors and electors. The States upheld
in their action by the United States Supreme Court, had shifted from
their shoulders the burden of the uplift of the Negro by the ingenious
doctrine that equal accommodations did not mean identical
accommodations and that the spirit and the letter of the law would be
complied with by providing separate accommodations for Negroes. In the
end, however, separate accommodations turned out to be in some cases
no accommodations at all.
This was the situation as it was brought out in the case of _Cumming_
v. _The Board of Education of Richmond County_.[71] It appeared that a
tax for schools had been levied in this district. The Negroes objected
to paying that portion of the tax which provided for the maintenance
of a high school, the benefits of which they were denied, when there
was no high school provided for them. The board of education of
Richmond County had maintained a high school for Negroes but abolished
it. The petitioner prayed, therefore, that an injunction be granted
against the collection of such portion of the school tax as was used
for the maintenance of said high school. The defendant set up the plea
that it had not established a white high school, but had merely
appropriated some money to assist a denominational high school for
white children, saying "that it had to choose between maintaining the
lower schools for a large number of Negroes and providing a high
school for about sixty." The board of education, declared, moreover,
that the establishment of a Negro high school was merely postponed.
The opinion of the court was that a decision by a State court, denying
an injunction against the maintenance by a board of education of a
high school for white children, while failing to maintain one for
Negro children also, for the reason that the funds were not sufficient
to maintain it in addition to needed primary schools for Negro
children, does not constitute a denial to persons of color of the
equal protection of the law or equal privileges of citizens of the
United States. The court held that under the circumstances disclosed
it could not say that this action of the State court was, within the
meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment, a denial by the State to the
plaintiffs and to those associated with them of the equal protection
of the laws, or of any privileges belonging to them as citizens of the
United States. While the court admitted that the benefits and burdens
of public taxation must be shared by citizens without discrimination
against any class on account of their race, it held that the education
of people in schools maintained by State taxation is a matter
belonging to the respective States, and any interference on the part
of Federal authority with the management of such schools cannot be
justified except in case of a clear unmistakable disregard of rights
secured by the supreme law of the land.
This is downright sophistry. To any sane man it could not but be
evident that this was an "unmistakable disregard of rights secured by
the Supreme law of the land." The school authorities had separated
white and Negro children for purposes of education on account of race
and had, moreover, refused to grant the Negro children the facilities
equal to those of the white. The State, in the first place, in
establishing separate schools on the basis of race, violated a right
guaranteed the Negro race by the Constitution of the United States,
and the board of education of Richmond County violated still another
in failing to provide for the Negroes the same facilities for high
school education as those furnished the whites while taxing all
citizens without regard to race. It is true that the Federal
Government cannot generally interfere in matters of police regulation
of persons and property in the States but when the matter of race is
introduced the national authority is thoroughly competent within the
Constitution to restrain such local government or any group of persons
so authorized by such government. It would have been unwise for the
court to enjoin the collection of such a tax but it could have on the
constitutional points raised in this case declared invalid laws
separating the races for purposes of education.
The sophistry of the Supreme Court in seeking to justify its refusal
to maintain the rights of the Negro to education is still more evident
from its opinion in the case of _Berea College_ v. _The Commonwealth
of Kentucky_, decided in 1908. Berea College was established in 1856
by a group of antislavery Kentucky mountaineers, led by John G. Fee,
desiring to bring up their children in the love of free institutions.
There were no Negro students prior to the Civil War but a few Negro
soldiers were admitted on returning home from the front in their
uniforms and members of the race were thereafter welcomed at Berea. In
the course of time, however, this coeducation of the races became very
distasteful to the State of Kentucky with its decided increase in race
prejudice necessitating in their economy a thorough proscription of
the Negro race. In 1904, therefore, the State of Kentucky enacted a
law against persons and corporations maintaining schools for both
white persons and Negroes.
Feeling that its charter was violated by this law and also that it
infringed upon the rights guaranteed the Negro in the Constitution of
the United States, Berea College attacked the validity of this measure
in the inferior courts and finally in the Supreme Court of the United
States. The plaintiff unanswerably contended that this Kentucky law
abridged one's privileges and immunities, in violation of the
Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, which
was a limitation on the police power of the State when it brings in
the matter of race. It further contended that the Constitution makes
no distinction between races and that the Fourteenth Amendment is not
only to protect Negroes but to protect white persons in the enjoyment
of their rights. The plaintiff admitted that social equality could not
be enforced by legislation but contended that voluntary social
equality of persons cannot be constitutionally prohibited, unless it
is shown that such is immoral, disorderly, or for some other reason so
palpably injurious to the public welfare as to justify direct
interference with the personal liberty of the citizens.
Evidently wishing to find some ground upon which it could base its
opinion upholding the Supreme Court of Kentucky which had sustained
this statute, the Supreme Court of the United States fell back upon
various principles of interpretation. The court said it would not
disturb the judgment of the State court resting on Federal or
non-Federal grounds, if the latter was sufficient to sustain the
decision in as much as the State court determines the extent of the
limitations of powers conferred by the State on its corporations. It
directed attention to the fact that a corporation is not entitled to
all the immunities to which individuals are entitled and a State may
withhold from its corporations privileges and powers of which it
cannot constitutionally deprive individuals. A State statute limiting
the powers of corporations and individuals may be constitutional as to
the former, although unconstitutional as to the latter; and if
separable it will not be held unconstitutional in the instance of a
corporation unless it clearly appears that the legislature would not
have enacted it as to corporations separately. "The same rule,"
continues the court, "which permits separable sections of a statute to
be declared unconstitutional without rendering the entire statute void
applies to separable provisions of a section of a statute. In coming
to the assistance of the Supreme Court of Kentucky the national
tribunal said the prohibition of Kentucky against persons and
corporations maintaining schools for both white persons and Negroes is
separable and, even if an unconstitutional restraint as to
individuals, is not unconstitutional as to corporations, it being
within the power of the State to determine the powers conferred upon
its corporations.
The court conceded that the reserve power to alter, or amend charters
is subject to reasonable limitations but insisted that the Kentucky
law includes no alteration or amendment which defeats or substantially
impairs the object of the grant of vested rights. The court then went
almost out of its way to say that "a general statute which in effect
alters or amends a charter is to be construed as an amendment for all
even if not in terms so designated. The court conceded that a statute
which permits the education of both whites and Negroes at the same
time in different localities, although prohibiting their attendance in
the same place, does not defeat the object of a grant to maintain the
college for all persons and is not violative of the contract clause of
the Federal Constitution, the State law having reserved the right to
repeal, alter and amend charters.
Justice Harlan dissented. He referred to the fact that the court held
also, in _Huntington_ v. _Werthen_,[72] that if one provision of a
statute be invalid the whole act will fall, where "it is evident the
legislature would not have enacted one of them without the other."
Harlan meant to say here that to construe this law as applying only to
corporations and not to individuals would give it an interpretation
that the legislature never had in mind. The intention of the State
legislature was to prevent all coeducation of Negroes and whites
whether it should be done by persons or corporations. The whole law,
therefore, should fall. Justice Harlan conceded that a State reserved
the right to repeal the charter but it was not repealed by this act.
The statute did not purport even to amend the charter of any
particular corporation but assumed to establish a certain rule
applicable alike to all individuals, associations, or corporations
that teach the white and black races together in the same institution.
This decision of the United States Supreme Court was then nothing more
than "fine sophistry" to sanction an arbitrary invasion of the rights
of liberty and property guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.
Justice Harlan contended that if the giving of instruction is not a
property right, it is one's liberty. Exposing the sophistry of the
court he remarked that if the schools must be subjected to such
segregation, why not also the Sabbath Schools and Churches? "If States
can prohibit the coeducation of the whites and blacks it may prohibit
the association of the Anglo-Saxons and Latins; of the Christians and
the Jews. Have we become so inoculated with prejudice of race,"
continued Justice Harlan, "that an American government, professedly
based on the principles of freedom, and charged with the protection of
all citizens alike, can make distinctions between such citizens in the
matter of their voluntary meeting for innocent purposes simply because
of their respective races? Further if the lower court be right, then a
State may make it a crime for white and colored persons to frequent
the same market places, at the same time, or appear in an assembly of
citizens convened to consider questions of a public or political
nature in which all citizens without regard to race, are equally
interested."
THE RIGHT TO LABOR
Although the Negro by these various decisions of the Supreme Court of
the United States had been deprived of rights essential to freedom and
citizenship in matters of voting, service upon juries, education, and
the use of common carriers, there remained even another right which
was to be infringed upon without the hope of any redress from the
United States Supreme Court. This was the right to contract, to labor.
Every honest man should live by his own labor and it is a well
established principle of democratic government, that in the exercise
of this right the individual should be free not only from interference
on the part of the government but should enjoy protection from
individuals subject to the government. Because of the development of
race prejudice into a flame of bitter antagonism among the laboring
men during the period of commercial expansion in the United States
since the Reconstruction period, the country has been all but
thoroughly organized through trades unions, so as to restrict the
Negro to menial service by written constitutions in keeping with the
caste which has so long figured conspicuously in American
institutions.
Negroes sought redress in the courts and finally in the United States
Supreme Court, the best case in evidence being that of _Hodges_ v.
_United States_.[73] In this case came a complaint from certain
Negroes in Arkansas laboring in the service of an employer according
to a contract. Because of their color certain criminals in that
community conspired to injure, oppress, threaten and intimidate them,
resulting in the severance of their connection with this employer and
the consequent economic loss resulting therefrom. The Negroes thus
complaining brought this case to the United States Supreme Court
contending that a remedy for this evil was to be found in the revised
statutes of the United States Senate, Sections 1977, 1979, 5508, and
5510. These sections follow in the order of their importance:
_Section 5508._ If two or more persons conspire to injure,
oppress, threaten or intimidate any citizen in the free exercise
or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the
Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his
having so exercised the same; or if two or more persons go in
disguise on the highway, or on the premises of another, with
intent to hinder his free exercise or enjoyment of any right or
privilege so secured, they shall be fined not more than five
thousand dollars and imprisoned not more than ten years, and
shall, moreover, be thereafter ineligible to any office, or place
of honor, profit or trust created by the Constitution or laws of
the United States.
Other statutes referred to but not so vital were:
_Section 1977._ All persons within the jurisdiction of the United
States shall have the same right in every State and Territory to
make and enforce contracts, to sue the parties, give evidence,
and to the full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for
the security of persons and property as is enjoyed by white
citizens, and shall be subject to like punishment, pains,
penalties, taxes, licenses, and exactions of every kind, and to
no other.
_Section 1978._ All citizens of the United States shall have the
same right in every State and territory, as is enjoyed by white
citizens thereof to inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, and
convey real and personal property.
_Section 1979._ Every person who, under color of any statute,
ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or
Territory, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of
the United States or other persons within the jurisdiction
thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or
immunities, secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable
to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or
other proper proceeding for redress.
_Section 5510._ Every person who, under color of any law,
statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, subjects or causes to
be subjected, any inhabitant of any State or Territory to the
deprivation of any right, privilege, or immunities, secured or
protected by the Constitution and laws of the United States or to
different punishments, pains or penalties, on account of such
inhabitants being an alien, or by reason of his color, or race,
than are prescribed for the punishment of citizens, shall be
punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by
imprisonment not more than one year, or by both.
The decision in this case was in substance that Congress cannot make
it an offense against the United States for individuals to combine or
conspire to prevent even by force, citizens of African descent, solely
because of their race, from earning a living, although the right to
earn one's living in all legal ways and to make lawful contracts in
reference thereto is a vital point of freedom established by the
Constitution. Section 5508 had been upheld in _Ex Parte
Yarborough_,[74] and in the case of _Logan_ v. the _United States_[75]
the court referred to this section as having been upheld in _Ex Parte
Yarborough_. In _United States_ v. _Reese_, moreover,[76] Justice
Waite said in 1875, speaking for the court, "The rights and immunities
created by or dependent upon the Constitution of the United States can
be protected by Congress. The form and the manner of the protection
may be such as Congress in the legitimate exercise of its legislative
discretion shall provide. This may be varied to meet the necessities
of the particular right to be protected."
"The whole scope and effect of this series of decisions," continued
the court, "was that, while certain fundamental rights recognized and
declared but not granted or created, in some of the amendments to the
Constitution are thereby guaranteed only against violation or
abridgement by the United States, or by the States, as the case may
be, and cannot, therefore, be affirmatively enforced by Congress
against unlawful causes of individuals; yet that every right created
by, arising under, or dependent upon the Constitution of the United
States may be protected and enforced by Congress by such means and in
such manner as Congress in the exercise of the correlative duty of
protection, or of the legislative powers conferred upon it by the
Constitution, may in its discretion deem most eligible and best
adopted to attain the object." This doctrine was sustained also by the
decision in the case of _United States_ v. _Waddell_,[77] and _Motes_
v. _United States_.[78] Here it was emphatically stated that Congress
might pass any law necessary or proper for carrying out any power
conferred upon it by the Constitution.
The court here, however, evaded the real question as before, dodging
behind the doctrine that while a State or the United States could not
abridge the privileges and immunities of citizens, individuals or
groups of individuals may do so and Congress has no power to interfere
in such matters since these come within the police power of the State.
In other words, the government cannot discriminate against the Negro
itself, but it can establish agencies with power to do it. It is not
surprising that Justice Harlan dissented, feeling as he had on former
occasions that this decision permitted the States and groups of
individuals supposedly subject to the government of those States to
fasten upon the Negro badges or incidents of slavery in violation of
the civil rights guaranteed him by the Thirteenth and Fourteenth
Amendments. He believed that Congress had the right to pass any law to
protect citizens in the enjoyment of any right granted him by
Congress. The duty of the Federal government as Justice Harlan saw it
was very clear in that the State had caused the race question to be
injected therein and in such a case Congress always has power to act.
On the whole, however, the United States Supreme Court has not yet had
the moral courage to face the issue in cases involving the
constitutional rights of the Negro. Not a decision of that tribunal
has yet set forth a straightforward opinion as to whether the States
can enact one code of laws for the Negroes and another for the other
elements of our population in spite of the fact that the Constitution
of the United States prohibits such iniquitous legislation. In cases
in which this question has been frankly put the court has wiggled out
of it by some such declaration as that the case was improperly
brought, that there were defects in the averments, or that the court
lacked jurisdiction.
In the matter of jurisdiction the United States Supreme Court has been
decidedly inconsistent. This tribunal at first followed the opinion
of Chief Justice John Marshall in the case of _Osborn_ v. _United
States Bank_,[79] that "when a question to which the judicial power of
the United States is extended by the Constitution forms an ingredient
of the original cause it is in the power of Congress to give the
Circuit Courts the jurisdiction of that cause, although other
questions of fact or of law may be involved." Prior to the rise of the
Negro to the status of so-called citizenship the court built upon this
decision the prerogative of examining all judicial matters pertaining
to the Federal Government until it made itself the sole arbiter in all
important constitutional questions and became the bulwark of
nationalism. After some reaction the court resumed that position in
all of its decisions except those pertaining to the Negro; for in the
recent commercial expansion of the country involving the litigation of
unusually large property values, the United States Supreme Court has
easily found grounds for jurisdiction where economic rights are
concerned; but just as easily disclaims jurisdiction where human
rights are involved in cases in which Negroes happen to be the
complainants.
The fairminded man, the patriot of foresight, observes, therefore,
with a feeling of disappointment this prostitution of an important
department of the Federal Government to the use of the reactionary
forces in the United States endeavoring to whittle away the essentials
of the Constitution which guarantees to all persons in this country
all the rights enjoyed under the most progressive democracy on earth.
Since the Civil War the United States Supreme Court instead of
performing the intended function of preserving the Constitution by
democratic interpretation, has by its legislative decisions
practically stricken therefrom so many of its liberal provisions and
read into the Constitution so much caste and autocracy that discontent
and radicalism have developed almost to the point of eruption.
C. G. WOODSON
FOOTNOTES:
[1] _McCulloch_ v. _Maryland_, 4 Wheaton, 416.
[2] _Ibid._, 416.
[3] _Ibid._, 416.
[4] _Dred Scott_ v. _Sanford_, 19 Howard, 399.
[5] 16 Peters, 539, 612.
[6] _Dred Scott_ v. _Sanford_, 19 Howard, 399.
[6a] 21 Howard, 506.
[7] 6 Howard, 344.
[8] 94 U.S., 113.
[9] 16 Wall., 678.
[10] This was held in _Township of Queensburg_ v. _Culver_ (19 Wall.,
83), in _Township of Pine Grove_ v. _Talcott_ (19 Wall., 666), and in
Massachusetts in _Worcester_ v. _Western R. R. Corporation_ (4 Met.,
564).
[11] _Storey on Bailments_, Sec. 475-6, and _Rex_ v. _Ivens_, 7
Carrington & Payne, 213; 32, E. C. L., 495.
[12] 16 Wall., 36.
[13] 100 U. S., 303.
[14] 100 U. S., 306.
[15] 103 U. S., 386.
[16] _Ex Parte Virginia_, 100 U. S., 346-7.
[17] 14 statutes, 27, Chapter 31.
[18] 16 statutes, 140, Chapter 114.
[19] 109 U. S., 1.
[20] _United States_ v. _Cruikshank_, 92 U. S., 542; _Virginia_ v.
_Rives_, 100 U. S., 318; _Ex Parte Virginia_, 100 U. S., 339.
[21] 6 Cranch, 128.
[22] 99 U. S., 418.
[23] _United States_ v. _Reese_, 92 U. S., 214; _Strauder_ v. _West
Virginia_, 100 U. S., 303.
[24] _Ward_ v. _Maryland_, 12 Wall., 418; _Corfield_ v. _Coryell_, 4
Washington, D. C., 371; _Paul_ v. _Virginia_, 8 Wall., 168;
_Slaughter-house cases_, _Ibid._, 36.
[25] 92 U. S., 542.
[26] 95 U. S., 487.
[27] The Louisiana Act was:
_Section--._ All persons engaged within this State in the
business of common carriers of passengers, shall have the right
to refuse to admit any person to their railroad cars, street
cars, steamboats or other water-crafts, stage coaches,
omnibusses, or other vehicles, or to expel any person therefrom
after admission, when such persons shall, on demand, refuse or
neglect to pay the customary fare, or when such person shall be
of infamous character or shall be guilty, after admission to the
conveyance of the carrier, of gross, vulgar, or disorderly
conduct, or who shall commit any act tending to injure the
business of the carrier, prescribed for the management of his
business, after such rules and regulations shall have been made
known: _Provided_, said rules and regulations make no
discrimination on account of race or color, and shall have the
right to refuse any person admission to such conveyance where
there is not room or suitable accommodation; and, except in cases
above enumerated, all persons engaged in the business of common
carriers of passengers are forbidden to refuse admission to their
conveyance, or to expel therefrom any person whomsoever.
_Section 4._ For a violation of any provision of the first and
second sections of this act, the party injured shall have right
of action to recover any damage, exemplary as well as actual,
which he may sustain, before any court of competent jurisdiction.
Acts of 1869, page 77; Rev. Stat. 1870, page 93.
[28] Mr. Justice Clifford concurred in the judgment but went into
details to justify the segregation whereas the opinion of the court
merely tried to see whether the details conflicted with the power of
Congress to regulate commerce.
[29] 118 W. S., 557.
[30] All of these are in 94 U. S.
[31] 133 U. S., 587.
[32] This was the law of Mississippi:
_Sec. 1._ "Be it enacted, That all railroads carrying passengers
in this State (other than street railroads) shall provide equal,
but separate accommodation for the white and colored races by
providing two or more passenger cars for each passenger train, or
by dividing the passenger cars by a partition, so as to secure
separate accommodations."
_Sec. 2._ That the conductors of such passenger trains shall have
power and are hereby required to assign each passenger to the car
or the compartment of a car (when it is divided by a partition)
used for the race to which said passenger belongs; and that,
should any passenger refuse to occupy the car to which he or she
is assigned by such conductor, said conductor shall have the
power to refuse to carry such passenger on his train and neither
he nor the railroad company shall be liable for any damages in
any event in this State.
_Sec. 3._ That all railroad companies that shall refuse or
neglect within sixty days after the approval of this act to
comply with the requirements of section one of this act, shall be
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall upon conviction in a
court of competent jurisdiction, be fined not more than five
hundred dollars; and any conductor that shall neglect to, or
refuse to carry out the provisions of this act, shall, upon
conviction, be fined not less than twenty-five nor more than
fifty dollars for each offense.
_Sec. 4._ That all acts and parts of acts in conflict with this
act be, and the same are hereby repealed, and this act to take
effect and be in force from and after passage. Acts of 1888, p.
48.
[33] 133 U. S., 592.
[34] 163 U. S., 317.
[35] _Ibid._, 537.
[36] 169 U. S., 613, 645.
[37] 141 U. S., 61.
[38] In _Pa. R. R. Co._ v. _Hughes_ (191 U. S., 489), Justice White
says:
"In the absence of Congressional legislation upon the subject an
act of the Alabama legislature to require locomotive engineers to
be examined and licensed by a board to be appointed by the
governor for that purpose was sustained in _Smith_ v. _Alabama_"
(124 U. S., 465).
[39] 179 U. S., 393.
[40] 133 U. S., 587.
[41] 163 U. S., 537.
[42] 179 U. S., 388, 391.
[43] 133 U. S., 588.
[44] 218 U. S., 71.
[45] 235 U. S., 151.
[46] U. S., 18, 1907 Revised Statutes, 1910, Section 860, _et seq._
[47] 100 U. S., 303.
[48] _Ibid._, 313.
[49] 103 U. S., 370.
[50] 162 U. S., 565.
[51] 107 U. S., 110.
[52] 162 U. S., 592.
[53] 163 U. S., 101.
[54] 167 U. S., 442.
[55] 192 U. S., 226.
[56] 200 U. S., 316.
[57] 218 U. S., 161.
[58] Laws of South Carolina, 1902, page 1066, section 2.
[59] 100 U. S., 371.
[60] 110 U. S., 651.
[61] 127 U. S., 731.
[62] 179 U. S., 58.
[63] 185 U. S.
[64] 189 U. S., 475.
[65] 193 U. S., 146.
[66] The Constitution of Mississippi prescribing the qualifications
for electors conferred upon the legislature the power to enact laws to
carry those provisions into effect. Ability to read any section of the
Constitution or to understand it when read was made a qualification
necessary to a legal voter. Another provision made the qualifications
for grand or petit jurors that they should be able to read and write.
Upon the complaint of Negroes thus disabled the court held that these
provisions do not on their face discriminate between white and Negro
races and do not amount to a denial of the equal protection of the law
secured by the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution. It had not
been shown that their actual administration was evil, but that only
evil was possible under them.
In Washington County, Mississippi, Williams had been indicted for
murder by a grand jury composed of white men altogether. He moved that
the indictment be quashed because the law by which the grand jury was
established was unconstitutional. (_Williams_ v. _Mississippi._)
[67] 193 U. S., 621.
[68] 238 U. S., 347.
[69] _Ibid._, 368.
[70] _Ibid._, 763.
[71] 175 U. S., 528.
[72] 120 U. S., 102.
[73] 202 U. S., 1.
[74] 110 U. S., 651.
[75] 144 U. S., 236, 286, 293.
[76] 92 U. S., 214, 217.
[77] 110 U. S., 651.
[78] 178 U. S., 458, 462.
[79] 9 Wheaton, 738.
REMY OLLIER, MAURITIAN JOURNALIST AND PATRIOT[1]
It is of interest to the Negro to know the patriots of the race who
have blazed the path of social progress in the various lands in which
their lots have been cast. Not to all men is it given to be great as
the world counts greatness. Each of us, however, may have a task
which, if well done, may leave its impress upon the life of the
community in which we live. These, although obscure, efforts of the
talented and persevering are the monuments which silently mark the
progress of the race. Remy Ollier was one of these obscure
personalities; but yet, a man whose career made such contributions to
the life of Mauritius that he is regarded by its people as one of the
great figures in its political history. He was an educator, a
journalist, a patriot, and in some respects a liberator of his people.
Mauritius is an island under British control situated in the Indian
Ocean. It is 550 miles east of Madagascar, which lies off the east
coast of Africa. Under the control of the French, it was known as Ile
de France. It is mountainous in character and its scenery is most
beautiful and picturesque. Its inhabitants may be divided into two
main divisions: Europeans, chiefly French and British; and African and
Asiatic peoples. French appears to be more commonly spoken than
English, which accounts for the fact that the writings of Remy Ollier
were in French.
The island was discovered by the Portuguese navigator, Mascarenhas in
1505. Until the sixteenth century the island remained under the
control of Portugal. In 1598, the Dutch seized it and named it
"Mauritius" in honor of its stadholder, Count Maurice of Nassau. The
Dutch built a fort there, introduced slaves and convicts, but they
made no permanent settlements and, in 1710, it was abandoned. For a
short time the island passed into the hands of the French East India
Company, and later it became a crown colony. During the colonial wars
between France and Great Britain, Mauritius was a source of much
conflict. It was finally captured by the British in 1810; and by the
Treaty of Paris in 1814, the British were definitely granted control
of the island. Great Britain agreed, however, that the inhabitants
should retain their own laws, customs, religion and language, all of
which were of French origin.
In 1833 slavery was abolished in the British possessions. The Reformed
Parliament forced by the denunciation of antislavery orators led by
William Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson, and Granville Sharp, enacted a
bill providing that Negro slavery should gradually cease in the
colonies, and that a compensation of £20,000,000 should be paid to the
slaveholders. There were then enacted laws removing proscription and
the Negroes were supposed to enjoy the same political rights as the
whites; but the latter sought to make themselves the dominant element
in Mauritius. In 1834 there were about 66,000 Negroes on the island,
which ten years later had a population of 158,462.[2] Indian coolies
were brought in to take the place of Negro slaves and many evils
attended their introduction. The situation was then as it was later in
the United States when the adjustment of freedmen to their new life
was accompanied by painful experiences on the part of both freedmen
and their former masters. The planters resented the presence of the
freedmen and as far as possible their privileges were curtailed.[3]
Militant agitators arose then among the Negroes demanding justice for
the oppressed. Among these leaders thus promoting the march of the
Negro population of Mauritius toward freedom were Adrien d'Epinay,
whose prominence is attested by a monument to be erected in his
memory, and Remy Ollier, who still lives in the hearts of his
countrymen.
Remy Ollier was born at Grand Port on the island of Mauritius, October
16, 1816, six years after the conquest of the island by the English.
He was the fourth child of Benoit Ollier, an artillery officer. His
mother, J. Guillemeau, was a daughter of Dr. Guillemeau, a physician,
and formerly a member of the Legislative Council of the island. When
eight years of age, Ollier was sent to a private school taught by
Captain Rault, a seaman who had served under Louis XVI. This work was
supplemented by lessons every Saturday under the Reverend Father Rock,
who was impressed with the boy's ability, and with the consent of his
parents taught him the elements of English and Latin. Allowed to use
the library of Mr. Rault, Ollier early became acquainted with the best
literature. It is said that he had a very retentive memory and that he
could repeat and write at will long passages from his favorite
authors.
About 1832, an unexpected reverse in fortune reduced Ollier's father
to abject poverty, and he died of a broken heart. Ollier, now scarcely
sixteen, went to work as a clerk in a merchant's office; but his
mother, thinking that his future in a clerkship was limited, secured
him a place as an apprentice to a harness-maker. With a book in one
hand and an awl in the other, Ollier prepared himself for his future
career. Opportunities in the larger fields of life were closed to the
Negro population as stated in the words of Ollier "that young men of
the present generation could but become handicraftsmen. This is the
only field open to us. But we must try to educate ourselves by all
means; perseverance is the only key that opens the door to success. At
whatever social rank man may be placed, education alone may confer
upon him a superiority."
In 1833 there occurred an incident which proved to be a turning point
in his life. Several members of the white population were charged with
forming a conspiracy against British rule in the island. Rumor had it
further that they had gathered arms and ammunition, that they expected
to attack the British officials and restore the island to France. They
were imprisoned and were denied the writ of habeas corpus. Young
Ollier had developed a keen interest in politics and asked the
permission of his employer to pay the men a visit. Later, he spent
many of his working hours at the court trials to which he seemed
irresistibly drawn. His employer wrote his mother stating that her son
would never make a harness-maker; for he spent most of his time either
in study when in the shop or at the courts when he should have been at
work. His mother, whom he always loved, burned his books and
reprimanded him for his conduct. For some time, he remained at the
harness shop, but finally gave up the work in order to pursue the
study he desired. Through his former friend, Mr. Rault, he obtained
many books to replace the ones which he had lost by the hasty action
of his mother.
By tutoring the children in the village of Petite Riviere and in the
town of Port Louis, he managed to obtain a living. In 1837, he opened
a private school in St. George street. It appears that this venture
was not successful, for he soon accepted a position in a "boarding
school conducted by Mr. Louis Barthelemy Raynaud, a white Mauritian
Professor who did not scruple to teach the young generations of the
white as well as of the colored population." When not engaged in
tutoring at this school and the neighboring schools for young ladies,
Ollier might be found devouring books on metaphysics, morals,
criticism and politics. He was asked by several private institutions
to give lessons in English, French and Geography; but while teaching
others, he himself was studying with Mr. H. N. D. Beyts, who twice
filled the post of officer administering the government. Ollier
continued his work as a teacher until 1839. At the end of the school
year, prizes were distributed, and he had the pleasure of presenting a
prize to Miss Louis Sidonie Ferret whom he married in December, 1840.
About a year before his marriage, he bought the school from Mr.
Raynaud, with the idea of enlarging it according to his own plans; but
this project failed for some unknown reason. He then undertook a trip
to India, which seems to have been successful. On his return, he
entered business, opening two large stores. His associate did not
agree with him in his business plans and the business was dissolved by
legal process. He then resumed his position as a teacher in the
boarding schools. In 1841, he and his wife opened a school in the
western suburb of Port Louis where the Negro population could bring
their children for a liberal education upon the payment of a moderate
fee. This helped him for a time to solve some of his financial
problems but finally failed.
Ollier remained an insatiable reader. He took an active part in a
literary club in Port Louis, _Le Société d'Emulation Intellectuelle_,
and this association helped greatly to increase his knowledge of the
literary world. He read literature, history, travels, philosophy,
politics and such authors as Lamennais, Montesquieu, Diderot,
Rousseau, Voltaire, Adam Smith, Horace Say, Ricardo and the like. He
read not only because of his love of reading but because he was
ambitious to prepare himself for larger duties. The largest duty as he
seemed to see it was the freedom of his people from insult and
injustice, and the recognition of his people upon the same level as
other Mauritians. Before the edict of emancipation, the Legislative
Council on June 22, 1829, had granted the free population of color the
same civil rights and privileges as other Mauritians possessed, but
the local government had failed to carry out the enactment. Remy
Ollier felt that this was a blot on the fair name of his country, as
well as an affront to his people and longed to do his part in bringing
about a change, which he believed could be effected by a newspaper.
An unusual incident translated into action his idea of founding a
newspaper. Alexander Dumas had written a play entitled "Anthony,"
which is composed especially "to castigate morals by exposing vice in
opposition to virtue." A contributor to one of the two papers, _Le
Mauricien_, attacked the production of the play, and held up to
ridicule the police authorities, who were supposed to be vested with
censorial powers. He also criticized the author as a Negro glorifying
adultery. The Negroes of the island became indignant and several
answers were evoked. Remy Ollier presented a strong defense for Dumas.
Another vigorous defense was prepared by Evénor Hitie, a writer of
history. These articles were sent to the two papers of the island: _Le
Cerneen_ and _Le Mauricien_, both of which refused to publish them. An
Englishman, Mr. Edward Baker, the owner of a printing plant, printed
the two answers and circulated them in tract form.
The need of a newspaper became evident to the Negro population. In the
time of Ollier, the press was used chiefly for political purposes
rather than for the dissemination of information. Policies and parties
were aided or hindered by the press, and this was its principal
function. _Le Balance_ had been the champion for the government and
the rights of the weaker groups; but the editor, Mr. Berquin, was
deported in 1833 because of utterances which were considered inimical
to the policies of the colonial government. Since 1833, there had been
no paper to champion the rights of the Negroes.
After the publication of the answers to the contributor of _Le
Mauricien_, certain influential members of the Negro population, among
whom was Remy Ollier, called to see Sir Lionel Smith, G.C.B., Baronet
and Governor of the island of Mauritius. It is said that they were
warmly received, and that he was astonished to learn that the Negroes,
a majority of whom were "the equals of the whites by their stature, by
their hearts and their intelligence," had no paper "to make known
their wishes and their complaints." He advised his hearers to start a
paper, and he promised to support their reasonable demands. But, dying
in 1842, Sir Lionel Smith was unable to give any assistance to the new
publication.
Through the assistance of Mr. Edward Baker, the printer, the paper _Le
Sentinelle de Maurice_ was started. The prospectus, written in French
and in English appeared March 21, 1843, and on Saturday, April 8, the
first number of the paper came from the press. It was a weekly
publication with Ollier and Baker as the editors. The former wrote
articles in French and the latter in English, the articles of each
being admirably written. Each one in his own sphere spoke with great
vehemence and elevation of mind for the cause of "liberty and
justice." The paper was read with avidity by the middle and lower
classes, and the Negroes soon regarded Ollier as their champion.
The first and most important fight which Ollier felt called upon to
enter was the nomination by the Governor of members to the Legislative
Council in June, 1843. Ollier noticed that no Negro member was
nominated. The vacant seat was given to a white representative, Mr.
Forster. Ollier observed "that although a white man whose heart is
right and whose intentions are pure can represent the population of
color," yet he considered the appointment "as an act that was unjust,
impolitic, undemocratic and unconstitutional." He added in explanation
that the act was unjust "because all the children of the
mother-country, the white colonists especially, were already
represented in the Council, except the men of color, whose number is
twice that of other populations of the country; their destiny more
illustrious, and the high state of their experience, their education,
their intelligence and their morals are the same as with others;
impolitic, because it discontents and disheartens the loyal and
faithful British subjects and might alienate from the government the
hearts of those who have invariably remained attached to it;
undemocratic, and unconstitutional because the British constitution
makes no exception of any person, and because it desires that all its
subjects should have an equal part in its benefits."
In 1843, Ollier determined to have his paper appear three times a
week, and for this purpose he bought the printing plant of _La
Balance_, the paper which had been forced to suspend its publication
ten years before. On the top of the first page of the paper, the royal
arms of Great Britain were placed with the motto "Honi soit qui mal y
pense! Dieut et mon droit!" He dedicated the paper to a strict
vigilance over the abuse of power, "to redress the grievances of the
weak and to encourage merit in all classes, creed or color." Those who
now assisted him in the editorial work besides Mr. Baker, who edited
the English page, were his wife, Emile Sandapa, and Emile Bouchet, a
lawyer, who later defended Ollier when he was sued for libel. His
editorials framed in animating language aroused his countrymen from
their inaction and awakened in them new hopes and aspirations.
Ollier again attacked the government and the party in power, because
no place was made for the Negro element in its civil service. In the
first issue of _La Sentinelle_, he wrote, "From day to day the
Maurician Press develops a system entirely dangerous and which seems
to have this for a foundation--to discredit and debase English
institutions and the English Government in the eyes of all. Here are
the consequences of this system--the government believing that the
opinions of the press are those of all the inhabitants of Maurice, has
seen in us enemies rather than loyal and faithful subjects, whence
this continual defiance which has driven up to now the people of color
from all the public employment.... The organs of this country are all
in accord in saying that the government of the United Kingdom is
pernicious to us, that it long since desires and plans our ruin; and
when our riches and our prosperity proclaim openly the falseness of
these allegations, they wish that England, who makes possible this
well-being for us, may not have a deep indignation against those who
do not have even enough generosity to recognize the benefits of their
mother-country.... As for us, our mission is to call all parties of
our population to a united intelligence...." On October 22, 1844, he
exclaimed, regarding racial distinctions: "Education levels
everything. An erudite man in any class is equal to any other man
having the same degree of education; he is a demi-god and is superior
to kings, when the latter are immersed in the darkness of ignorance."
Ollier continued the attacks upon the government because of its
discrimination against its citizens of color and yet he remained a
lover of his country. Not only did he agitate through the columns of
paper, but also through other available channels. In 1843, he drafted
a petition to which many signatures were attached and sent it to Queen
Victoria. This action has been called the death-blow to the monopoly
of the local parliament by the white population. The petition was:
"May it please your Majesty,--On various occasions the British
Throne has been approached by individual members or collective
bodies of the Mauritius community in the exercise of that
inestimable privilege of your Majesty's faithful subjects, the
right of petition; but hitherto, never has any prayer of the
great majority of your Majesty's loyal and attached subjects in
this island been thus presented to your Majesty's attention.
"The colored classes of Mauritius, comprising a population of
about 70,000, and including at least one third of the island's
wealth and intelligence, although not deprived of any political
right by the fundamental laws of the British realm, or by any act
of Your Majesty's Parliament, actually enjoy but few privileges
of British subjects; and can scarcely be said to have a political
existence in the affairs of their native island.
"Your Majesty's petitioners will refer to the fact of no
individual of the coloured classes having a seat in the Council
of Government; notwithstanding that there are many in the island
in every respect qualified by riches, talents, education, and
moral character, to occupy a place in that assembly.
"Whilst therefore gratefully recognizing the equity and
impartiality of the British laws and institutions, in which alone
repose their best hopes for themselves and their children, your
Majesty's petitioners humbly and reverently approach Your
Imperial Throne with the prayer that, His Excellency the Governor
of Mauritius may be authorized to call to his council one or more
representatives of the people of colour in this island; or
otherwise to grant to the country the privilege of electing its
own representatives. Your Majesty's petitioners will only add the
sincere declaration of their loyal and patriotic attachment to
Your Majesty's person and Throne and Government; and your
petitioners will ever pray."
In 1843, the editor of _Le Cerneen_, the oldest newspaper in the
colony, was prosecuted, fined and imprisoned for publishing a
defamatory article against the magistrate of Port Louis. Ollier had
always advocated the freedom of the press, and he protested against
the law which suppressed free speech, and against the persecution of a
fellow-journalist, although the latter was his political enemy.
Ollier's biographer adds: "Ollier indeed was an ardent lover and a
good hater. This noble heart and comprehensive mind made him
understand his duty toward men. He forgot enmity when fundamental
principles were not adequately observed."
In 1844, there was established a rival newspaper, _l'Esprit Public_,
to combat the policies of Remy Ollier. It was edited by Mr. Bruils,
who had been educated in Europe as a lawyer. He began by finding fault
with the style and grammatical form of Ollier's writing, but it is
said that the subject-matter of his editorials could be rarely
attacked. Ollier's writings were always hasty and he rarely took the
time to polish them, while Bruil's style was more smooth and uniform.
Ollier's style, however, was easy and original. He replied
effectively to the invective of his enemies in prose and in verse. He
seems to have had no difficulty in the composition of his sentences
nor did he take the pains which would seem to be necessary for the
average man to acquire the finished journalistic style. His motto was
as he wrote a page "une feuille lue aujourd'hui, oubliée demain."
Therefore, he gave his copies to the compositors without rereading
them. Concerning the correctness of his writings, his biographer
writes: "Like Carlyle, Shelly, Bossuet, Mirabeau and Moliere, the
editor of _La Sentinelle_ perpetrated many a small sin against the
rules of grammar and certainly paid but a halting attention to the
nice distinctions of punctuation. He very often did not know where to
end a paragraph and begin another. On the whole, he is happily not
obscure." His main effort was to state his idea and when he had made
his statement, he was not as careful as he should have been regarding
the construction of the statement. He consoled himself with the words,
"Grammar is of man; the idea is of God."
His enemies, however, could not say that he was trying to overthrow
the empire, for he was merely struggling for the liberty guaranteed by
the empire. "In all the British Empire," said he, "there are no
subjects more loyal than we. We are English today, we are not a
conquered people, we are English people." He was convinced that if
England would give the rights of Englishmen to the Mauritians, she
would find them "as devoted as any children she could count in her
bosom." He added, however, "We belong to England. Why do we not
possess the institutions of England? If she wishes to make us love our
nationality, to endow our island with that which makes for the glory
of our mother-country; this, we shall not be able to know or
appreciate if we are strangers to all that which makes it cherish its
children and respect its people! At the sight of our institutions, in
the presence of the happenings in Mauritius, advancements ruined,
individual liberty violated, human life despised, one cannot believe
that we belong to an English administration, and that we are a part
of the most democratic people in the world."
It was agitation of this type which brought about what may be
considered the definite contributions of Remy Ollier to Mauritian
life: the creation of the Municipality, the Chambers of Commerce and
Agriculture, the opening of credits to the Negroes by the Mauritian
Commercial Bank, the reforms at the Royal College respecting the
English Scholarships, and the employment of men of color in the
departments of the government. His attacks upon capital punishment and
barbarous prison treatment resulted in laws which mitigated the former
harsh conditions, and his criticism of the banking institutions in the
crisis of 1843 led to considerable reform in that quarter. His bitter
attacks on political and social conditions made many enemies. One
evening, he was waylaid by several assailants and given a whipping. He
was imprisoned, but he wrote in prison as well as elsewhere.
His political activity was short, for in the early part of 1845, about
two years after his appearance in journalism, he died at the early age
of 28 years, after a short illness due to an inflammation of the
intestines. Stoically he bore the bitter effects of his courageous
utterances; and when death came to him after only a short period of
endeavor, both in the interests of his own people, and also of the
weaker classes of all groups, the success of his efforts had just
begun to appear. The name of Remy Ollier in Mauritian history,
therefore, symbolizes perseverance in the face of great obstacles,
agitation as an instrument of social progress, patriotism as it
relates to the island of Mauritius, and justice respecting all classes
and races. In 1916, the centenary of his birth was celebrated in Port
Louis. Then it was that the city and island demonstrated its love and
gratitude for Ollier, because of the services which he rendered the
colony in general and the population of color in particular. Remy
Ollier was one of the unknown leaders in the cause of freedom.
CHARLES H. WESLEY
FOOTNOTES:
[1] This sketch is drawn largely from a pamphlet, presented to the
Association for the study of Negro Life and History by the author A.
F. Fokeer. The author states that he has not had access to all the
material which he desired to use, for when he applied to the
municipality for one of the books concerning Ollier, he received an
answer stating "that books written by Mauritians, and published in the
colony are by no means to be lent to anybody." Therefore, the source
from which most of our information is secured is _A Biographical
Sketch of the Life, Work and Character of Remy Ollier_ by A. F.
Fokeer, published by the General Printing and Stationery Cy. Ld., 23
Church Street, Mauritius. 1917.
[2] Earlier figures are not available.
[3] General information concerning the island may be obtained from the
following: Martin, _The British Possessions in Africa_, Vol. IV.;
Unienville, _Statistique de l'île Maurice et ses dépendances_; Epinay,
_Renseignements pour servir à l'histoire de l'île de France_;
Decotter, _Géographie de Maurice et de ses dépendances_; Chalmers, _A
History of Currency in the British Colonies_; Anderson, _The Sugar
Industry of Mauritius_; Keller, _Madagascar, Mauritius, and other East
African Islands_; _The Mauritius Almanac_; _The Mauritius Civil
Lists_; and _Annual Colonial Reports_.
A NEGRO COLONIZATION PROJECT IN MEXICO, 1895
The Negro question touched the relations of the United States and
Mexico at several points. For instance, the escape of runaway slaves
into Mexico where slavery was legally forbidden, was a factor in
causing disturbances along the Rio Grande between 1850 and 1860.[1]
Again, during the following decade when the colonization of the
freedmen became a vital issue, there was at least one proposal to
settle them on the border between the United States and Mexico. It was
urged that a strip of land extending from the Rio Grande to the
Colorado and westward to the mountains of New Mexico be set apart by
the national government for this purpose. On January 11, 1864,
Honorable James H. Lane of Kansas actually introduced a bill looking
to this end, which received favorable consideration from the Committee
on Territories, but so far as has been ascertained never came to a
vote in Congress.[2]
In support of his proposal Lane urged, among other things, that the
colonization of the Negroes on this frontier would prove beneficial to
Mexico and tend to promote friendship between that country and the
United States. "We can thus plant at the door of Mexico," he said,
"four million good citizens, who can step in at any time, when
invited, to strengthen the hands of that Republic."[3] In similar vein
the territorial committee, of which Lane was chairman, declared: "It
is desirable to cultivate friendly relations with the people of
Mexico. It is known to us that among that people there are no
prejudices against the black man, and that intermarriage is not
prohibited either by law or custom.... It is confidently believed that
the colony provided for in this bill, by intermarriage with the people
of those Mexican States, and friendly intercourse with them, would so
Americanize them as that they would be prepared and seek an annexation
to our then glorious free republic."[4]
The project which is the subject of this paper had no official element
motivating it, however. It was merely a private enterprise conducted
for the profit of a Mexican land company and a member of the Negro
race;[5] and not until the scheme had failed did the United States
government take a hand. On December 11, 1894, H. Ellis,[6] a Negro,
entered into a contract with the "Agricultural, Industrial, and
Colonization Company of Tlahualilo, Limited," for the transportation
from the United States by February 15, 1895, of one hundred colored
families between the ages of twelve and fifty. The company obligated
itself to pay the passage of the colonists provided it did not exceed
$20, and after they were established upon the land, to furnish them
agricultural implements, stock, seed, and housing quarters, as well as
$6 monthly during the first three months, and thereafter a sum later
to be agreed upon. Each family was to be given sixty acres for
cultivation, forty for cotton, fifteen for corn, and five for a
garden.[7] The company was to receive 40% of the yield of cotton and
corn, the colonists 50%, and Ellis 10%. The colonists were to have two
years in which to pay for their passage; but, of course, the money
advanced for sustenance was to be paid from the first crop, except in
the event of an extremely lean year. The entire produce of the garden
was to go to the Negroes. Stores were to be established in the colony,
the colonists were to have their cotton ginned at the gins of the
company at the rate of $1.50 per bale, and the company was to be given
preference on all the produce sold. The contract was to endure for a
period of five years.[8]
Ellis set about immediately to fulfil his agreement. Going among the
Negroes of Alabama and Georgia, he issued a rather extravagant
circular representing his proposition as presenting the "greatest
opportunity ever offered to the colored people of the United States to
go to Mexico, ... the country of 'God and Liberty.'" He declared that
the land of his company would easily produce a bale of cotton and from
fifty to seventy-five bushels of corn per acre; spoke of irrigation
facilities which made them independent of the rain, of "fine game,
such as deer, bear, duck, and wild geese, and all manner of small
game, as well as opossum," and of schools and churches to be
constructed; and sought especially to impress upon their minds the
fact that "the great Republic of Mexico extends to all of its citizens
the same treatment--equal rights to all, special privileges to
none."[9]
A number of Negroes were soon attracted by the project and early in
February they were ready to set out. In fact, by the 6th a party had
already arrived at the hacienda of the company, situated some thirty
miles east of Mapimi, Durango, in a rather "wild and inaccessible
place" several miles from a railway. On the 25th of the same month
another group of colonists put in their appearance, making a total of
about 816.
It is interesting to note the section from which the Negroes came, and
the size and composition of the families which they brought. Twelve of
the number came from Griffin, Georgia; all the rest were from one of
seven towns in Alabama; namely, Tuscaloosa, Gadsen, Williams, Eutaw,
Carter, Johns, and Birmingham. Of these towns Tuscaloosa furnished by
far the greater number, while Eutaw, Gadsen, and Birmingham came
next. Only a comparatively small number came from Williams, Carter,
and Johns. Instead of having some three or four members as apparently
designed in the original contract, some of the families numbered six,
eight, and even twelve; and the number of women and children was
disproportionately large.
When the colonists arrived at the hacienda they found the ground
covered with snow. They were crowded into small, leaky, adobe houses,
without floors and with doors which could not be closed tightly. The
remainder of the winter and the following spring proved unusually
rainy and unpleasant; the food which they were given was probably of a
somewhat inferior quality; and their tools were clumsy and dull. These
factors possibly account for their homesickness and alleged
indisposition to work. Moreover, the small number of able-bodied
workingmen among them was disappointing to the colonization company.
Naturally enough, mutual dissatisfaction led to quarrels and
difficulties. As was to be expected, too, sickness soon visited the
settlement, killing off large numbers and terrifying the rest. A sort
of liver disease broke out among them in April causing several deaths,
and this was followed early in July by the ravages of the
smallpox.[10]
The first epidemic was sufficiently terrifying to cause some of the
colonists to bolt their contract and attempt to return to the United
States. When the smallpox broke out it proved to be too much for their
sense of honor or any other restraining force. Those who were able
began precipitously to desert the settlement for the United States,
apparently giving no attention at all to the matter of sustenance for
the journey. By the latter part of July all had left except about
fifty of the most persistent and faithful who chose to stay by their
crops.[11]
The sufferings of these colonists while at Tlahualilo and on their
way to the Rio Grande furnished the press of the United States a
sensational topic which it immediately seized upon. Indeed, the first
report which reached the United States through official circles was
itself sufficiently exaggerated to create excitement. On May 21, 1895,
two fugitives from the colony arrived at Chihuahua City where they
related stories of oppression and brutal cruelty. One of them reported
that upon arriving at the colony the Negroes "found themselves in the
worst form of bondage, with no hope of ever securing liberty," and
that no letter informing friends of their condition and their
suffering was ever permitted to reach the United States. He said he
was one of a party of some fifty who had stolen away in the hope of
making their escape. The other Negro declared that he was the sole
survivor of a party of about forty which had likewise run away from
the settlement, but had been overtaken and slain by a band of Mexican
guards in the employment of the colonizing company. The consul of the
United States at Chihuahua sent immediate notice of the affair to the
State Department.[12]
E. C. Butler, chargé of the United States in Mexico, was immediately
notified and directed to call upon the Mexican government to
investigate the affair.[13] Meantime the consular officers of the
United States began an investigation of their own which tended to
convince them that the extravagant rumors regarding the cruelties
perpetrated against the Negroes were totally unfounded. On June 24,
the consul at Piedras Negras, Jesse W. Sparks, forwarded a report
which he respectfully suggested should be given to the public "in
order to contradict the terrible stories of murder and bad treatment
of these Negroes ... and deter other Negroes who contemplate
colonizing in Mexico." It was based upon a sworn statement made by the
purported leader of the runaways, a deposition of another of the
colonists, and information received through a traveller from New York
City, who claimed to have visited the colony, as well as through a
civil engineer who was in the employment of the Mexican International
Railroad. From the information furnished by these witnesses Sparks
drew the conclusion that the Mexican colonization company had lived up
to its contract, that the Negroes had not been cruelly treated while
at the colony, and that the report concerning the murder of a portion
of the band[14] attempting to escape was absolutely false. The Mexican
soldiers alleged to have slain the Negroes were in fact a relief party
sent out by the company which, being acquainted with the barren and
desolate nature of the country which would have to be crossed in
reaching the United States, surmised that the lives of the colonists
were in danger.[15]
Those who left the settlement after the smallpox epidemic broke out
really suffered severely from lack of food. Without money and without
provisions, there would have been no alternative but starvation or
highway robbery, if the consular agents of the United States had not
come to the rescue. That they came and came effectively is evinced by
the fact that very few of the colonists actually died of starvation.
One hundred and twenty-five of the Negroes arrived at Mapimi about
July 19 and sent a delegation from there to Torreón to appeal to the
consul for aid.[16] The agent at this place wrote to the consul at
Durango for advice and help, while at the same time he set about to
raise funds by voluntary subscription. The consul at Durango responded
immediately with financial aid and suggested that the Negroes seek
employment; but the small number of the group which was able to work
seemed disinclined to do so; and, to make matters worse, the smallpox
continued its ravages and in a measure precluded the possibility of
obtaining employment even if it had been desired.[17]
The consuls appealed at the same time to the authorities at
Washington who replied at first that there was no fund available for
the relief of the destitute citizens. As early as July 26, however,
General Bliss, who commanded the department of Texas, was ordered to
send a physician to help look after the sick and to place 1500 rations
into the hands of Consul Sparks at Piedras Negras; and the consul at
Piedras Negras was directed, in case return to the colony was not
"practicable or consistent with humane considerations," to endeavor to
persuade the railroad companies to transport the Negroes to their
homes under the promise of receiving remuneration as soon as Congress
could be prevailed upon to make an appropriation for that purpose.[18]
Meantime, the demoralized colonists were leaving their crops and
making their way first to Mapimi, and later to Torreón, where most of
them caught the Mexican International to Eagle Pass. Here they were
received in a quarantine encampment especially prepared for them and
given clothes, provisions, and medical attention until the smallpox
epidemic had been subdued. This required considerable time and the
expense was by no means small. Finally, by September 26, those who had
been taken into quarantine first were ready to leave, and on that date
the Southern Pacific took aboard 167 of them destined for New Orleans,
from which point they were to be transported by the Louisville and
Nashville to Birmingham, Alabama. On October 4, another group boarded
the train; on October 10, another; on October 22, still another; and
on November 3, the last of the encampment left Eagle Pass. The last
party reached New Orleans on the following day and perhaps arrived at
Birmingham on the 5th.[19]
Thus ended the colonization scheme of Ellis and the Mexican land
company. It had cost the United States Government more than twenty
thousand dollars. It had cost the Tlahualilo Company about seven
thousand. But the Negroes themselves had borne the greatest losses.
Seventy or more of their number had found graves on the hacienda near
Mapimi, 10 had died at Torreón, 8 while _en route_ from that station
to Eagle Pass, and 60 in the encampment there, making a total of about
148. Besides these, there were 250 not accounted for and half as many
more scattered and possibly separated for years from their friends and
relatives. Only 334 left Eagle Pass by train for their homes in
Alabama, while the Louisville and Nashville records show that only 326
were taken aboard at New Orleans. What fate overtook the small number
who chose to remain with their crops has not been ascertained.[20]
J. FRED RIPPY
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
FOOTNOTES:
[1] For a brief discussion of these disorders see the present writer's
"Border Troubles Along the Rio Grande, 1848-1860," in _The
Southwestern Historical Quarterly_, XXIII, October, 1919, pp. 91-111.
[2] _Sen. Jour._, 38 Cong., 1 Sess., p. 66, _passim_.
[3] _Cong. Globe_, 38 Cong., 1 Sess., p. 673.
[4] _Sen. Report_ No. 8, 38 Cong., 1 Sess., p. 2.
[5] This seems to have been only one of some three or four such
undertakings attempted at the time. See _House Doc._ No. 169, 54
Cong., 1 Sess., pp. 44-45.
[6] Elsewhere written W. H. Ellis.
[7] Ellis's contract promised more than this in case of larger
families.
[8] For the contract between Ellis and the company see _House Doc._
No. 169, 54 Cong., 1 Sess., pp. 46-48; for that between Ellis and the
colonists see _ibid._, pp. 4-5. There are only a few minor differences
in the two.
[9] _Ibid._, p. 59.
[10] Dwyer's Report, and enclosures, _ibid._, pp. 42 ff.
[11] _Ibid._, pp. 23, 36, 42.
[12] Burke to Uhl, May 28, 1895, and enclosure, _ibid._, pp. 2-3.
[13] Olney to Butler, June 17, 1895, _ibid._, p. 5.
[14] It appears that only one band had tried to escape prior to July
18 or 19.
[15] Sparks to Uhl, June 24, 1895, and enclosure, _ibid._, pp. 6-11.
[16] _Ibid._, pp. 12, 16.
[17] _Ibid._, pp. 17-20.
[18] Sparks to Uhl, June 4, 1895, and enclosure, pp. 13-14.
[19] _Ibid._, p. 65.
[20] Sparks to Uhl, June 24, 1895, and enclosure, pp. 42, 65-66.
President Cleveland, in his message of December 2, 1895, urged an
appropriation for the reimbursements of the railroads, and on January
27, 1896, he sent a special message to Congress with reference to the
matter. Richardson, _Messages and Papers_, IX, 634, 664.
An appropriation for urgent deficiencies which was passed on February
26, 1896, contained the following interesting item: "For the payment
of the cost of transportation furnished by certain railway companies
in connection with the failure of the scheme for the colonization of
negroes in Mexico, necessitating their return to their homes in
Alabama, ... five thousand and eighty-seven dollars and nine cents."
29 _U. S. Statutes at Large_, p. 18.
DOCUMENTS
JAMES MADISON'S ATTITUDE TOWARD THE NEGRO
Like most of the Revolutionary leaders, James Madison, moved by the
social and political upheaval of that time thought seriously of the
liberation of the slaves, largely for economic reasons. He believed
that the country should depend as little as possible on the labor of
slaves, knowing that their labor was not sufficiently skillful to
furnish the basis for diversified industry. He considered slavery "the
great evil under which the nation labors."[1] On another occasion he
referred to it as a "portentous evil,"[2] and on still another "an
evil, moral, political, and economic, a sad blot on our free
country."[3] When, therefore, petitions for the abolition of slavery
were presented to the legislature of Virginia, he did not frown upon
the proposal as a mischievous agitation as did so many others. Madison
looked forward to the eventual extermination of slavery through
gradual methods of preparation for emancipation. Feeling that the
thorough incorporation of the blacks into the community of whites
would be prejudicial to the interests of the country, he had no other
thought than that of deportation as a correlative of emancipation.
Along with a number of others he discussed the proposal to set apart
certain western public lands for the transplantation of the blacks
from the slave holding States to free soil, but as the white man by
his pioneering efforts so rapidly pushed the frontier to the west as
to convince the country of the need of that territory for expansion,
Madison soon receded from this position and advocated along with most
of the leading men of his time the colonization of the Negroes in
Africa.
Madison did not feel that there was any sure ground upon which
Congress might participate in the emancipation and the colonization of
the Negroes. He suggested that the constitution be amended. He even
doubted that the Ordinance of 1787, enacted without authority, had the
effect of the emancipation of the slaves and was finally of the
opinion that the right of Congress to prohibit slavery in any
territory during its territorial period, "depends on the clause in the
constitution specially providing for the management of these
subordinate establishments."[4] He was rather of the opinion that the
restriction was not within the true scope of the constitution. Like
Jefferson, therefore, during the later years of his life, Madison saw
many difficulties in the way of abolishing slavery. He gave a
sympathetic ear to the experiences of the Moravians, Hermonites, and
the Shakers, but although he had to concede that slavery impaired the
influence of the political example of the United States and was a blot
on our republican character, he never became what we could call an
abolitionist for the reason that he found it difficult to remove the
Negroes from the country when freed. That being the case, he noted
with some interest the increase of the slave population, the increase
in voluntary emancipation, and the progress of the Colonization
Society, to the presidency of which he was elected.[4]
TO ROBERT PLEASANTS
PHILADELPHIA, October 30, 1791
_Sir_,--The delay in acknowledging your letter of the 6th June
last proceeded from the cause you conjectured. I did not receive
it till a few days ago, when it was put into my hands by Mr.
James Pemberton, along with your subsequent letter of the 8th
August.
The petition relating to the Militia bill contains nothing that
makes it improper for me to present it. I shall, therefore,
readily comply with your desire on that subject. I am not
satisfied that I am equally at liberty with respect to the other
petition. Animadversions such as it contains, and which the
authorized object of the petitioners did not require, on the
slavery existing in our country, are supposed by the holders of
that species of property to lessen the value by weakening the
tenure of it. Those from whom I derive my public station are
known by me to be greatly interested in that species of property,
and to view the matter in that light. It would seem that I might
be chargeable at least with want of candour, if not of fidelity,
were I to make use of a situation in which their confidence has
placed me to become a volunteer in giving a public wound, as they
would deem it, to an interest on which they set so great a value.
I am the less inclined to disregard this scruple as I am not
sensible that the event of the petition would in the least depend
on the circumstance of its being laid before the House by this or
that person.
Such an application as that to our own Assembly, on which you ask
my opinion, is a subject, in various respects, of great delicacy
and importance. The consequences of every sort ought to be well
weighed by those who would hazard it. From the view under which
they present themselves to me, I cannot but consider the
application as likely to do harm rather than good. It may be
worth your own consideration whether it might not produce
successful attempts to withdraw the privilege now allowed to
individuals, of giving freedom to slaves. It would at least be
likely to clog it with a condition that the person freed should
be removed from the country; there being arguments of great force
for such a regulation, and some would concur in it, who, in
general, disapprove of the institution of slavery.
I thank you, sir, for the friendly sentiments you have expressed
towards me, and am, with respect, your obt, humble servt.[5]
TO ROBERT WALSH[6]
MONTPELLIER, Mar. 2d, 1819.
_Dr Sir_,--I received some days ago your letter of Feby 15, in
which you intimate your intention to vindicate our Country
against misrepresentations propagated abroad, and your desire of
information on the subject of negro slavery, of moral character,
of religion, and of education in Virginia, as affected by the
Revolution, and our public Institutions.
The general condition of slaves must be influenced by various
causes. Among these are: 1. The ordinary price of food, on which
the quality and quantity allowed them will more or less depend.
This cause has operated much more unfavorably against them in
some quarters than in Virginia. 2. The kinds of labour to be
performed, of which the sugar and rice plantations afford
elsewhere, and not here, unfavorable examples. 3. The national
spirit of their masters, which has been graduated by philosophic
writers among the slaveholding Colonies of Europe. 4. The
circumstance of conformity or difference in the physical
characters of the two classes; such a difference cannot but have
a material influence, and is common to all the slaveholding
countries within the American hemisphere. Even in those where
there are other than black slaves, as Indians and mixed breeds,
there is a difference of colour not without its influence. 5. The
proportion which the slaves bear to the free part of the
community, and especially the greater or smaller numbers in which
they belong to individuals.
This last is, perhaps, the most powerful of all the causes
deteriorating the condition of the slave, and furnishes the best
scale for determining the degree of its hardship.
In reference to the actual condition of slaves in Virginia, it
may be confidently stated as better, beyond comparison, than it
was before the Revolution. The improvement strikes every one who
witnessed their former condition, and attends to their present.
They are better fed, better clad, better lodged, and better
treated in every respect; insomuch, that what was formerly deemed
a moderate treatment, would now be a rigid one, and what formerly
a rigid one, would now be denounced by the public feelings. With
respect to the great article of food particularly, it is a common
remark among those who have visited Europe, that it includes a
much greater proportion of the animal ingredient than is
attainable by the free labourers even in that quarter of the
Globe. As the two great causes of the melioration in the lot of
the slaves since the establishment of our Independence, I should
set down: 1. The sensibility to human rights, and sympathy with
human sufferings, excited and cherished by the discussions
preceding, and the spirit of the Institutions growing out of that
event. 2. The decreasing proportion which the slaves bear to the
individual holders of them; a consequence of the abolition of
entails and the rule of primogeniture; and of the equalizing
tendency of parental affection unfettered from all prejudices,
as well as from the restrictions of law.
With respect to the moral features of Virginia, it must be
observed, that pictures which have been given of them are, to say
the least, outrageous caricatures, even when taken from the state
of society previous to the Revolution; and that so far as there
was any ground or colour for them then, the same cannot be found
for them now.
Omitting more minute or less obvious causes, tainting the habits
and manners of the people under the Colonial Government, the
following offer themselves: 1. The negro slavery chargeable in so
great a degree on the very quarter which has furnished most of
the libellers. It is well known that during the Colonial
dependence of Virginia, repeated attempts were made to stop the
importation of slaves, each of which attempts was successively
defeated by the foreign negative on the laws, and that one of the
first offsprings of independent republican legislation was an act
of perpetual prohibition.
* * * * *
With the exception of slavery, these demoralizing causes have
ceased or are wearing out; and even that, as already noticed, has
lost no small share of its former character. On the whole, the
moral aspect of the State may, at present, be fairly said to bear
no unfavorable comparison with the average standard of the other
States. It certainly gives the lie to the foreign calumniators
whom you propose to arraign.[7]
TO ROBERT J. EVANS (AUTHOR OF THE PIECES PUBLISHED UNDER THE
NAME OF BENJAMIN RUSH).
MONTPELLIER, June 15, 1819.
_Sir_,--I have received your letter of the 3d instant, requesting
such hints as may have occurred to me on the subject of an
eventual extinguishment of slavery in the United States.
Not doubting the purity of your views, and relying on the
discretion by which they will be regulated, I cannot refuse such
a compliance as will, at least, manifest my respect for the
object of your undertaking.
A general emancipation of slaves ought to be--1. Gradual. 2.
Equitable, and satisfactory to the individual immediately
concerned. 3. Consistent with the existing and durable prejudices
of the nation.
That it ought, like remedies for other deep-rooted and widespread
evils, to be gradual, is so obvious, that there seems to be no
difference of opinion on that point.
To be equitable and satisfactory, the consent of both the master
and the slave should be obtained. That of the master will require
a provision in the plan for compensating a loss of what he held
as property, guaranteed by the laws, and recognised by the
Constitution. That of the slave, requires that his condition in a
state of freedom be preferable, in his own estimation, to his
actual one in a state of bondage.
To be consistent with existing and probably unalterable
prejudices in the United States, the freed blacks ought to be
permanently removed beyond the region occupied by, or allotted
to, a white population. The objections to a thorough
incorporation of the two people, are, with most of the whites,
insuperable; and are admitted by all of them to be very powerful.
If the blacks, strongly marked as they are by physical and
lasting peculiarities, be retained amid the whites, under the
degrading privation of equal rights, political or social, they
must be always dissatisfied with their condition, as a change
only from one to another species of oppression; always secretly
confederating against the ruling and privileged class; and always
uncontrolled by some of the most cogent motives to moral and
respectable conduct. The character of the free blacks even where
their legal condition is least affected by their color, seems to
put these truths beyond question. It is material, also, that the
removal of the blacks to be a distance precluding the jealousies
and hostilities to be apprehended from a neighboring people,
stimulated by the contempt known to be entertained for their
peculiar features; to say nothing of their vindictive
recollections, or the predatory propensities which their state of
society might foster. Nor is it fair, in estimating the danger of
collisions with the whites, to charge it wholly on the side of
the black. There would be reciprocal antipathies doubling the
danger.
The colonizing plan on foot has, as far as it extends, a due
regard to these requisites; with the additional object of
bestowing new blessings, civil and religious, on the quarter of
the Globe most in need of them. The Society proposes to
transport to the African coast all free and freed blacks who may
be willing to remove thither; to provide by fair means, and, it
is understood, with a prospect of success, a suitable territory
for their reception; and to initiate them into such an
establishment as may gradually and indefinitely expand itself.
The experiment, under this view of it, merits encouragement from
all who regard slavery as an evil, who wish to see it diminished
and abolished by peaceable and just means, and who have
themselves no better mode to propose. Those who have most doubted
the success of the experiment must, at least, have wished to find
themselves in an error.
But the views of the Society are limited to the case of blacks,
already free, or who may be _gratuitously_ emancipated. To
provide a commensurate remedy for the evil, the plan must be
extended to the great mass of blacks, and must embrace a fund
sufficient to induce the master, as well as the slave, to concur
in it. Without the concurrence of the master, the benefit will be
very limited as it relates to the negroes, and essentially
defective as it relates to the United States; and the concurrence
of masters must, for the most part, be obtained by purchase.
Can it be hoped that voluntary contributions, however adequate to
an auspicious commencement, will supply the sums necessary to
such an enlargement of the remedy? May not another question be
asked? Would it be reasonable to throw so great a burden on the
individuals distinguished by their philanthropy and patriotism?
The object to be obtained, as an object of humanity, appeals
alike to all; as a national object, it claims the interposition
of the nation. It is the nation which is to reap the benefit. The
nation, therefore, ought to bear the burden.
Must, then, the enormous sums required to pay for, to transport,
and to establish in a foreign land, all the slaves in the United
States, as their masters may be willing to part with them, be
taxed on the good people of the United States, or be obtained by
loans, swelling the public debt to a size pregnant with evils
next in degree to those of slavery itself?
Happily, it is not necessary to answer this question by
remarking, that if slavery, as a national evil, is to be
abolished, and it be just that it be done at the national
expense, the amount of the expense is not a paramount
consideration. It is the peculiar fortune, or, rather, a
providential blessing of the United States, to possess a resource
commensurate to this great object, without taxes on the people,
or even an increase of the public debt.
I allude to the vacant territory, the extent of which is so vast,
and the vendible value of which is so well ascertained.
Supposing the number of slaves to be 1,500,000, and their price
to average 400 dollars, the cost of the whole would be 600
millions of dollars. These estimates are probably beyond the
fact; and from the number of slaves should be deducted; 1. Those
whom their masters would not part with. 2. Those who may be
gratuitously set free by their masters. 3. Those acquiring
freedom under emancipating regulations of the States. 4. Those
preferring slavery where they are to freedom in an African
settlement. On the other hand, it is to be noted that the expense
of removal and settlement is not included in the estimated sum;
and that an increase of the slaves will be going on during the
period required for the execution of the plan.
On the whole, the aggregate sum needed may be stated at about six
hundred millions of dollars.
This will require 200 millions of acres, at three dollars per
acre; or 300 millions at two dollars per acre; a quantity which,
though great in itself, is perhaps not a third part of the
disposable territory belonging to the United States. And to what
object so good, so great, and so glorious, could that peculiar
fund of wealth be appropriated? Whilst the sale of territory
would, on one hand, be planting one desert with a free and
civilized people, it would, on the other, be giving freedom to
another people, and filling with them another desert. And if in
any instance wrong has been done by our forefathers to people of
one colour, by dispossessing them of their soil, what better
atonement is now in our power than that of making what is
rightfully acquired a source of justice and of blessings to a
people of another colour?
As the revolution to be produced in the condition of the negroes
must be gradual, it will suffice if the sale of territory keep
pace with its progress. For a time, at least, the proceeds would
be in advance. In this case, it might be best, after deducting
the expense incident to the surveys and sales, to place the
surplus in a situation where its increase might correspond with
the natural increase of the unpurchased slaves. Should the
proceeds at any time fall short of the calls for their
application, anticipations might be made by temporary loans, to
be discharged as the land should find a market.
But it is probable that for a considerable period the sales would
exceed the calls. Masters would not be willing to strip their
plantations and farms of their labourers so rapidly. The slaves
themselves connected, as they generally are, by tender ties with
others under other masters, would be kept from the list of
emigrants by the want of the multiplied consents to be obtained.
It is probable, indeed, that for a long time a certain portion of
the proceeds might safely continue applicable to the discharge of
the debts or to other purposes of the nation, or it might be most
convenient, in the outset, to appropriate a certain proportion
only of the income from sales to the object in view, leaving the
residue otherwise applicable.
Should any plan similar to that I have sketched be deemed
eligible in itself, no particular difficulty is foreseen from
that portion of the nation, which, with a common interest in the
vacant territory, has no interest in slave property. They are too
just to wish that a partial sacrifice should be made for the
general good, and too well aware that whatever may be the
intrinsic character of that description of property, it is one
known to the Constitution, and, as such could not be
constitutionally taken away without just compensation. That part
of the nation has, indeed, shewn a meritorious alacrity in
promoting, by pecuniary contributions, the limited scheme for
colonizing the blacks, and freeing the nation from the
unfortunate stain on it, which justifies the belief that any
enlargement of the scheme, if founded on just principles, would
find among them its earliest and warmest patrons. It ought to
have great weight that the vacant lands in question have, for the
most part, been derived from grants of the States holding the
slaves to be redeemed and removed by the sale of them.
It is evident, however, that in effectuating a general
emancipation of slaves in the mode which has been hinted,
difficulties of other sorts would be encountered. The provision
for ascertaining the joint consent of the masters and slaves; for
guarding against unreasonable valuations of the latter; and for
the discrimination of those not proper to be conveyed to a
foreign residence, or who ought to remain a charge on masters in
whose service they had been disabled or worn out, and for the
annual transportation of such numbers, would require the mature
deliberations of the national councils. The measure implies
also, the practicability of procuring in Africa an enlargement of
the district or districts for receiving the exiles sufficient for
so great an augmentation of their numbers.
Perhaps the Legislative provision best adapted to the case would
be an incorporation of the Colonizing Society, or the
establishment of a similar one, with proper powers, under the
appointment and superintendence of the National Executive.
In estimating the difficulties, however, incident to any plan of
general emancipation, they ought to be brought into comparison
with those inseparable from other plans, and be yielded to or not
accordingly to the result of the comparison.
One difficulty presents itself which will probably attend every
plan which is to go into effect under the Legislative provisions
of the National Government. But whatever may be the effect of
existing powers of Congress, the Constitution has pointed out the
way in which it can be supplied. And it can hardly be doubted
that the requisite powers might readily be procured for attaining
the great object in question, in any mode whatever approved by
the nation.
If these thoughts can be of any aid in your search of a remedy
for the great evil under which the nation labors, you are very
welcome to them.[8]
TO TENCH COXE.
MONTPELIER, March 20, 1820.
I am glad to find you still sparing moments for subjects
interesting to the public welfare. The remarks on the thorny one
to which you refer in the "National Recorder," seem to present
the best arrangement for the unfortunate part of our population
whose case has enlisted the anxiety of so many benevolent minds,
next to that which provides a foreign outlet and location for
them. I have long thought that our vacant territory was the
resource which, in some mode or other, was most applicable and
adequate as a gradual cure for the portentous evil; without,
however, being unaware that even that would encounter serious
difficulties of different sorts.[9]
TO GENERAL LAFAYETTE.
MONTPELIER, NOV. 25, 1820.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The subject which ruffles the surface of public affairs most, at
present, is furnished by the transmission of the "Territory" of
Missouri from a state of nonage to a maturity for
self-Government, and for a membership in the Union. Among the
questions involved in it, the one most immediately interesting to
humanity is the question whether a toleration or prohibition of
slavery Westward of the Mississippi would most extend its evils.
The human part of the argument against the prohibition turns on
the position, that whilst the importation of slaves from abroad
is precluded, a diffusion of those in the Country tends at once
to meliorate their actual condition, and to facilitate their
eventual emancipation. Unfortunately, the subject, which was
settled at the last session of Congress by a mutual concession of
the parties, is reproduced on the arena by a clause in the
Constitution of Missouri, distinguishing between free persons of
colour and white persons, and providing that the Legislature of
the new State shall exclude from it the former. What will be the
issue of the revived discussion is yet to be seen. The case opens
the wider field, as the Constitution and laws of the different
States are much at variance in the civic character giving to free
persons of colour; those of most of the States, not excepting
such as have abolished slavery, imposing various
disqualifications, which degrade them from the rank and rights of
white persons. All these perplexities develope more and more the
dreadful fruitfulness of the original sin of the African
trade.[10]
TO F. CORBIN
November 26, 1820.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I do not mean to discuss the question how far _slavery_ and
_farming_ are incompatible. Our opinions agree as to the evil,
moral, political, and economical, of the former. I still think,
notwithstanding, that under all the disadvantages of slave
cultivation, much improvement in it is practicable. Proofs are
annually taking place within my own sphere of observation;
particularly where slaves are held in small numbers, by good
masters and managers. As to the very wealthy proprietors, much
less is to be said. But after all, (protesting against any
inference of a disposition to undertake the evil of slavery,) is
it certain that in giving to your wealth a new investment, you
would be altogether freed from the cares and vexations incident
to the shape it now has? If converted into paper, you already
feel some of the contingencies belonging to it; if into
commercial stock, look at the wrecks every where giving warning
of the danger. If into large landed property, where there are no
slaves, will you cultivate it yourself? Then beware of the
difficulty of procuring faithful or complying labourers. Will you
dispose of it in leases? Ask those who have made the experiment
what sort of tenants are to be found where an ownership of the
soil is so attainable. It has been said that America is a country
for the poor, not for the rich. There would be more correctness
in saying it is the country for both, where the latter have a
relish for free government; but, proportionally, more for the
former than for the latter.[11]
TO GENERAL LA FAYETTE.
1821.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The negro slavery is, as you justly complain, a sad blot on our
free country, though a very ungracious subject of reproaches from
the quarter which has been most lavish of them. No satisfactory
plan has yet been devised for taking out the stain. If an asylum
could be found in Africa, that would be the appropriate
destination for the unhappy race among us. Some are sanguine that
the efforts of an existing Colonization Society will accomplish
such a provision; but a very partial success seems the most that
can be expected. Some other region must, therefore, be found for
them as they become free and willing to emigrate. The repugnance
of the whites to their continuance among them is founded on
prejudices, themselves founded on physical distinctions, which
are not likely soon, if ever, to be eradicated. Even in States,
Massachusetts for example, which displayed most sympathy with the
people of colour on the Missouri question, prohibitions are
taking place against their becoming residents. They are every
where regarded as a nuisance, and must really be such as long as
they are under the degradation which public sentiment inflicts on
them. They are at the same time rapidly increasing from
manumissions and from offspring, and of course lessening the
general disproportion between the slaves and the whites. This
tendency is favorable to the cause of a universal
emancipation."[12]
TO DR. MORSE
March 28, 1823
_Queries._
1. Do the planters generally live on their own estates?
2. Does a planter with ten or fifteen slaves employ an
overlooker, or does he overlook his slaves himself?
3. Obtain estimates of the culture of Sugar and Cotton, to show
what difference it makes where the planter resides on his estate,
or where he employs attorneys, overlookers, &c.
4. Is it a common or general practice to mortgage slave estates?
5. Are sales of slave estates very frequent under execution for
debt and what proportion of the whole may be thus sold annually?
6. Does the Planter possess the power of selling the different
branches of a family separate?
7. When the prices of produce, Cotton Sugar, &c., are high, do
the Planters purchase, instead of raising, their corn and other
provisions?
8. When the prices of produce are low, do they then raise their
own corn and other provisions?
9. Do the negroes fare better when the Corn, &c., is raised upon
their master's estate or when he buys it?
10. Do the tobacco planters in America ever buy their own Corn or
other food, or do they always raise it?
11. If they always, or mostly, raise it, can any other reason be
given for the differences of the system pursued by them and that
pursued by the Sugar and Cotton planters than that cultivation of
tobacco is less profitable than that of Cotton or Sugar?
12. Do any of the Planters manufacture the packages for their
product, or the clothing for their negroes and if they do, are
their negroes better clothed than when clothing is purchased?
13. Where, and by whom, is the Cotton bagging of the Brazils
made? is it principally made by free men or slaves?
14. Is it the general system to employ the negroes in task work,
or by the day?
15. How many hours are they generally at work in the former case?
how many in the latter? Which system is generally preferred by
the master? which by the slaves?
16. Is it common to allow them a certain portion of time instead
of their allowance of provisions? In this case, how much is
allowed? Where the slaves have the option, which do they
generally choose? On which system do the slaves look the best,
and acquire the most comforts?
17. Are there many small plantations where the owners possess
only a few slaves? What proportion of the whole may be supposed
to be held in this way?
18. In such cases, are the slaves treated or almost considered a
part of the family?
19. Do the slaves fare best when their situations and that of the
master are brought nearest together?
20. In what state are the slaves as to religion or religious
instruction?
21. Is it common for the slaves to be regularly married?
22. If a man forms an attachment to a woman on a different or
distant plantation, is it the general practice for some
accommodation to take place between the owners of the man and
woman, so that they may live together?
23. In the United States of America, the slaves are found to
increase at about the rate of 3 P cent. P annum. Does the same
take place in other places? Give a census, if such is taken. Show
what cause contributes to this increase, or what prevents it
where it does not take place.
24. Obtain a variety of estimates from the Planters of the cost
of bringing up a child, and at what age it becomes a clear gain
to its owner.
25. Obtain information respecting the comparative cheapness of
cultivation by slaves or by free men.
26. Is it common for the free blacks to labour in the field?
27. Where the labourers consist of free blacks and of white men,
what are the relative prices of their labour when employed about
the same work?
28. What is the proportion of free blacks and slaves?
29. Is it considered that the increase in the proportion of free
blacks to slaves increases or diminishes the danger of
insurrection?
30. Are the free blacks employed in the defence of the Country,
and do they and the Creoles preclude the necessity of European
troops?
31. Do the free blacks appear to consider themselves as more
closely connected with the slaves or with the white population?
and in cases of insurrection, with which have they generally
taken part?
32. What is their general character with respect to industry and
order, as compared with that of the slaves?
33. Are there any instances of emancipation in particular
estates, and what is the result?
34. Is there any general plan of emancipation in progress, and
what?
35. What was the mode and progress of emancipation in those
States in America where slavery has ceased to exist?
Hon. James Madison, Esq.
New Haven, Mar. 14, 1823.
Sir.--The foregoing was transmitted to me from a respectable
correspondent in Liverpool, deeply engaged in the abolition of
the slave trade, and the amelioration of the condition of slaves.
If, sir, your leisure will allow you, and it is agreeable to you
to furnish brief answers to these questions, you will, I
conceive, essentially serve the cause of humanity, and gratify
and oblige the Society above named, and, Sir, with high
consideration and esteem, your most obt servt,
JED'H MORSE.
_Answers_
1. Yes.
2. Employs an overseer for that number of slaves, with few
exceptions.
3. ----
4. Not uncommonly the land; sometimes the slaves; very rarely
both together.
5. The common law, as in England, governs the relation between
land and debts; slaves are often sold under execution for debt;
the proportion to the whole cannot be great within a year, and
varies, of course, with the amount of debt and the urgency of
creditors.
6. Yes.
7-10. Instances are rare where the tobacco planters do not raise
their own provisions.
11. The proper comparison, not between the culture of tobacco and
that of sugar and cotton, but between each of these cultures and
that of provisions. The tobacco planter finds it cheaper to make
them a part of his crop than to buy them. The cotton and sugar
planters to buy them, where this is the case, than to raise them.
The term, cheaper, embraces the comparative facility and
certainty of procuring the supplies.
12. Generally best clothed when from the household manufactures,
which are increasing.
14, 15. Slaves seldom employed in regular task work. They prefer
it only when rewarded with the surplus time gained by their
industry.
16. Not the practice to substitute an allowance of time for the
allowance of provisions.
17. Very many, and increasing with the progressive subdivisions
of property; the proportion cannot be stated.
18, 19. The fewer the slaves, and the fewer the holders of
slaves, the greater the indulgence and familiarity. In districts
composing (comprising?) large masses of slaves there is no
difference in their condition, whether held in small or large
numbers, beyond the difference in the dispositions of the owners,
and the greater strictness of attention where the number is
greater.
20. There is no general system of religious instruction. There
are few spots where religious worship is not within reach, and to
which they do not resort. Many are regular members of
Congregations, chiefly Baptist; and some Preachers also, though
rarely able to read.
21. Not common; but the instances are increasing.
22. The accommodation not unfrequent where the plantations are
very distant. The slaves prefer wives on a different plantation,
as affording occasions and pretexts for going abroad, and
exempting them on holidays from a share of the little calls to
which those at home are liable.
23. The remarkable increase of slaves, as shown by the census,
results from the comparative defect of moral and prudential
restraint on the sexual connexion; and from the absence, at the
same time, of that counteracting licentiousness of intercourse,
of which the worst examples are to be traced where the African
trade, as in the West Indies, kept the number of females less
than of the males.
24. The annual expense of food and raiment in rearing a child may
be stated at about 8, 9, or 10 dollars; and the age at which it
begins to be gainful to its owner about 9 or 10 years.
25. The practice here does not furnish data for a comparison of
cheapness between these two modes of cultivation.
26. They are sometimes hired for field labour in time of harvest,
and on other particular occasions.
27. The examples are too few to have established any such
relative prices.
28. See the census.
29. Rather increases.
30. ----------
31. More closely with the slaves, and more likely to side with
them in a case of insurrection.
32. Generally idle and depraved; appearing to retain the bad
qualities of the slaves, with whom they continue to associate,
without acquiring any of the good ones of the whites, from whom
(they) continued separated by prejudices against their colour,
and other peculiarities.
33. There are occasional instances in the present legal condition
of leaving the State.
34. None.
35. ----------[13]
TO MISS FRANCES WRIGHT
MONTPELLIER, Sept. 1, 1825.
_Dear Madam_,--Your letter to Mrs. Madison, containing
observations addressed to my attention also, came duly to hand,
as you will learn from her, with a printed copy of your plan for
the gradual abolition of slavery in the United States.
The magnitude of this evil among us is so deeply felt, and so
universally acknowledged, that no merit could be greater than
that of devising a satisfactory remedy for it. Unfortunately the
task, not easy under other circumstances, is vastly augmented by
the physical peculiarities[14] of those held in bondage, which
preclude their incorporation with the white population; and by
the blank in the general field of labour to be occasioned by
their exile; a blank into which there would not be an influx of
white labourers, successively taking the place of the exiles, and
which, without such an influx, would have an effect distressing
in prospect to the proprietors of the soil.
The remedy for the evil which you have planned is certainly
recommended to favorable attention by the two characteristics: 1.
That it requires the voluntary concurrence of the holders of the
slaves, with or without pecuniary compensation. 2. That it
contemplates the removal of those emancipated, either to a
foreign or distant region. And it will still further obviate
objections, if the experimental establishments should avoid the
neighborhood of settlements where there are slaves.
Supposing these conditions to be duly provided for, particularly
the removal of the emancipated blacks, the remaining questions
relate to the attitude and adequacy of the process by which the
slaves are at the same time to earn the funds, entire or
supplemental, required for their emancipation and removal; and to
be sufficiently educated for a life of freedom and of social
order.
With respect to a proper course of education, no serious
difficulties present themselves. And as they are to continue in a
state of bondage during the preparatory period, and to be within
the jurisdiction of States recognizing ample authority over them,
a competent discipline cannot be impracticable. The degree in
which this discipline will enforce the needed labour, and in
which a voluntary industry will supply the defect of compulsory
labour, are vital points, on which it may not be safe to be very
positive without some light from actual experiment.
Considering the probable composition of the labourers, and the
known fact that, where the labour is compulsory the greater the
number of labourers brought together (unless, indeed, where
cooperation of many hands is rendered essential by a particular
kind of work, or of machinery) the less are the proportional
profits, it may be doubted whether the surplus from that source
merely, beyond the support of the establishment would
sufficiently accumulate in five, or even more years, for the
objects in view. And candor obliges me to say that I am not
satisfied either that the prospect of emancipation at a future
day will sufficiently overcome the natural and habitual
repugnance to labour, or that there is such an advantage of
united over individual labour as is taken for granted.
In cases where portions of time have been allowed to slaves, as
among the Spaniards, with a view to their working out their
freedom, it is believed that but few have availed themselves of
the opportunity by a voluntary industry; and such a result could
be less relied on in a case where each individual would feel that
the fruit of his exertions would be shared by others, whether
equally or unequally making them, and that the exertions of
others would equally avail him, notwithstanding a deficiency in
his own. Skilful arrangements might palliate this tendency, but
it would be difficult to counteract it effectually.[15]
The examples of the Moravians, the Harmonites, and the Shakers,
in which the united labours of many for a common object have been
successful have, no doubt, an imposing character. But it must be
recollected that in all these establishments there is a religious
impulse in the members of a religious authority in the head, for
which there will be no substitutes of equivalent efficacy in the
emancipating establishment. The code of rules by which Mr. Rapp
manages his conscientious and devoted flock, and enriches a
common treasury, must be little applicable to the dissimilar
assemblage in question. His experience may afford valuable aid in
its general organization, and in the distribution and details of
the work to be performed. But an efficient administration must,
as is judiciously proposed, be in hands practically acquainted
with the propensities and habits of the members of the new
community.
With reference to this dissimilarity, and to the doubt as to the
advantages of associated labour, it may deserve consideration
whether the experiment would not be better commenced on a scale
smaller than that assumed in the prospectus. A less expensive
outfit would suffice; labourers in the proper proportions of sex
and age would be more attainable; the necessary discipline and
the direction of their labours could be more simple and
manageable; and but little time would be lost; or, perhaps, time
gained; as success, for which the chance would, according to my
calculation, be increased, would give an encouraging aspect, to
the plan, and probably suggest improvements better qualifying it
for the larger scale proposed.
Such, Madam, are the general ideas suggested by your interesting
communication. If they do not coincide with yours, and imply less
of confidence than may be due to the plan you have formed, I hope
you will not question either my admiration of the generous
philanthropy which dictated it, or my sense of the special regard
it evinces for the honor and welfare of our expanding, and, I
trust, rising Republic.
As it is not certain what construction would be put on the view
I have taken of the subject, I leave it with your discretion to
withhold it altogether, or to disclose it within the limits you
allude to; intimating only that it will be most agreeable to me,
on all occasions, not to be brought before the public where there
is no obvious call for it.
Writing to General Lafayette in 1826, Madison commented thus on the
proposal of Miss Frances Wright for the uplift of Negroes.
You possess, notwithstanding your distance, better information
concerning Miss Wright, and her experiment, than we do here. We
learn only that she has chosen for it a remote spot in the
western part of Tennessee, and has commenced her enterprise; but
with what prospects we know not. Her plan contemplated a
provision for the expatriation of her Elèves, but without
specifying it; from which I infer the difficulty felt in devising
a satisfactory one. Could this part of the plan be ensured, the
other essential part would come about of itself. Manumissions now
more than keep pace with the outlets provided, and the increase
of them is checked only by their remaining in the Country. This
obstacle removed, and all others would yield to the emancipating
disposition. To say nothing of partial modes, what would be more
simple, with the requisite grant of power to Congress, than to
purchase all female infants at their birth, leaving them in the
service of the holder to a reasonable age, on condition of their
receiving an elementary education? The annual number of female
births may be stated at twenty thousand, and the cost at less
than one hundred dollars each, at the most; a sum which would not
be felt by the nation, and be even within the compass of State
resources. But no such effort would be listened to, whilst the
impression remains, and it seems to be indelible, that the two
races cannot co-exist, both being free and equal. The great _sine
qua non_, therefore, is some external asylum for the coloured
race. In the mean time, the taunts to which this misfortune
exposes us in Europe are the more to be deplored, because it
impairs the influence of our political example; though they come
with an ill grace from the quarter most lavish of them, the
quarter which obtruded the evil, and which has but lately become
a penitent, under suspicious appearances.[16]
TO JOSEPH C. CABELL
MONTPELLIER, January 5, 1829.
_Dear Sir_,--I have received yours of December 28, in which you
wish me to say something of the agitated subject of the basis of
representation in the contemplated convention for revising the
State Constitution. In a case depending so much on local views
and feelings, and perhaps on the opinions of leading individuals,
and in which a mixture of compromises with abstract principles
may be resorted to, your judgment, formed on the theatre
affording the best means of information, must be more capable of
aiding mine than mine yours.
What occurs to me is, that the great principle "that man cannot
be justly bound by laws, in making which they have no share,"
consecrated as it is by our Revolution and the Bill of Rights,
and sanctioned by examples around us, is so engraven on the
public mind here, that it ought to have a preponderating
influence in all questions involved in the mode of forming a
convention, and in discharging the trust committed to it when
formed. It is said that west of the Blue Ridge the votes of
non-freeholders are often connived at, the candidates finding it
unpopular to object to them.
With respect to the slaves, they cannot be admitted _as persons_
into the representation, and probably will not be allowed any
claim as _a privileged_ property. As the difficulty and
disquietude on that subject arise mainly from the great
inequality of slaves in the geographical division of the country,
it is fortunate that the cause will abate as they become more
diffused, which is already taking place; transfers of them from
the quarters where they abound, to those where labourers are more
wanted being a matter of course.
Is there, then, to be no constitutional provision for the rights
of property, when added to the personal rights of the holders,
against the will of a majority having little or no direct
interest in the rights of property? If any such provision be
attainable beyond the moral influence which property adds to
political rights, it will be most secure and permanent if made by
a convention chosen by a general suffrage, and more likely to be
so made now than at a future stage of population. If made by a
freehold convention in favour of freeholders, it would be less
likely to be acquiesced in permanently.[17]
TO GENERAL LA FAYETTE
Feb. 1, 1830.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Your anticipation with regard to the slavery among us were the
natural offspring of your just principles and laudable
sympathies; but I am sorry to say that the occasion which led to
them proved to be little fitted for the slightest interposition
on that subject. A sensibility, morbid in the highest degree, was
never more awakened among those who have the largest stake in
that species of interest, and the most violent against any
governmental movement in relation to it. The excitability at the
moment, happened, also, to be not a little augmented by party
questions between the South and the North, and the efforts used
to make the circumstance common to the former a sympathetic bond
of co-operation. I scarcely express myself too strongly in saying
that any allusion in the Convention to the subject you have so
much at heart would have been a spark to a mass of gunpowder. It
is certain, nevertheless, that time, the great "Innovator," is
not idle in its salutary preparations. The Colonization Society
are becoming more and more one of its agents. Outlets for the
freed blacks are alone wanted for a rapid erasure of the blot
from our Republican character.[18]
TO ---- ----
June 28, 1831.
But the title in the people of the United States rests on a
foundation too just and solid to be shaken by any technical or
metaphysical arguments whatever. The known and acknowledged
intentions of the parties at the time, with a prescriptive
sanction of so many years consecrated by the intrinsic principles
of equity, would overrule even the most explicit declarations and
terms, as has been done without the aid of that principle in the
slaves, who remain such in spite of the declarations that all men
are born equally free.[19]
TO MATTHEW CAREY
MONTPELIER, July 7, 1831.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
If the States cannot live together in harmony under the auspices
of such a Government as exists, and in the midst of blessings
such as have been the fruits of it, what is the prospect
threatened by the abolition of a common Government, with all the
rivalships, collisions and animosities inseparable from such an
event? The entanglements and conflicts of commercial regulations,
especially as affecting the inland and other non-importing
States, and a protection of fugitive slaves substituted for the
obligatory surrender of them, would, of themselves, quickly
kindle the passions which are the forerunners of war.[20]
To R. R. Gurley, a promoter of colonization, Madison wrote the
following December 28, 1831:
_Dear Sir_,--I received in due time your letter of the 21 ultimo,
and with due sensibility to the subject of it. Such, however, has
been the effect of a painful rheumatism on my general condition,
as well as in disqualifying my fingers for the use of the pen,
that I could not do justice "to the principles and measures of
the Colonization Society, in all the great and various relations
they sustain in our country and to Africa." If my views of them
could have the value which your partiality supposes, I may
observe, in brief, that the Society had always my good wishes,
though with hopes of its success less sanguine than were
entertained by others found to have been the better judges; and
that I feel the greatest pleasure at the progress already made by
the Society, and the encouragement to encounter the remaining
difficulties afforded by the earlier and greater ones already
overcome. Many circumstances at the present moment seem to concur
in brightening the prospects of the Society, and cherishing the
hope that the time will come when the _dreadful calamity which
has so long afflicted our country, and filled so many with
despair, will be gradually removed, and by means consistent with
justice, peace, and the general satisfaction; thus giving to our
country the full enjoyment of the blessings of liberty, and to
the world the full benefit of its great example_. I have never
considered the main difficulty of the great work as lying in the
deficiency of emancipations, but in an inadequacy of asylums for
such a growing mass of population, and in the great expense of
removing it to its new home. The spirit of private maunmission,
as the laws may permit and the exiles may consent, is increasing,
and will increase, and there are sufficient indications that the
public authorities in slaveholding States are looking forward to
interpretations, in different forms, that must have a powerful
effect.
With respect to the new abode for the emigrants, all agree that
the choice made by the Society is rendered peculiarly appropriate
by considerations which need not be repeated, and if other
situations should not be found as eligible receptacles for a
portion of them, the prospect in Africa seems to be expanding in
a highly encouraging degree.
In contemplating the pecuniary resources needed for the removal
of such a number to so great a distance, my thought and hopes
have long been turned to the rich fund presented in the western
lands of the nation, which will soon entirely cease to be under a
pledge for another object. The great one in question is truly of
a national character, and it is known that distinguished patriots
not dwelling in slaveholding States have viewed the object in
that light, and would be willing to let the national domain be a
resource in effectuating it.
Should it be remarked that the States, although all may be
interested in relieving our country from the coloured population,
are not equally so, it is but fair to recollect that the sections
most to be benefited are those whose cessions created the fund to
be disposed of.
I am aware of the constitutional obstacle which has presented
itself; but if the general will be reconciled to an application
of the territorial fund to the removal of the coloured
population, a grant to Congress of the necessary authority could
be carried with little delay through the forms of the
Constitution.
Sincerely wishing increasing success to the labours of the
Society, I pray you to be assured of my esteem, and to accept my
friendly salutations.[21]
TO THOMAS R. DREW
MONTPELLIER, Feby 23, 1833
_Dear Sir_,--I received, in due time, your letter of the 15th
ult. with copies of the two pamphlets; one on the "Restrictive
System," the other on the "Slave Question."
The former I have not yet been able to look into, and in reading
the latter with the proper attention I have been much retarded by
many interruptions, as well as by the feebleness incident to my
great age, increased as it is by the effects of an acute fever,
preceded and followed by a chronic complaint under which I am
still labouring. This explanation of the delay in acknowledging
your favor will be an apology, also, for the brevity and
generality of the answer. For the freedom of it, none, I am sure,
will be required. In the views of the subject taken in the
pamphlet, I have found much valuable and interesting information,
with ample proof of the numerous obstacles to a removal of
slavery from our country, and everything that could be offered in
mitigation of its continuance; but I am obliged to say, that in
not a few of the data from which you reason, and in the
conclusion to which you are led, I cannot concur.
I am aware of the impracticability of an immediate or early
execution of any plan that combines deportation with
emancipation, and of the inadmissibility of emancipation without
deportation. But I have yielded to the expediency of attempting a
gradual remedy, by providing for the double operation.
If emancipation was the sole object, the extinguishment of
slavery would be easy, cheap, and complete. The purchase by the
public of all female children, at their birth, leaving them in
bondage till it would defray the charge of rearing them, would,
within a limited period, be a radical resort.
With the condition of deportation it has appeared to me, that the
great difficulty does not lie either in the expense of
emancipation, or in the expense or the means of deportation, but
in the attainment--1, of the requisite asylums; 2, the consent of
the individuals to be removed; 3, the labour for the vacuum to be
created.
With regard to the expense--1, much will be saved by voluntary
emancipations, increasing under the influence of example, and the
prospect of bettering the lot of the slaves; 2, much may be
expected in gifts and legacies from the opulent, the
philanthropic, and the conscientious; 3, more still from
legislative grants by the States, of which encouraging examples
and indications have already appeared; 4, nor is there any room
for despair of aid from the indirect or direct proceeds of the
public lands held in trust by Congress. With a sufficiency of
pecuniary means, the facility of providing a naval transportation
of the exiles is shewn by the present amount of our tonnage and
the promptitude with which it can be enlarged; by the number of
emigrants brought from Europe to N. America within the last
year, and by the greater number of slaves which have been, within
single years, brought from the coast of Africa across the
Atlantic.
In the attainment of adequate asylums, the difficulty, though it
may be considerable, is far from being discouraging. Africa is
justly the favorite choice of the patrons of colonization; and
the prospect there is flattering--1, in the territory already
acquired; 2, in the extent of coast yet to be explored, and which
may be equally convenient; 3, the adjacent interior into which
the littoral settlements can be expanded under the auspices of
physical affinities between the new comers and the natives, and
of the moral superiorities of the former; 4, the great inland
regions now ascertained to be accessible by navigable waters, and
opening new fields for colonizing enterprises.
But Africa, though the primary, is not the sole asylum within
contemplation; an auxiliary one presents itself in the islands
adjoining this continent, where the coloured population is
already dominant, and where the wheel of revolution may from time
to time produce the like result.
Nor ought another contingent receptable for emancipated slaves to
be altogether overlooked. It exists within the territory under
the control of the United States, and is not too distant to be
out of reach, whilst sufficiently distant to avoid, for an
indefinite period, the collisions to be apprehended from the
vicinity of people distinguished from each other by physical as
well as other characteristics.
The consent of the individuals is another pre-requisite in the
plan of removal. At present there is a known repugnance in those
already in a state of freedom to leave their native homes, and
among the slaves there is an almost universal preference of their
present condition to freedom in a distant and unknown land. But
in both classes, particularly that of the slaves, the prejudices
arise from a distrust of the favorable accounts coming to them
through white channels. By degrees truth will find its way to
them from sources in which they will confide, and their aversion
to removal may be overcome as fast as the means of effectuating
it shall accrue.
The difficulty of replacing the labour withdrawn by a removal of
the slaves, seems to be urged as of itself an insuperable
objection to the attempt. The answer to it is--1, that
notwithstanding the emigrations of the whites, there will be an
annual and by degrees an increasing surplus of the remaining
mass; 2, that there will be an attraction of whites from without,
increasing with the demand, and, as the population elsewhere will
be yielding a surplus to be attracted; 3, that as the culture of
tobacco declines with the contraction of the space within which
it is profitable and still more from the successful competition
in the West, and as the farming system takes the place of
planting, a portion of labour can be spared without impairing the
requisite stock; 4, that although the process must be slow, be
attended with much inconvenience, and be not even certain in its
result, is it not preferable to a torpid acquiescence in a
perpetuation of slavery, or an extinguishment of it by
convulsions more disastrous in their character and consequences
than slavery itself?
In my estimate of the experiment instituted by the Colonization
Society, I may indulge too much my wishes and hopes, to be safe
from errors. But a partial success will have its virtue, and an
entire failure will leave behind a consciousness of the laudable
intentions with which relief from the greatest of our calamities
was attempted in the only mode presenting a chance of effecting
it.
I hope I shall be pardoned for remarking, that in accounting for
the depressed condition of Virginia, you seem to allow too little
to the existence of slavery, ascribe too much to the tariff laws,
and not to have sufficiently taken into view the effect of the
rapid settlement of the Western and Southwestern country.
Previous to the Revolution, when, of these causes, slavery alone
was in operation, the face of Virginia was, in every feature of
improvement and prosperity, a contrast to the Colonies where
slavery did not exist, or in a degree only, not worthy of notice.
Again, during the period of the tariff laws prior to the latter
state of them, the pressure was little, if at all, regarded as a
source of the general suffering. And whatever may be the degree
in which the extravagant augmentation of the Tariff may have
contributed to the depression, the extent of this cannot be
explained by the extent of the cause. The great and adequate
cause of the evil is the cause last mentioned, if that be indeed
an evil which improves the condition of our migrating citizens,
and adds more to the growth and prosperity of the whole than it
subtracts from a part of the community.
Nothing is more certain than that the actual and prospective
depression of Virginia is to be referred to the fall in the value
of her landed property, and in that of the staple products of
the land. And it is not less certain that the fall in both cases
is the inevitable effect of the redundancy in the market of land
and of its products. The vast amount of fertile land offered at
125 cents per acre in the West and S. West could not fail to have
the effect already experienced, of reducing the land here to half
its value; and when the labour that will here produce one
hogshead of tobacco and ten barrels of flour will there produce
two hhd and twenty barrels, now so cheaply transportable to the
destined outlets, a like effect on these articles must
necessarily ensue. Already more tobacco is sent to New Orleans
than is exported from Virginia to foreign markets; whilst the
article of flour, exceeding for the most part the demand for it,
is in a course of rapid increase from new sources as boundless as
they are productive. The great staples of Virginia have but a
limited market, which is easily glutted. They have in fact sunk
more in price, and have a more threatening prospect, than the
more southern staples of cotton and rice. The case is believed to
be the same with her landed property. That it is so with her
slaves is proved by the purchases made here for the market there.
The reflections suggested by this aspect of things will be more
appropriate in your hands than in mine. They are also beyond the
tether of my subject, which I fear I have already overstrained. I
hasten, therefore, to conclude, with a tender of the high respect
and cordial regards which I pray you to accept.[22]
TO HENRY CLAY
June, 1833.
It is painful to observe the unceasing efforts to alarm the South
by imputations against the North of unconstitutional designs on
the subject of the slaves. You are right, I have no doubt, in
believing that no such intermeddling disposition exists in the
body of our Northern brethren. Their good faith is sufficiently
guarantied by the interest they have as merchants, as
ship-owners, and as manufacturers, in preserving a union with the
slaveholding States. On the other hand, what _madness_ in the
South to look for greater safety in disunion. It would be worse
than jumping out of the frying-pan into the fire; it would be
jumping into the fire for fear of the frying-pan. The danger
from the alarm is, that the pride and resentment exerted by them
may be an overmatch for the dictates of prudence, and favor the
project of a Southern Convention, insidiously revived, as
promising, by its councils, the best securities against
grievances of every sort from the North.[23]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] _Letters and other Writings of James Madison_, III, 138.
[2] _Ibid._, 170.
[3] _Ibid._, 239.
[4] _Letters and other Writings of James Madison_, III, 168.
[5] _Letters and other Writings of James Madison_, I, 542-543.
[6] _Ibid._, III, 121.
[7] _Letters and other Writings of James Madison_, III, 122-124.
[8] _Letters and other Writings of James Madison_, III, 133-138.
[9] _Ibid._, III, 170.
[10] _Letters and other Writings of James Madison_, III, 190.
[11] _Letters and other Writings of James Madison_, III, 193-194.
[12] _Letters and other Writings of James Madison_, III, 239, 240.
[13] _Letters and other Writings of James Madison_, III, 310-315.
[14] These peculiarities, it would seem, are not of equal force in the
South American States, owing, in part, perhaps, to a former
degradation, produced by colonial vassalage; but principally to the
lesser contrast of colours. The difference is not striking between
that of many of the Spanish and Portuguese Creoles and that of many of
the mixed breed.--J. M.
[15] _Letters and other Writings of James Madison_, III, 495-498.
[16] _Letters and other Writings of James Madison_, III, 541-542.
[17] _Letters and other Writings of James Madison_, III, 2-3.
[18] _Letters and other Writings of James Madison_, IV, 60.
[19] _Ibid._, IV, 188.
[20] _Letters and other Writings of James Madison_, IV, 192.
[21] _Letters and other Writings of James Madison_, IV, 213-214.
[22] _Letters and other Writings of James Madison_, IV, 274-279.
[23] _Letters and other Writings of James Madison_, IV, 301.
ADVICE GIVEN NEGROES A CENTURY AGO
The following addresses to the free people of color, taken from the
_Minutes of the American Convention of Abolition Societies_ active in
this country during the first fifty years of the republic of the
United States, show the method employed by these early friends of the
Negroes to effect their social uplift while this organization was
working for the abolition of the slave trade and the destruction of
slavery. The advice to the Negroes as to how they should conduct
themselves is very interesting. After 1820 the American Convention of
Abolition Societies paid less attention to such advice to the people
of color and concerned itself primarily with appeals to others in
their behalf. The free Negro made so much moral progress during the
period that they ceased to be a cause of anxiety.
TO THE
FREE AFRICANS AND OTHER FREE PEOPLE OF COLOR
IN THE
UNITED STATES.
THE Convention of Deputies from the Abolition Societies in the
United States, assembled at Philadelphia, have undertaken to
address you upon subjects highly interesting to your prosperity.
They wish to see you act worthily of the rank you have acquired
as freemen, and thereby to do credit to yourselves, and to
justify the friends and advocates of your color in the eyes of
the world.
As the result of our united reflections, we have concluded to
call your attention to the following articles of Advice. We
trust, they are dictated by the purest regard for your welfare,
for we view you as Friends and Brethren.
_In the first place._ We earnestly recommend to you, a regular
attention to the important duty of public worship; by which means
you will evince gratitude to your CREATOR, and, at the same
time, promote knowledge, union, friendship, and proper conduct
amongst yourselves.
_Secondly_,
_Secondly_, We advise such of you, as have not been taught
reading, writing, and the first principles of arithmetic, to
acquire them as early as possible. Carefully attend to the
instruction of your children in the same simple and useful
branches of education. Cause them, likewise, early and frequently
to read the holy Scriptures. They contain, among other great
discoveries, the precious record of the original equality of
mankind, and of the obligations of universal justice and
benevolence, which are derived from the relation of the human
race to each other in a COMMON FATHER.
_Thirdly_, Teach your children useful trades, or to labor with
their hands in cultivating the earth. These employments are
favorable to health and virtue. In the choice of masters, who are
to instruct them in the above branches of business, prefer those
who will work with them; by this means they will acquire habits
of industry, and be better preserved from vice, than if they
worked alone, or under the eye of persons less interested in
their welfare. In forming contracts, for yourselves or children,
with masters, it may be useful to consult such persons as are
capable of giving you the best advice, who are known to be your
friends, in order to prevent advantages being taken of your
ignorance of the laws and customs of our country.
_Fourthly_, Be diligent in your respective callings, and faithful
in all the relations you bear in society, whether as husbands,
wives, fathers, children or hired servants. Be just in all your
dealings. Be simple in your dress and furniture, and frugal in
your family expenses. Thus you will act like Christians as well
as freemen, and, by these means, you will provide for the
distress and wants of sickness and old age.
_Fifthly_, Refrain from the use of spirituous liquors. The
experience of many thousands of the citizens of the United States
has proved, that these liquors are not necessary to lessen the
fatigue of labor, nor to obviate the extremes of heat or cold;
much less are they necessary to add to the innocent pleasures of
society.
_Sixthly_, Avoid frolicking, and amusements which lead to expense
and idleness; they beget habits of dissipation and vice, and thus
expose you to deserved reproach amongst your white neighbors.
_Seventhly_, We wish to impress upon your minds the normal and
religious necessity of having your marriages legally performed;
also to have exact registers preserved of all the births and
deaths which occur in your respective families.
_Eighthly_, Endeavour to lay up as much as possible of your
earnings for the benefit of your children, in case you should die
before they are able to maintain themselves--your money will be
safest and most beneficial when laid out in lots, houses or small
farms.
_Ninthly_, We recommend to you, at all times and upon all
occasions, to behave yourselves to all persons in a civil and
respectful manner, by which you may prevent contention and remove
every just occasion of complaint. We beseech you to reflect, it
is by your good conduct alone, that you can refute the objections
which have been made against you as rational and moral creatures,
and remove many of the difficulties, which have occurred in the
general emancipation of such of your brethren as are yet in
bondage.
With hearts anxious for your welfare, we commend you to the
guidance and protection of that BEING who is able to keep you
from all evil, and who is the common Father and Friend of the
whole family of mankind.[1]
TO THE FREE AFRICANS AND OTHER FREE PEOPLE OF COLOR IN THE
UNITED STATES
The Convention of Delegates from the Abolition Societies in the
United States, having again assembled for the purpose of
promoting your happiness, consider it their duty, once more to
call your attention to the advice which was addressed to you by
the Convention of last year; and which we subjoin to the present
address, in order that you may at one view be able to profit by
these collected advices of your sincerest friends. The oftner we
review that advice, the more we are impressed with its
importance, and the more anxious we are to urge your strict and
faithful observance of it. We shall only add thereto, at present,
one other request, and that is, that you would avoid gaming in
all its varied forms--the ruinous and miserable consequences of
this most pernicious evil, are so notorious, and so generally
acknowledged, that we cannot too forcibly endeavour to guard you
against it. It subjects you to the control of the most degrading
passions, and too generally leads to the loss of fortune,
reputation, and of every good principle.
We can with peculiar satisfaction inform you, that schools and
places of worship have been established, and that they are well
attended by people of your color, in New-York, New-Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and other places; and we are
happy to find, that many of you have evinced, by your prudent and
moral conduct, that you are not unworthy of the freedom you
enjoy.
Go on in these paths of virtue:--By persevering in them you will
justify the solicitude and labors of your friends in your behalf,
and furnish an additional argument for the emancipation of such
of your brethren as are yet in bondage in the United States and
in other parts of the world.[2]
TO THE FREE BLACKS, AND OTHER FREE PEOPLE OF COLOUR, IN
THE UNITED STATES
The American Convention for promoting the Abolition of Slavery
and improving the Condition of the African Race, believe it
proper to address you, on subjects highly interesting to your
well being.
You can have no doubt but that our views are disinterested, and
we therefore think ourselves entitled to your attention, whilst
we speak of matters in which you are greatly concerned.
As you are free men, we wish you to place a proper estimate on
your privileges, and to act in a manner becoming your character;
that, by your worthy conduct, you may destroy the prejudices
which some persons entertain against you, and relieve your
friends from the censures which they incur in consequence of your
errors; we beseech you, reflect seriously and endeavor to remove
these reproaches; and it is our earnest and affectionate advice,
that you remember your great and good Creator, who has placed you
in this life, in order that you may, by acting well your part
here, be qualified for everlasting happiness hereafter--Can you
expect that happiness, if instead of attending places of divine
worship, there to pray for his holy aid, you spend the Sabbath,
as well as much of the other parts of your time, in rolicking,
drinking, or other evil practices, which destroy your own
comfort, give cause of offense to your neighbours, and above all
greatly displease that all-seeing God, before whom you must
appear to give an account for all your conduct? Let us prevail
upon you to refrain from the use of spirituous liquors, which
have occasioned misery to thousands--from gaming, a vice which
will bring poverty upon your families, and from frolicking and
amusements, which lead to idleness and expence; these habits of
dissipation, can in no wise add to your comfort. Be industrious,
diligent in your business, frugal in your expences, and endeavour
to lay up part of your earnings against a time of need. Some of
you can read, such know the advantages of it; you who cannot,
strive to acquire that knowledge.--Surely this knowledge is an
object of great importance, were it only for the opportunity it
affords of becoming acquainted with that best of books, the
Bible. The holy Scriptures of the old and new testament, contain
invaluable treasures of instruction, and of comfort. It would
give us much satisfaction, could we oftener see them in the hands
of those who are able to read them, and that an increasing
anxiety to become possessed of their contents, and to profit by
their precepts, might be more and more observable among you.
Very much depends upon the right education of your children,
endeavour to have them brought up to labour, and taught to read
and write; early place them apprentice with suitable masters, and
whether they be tradesmen or farmers, be always particularly
careful to prefer such, as by their example, will encourage them
in industry and sobriety.
In all your dealings be just and honest, give no cause of offence
to any, and if any dispute, either among yourselves, or with
others, should unhappily arise, in which you find difficulty,
apply to such persons in your neighborhoods as you know to be
your friends, and able to give you advice and assistance. Be
assured you will find this practice contributes much more to your
peace and interest, than the settling of your differences at law.
Be careful to observe your marriage covenants, remembering that
those who violate them, will fall under the displeasure of the
Almighty. We wish also to impress your minds, the necessity of
having your marriage ceremonies legally performed, and that the
births and deaths in your respective families, be carefully
registered. In the words of an address heretofore made, we
recommend you at all times, and upon all occasions, to behave
yourselves in a civil and respectful manner, by which you may
prevent contention and remove many causes of complaint: we
beseech you to reflect, that you may, by your good conduct,
refute the objections which have been made against you as
rational and moral creatures and lessen many of the difficulties
which now occur in the emancipation of such of your brethren, as
are yet in bondage.
In all your communications with those of your brethren who remain
in slavery, we desire you unceasingly to impress them with the
necessity of contentment with their situations, submission to
their masters, and fidelity to their interests--that they be not
merely eye-servants, but carefully perform the labours assigned
them, and manage everything intrusted to their care, with as much
faithfulness as if it were their own. By this conduct they will
excite in their masters, a disposition to treat them with
humanity and gentleness, and to increase the number of their
privileges and comforts; and contribute to the peace of their own
minds.
Console them with the reflection, that unmixed happiness in a
future life, will be the portion of all good men, whatever may
have been their lot here below.[3]
TO THE FREE BLACKS AND OTHER FREE PEOPLE OF COLOUR IN THE
UNITED STATES
The American Convention for promoting the Abolition of Slavery,
and improving the Condition of the African Race, having again
assembled for the purpose of advancing your best interest, and
the welfare of your offspring; deem it expedient, once more to
address you as children of one Almighty Parent, and members of
the same extended family. The objects we have so long, and so
assiduously pursued, are highly interesting to society at large,
and infinitely important to you in particular.... For their
attainment, we therefore claim your zealous and uniform
co-operation. This demand we make with much confidence, as we are
persuaded many of you have already verified, in your own
experience, the propriety of former recommendations. You have
found that industry and economy have procured for you,
independence; that temperance has greatly promoted, if not
absolutely secured to you, health; and that the cultivation of
the faculties of the mind, has enlarged the capacity for
discharging your various duties, and for enjoying the numerous
benefits you have received. On the contrary, you have seen that
idleness, gambling, and dissipation, have uniformly produced
poverty and disgrace; that intemperance has generally been the
parent of loathsome disease, and the cause of premature death;
and that the consequences of ignorance are too frequently,
contention and loss. Trusting then, that we can with confidence
appeal to your own experience, for a test of the truth of
precepts so often inculcated, we beseech you with anxious and
tender solicitude to bear them constantly in remembrance, and,
with a steady zeal, put them in practice. We are well aware that
human nature is frail, and prone to depart from the strait path
of rectitude. On this weakness let us not however rely for a
justification of our deviations, but rather let it operate as an
inducement to double our diligence and increase our caution. Then
while we are conscious of having honestly and earnestly
endeavored to discharge the duties we owe to our Maker and to
each other, we can look with more confidence to our great Creator
for pardon of our past transgressions and strength to preserve us
from a repetition of them.
In our observations thus far we have chiefly endeavoured to
convince you, that on your own conduct depends your prosperity
and happiness, but be assured the consequences do not rest there.
The greater portion of your brethren still remains in bondage.
One great obstacle to their release, it is in your power and it
is eminently your duty to remove; the enemies of your liberty
have loudly and constantly asserted that you are not qualified to
enjoy it, that your proneness to dissipation, your inattention to
your particular concerns, and your disregard of the interests of
each other, will ever produce your own wretchedness and lasting
mischief to those among whom you dwell: in what degree the
imputations may be just we leave to your own candour to decide;
but we cannot leave the subject without conjuring you to remove,
by the utmost circumspection of conduct, the causes that have
been and continue to be urged against you; and thereby contribute
your part towards the liberation of such of your fellow men as
yet remain in the shackles of slavery.
The education of your offspring is a subject of lasting
importance, and has obtained a large portion of our attention and
care. In this too we call upon you for your aid; many of you have
been favoured to acquire a comfortable portion of property, and
are consequently enabled to contribute in some measure to the
means of educating your offspring. While you thus benefit your
own, you will also confer a favor on the children of those who
are indigent; in as much as there will remain a large proportion
of other funds to be applied to their improvement.
Having thus fully communicated our sentiments on subjects the
most important to your present and eternal welfare, we beg you to
give them your close attention, and sincerely wish you that
happiness which is consistent with the will of an all-wise and
protecting Providence.[4]
TO THE FREE PEOPLE OF COLOUR AND DESCENDANTS OF THE AFRICAN
RACE, IN THE UNITED STATES
The American Convention composed of Delegates from several
Abolition and Manumission Societies in the United States, being
assembled in Philadelphia, for the purpose of promoting the great
cause of emancipation, and for the melioration of the condition
and the general improvement of the descendants of the African
race; have deemed it their duty to address you, on some subjects
intimately connected with your future welfare and prosperity.
They perform this duty the more willingly, from a conviction that
such counsel and advice as they may communicate, will be received
and listened to with attention, from the circumstance of its
proceeding from those who have long had your best interests at
heart.
Vain will be the desire on the part of the friends of abolition,
to behold their labours crowned with success, unless those
colourd people who have obtained their freedom, should evince by
their morality and orderly deportment, that they are deserving
the rank and station which they have obtained in society:
unavailing will be the most strenuous exertions of humane
philanthropists in your behalf, if you should not be found to
second their endeavours, by a course of conduct corresponding
with the expectations and the wishes of your friends.
We intreat you therefore by the ties which bind us together as
children of one common Creator;--by the obligation imposed upon
us, as joint objects of redeeming love; as heirs alike with us,
of the rewards and benedictions which rest upon all who perform
the religious and social obligations of life with fidelity;--by
the sacred duties which you owe to yourselves, and to the Author
of your existence; seriously to consider the great responsibility
which rests upon you as FREEMEN, so to order and regulate your
conduct and deportment in the world and amongst men, that your
example may exhibit a standing refutation of the charge, that you
are unworthy of freedom. And let us impress it upon YOU, whose
opportunities of information have been greater than the
generality of your colour, to use the influence which your
superior knowledge may have given you among your brethren, to
dissuade _them_ from the commission and practice of those vices
which degrade and disgrace them in the eyes of mankind;
particularly let it be your constant endeavour to repress among
them dram drinking, frequenting of tippling shops and places of
diversion, idleness and dissipation of every description, and to
promote and encourage as much as possible, habits of sobriety,
industry and economy, punctual attendance on places of religious
worship, particularly on the day appointed for rest from labour,
and for the exercises of devotion; avoiding noisy and disorderly
conduct on those days, as well as at other times; and to demean
themselves peaceably and respectfully, towards all those with
whom they have intercourse. This will do more, towards advancing
your cause in the earth, than the labours of your friends can
effect in your behalf.
The great work of emancipation is not to be accomplished in a
day;--it must be the result of time, of long and continued
exertions: it is for you to show by an orderly and worthy
deportment that you are deserving of the rank which you have
attained. Endeavour as much as possible to use economy in your
expences, so that you may be enabled to save from your earnings,
something for the education of your children, and for your
support in time of sickness, and in old age: and let all those
who by attending to this admonition, have acquired means, send
their children to school as soon as they are old enough, where
their morals will be an object of attention, as well as their
improvement in school learning; and when they arrive at a
suitable age, let it be your especial care to have them
instructed in some mechanical art suited to their capacities, or
in agricultural pursuits; by which they may afterwards be enabled
to support themselves and a family. Encourage, also, those among
you who are qualified as teachers of schools, and when you are of
ability to pay, never send your children to free-schools; this
may be considered as robbing the poor, of the opportunities which
were intended for them alone.
Keep out of all contentions and law-suits with each other; by
which your valuable time, which should be spent in useful
occupations, is grievously misapplied, your money wasted, and
your character in the world, is unhappily injured and
degraded:--it is a mortifying sight to your friends, to see the
coloured people bringing each other before the civil officers
and in courts of justice for trifling causes of contention, which
by exercising an amiable and forbearing disposition might be
easily settled, without going to law, and spending their time and
money, in useless disputations.
Be faithful to the obligations of the marriage covenant. Be
diligent in your respective callings, so that you may not
disappoint the expectations of those who have confided in you,
and in the capacity of domestics or hired servants, shew
yourselves faith-ful; remembering that no situation in life is
disgraceful in itself, but that upon your own conduct, will
depend the estimation in which you will be held by others; and if
you perform your duty with fidelity, you will be respected and
esteemed. Be just in all your dealings, and strictly punctual in
the performance of all your promises; so shall you gain the
approbation and the confidence of your white neighbours, and
justify the conduct of those who have laboured for your
emancipation.
Let an especial attention be had to keep a regular record of your
marriages, and of the births of your children, by which their
ages may at any time be legally established;--this will be of
essential service to you in placing them out as apprentices and
prevent impositions being practised upon you. Finally--be sober;
be watchful over every part of your conduct, keeping constantly
in view, that the freedom of many thousands of your colour, who
still remain in slavery, will be hastened and promoted by your
leading a life of virtue and sobriety.[5]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] American Convention Abolition Societies. Minutes, 1796, pp. 12,
14.
[2] American Convention of Abolition Societies, Minutes of, 1797, pp.
16 and 17.
[3] American Convention Abolition Societies, Minutes, 1804, pp. 30-33.
[4] Minutes of Proceedings of Tenth American Convention for promoting
the Abolition of Slavery, 1805, pp. 36-39.
[5] Minutes of the American Convention Abolition Societies, 1818.
Pages 43 and 47.
SOME UNDISTINGUISHED NEGROES
JUAN BAUTISTA CESAR
A few years ago a bookseller handed me a book of MSS. papers for
classification. I noted that they belonged to some military court or
the archives of a Spanish Audiencia having jurisdiction in New Spain.
Most of them had something to do with Texas when it was part of Mexico
and belonged to the kingdom of Spain. These papers were of the highest
historical value in so far as Texas was concerned. My curiosity was
aroused by the original transcript of a court martial called upon to
judge the transgressions of the Anglo-Americans, as they were called
in those days. From these papers Philip Nolan, around whom a halo of
false patriotism still lingers, was nothing more or less in the
judgment of the court martial than a horse thief. It was the practice
of Nolan, Bean, Fero and others to make periodical incursions across
the State and stampede home, domestic, and wild horses for their
mutual benefit. On this occasion the Spaniards were prepared for the
malefactors and when surrounded in their provisional fort they refused
at first to surrender, but the killing of Nolan put an end to all
resistance and Elias Bean, David Fero and the Negro Cesar were put in
St. Charles jail to await the slow machinery of the Spanish courts.
Bean and Fero attempted to escape from the jail. One of these patriots
became intimate with the jailer's wife and his intercepted notes
showed him a depraved specimen of humanity. Among the papers examined
was a deposition of Nolan's slave known in the histories of Texas by
the name of Cesar, under the Spanish correct form he takes the proper
name of Juan Bautista Cesar, a native of Grenada, when the island
belonged to France. He was a professed Christian belonging to the
Roman Catholic faith. So that during the dawn of the incipient
difficulties surrounding Texas, therefore, when becoming part of the
United States, there figured a Negro the tool of his master, in common
with Nolan and others, reputed horse thieves, the patriots whose
depredations were as annoying to the Mexicans in 1804 as Villa's
bandit incursions (during 1914-20) are reprehensible to Americans.
The manuscript follows:
_Juan Bautista Cesar._
En el referido Presidio de San Carlos en el mismo dia, mes y año
arriba citado el nominado Sr. Capitán hizo comparacer ante si al
Interprete José Jesús de los Santos y al Negro Juan Bautista,
conocido con el nombre de Cesar á quienes juramento en debida
forma ante mí el Escribano y bajo lo cual prometió el primero
traducir fielmente lo que declara et expresáda Juan Bautista y
este decir verdad en lo que supiere y fuere preguntado y siendo
por su Nombre, y Patria y Religión. Dijo que se llama Juan
Bautista Cesar, que es natural de las islas Francesas que llaman
la Granada y que es Católico Apostolico Romano.
Preguntado si sabe porqué está preso: dijo. Que sabe se haya
preso por haber acompañado á su amo Dn. Felipe Nolan en la
entrada que hizo á la Provincia de Texas.
Preguntado si no ha habido algun noevo motivo para que la prision
se le agrave; Dijo que no sabe si habia habido algun motivo para
tenerlo en el calabozo en donde ahora existe privandolo del
alivio que ántes disfrutaba de tener todo el Presidio por Cárcel.
Preguntado que es lo que sabe de la fuga que intentaron hacer los
Anglo-Americanos compañeros de Nolan. Dijo; Que la fuga si la
intentaron los, Anglo Americanos se la han ocultado al declarante
pues jámas le han comunicado cosa alguna relativa á ella y antes
bien ha observado que cuando hablan entre sí los expresados
Anglo-Americanos y el declarante se presenta, luega callan y solo
continuan hablando cosas diferentes: que el diá que pusieron al
que declara en el calabozo en union de Elias Bean y David Fero
oyo el declarante que David pregunto a Elias que si habia escrito
alguna carta á Chihuahua y respondiendole Elias que si, le
contestó David ya verás como por eso nos ponen en el calabozo y
te apostara una oreja que es asi; que nada mas has oido ni visto
nunca sobre la fuga de que se trata: Que el declarante desde que
se murió su amo Nolan siempre ha sido mirado con desprecio por
los Anglo-Americanos compañeros de aquel y por lo mismo le ha
quadrado mas alojarse siempre con los Españoles como se verificó
cuando lo pusieron en el calabozo que dormia con tres de los
Españoles.
Preguntado si sabe o ha oíds que lesl Anglo-Americanos tuviesen
prevenidas Armas y municiones de boca y guerra para meditar su
fuga intentarla: Dijo que nada sabe sobre lo que contiene la
Pregunta, no ha oido cosa alguna sobre el particular.
Preguntado si tiene algo mas que declarar sobre el particular:
Dijo que no tiene mas que declarar sobre el particular y que lo
dicho es la verdad a cargo del juramento que lleva hecho en que
se afirmó y ratificó despues de enterado por el Interprete de lo
que contiene esta su declarencion y por no saber escribir
pusieron ambos la señar de cruz firmando dicho señor y el
presente Escribano.
(Firmado) Texada X X Ante mi Jose Cano
Provincia de la Nueve Vizcaya Año de 1804. Diligencias
practicadas de órden del Sr. Comandants General en la Fuga que
intentaron hacer los Anglo-Americanos. Comisionado el Capiten Dn
Antonio Garcia de Texada.
ARTHUR A. SCHOMBURG.
A BENEVOLENT SLAVEHOLDER OF COLOR
John Barry Meachum, a free man of color, became prominent as pastor of
the African Baptist Church at St. Louis. Meachum was born a slave, but
obtained his liberty by his own industry. By his hard earnings he
purchased his father, a slave, and Baptist preacher in Virginia. He
was then a resident of Kentucky, where he married a slave, and where
he professed religion.
Soon thereafter his wife's master removed to Missouri, and Meachum
followed her, arriving at St. Louis, with three dollars, in 1815.
Being a carpenter and a cooper, he soon obtained employment, purchased
his wife and children, commenced preaching, and was ordained in 1825.
During subsequent years he purchased, including adults and children,
about twenty slaves, but he never sold them again. His method was to
place them in service, encourage them to form habits of industry and
economy, and when they had paid for themselves, he set them free. In
1835 he built a steamboat, which he provided with a library, and from
which he excluded the use and sale of intoxicating drinks. He was then
worth about $25,000.
He was not less enterprising in religious matters. The church of which
he was pastor, consisted of about 220 members of whom 200 were slaves.
A large Sabbath school, a temperance society, a deep-toned missionary
spirit, good order and correct habits among the slave population in
the city, strict and regular discipline in the church, were among the
fruits of his arduous, persevering labor.[1]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] _The Liberator_, December, 10, 1836.
BOOK REVIEWS
_The Republic of Liberia._ By R. C. F. MAUGHAN, F.R.G.S. and
F.Z.S., etc., H. B. M., Consul-General at Monrovia. New York,
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1919. Pp. 299. Price $6.50.
This work is a general description of the Negro Republic, with its
history, commerce, agriculture, flora, fauna, and present methods of
administration. The book contains several maps and thirty-seven
illustrations. The more interesting topics as to history and
administration appear first and those of the statistically scientific
and commercial order come nearer to the end.
The book was written in 1918 before the United States took sufficient
interest in the republic to bring about certain epoch-making changes.
The United States has since offered the country a loan of five million
dollars and with the approval of Great Britain and France and with the
request of the Liberian Government has consented to become the sole
adviser in Liberian affairs. Since then Hon. C. D. B. King, who became
President of Liberia in January 1920, has participated in the world's
peace conference and visited Europe and America, where the heads of
nations have assured him of deeper interest in Liberia than they have
heretofore manifested.
This book was written from a point of view decidedly different from
that of most writers on Liberia, whose tone is that of "gentle
melancholy," descanting "upon the country and the people to whom it
belongs as with a pen dipped in sighs." Instead of criticising he has
in most cases merely described. Where criticisms have crept in they
have been given in a spirit of sympathetic friendship. He finds in the
country, therefore, much to admire and praise and an economic
situation "which will assuredly bid fair, when normal conditions shall
have returned to us once more, to attain to a measure of gratifying
expansion and progress." He believes that Liberia will then be in a
position "of having her feet placed firmly upon the ladder which
should bring her in time to great heights. The author concedes that
the rung which Liberia has already reached is not a high one perhaps,
"but the way before her seems plain and unmistakable." He believes
that the present guidance from the outside guarantees these most
sanguine expectations in as much as the foreigners controlling the
financial policy of the little republic are hard-working men who have
already set the house somewhat in order. This, supplemented by a
liberal policy of internal improvements, will result in the prosperity
of the whole land.
In discussing this phase of the administration of Liberian affairs,
the author does not bring out any particular resentment on the part of
the natives as to foreign interference. The native officials welcome
helpful advice and when not given they sometimes seek it. The author
himself came into contact with a number of functionaries who frankly
asked him to tell them what he thought of their methods. Except so far
as such foreign guidance may bring financial relief, however, it is
doubtful that these natives so easily yield to this sort of
domination; for many Liberians are to-day endeavoring to get rid of
the American loan which they fear may lead to conquest like that in
Haiti. On the whole, however, this work comes nearer to the true
portraiture of the Liberian situation than most volumes in this field.
* * * * *
_The United States in Our Own Times, 1865-1920._ By PAUL HAWORTH,
Ph.D. New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1920. Pp. vii, 563.
The publication of this volume is justified by the author on the
ground that in as much as an important object of history study is to
enable one to understand the present, greater emphasis than hitherto
must be laid on the period since the Civil War. Hoping then to supply
the need of students who desire to know our own country in our own
times the author has directed his attention to the problems of the new
day, to social and industrial questions which have attained importance
since the Civil War, and which, as the author views it, served as a
break between these two distinct periods in our history.
Briefly stated, the author covers a little better than usually the
field in which many others have recently written. There appears the
aftermath of the Rebellion, then the drama of Reconstruction followed
by national development making possible a new era, the changing order,
the revival of the Democratic Party, hard times, free silver, troubles
with Spain, imperialism, Roosevelt and the Panama Canal, the New West,
Progressivism, the "New Freedom," "Watchful Waiting," the World War,
and the Peace Conference. The book is well illustrated with useful
maps showing the West in 1876, the Cuba and Porto Rican campaigns,
the Philippines, Mexico, West Indies, and Central America, the
percentage of foreign-born whites in the total population in 1910, the
percentage of Negroes in the total population in 1910, the Western
Front in 1918, and the United States in 1920.
Discussing thus a period during which the most important problems
before the American people has been how to segregate the Negroes
within the law, the author touched here and there the so-called Negro
question. While Dr. Haworth has not shown all of the breadth of mind
expected in an historian he has been much more liberal than the
pseudo-historians who endeavor merely to justify the proscription of
the freedmen on the basis of so-called racial inferiority. Dr. Haworth
does occasionally mention a Negro as having said or done something
worthy of notice. In the average Reconstruction history there is no
personal mention of the Negro except for the purpose to condemn him
and to advise him how to make himself acceptable to his so-called
superiors.
In his last chapter which he calls "A Golden Age in History" he says
some things which we do not find in the works of the would-be
historians of this period. On page 509 he writes: "A historian ought
not to suppress uncomfortable facts, and it is undeniable that the
treatment of the Negroes forms a blot on America's fair name. In parts
of the South they are kept in a state of practical serfdom; in all
cities they are herded into unsanitary districts; they are denied
equal opportunities for advancement; and not infrequently they are
maltreated and murdered by brutal mobs. It is true that individual
Negroes, by fiendish assaults on white women, now and then rouse men
to frenzy, but statistics show that only about a fifth of the
lynchings of Negroes are because of the 'usual crime.' Burning at the
stake is never justifiable under any circumstance, and it is
undeniable that in race riots scenes of horror have been enacted that
are a disgrace to American civilization. Such scenes are sadly out of
place in a nation that proclaims itself the special champion of
liberty and justice and which enlists in a crusade 'to make the world
safe for democracy.'"
* * * * *
_The American Colonization Society, 1817-1840._ By EARLY LEE FOX,
Ph.D., Professor of History in Randolph-Macon College. Baltimore.
The John Hopkins Press, 1919. Pp. viii, 231.
This is another study made under the direction of the Johns Hopkins
University faculty of Historical and Political Science and like many
others of this order lies in the field of southern history and is
written from the ex parte point of view. It does not cover the whole
history of the American Colonization Society but restricts itself to
that period when it was largely a southern enterprise primarily
interested in getting rid of the Negro. Throughout the story there is
too much effort to evade eloquent facts, too much effort to excuse the
sins of the South by showing that the North itself was once
slaveholding and slavetrading. On the whole, however, the author has
in the use of such valuable material as the manuscripts and especially
the letters of the American Colonization Society brought to light
significant facts which the historian will be glad to use more
advantageously.
After a brief introduction the book treats of the free Negro and the
slave. Then comes the chapter on the organization, purpose, and early
record of the Society. Attention is next directed to the conflict
between the colonizationists and the abolitionists. Colonization is
afterward discussed in connection with emancipation and finally with
the African slave trade. Throughout the whole treatise there is a
defense of the "lofty" motives of the men who labored so hard for the
expatriation of the Negroes. As the author sees it, although the
Society did not send many Negroes to Africa, it was after all a
success; for it had a bearing on the emancipation of slaves, and on
the suppression of the African slave trade. Abolitionists, attacking
this undertaking based upon national sentiment, were endangering the
union by their propaganda founded upon sectional sentiment.
Colonization, therefore, was just because it was "born out of a desire
to unite the North and the South in the settlement of the Negro
problem." The purpose of the treatise then is to (page 127) "set forth
the true aims of orthodox Colonizationists, or from another point to
demonstrate that their aims were as sincerely expressed as sound
policy would admit, and that, where motives were concealed, they were
concealed in order to secure the freedom of the slaves."
Written from this point of view the dissertation becomes too much of a
polemic to be accepted as a scientific treatise. Too much space is
devoted to the task of unifying the widely different views of the
colonizationists, too much effort is made to contrast the methods of
the colonizationists with those of the abolitionists. The author does
not seem to realize or at least fails to admit that the abolitionists
were radical reformers seeking to eradicate the cause of social
disease whereas the colonizationists were merely treating the symptoms
of the malady in undertaking the impossible task of transplanting a
whole race.
The general argument of the author in favor of the beneficence of
colonization is not convincing. There is no authority for the
contention that colonization promoted emancipation when the records
show that the majority of slaveholders who supported it had in mind
the expatriation of the free Negroes who among the bondmen were a
living testimony against slavery. To say that colonization might check
the slave trade by establishing one small colony in Africa is about as
unsound, contended some free Negroes in 1831, as to argue that "a
watchman in the city of Boston would prevent thievery in New York; or
that the custom house officers there would prevent goods being
smuggled into any other part of the United States." It is an insult to
the intelligence of men who have seriously considered history to say
that colonization was so built upon national sentiment as to have a
direct bearing on the preservation of the Union when the
colonizationists differed widely among themselves in the very
beginning and finally divided just as the abolitionists, who at one
time had also a national standing, in that most anti-slavery societies
were once found in the South. Until Negro history, therefore, has been
removed from the hands of those using it to whitewash their ancestors
the world must still lack knowledge as to how the progress of mankind
has been influenced by the Negro.
* * * * *
_The Voice of the Negro._ By ROBERT T. KERLIN, Professor of
English at the Virginia Military Institute. New York, E. P.
Dutton and Company, 1920. Pp. xii, 188.
The purpose of this book may best be expressed in the words of the
author himself, when he says, in the preface: "The following work is a
compilation from the colored press of America for the four months
[July 1st to November 1st, 1919] immediately succeeding the Washington
riot. It is designed to show the Negro's reaction to that and like
events following, and to the World War and the discussion of the
Treaty. It may, in the Editor's estimation, be regarded as a primary
document in promoting a knowledge of the Negro, his point of view, his
way of thinking upon race relations, his grievances, his aspirations,
his demands." A book of such purport, especially when coming from the
pen of a white man, must attract attention, and if the newspapers and
periodicals from which the various extracts are chosen may be called
truly representative, as in this case they are, the compiler has
performed a distinct service in the field of American History.
Professor Kerlin has culled his clippings from eighty current Negro
periodicals, published from Massachusetts to Georgia, and ranging from
the startlingly radical to the most hide-bound conservative type. He
has used only articles written by Negroes in Negro publications, has
sorted them and grouped them under ten heads, entitled respectively:
The Colored Press, The New Era, The Negro's Reaction to the World War,
The Negro's Grievances and Demands, Riots, Lynchings, The South and
the Negro, The Negro and Labor Unionism and Bolshevism, Negro
Progress, and The Lyric Cry,--a remarkable assortment of first-hand
information concerning Negro thought with regard to each topic.
Professor Kerlin makes no attempt to interpret the material of his
book; he merely presents it. It is for him who reads also to read
between the lines. It is doubtless impossible to choose any one
expression that will accurately represent Negro thought as caught in
these pages, yet four lines of poetry included in the book will serve
as well as any:
"We would be manly--proving well our worth,
Then would not cringe to any _god_ on earth.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
"We would be peaceful, Father,--but when we must,
Help us to thunder hard the blow that's just!"
This is the Voice of the Negro which Professor Kerlin intimates cannot
go unheeded.
The book might have been made more useful by the addition of an
alphabetical and topical index of the periodicals used.
D. A. LANE.
NOTES
The following account of the centenary celebration of St. Philip's
Episcopal Church from the _New York World_ of November 14, 1920, will
be interesting to all persons interested in Negro history:
"The Right Rev. Charles Sumner Burch, D.D., Bishop of New York, and
the Right Rev. Henry Beard Delany, D.D., Suffragan Bishop of North
Carolina, will participate in the centennial celebration at St.
Philip's Church, No. 212 West 134th Street, the Rev. H. C. Bishop,
rector, which will begin to-day.
"One hundred years ago Nov. 14 St. Philip's Church was incorporated
under the laws of the State of New York. The event is significant, for
it antedated the Civil War by forty-one years and the Emancipation
Proclamation of Abraham Lincoln by forty-five years. It is not only,
nor primarily, an ecclesiastical event, but a political and social one
as well, inasmuch as this act of Legislature recognized and confirmed
the citizenship of the petitioners, showing that these colored
Episcopalians were an integral part of the body politic.
"It was in 1809, under the leadership of Mr. McCoombs, a lay reader,
that a mission for colored people was opened in a school room on the
corner of Frankfort and William Streets, where they remained until
1812, and after the death of Mr. McCoombs removed to a room in Cliff
Street with Peter Williams, Jr., a colored man, as lay reader, where
they remained five years, moving from there to a school room on Rose
Street.
"In 1819 three lots were obtained on the west side of Collect, now
Centre Street, and upon this site a wooden building was erected at a
cost of $5,000. It was consecrated by Bishop John Henry Hobart, July
19, 1819, and was named St. Philip's Church. After its incorporation
in 1820 Mr. Williams, who had been ordained to the Deaconate in
October, was appointed minister in charge, Dec. 24, 1821, the building
was destroyed by fire, but was rebuilt the following year of brick at
a cost of $8,000.
"Mr. Williams was advanced to the priesthood in 1827, and became the
first rector of the church. He died in 1840. In 1853 the parish was
received into union with the Convention of the Diocese of New York. At
that time the church was at No. 305 Mulberry Street, and the Rev.
William Morris LL.D., rector of Trinity School, was the officiating
minister.
"The parish was without a rector from 1840 to 1872, when the Rev.
William J. Alston, trained at Kenyon College, Gambier, O., was called
to the rectorship. He continued in office until 1874, and there was a
vacancy until 1875, when the Rev. Joseph J. Atwell, a native of
Barbados, British West Indies, was elected rector. His death in 1882
again left the office vacant until 1886, when the present incumbent,
the Rev. Hutchens C. Bishop, was elected.
"During Mr. Atwell's incumbency the Parish House for Aged Women was
founded. The long years of vacancy retarded the growth of the parish
so that in 1885 there were but 284 communicants after a group
existence of seventy-six years.
"In 1886 the congregation made another journey, locating at No. 161
West 125th Street, where it remained until 1910, when, following the
migration northward, lots running from 133d to 134th Street were
obtained and a commodious church and parish house were erected. The
growth of the parish since that time has been phenomenal. There are
now over 2,500 communicants and not room enough in the parish house to
accommodate the various activities.
"At the present time St. Philip's may be said to be the only church in
the neighborhood in any way equipped to serve the colored people of
the community. Churchmen point out that if there is one place in
Manhattan where there should be buildings adapted for indoor
recreation and entertainment for the young colored people, it is that
particular part of the city. They claim there should be day nurseries,
gymnasiums, beneficial societies and forums for the discussion of
industrial problems, where employer and employee might meet and each
present his side.
"The centennial celebration will extend over a week. Bishop Burch will
preach at the special thanksgiving service to-day at 11 o'clock, while
Bishop Delany and one of the two negro Bishops in the Episcopal Church
will make an address at the evening service.
"There will be an historical pageant to-morrow night. A public meeting
with the pastors of St. Mark's, Olivet, Mother, A. M. E. Zion, St.
Cyprian, George Foster Peabody and James Weldon Johnson as the
speakers will take place Tuesday night. Following this meeting there
will be a reception and parish supper in the basement of the church.
Wednesday night is set apart for a praise service, when the Rev. Dr.
Manning, Dr. Stires, Dr. Grant and Dr. Bragg will deliver addresses.
"The newly organized Provincial Conference of Church Workers Among
Colored People will hold its sessions Thursday and Friday, when
representative ministers and lay workers will participate. The
conference will be addressed Friday night by Dr. Harry T. Ward of
Union Theological Seminary and Dr. Robert Russa Moton, Principal of
Tuskegee Institute."
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANNUAL MEETING, WASHINGTON, D. C., NOVEMBER 18, AND
19, 1920.
The annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and
History was called to order by Dr. C. G. Woodson, the Director of
Research and Editor of the _Journal of Negro History_. After a few
preliminary remarks, President John W. Davis of the West Virginia
Collegiate Institute was asked to open the meeting by the invocation
of divine blessing. Professor William Hansberry of Straight College
was introduced to deliver a lecture on the Ancient and Mediaeval
Culture of the People of Yorubuland. This was a most informing
disquisition on the achievements of these people prior to the time
when they came into contact with the so-called more advanced Asiatic
and European races. On the whole, Professor Hansberry made a strong
argument in behalf of the contention that the culture of these people
was indigenous and that brought into comparison with that of the
ancient Greek and Roman it does not materially suffer.
Mr. A. O. Stafford, the principal of the Lincoln School of Washington,
D. C., then read a very illuminating and informing paper on African
folk lore. He discussed briefly the various authorities producing
works in this field and indicated sources of information which have
not yet been explored. He then made a general survey of African folk
lore, showing how the Negro mind from the very earliest periods of
African history exhibited independent thought and philosophical
tendency.
At the conclusion of these addresses there followed a general
discussion in which participated Principal D. S. S. Goodloe of the
Maryland State Normal and Industrial School, Mr. John W. Cromwell,
President of the American Negro Academy, Mr. Monroe N. Work, Director
of Research and Records, Tuskegee Institute, and President John W.
Davis of the West Virginia Collegiate Institute.
At two o'clock the Association held a business session. The general
routine of business was followed. There being no unfinished business
or reports of special committees, the Association heard the reports
of the officers of last year. The Director read his report and the
report of the Secretary-Treasurer was presented by his assistant, Miss
A. H. Smith. They follow:
THE REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR
During the year 1919-1920 the Association has made steady
progress in spite of the difficulties resulting from the
increasing cost of labor and supplies. There has been some
difficulty in raising additional funds adequate to the needs of
the Association and for this reason the organization is now
suffering from a deficit of about $2500. Persons of means,
however, have from time to time volunteered so as to give
sufficient relief to keep the work going. Efforts are now being
made to remove this deficit in the near future through the
increase in the contributions annually received and gifts from
other friends who will be asked to make sacrifices for the cause.
The study of Negro history has not extended by leaps and bounds
but the progress of the work is in every way encouraging. The
number of subscribers to the JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY has not
increased because of the necessity to double the subscription
price in keeping with the demands of high prices, but the
influence of the work has considerably expanded. This magazine is
now being used as collateral reading in most of the leading white
and Negro institutions of the country and the number of classes
thus engaged are increasing every year. There is also a healthy
public opinion in favor of prosecuting the study of Negro history
more vigorously. Almost any book setting forth facts as to what
the Negro has thought and felt and done now has considerable
demand among persons in this country and abroad. While this
Association does not claim credit for all which has been
accomplished in this field, it has certainly given a decided
stimulus to the work.
It will be interesting to report, moreover, the number of
institutions closely cooperating with the Association in
prosecuting the study of the Negro. Among these may be mentioned
special classes in this work at Howard University, conducted by
the Director himself last year, and at the West Virginia
Collegiate Institute, where he is now engaged. In Lincoln
Institute, Missouri, considerable good has been accomplished
among students even of a high school grade, whereas at the State
Normal and Industrial Institute at Frankfort, Kentucky, the work
has interested a larger number of more advanced students.
Institutions like Straight College, Fisk, Atlanta, Morehouse,
Wilberforce, and Lincoln are laying a good foundation in this
field.
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-TREASURER.
_The Association for the Study of Negro Life and History,
Incorporated, Washington, D. C._
_Gentlemen_: I hereby submit to you a report of the amount of
money received and expended by the Association for the Study of
Negro Life and History, Incorporated, from September 30, 1919 to
September 30, 1920, inclusive:
RECEIPTS EXPENDITURES
Subscriptions $ 778.32 Printing and Stationery $2,733.54
Memberships 160.00 Petty Cash Expenses 551.26
Contributions 3,331.00 Rent and Light 250.30
News Agents 69.47 Stenographic Service 901.80
Advertisements 264.05 Miscellaneous Expenses 269.98
Books 19.63 Total Expenditures $4,706.88
Rent 15.00 Balance September 30, 1920. 48.86
------- ---------
Total Receipts, Sept. 30, $4,755.74
1919, to Sept. 30,
1920 $4,637.47
Balance Sept. 30, 1919 118.27
--------
$4,755.74
Respectfully submitted,
ALETHE H. SMITH,
_Assist. to the Secretary-Treasurer._
After a brief discussion these reports were accepted and approved. The
Association then spent some time in discussing the advisability of
holding annual meetings at strategic points and there prevailed a
motion to the effect that the Executive Council be requested to hold
the next annual meeting of the Association in Atlanta, Georgia. The
meeting adjourned after electing the following as officers: Robert E.
Park, President, Jesse E. Moorland, Secretary-Treasurer, Carter G.
Woodson, Director of Research and Editor; who with Julius Rosenwald,
George Foster Peabody, James H. Dillard, John R. Hawkins, Emmett J.
Scott, William G. Willcox, Bishop John Hurst, Albert Bushnell Hart,
Thomas Jesse Jones, A. L. Jackson, Moorfield Storey, and Bishop R. E.
Jones, were made members of the Executive Council.
At the evening session at the John Wesley A. M. E. Z. Church, the
Association was addressed by three men of distinction. The first
speaker was Professor Kelly Miller of Howard University who briefly
discussed the Limits of Philanthropy in Negro Education, endeavoring
to show that helpful as has been the program of the whites to educate
the Negroes, their work must be a failure, if it does not ultimately
result in equipping the Negro to take over his own school systems that
the direction, hitherto in the hands of whites, may be dispensed with.
Professor Robert T. Kerlin of the Virginia Military Institute, having
misunderstood his place on the program appeared at this meeting and,
as one of the persons scheduled to address the session did not
present himself, he was permitted to speak. His discourse was an
extensive discussion of the role played by poetry in the civilization
of a people and how the Negro poet is rendering his race and the
country service in singing of his woes and clamoring for a new
opportunity.
The meeting was closed with an address by Mr. Oswald Garrison Villard,
the Editor of the _Nation_, discussing the subject, The Economic Bases
of the Race Question. His discourse was a political and sociological
treatise based upon facts of history and economics to show the
hopelessness of a program to right the wrongs of the Negroes unless
that program has its foundation in things economic, in as much as the
present day situation offers no hope that politics will play any
particular part in the solution. All three speakers made a very
favorable impression upon the audience and so enlightened it by the
masterful array of facts presenting their point of view as to make
this one of the most interesting sessions ever held by the
Association.
The first session of the second day consisted of a conference on the
Negro in America. In the absence of Dr. R. E. Park, Dr. C. G. Woodson
spent most of the time discussing the achievements in the writing of
history of the Negro in America, especially in the United States. He
discussed the various motives actuating persons to enter this field,
showing that in most cases these were propagandists and for that
reason a non-partisan and unbiased history of the Negro has not yet
been written. He then discussed the possibility of producing
interesting, comprehensive and valuable works by the proper use of the
various materials. These materials, however, contended he, would have
to be given scientific treatment that the whole truth might be
extracted therefrom. He then showed the possibility of error in
accepting as evidence the opinions of the proslavery element about the
antislavery element, the opinions of the abolitionists about the
colonizationists and vice versa. These will have to be scientifically
examined and after all the actual facts of Negro history must be
determined from such sources as letters, diaries, books of travel, and
unconscious evidence in the current publications of the times.
At the conclusion of the address remarks were made by Mr. A. H.
Grimke, Mr. T. C. Williams, Mr. G. C. Wilkinson, Mr. A. C. Newman,
Professor A. H. Locke, Professor Walter Dyson, and Professor William
L. Hansberry. Professor Hansberry discussed for a few minutes the
value of the sources in African history making his talk very
illuminating and instructive.
The afternoon was devoted to a meeting of the Executive Council to
which the public was not invited but in the evening a large number of
members and friends of the cause attended the session, at the John
Wesley A. M. E. Z. Church. The speakers of the occasion were Mr.
Charles E. Russell of Washington, D. C., and Professor Albert Bushnell
Hart of Harvard University. Mr. Russell discussed the _Negro's Right
to Justice_ taking the record of the Negro as a worthy one and the
fallacy of discrimination against him in the midst of the struggle for
democracy. The address was both illuminating and convincing. Then
followed the address of Professor Hart on _Free Men by Choice_. He
endeavored to show that no person is actually free. That all elements
of the population and all classes are more or less restricted. This
discussion was both legal and historical, presenting in its various
ramifications the social order in the country and the legislation
underlying the same. He finally brought out the important fact that
although the institution of slavery imprisoned the body of the
Negroes, it could not control their minds.
THE JOURNAL
OF
NEGRO HISTORY
VOL. VI--APRIL, 1921--NO. 2
MAKING WEST VIRGINIA A FREE STATE
THE HISTORIC BACKGROUND
In 1763 the Peace of Paris definitely fixed the boundaries of
Virginia, giving as its western line, the Mississippi River from the
Ohio River to the Lake of Woods.[1] As time and settlement progressed,
the other colonies, growing fearful of Virginia's commanding position,
protested against her retention of this vast territory. Finally, in
1784, Virginia ceded to the Congress of the Confederation all lands
lying north and west of the Ohio River. She wanted it stipulated,
however, that the territory between the Ohio River and the Allegheny
Mountains comprising what is now West Virginia should remain forever
hers. Although the Congress did not make this stipulation, for the
reason that Virginia was unable to show title; Virginia was,
nevertheless, permitted to retain possession of the said territory.[2]
"The surface of Virginia of that day is divided into two unequally
inclined planes and a centrally located valley. The eastern plane is
subdivided into the Piedmont and the Tidewater; the western into the
Allegheny Highlands, the Cumberland Plateau, and the Ohio Valley
section; the area between was designated the Valley." The eastern
part of the State abounds in rich fertile soil, well adapted to
agriculture, while the western portion, especially the trans-Allegheny
region possesses in large quantities such natural resources as
bituminous coal, building stone, natural gas and petroleum.[3] The
"Valley," a part of the great Appalachian range of valleys, is a
depressed surface, several hundred feet below the top of the Blue
Ridge Mountains on the one side, and the Alleghenies on the other. It
is the dividing line of the two sections of the State then known as
eastern and western Virginia.
The earlier settlements west of the mountains were made by the more
adventurous persons of the east, who had no property or other ties to
attach them to the soil whence they came. At a later date, a more
substantial class, Germans and Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, made
settlements in this western country. They brought few slaves with them
but engaged in agriculture. A new type of people from the free States
to the north and west, next, came to Western Virginia.[4]
Slavery did not become a flourishing institution there, and in the
decades between the years of 1840 and 1860, the demand for slave labor
in the Gulf States caused the bulk of the slave population to go to
that market. The commercial and industrial interests developed there
found their outlets west and north. There was little intercourse of
any kind and practically no commerce with Eastern Virginia. No
railroad connected the west with the east. Burning political
differences manifested themselves, and these, with the lack of
commercial and social intercourse already noted, accentuated strife
between the two sections,[5] as was manifested in every State
constitutional convention held prior to the Civil War.
The Constitutional Convention of 1829 at Richmond was one of the most
important conventions in the history of the Virginia dissension. The
transmontane people, the people of the Valley and some of those of
the Piedmont were arrayed against the aristocratic land owners of the
Tidewater, demanding a greater share in the government of the
Commonwealth. The leading issues before the convention were: (1) the
question of extension of suffrage, (2) a more equitable basis of
representation in the legislature, and (3) the question of taxation as
a minor problem.
The right of suffrage was then conditioned upon the ownership of land.
The law regulating this matter had remained the same since 1776,
except that the number of acres of improved land, the possession of
which entitled one to vote, had been reduced from 50 to 25.[6] Thus
all those persons who were not attached to land or who did not possess
land in sufficient quantities were denied the ballot. The west, whose
white population, in 1829, was 319,516, argued and fought for
citizen-suffrage, while the east, whose white population was 362,745
at this time, representing a fifteen per cent increase since 1790, as
compared with one of 150 per cent for the west, opposed this
measure.[7]
The question of the reapportionment of representation was one of the
greatest importance. Here again, just as suffrage was based upon the
ownership of land, representation was based upon interests. In 1828
the House of Delegates consisted of two hundred and fourteen members;
the Senate of twenty-four." Of these numbers the transmontane country
had but eighty delegates and nine senators.[8] This section, then
proposed that the basis of apportionment should be the white
population. The cismontane people opposed this, since any change in
this direction would tend to place too much political power in the
hands of the westerners.
After a discussion on the white and mixed bases proposals, which
lasted three weeks, the convention finally turned to a consideration
of the various plans of compromise. Mr. Gordon, of Albemarle County,
presented a plan which was finally accepted with slight
modifications. He ignored completely the basis question and attempted
an equitable distribution of representation. "It provided for a Senate
of twenty-four, of which ten would come from the West; and a House of
one hundred and twenty; of which twenty-six would come from the
trans-Allegheny, twenty-four from the Valley, thirty-seven from the
Piedmont and thirty-three from the Tidewater."[9] Incidentally this
plan was quite acceptable to the populous counties of the Piedmont
foothills and the Valley, for it tended to increase their
representation.
As a constitutional basis for future reapportionments of
representation, the following provision was made a part of the
constitution:
"That the General Assembly, after the year of 1841 and at
intervals of not less than ten years, shall have authority,
two-thirds of each House concurring, to make re-apportionments of
Delegates and Senators throughout the Commonwealth, so that the
number of Delegates shall not at any time exceed one hundred and
fifty, nor of Senators thirty-six."[10]
The question of taxation was one of some importance. Prior to 1829,
the west had drawn annually for administrative purposes more than it
had contributed to the treasury. Real estate values in the west were
low because of the lack of speculative spirit there, and,
consequently, taxes were not collected in great amounts. The west now
desired (1) greater revenues to construct roads and canals and to
maintain free schools and (2) the power to tax the slave property of
the east. There were at this time east of the Blue Ridge Mountains
397,000 Negro slaves subject to taxation and nearly 50,000 in the
west. The slave property contributed one-third of the revenue of the
State. The east, therefore, determined not to give to the west the
desired power to tax her property.[11]
Although the question of reapportionment of representation, the
question of taxation and the suffrage question were among the foremost
considerations of the Convention, the underlying and basic cause of
all this strife was the slavery issue.[12] Those who advocated and
supported the institution of slavery were loath to surrender to the
people of the west any of the power and privileges that they
possessed. Some of Eastern Virginia and a great majority of the people
in Western Virginia were opposed to slavery. They believed still in
the principles advocated by the fathers of the country as set by
George Mason, who, while deploring the institution, had formerly said:
"Slavery discourages arts and manufactures. The poor despise labor
when performed by slaves. They prevent the immigration of whites, who
really enrich and strengthen a country. They produce the most
pernicious effect on manners. Every master of slaves is born a petty
tyrant. They bring the judgment of Heaven on a country. By an
inevitable chain of causes and effects, Providence punishes national
sins by national calamities."[13]
A memorial presented to the convention in October in 1829, said that
Virginia was in a state of "moral and political retrogression" and
proceeded to specify:
"That the causes heretofore frequently assigned are the true ones
we do not believe.... We humbly suggest our belief that the
slavery that exists and which with gigantic strides is gaining
ground among us, is, in truth, the great efficient cause of the
multiplied evils we deplore. We cannot conceive that there is any
other cause sufficiently operative to paralyze the energies of a
people so magnanimous, to neutralize the blessings of Providence
included in the gift of a land so happy in its soil, its climate,
its minerals and its waters; and to annul the manifold advantages
of our republican system and geographical position. If Virginia
has already fallen from her high estate, and if we have assigned
a true cause for her fall, it is with the utmost anxiety that we
look to the future to the fatal termination of the scene. As we
value our domestic happiness, as our hearts yearn for the
prosperity of our offspring, as we pray for the guardian care of
the Almighty over our Country--we earnestly inquire what shall be
done to avert the impending ruin. The efficient cause of our
calamities is vigorously increasing in magnitude and potency,
while we wake and while we sleep."[14]
The able men in the convention saw that no permanent agreement could
be reached between the two sections until the basic cause of the whole
conflict had been settled. The power of the big planters, however, was
too great and there was made no constitutional provision having the
purpose to abolish slavery. The Convention of 1829-30, therefore,
settled nothing. A compromise was effected on the question of
re-apportionment of representation; a constitutional provision set
forth a program of future apportionments; but the permanent settlement
of this and other important questions was left for the Convention of
1850.
The Assembly of 1831-32 was the scene of an intense debate on the
issue of slavery. Because of a turn of events, a more definite
cleavage had come between the east and the west. The domestic slave
trade, improved methods of agriculture, internal improvements, better
means of communication, the consequent increase of capital which
helped to restore the impoverished lands and to bring into use the
uncultivated areas of the east, brought about in that section a marked
revival of interest in the economic possibilities of slavery.[15] The
west took a step in the opposite direction.
It must be remembered, however, that there were but few abolitionists
of the extreme type in the western sections of Virginia. The
responsible leaders in this movement against slavery were not
concerned with any moral or religious theories on the subject, but
rather, were acting because of their conviction that slavery was an
economic evil. These men saw that the States to the north and west of
them had outstripped them in the race for material prosperity. They
saw, too, the gradual but unrelenting impoverishment of the east. They
concluded, therefore, that their lack of prosperity was due to their
proximity to the slave-holding section of the State. The belief became
current that the natural resources of the west would attract capital
and population, if the objectional slaves were removed. In
consequence, therefore, they favored a gradual emancipation and
deportation of the slaves.[16]
Numerous petitions, memorials and resolutions found their way to the
Assembly. These may be divided into three classes: (1) those asking
for the removal of free Negroes from the State; (2) those seeking to
amend the Federal Constitution with a view to giving Congress power to
appropriate money with which to purchase slaves and transport them and
the free Negroes from the United States; and (3) those urging the
State to devise some scheme for gradual emancipation.[17] The first
class of petitions came principally from the large slave-holding
sections of the State; the second and third classes came from those
sections of the State in which slaves were not numerous.
It was evident that this Assembly must take a definite position with
reference to the question of the abolishment of slavery. Accordingly,
therefore, a number of these resolutions concerning slavery were
referred to a select committee composed of twenty-one members, sixteen
of whom were from counties east of the Blue Ridge. After three days of
conference, during which fiery discussions and motions were rampant in
the legislature, the committee reported to the effect that "it is
inexpedient for the present to make any legislative enactment for the
abolition of slavery."[18] Mr. Preston, of Montgomery, moved
immediately to amend the report by substituting therefor: "It is
expedient at this time to adopt some legislative enactment for the
abolition of slavery."[19] The amendment was defeated by a vote of
seventy-three to fifty-eight. Mr. Bryce, of Goochland County,
thereupon, proposed to amend the report of the select committee,
already herein noted, by prefixing the following preamble: "Profoundly
sensible of the great evils arising from the condition of the Colored
population of the Commonwealth; induced by humanity as well as policy
to an immediate effort for the removal, in the first place as well as
those who are now free as of such as may hereafter become free,
believing that this effort, while it is in just accordance with the
sentiment of the community on the subject, will absorb all our present
means; and that a further action for the removal of the slaves, should
await a more definite development of public opinion."[20] This
preamble was adopted, despite tremendous opposition of the pro-slavery
men.
The discussion of 1832 was followed by a decided reaction against the
proposal for the abolition of slavery. Professor Thomas R. Dew, of
William and Mary College, crystallized the pro-slavery sentiment in a
masterful essay entitled: _A Review of the Debates in the Virginia
Legislature of 1831-32_. This essay dealt with the theoretical and
practical aspects of slavery in all countries and especially with the
rise and development of Negro slavery in America. It pointed out the
difficulties attendant upon the deportation of the free black and
slave populations, and the danger to society of their emancipation
without deportation. It ridiculed the idea of a successful slave
uprising under the conditions then obtaining, and held that the whole
discussion of so momentous a question by young and inexperienced
legislators was entirely out of order.[21] The forceful argument of
Professor Dew was met by one from Jesse Burton Harrison, whose essay
was entitled: "A Review of the Speech of Thomas Marshall in the
Virginia Assembly of 1831-32." Mr. Harrison's arguments to prove that
Negro slavery in Virginia was an economic evil appeared to be merely a
reiteration of the arguments of Marshall.[22] Former President
Madison also replied briefly to Dew. His essay set forth that Dew had
held too cheaply the presence of Negro slavery and emigration and
ascribed too much importance to the influence of the tariff laws.[23]
By far the most important sectional issue in Virginia during the
period 1834 to 1850 was that arising out of a movement for a united
slave-holding South. The Virginia Congressmen had voted as a body
against the "Wilmot Proviso," the abolition of the domestic slave
trade and the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. In
spite of these facts, leading citizens of Western Virginia were trying
to devise ways and means whereby to rid that portion of the State of
Negro slavery. Dr. Henry Ruffner, Henry McDowell Moore and John
Letcher were prominent among those who proposed a plan whereby the
gradual emancipation of all slaves in the State west of the Blue Ridge
Mountains would be effected. The plan was first debated in the
Franklin Society at Lexington in 1847. Later it appeared as a pamphlet
entitled _An Address to the People of West Virginia by a Slaveholder
of West Virginia_. This pamphlet proposed to show that slavery was
opposed to the public welfare and that it might be gradually abolished
without results detrimental to the rights and interests of the slave
holders. It contained elaborate comparisons between the slave-holding
States and those not holding slaves, to the disadvantage of the
former, in tending to prove that slavery was an economic evil.[24]
Dr. Ruffner, later speaking of the movement, said: "No one so far as I
can remember took the abolitionist ground that slave holding was a sin
and ought to be abolished. With us, it was merely a question of
expediency and was argued with special reference to the interests of
West Virginia." Speaking of the reception of the pamphlet in Western
Virginia, he said that the editors in the Valley, doubting the
success of the scheme, hesitated to endorse his efforts; but that west
of the Alleghenies it met with a most encouraging reception.[25]
There began during the two decades from 1830 to 1850 a period of
internal improvements because of a rapid increase in the population
and wealth of Western Virginia. The construction of turnpikes and
local railroads in the trans-Allegheny country and the projection of
other improvements attracted there immigrants, and served also to
interest speculation in its cheap lands and natural resources. English
and eastern capitalists purchased large tracts of land and sold them
in small parcels to settlers who occupied them.[26] Capitalists from
the Middle West and New England States established small manufactories
there, and immigrants coming thither chose between working therein and
becoming farmers or teachers. A considerable German population was
numbered among these immigrants. The census of 1850 showed an excess
of 90,372 white population in the West over that in the East. The
lands in the transmontane country had risen to a value of only fifteen
million dollars less than the cash value of the lands east of the Blue
Ridge.[27]
It is significant that the improvements during this period had tended,
altogether, to connect the commercial interests of Western Virginia
more definitely with those of the Free States to the north and west.
Not a single railroad connected the western part of the State with the
Tidewater. The proceeds of bond issues floated to promote internal
improvements in the State had not been used to effect commercial ties
between the two sections of the State, nor had any considerable
portion thereof been used to improve the western districts. On the
other hand, the interest of the people at the foot hills of the
Piedmont had become more definitely aligned with those of the other
eastern sections of the State. The chief grievance of the former had
been remedied by the compromise convention of 1829-30, which gave
them a larger representation in the House of Delegates. Likewise, the
pursuit of intensive agriculture in the Valley had led to the
introduction of many slaves there, thus tending to create a bond of
interest between this region and the slave-holding east. In the
Constitutional Convention of 1850, therefore, the people of the
transmontane country found themselves arrayed against the three other
sections of the State.[28]
It has been herein noted that the Convention of 1829-30 settled
nothing. A compromise had been effected which relieved somewhat the
tension that existed over the matter of representation. The
constitutional provision that gave to the Assembly the power, after
1841 and thereafter at intervals of not less than ten years, and under
prescribed conditions, to make re-apportionments of representation had
never been availed of. In view of its phenomenal growth in wealth and
population, the west keenly resented this failure to act on the part
of the Assembly of 1841-42.[29] The questions, therefore, that
confronted the Convention of 1829-30 were again brought forward in
1850.
The Convention of 1850 met at Richmond in October, but shortly
adjourned until January 6, 1851. In February the question of the basis
of representation was taken up. The Committee appointed to determine
the proper basis could reach no agreement; thereupon, many plans were
submitted by delegates from each section of the State. The western
delegates proposed that the House of Delegates should consist of one
hundred and fifty-six members, should be elected biennially, and that
the Senate should consist of fifty members chosen for four years; both
Houses should be elected upon the suffrage basis; and in 1862 and
every ten years thereafter, a re-apportionment should be made on that
basis. The eastern delegates proposed a House of Delegates of one
hundred and fifty-six members and a Senate of thirty-six; both Houses
should be elected on the mixed basis and re-apportionments should be
made on that basis in 1855 and every ten years thereafter.[30]
Neither of these plans was adopted. Consequently various plans of
compromise were brought forward. Botts, of Richmond, and George W.
Summers, of Kanawha, were among those who suggested propositions. On
the motion of Mr. Martin, of Henry County, it was decided that a
committee of eight, four from each section, be elected by the
convention to provide a compromise. On the fifteenth day of May, this
committee reported in favor of a House of Delegates of one hundred and
fifty members; eighty-two from the west and sixty-eight from the east;
and a Senate of fifty; thirty from the east and twenty from the west.
It provided further for a re-apportionment in 1865 and for submitting
both the mixed and suffrage bases to the people should the Assembly,
at that time, fail to agree.[31] The plan was rejected. Following the
failure of several other compromise plans, Chilton presented with
modifications the report of the committee of eight.[32] This report
provided that the numbers therein indicated for each house remain
unchanged; but should the legislature of 1865 fail to re-apportion
representation, the governor would be "required to submit to the vote
of the people four propositions, namely; (1) the suffrage basis, (2)
the mixed basis, (3) the white population basis, and (4) the taxation
basis." This plan was carried in committee of the whole and later,
with slight modifications, was adopted by the Convention.
The question of suffrage was settled amicably since the delegates from
neither section opposed an extension thereof. The privilege of the
ballot, therefore, was extended to "Every white male citizen of the
commonwealth of the age of twenty-one years";[33] paupers and others
usually excepted, not to be included.
The question of taxation was one of the important issues to be
settled. The eastern delegates opposed the white basis of
representation, chiefly through the fear that westerners would use
their newly gained political power to tax slave property to secure
funds for internal improvements.[34] The eastern members insisted,
therefore, that all property taxes should be ad valorem and that no
one species should be taxed higher than another. They were unwilling,
too, that Negro slaves under twelve years of age should be taxed at
all. It was finally provided that an ad valorem tax be placed on all
property according to its value, but that Negro slaves under twelve
years of age be exempt and slaves twelve years and over be taxed per
capita at not more than the tax on land worth three hundred
dollars.[35] The inhabitants of the west never became reconciled to
this discriminating arrangement and it was especially irritating
during the years immediately preceding the war,[36] when the price of
slaves often ranged from sixteen hundred to eighteen hundred
dollars.[37]
In this Convention the men of the west were less bent upon obtaining a
constitutional provision declaring for the gradual emancipation of
slaves than they were in 1829-30. Their efforts were directed towards
shifting the political balance of power from east to west, whereby
this purpose might be accomplished with less difficulty.[38] In this
they were not successful. Likewise the east was dissatisfied over the
apportionment of representation and the west did not want to accept
the principle of taxation.[39] The question of the extension of
suffrage was the only leading issue settled. This convention, like
that of 1829-30, was essentially a compromise convention; for no
permanent settlement of the great problems could be effected with the
State virtually half slave and half free.
The Virginia policy during the period of 1850 to 1861 was influenced
largely by the nation-wide idea that the question of slavery could be
settled only by civil strife. Accordingly the Virginia politicians,
and especially Governor Wise[40] during his term of office, were at
great pains to connect Eastern Virginia in thought and in purpose with
the slave-holding South. This was a period of great internal
improvements in Virginia. The State incurred a bonded debt of
thirty-six million dollars. Many of the loans constituting this debt
were used to promote and facilitate the building of railroads and
canals. The railroads in question, almost without exception, tended to
connect Eastern Virginia socially, industrially and commercially with
her neighbors to the south. On the other hand, the only large railroad
of Western Virginia, the Baltimore and Ohio, was constantly
discriminated against at Richmond[41] and in every session of the
legislature restrictions were aimed at its activities. It is
significant that the hostility to railroad facilities for the
Northwest persisted down to the beginning of the Civil War.[42]
While Western Virginia was denied railroad facilities out of deference
to southern and slave-holding interests, liberal appropriations were
made for the building of turnpike roads in that territory.[43] This
consideration tended to some extent to alleviate the feeling of
dissatisfaction. The fact remained, however, that Western Virginia had
become one in thought and in purpose with the people of Pennsylvania
and Ohio, and she was influenced considerably by her intercourse with
Baltimore. It was to these places that she had easy access. It
followed, therefore, that in 1861 when Eastern Virginia seceded from
the Union and went with the slave-holding States of the South, the
western part of the State had little choice save to remain loyal to
the Union.
SECESSION AND ITS RESULTS
In 1860 there were in all Virginia 498,887 slaves, of whom 12,771 were
in the forty-eight counties originally constituting the State of West
Virginia.[44] With an overwhelming majority of all the slaves in the
State located in the East, the people of this section were, naturally
enough, profoundly interested in the events then occurring in other
pro-slavery commonwealths. Influenced by the secession of six States
from the Union and their subsequent formation of the Confederate
States of America, Governor Letcher issued a proclamation convening
the General Assembly in extra session on the seventh day of January,
1861.[45]
According to the act of the Assembly, a state convention was assembled
at Richmond on the thirteenth day of February. Forty-seven of the one
hundred and fifty-two delegates present represented counties now
included in the State of West Virginia.[46] On the sixteenth of April
the Convention met in secret session and the chairman of the Committee
on Federal Relations appointed early in February reported a measure
entitled "An Ordinance to Repeal the Ratification of the Constitution
of the United States."[47] The ordinance recited the reasons for the
repeal of the ratification of the Federal Constitution, dissolved the
union between Virginia and the other States, asserted the complete
sovereignty of the State of Virginia, released her citizens from
responsibility to the Federal Constitution, noted the date upon which
and provided the conditions under which the said ordinance would
become effective. It was adopted the next day by a vote of
eighty-eight to fifty-five. Immediate steps were then taken to form an
alliance with the Confederate States,[48] the same being effected on
the twenty-fifth day of April. Meanwhile some of the delegates from
Western Virginia withdrew from the Convention.
When news of the action taken by the Richmond convention reached
Northwestern Virginia a storm of protest arose. A vast majority of the
citizens of this region were not in accord with the action of the
State in seceding to the Confederacy. They were determined, therefore,
that the part of the State known as the trans-Allegheny region should
be saved to the Union. Resolutions emanating from the meetings held in
the several counties joined with the press to denounce the action
taken by the aforesaid convention. The Clarksburg[49] meeting,
assembled for this purpose on the twenty-second of April, sounded the
call for united action and proposed that a convention composed of the
twenty-seven counties of Western Virginia should assemble at Wheeling
on the thirteenth of May.
The May Convention assembled at the time and place indicated and
proceeded straightway to the business of the hour. The permanent
President, John W. Moss, of Wood county, outlined the purpose of the
Convention.[50] His remarks were followed by a resolution of Mr. Tarr,
of Brooke County, to the effect that "a Committee, to be known as the
Committee on Federal and State Relations and to comprise one member
from each County, be appointed by the President to consider all
resolutions of the body looking to action by the Convention."[51]
Significant among the numerous resolutions presented was one by John
S. Carlile calling for a new Virginia,[52] but the sense of the
Convention was that such action was premature.
Out of the maze of resolutions offered, the committee finally made its
report. Among other provisions, the report recommended that in the
event of the ratification, by vote, of the Ordinance of Secession, the
counties there represented and all others disposed to co-operate with
them, should appoint delegates on the fourth day of June to meet in
general convention on the eleventh day of June at such place as
thereinafter provided, with a view to devising such measures and
taking such action as the people they represent might demand.[53] It
was further recommended that a central committee be appointed to
attend to all matters connected with the objects of the convention, to
assemble it at their discretion and to prepare an address to the
people of Virginia in conformity with the resolution there made.[54]
The passage, on the twenty-third day of May, of the Ordinance of
Secession, necessitated the meeting of the second convention. It
assembled on the eleventh of June at Wheeling. Upon the effecting of a
permanent organization, Mr. Dorsey, of Monongalia, offered a
resolution to the effect that immediate steps be taken to form a new
State from the counties represented.[55] Mr. Carlile endeavored to
show a lack of wisdom in such a course, saying: "Let us organize a
legislature, swearing allegiance to the Federal Government, and let
that legislature be recognized by the government of the United States
as the legislature of the State of Virginia."[56] He urged that under
that condition they would be under the protecting care of the Federal
Government and would be in position to effect a constitutional
separation from Virginia. His judgment prevailed.
The important acts of this Convention were: (1) the Declaration of
Rights of the People of Virginia and its adoption;[57] (2) the
adoption of an Ordinance for the Reorganization of the State[58] and
(3) the election of State Officers.[59] The Convention then adjourned.
On the sixth of August, the adjourned Convention reassembled, as
provided, at Wheeling. The principal work of this convention was the
adoption of an ordinance to provide for the formation of a new State
out of a portion of the State of Virginia.[60] It provided also for an
election to be held on the twenty-fourth of October (1) to ratify the
ordinance there adopted and (2) to select delegates to a convention to
frame a constitution for the new State, in case a majority of the
voters should decide in favor of formation. The vote at this election
was 18,408 for ratification and 481 for rejection. Accordingly, upon
certification of the same to the governor, he issued his proclamation,
calling the delegates elected to a constitutional convention to meet
in Wheeling on the twenty-sixth of November.[61]
The Constitutional Convention met at the scheduled time in the United
States Court room at Wheeling.[62] Thirty-four delegates of the forty
chosen were present. No time was lost in effecting a permanent
organization of the Convention, in order that the momentous problems
to be solved might be brought before that august body. Not the least
important one of these questions was that of the disposal of slavery.
The questions of the hour were these: Was the new State to be a free
or a slave State? Would the Union admit another slave State?
It was on the fourteenth day of the Convention that Robert Hagar, a
Methodist preacher from Boone county, offered a resolution to the
effect that the convention inquire into the propriety of making the
new State free, by incorporating into the Constitution a clause for
gradual emancipation.[63] A counter proposal was offered on the same
day by Mr. Brown, an ardent pro-slavery advocate, from Kanawha. His
resolution asserted that it was "unwise and impolitic to introduce the
question of slavery into the Convention."[64] Despite the fact that
the organic law of the new State was then being framed, this
pro-slavery champion deplored any attempt of the body to discuss or
decide upon the question of slavery, the most vital question of
economic policy with which the people would be concerned. There were
present, however, other men who were determined to champion the cause
of freedom.
On the sixteenth day of the convention the courageous Mr. Gordon
Battelle, a delegate from Ohio county, offered for reference the
following proposition:[65]
(1) "No slave shall be brought into the State for permanent
residence after the adoption of this constitution.
(2) "The legislature shall have full power to make such just and
humane provisions as may be needful for the better regulation and
security of the marriage and family relations between slaves, for
their proper instruction, and for the gradual and equitable
removal of slaves from the State.
(3) "On and after the fourth day of July 18--, slavery or
involuntary servitude, except for crime, shall cease within the
limits of this State."
On the twenty-seventh day of January, Mr. Battelle offered the
following:[66]
(1) "No slave shall be brought into the state for permanent
residence after the adoption of this constitution.
(2) "All children born of slave parents in this state on and
after the fourth day of July 1865 shall be free; and the
Legislature may provide by general law for the apprenticeship of
such children during their minority and for their subsequent
colonization."
It is obvious that the first set of propositions provided for the
total abolition of slavery, the date undetermined; whereas the second,
while providing for the freedom of the children, born of slave parents
on and after a specified date, condemned to perpetual slavery all
other persons who prior to that date were slaves.
In line with the proposals of Mr. Battelle was the pertinent and
clear-sighted editorial of _The Wheeling Intelligencer_ under date of
December ninth, 1861. It said: "We have endeavored to show how
entirely adverse to the best interests of Western Virginia it would be
for the present convention to adjourn without first engrafting a free
State provision on our constitution in shape of a three, five or ten
years emancipation clause. We should esteem it far better that the
Convention had never assembled than that it should omit to take action
of this character.... Congress would hesitate long before it will
consent to the subdivision of a slave State simply that two slave
States may be made out of it. The evil which has so nearly destroyed
not only Western Virginia, but the whole country, will find that its
tug-of-war is yet to come, when it has run the gauntlet of our
Convention and our Legislature. We believe that when it reaches
Congress, it will reach its hitherto and that it will never pass. It
will avail very little for this convention to remain in debate on this
subject for a month at a heavy expense and consummate a work which
will only last end in a defeat and entail upon its framers the cold
distrust of the only friends they have in the world. The loyal masses
of the free States who are fighting the great battle of Constitutional
freedom, who are endeavoring to stay the absorbing and consuming
demands of slavery upon this continent, will never consent that in the
very midst of them it shall burst out, in a new place, with the
extraordinary demands that its present representation of a state in
their Senate shall be doubled.... We say then to the members of our
convention that before you waste your time and money on a constitution
you look to its probable fate."[67]
That this prophetic message from the _Intelligencer_ reflected the
opinion of the people of Western Virginia and the state of mind of the
Congress, was clearly shown by subsequent events. On the nineteenth
day of the Convention an adroit attempt was made to have West Virginia
become a slave State.[68] Thomas Harrison, of Harrison county, offered
a resolution providing that the making of a new constitution be
dispensed with for the present, and that the Virginia Constitution be
referred to a Committee of Five with instructions to modify it to suit
the needs of the proposed new State. Significant among the provisions
of the Virginia Constitution was one altered at the Richmond Secession
Convention to the effect that the General Assembly should have power
to prohibit the future emancipation of slaves. By its provisions,
therefore, the slave could never become free during his residence in
the State. On motion of Mr. Van Winkle, the Convention voted that
action on the resolution be indefinitely postponed.[69]
Battelle, persistent in his efforts to make some provision in
reference to the freedom of the slaves, decided to submit emancipation
to the people. Accordingly, therefore, on the twelfth of February,
1862, he offered the following:[70]
(1) "Resolved. That at the same time when this Constitution is
submitted to the qualified voters of the proposed new state to be
voted for or against, an additional section to article----, in
the words following: 'No slave shall be brought or free person of
color come into this state for permanent residence after this
constitution goes into operation, and all children, born of slave
mothers after the year 1870 shall be free, the males at the age
of twenty-eight years, and the females at the age of eighteen
years; and the children of such females shall be free at birth'.
Shall be separately submitted to the qualified voters of the
proposed new state for their adoption or rejection, and if the
majority of the votes cast for and against said additional
section are in favor of its adoption, it shall be made a part of
article--of this constitution and not otherwise."
(2) "Resolved that the committee on schedule be and they are
hereby instructed to report the necessary provisions for carrying
the foregoing resolution into effect."
Mr. Sinsel moved that the resolutions be made the order of the next
morning at ten o'clock; Mr. Hall, of Marion county, moved to amend the
motion to the effect that it be laid on the table. Mr. Battelle
deplored the application of the gag rule. The question not being a
debatable one, the vote was taken. By a majority of one vote of the
forty-seven cast, the resolutions were indefinitely laid on the
table.[71]
On the thirteenth day of February, after the disposition of other
important business, Mr. Pomeroy, of Hancock county, suggested that the
questions raised by the resolutions offered the day before by Mr.
Battelle might be compromised, either by adopting one of the
propositions already presented, or by referring the whole matter to a
representative committee of conference. Many members of the convention
shared the views of Mr. Pomeroy and so stated their convictions to the
body. Indeed they favored the settlement of the question then and
there, without reference to a committee. Mr. Hall, of Marion, was of
the opinion that its reference to a committee might carry abroad the
idea that a division existed there; that that which was done, was
accomplished only through a committee of compromise. Mr. Hervey was
convinced that the new State must be a free State and therefore
desired to vote the proposition as it stood, without the committee.
Mr. Dille was of the opinion that there would be no objection to a
constitutional provision forbidding the entrance into the State for
permanent residence, of free Negroes or slaves, after the adoption of
the Constitution. Mr. Brown, of Kanawha, sustained the view of Mr.
Dille. Mr. Pomeroy made a motion to the effect that the first clause
of Mr. Battelle's resolution be acted upon by the body. Mr. Battelle
favored the reference of the question to a committee, thus opposing a
vote that morning because he had assured a colleague of the opposite
side that the question would not be brought up that morning and he
wanted that all the proponents and opponents of the measure be present
at the taking of the vote.
Mr. Stewart, of Doddridge, the gentleman to whom Mr. Battelle
referred, having just entered, stated that he understood the motion
before the House to be a compromise measure that would settle the
question. Thereupon, Mr. Battelle served notice that while he would
support the pending motion, he had entered into no compromise. It was
his plan, therefore, to prosecute the case before the public forum.
The question was put and it was agreed with one dissenting vote that
there should be incorporated into the Constitution the first clause of
Mr. Battelle's resolution; namely: "No slave shall be brought or free
person of color come into this State for permanent residence after
this constitution goes into effect."[72]
On the third day of April the vote on the question of the adoption of
the constitution was taken; 18,862 votes were cast for adoption and
514 for rejection. A significant incident to the general election was
the informal vote taken, at the suggestion of _The Wheeling
Intelligencer_, on Mr. Battelle's emancipation proposition which had
been rejected by the Convention. Despite the irregular and
unauthorized manner in which this was done, by the several counties
holding such extra election, the count showed that six thousand votes
were cast for emancipation and six hundred against.[73] It is not
improbable, therefore, that the constitution would have been adopted
without difficulty had the emancipation clause been included. The
politicians and not the people were on the wrong side of the issue.
Pursuant to the call of the Governor, the general assembly met in its
second extra session on the sixth of May.[74] On the thirteenth day of
the same month it passed "An Act giving the assent of the Legislature
of Virginia to the Formation of and Erection of a New State within the
jurisdiction of this State."[75] Everything was now in readiness for
the presentation of documents and credentials to Congress, by the
proposed new State, in support of its application for admission into
the Union.
Prior to this Mr. Battelle, in pursuance of his earnest efforts to
make the proposed new State free, had prepared a masterly address on
the subject of the emancipation of the slaves, to be delivered in
convention to his colleagues. The sense of the convention was such
that the courageous gentleman was unable to engage its attention for
that purpose. Accordingly, therefore, he had printed in pamphlet form
the address that he intended to deliver, and distributed it throughout
the counties of Northwestern Virginia. Among the salient points
therein set forth the following are noteworthy: first, that since the
institution of slavery as it existed within the bounds of Western
Virginia was the mere creature of law, the law was competent to remove
it; and that, therefore, it was fairly and properly a subject for the
consideration of those in convention assembled; second, that the
gradual emancipation of the slaves was both fundamental and vital to
the success of the new State, and in consequence thereof the question
should be settled in the organic law. Mr. Battelle discussed the
question from two points of view, that of principle, and that of
expediency. It was developed that the principle of slavery was wrong
and that the system, therefore, should be abolished. "While
discrimination must be made between the system and the acts of
individuals, the former," he said, "is always bad, is always
inconsistent with the obvious requirements of either justice or
morals."[76]
Considering the proposition in the light of expediency, the question
was asked: "What do the best interests of the people of West Virginia
require from the persons assembled to frame the organic law?" In reply
thereto there was developed the theme that labor was fundamental to
the material prosperity of the commonwealth; that slave labor and free
had always been and would doubtless always be unharmonious and
inconsistent in purpose. Since slave labor, it was pointed out, was
competent to perform only the crudest work and most menial tasks, it
followed that free labor was indispensable to the material progress of
the new State. "Slave labor," Battelle said, "drove out free labor
and tended to make all labor undignified and despised. It should,
therefore, be dispensed with." In reply to the assertion that since
the system was destined to die a quick and certain death no action on
the part of the State was necessary, Mr. Battelle urged that "if that
be true, it furnished an additional reason for the incorporation into
the constitution of a provision terminating slavery." "Such action
would be but just to all parties--to both the proponents and the
opponents of the present system." The argument closed with an
exposition, first, on slavery as the fundamental cause of the then
current distress in Virginia and in the nation; and second, on the
propriety of such an act at that particular time. This argument
doubtless had an unexpected effect in preparing the minds of the
people of the State for the acceptance of the plan of gradual
emancipation, the condition on which West Virginia was finally
admitted.[77]
SLAVERY AND THE ADMISSION OF WEST VIRGINIA
Waitman T. Willey, a member of the Senate from Virginia, having
obtained the permission of that body to do so, presented on May 29th a
certified original of the constitution together with a copy of an Act
of the General Assembly of Virginia, of May 13, 1862, under the
Restored Government, giving its permission for the formation of a new
State within the commonwealth of Virginia. He presented at the same
time the memorial of the General Assembly requesting Congress to admit
the State of West Virginia into the Union. Following the receipt of
these documents they were referred to the Committee on Territories, of
which B. F. Wade, of Ohio, was the Chairman.[78]
On the twenty-third of June Senate Bill No. 365 providing for "the
admission of the State of West Virginia into the Union" was reported,
read and passed to a second reading.[79] On the twenty-sixth day of
June, on motion of Mr. Wade, the bill was taken up for immediate
consideration in a committee of the whole. The bill proposed to admit
West Virginia into the Union on equal footing with the original States
in all respects whatever, subject, among other conditions, to the
following: "That the convention thereinafter provided for shall in the
constitution to be framed by it, make provision that from and after
the fourth day of July, 1863, the children of all slaves born within
the limits of the said State shall be free."[80]
Following the action noted, Mr. Sumner, Senator from Massachusetts,
quoted that provision of the bill relating to the emancipation of
slaves and raised the following objections, namely: (1) that by the
passage of the bill a new slave State would be admitted into the Union
and (2) that the existing generation of slaves would remain such
throughout the course of their lives. He was unalterably opposed to
the measure so long as it contained these features; and he, therefore,
sought to remove them by means of the same policy that Jefferson
applied to the territories of the Northwest. Accordingly, he offered
an amendment to the effect "that the convention hereinafter provided
for, in the Constitution to be framed by it, make provision that from
and after the fourth day of July, 1863, within the limits of said
State, there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude
otherwise than in the punishment of crime, whereof the party shall be
duly convicted."[81] A vote on the amendment was requested and ordered
but not then taken.
Dissatisfied with the purport of the proposed amendment, Senator
Willey expressed his intention to amend the same; whereupon the
presiding officer of the Senate proposed that he offer an amendment to
the bill rather than to the proposed amendment of Senator Sumner. In
the meanwhile, Mr. Hale, of New Hampshire, a member of the committee
that framed the bill, affirmed his intention to sustain it. His
remarks were suspended by order of the chair for the purpose of
considering another matter which had priority to the one then being
discussed.
On the motion of Senator Willey the bill was again considered on the
first day of July, the question pending being the amendment of Mr.
Sumner.[82] In support thereof, Mr. Sumner asserted that from
statistics of Mr. Willey it appeared that twelve thousand bondsmen in
Western Virginia were doomed to continue as such for the remainder of
their lives, and that consequently the Senate must, for a generation,
be afflicted with two additional slave-holding members. He quoted from
Webster's speech of December 22, 1845, on the admission of Texas into
the Union and rested his case on its arguments. Briefly stated, Mr.
Webster opposed the admission of other States into the Union as slave
States, and at the same time granting to them the inequalities arising
from the mode of apportioning representation to Congress, as granted
by the Constitution to the original slave-holding States. He held that
the free States have the right to demand the abolition of slavery by a
commonwealth seeking admission with a slave-holding constitution.[83]
During the continuation of the debate, Mr. Hale asserted that Mr.
Webster abandoned the position just attributed to him when in 1850 he
voted against any restrictions upon any territory coming into the
Union with a slave-holding constitution and when he voted exclusively
against applying the "Wilmot Proviso" to these States. Mr. Hale added
tersely that since Congress had consistently admitted States with
slave-holding constitutions providing for perpetual slavery, it would
be the merest folly to refuse to admit the first State whose
constitution provided for gradual emancipation.[84]
A new issue was injected into the debate when Mr. Collamer, of
Vermont, while reviewing what is implied in being a sovereign State
and a State in the Union, argued that the imposition by Congress of
any condition precedent to the entrance, whether or not that condition
be the abolition of slavery, is an unwarranted interference with the
internal affairs of that State. Under such circumstances the proposed
new State would not come into the Union on equal footing with other
States. He did not wish, however, to be understood as saying that he
would not vote against a State desiring to come in as a perpetual
slave-holding State; but he failed to see the wisdom or justice in
making the abolition of slavery a condition precedent to entrance. On
the other hand, he saw no difference, in principle, between the
provision in the bill as reported and the amendment offered by Mr.
Sumner, since both of them failed to reflect the will of the
Convention that framed the State's constitution.[85]
Thereupon Mr. Willey announced that he would offer the following
amendment: "That after the fourth day of July, 1863, the children born
of slave mothers within the limits of the said State shall be free,
and that no law shall be passed by the said State by which any citizen
of either of the States of this Union shall be excluded from the
enjoyment of the privileges and immunities to which such citizen is
entitled under the Constitution of the United States; provided that
the convention that ordained the constitution aforesaid, to be
reconvened in the manner prescribed in the schedule thereto annexed,
shall by a solemn public ordinance declare the assent of the said
State to the said fundamental condition, and shall transmit to the
President of the United States on or before the 15th of November,
1862, an authentic copy of the said ordinance; upon receipt whereof
the President by proclamation shall announce the fact; whereupon and
without any further procedure on the part of Congress the admission of
the said State into the Union shall be considered as complete."[86]
Throughout the debate that followed there were found many supporters
of the program of gradual emancipation for the proposed new State.
Chairman Wade, of the Committee of Territories, made thereupon the
following important remarks: (1) that the proposed new State had
voluntarily fixed the marks of extermination of the institution of
slavery; (2) that the principal men of the commonwealth had told him
that the first legislature to convene would do away with the whole
institution, as fast as the nature of the case would permit; (3) that
he believed the efforts of West Virginia were constitutional; (4) that
it was just and expedient to admit her; (5) that he did not favor the
inclusion in the commonwealth of the pro-slavery counties of the
Valley; (6) that he did not want a provision saying that a person born
one day should be a slave forever, and that one born the next day
should be free; and finally (7) that he would like to see an
amendment, providing that "all children who, at the time this
constitution takes effect, are fifteen or sixteen years of age, shall
be free upon arriving at the age of twenty-one or thirty-five years,"
i.e., a provision for gradual emancipation that will enable some of
those born before as well as all of those born July fourth, 1863, to
obtain their freedom.[87]
Mr. Fessenden, of Maine, prefacing his remarks with the statement that
he had not examined the question, proceeded to make the following
observations: (1) that he wished to be assured that the State could be
admitted constitutionally; (2) that considering the position of the
State, the feeling of the people about the matter, the small number of
slaves there at the present time, he believed it not only the duty,
but the entire right of the body (Congress) to prescribe before the
State comes in that she shall put herself in a proper and irreversible
position on the subject of the gradual abolition of slavery; (3) that
when a definite and fixed date is given for the termination of
slavery, the State becomes in point of fact a free State; (4) that he
was glad to know (according to Mr. Wade) that the people of West
Virginia concurred in opinion with the principles sponsored by
himself; and (5) that the interests of the State itself and those of
all of the States in the Union demanded an irreversible agreement on
the whole matter.[88] Further consideration of the bill was then
postponed.
Shortly after an unsuccessful attempt on the part of Mr. Willey to
have the consideration of the bill continue,[89] it was brought up
again on the fourteenth of July by Senator Wade. The pending question
was the amendment of Mr. Sumner. The vote was taken and the amendment
was rejected.[90] Mr. Willey then offered the amendment already herein
noted. He was followed by Mr. Wade, who, expecting the State to be
admitted, if at all, under the amendment of Mr. Willey, moved to amend
the amendment by inserting at the proper place the words: "And that
all slaves within the State who shall at the aforesaid time be under
twenty-one years, shall be free when they arrive at the age of
twenty-one years."[91] Despite the anti-slavery principle here
involved, Mr. Wade was convinced that some provision was necessary to
facilitate the running of the bill in the Senate and in the House. He
thought, too, that the harshness and abruptness of the bill would be
thereby smoothed down, softened and rendered harmonious.[92]
It was no easy task, however, that the Senator from Ohio had essayed
to accomplish. His proposal brought from Mr. Willey the personal
conviction of the man. Mr. Willey preferred that the State be admitted
under the constitution precisely as submitted by the people. That not
being possible, he wished that his amendment (which was not to his
personal tastes) be carried. He deplored the situation that would
follow should the amendment of Mr. Wade be passed. He pointed out: (1)
that the majority of slaves were in counties contiguous to what would
be the borders of the old State of Virginia; (2) that many of them
ranged in age from one to twenty-one years; (3) that when they should
arrive at a convenient age for sale, they would be silently
transferred across the border into Kentucky or Virginia or the further
South, if needs be, and there sold into the cotton fields of the South
or the tobacco plantations of the East, where slavery was admittedly
at its worst; (4) that many of the slaves were females, the offspring
of whom would be free, were the mothers allowed to remain in the
State, but upon the passage of the amendment even those would be
doomed to the perpetual slavery of the far South. Replying to an
inquiry made by Mr. Lane, of Kansas, as to whether or not public
sentiment would condone such action, he asked if public sentiment
would be likely to influence those slave owners who lived in territory
contiguous to Virginia. The loyalty and fidelity of West Virginia
should, in Mr. Willey's opinion, guarantee the safe manner in which
the commonwealth would handle the question. Never before in similar
situations, he argued, had slaves _in esse_ been freed; freedom
extended only to those unborn at the passage of the constitution or to
those born on or after a date therein designated.[93]
Again joining issue with Senator Willey, Mr. Lane pointed out that the
same situation arose in Kansas when in February, 1856, the people
adopted a constitution providing for the emancipation of the slaves on
the fourth of the following July. The slaves, however, handled the
situation. They told their masters that since they should become free
after the date designated, they would not permit themselves to be
taken out of the State prior to that date.[94] Mr. Lane did not doubt
the capacity to do likewise on the part of the slaves then being
considered.
An interesting spectacle presented itself when the two Senators from
Virginia engaged in spirited debate. Mr. Carlile desired that the
State be admitted under the terms of the constitution framed at
Wheeling, the alternative being that the people of the State should
have the new terms submitted to them for approval. He believed that
Mr. Willey's amendment was incomplete as it stood, and that an
amendment in conformity with the one presented by Mr. Wade was
necessary, providing, of course, that it was the sense of the Senate
to admit the State only upon conditions. He took issue with Mr.
Willey's assertion that the passage of Mr. Wade's amendment would be
followed by a wholesale delivery of slaves to purchasers further
South.[95] In the meanwhile Mr. Wade's amendment was agreed to.
Mr. Carlile now began overtly his campaign of obstruction and
opposition to the admission of the State into the Union. He offered as
an amendment to that of his colleague to be inserted at the end of the
sixteenth line, the following words: "After the said ordinance shall
be submitted to the vote of the people in the said State of West
Virginia and be ratified by the vote of the majority of the people
thereof." The sinister motive underlying his proposal was clearly
perceived and ably met by Mr. Willey. He opposed the measure: first,
because of the unusual requirement of the majority vote of the people,
and, second, because of the new convention that would be required to
assent to the fundamental proposition, and the consequent new election
and additional costs to the people. The constitutional convention, he
argued, was still in existence, was still a legal body, and that,
therefore, there was no sufficient reason for the reference of the
matter beyond the jurisdiction thereof.[96]
Dissatisfied but not discouraged, Mr. Carlile explained away the
objection to the words "majority of the people." He maintained,
however, that the changes contemplated would affect the fundamental
law and that they should, therefore, be ratified by the people
subsequent to being assented to by the Convention. It was, he argued,
a departure from and in derogation of the customs and ideas of
Virginia to change the organic law without first submitting the
proposed new law to the people. Setting forth more clearly his
position on the whole matter Carlile said: "Supposing--as I suppose, I
will see when I move this test amendment, which I shall, to this
proposition--that the Senate is unwilling to admit us without
conditions, I shall vote against any bill, if it is pressed, exacting
conditions, for the purpose of going home to my people asking them to
assemble a Convention between this and the first Monday in December,
and act upon the suggestion which we have received here from the
Senate, if they desire to do so and come here with a constitution that
will enable Congress, without such arbitrary stretch of power to admit
us at once without delay."[97]
It was evident that Carlile was committed to a proslavery program and
that his plan, if adopted, would result in the indefinite postponement
of the admission of the new State. His colleague, therefore, with an
apparently sincere effort to meet the wishes of the Senate and to
satisfy the objections of Mr. Carlile, read the bill which was
presented in the House by Mr. Brown, of Virginia. At the same time he
announced that that bill, if agreeable to the Committee and to his
colleagues, would be acceptable to him as a compromise.[98] This
assented to, Mr. Willey withdrew his original amendment and offered
the Brown bill as a substitute for the whole bill, striking out all
after the word "whereas" in the preamble and substituting this measure
in lieu of the Committee's bill.[99] The bill as finally presented
follows:
"Section 1. That the State of West Virginia be and is hereby declared
to be one of the United States of America, and admitted into the Union
on an equal footing with the original States in all respects,
whatever, and until the next general census shall be entitled to
three members in the House of Representatives of the United States:
Provided always that this act shall not take effect until after the
proclamation of the President of the United States hereinafter
provided for.
"Section 2. It being represented to Congress that since the Convention
of the 26th of November, 1861, that framed and proposed the
Constitution, for the said State of West Virginia, the people thereof
have expressed a wish to change the seventh section of the eleventh
article of the said Constitution by striking out the same and
inserting the following in its place, namely, 'The children of slaves
born within the limits of this State after the fourth day of July,
1863, shall be free, and no slave shall be permitted to come into the
State for permanent residence therein.' Therefore be it enacted, that
whenever the people of West Virginia shall, through their said
convention, and by a vote to be taken at an election to be held within
the limits of the State at such time as the Convention may provide,
make and ratify the change aforesaid and properly certify the same
under the hand of the President of the Convention, it shall be lawful
for the President of the United States to issue the proclamation
stating the fact and thereupon this act shall take effect and be
in force from and after sixty days from the date of said
proclamation."[100]
It will be observed that the terms of the amendment made no provision
for the subsequent freedom of those slaves _in esse_. It was the sense
of the committee of the whole, expressed in its action on Mr. Wade's
amendment, that a specified class of slaves _in esse_ should be given
their freedom upon their arrival at a designated age. In conformity
with this view, Mr. Lane, of Kansas moved to amend the second section
by inserting after the word _free_ the following: "And that all slaves
within the State who shall at the time aforesaid be under ten years of
age shall become free when they arrive at the age of twenty-one
years, and all slaves over ten years and under twenty-one years of
age, shall become free when they arrive at the age of twenty-five
years."[101] This amendment was accepted.
After the passage of the above amendment, Mr. Carlile, persistent in
his policy of opposing admission, proposed to amend Mr. Willey's last
proposition. His amendment was to the effect that the proposed new
State be admitted without conditions. In speaking thereupon, Mr.
Willey affirmed that this amendment conformed to his personal views,
but that as a matter of good faith and honor he was precluded from
espousing its cause.[102] The amendment was rejected.
Following the report of the bill to the Senate and the concurrence of
the latter in the compromise amendment of Mr. Willey as amended by Mr.
Lane, Mr. Sumner advised that he had proposed to offer to the Senate
his amendment lately rejected in Committee. Referring to this
proposal, Mr. Lane asserted his assurance that the insertion of the
provision in question would cause the bill to fail before the House of
Representatives and to merit the disapproval of the people of West
Virginia. He urged, therefore, that it would be the better policy to
vote for the bill as already amended and to endure slavery in the
State for another generation, if need be. Despite the conformity of
this view with those of a majority of his colleagues, Mr. Sumner,
though declining to offer the amendment, stated his irrevocable
opposition to the admission of another slave State, even though the
term of slavery be for but twenty-one years. He considered it his
duty, therefore, to vote against the measure as it then stood.[103]
The engrossment of the bill for a third reading found its opponents
still unweary in their efforts to obstruct or defeat its passage.
Senator Trumbull, of Illinois, summed up his opposition to the bill in
two objections, namely: (1) since all persons over twenty-one years of
age were thereby doomed to perpetual slavery, the new State would be
in theory and in practice a slave State; and (2) he failed to see the
necessity for or wisdom in dividing any of the old States until the
situation could be seen as a whole. He let it be known, however, that
this statement should not be construed to commit him to the position
of opposing the admission of a slave State under all circumstances
whatever. In conformity with his conviction, he moved that all
consideration of the bill be postponed until the first Monday of
December next. The Senator from Illinois was ably supported by Mr.
Carlile, who, failing in his last attempt to amend the bill to the
effect that the State should come in without conditions, affirmed his
opposition to any proceedings whereby the organic law of a State is
framed by Congress and asserted that he would support the Trumbull
motion at the risk of misconstruction.[104]
Those Senators who favored the immediate passage of the bill were not
unprepared for the most determined attacks of its opponents. Mr.
Howard, of Michigan, requested of the Senators from Virginia, whether
the Wheeling Legislature had taken any action on the "Joint Resolution
passed by Congress suggesting that the so-called border slave States
take some action in reference to the final emancipation of their
slaves." Replying thereto, Mr. Willey asserted that the Legislature
was entirely favorable to a program involving final emancipation. He
took occasion, moreover, to add that "his colleague, Mr. Carlile, was
misrepresenting the attitude of the legislature that sent him there in
interposing the objection that was calculated to thwart the whole
movement."[105]
Agreeing with the remarks of Mr. Willey, Mr. Wade, while opposing the
motion of Senator Trumbull, explained that Mr. Carlile had penned all
the bills and drawn them up; that he was the hardest worker and the
most cheerful of them all, that he was the most forceful among them in
pressing his views upon the Committee. "Whence," asked he, "came this
change of heart? For indeed his conversion was greater than that of
St. Paul." "Now," said Mr. Wade, "is the time for West Virginia to be
admitted into the Union." "Let us not postpone the action for the next
session, but let us reject the motion of the gentleman from Illinois
and pass the bill."[106]
Continuing the debate, Mr. Ten Eyck affirmed the legality and the
expediency of admitting the new State. His arguments were
substantially as follows: (1) that the legal question, that is, the
right of the legislature to give assent to the division of the State,
was settled when the Senate accepted as members the two men appointed
by the said legislature; (2) as a matter of policy he urged that the
people of Western Virginia should not be forced to run the risk of
having the whole State, because of the collapse of the rebellion,
repeal the act of the legislature and thereby continue a domination of
tyranny over them. The vote was taken and the motion to postpone was
rejected.[107]
The final objection prior to the passage of the bill, came from Mr.
Powell, of Kentucky. Asserting, in substance, that since ten of the
forty-eight counties to be included in West Virginia were
unrepresented in the Convention and in the Legislature, and since less
than one-fourth of the people gave their consent to the formation of a
new State, he held that there was no constitutional right to act. He
was, therefore, unalterably opposed to the admission of the new State.
Unswerved from his position, by the assurances of Mr. Willey, that (1)
the absence of ten thousand men under arms, and (2) the foregone
conclusion that separation would be effected jointly accounted for the
small number of nearly nineteen thousand votes, Mr. Powell called for
the yeas and nays. The motion was put and the bill to admit was
passed.[108]
Even the passage of the bill did not cause Mr. Carlile's opposition
to cease. Determined in his efforts to make a final plea for the
slave-holding interests, he introduced Senate Bill No. 531[109]
supplemental to the act for the admission of West Virginia into the
Union and for other purposes. This bill sought, of course, to make
effective his plan that the whole work of the Constitutional
Convention be reenacted. The bill was reported with amendments and
adversely from the Judiciary Committee, whereupon Mr. Carlile sought
to have it considered in the Senate. This effort, like his previous
ones, was wholly unsuccessful.[110]
While this battle was in progress in the Senate the House also was
considering the question. The debate in the Senate on the admission of
the proposed new State of West Virginia into the Union hinged largely
upon the consideration of the question of slavery. Was the new State
to be admitted as a slave State, providing for gradual emancipation?
Was it to be admitted on a program of immediate emancipation, or was
it to come in with no conditions relating to the disposition of this
all-absorbing matter? These were the questions to be determined. They
were not altogether the chief considerations in the House.
On the twenty-fifth day of June, 1862, Mr. Brown, of Virginia, by
unanimous consent, introduced before the House a bill for the
"Admission of West Virginia into the Union and for other purposes."
After the first and second readings it was referred to the Committee
on Territories.[111] On the sixteenth of July the bill as passed by
the Senate was read a first and second time. Mr. Bingham demanded
previous question on the passage of the bill; whereupon Mr. Segar,
representing a district in Eastern Virginia, objected to a third
reading and moved that the bill be laid on the table. On a call for
the vote the motion was defeated. On the motion of Roscoe Conkling the
consideration of the bill was postponed until the second Tuesday in
December, 1862.[112]
The bill came up again for consideration in the House at the time
designated, December 9, 1862. Mr. Conway, of Kansas, obtaining the
floor through the courtesy of Mr. Bingham, remarked that he had no
objection to the erection of a new State in Western Virginia; that he
understood that the inhabitants were thoroughly loyal; that they were
opposed to slavery; and that they would make a powerful and prosperous
State. Despite these considerations, he was not prepared to adhere to
the program of admission. He objected, therefore, that the application
had not come up in the proper constitutional form. The commonwealth
was not organized into a territorial form of government, and so, said
he, no enabling act could be passed. The constitutional provision that
no State may be divided without the assent of the legislature thereof
was not, in his opinion, adhered to. He questioned the legitimacy of
the so-called "Restored Government of Virginia" after a part of the
State had seceded from the Union.[113] It was his contention that the
failure of the State government caused the sovereignty of the State to
accrue to the Federal Government. Any application for admission into
the Union, on the part of West Virginia, should proceed on this
theory.[114]
Replying to these arguments, Mr. Brown, of Virginia, claimed
constitutional regularity of procedure in forming the new State and in
seeking to have it admitted into the Union. He referred to the case of
Kentucky as a precedent, attempting thereby to show the competency of
Congress to admit a State formed within the jurisdiction of another.
He pointed out that the Senate, the House, the Executive Department of
the United States Government and a State Court in Ohio had, all, by
their several acts and relationships with the Wheeling Legislature
recognized it to be the legal legislature of Virginia. Discussing the
original powers of the people, Mr. Brown asserted "that the principle
was laid down in the Declaration of Independence that the legislative
powers of the people cannot be annihilated; that when the
functionaries to whom they are entrusted become incapable of
exercising them, they revert to the people, who have the right to
exercise them in their primitive and original capacity." "When,
therefore, the government of old Virginia capitulated to the
Confederacy," said he, "the loyal people of Western Virginia acted in
accordance with the directing principle of the Declaration of
Independence."[115]
Conforming to the opinion of Mr. Brown, Mr. Colfax urged the admission
of the proposed new State, "because in their constitution, the people
provided for the ultimate extinction of slavery."[116] Among other
speakers urging the admission of the new State were Edwards, Blair,
Stevens, and Bingham. Edwards asserted that the two questions
presented had to do with (1) the constitutional power of Congress to
admit the State and (2) the question of expediency. Blair, while
urging the admission of the new State, took occasion to inform Mr.
Crittenden, of Kentucky, that the people of the proposed new State of
West Virginia had bound themselves to pay a just proportion of the
public debt owed by the State of Virginia, prior to the passage of the
Ordinance of Secession. Thaddeus Stevens held that the act of the
legislature of Virginia assenting to the division of the State was
invalid as such, but that West Virginia might be admitted under the
absolute power that the laws of war give to Congress under such
circumstances. "The Union," he said, "can never be restored under the
Constitution as it was," and with his consent, it could never be
restored with slavery to be protected by it. He was in favor of
admitting West Virginia because he "found in her constitution a
provision which would make her a free state."[117]
Perhaps no man in the House opposed more vigorously the admission of
the State under the bill being considered than did Mr. Segar.
According to his point of view, the people of the proposed new State
had made a pro-slavery constitution; they had retained their former
slave status, merely prohibiting the coming in for permanent residence
of additional slaves and free Negroes. The bill presented here, he
argued, requires them to strike out the provision that they have seen
fit to make with reference to slavery; Congress has made for them a
constitution of fast emancipation, one of virtual anti-slavery
variety. "This," said he, "is nothing less than a flagrant departure
from the doctrine that the States may of right manage their domestic
affairs and fashion their institutions as they will."[118] During the
course of his remarks, he found occasion to deny the constitutionality
of the legislature, by whose authority he held his seat in Congress.
Concluding the debate, Mr. Bingham, who had advocated the admission of
the State throughout the course of its consideration by the House,
summed up in succinct form, first, the positions taken by the
preceding speakers; and second, citations and arguments to show the
constitutionality of the proceedings. Continuing, he urged the
expediency of admission; he asserted that the chief objection to
admission on the part of most of the gentlemen opposed was that,
thereby, a new slave State would be admitted into the Union; and
finally he trusted that the bill would pass, because his confidence in
the people of Western Virginia had convinced him that they would not
only ratify the provision for gradual emancipation, but would avail
themselves of the opportunity afforded by the President's proclamation
to bring about the immediate or ultimate emancipation of every slave
within the State. On motion, the roll was called and the bill was
passed by a vote of 96 to 55.[119]
On the twenty-third day of December, President Lincoln requested the
written opinion of the members of his cabinet on the Act for the
admission of West Virginia into the Union, first, as[120] to its
constitutionality and second, as to its expediency. Of the six members
who replied, Messrs. Seward, Chase and Stanton decided that the
measure was both constitutional and expedient; whereas Welles, Blair
and Bates decided that it was neither constitutional nor
expedient.[121] In the meanwhile, Governor Pierpont of the Restored
Government of Virginia sent to the President a message urging upon him
the absolute and complete necessity for his assent to the
measure.[122]
The decision of the President was awaited with anxiety. Without
underestimating the importance attaching to the opinions of his
advisors, it was evident that Mr. Lincoln's opinion was all-important.
Characteristic of the President, and despite the wealth of opinion and
advice at his command, he found his own reasons for concluding that
the act was both constitutional and expedient. Not the least important
one among these reasons was the fact that "the admission of the new
State would turn just that much slave soil to free."[123]
After the signing of the bill by the President and in conformity with
the requirements of the amended constitution, the constitutional
convention reassembled for the purpose of approving the gradual
emancipation amendment inserted by Congress. Completing its work in a
session of eight days, the Convention adjourned on the twentieth day
of February. On the twenty-sixth day of March the people adopted the
amendment; 27,749 voted for ratification and 572 for rejection.
Certification of the election results was made to Governor Pierpont,
who forthwith communicated the fact to the President of the United
States. On the twentieth day of April, President Lincoln issued his
proclamation relating to the admission of the State of West Virginia
into the Union, the same to take effect sixty days from date thereof.
Accordingly, therefore, on the twentieth day of June, 1863, the
commonwealth of West Virginia formally entered into the Union as a
State, the first one to do so with a constitution providing for the
gradual emancipation of any class of slaves within the limits of its
territory.[124]
ALRUTHEUS A. TAYLOR.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Hall, _The Rending of Virginia_, 13.
[2] _Ibid._, 13.
[3] Ambler, _Sectionalism in Virginia_, 1776-1861, 1-3.
[4] Hall, _The Rending of Virginia_, 30.
[5] _Ibid._, 30.
[6] Ambler, _Sectionalism in Virginia_, 1776-1861, 137.
[7] Hall, _The Rending of Virginia_, 42.
[8] Ambler, _Sectionalism in Virginia_, 1776-1861, 137.
[9] Ambler, _Sectionalism in Virginia_, 1776-1861.
[10] _Ibid._, 169.
[11] _Ibid._, 140, 141.
[12] Hall, _The Rending of Virginia_, 38.
[13] _Ibid._, 47.
[14] Hall, _The Rending of Virginia_, 45.
[15] Ambler, _Sectionalism in Virginia_, 187.
[16] Ambler, _Sectionalism in Virginia_, 186.
[17] _Ibid._, 189.
[18] _Ibid._, 192.
[19] _Ibid._, 1776-1861, 192.
[20] Ambler, _Sectionalism in Virginia_, 200.
[21] _Ibid._, 201.
[22] Ambler, _Sectionalism in Virginia_, 202.
[23] _Ibid._, 202.
[24] _Ibid._, 244.
[25] Ambler, _Sectionalism in Virginia_, 245.
[26] _Ibid._, 1776-1861, 251.
[27] _Ibid._, 251-252.
[28] Ambler, _Sectionalism in Virginia_, 253.
[29] _Ibid._, 253.
[30] Ambler, _Sectionalism in Virginia_, 262.
[31] _Ibid._, 264.
[32] _Ibid._, 265.
[33] _Ibid._, 1776-1861, 266.
[34] Ambler, _Sectionalism in Virginia_, 266.
[35] _Ibid._, 267.
[36] _Ibid._, 268.
[37] Hall, _The Rending of Virginia_, 62.
[38] Ambler, _Sectionalism in Virginia_, 1776-1861, 269.
[39] _Ibid._, 269.
[40] Ambler, _Sectionalism in Virginia_, 311.
[41] Hall, _The Rending of Va._, 60.
[42] _Ibid._, 61.
[43] Ambler, _Sectionalism in Va._, 1776-1861, 301.
[44] Hall, _The Rending of Va._, 60.
[45] Lewis, _How W. Va. Was Made_, 8.
[46] _Ibid._, 10.
[47] _Ibid._, 14.
[48] _Ibid._, 19.
[49] Lewis, _How W. Va. Was Made_, 63.
[50] _Ibid._, 41.
[51] _Ibid._, 45.
[52] _Ibid._, 48.
[53] Lewis, _How W. Va. Was Made_, 63.
[54] _Ibid._, 64.
[55] _Ibid._, 83.
[56] _Ibid._, 108.
[57] _Ibid._, 86.
[58] _Ibid._, 92.
[59] _Ibid._, 139.
[60] Lewis, _How W. Va. Was Made_, 284.
[61] _Ibid._, 318.
[62] _Ibid._, 318.
[63] Hall, _The Rending of Va._, 396.
[64] _Ibid._, 396.
[65] Hall, _The Rending of Va._, 416.
[66] _Ibid._, 416.
[67] Hall, _The Rending of Virginia_, 417.
[68] _Ibid._, 418.
[69] Hall, _The Rending of Va._, 418.
[70] _Ibid._, 419.
[71] Hall, _The Rending of Virginia_, 421.
[72] Hall, _The Rending of Virginia_, 421-429.
[73] _Ibid._, 439.
[74] Lewis, _How W. Va. Was Made_, 322.
[75] _Ibid._, 323.
[76] Hall, _Rending of Va._, p. 440.
[77] Hall, _The Rending of Virginia_, 440-456.
[78] Lewis, _How W. Va. Was Made_, 325.
[79] _Congressional Globe_, Pt. 3, 2nd Session, 37th Congress,
1861-62, 2864.
[80] _Ibid._, Pt. 4 and App. 2nd Session, 37th Congress, 1861-62,
2941.
[81] _Ibid._, Pt. 4 and App. 37th Cong., 2nd Session, 1861-62, 2941.
[82] _Congressional Globe_, 2942.
[83] _Ibid._, 3034.
[84] _Ibid._, 3034.
[85] _Congressional Globe_, 3035.
[86] _Ibid._, 3036.
[87] _Congressional Globe_, Pt. 4 and App. 2nd Session of 37th
Congress, 1861-62, 3038.
[88] _Congressional Globe_, 3038.
[89] _Ibid._, 3134-3135.
[90] _Ibid._, 3308.
[91] _Ibid._, 3308.
[92] _Ibid._, 3308.
[93] _Congressional Globe_, Pt. 4 and App. 2nd Session, 37th Cong.,
1861-62, 3308.
[94] _Ibid._, 3309.
[95] _Congressional Globe_, 3309.
[96] _Ibid._, 3310.
[97] _Congressional Globe_, 3311.
[98] _Ibid._, Pt. 4 and App. 2nd Sess., 37th Cong., 1861-62, 3314.
[99] _Ibid._, 3315.
[100] _Congressional Globe_, 3316.
[101] _Congressional Globe_, 3316.
[102] _Ibid._, 3316.
[103] _Ibid._, 3316.
[104] _Congressional Globe_, Pt. 4 and App. 2nd Session, 37th Cong.,
1861-62, 3317.
[105] _Ibid._, 3317-3320.
[106] _Congressional Globe_, 3317-3320.
[107] _Ibid._, 3320.
[108] _Ibid._, 3320.
[109] _Congressional Globe_, Pt. 2, 3rd Session, 37th Cong., 1862-63,
952.
[110] _Ibid._, 1302.
[111] _Ibid._, Pt. 4 and App. 2nd Session, 37th Cong., 1861-62, 2933.
[112] _Congressional Globe_, 3397.
[113] _Ibid._, Pt. 1, 3rd Session, 37th Cong., 37.
[114] Hall, _The Rending of Va._, 474.
[115] Hall, _The Rending of Virginia_, 475.
[116] _Cong. Globe_, Pt. 1, 3rd Session, 37th Congress, 43.
[117] _Congressional Globe_, 47-57.
[118] _Ibid._, 54.
[119] _Congressional Globe_, Pt. 1, 3rd Session, 37th Cong., 1862-63,
58.
[120] Hall, _The Rending of Virginia_, 485.
[121] _Ibid._, 490-494.
[122] _Ibid._, 488.
[123] _Ibid._, 496.
[124] Lewis, _How W. Va. Was Made_, 330-334.
CANADIAN NEGROES AND THE JOHN BROWN RAID
Canada and Canadians were intimately connected with the most dramatic
incident in the slavery struggle prior to the opening of the Civil
War, the attack of John Brown and his men on the federal arsenal at
Harper's Ferry, Virginia, on the night of Sunday, October 16, 1859.
The blow that Brown struck at slavery in this attack had been planned
on broad lines in Canada more than a year before at a convention held
in Chatham, Ontario, May 8-10, 1858. In calling this convention in
Canada, Brown doubtless had two objects in view: to escape observation
and to interest the Canadian Negroes in his plans for freeing their
enslaved race on a scale never before dreamed of and in a manner
altogether new. It was Brown's idea to gather a band of determined and
resourceful men, to plant them somewhere in the Appalachian mountains
near slave territory and from their mountain fastness to run off the
slaves, ever extending the area of operations and eventually settling
the Negroes in the territory that they had long tilled for others. He
believed that operations of this kind would soon demoralize slavery in
the South and he counted upon getting enough help from Canada to give
the initial impetus.
What went on at Chatham in May, 1858, is fairly definitely known.
Brown came to Chatham on April 30 and sent out invitations to what he
termed "a quiet convention ... of true friends of freedom," requesting
attendance on May 10. The sessions were held on May 8th and 10th,
Saturday and Monday, and were attended by twelve white men and
thirty-three Negroes. William C. Munroe, a colored preacher, acted as
chairman. Brown himself made the opening and principal speech of the
convention, outlining plans for carrying on a guerilla warfare against
the whites, which would free the slaves, who might afterwards be
settled in the more mountainous districts. He expected that many of
the free Negroes in the Northern States would flock to his standard,
that slaves in the South would do the same, and that some of the free
Negroes in Canada would also accompany him.
The main business before the convention was the adoption of a
constitution for the government of Brown's black followers in the
carrying out of his weird plan of forcible emancipation. Copies of the
constitution were printed after the close of the Chatham gathering and
furnished evidence against Brown and his companions when their plans
came to ground and they were tried in the courts of Virginia. Brown
himself was elected commander-in-chief, J. H. Kagi was named secretary
of war, George B. Gill, secretary of the treasury, Owen Brown, one of
his sons, treasurer, Richard Realf, secretary of state, and Alfred M.
Ellsworth and Osborn Anderson, colored, were named members of
Congress.
It was more than a year before Brown could proceed to the execution of
his plan. Delays of various kinds had upset his original plans, but
early in June, 1859, he went to Harper's Ferry with three companions
and rented a farm near that town. Others joined them at intervals
until at the time of their raid he had eighteen followers, four of
whom were Negroes. The story of the attack and its failure need not be
told here. It is sufficient to say that when the fighting ended on
Tuesday morning, October 18, John Brown himself was wounded and a
prisoner; ten of his party, including two of his sons, were dead, and
the others were fugitives from justice. Brown was given a preliminary
examination on October 25th and on the following day was brought to
trial at Charlestown. Public sentiment in Virginia undoubtedly called
for a speedy trial, but there was evidence of panicky feeling in the
speed with which John Brown was rushed to punishment. On Monday,
October 31, the jury, after 45 minutes' deliberation, returned a
verdict of guilty of treason, conspiracy with slaves to rebel and
murder in the first degree. On November 2nd, sentence was pronounced,
that Brown should be hanged on December 2nd. As the trap dropped under
him that day, Col. Preston, who commanded the military escort,
pronounced the words: "So perish all such enemies of Virginia. All
such enemies of the Union. All such foes of the human race." That was
the unanimous sentiment of Virginia. But in the North Longfellow wrote
in his journal: "This will be a great date in our history; the date of
a new revolution, quite as much needed as the old one."[1] And Thoreau
declared: "Some 1800 years ago Christ was crucified; this morning,
perchance, Captain Brown was hung. These are the two ends of a chain
that is not without its links."[2]
John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry made a profound impression in
Canada. Although the Chatham convention had been secret there were
some Canadians who knew that Brown was meditating a bold stroke and
could see at once the connection between Chatham and Harper's Ferry.
The raid was reported in detail in the Canadian press and widely
commented upon editorially. In a leading article extending over more
than one column of its issue of November 4, 1859, _The Globe_, of
Toronto, points out that the execution of Brown will but serve to make
him remembered as "a brave man who perilled property, family, life
itself, for an alien race." His death, continued the editor, would
make the raid valueless as political capital for the South, which
might expect other Browns to arise. References in this article to the
Chatham convention indicate that George Brown, editor of _The Globe_,
knew what had been going on in Canada in May, 1858. Three weeks later,
_The Globe_, with fine discernment, declared that if the tension
between north and south continued, civil war would be inevitable and
"no force that the south can raise can hold the slaves if the north
wills that they be free."[3] On the day of Brown's execution _The
Globe_ said: "His death will aid in awakening the north to that
earnest spirit which can alone bring the south to understand its true
position," and added that it was a "rare sight to witness the ascent
of this fine spirit out of the money-hunting, cotton-worshipping
American world."[4] Once again, with insight into American affairs it
predicted that "if a Republican president is elected next year,
nothing short of a dissolution of the union will satisfy them" (the
cotton States).
The special interest taken by _The Globe_ in American affairs and its
sane comment on the developments in the slavery struggle were due to
George Brown's understanding of the situation, resulting from his
residence for a time under the stars and stripes before coming to
Canada. The feeling of the public in Toronto over the execution of
John Brown was shown by the large memorial service held in St.
Lawrence Hall on Dec. 11, 1859, at which the chief speaker was Rev.
Thomas M. Kinnaird, who had himself attended the Chatham
convention.[5] In his address Mr. Kinnaird referred to a talk he had
had with Brown, in which the latter said that he intended to do
something definite for the liberation of the slaves or perish in the
attempt. The collection that was taken up at this meeting was
forwarded to Mrs. Brown. At Montreal a great mass meeting was held in
St. Bonaventure Hall, attended by over one thousand people, at which
resolutions of sympathy were passed. Among those on the platform at
this meeting were L. H. Holton, afterwards a member of the
Brown-Dorion and Macdonald-Dorion administrations, and John Dougall,
founder of _The Montreal Witness_. At Chatham and other places in the
western part of the province similar meetings were held.
The slave-holding States were by no means blind to the amount of
support and encouragement that was coming from Canada for the
abolitionists.[6] They were quite aware that Canada itself had an
active abolitionist group. They probably had heard of the Chatham
convention; they knew of it, at least, as soon as the raid was over.
In his message to the legislature of Virginia immediately after the
Harper's Ferry incident Governor Wise made direct reference to the
anti-slavery activity in Canada. "This was no result of ordinary
crimes," he declared. "... It was an extraordinary and actual
invasion, by a sectional organization, specially upon slaveholders and
upon their property in negro slaves.... A provisional government was
attempted in a British province, by our own countrymen, united to us
in the faith of confederacy, combined with Canadians, to invade the
slave-holding states ... for the purpose of stirring up universal
insurrection of slaves throughout the whole south."[7]
Speaking further of what he conceived to be the spirit of the North he
said: "It has organized in Canada and traversed and corresponded
thence to New Orleans and from Boston to Iowa. It has established
spies everywhere, and has secret agents in the heart of every slave
state, and has secret associations and 'underground railroads' in
every free state."[8]
Speaking on December 22, 1859, to a gathering of medical students who
had left Philadelphia, Governor Wise is quoted as saying: "With God's
help we will drive all the disunionists together back into Canada. Let
the compact of fanaticism and intolerance be confined to British
soil."[9] _The New York Herald_ quoted Governor Wise as calling upon
the President to notify the British Government that Canada should no
longer be allowed, by affording an asylum to fugitive slaves, to
foster disunion and dissension in the United States. Wise even seems
to have had the idea that the President might be bullied into
provoking trouble with Great Britain over this question. "The war
shall be carried into Canada," he said in one of his outbursts.[10]
Sympathy for the South was shown in the comment of a part of the Tory
press in Canada, _The Leader_ declaring that Brown's attack on
Harper's Ferry was an "insane raid" and predicting that the South
would sacrifice the union before submitting to such spoliation.[11]
The viewpoint of _The Leader_ and its readers may be further
illustrated by its declaration that the election campaign of 1860 was
dominated by a "small section of ultra-abolitionists who make
anti-slavery the beginning, middle and end of their creed." As for
Lincoln he was characterized as "a mediocre man and a fourth-rate
lawyer,"[12] but then some of the prominent American newspapers made
quite as mistaken an estimate of Lincoln at that time.
The collapse of John Brown's great adventure at Harper's Ferry
furnished complete proof to the South of Canada's relation to that
event. The seizure of his papers and all that they told, the evidence
at the trial at Charlestown and the evidence secured by the Senatorial
Committee which investigated the affair, all confirmed the suspicion
that in the British provinces to the north there was extensive
plotting against the slavery system. The Senatorial Committee declared
in its findings that the proceedings at Chatham had had as their
object "to subvert the government of one or more of the States, and,
of course, to that extent the government of the United States."[13]
Questions were asked of the witnesses before the investigating
committee which showed that in the minds of the members of that
committee there was a distinctly Canadian end to the Harper's Ferry
tragedy.[14] Their suspicions may have been further confirmed by the
fact that Brown's New England confederates, Sanborn, Stearns and Howe,
all fled to Canada immediately after the raid.
In the actual events at Harper's Ferry the assistance given by Canada
was small. Of the men who marched out with Brown on that fateful
October night only one could in any way be described as a Canadian.
This was Osborn Perry Anderson, a Negro born free in Pennsylvania. He
was working as a printer in Chatham at the time of the convention and
threw in his lot with Brown. He was one of those who escaped at
Harper's Ferry. He later wrote an account of the affair, served during
the latter part of the Civil War in the northern army and died at
Washington in 1871. He is described by Hinton as "well educated, a man
of natural dignity, modest, simple in character and manners."[15]
There naturally arises the question, why was the aid given John Brown
by the Canadian Negroes so meagre? That Brown had counted on
considerable help in his enterprise from the men who joined with him
in drafting the "provisional constitution" is certain. John Edwin
Cook, one of Brown's close associates, declared in his confession made
after Harper's Ferry, that "men and money had both been promised from
Chatham and other parts of Canada."[16] Yet, apart from Anderson, a
Negro, only one other Canadian of either color seems to have had any
share in the raid. Dr. Alexander Milton Ross went to Richmond,
Virginia, before the blow was struck, as he had promised Brown he
would do, and was there when word came of its unhappy ending. Brown
evidently counted on Ross being able to keep him in touch with
developments at the capital of Virginia.
Chatham had been chosen as the place of meeting with special reference
to the effect it might have on the large Negro population resident in
the immediate vicinity. There were more Negroes within fifty miles of
Chatham than in any other section of Canadian territory and among them
were men of intelligence, education and daring, some of them
experienced in slave raiding. Brown was justified in expecting help
from them. There is also evidence that among the Negroes themselves
there existed a secret organization, known under various names, having
as its object to assist fugitives and resist their masters. Help from
this organization was also expected.[17] Hinton says that Brown "never
expected any more aid from them than that which would give a good
impetus."[18] John Brown himself is quoted by Realf, one of his
associates, as saying that he expected aid from the Negroes generally,
both in Canada and the United States,[19] but it must be remembered
that his plans called for quality rather than quantity of assistance.
A few daring men, planted in the mountains of Virginia, would have
accomplished his initial purpose better than a thousand.
The real reason why the Canadian Negroes failed to respond in the
summer of 1860 when Brown's men were gathering near the boundary line
of slavery seems to be that too great a delay followed after the
Chatham convention. The convention was held on May 8 and 10, 1858; but
Brown did not attack Harper's Ferry until the night of October 16,
1859, nearly a year and a half later. The zeal for action that
manifested itself in May, 1858, had cooled off by October, 1859, the
magnetic influence of Brown himself had been withdrawn, and the
Negroes had entered into new engagements. Frank B. Sanborn says he
understood from Brown that he hoped to strike about the middle of May
of 1858, that is about a week after the convention or as soon as his
forces could gather at the required point.[20] The delay was caused by
the partial exposure of Brown's plans to Senator Henry Wilson by Hugh
Forbes, who had been close to Brown. Panic seized Brown's chief white
supporters in New England, the men who financed his various
operations, and they decided that the plans must be changed. Brown was
much discouraged by their decision, but being dependent upon them for
support in his work he submitted and went west to Kansas. Among his
exploits there was the running off of more than a dozen slaves whom he
landed safely at Windsor, Canada.
There was some effort made in the early summer of 1859 to enlist the
support of the Canadian Negroes,[21] the mission being in charge of
John Brown, Jr., who was assisted by Rev. J. W. Loguen, a well-known
Negro preacher and anti-slavery worker. Together they visited
Hamilton, St. Catharines, Chatham, London, Buxton and Windsor, helping
also to organize branches of the League of Liberty among the Negroes.
The letters of John Brown, Jr., show that there was little enthusiasm
for the cause, which, indeed, could only have been presented in an
indefinite way. There was more interest at Chatham than elsewhere, as
might be expected, but even there it was not sufficiently substantial
to bring the men that were needed. Against this rather dismal picture
should be placed some evidence that there were a few Canadians on the
way South when the end came.[22]
FRED LANDON.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Longfellow, _Life of Longfellow_, vol. II, p. 347.
[2] Thoreau, _A Plea for Capt. John Brown, read at Concord, October
30, 1859_.
[3] _Toronto Weekly Globe_, Nov. 25, 1859.
[4] _Ibid._, Dec. 9, 1859, and Dec. 16, 1859.
[5] _Toronto Weekly Globe_, Dec. 12, 1859.
[6] "There is no country in the world so much hated by slaveholders as
Canada," Ward, _Autobiography of a Fugitive Negro_, London, 1855, p.
158.
[7] _Journal of the Senate of Virginia_, 1859, see pp. 9-25.
[8] _The Toronto Weekly Globe_ of Dec. 6, 1859, reported Governor Wise
as saying: "One most irritating feature of this predatory war is that
it has its seat in the British provinces which furnish asylum for our
fugitives and send them and their hired outlaws upon us from depots
and rendezvous in the bordering states."
[9] _Toronto Weekly Globe_, Dec. 28, 1859.
[10] _Toronto Weekly Globe_, Dec. 28, 1859.
[11] _Ibid._, Dec. 23, 1859.
[12] _Ibid._, July 20, 1860.
[13] _Harper's Ferry Invasion, Report of Senatorial Committee_, pp. 2
and 7.
[14] _Harper's Ferry Invasion, Report of Senatorial Committee_, p. 99.
[15] Hinton, _John Brown and His Men_, pp. 504-507.
[16] _Ibid._, appendix, p. 704. See also report of Senatorial
Committee, p. 97.
[17] Hinton, _John Brown and His Men_, pp. 171-172.
[18] _Ibid._, p. 175.
[19] _Report of Senatorial Committee_, p. 97.
[20] Sanborn, _Life and Letters of John Brown_, pp. 457-8.
[21] Sanborn, _Life and Letters of John Brown_, pp. 536-538, 547.
[22] Hinton, _John Brown and His Men_, pp. 261-263.
THE NEGRO AND THE SPANISH PIONEER IN THE NEW WORLD
Negro slaves probably made their first appearance in the New World in
1502. Those who came in the beginning were Christians and personal
servants of masters who had acquired them in Spain, but soon
afterwards, thanks to the influence of the religious order of
_Predicatores_ and of the more famous Las Casas, they began to be
introduced directly from Africa, in order that the sufferings of the
Indians who were dying out under the Spanish system of forced labor
might be alleviated.[1] By the close of the second decade of the
sixteenth century no inconsiderable number had been brought over,
and a perusal of the early accounts of the exploits of the
_Conquistadores_ will reveal the fact that the Negro participated in
the exploration and occupation of nearly every important region from
New Mexico to Chile. As personal attendants of the Spanish Pioneers,
as burden-bearers and drudges connected with exploration and the
founding of colonies, they played an indispensable though
inconspicuous rôle in one of the greatest achievements which history
records. Such accounts of their service as have been preserved are,
for the most part, accidental: only when he performed an act of
unusual heroism or connected himself with a strange or humorous
occurrence was the Negro's name placed alongside of that of his
Spanish master where it is destined to remain for all time.
When Balboa set out from Darién on the tour of exploration which
resulted in the discovery of the South Sea, at least one Negro, Nufio
de Olano, was numbered in his party. Three years later, when the
timbers for the four boats with which he intended to explore the
Pacific had been prepared, thirty Negroes were among those who carried
them piece by piece over mountain and jungle from Acla to San Miguel.
Moreover, when Balboa's successor constructed the first highway from
ocean to ocean he made use of Negro labor along with that of the
Indian.[2]
Hernán Cortés carried with him from Cuba not only Indian servants but
Negro slaves who helped to drag along the artillery which he used to
strike mortal terror into the Indians of Mexico. There has been
preserved a list of those who set out on this famous expedition, and
among the names are those of two Negroes, one of whom Saco claims to
have been the first to sow and reap small grain in Mexico. Moreover,
two Negroes were among the company sent out by Velásquez in 1520 to
punish Cortés for his insubordination. One of these has the unenviable
distinction of having introduced smallpox among the Mexican Indians.
The other, who seems to have observed the fight between the men of the
agent of Velásquez (Narváez) from the safe and comfortable distance of
a neighboring tree, has, because of some witty and flattering remarks
which he made to Cortés, received the honor of a paragraph in the
_Decades_ of Herrera.[3]
It is not definitely known whether Pedro de Alvarado, one of the
bravest and most gallant lieutenants of Cortés, carried Negroes with
him into Guatemala in 1523, but it is certain that eleven years later,
when his ambition and love of gain led him to fit out that ill-fated
expedition to Quito, he saw fit to include in the company two hundred
black slaves, most of whom perished while making their way through the
blinding snows of the Andes.[4]
It is certain, moreover, that several Negroes were along with the
_Conquistadores_ of Perú and Chile. The contract of Francisco Pizarro
permitted him to introduce fifty Negroes into Perú free of duty; and
even before this, Negroes had accompanied those who had spied out the
land. In 1525, when Diego de Almagro effected a landing near the port
of Quemado, on the west coast of South America, and attempted to
penetrate the adjacent country, he encountered rather severe
opposition from the Indians of the section. During the resulting
skirmish one of his eyes was crushed by a dart and he was saved from
captivity and death only by the valiant succor of his Negro slave. A
year later, the debarkation of a Spaniard and his slave at Tumbez
resulted in an amusing occurrence which once more gave the Negro a few
brief sentences in the _Decades_. Astonished at the color of his face,
the natives of the region had him wash time after time in order to see
if the black would disappear; and the Negro, true to his good nature
and love of a joke, complied willingly while he grinned so as to
display his pearly white teeth.[5]
Several Negroes assisted the Yanaconas Indians in carrying the baggage
of Diego de Almagro and Rodrigo Orgoñez during their perilous journey
along the frozen Andes from Cuzco to Chile; and many of them perished
on the way.[6] Moreover, upon at least one occasion the forces of the
great conqueror of Chile, Pedro Valdivia himself, would probably have
been destroyed, had it not been for the cool-headed alertness of
Captain Gonzalo de los Rios and a Negro who managed to procure the
saddle-horses of the Spaniards as soon as they saw a band of Indians
dart from their hiding places.[7]
Numerous African slaves were along with the Spanish pioneers in
Venezuela. Ortal, Sedeño, and Heredia each had permission to introduce
one hundred Negroes to build fortresses and search for mines; and in
1537, when the licentiate Vadillo came to Cartagena to hold the
residencia of Heredia, he brought down a large number who later
accompanied him on the luckless excursions which he undertook
apparently in the hope of finding the mines of Perú.[8]
But of all the members of the colored race who accompanied the
Spaniards upon their explorations in the New World, it may be doubted
whether any played so conspicuous a part as did Estevánico, or
Estévan, an Arabian black from Azamor, in Morocco, and the slave of
Andrés Dorantes de Carrança. He was a member and one of the survivors
of the ill-fated expedition of Pánfilo de Narváez which went to pieces
somewhere on the southern coast of the United States, (1528). For six
years he was a captive and slave among the Indians of Texas where, in
company with others of the expedition who had escaped with their
lives, he effected miraculous cures. He was one of the three
companions of Cabeza de Vaca on his historic journey across the
continent from the Gulf of Mexico to Culiacán. From Culiacán he
accompanied De Vaca and his companions to Mexico City, where he was
honored by being made the slave of the viceroy, Antonio de Mendoza.
Surely these were rare and noteworthy experiences for a member of the
black race, but still greater things awaited Estévan. He was destined
ere he met his tragic fate to accompany the expedition which resulted
in the discovery of New Mexico and Arizona. The party which, besides
the Negro, consisted of three Spaniards--Fray Marcos de Niza, a lay
brother, and Fray Onorato--and several Pima Indians, set out from
Culiacán on March 7, 1539. They were in search of the famed Seven
Cities.
After proceeding northward several days, Fray Marcos decided to rest
while he dispatched the Negro to reconnoiter. He directed Estévan to
advance to the north several leagues, and in case he discovered
indications of a rich and populous country, to return in person or
await his coming, sending back, by some of the Pimas who were to
accompany him, a cross the size of which should be in proportion to
the importance of the information gained. Four days passed, and then
the messengers of Estévan returned bearing a cross "as high as a man"
and the news that the Negro had discovered "the greatest thing in the
world." Fray Marcos hastened to follow in the footsteps of Estévan
hoping to overtake him soon, but his efforts were vain. The dusky
adventurer could not resist the temptation to proceed and win for
himself the honor of conquering the rich country.
This country concerning which such glowing reports had reached Estévan
was none other than the land of the Pueblo Indians. His procedure
after separating from Fray Marcos is thus narrated by a contemporary,
though not an eyewitness:
"After Estevan had left the friars, he thought he could get all the
reputation and honor himself, and that if he should discover these
settlements with such famous high houses, alone, he would be
considered bold and courageous. So he proceeded with the people who
had followed him, and attempted to cross the wilderness which lies
between the country he had passed through and Cibola, ... [He] reached
Cibola loaded with the large quantity of turquoises they [the Indians
along the route] had given him and some beautiful women whom the
Indians who followed him and carried his things were taking with them
and had given him. These had followed him from all the settlements he
had passed, believing that under his protection they could traverse
the whole world without any danger. But as the people in this country
were more intelligent than those who followed Estevan, they lodged him
in a little hut they had outside their village, and the older men and
governors heard his story and took steps to find out the reason he had
come to that country. The account which the Negro gave them of two
white men who were following him, sent by a great lord, who knew about
the things in the sky, and how these were coming to instruct them in
divine matters, made them think that he must be a spy or a guide from
some nations who wished to come and conquer them, because it seemed to
them unreasonable to say that the people were white in the country
from which he came and that he was sent by them, he being black.
Besides these other reasons, they thought it was hard of him to ask
them for turquoises and women, and so they decided to kill him. They
did this, but they did not kill any of those who went with him...."[9]
From this and other contemporary sources, Lowery[10] has constructed a
more complete and lively picture of Estévan's last days. Lowery says
that "he travelled with savage magnificence, gaily dressed with bells
and feathers fastened about his arms and legs. He carried with him a
gourd decorated with bells and two feathers, one white and the other
red. This gourd he sent before him by messengers as a symbol of
authority and to command obedience, as he had seen successfully done
in the western part of Texas, when in company with Cabeza de Vaca....
As soon as they had delivered the gourd to the chief [of the pueblo]
and he had observed the bells he became very angry," and ordered
Estévan and his party to depart at once. But the Negro was persistent.
He and his retinue lodged just outside the walls of the Pueblo of
Hawaikuh. Early the next morning they were attacked by a large band of
warriors from the Pueblo and Estévan was killed while attempting to
make his escape.
There has been preserved among the legends of the Zuñi Pueblos of New
Mexico one which apparently dates back to the coming of Estévan, the
Black Mexican from the south. The scene of his death is placed at
Kiakima, and the single Black Mexican has been magnified into many,
but the legend is nevertheless interesting and significant.
"It is to be believed that a long time ago, when roofs lay over the
walls of Kya-ki-me, when smoke hung over the housetops, and the ladder
rounds were still unbroken in Kya-ki-me, then the Black Mexicans came
from their abodes in Everlasting Summerland. One day, unexpectedly,
out of Hemlock Cañon they came, and descended to Kya-ki-me. But when
they said they would enter the covered way, it seems that our
ancients looked not gently at them; for with these Black Mexicans came
many Indians of So-no-li, as they call it now, ... who were enemies of
our ancients. Therefore, these our ancients, being always
bad-tempered, and quick to anger, made fools of themselves after their
fashion, rushing into their town and out of their town, shouting,
skipping and shooting with their sling-stones and arrows and tossing
their war-clubs. Then the Indians of So-no-li set up a great howl, and
thus they and our ancients did much ill to one another. Then and thus
was killed by our ancients, right where the stone stands down by the
arroyo of Kya-ki-me, one of the Black Mexicans, a large man, with
chilli lips [_i.e._, lips swollen from eating chilli peppers], and
some of the Indians they killed, catching others. Then the rest ran
away, chased by our grandfathers, and went back toward their country
in the Land of Everlasting Summer...."[11]
J. FRED RIPPY.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] José Antonio Saco, _Historia de la Esclavitud ..._ (Barcelona,
1879), IV, 57 ff.
[2] Saco, _op. cit._, IV, 74, 75, 178; Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo,
_Historia General ..._ tom. 3, lib. 29, cap. 3.
[3] Dec. 2, lib. 10, cap. 4; Bernal Diaz del Castillo, _Conquista de
Nueva-Espana_, cap. 124.
[4] Herrera, dec. 5, lib. 5, cap. 7-9.
[5] Dec. 3, lib. 10, cap. 5.
[6] Herrera, _op. cit._, dec. 5, lib. 10, cap. 1, 2, y 3.
[7] Saco, _op. cit._ IV, 166.
[8] _Ibid._, IV, 170.
[9] Pedro de Casteñeda, "Account of the Expedition to Cibola which
took place in the year 1540 ...," translated in _Spanish Explorers in
the Southern United States_ (J. F. Jameson, ed.), pp. 289-290.
[10] _Spanish Settlements in the United States_, 1513-1561, pp.
278-280.
[11] Quoted in Lowery, _op. cit._, pp. 281-282.
THE ECONOMIC CONDITION OF THE NEGROES OF NEW YORK PRIOR TO 1861
The institution of slavery existed in the State of New York until
1827. The number of slaves had increased from 6,000 slaves in 1700 to
21,000 in 1790.[1] Moved by the struggle for the rights of man, the
legislature of New York passed in 1799 an act of emancipation,
providing that all children born of slave parents after July 4 ensuing
should be free and subject to apprenticeship in the case of males
until the age of 28, and of the females until the age of 25, while the
exportation of slaves was forbidden. By the process of emancipation
all slaves were liberated in 1827. Thenceforth, birth on the soil of
New York was a guaranty of freedom and slaves from other States fled
to New York as an asylum.[2] As a result of these efforts at gradual
emancipation, there were more than 10,000 free Negroes in New York
City in 1800.
We are to inquire here as to exactly what was the economic condition
of these Negroes. What of their wealth, their means and methods of
living well and wisely? With gradual emancipation and the cessation of
the sale of slaves the Negroes became economically unimportant to the
whites.[3] They were employed as servants, laborers, sailors and
mechanics.[4] It was reported to the American Convention of Abolition
Societies in 1797, however, "that a degree of decorum and industry
prevailed among them much to their honor and advantage." This report
further said that "Many in the town and country were freeholders,
several worth from $300 to $1,300. Various associations among the free
blacks for mutual support, benefit and improvement had been
established. One of these had a lot for a burying ground and the site
of a church worth fifteen hundred dollars. All were in a state of
progressive improvement."[6] Still another part of the report made by
these delegates stated that "on the whole they exhibited an example of
successful industry highly honorable to themselves, gratifying to
their parents, encouraging to patrons and consoling to humanity."[7]
Again, in 1803, the New York delegates reported that the "increase of
the number of freeholders among the free blacks is an evidence of the
progress of industry, sobriety, and economy, and strengthens the hope
that they will gradually emerge from their degraded condition to
usefulness and respectability."[8]
Further evidence of the economic improvement of free Negroes during
this period is evidenced by a significant appeal made by the members
of the American Convention of Abolition Societies to the Free Negroes
of New York in 1805. "The education of your offspring," said these
friends of the Negroes, "is a subject of lasting importance and has
obtained a large portion of your attention and care. In this, too, we
call upon you for your aid; many of you have been favored to acquire a
comfortable portion of property and are consequently enabled to
contribute in some measure to the means of educating your
offspring."[9] In response to this appeal, the society of free people
of color was established in 1812 to maintain a Free Orphan School in
New York City and employed two teachers; and there were three other
schools which they supported with their tuition fees, while those who
were not sufficiently well circumstanced to educate their children
sent them to the African Free Schools maintained by the New York
Manumission Society.[10]
These African Free Schools were conducted in such a way as to have a
direct bearing on the economic improvement of the Negroes. In 1818 the
New York Mission Society informed the American Convention of Abolition
Societies that the former had devised a plan of extending their care
to certain children of color who had completed their course of
instruction in the New York African Free Schools "in putting them at
some useful trade or employment." These friends of the race in New
York said that it had long been a regret that Negro children "educated
at their schools had been suffered after leaving it to waste their
time in idleness, thereby incurring those vicious habits which were
calculated to render their previous education worse than useless." To
remedy this evil they appointed an Indenturing Committee, whose duty
was to provide places for these children and put them at a trade or
some other employment when they had completed their education. The
Committee took special care that the persons with whom children might
be placed should be those of good character and while on the one hand
they insisted that the children demean themselves with sobriety they
extended their guardian care to them so that they might not "become
subjects of oppression and tyranny." This Indenturing Committee in
reaching its decision as to the sort of occupations to which the
children could be apprenticed expressed a decided preference for
agricultural pursuits, being persuaded that an occupation of this
nature was far more conducive to the moral improvement of these
Negroes than the pursuits of the city under the most favorable
circumstances. This plan upon being presented to the parents and
guardians of these children was favorably received, but it does not
appear that a large number of them thereafter participated in
agriculture.[11]
The activity of the girls who had received instruction in household
economics in free schools showed progress in another direction. They
formed a society under the name of the African Dorcas Association for
the purpose of procuring and making garments for the destitute. The
boys, too, contributed their share to this progress, taking up such
trades as sail makers, tire-workers, tailors, carpenters and
blacksmiths.
Such reports[12] represent the condition of the free Negroes of New
York before slavery was completely abolished. This change in the
status of the Negroes then, and the evolving industrial system
effected a change in the economic condition of the Negro throughout
the city.[13]
It must be remembered in this connection, however, that these Negroes
experienced difficulties on account of their color either in obtaining
a thorough knowledge of the trades or, after they had obtained it, in
finding employment in the best shops. White and black laborers at
first worked together in the same room and at the same machine. But
soon prejudice developed. It was made more intense by the immigration
into this country of a large number of poor Germans and Irish, who
came to our shores because of the disturbed conditions of Europe.
Their superior training and experience enabled them to get positions
in most of the trades. Most northern men, moreover, still objected to
granting Negroes economic equality. When the supply of labor exceeded
the demand, the free Negroes, unable to compete with these foreigners,
were driven not only from the respectable positions, but also from the
menial pursuits. Measures to restrict to the whites employment in
higher pursuits were proposed and where they were not actually made
laws, public opinion, to that effect, accomplished practically the
same result. This reversal of the position of labor, however, did not
take place without a struggle, for there soon arose ill-feeling which
culminated in the riots between 1830 and 1840.[14]
In spite of this condition, Arthur Tappan, Gerrit Smith and William
Lloyd Garrison reported to the Second American Convention for the
Improvement of the Free People of Color that "by perseverance, the
youth of color could succeed in procuring profitable situations.[15]
To these benefactors, however, it was soon evident that Negroes had to
be trained for the competition with white laborers or be doomed to
follow menial employment. In accordance with this Gerrit Smith
established in 1834 a school in Peterboro, for the purpose of training
Negro youths under the manual labor system.[16] With such training, he
believed, free Negroes would gain a livelihood, send their children to
school, and gradually accumulate money. He hoped that many of them
would make progress to the extent of possessing property valued at
$250, which amount would enable citizens of color[17] to vote in the
State of New York.
Hoping to put an end to economic poverty among these Negroes, Gerrit
Smith devised a scheme for the distribution of 3,000 parcels of land
of 40 or 60 acres each among the unfortunate blacks then handicapped
in this untoward situation in New York City. From a list of names
furnished him by Rev. Charles B. Ray, Rev. Theodore F. Wright and Dr.
J. McCune Smith, three prominent Negroes in New York City, Gerrit
Smith apportioned this land among the Negro colonists in the counties
of Franklin, Essex, Hamilton, Fulton, Oneida, Delaware, Madison, and
Ulster. On account of the intractability of the soil, however, the
harshness of the climate, and, in a great measure, the inefficiency of
the settlers, the enterprise was a failure and offered no relief to
the economic condition of the Negroes in this city.
It will be interesting to note the observations of a promoter of
colonization on the condition of Negroes in New York City at this
time. While his statements must be taken with some reservation they,
nevertheless, contain a truth which must be taken into account. Hoping
to induce Negroes to accept colonization in Africa, he endeavored to
show that they could not finally succeed in the struggle in
competition with the white laborers and would be crowded out of the
higher pursuits of labor. He referred to the fact that a few years
prior to 1846 there was a vast body of colored laborers in New York
but that at that time they could not be seen. The writer inquired as
to "who may find a dray or a cart or a hack driven by a colored man?"
"Where are the vast majority of colored people in the city?" "None,"
said he, "can deny that they are sunken much lower than they were a
few years ago and are compelled to pursue none but the meanest
avocations."
The gentleman making these observations tried to emphasize this
striking contrast by calling attention to the fact that New York was a
place that had a great deal of compassion for the slave while it was
neglecting to take into account the awful condition of the free
Negroes, in spite of the fact that the process of their depression had
been going on at the same time that the abolitionists in New York were
working for the emancipation of the slave. Although these friends of
the Negroes and the Negroes themselves had during these years been
boldly asserting their rights and demanding to be elevated, they had
been losing ground, sinking into meaner occupations and less
lucrative employments. He believed that the day was not far when every
desirable business in the city would be entirely monopolized by the
whites because of the rapid influx of foreigners who had to labor or
serve and knew how to toil to advantage, to the extent that they could
make their labor more valuable than that of the people of color.[18]
In things economic, however, the free Negroes of New York made
considerable improvement after 1845; a decided improvement in this
respect was noted by 1851. So evident was this progress that the
colonizationists who had repeatedly referred to the poverty of the
Negroes and the prejudice against them in the laboring world as a
reason why they should migrate to Africa, thereafter ceased to say
very much about their poverty, shifting their complaint rather to
social proscription. In 1851 a contributor to _The African
Repository_, the organ of the American Colonization Society, discussed
the situation of the 48,000 free Negroes of New York. Directing his
attention to the 14,000 living in the metropolis, the editor said that
the condition of 4,000 of them approached that of comfort; 1,000 of
the number having substantial wealth, or that one out of every ten was
in a pleasant and enviable social condition. As this pessimist was
compelled to concede that this was not a bad showing for an oppressed
people he goes off on another line, saying: "Everywhere the Negro,
whatever his wealth or education or talents, is excluded from social
equality and social freedom."[19]
There were many instances of individual enterprise, however, but these
often meant little since Negroes had such a little knowledge of
business that white persons often defrauded them out of what they
accumulated. Sojourner Truth accumulated more than enough money to
supply her wants, but lost some of it by depositing it in a bank
without taking account of the sum which she deposited and without
asking for the interest when she drew her money from the bank.[20]
One Pierson persuaded her to take her money out of the bank and invest
it in a common fund which he was raising to be drawn upon by all needy
and faithful free Negroes.[21] Her savings, therefore, served to
increase this fund, which instead of relieving the economic condition
of many needy free Negroes enriched this white impostor.
As evidences of this unusual progress of the Negroes there are many
instances of persons who gained wealth in spite of the various
handicaps. Many of the caterers and restaurant keepers of high order
of New York were Negroes, the most popular of whom being Thomas
Downing, the keeper of a restaurant under what is now the Drexel
Building, near the corner of Wall and Broad streets, New York
City.[22] Abner H. Frances and James Garrett, were formerly extensive
clothiers of Buffalo, New York, doing business to the amount of
$60,000 annually. They continued their enterprise successfully for
years, their credit being good for any amount of money they needed.
They failed in business in 1849 but thereafter adjusted the claims
against them.[23] Henry Scott and Company, of New York City, engaged
in the pickling business, principally confined to supplying
vessels.[24] Edward V. Clark, another business man of New York, had a
jewelry establishment requiring much capital. His name had, moreover,
a respectable standing even among the dealers of Wall Street.[25] Mr.
Huston kept for years an intelligence office in New York. He was
succeeded by Philip A. Bell, an excellent business man. Concerning it,
Austin Steward reported in his book entitled "_The Condition of the
Colored People_" that "his business is very extensive, being sought
from all points of the city by the first people of the community.[26]
Many other names may be mentioned. William H. Topp was one of the
leading merchant tailors of Albany, New York. Starting in the world
without aid he educated and qualified himself for business.[27] In
Penyan, Messrs. William Platt and Joseph C. Cassey were said to be
carrying on an extensive trade in lumber.[28]
Situated in the midst of a rapidly developing country the enterprises
of these free Negroes increased in importance every year. This was
especially true of the drug stores of Dr. James McCune Smith, on
Broadway, a Negro physician, who was practicing in New York City
during the thirties, and of the establishment of Dr. Philip White, on
Frankfort street. Many Negroes accumulated considerable wealth. Edward
Bidwell successfully operated during the period of 1827-40 two stores
on the main street of New York City, hoarding considerable money.
Austin Steward, still another instance of New York City, made
"handsome profits" from the sale of spirituous liquors. At one time he
said that no further exertion was necessary on his part to enjoy life,
or to better his economic condition. Finally, William Smith, a shrewd
sailor of New York, managed to accumulate considerable wealth.
The statistics of the census of 1850 give further evidences of this
general progress. Of the 50,000 free people of color in the State of
New York over 15 years of age in 1850, sixty were clerks, doctors and
lawyers and about 55 were merchants and teachers.[29] There were,
moreover:
2 apprentices 3 barkeepers 4 bakers
1 blacksmith 122 barbers 21 boarding house keepers
28 boatmen 33 butchers 8 cigar makers
12 carpenters 39 carmen 95 cooks
107 coachmen 2 confectioners 1 gunsmith
24 farmers 7 gardeners 3 merchants
2 hatters 11 ink makers 1144 laborers
3 jewelers 21 ministers 4 painters
24 musicians 434 mariners 2 mechanics
15 marketmen 4 printers 23 tailors
44 stewards 808 servants 23 shoemakers
12 sextons 8 teachers
207 engaged in other
occupations
Many Negroes used wisely the money which they obtained from these
businesses. Out of a free population of 50,000 Negroes, 5,447, or
about one in ten was in school during this period. In a pamphlet
entitled the _Present Condition of Free People of Color_ published by
James Freeman Clarke in 1859, the author stated that they were no less
neat in person and attire than their white neighbors.[30] One year
during the period from 1850 to 1860 Negroes of New York City invested
in business carried on by themselves $775,000; in businesses of
Brooklyn $76,000. That same year these free Negroes purchased real
estate in New York worth $733,000, and in Brooklyn $276,000.[31]
With complete freedom in New York, free Negroes made more efforts to
improve their condition. There were established several newspapers
which served not only to present their cause to the public but also as
economic factors. First of these must be mentioned a publication
called _Freedom's Journal_ or _The Rights of All_. This paper, edited
by James B. Russworm, the first Negro college graduate in the United
States, and Rev. Samuel F. Cornish, was established in March,
1827.[32] Another journal, styled _The Weekly Advocate_, changing its
name later to _The Colored American_, appeared in New York, March 4,
1837. The editor was Philip A. Bell. Later Charles Bennett Ray became
one of the proprietors and editors. Finally, mention must be made of
such journals of this period as _The Elevator_, of Albany, edited by
Stephen Myers; _The Genius of Freedom_, by David Ruggles; _People's
Press_, by Thomas Hamilton; and _North Star_, by Frederick Douglass.
Concerning the last named publication, it was generally said that it
was conducted on a higher plane than any of the others and that it was
among the first newspapers of the country.
ARNETT G. LINDSAY.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Census of New York before 1790:
_Year_ _Number_
1664 "very few"
1678 "very few"
1698 King's County, 293.
1703, 5 counties about N. Y. City 1,301.
1712, 5 counties about N. Y. City 1,775.
1723 6,171
1731 7,231
1746 9,717
1774 21,717
1790 21,324
1800 20,903
1810 15,017
1820 10,088
1830 75
1840 4
NEW YORK CITY SLAVES.
1703 801
1712 960
1731 1,571
1737 1,719
1746 2,444
Morgan, _Slavery in New York_, page 38.
[2] _New York Emancipation Law--African Repository_, Vol. 31, page
155.
[3] _Half a Man_, M. W. Ovington, page 69.
[4] _American Convention of Abolition Societies, 1797_, p. 39.
[5] _Ibid._, p. 31.
[6] _Ibid._, p. 39.
[7] _Ibid._, p. 30.
[8] _Ibid._, 1803, p. 7.
[9] _American Convention of Abolition Societies, 1805_, p. 38.
[10] _Ibid._, 1812, p. 7.
[11] _American Convention of Abolition Societies_, 1812, p. 14.
[12] Inspectors of the New York African Free Schools reported to _The
Commercial Advertiser_, May 12, 1824, that "we never beheld a white
school of the same age in which without exception there was more
order, neatness of dress, and cleanliness of person."
[13] _Ibid._
[14] _Journal of Negro History_, Vol. III, p. 354.
[15] Woodson, _Education of the Negro Prior to 1861_, p. 286.
[16] _Journal of Negro History_, Vol. III.
[17] _Hurd's Law of Freedom-Bondage_, p. 81.
[18] _African Repository_, September, 1846, p. 278.
[19] _Ibid._, 1851, p. 263.
[20] _Narrative of Sojourner Truth_, p. 99.
[21] _Ibid._, p. 99.
[22] Martin Delaney, _Condition of Colored People_, p. 139.
[23] _Ibid._, p. 102.
[24] _Ibid._, p. 106.
[25] Austin Steward, _Condition of Colored People_, p. 102.
[26] _Ibid._, p. 102.
[27] Austin Steward, _Condition of Colored People_, p. 102.
[28] _Ibid._, p. 132.
[29] _Seventh Census of the United States._
[30] J. F. Clarke, _Present Condition of People of Color_, p. 14.
[31] _Ibid._
[32] _Afro-American Press_, p. 27.
DOCUMENTS
THE APPEAL OF THE AMERICAN CONVENTION OF ABOLITION SOCIETIES
The student of the so-called Negro problem of today may find it
profitable to study the methods of persons thus concerned more than a
century ago. What their plans were, what machinery they constructed
for carrying them out, and the hopes they had for ultimate success,
will furnish much material for reflection for social workers. There is
published below, therefore, a number of the annual appeals of the
American Convention of Abolition Societies to the various branches,
setting forth the annual review of the work, the general survey of
results obtained and the ways and means to carry it forward to a
successful completion.
TO THE ANTISLAVERY GROUPS
_To the Society for
promoting the abolition of Slavery, Ec._
It is with peculiar pleasure we inform you, that the Convention
of Delegates, from most of the Abolition Societies formed in the
United States, met in this city, have, with much unanimity, gone
through the business which came before them. The advantages to be
derived from this meeting are so evident, that we have agreed
earnestly to recommend to you, that a similar meeting be annually
convened, until the great object of our association--the liberty
of our fellowmen--shall be fully and equivocally established.
To obtain this important end, we conceive that it is proper,
constantly to have in view the necessity of using our utmost and
unremitting endeavors to abolish slavery, and to protect and
meliorate the condition of the enslaved, and of the emancipated.
The irresistible, though silent progress of the principles of
true philosophy, will do much for us; but, placed in a situation
well adapted to promote these principles, it surely becomes us to
improve every occasion of forwarding the great designs of our
institutions. For this purpose, we think it proper to request you
to unite with us, in the most strenuous exertions, to effect a
compliance with the laws in favour of emancipation; and, where
these laws are deficient, respectful applications to the
State-Legislatures should not be discontinued, however
unsuccessful they may prove.--Let us remember, for our
consolation and encouragement in these cases, that, although
interest and prejudice may oppose, yet the fundamental principles
of our government, as well as the progressive and rapid influence
of reason and religion, are in our favour--and let us never be
discouraged by a fear of the event, from performing any task of
duty, when clearly pointed out; for it is an undoubted
truth--that no good effort can ever be entirely lost.
While contemplating the great principles of our associations, we
cannot refrain from recommending to your attention the propriety
of using your endeavours to form, as circumstances may require,
Abolition Societies in your own, and in the neighboring States;
as, for want of the concurrence of others, the good intentions
and efforts of many an honest and zealous individual are often
defeated.
But, while we wish to draw your attention to these objects, there
is another which we cannot pass over. We are all too much
accustomed to the reproaches of the enemies of our cause, on the
subject of the ignorance and crimes of the Blacks, not to wish
that they were ill-founded. And though, to us, it is sufficiently
apparent that this ignorance, and these crimes, are owing to the
degrading state of slavery; yet, may we not, with confidence,
attempt to do away the reproach?--Let us use our endeavours to
have the children of the emancipated, and even of the enslaved
Africans, instructed in common literature--in the principles of
virtue and religion, and in those mechanic arts which will keep
them most constantly employed, and, of course, will less subject
them to idleness and debauchery; and thus prepare them for
becoming good citizens of the United States: a privilege and
elevation to which we look forward with pleasure, and which we
believe can be best merited by habits of industry and virtue.
We shall transmit you an exact copy of our proceedings, with the
different memorials and addresses which to us have appeared
necessary at this time; and would recommend to you the propriety
of giving full powers to the Delegates who are to meet in the
year 1795; believing that the business of that Convention will be
rendered more easy and more extensively useful, if you send, by
your Representatives, certified copies of the constitution and
laws of your _Society_, and of all the laws existing in your
state concerning slavery, with such facts relative to this
business, as may ascertain the respective situation of slavery,
and of the Blacks in general.
_To the Society for
promoting the abolition of slavery, &c._
The Delegates, from the several Abolition Societies in the United
States, convened in this city, express to you, with great
satisfaction, the pleasure they have experienced from the
punctual attendance of the persons, delegated to this Convention,
and that harmony with which they have deliberated on the several
matters that have been presented to them, at this time, for their
consideration. The benefits which may flow from a continuance of
this general meeting, by aiding the principal design of its
institution--the universal emancipation of the wretched Africans
who are yet in bondage, appear to us so many and important, that
we are induced to recommend to you, to send Delegates to a
similar Convention, which we propose to be holden, in this city,
on the first day of January, in the year one thousand, seven
hundred and ninety-six.
We have thought it proper to request your further attention to
that part of the address of the former Convention, which relates
to the procurement of certified copies of the laws of your state
respecting slavery; and that you would send, to the next
Convention, exact copies of all such laws as are now in force,
and of such as have been repealed. Convinced that an historical
review of the various acts and provisions of the Legislatures of
the several states, relating to slavery, from the periods of
their respective settlements to the present time, by tracing the
progress of the system to African slavery in this country, and
its successive change in the different governments of the Union,
would throw much light on the objects of our enquiry and
attention, and enable us to determine, how far the cause of
justice and humanity has advanced among us, and how soon we may
reasonably expect to see it triumphant;--we recommend to you, to
take such measures as you may think conducive to that purpose,
for procuring materials for the work now proposed, and assisting
its publication; and to communicate, to the ensuing Convention,
what progress you shall have made toward perfecting the plan here
offered for your consideration and care.
Believing that an acquaintance with the names of the officers of
the several Abolition Societies, would facilitate that friendly
correspondence which ought always to be preserved between our
various associations, we request that you would send, to the
next, and to every future Convention, an accurate list of all the
officers of your Society, for the time being, with the number of
members of which it consists. And it would assist that Convention
in ascertaining the existing state of slavery in the United
States, if you were to forward to them an exact account of the
persons who have been liberated by the agency of your Society,
and of those who may be considered as signal instances of the
relief that you have afforded; and, also, a statement of the
number of free blacks in your state, their property, employments,
and moral conduct.
As a knowledge of what has been done, and of that success which
has attended the efforts of humanity, will cherish the hope of
benevolence, and stimulate to further exertion, we trust that you
will be of opinion with us, that it would be highly useful to
procure correct reports of all such trials, and decisions of
courts of judicature, respecting slavery, a knowledge of which
may be subservient to the cause of abolition, and to transmit
them to the next, or to any future Convention.
It cannot have escaped your observation, how many persons there
are who continue the hateful practice of enslaving their fellow
men, and who acquiesce in the sophistry of the advocates of that
practice, merely from want of reflection, and from an habitual
attention to their own immediate interest. If to such were often
applied the force of reason, and the persuasion of eloquence,
they might be awakened to a sense of their injustice, and be
startled with horror at the enormity of their conduct. To produce
so desirable a change in sentiment, as well as practice, we
recommend to you the instituting of annual, or other periodical,
discourses, or orations, to be delivered in public, on the
subject of slavery, and means of its abolition.
We cannot forbear expressing to you our earnest desire, that you
will continue, without ceasing, to endeavour, by every method in
your power which can promise any success, to procure, either an
absolute repeal of all the laws in your state, which countenance
slavery, or such an amelioration of them as will gradually
produce an entire abolition. Yet, even should that greater end
be happily attained, it cannot put a period to the necessity of
further labor. The education of the emancipated, the noblest and
most arduous task which we have to perform, will require all our
wisdom and virtue, and the constant exercise of the greatest
skill and discretion. When we have broken his chains, and
restored the African to the enjoyment of his rights, the great
work of justice and benevolence is not accomplished--The new born
citizen must receive that instruction, and those powerful
impressions of moral and religious truth, which will render him
capable and desirous of fulfilling the various duties he owes to
himself and to his country. By educating some in the higher
branches of science, and all in the useful parts of learning, and
in the precepts of religion and morality, we shall not only do
away with the reproach and calumny so unjustly lavished upon us,
but confound the enemies of truth, by evincing that the unhappy
sons of Africa, in spite of the degrading influence of slavery,
are in no wise inferior to the more fortunate inhabitants of
Europe and America.
As a mean of effectuating, in some degree, a design so virtuous
and laudable, we recommend to you to appoint a committee,
annually, or for any other more convenient period, to execute
such plans, for the improvement of the condition and moral
character of the free blacks in your state, as you may think best
adapted to your particular situation.
By a decree of the National Convention of France, all the blacks
and people of color, within the territories of the French
republic, are declared free, and entitled to an equal
participation of the rights of citizens of France. We have been
informed that many persons, of the above description,
notwithstanding the decree in their favor, have been brought from
the West-India islands, by emigrants, into the United States, and
are now held as slaves,--We suggest to you the propriety, as well
as the necessity, of making enquiry into the subject, and of
effecting their liberation, so far as may be found consistent
with the laws of your state.[2]
_To the Society for promoting
the Abolition of Slavery, &c._
The Delegates from the several Abolition Societies in the United
States inform you, that, agreeably to the recommendation of the
Convention of last year, they met in this city on the first
instant, and have, with much harmony and satisfaction, gone
through the business which came before them. They have the
pleasure to assure you, that every successive meeting evinces the
importance of that union and concert which are so happily
established among the several Societies, in pursuing the great
object of their association.
But, although the exertions of this delegated Body have been
hitherto attended, as we hope, with considerable
success--Although we are persuaded that no small progress may be
marked in the great business of emancipation; yet much remains to
be done; as long as _seven hundred thousand_ of our Fellow
Creatures, in the United States, continue in a state of bondage,
there appears a pressing necessity for the continuance of our
efforts; that we should keep our attention fixed upon the
subject, and stand ready to improve every favorable opportunity
that may occur, to forward the interesting cause in which we are
engaged. We are therefore induced to continue the recommendation
heretofore made, that a similar meeting be annually held; and as
convening at the present season is attended with inconveniences,
we propose, that the next Convention, should assemble in this
city, on the first Wednesday of May, in the year 1797.
It gives us pleasure to learn, from various reports which were
laid before us, that most of the recommendations made by the
former Conventions, had received a considerable degree of
attention, from the several societies to whom they were
addressed. But, as they have not been uniformly and perfectly
complied with, permit us to repeat the request, _so far as the
same may be applicable to your society_, that you transmit to the
next Convention, certified copies of all such laws, in any wise
respecting slavery, as are now in force, as have been repealed,
or may hereafter be enacted--Correct lists of the officers of
your society, for the time being, and also the names of all your
members, and their places of abode--An account of the proceedings
of your society, in relieving Africans and others unlawfully held
in bondage--A statement of the condition of the blacks, both bond
and free, in your state, with respect to the property of the
free, and the employment and moral conduct of all--Reports of
such trials and decisions of the Courts of Judicature, relative
to Africans, as may have taken place--An account of the endeavors
which have been used to obtain a repeal or amelioration of the
laws respecting slavery--information concerning what has been
done, in pursuance of the recommendation of the last Convention,
to establish periodical discourses on the subject of slavery, and
the means of its abolition--And finally, a report of the progress
you have made in extending to Africans the benefits of education.
And we further request, that whatever communications may be made
to the next, or to any future Convention, in consequence of the
above recommendations, be presented in the form of regular
written reports, noticing in what manner and degree you have
carried them into effect, and how far your efforts have been
ineffectual. By this means there will be exhibited such a view of
the state of each Society, as that the several reports may be
entered on the minutes of the Convention, who will thereby be
better enabled to decide on the propriety of making public such
parts of these communications as may be best adapted to advance
the cause of truth and humanity.
And as very important advantages have, in several instances,
resulted from accurate registers being kept, by persons appointed
for that purpose by certain of the Abolition Societies in the
United States, of such manumissions as have taken place; we do
earnestly recommend, should you not already have entered into
this regulation, that you make it hereafter an object of diligent
attention. Such records may, in various ways, subserve the cause
of emancipation.
We learn, that the proposal made by the last Convention,
respecting the blacks, and people of color, who have emigrated
from the West Indies, and now reside in the United States, has,
in many instances, given rise to difficulty; in order to remove
which, we have been induced to transmit to you the following
extract from the twelfth article of the Consular Convention
between France and the United States; which by designating the
proper tribunals to whom application, in such cases, is to be
made, will, we trust, be found sufficient, in future, to direct
your proceedings in this business, _viz._
"That all differences and suits between French citizens in
the United States, and between American citizens in the
dominions of France, shall be determined by the respective
Consuls and Vice Consuls either by a reference to
arbitrators, or by a summary judgment, and without costs;
and that no officer of the country, civil or military, shall
interfere therein, or take any part whatever in the matter."
When we contemplate the odious nature and the immense magnitude
of the evil which you have associated to oppose, and the
inestimable importance of the objects which you are seeking to
obtain, we cannot forbear to urge unremitted exertions, in
pursuing the great ends before you. We are persuaded you will not
neglect any just means in your power, which may tend to advance,
either directly, or indirectly, the cause of equal liberty;--And
it gives us pleasure also to express our persuasion, that, in
this pursuit, much is still in your power. Although you cannot
control Legislatures; and though, when you plead the cause of
humanity, they will not, at all times, listen to you; yet there
are other means to be used, perhaps, more effectual--You can do
much, by directing your efforts to the conviction of
individuals--by diffusing proper publications amongst them, and
by presenting the evils of slavery in various forms to their
minds.[3]
_The following was inserted in the Address to the Pennsylvania
Abolition Society_.
And as precise information, on this subject, cannot be too
generally diffused, we request you to collect all possible
intelligence relative to such blacks and people of color in the
United States as are made Citizens of the French Republic, by the
decree of the National Convention, of the sixteenth Pluviose,
second year of the republic, and transmit the same to all the
other Abolition Societies in the United States.
Nor can we suppose, it would be an effort altogether ineffectual
in favor of liberty, were its friends, throughout the United
States, in all cases where it is practicable, to display a marked
preference of such commodities, as are of the culture or
manufacture of freemen, to those which are cultivated or
manufactured by slaves--In this way, every individual may
discountenance oppression, and bear testimony against a practice,
which is still suffered to remain the disgrace of our land.
We have thought proper to address the free Africans and other
free people of color in the United States, on various subjects,
which we believe nearly to concern their interest and happiness.
We have directed copies of this address to be transmitted to you
and request you to distribute the same, in your State, in such
manner as you may judge best calculated to promote its design.
We cannot conclude, without calling your attention, in a
particular manner, to the necessity of appointing such of your
members to represent you in the Convention, as will be punctually
attentive to the duties of their appointment. We are sorry to
observe, that there is some ground of complaint, on this subject;
but we trust, that, in future, such a full representation will
appear, as will give encreasing encouragement, energy and success
to our united endeavors in the great cause of human happiness.
Copies of our proceedings will be laid before you; from which we
hope, you will derive satisfaction, and perceive the importance
of the several objects which we have recommended to your
attention.[4]
_To the Society for promoting the
Abolition of Slavery_.
To inform you of our proceedings; to solicit your further advice
and assistance; and to request your special attention to the
original object of our meetings, we now address you.
We have, as formerly, gone through our business with harmony and
satisfaction; the peculiar objects, thereof will appear from our
minutes, herewith transmitted; and we can truly add, that the
important advantages evidently arising from such a collection of
information and exchange of sentiment are too obvious, not to
unite us in the recommendation, that a similar Convention of
delegates from the different abolition societies, be held in this
city on the first day of June, 1798.
The non-compliance of several societies with this proposal for
some years past, induces us to believe that some obstacles may
exist, which possibly might be removed; we therefore request,
that where it is not agreed to send delegates, such societies
would favor the Convention, in writing, with their determination
and the causes of it. This better enables the Convention to judge
of the most proper mode of proceeding in future.
A table, containing the requisitions of this and the former
Conventions, and how far they have hitherto been complied with by
each society, will shew the propriety and necessity of fulfilling
these requisitions; which, after being thus pointed out need not
now be further insisted on.
When we consider the extensive influence of education on society,
we think a due attention to the instruction of the blacks and
people of color of every description cannot be too forcibly
impressed. This will apply not merely to what is called school
learning, but essentially consists in inculcating the sound
principles of morality and religion as well as habits of
temperance and industry. From a continued regard to the welfare
of this much injured and much oppressed people, we have again
addressed them on such points as we judged would be most
beneficial; but it will in a great degree rest with you to
circulate and enforce the advice recommended: and we may add,
that, as the evils which must necessarily result from their being
retained in a state of ignorance are incalculable, so it is, in
our opinion, the greatest and perhaps the only important service
we can render to them and to our country, to disseminate learning
and morality amongst them, thus raising them gradually and safely
to that level, to which they must, in the course of time,
inevitably attain.
The different Conventions have from year to year, endeavoured to
procure from the Abolition Societies, every kind of information
which may illustrate the history of slavery in the United States;
we now repeat their request, with a view to the formation of a
history of this important subject.
From the general accounts received, as well as from our own
observations we are induced strongly to recommend, that where
several Abolition Societies exist in one state, they would, if
possible, form a general plan of union or confederation, so as,
on all important occasions, to act in concert.
You are already well informed of the act of Congress of March
twenty-second, 1794, prohibiting the citizens of the United
States from supplying foreign nations with slaves; you will also
most probably have heard that this wise and humane law has been
too frequently violated by our citizens; in consequence of which
the Abolition Societies of Pennsylvania, New-York and Providence,
have severally commenced prosecutions against divers persons and
vessels, engaged in this abominable traffic; the first named
society has been successful in the two prosecutions they
undertook in the District Court of Pennsylvania and of the United
States of America. The vessels have been condemned, and actions
are pending against the masters and owners in the Circuit Court
of the United States in and for the Pennsylvania district of the
middle circuit. There is good ground to believe that the other
societies will meet with equal success.
Besides the information mutually given by the societies to each
other as occasions may require, to assist them in checking such
clandestine practices, we believe it would be highly useful to
forward every particular that comes to your knowledge on this
subject, to the next Convention, who may make a very important
use of it.
The difficulties which have continually occurred respecting the
blacks and people of color, who have for several years past
emigrated from the French West-Indies into the United States,
have engaged the attention of this and the preceding Conventions.
To remove these difficulties, we transmit you a certified copy of
an authenticated decree of the National Convention of France, of
the sixteenth Pluviose, second year of the Republic; (February
fifth, 1794,) which has been lately received by the Pennsylvania
Abolition Society. With this decree, since fully confirmed by the
French constitution of 1795, we believe you will have it in your
power to afford every legal and effectual assistance to these
unfortunate people.
There yet remains a subject which, though often urged, still
continues to demand our serious attention; we allude to the most
proper means of extending the principles of just and equal
liberty amongst mankind: and as we profess to assume no other
powers than those of persuasion and convincement, founded on the
unerring basis of truth and justice, we wish you duly to advert
to the magnitude of the cause in which we are engaged, to
persevere with patience and fortitude in your applications to
legislative bodies and courts of justice, for the relief of our
unfortunate African brethren, and to continue to enlighten the
public mind, by spreading as much as possible, all kind of useful
information on the subject: that thus we may, in every form, and
on every occasion, be ready to plead the cause of the oppressed,
in the language of persuasion and of truth. And then we shall
have done our duty; and then we may, in humble confidence, look
up for the blessing and protection of the great Father of all,
_whose ways are just and equal, and who hath made of one blood
all nations of men_.[5]
_To the Society for promoting the
Abolition of Slavery, &c._
THE Convention of delegates from the Abolition Societies
established in different parts of the United States, assembled
at Philadelphia, congratulate their constituents on the general
progress of their objects since last meeting, and on the union of
sentiment, and harmony of deliberation, which has prevailed in
all their proceedings.
The assembling in Convention, at proper intervals, has produced
so many advantages in combining the views and operations of the
friends of emancipation throughout the United States, that we are
persuaded you will unite with us in opinion, that it is expedient
that another Convention of delegates from the several Abolition
Societies, be held in this city on the first Wednesday of June,
in the year one thousand eight hundred.
The alteration in the period of meeting we have adopted under a
consideration of the peculiar situation of our country, and the
state of the objects which have hitherto occupied our attention;
but, we earnestly request, that a general representation, and a
punctual attendance, may take place at the time recommended.
Although, from the reports of such of the Societies as have sent
delegates to this Convention, we have observed, with
encouragement and pleasure, the perseverance that is used, and
the progress that is made, in the great work for which we have
associated; yet, we cannot help noticing, with regret, the
absence of many of our members, and the total omission of several
of the Societies to appoint Representatives, or to comply with
the request of the last Convention, that, where it was not agreed
to send delegates, such determination and the cause of it might
be reported to the Convention in writing. To those societies,
therefore, which have failed in this respect, we are induced
earnestly to repeat the request, and to urge their particular
attention thereto.
By some of the Societies the general requisitions of former
Conventions, have not yet been answered or complied with, and by
others only in part. An accurate table of these requisitions, and
the manner in which each Society had complied with them, was made
out by the last Convention and forwarded to the different
Abolition Societies. By a reference thereto, and to the report of
the committee of this Convention, to whom the several
communications were referred, which is included in the copy of
our proceedings herewith transmitted to you, you will observe
what yet remains to be done; and we hope you will be able to make
complete returns to the succeeding Convention, together with such
other information as may appear to you to be useful towards the
important purpose of forming a history of the progress and state
of slavery in the United States.
Too much cannot be said on the necessity of a constant attention
to the subject of education. To prepare the minds of our
unfortunate African brethren for that condition of freedom and
rank in society to which they must, sooner or later, arrive--to
disseminate among them useful instruction on moral and religious
subjects, and to use our utmost endeavours to have schools
established, for the purpose of teaching them to read and write,
ought, we conceive, to be the primary object of all the Abolition
Societies. We also think it of importance, at this particular
period, to impress upon the minds of those who are in bondage,
the propriety of a quiet submission to the injunctions of their
masters, assuring them that by such conduct they will be likely
to experience not only the advantages of better treatment in
their present situation, but also cause, perhaps, even their
possessors to perceive the injustice that is attached to the
principles of slavery.
Firmly persuaded that considerable benefit has already resulted
from inculcating friendly advice to this oppressed people, and
believing that the sentiments contained in the addresses of the
former Conventions to the free blacks and other people of color
in the United States cannot be too frequently repeated and
enforced, we recommend to the consideration of the Societies, the
propriety of a republication of those addresses by each society,
and such communication and distribution thereof as may be best
calculated to promote a beneficial effect.
The Convention having been informed, that vessels are fitted out
with cargoes for certain of the West Indian Islands, parts of
which cargoes are their disposed of, and, with the proceeds,
slaves are purchased and carried to other of the said Islands,
and sold; also that other vessels are loaded with rum, for
certain ports in Africa, with the proceeds of which, we have
reason to believe, the natives are purchased and afterwards
conveyed and sold as slaves in the West Indies. We recommend a
strict enquiry to be made into the conduct of persons thus
offending against the dictates of humanity and the honor and
interest of our country, that proper measures, to punish and
prevent such nefarious and disgraceful practices, may be adopted.
We have thought it expedient to confine our attention at present,
principally to carrying into effect the measures heretofore
advised. Let us, however, whilst prudent and cautious, continue
to be firm and sincere. Let us embrace every opportunity which
may offer for ameliorating the condition of slaves so far as the
laws, under which we severally act, will permit us to proceed.
Let us do nothing which may justly draw forth the censure of our
country, but act, in all things, with that moderation and
propriety which have heretofore distinguished the Abolition
Societies.
We confidently trust, that when the storms, by which the world is
at present agitated, shall have subsided, the light of truth will
break through the dark gloom of oppression--cruelty and injustice
will not only hear, but obey, the voice of reason and religion;
and in these United States the practice of the people will be
conformable to their declaration--"That all men are born equally
free, and have an unalienable right to Liberty."[6]
_To Society, &c._
The Convention of delegates, from the different Abolition
Societies established in the United States, feel a pleasure in
informing you, that their deliberations have been conducted with
much harmony and satisfaction to themselves.
They, however, deeply regret, that so few of the Societies have
been induced to send Representatives to the Convention.
The great and good work of restoring liberty to the captive, and
fitting him to fill that station in the scale of being, from
which he has been forced by the domineering spirit of power and
usurpation, may be considered as little more than begun. How many
thousands of miserable wretches yet languish in slavery, in these
United States, to whom the light of morn, which should awaken all
nature alike to harmony and joy, affords, perhaps, no other
consolation save the solitary certainty, that one day more is
taken from the long period of their sufferings--This is not
all--In vain do you liberate the Africans, while you neglect to
furnish him with the means of properly providing for himself, and
of becoming an useful member of the community. This subject alone
opens an extensive field for active benevolence, and justly
demands the exercise of a large portion of the talents and
labours of the friends of emancipation.
To effect these desirable objects, so importunately called for by
every sentiment of a feeling heart, union and concentration of
energy appear to be indispensible. The societies should never be
found in the pursuit of incongruous measures, but act in concert;
and this cannot, perhaps be better accomplished than by a free
and liberal interchange of information, whence useful knowledge
should diverge to each society, communicating life, energy, and
consistency to the whole.
The advantages resulting from this institution may be known by
past experience; but as an additional instance of the good
effects flowing from it, we refer you to the addresses forwarded
this year to the Convention, and printed in the minutes; in which
you will perceive, and especially in the one from New York, much
valuable matter. That society mentions a species of kidnapping,
which to the disgrace of humanity, has been carried on in that
city in a manner at once evincing the barefaced hardiness of its
perpetrators, and the wicked and cunning arts practiced, by the
enemies of freedom, on an oppressed people. There is good reason
to believe, that similar practices are secretly pursued in other
parts of the Union. We therefore earnestly press your vigilant
attention to the subject, in order that if any other persons
should be engaged in this nefarious traffic, they may be made to
suffer that exposure and punishment which the enormity of the
crime so richly merits.
Fully impressed with the magnitude of the object, and the
benefits to be derived from it, we cannot forbear strongly to
recommend, that another Convention be held in this city on the
first Wednesday in June, in the year 1801. And, in order to
insure permanency, and its consequent advantages to this
establishment, we submit to your consideration, the expediency of
delegating to your Representatives, the power of aiding in the
formation of a Constitution, for the government of future
Conventions.
The case mentioned by the Virginia society, held at Richmond,
from which it seems evident that a small sum of money, beyond
what their funds are calculated to bear, might restore a
considerable number of persons to liberty, who were unlawfully
taken from their state into Georgia, and there sold as slaves,
has called forth the sympathy of this Convention; and forcibly
suggests the propriety of enabling the next Convention, by the
voluntary contributions of the different societies, to grant some
pecuniary aid to similar and other proper objects. Much good
might be done in this way; and perhaps some societies, who are
capable, may be found willing promptly to bestow a portion of
their funds to the Virginia society, to enable them more
effectually to prosecute this particular claim, it is also to be
presumed, that some of the Societies, especially in the eastern
states, where slavery no longer exists, might render their
benevolent exertions more extensively useful, by suitable and
timely grants to others, who are less wealthy, and have much to
do.
You have embarked in an excellent cause--go on and
prosper,--until liberty, like the light of Heaven, or the air we
breathe, shall, however, men may be diversified by color, shape
of habit, become the equal inheritance of all.[7]
_To the Society for promoting
the Abolition of Slavery_.
THE seventh Convention of Delegates from the several Abolition
Societies in the United States, now address you on the subject of
their appointment. The concord and reciprocity of sentiment which
have attended our proceedings will, we trust, have a happy
influence on the cause in which we are engaged, and aid in
advancing the great interests of humanity and freedom.
The work which we have undertaken is not a light and trivial
nature. It is, on the contrary, one of the utmost magnitude and
importance. To remove the foul blot which now stains our country,
to break the chains with which so many of our degraded fellow
creatures are fettered, and to qualify them for the station for
which a beneficent Creator designed them, are labours requiring
the vigorous endeavours of every friend to mankind throughout the
world. We, therefore, earnestly entreat that the cause may not be
suffered to slumber in your hands, but that every favorable
opportunity may be _eagerly_ embraced of promoting the work of
gradual emancipation.
The subject of the education of the blacks has claimed a share of
our consideration. It is an object of so much interest that we
cannot too often bring it to view. To adopt the language of the
Convention of 1795, "when we have restored the African to the
enjoyment of his rights, the great Work of justice and
benevolence is not accomplished--The new born citizen must
receive that instruction and those powerful impressions of moral
and religious truth which will render him capable and desirous of
fulfilling the various duties he owes to himself and to his
country." On this point we particularly refer you to the
sentiments so forcibly expressed in the addresses of preceding
conventions, and we strenuously urge a strict compliance with the
recommendations therein contained.
The great increase of the practice of kidnapping in defiance of
every principle of moral and legal obligation, induces us
pressingly to recommend the most earnest endeavours to root out
the enormous evil. In this instance there will be less to combat
than on the general principle; the slave holders themselves being
interested in preventing this addition to the many calamities
inflicted on the unfortunate blacks.
With feelings of sorrow and regret, we learn that the horrid
trade to Africa for slaves is still continued by many of our
fellow citizens. The hearts of those who can contemplate this
subject without emotion must indeed be destitute of every
sentiment of tenderness. It seems scarcely possible that men
accustomed to the enjoyment of liberty, and partaking of the
blessings of a free government should so far disregard the rights
of humanity as to engage in so diabolical a commerce. The fact
however, incredible as it may seem, certainly exists and to a
very alarming extent, particularly in the eastern states; we wish
to arouse your zeal on the occasion and to incite your diligence
and activity in carrying into rigorous execution the laws of the
states and of the general government against such atrocious
offenders.
The several Societies having expressed themselves favorable to
the adoption of a constitution for the government of future
conventions, we have made it a subject of our deliberations and
being of opinion that the measure would be attended with
considerable advantages we have agreed on a plan which we shall
forward to you. The provisions of this instrument you will
observe are of as general a nature as its objects would admit,
and we hope it will prove acceptable to our constituents. If its
present form should be approved you will be aware of the
necessity of its speedy ratification. From the difficulty of
framing a work of this kind, and accommodating it to the wishes
and sentiments of every individual, it is hoped that verbal
criticisms and alterations of an unimportant nature will be
avoided; this point however, we submit to your prudent
consideration and decision. Should you think proper to adopt it
we request your aid in establishing the contemplated fund.
As numerous misrepresentations of the views of our institutions
have gone abroad, and as the unhappy attempt at insurrection on
the part of some of the blacks in the southern states, has been
called in aid of these misrepresentations by the enemies of
liberty, and lessened the activity of some of its friends, we
have judged it prudent to publish an address to our fellow
citizens, copies whereof will be transmitted to you; you will
observe from a perusal of its contents that its object is also to
bear our testimony, and produce individual exertion against the
abominable practice of kidnapping and the cruel trade to Africa,
which, as before observed, still disgrace our country. We
anticipate the satisfaction of your approval of this measure, and
invite your assistance by every means in your power, in giving it
general circulation.
We have had our attention drawn to a subject, believed by our
predecessors to be of considerable importance to the work of
emancipation; the project of forming a history of slavery in the
United States. With a view of forwarding this design, we have
appointed a committee to examine and arrange the various papers
and documents heretofore received by the several Conventions; to
prepare an analysis of their contents, and to report the same
with such other information as they may be enabled to obtain, to
the ensuing Convention. We request you to examine the minutes and
addresses heretofore transmitted, for the purpose of ascertaining
how far the requisitions of former Conventions have been complied
with on your part, and if my information connected with the
object in view remains to be afforded, a benefit will arise from
its speedy communication to the committee, and if individuals
friendly to the cause, be possessed of any important documents
relating to this subject, the committee will no doubt make a
proper use of any information with which they may be favored.[8]
_To the . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Society for Promoting the
Abolition of Slavery._
It is with lively satisfaction that the eighth Convention of
Delegates from different Abolition Societies in the United
States, embrace the opportunity of addressing you on the
interesting cause, which thus continues to claim our persevering
attention, the ultimate success whereof, will, we confidently
hope, yield an ample reward for all our labours.
Various and important, in our opinion, are the benefits resulting
from thus meeting in annual Conventions. For though we are not
invested with legislative influence, yet the opportunity, by this
means afforded, for a free interchange of sentiments and
communion of feelings, gives energy to action and animation to
those who, from multiplied difficulties, are almost ready to
relinquish the pursuit.
We have with the united consent of our constituents, fully
ratified the Constitution which was presented for your
consideration, and have appointed officers for the ensuing year.
This organization of the body, will, we earnestly hope, induce
your renewed attention to the nomination of Delegates to the next
Convention, and we urge the necessity of your deputing those,
whom you have reason to believe, may be willing to devote an
adequate portion of their time and attention to a compliance with
the objects of their appointment; we request also in an especial
manner that you will not fail, regularly to forward written
communications from your societies.
Several societies have instructed their representatives to pay
certain sums towards the formation of a general fund, from which,
if it continues to accumulate, as we hope, it will, much good may
be expected to our common cause, particularly in furnishing aid
to those societies who are deficient in pecuniary resources.
In the promotion of the laudable purposes to which this fund may
be thus applied, we trust our friends in several of the Eastern
States, whose domestic exertions have become almost unnecessary
by the disappearance of slavery from amongst them, will feel a
lively interest;--we, therefore, earnestly solicit their peculiar
attention to the subject, persuaded they will feel, in a
consciousness of having done well, and in a view of the useful
result of their beneficence, an ample reward. We are aware of the
varied difficulty and opposition that attend the interference of
some societies in this benevolent undertaking. But we sincerely
hope they may not be overcome by any discouragements, and we
request that they may continue to meet at regular periods, to
preserve the form of their association, embracing every
opportunity that may occur for useful exertions.
As the general establishment of a legislative plan, for the
gradual abolition of slavery throughout the United States, is a
desideratum highly interesting to humanity, we cannot but press
all those societies which exist in states, where no such legal
provisions are in force, to make every proper exertion, in
promoting the enaction of a law to this effect.
Much has been said by former Conventions on the subject of
schools, and the vast importance of cultivating the minds and the
morals of the blacks; no doubt difficulties of various kinds
arise in many places to the attainment of this essential point,
yet the happy effects abundantly conspicuous in divers
neighbourhoods, on a persevering attention to this object,
furnish great encouragement to unrelaxed exertion, and we
sincerely hope that you may not diminish in zeal, for the
promotion of this benevolent, this consistent work. We learn with
particular pleasure, that the state of Schools for the African
race, is, in several places, flourishing and progressive; and
that in others, much good has been done therein, by the laudable
and disinterested demand the acknowledgment of our unfeigned
approbation.
We perceive, with emotions of horror and regret, that the
diabolical practice of kidnapping, notwithstanding the vigilance
of societies and recommendations of former Conventions, prevails
in many places to a lamentable extent. We are also informed that
a new species of this wicked outrage on the feelings of humanity
is pursued by the perpetrators taking advantage of the provisions
of the fugitive act to lay unfounded claims on the blacks and
thus, under colour of the law, to drag them into slavery. We
recommend you to urge every suitable means to procure such
modifications of your laws as they may need to fit them for
holding out efficient and prompt restraints against those wicked
proceedings, and for bringing the offenders to exemplary
punishment.
We are informed by the reports from New-Jersey, that a new
society has been established at Trenton, forming a constituent
branch of the general society of that state. This has afforded us
peculiar satisfaction; it promises to be materially useful to the
cause, and we recommend the example as worthy of your special
notice, and so far as you deem it practicable of your example.
In one of the societies from which we have had communications, a
standing committee has been appointed, who are charged with the
selection and publication of such extracts, essays and fugitive
pieces relative to slavery, as they apprehend may give currency
to the subject and revive in the minds of our fellow citizens,
from time to time a few reflections on the condition of those who
still wear the galling chains, deprived of one of the dearest
privileges of our nature. We highly approve of this mode of
circulating a knowledge of the subject, and recommend it to the
imitation of all, who are not in a similar practice.
The committee appointed by the last Constitution to arrange the
papers and documents relative to the formation of a history of
slavery in the United States, and to produce an analysis of their
contents, produced a report, from which we have judged it right
to nominate three of our members in Philadelphia to engage some
suitable literary character to undertake the work, and to have it
published under the care, and superintendence of the committee;
should you be in possession of any documents or other important
information on the subject, we request you will forward them free
of expense and with all convenient dispatch to the said
committee, in order that they may be used as circumstances may
render necessary.
The circuitous trade to Africa we have reason to believe, still
continues to be carried on, particularly from many ports in the
Eastern States, and although several of the attempts which have
been made to punish infractions of the laws of the United States
on this subject, have not resulted in the wished for event,
nevertheless, we invite your vigilant and persevering opposition
to this disgraceful traffic, and attention to the discovery and
prosecution of the offenders, and we are willing to hope that
though a partial perversion of the public sentiment, and the
cupidity of interested individuals, may for a time, present
considerable discouragement, yet that the virtuous exertions of
the friends of the human race, will at last be blessed with the
merited success.
To conclude, fellow labourers, we believe the magnitude of the
work in which we are engaged is by no means lessened, and that
the alarming and direful consequences attendant in various
quarters, on this unchristian and inhuman usurpation of power,
call for our united vigilance, and redoubled exertions, in
contributing our share towards the eradication of this evil so
portentous to our land.[9]
_To the . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Society for Promoting the
Abolition of Slavery._
We have received, with cordial satisfaction, the addresses to
this Convention from the societies in New-York, New-Jersey,
Pennsylvania, and Delaware.
This interchange of opinion and information, between the
Convention and its constituents, is as the vital current of the
body, flowing from part to part, and communicating genial warmth,
and health, and vigour, to every portion of the system.
Our satisfaction would have been much increased, could we have
acknowledged the receipt of communications and delegations from
several societies which were represented in former Conventions,
but from whom we have now to direct intelligence; and had some of
the addresses which have now no direct intelligence contained
more detailed information.
Impressed with a sense of the interesting nature of the subject,
we cannot but call your renewed attention to the education of the
blacks. The schools are represented as being, in some parts, in a
flourishing condition; while in others it is to be feared, little
or nothing has been done towards their establishment and support.
We recommend to such societies as have it not in their power,
from the scantiness of their funds and other circumstances, to
employ regular tutors, to form associations of their members, or
other well disposed individuals, to instruct the people of colour
in the most simple and useful branches of education; especially
on the first day of the week--a day too often devoted to
dissipation. It is also of importance that their religious and
moral education should keep pace with their knowledge of letters,
or much permanent good will not be accomplished. They should be
taught to fear and venerate the Deity; to respect the laws of the
country, and in all things to act as becomes men escaped from
bondage, and on whose good conduct must, in some measure, depend
the liberation of their brethren, and the kind of treatment of
such as remain in slavery. We believe it would be profitable
occasionally to convene them, in order to afford suitable
opportunities to impress their minds with these truths.
As much good may be expected to result from the establishment of
a fund, to be at the disposal of the Convention, we hope the
laudable example set by some of the societies, in their donations
for that purpose, will be followed by wealthy individuals, and by
other societies who are in a capacity to afford it.
A person of established literary reputation has been engaged to
write a history of the rise, progress, and present state of
slavery in the United States; and some advancement has been made
in the work--As a great variety of information on this subject
will be necessary, to enable the author to compose a correct and
ample history, you are requested to collect and forward, without
delay all such essays and facts, relative to the design, as may
be in your power.
At the same time that we invite a vigilant and constant
attention, in the friends of the blacks, to prevent as far as
their power extends, the infraction of the laws of the country in
favour of emancipation, we confidently trust that due care will
be observed to select men to the several offices of the
societies, who have their zeal tempered with prudence and
knowledge; for we are sensible, that for want of sound discretion
on the part of some well-meaning but over-zealous individuals,
the views and conduct of the body at large, have been grossly
misunderstood; the cause has suffered undeserved reproach in the
minds of some of our fellow citizens, and heavy expenses have
been incurred in the unfavorable termination of suits undertaken
without sufficient evidence, and with too much precipitation.
Being persuaded that no favourable opportunity should be lost for
impressing the public mind with the iniquity of slavery, and the
varied vices and evils, which are incident to it, in all their
forms and consequences, we entreat such of you as have not chosen
Standing Committees, charged with the publication of extracts and
fugitive pieces, on this very interesting subject, to adopt the
measure. Its utility has been fully proven by experience, which
is the best of wisdom. To those societies who have derived
advantage from the practice, we recommend a diligent and habitual
attention to the subject.
We observe, with much sensibility and regret, that the inhuman
and wicked practice of kidnapping, still prevails in our country,
and that several cases of it have occurred since the meeting of
the last Convention. Was there no other object to claim the
ardent sympathy, and the active opposition of our associated
brethren, than this alone, it would of itself be sufficiently
interesting and momentous to justify an union of all our powers,
and a vigorous combination of all our efforts, to resist this
single enormity, this cruel and savage violation of the rights of
our fellow-men. We request that you will, in your succeeding
communications to the Convention, furnish accurate accounts of
the several cases which may come under your notice, and that you
will detail with precision, such of them as may be attended with
particular circumstances of atrocity. The perpetrators should be
known and exposed to public odium. Their names whenever detected,
should be circulated throughout the continent, through the medium
of the public prints; and no offender, who can be brought to
punishment, should be suffered to escape the just penalty of his
transgressions.
The discouragements which prevail among the friends and advocates
of the African race, especially to the southward, have excited
the anxious concern of the Convention. While we have nine hundred
thousand slaves in our country--while we have the strongest
evidence that new importations will take place--while the
abominable practice of kidnapping exists to an alarming and most
sorrowful extent--while we have reason to believe that hundreds
of vessels sail annually from our shores to traffic in the blood
of our fellow-men--and while we feel, acknowledge, and deplore,
that the cause of emancipation has many strenuous, powerful, and
unwearied opponents in every quarter of the union--Can this be
the time to remit our effort? and to abandon that standard under
which, with the favour and protection of Providence, so many
thousands have been rescued from the yoke of bondage, and
restored to the enjoyment of their natural rights? Not so
brethren--Be not disheartened--Let us rather redouble our
diligence to help forward the great and good work in which we
have engaged; resting our hopes of ultimate success, on our
honest and disinterested endeavours, and on the justice of our
cause.[10]
_To the . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Society for Promoting the
Abolition of Slavery._
THIS Convention has the pleasure of acknowledging the reception
of addresses from the Societies of New York, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, and Delaware; and of a communication from the
Society of Rhode Island. A free interchange of sentiments between
the different societies, through the medium of the Convention, we
consider as a matter of primary importance. By such
communications, the Convention becomes the central fountain, into
which the opinions, and experience of the different societies are
received, and from whence the united knowledge may be
transmitted to the individual branches. We therefore recommend,
to each society, a continuation of the practice, and we earnestly
entreat them to comply with our request of last year, by
furnishing us with "more detailed information," not only
respecting the moral, literary, and legal condition of slaves,
and other persons of colour, within their districts, but also
with minute accounts of every attempt at kidnapping, mentioning
the names of the parties concerned in the business. Such
information will open to us an extensive view of slavery and its
attendant evils, as they exist within the whole circle of our
societies, and enable us to labour with greater certainty and
more effect, for the performance of the solemn duties which are
imposed on us.
We perceive, with sincere and deep regret, that some societies
have not yet made much progress in the establishment of schools
for the literary and moral improvement of the people of colour.
We cannot withhold the expression of our anxiety on this
subject.... We consider it a matter of high moment, involving the
most interesting and affecting consequences. Shall we, by
lukewarmness or neglect, give the enemies of our institutions the
triumph of reproaching us with indifference.... With a want of
that virtue ... that inflexible spirit of perseverance, without
which the tree we have nourished, and hoped to bring to maturity,
may erect its barren and useless branches before us, a gloomy
monument of our indolence? With what reproaches, and
difficulties, and dangers, have our societies heretofore
contended! with a courage and temperance, which could have been
maintained only in a great and good cause; we have withstood all
the rude onsets of the enemies of rational liberty, and, under
the protection of a wise Providence, we have, step by step, moved
forward, subduing by the eloquent voice of reason and humanity,
the oppressors of the weeping Africans, until we have seen the
fetters fall from thousands, and beheld those, who had been
reduced to the condition of beasts of burthen, rising from the
earth with the privileges and rights of men! Shall we now desert
them? after teaching them that they belong to the rank of man,
shall we refuse to employ our time and talents in preparing their
minds for the enjoyment of those pleasures, and the practice of
those virtues which belong to their species? We have hitherto
been their friends; if we now desert them, to whom shall they
apply for help? Their fate, as it regards human aid, rests
chiefly with us. Let us try the strength of our virtue.... Let us
decide, by a vote in our societies, whether we will continue our
parental care over them, or leave them friendless and abandoned
to their own weakness and ignorance. This vote will proclaim to
the world the sincerity of our views, and the integrity of our
hearts. If we are weary of well-doing, we shall forsake them; but
if our breasts still glow with benevolence, we shall decide, with
one voice, in their favour. Before we determine the important
question, it will be well for us to recollect that no good deed
passes unrewarded. Every individual sacrifice, to humanity and
virtue, will be placed to our credit in the records of our lives.
The Convention have been informed, by one society, that "not
being able to raise funds for the payment of a tutor, they have
appointed a committee, of ten members, who maintained a school
during the last summer and autumn, on the First-day afternoon of
each week, for the moral and literary education of people of
colour," and that they propose re-commencing the business early
next summer. This conduct merits and receives our approbation,
and we regard it as highly worthy the attention of societies in
similar circumstances.... We exhort them to "go and do likewise."
In the cities of New York and Philadelphia, the schools appear to
be in a flourishing condition; in some of them persons of colour
are employed as teachers, and where such persons, properly
qualified, can be procured, the Convention believes the
employment of them will be attended with peculiar advantages....
It will contribute to kindle a spirit of emulation in their
brethren. In some places there are persons of colour whose
pecuniary circumstances would allow them to give something
towards the support of schools, for their own class, and we think
it proper and just, that their aid should be solicited.
Several societies have informed us that benefit has arisen from
their meetings with the coloured people. We therefore, recommend
that each society select a committee, of suitable members, whose
duty it shall be to assemble the free persons of colour, as often
as they shall judge it useful, and communicate to them such
advice and instruction, as they shall think necessary; and that
the committee report, in writing, the result of their opinions
respecting the conference, to the next succeeding meeting of
their society.
The Convention of last year, recommended to each society, the
appointment of a committee for the purpose of publishing
extracts, and essays, shewing the impolicy, and injustice of
slavery; but we observe, with regret, this subject has not
received that serious and diligent attention to which it was
entitled. No abolition society can be ignorant that there are yet
many thousands of persons, within the United States, who are
opposed, on what they esteem grounds of justice and policy, to
African liberty. Many remain under the erroneous notion, that the
blacks are a class of beings not merely inferior to, but
absolutely a species different from the whites, and that they are
intended, by nature, only for the degradations and sufferings of
slavery. There was a time when the people of all our states, and
members of every religious sect, were overshadowed by the
darkness of this error, and, in consequence of their erroneous
opinions, practised legal violations of the rights of humanity.
The pen, and the tongue of reason and truth have convinced
thousands of the falsity of those opinions, and such instruments
should not be permitted to rest in idleness, until truth and
humanity obtain a complete and universal triumph.
We lament the continued necessity, of inviting your attention to
the clandestine commerce, which, in defiance of our state and
national laws, is still carried on to the coast of Africa.
Information has been received that artful men, with the secrecy
of midnight robbers, have contrived means of loading their
vessels for Africa, and obtaining cargoes of slaves, and vending
them in the West Indies, without subjecting themselves to such
detection as would lead to legal punishment. Let us keep a
watchful eye on all persons of this class, and endeavour to deter
them from the perpetration of such cruel offences, by the only
argument of which they are susceptible, the fear of the just
punishment of the laws of their country.
This address will be accompanied by a number of copies of our
advice to the free people of colour. We leave it to your
discretion, to distribute them, together with such parts of our
former advices, as you shall judge expedient.
Finally, brethren, we beseech you by the rights of humanity ...
by the pleadings of mercy ... by the great and interesting cause
which we have espoused, that you suffer nothing to discourage you
in your useful labours, ... but that you persevere in your good
works of justice and benevolence, with a temperate and firm
spirit until your task, by the aid of Providence, shall be
accomplished.[11]
To
WE the American Convention of Delegates for promoting the
Abolition of Slavery, feeling the importance of the business
which you have committed to our deliberation, deem it our duty to
address you, and to communicate some of the subjects which have
claimed our particular attention.
We learn that in some parts of the United States, there are yet
men so lost to all honourable feelings, so deeply depraved as to
violate those laws of their country which were intended to
protect the rights of free persons of colour. Those who have any
knowledge of the heart of man, his selfish attachments, and the
firm grasp with which he seizes and holds all that he calls his
own, cannot be surprized at the reluctance which individuals
evince, in resigning their claims to those people of colour who
are legally their slaves: but at this period when the rights of
man are so well understood, in a country where the highest degree
of civil liberty is enjoyed by the white citizens, it appears
astonishing that the kidnapper should be permitted to carry on
his depredations; that his audacious encroachments on the rights
and happiness of the suffering people of colour should, for a
moment, be tolerated. We hope our feelings on this subject, will
not be considered as the offspring of misguided zeal. Every one
in whose heart the pulse of benevolence beats, whose sentiments
are not degraded beneath the dignity of man _must feel_ on this
occasion; he must be sensible of the deep crime which the
kidnapper commits against the laws of his country, and the
violent nature of his trespass on the dearest rights of humanity.
The man of colour whom our country has declared _free_; around
whose liberty the law has thrown its protecting arms, in defiance
of the voice of that country and that law, is torn from his
family by the midnight robber, and transported to the mournful
regions of perpetual slavery, while his wife and his little ones
are left to struggle alone, in poverty, for the bread of mere
existence. This is a melancholy but a faithful picture of the
miseries occasioned by the detestable kidnapper. Let us exert our
best faculties for the purpose of eradicating such evils. Those
societies who form the line of demarcation between the states in
which slavery has been partially or totally abolished, and those
in which it is unconditionally maintained, are particularly and
earnestly requested to use all their vigilance for the detection
of kidnappers and the suppression of those crimes. We do not mean
to say that any deficiency, in proper zeal, has been manifested
by those societies, we rather wish to speak the language of
encouragement.
We observe with satisfaction the continued care, of several
societies, in the great task of education. We hope there is not a
single member of any one of our societies who does not perceive
the importance of it. To make men happy in themselves and useful
to society it is not necessary that they be taught the abstruse
sciences, but it is indispensibly requisite that they be
qualified to form a correct estimate of those powers, and to
exercise those faculties which the Great Creator of man has been
pleased to intrust to their care. The Abolition Societies may be
regarded as the paternal protectors and friends of the people of
colour. They have undertaken that task, and it is their duty to
persevere in their labours, to hold out to the end in their good
work. Although liberty be a blessing, when we obtain the freedom
of the slave our work is not completed. It then becomes our
peculiar charge to endeavour to teach the enfranchised man how to
value, and how to employ the privileges which have fallen to his
lot. This noble task is rapidly progressing in some societies,
and we seriously and affectionately invite others to imitate
their benevolent efforts. Lancaster's plan of instruction seems
admirably adapted for the communication of the rudiments of
literature, we hope there are, in all our societies, some
individuals whose condition of life will allow them leisure, and
whose virtue will animate them to persevering efforts in the
blessed task of instructing the forlorn, and in some places, we
may say almost friendless people of colour. Let them be taught to
read and they will be introduced to a knowledge of the
scriptures, those sacred repositories of moral and divine truth;
let them be taught the elementary branches of arithmetic which
will prepare them for the common concerns of life.
We rejoice with you that our national Government has had the
wisdom and humanity, to embrace the first constitutional
opportunity afforded, to pass a law which entirely prohibits our
citizens from foreign traffic in human flesh. We hope our hearts
are not without sentiments of sincere gratitude to the great
disposer of events for that signal blessing. But we have to
sympathize with nearly a million of human beings who are subject
to the bonds of slavery within the United States, we have yet to
mourn over this dishonour of our country. The progress of truth,
or correct opinion of right has accomplished great ends, but much
remains to be done. Domestic slavery is a national crime; a
crime which is calculated to excite in the man of upright
sentiments, serious and awful apprehensions of the final
consequences of its continuance. It is our duty to employ the pen
and the press for the dissemination of such arguments as shall
convince our countrymen of the injustice and impolicy of such
slavery. The man whose mind is clouded by prejudice, while his
heart is hardened by selfish considerations, must have truth
frequently repeated, and presented under various aspects, before
his errors can be corrected, his prejudices subdued, and the
noble feelings of philanthropy excited in his breast. This is a
constant, an arduous, but not a hopeless duty. We therefore
recommend the frequent publication of extracts from celebrated
works, or original essays, tending to establish the justice and
policy of gradual and general emancipation.
One society has informed us that a committee of its members held
a satisfactory conference with the blacks and other people of
colour. We think such conferences, under the direction of
discreet men, may have a beneficial influence on the minds of the
blacks, we again recommend the subject to your attention. In such
meetings the advice of former Conventions may be renewed, and, we
think, the necessity of legal marriages, honesty in their
dealings, and the importance of religious instruction should be
impressively urged upon them.
We learn that Thomas Clarkson's history of the abolition of the
slave trade, which has been reprinted in Philadelphia, is now
published for the emolument of its author. When we consider the
value of this work to the cause of emancipation, the
indefatigable zeal of that powerful and benevolent advocate for
the rights of the Africans, and his great expense in the
performance of his labours, we think ourselves bound in duty, to
contribute our aid for the general circulation of his interesting
history. We therefore earnestly recommend that work to your
patronage, and we hope you will cheerfully employ such means, as
you may think effectual for promoting its sale.[12]
_To Society for promoting abolition._
IN discharging the customary duty of addressing you, we have
great satisfaction in stating, that the business of the
Convention has been conducted, throughout, with the utmost
cordiality.
We cannot, however, forbear the expression of our sincere regret,
that so few societies have been represented in this Convention.
When we contemplate the interesting magnitude of the cause in
which we have unitedly and voluntarily embarked--when we consider
the solid and obvious advantages, which have hitherto been
derived, to the friends of humanity, from a free and personal
interchange of opinion and from unison of action, we confidently
trust that trifling impediments will not be suffered to interpose
in the fulfilment of our duty. We therefore, in that freedom
which becomes the advocates of truth and justice, do most
earnestly and affectionately recommend a more zealous attention
to this important point, in order that the succeeding Convention
may be more fully attended. Much has been accomplished, but, when
we remember that it has been officially announced by the late
census that nearly twelve hundred thousand of our fellow beings
remain in a state of abject bondage in our deluded country, it
surely will not, cannot be denied, that much, very much, remains
yet to be done. You have put your hands to the plough--look not
back till ye shall have accomplished the end. You have commenced
the wrestling, cease not your hold till ye shall have obtained
the prize.
While against the oppressor, we plead the cause of the
oppressed--While we invite the unhappy slave to a patient and
Christian submission to his condition--and urge on his legalized
master a humane exercise of his power--While we feel ourselves
bound, by all honourable and lawful means, to protect those whom
the laws have enfranchised, from being again dragged into
slavery--let us not forget how much depends on the careful
instruction of all who are free. Without this our labour will be
but very partially accomplished. This great object, so important
to ourselves, as members of those who are the subjects of our
care; and the Convention have learned, with heart-felt
satisfaction, that it is proposed, by the people of colour in New
York, to raise a fund among themselves, for the instruction of
their orphan children. This circumstance, while it proves an
honourable testimony to the persevering zeal of the New-York
Manumission Society, reflects great credit on the blacks
themselves; and we hope the example will not be without
beneficial effects elsewhere. Could such of these people as have
it in their power, be persuaded to apply a part of their surplus
earnings to the establishment of similar funds, instead, as is
unhappily the case in too many instances, of spending their money
in courses which prove injurious to their health and morals, not
only their race, but the community at large, would from such
meritorious efforts speedily reap the most unequivocal
advantages.
It appears that, in defiance of the laws already provided to
interdict the inhuman practice, and notwithstanding the enormity
of the offence in itself, men are yet found, so lost to justice
and the tender feeling of humanity, as to be guilty of carrying
free blacks from some of the states, and selling them as slaves
in others. We, therefore, recommend renewed vigilance to detect
and prosecute these hardened transgressors--and that, whenever
the laws are found to be defective, or insufficient to the
correction of the evil, application be made, to the constituted
authorities, for such amendments, and alterations as may be
necessary and effectual; that our country may be purged of this
most grievous iniquity.
The Pennsylvania Society accompanied their address to the
Convention with some very interesting documents, which were
transmitted to them by the African Institution in London, part of
which it is proposed to publish in the form of an appendix to our
printed minutes, in order that the information which it contains
may be more generally diffused. The Convention have not, at this
time, deemed it necessary or expedient, to take any further order
on this subject. Were the laws of the general government, in
relation to the slave trade, duly and faithfully executed, it is
believed they would put an end to this inhuman traffic, which, to
the disgrace of some of our citizens, it is but too evident they
have been carrying on under the protection and cover of foreign
flags. We invite you to a careful perusal of these documents.
They contain the evidence of a mass of iniquity, the development
of which cannot but excite the indignation of every feeling mind.
You will perceive, by the minutes of our proceedings, that the
friends of humanity have gained an accession to their cause in
the establishment of an Abolition Society in Kentucky. We trust
their labours will be blessed with success, and that this dawn of
light will burst into a more perfect day on our brethren of the
southern states, casting its cheering and benign influence alike
on all; that the ensanguined lash of the task master, and the
cries of the slave, may no longer appal the ear and sicken the
heart, in this boasted land of mercy and equal rights.[13]
The Committee appointed to draft an address to the several
Abolition, Manumission, &c. Societies in the United
States--reported an essay, which was read, considered by
paragraphs, and adopted, as follows:--
_To the various Societies instituted to promote the Abolition of
Slavery in the United States, or to protect the rights and
improve the condition of the People of Color._
The American Convention of delegates from Societies, associated
in various parts of our country, to promote the abolition of
slavery and improve the condition of the African race, convened
in Philadelphia, having harmoniously transacted its important
concerns, address you at this time with increased interest for
the success of the cause they have espoused; firmly relying on
the Divine Being for a blessing on their feeble efforts to
promote the cause of justice and mercy.
The communications forwarded to the Convention at this time,
fully evince that the cause of emancipation continues to advance,
and that even in the strongholds of slavery the friends of the
oppressed slave are fast increasing in numbers. Our fellow
citizens of the south and west are becoming more and more
awakened to a sense of the evil, injustice, and impolicy of
slavery; and we firmly trust that those who have engaged in the
benevolent work of "restoring liberty to the captive, and to let
the oppressed go free," will not look back with discouragement at
the long period this cruelty has prevailed, but continue to press
forward with increased energy to the goal they have set before
them, the complete and final abolition of slavery within the
United States. To promote this desirable object we know of no
measures more efficient than the formation of anti-slavery
associations, particularly in situations where the evils of
slavery prevail; for experience has fully proved that a
combination of effort has often effected that which individual
exertion has attempted in vain. The dissemination of useful works
and tracts on the subject of slavery, cannot but have a powerful
effect in enlightening the public mind on this awfully
interesting subject. The Convention would particularly recommend
the following works to your special attention--viz: Clarkson's
Abolition of the Slave Trade, abridged by Evan Lewis; Clarkson's
Thoughts on Slavery; Laws of the State of Pennsylvania, passed
1780; Tract on Slavery, published by the Tract Association of
Friends in Philadelphia; Hodgson's Letter to J. B. Say, on the
comparative productiveness of Free and Slave Labor; and a work
now preparing for publication in this city, entitled, A Sketch of
the Laws in relation to Slavery in the United States, by George
M. Stroud. They also recommend that each Anti-Slavery Society
subscribe, and promote subscriptions among their members and
others, for the Genius of Universal Emancipation, edited by
Benjamin Lundy, of Baltimore; and to the African Observer, a
periodical work published in Philadelphia, by Enoch Lewis; and
the Freedom's Journal, a weekly paper published at New York, by
John B. Russwurm, a person of color. All these works we believe
are well conducted, and will be powerful aids to the cause of
liberty and justice.
As an incipient step to the abolition of slavery, we earnestly
recommend that immediate application be made to the Legislature
of states where slavery exists, to prohibit the sale of slaves
out of the state. The traffic which is thus carried on from state
to state, is fruitful of evil consequences, not only depraving
the minds of those engaged in it, but producing the most cruel
separations of near connexions, and depriving its victims of
almost every incentive to conjugal fidelity or correctness of
conduct. Perhaps next in importance in meliorating the condition
of the slaves, is the adoption of regulations for their religious
instruction, and the education of their children.
The condition of the free people of color in the United States
has claimed our attention, and we earnestly recommend to the
several societies, not only to use their endeavors to protect
them in their just rights, but to use every means in their power
to elevate them in the scale of society, by affording them and
their children the means of literary instruction. And as the
first day of the week is too frequently spent by them in
dissipation, we would suggest the formation of associations
wherever practicable, for the establishment of first day or
Sunday schools for their benefit, as well as schools on the other
days of the week. The degraded condition of this class of men
ought to call forth our regret and sympathy; being precluded from
pursuing the lucrative employments of life, it is much to be
desired that more of them than have heretofore been permitted may
be instructed in handicraft trades, and employed in manufactures.
You will observe, by our minutes, that the Convention has again
addressed Congress, on the important subject of the abolition of
slavery in the District of Columbia, and the restriction of the
further introduction of slaves into the Territory of Florida; and
we hope our application will be supported by addresses from other
bodies of our constituents. The Convention believes that if the
advocates of freedom persevere in endeavoring to enlighten the
public mind on this all important subject, that the time is not
far distant when a triumph will be obtained over the strong
prejudice and delusion which has so long continued, and the cause
of justice and humanity will finally prevail.
The Convention fervently desires that all who have put their
hands to this great work may really deserve the epithet of
"Saints," which in irony has been reproachfully cast upon them;
and by their energy, prudence, and moderation, convince their
opponents they have been mistaken in their characters and
conduct. And we confidently hope that the blessing of that
Almighty Being, who equally regards the bond and the free, will
crown your righteous labor with success.[14]
_To the various Anti-Slavery Societies in the United States._
The American Convention, for promoting the abolition of slavery,
and improving the condition of the African race, feeling desirous
to encourage every measure that may have a tendency to aid this
deeply injured people, and to relieve our country from the many
evils inseparably connected with the system of individual
oppression, take the liberty to address you upon the present
occasion. And in the performance of this task, we are
particularly solicitous to draw your attention to the subject of
the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia--a subject
which we view as highly important, especially at the present
moment, and deserving your most serious consideration.
When we reflect that the government of this District emanates
from the Congress of the United States--that the power to
regulate its political and municipal concerns is solely vested in
that body--that the people of every State must share the honor or
opprobium attending the course of conduct pursued by the
authorities in the administration of its local government--and
that the whole Union must be measurably responsible for the
consequence resulting therefrom--when we take this view of the
subject, we ought not for a moment to hesitate in appealing to
the friends of humanity in every section of the country, and
urging them to use all lawful and just means, within their reach,
to limit, and finally to eradicate the demoralizing and
corrupting system of slavery, which is yet upheld and tolerated
there.
We will not enter into a minute detail of the many advantages
that would result to the nation, either morally or politically,
from the abolition of slavery, in the District aforesaid.--But we
feel it an imperious duty to state, that in our opinion it would
be attended with the most salutary effects on other portions of
the Union, the _influence_ of which would be incalculable. Under
the present regulations, that distinguished spot on which is
erected the sacred Fane of republican Freedom, is not only
polluted by the galling shackle and the iron rod of oppression,
but is absolutely converted into a great depository for the
purchase and sale of human beings. The demoralizing effect which
this must produce on the minds of many who become familiarized
with it, and the odium which it attaches to us, in the estimation
of enlightened foreigners, many of whom are constant witnesses
thereof, must inevitably sap the foundation of our free
institutions, and degrade our national character in the eyes of
the world. This, we conceive, (to say nothing of the injustice of
slavery and its concomitants,) should be a sufficient incentive
to action--a sufficient inducement to labor in the holy cause of
emancipation.
We are aware that it has been asserted, even on the floor of
Congress, that we should wait until the people of that District
themselves demand the abolition of the system of slavery. This
doctrine we conceive to be fallacious. _The people there are not
exclusively responsible for the national disgrace and criminality
attending it._ The United States government, and of course, the
people in every section of the Union, must bear the odium and
meet the consequences:--and if so, it follows, that they have a
perfect right to avert the same, by such just and legal means as
their wisdom may point out, and their judgment select. But a
portion of the people of that District _are_ now demanding the
eradication of the evil in question. Societies for the abolition
of slavery have been organized among them; and they have
protested against the continuance of the cruel and disgraceful
practice. Let, then, the voice of their brethren elsewhere, be
heard in unison with theirs. Let a strong appeal be made to the
justice of the nation, that the constituted authorities may be
induced to take up the subject, and bestow upon it that care
which its importance imperiously requires.
To facilitate the accomplishment of this purpose, we would advise
and recommend, that petitions and memorials be circulated by all
the anti-slavery societies in each of the States and territories,
for the signature of the citizens at large, and that they be
forwarded to Congress by the Representatives, with instructions
to lay them before that body, at an early day.
The Committee appointed to consider on and report what measures,
&c. made the following report.
_To the American Convention for promoting the Abolition of
Slavery, &c._
The Committee appointed "to consider of and report what measures
are necessary to be taken to promote the Abolition of the
Domestic Slave Trade, and to protect free persons of color from
being kidnapped, and whether any regulations might be adopted to
prevent their being carried off in steam boats, stages, and
coasting vessels," Report, that although in their opinion the
intimate connexion existing between the Domestic Slave Trade and
the system of slavery generally, precludes the expectation of
applying a very efficient check to the one, except by a reduction
of the other, yet they indulge the hope that the united influence
of the several Abolition and Anti-Slavery Societies throughout
the Union, directed to memorializing Congress, might procure some
wholesome restraint upon a traffick fraught with such aggravated
evil, and productive of such complicated misery.
In relation to the other subject submitted to them, viz. "the
protection of free persons of color against kidnappers," the
Committee are of opinion that the existing laws appear to be
amply sufficient, if properly executed. They have, therefore, no
other measures to recommend than the less obtrusive, but
persevering exertions, of the several associations now formed,
and which may be hereafter instituted, in the different sections
of our country.
On behalf of the Committee,
DAVID SCHOLFIELD, _Chairman_.[15]
_To the Abolition, Manumission, and Anti-Slavery Societies in the
United States of America._
FELLOW LABORERS.--In reviewing the labors of the several
Anti-Slavery Societies in the United States, there is much to
cheer and gratify us. In looking over the different sections of
our extended country, we find the cause of truth and humanity has
slowly, but regularly advanced, in the minds of our fellow
citizens generally. And we think nothing remains but perseverance
in presenting the subject of slavery in its native deformity and
its hideous aspect, to convince its advocates of their error, and
to overcome all the opposition which can be arrayed against us.
We are satisfied that to the perseverance of its advocates alone,
we are indebted in a considerable degree for the change of
opinion in the Northern, Middle, and some of the Western States:
and we sincerely hope that a similar change will be ultimately
made in the southern sections of our county. Let us never relax
in our exertions to promote the emancipation, and meliorate the
condition of slaves, till every human being in these United
States shall equally enjoy, all the blessings of our free
Institutions. How can we feel apathy or indifference while we can
almost see from the windows of the room in which we are now
deliberating, a receptacle for slaves, in which they are thrust,
manacled and bound, all ready to ship by their avaricious owner
in the first vessel whose master or owners are as hard hearted
and unprincipled as himself! Yes! A dungeon, the horrors of which
has called forth deep emotions of regret from all who are
permitted to see the misery and wretchedness of its inmates, and
particularly the tears and great agitation of a benevolent aged
stranger, who, in visiting this country, which has always
professed "That all men are by nature, and of right ought to be
free," was surprised and shocked to find in the precincts of one
of the most professedly enlightened and patriotic cities in the
Union, a storehouse of human flesh!
Slavery in whatever point of light considered, is a revolting
subject, repugnant to the best feelings of our nature, as
inconsistent with the rights and happiness of man. We therefore,
urge the respective Societies to renewed exertions, in behalf of
our colored population, and to petition Congress to abolish
Slavery in the District of Columbia, and also to prevent its
further extension in the territories of the United States.
Deeply injured as they have been by the whites, the colored
people certainly claim from us some degree of retributive
justice; we would, therefore, at this time particularly and
earnestly recommend to the renewed attention of all the
Abolition, Manumission and Anti-Slavery Societies in this
country, the all-important subject of giving the colored children
literary instruction, and placing them as apprentices to useful
trades.
For, unquestionably, the most efficient means of promoting the
moral improvement of this degraded portion of the human family is
the institution of schools. And it must be obvious to every
thinking mind, that a portion of education will be absolutely
necessary to prepare the slave for the enjoyment of freedom; and
such has been the happy influence of it on the scholars in the
New York African Free School, that the Trustees in that city,
state, that no scholar who has been regularly educated in their
school, has ever been convicted of crime in any of their courts
of justice. We have no doubt that if similar means were used in
other places, the like happy result would be obtained. And it is
equally certain, that facts like these do more to obliterate idle
prejudice than all abstract reasoning on the subject.
The Convention have been highly pleased at this time by the
exhibition of some handsome specimens of the skill and talent of
some of the boys in the African school under the charge of
_Charles C. Andrews_, in New York; creditable alike to the
Teacher and the scholar. For a more particular description of
these articles, we refer to page 20 of the minutes of this
Convention.
We again call your attention to the following extract from our
Address last year, particularly applicable to the present
subject.
"As an incipient step to the Abolition of Slavery, we earnestly
recommend, that immediate application be made to the Legislatures
of States where Slavery exists, to prohibit the sale of slaves
out of the state. The traffic which is thus carried on from state
to state, is fruitful of evil consequences, not only depraving
the minds of those engaged in it, but producing the most cruel
separation of near connexions, and depriving its victims of
almost every incentive to conjugal fidelity or correctness of
conduct. Perhaps next in importance in meliorating the condition
of slaves, is the adoption of regulations for their religious
instruction, and the education of their children."
"And while the members of the several Societies are laboring in
the good work of universal emancipation, the Convention would
particularly urge them to use all suitable endeavours, mildly
yet earnestly, to prevail upon slave holders to consider the
injustice and impolicy of tolerating Slavery; and prevail, if
possible, upon such individuals, to fall into some plan for its
gradual and entire abolition in our otherwise free and favoured
country."
We conclude with exhorting all those who are engaged with us in
this important cause, to persevere, with the hope and confidence,
that although our progress may be apparently slow, and our
prospects sometimes appear discouraging, conformably to the
dispensations of a Gracious Providence, truth and justice must,
and will ultimately prevail.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
EDMUND HAVILAND, _Chairman_.[16]
_To the Manumission, Anti-Slavery Societies, &c, throughout the
United States._
FELLOW CITIZENS,--The American Convention for promoting the
Abolition of Slavery, &c. now sitting at Washington, in the
District of Columbia, having seriously taken into consideration
the state of slavery in the said district, and in the United
States generally, and viewed what furtherance the cause of
freedom has received for some time past, are decidedly of
opinion, that increasing efforts are at this time, emphatically
called for, on the part of those who really think that "all men
are created free and equal."
Memorial after memorial has been presented to Congress, but as
yet they have produced but little visible effect. Small progress
has been made towards abolishing slavery at the seat of our
National Government. It has been a subject of much reflection
what measures would be most likely to accomplish the grand object
of our labours; and we would suggest whether greater success
would not be likely to crown our efforts, by more widely
disseminating a knowledge of the objects and principles of the
different Anti-Slavery Societies throughout the Union. The
subject has been referred at this session of our Acting
Committee, but our funds are too limited to act as extensively as
the great importance of the object requires. It is believed that
a very large portion of the citizens of the United States are
favorable to the emancipation of the people of colour, if it
could be done upon legitimate principles, without infringing
upon the rights of individuals or endangering the safety of the
community; and if the dissemination of our principles was more
generally attended to, co-adjuting societies would doubtless
increase, and this Convention eventually become a body so
numerous and respectable, that the National Government would not
withhold its attention.
The proper education of the African race should form a prominent
feature in all our efforts. It is with much gratification we are
enabled to state that the address from New York, mentions a
continued advancement in the literary improvement of the coloured
children, and that from Philadelphia holds out the prospect of
the establishment of a school for teaching them the higher
branches of an English education and thus enabling them to act as
teachers of their own isolated race. To break up the fallow
ground, to sow the seed, and rear the tender plants of virtue in
this degraded people, should be the wish of every heart and the
effort of every hand. Let us establish schools, instruct the
children, and show to the world that the mind of the African is
not a soil where genius sickens and every virtue dies.
When we reflect that man is a being whose own interest generally
forms the alpha and omega, beginning and end of life, a centre
around which every passion and affection of his heart revolves, a
boundary beyond which he seldom ventures, we are rather
encouraged at the progress of our cause, than deterred by the
magnitude of the work to be yet accomplished. Have not thousands
been liberated, and the condition of tens of thousands improved?
We believe there is a secret fire enkindled in the public bosom
which will never be extinguished, until liberty be given to the
captive and freedom to the oppressed. But this glorious principle
needs to be encouraged and kept alive by the increasing efforts
of its friends, to show to the world that they themselves are not
weary of well-doing. Prejudices imbibed in youth and strengthened
by age are to be broken down, and many an objection to be
overcome.
In conclusion we would remark that although much censure has been
cast upon us, we are renewedly convinced of the goodness and the
justice of our cause. Let us exhort you to a patient continuance
in your labours; and "the bread cast upon the waters, shall be
found after many days."[17]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Minutes of the Proceedings of a Convention of Delegates from the
Abolition Societies, 1794, pp. 18-21.
[2] Minutes of the Proceedings of a Convention of Delegates from the
Abolition Societies, 1795, pp. 26-31.
[3] Minutes of the Proceedings of a Convention of Delegates from the
Abolition Societies, 1796, pp. 23-25.
[4] Minutes of the Proceedings of a Convention of Delegates from the
Abolition Societies, 1796, p. 28.
[5] Minutes of the Proceedings of a Convention of Delegates from the
Abolition Societies, 1797, pp. 22-25.
[6] Minutes of the Proceedings of a Convention of Delegates from the
Abolition Societies, 1798, pp. 15-20.
[7] Minutes of the Proceedings of a Convention of Delegates from the
Abolition Societies, 1800, pp. 20-23.
[8] Minutes of the Proceedings of a Convention of Delegates from the
Abolition Societies, 1801, pp. 42-46.
[9] Minutes of the Proceedings of a Convention of Delegates from the
Abolition Societies, 1803, pp. 29-34.
[10] Minutes of the Proceedings of a Convention of Delegates from the
Abolition Societies, 1804, pp. 35-39.
[11] Minutes of Proceedings of Tenth American Convention for the
Abolition of Slavery, 1805, pp. 26-35.
[12] Minutes of the Proceedings of the Twelfth American Convention for
promoting the Abolition of Slavery and improving the condition of the
African Race Assembled at Philadelphia, 1809, pp. 26-31.
[13] Minutes of the Proceedings of a Convention of Delegates from the
Abolition Societies, 1812, pp. 25-28.
[14] Minutes of the Proceedings of a Convention of Delegates from the
Abolition Societies, 1827, pp. 20-22.
[15] Minutes of the Proceedings of a Convention of Delegates from the
Abolition Societies, 1827, pp. 22-25.
[16] Minutes of the Proceedings of a Convention of Delegates from the
Abolition Societies, 1828, pp. 28-30.
[17] Minutes of the Proceedings of a Convention of Delegates from the
Abolition Societies, 1829, pp. 19-21.
CORRESPONDENCE
245 WEST 139TH ST.,
NEW YORK CITY,
January 11, 1920.
CARTER G. WOODSON, Ph.D.,
Editor, THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY,
Washington, D. C.
_Dear Sir_:
In the January, 1920, number of _The Journal of Negro History_ there
is an affidavit of Kelly Miller and Whitefield McKinlay to the effect
that Mr. Cardoza, at one time secretary of State for South Carolina,
stated to them that a number of colored men met and appointed a
committee which was sent to Washington to get the advice of Charles
Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens concerning the formation of the political
organization for the newly enfranchised Negro shortly after the
adoption of the 14th Amendment, pains being taken to keep the plans
from both the native whites and the so-called carpet-baggers from the
North, and that both Mr. Sumner and Mr. Stevens advised the committee
to tender the leadership to native whites of the master class of
conservative views, but that the plan was frustrated because they were
unable to secure the consent of desired representatives of the former
class to assume the proffered leadership.
I accept the fact that Mr. Cardoza made the statement as sworn to by
Prof. Miller and Mr. McKinlay, but I must state with all of the
emphasis that is possible that it is inconceivable to me how Mr.
Sumner or Mr. Stevens could give such advice that would give the
leadership of the newly enfranchised Negroes to native whites of the
master class, however conservative. All rebels were alike to Mr.
Sumner and Mr. Stevens. No reference to conservative men of the master
class will be found in the speeches or writings of either one.
I have read the speeches of both men on the Reconstruction measures as
published in the _Congressional Globe_ and I have failed to find one
word uttered by either one that would lead me to believe that they
would give the advice as stated in the affidavit. Both men held
radical views as to reconstruction plans for the rebel States and were
chiefly instrumental in having the Reconstruction Acts and the 14th
Amendment passed. If it had not been for their untiring and persistent
efforts, especially of Mr. Stevens, who practically dominated the
House of Representatives from 1861 to the date of his death, I venture
the assertion that the Reconstruction Acts and the 14th Amendment as
passed could not have been passed.
It is possible that there were Negroes in South Carolina who had never
felt the lash of the master class who were willing to curry favor with
that class, regardless of the gratitude due the Northern men, white
and colored, but I do not believe that the Northern Negroes (R. B.
Elliott, Judge Wright, Judge Whipper, Henry W. Purvis, S. A. Swails,
Dr. B. A. Bosemon, R. H. Gleaves, B. F. Randolph and others) would
have deserted their Northern brethren, nor do I believe that the great
men of the Republican Party (Conkling, Fessenden, Wade, Morton, Weed,
Seward, Stanton, Chase, Boutwell, Washburne, Blaine, Sherman, Schurz,
Phelps, Morrill, Bingham, Henry Wilson, Hoar and others) would have
stood for the consummation of such a plan. I am sure, from what I knew
of the Negroes of South Carolina, that they would have rebelled
against the plan. If any committee went on to Washington it is
possible that the members suggested the plan to Mr. Sumner and Mr.
Stevens, but for them to advise along that line, a thousand times, no.
Everything done by Mr. Sumner and Mr. Stevens was done openly and
above board and if they had given the advice as stated in the
affidavit they would have had the courage of their convictions to have
stated so publicly. It was not in their nature to play the cards from
under the table.
Mr. Stevens, who was the author of the Reconstruction Act and most of
the Reconstruction measures, ranking next to Alexander Hamilton as a
constructive statesman, had embodied in the Act an oath that would
have precluded men of the former master class, radical or
conservative, from having anything to do with the Reconstruction
legislation for the former rebel States. They could not register;
therefore, they could not vote nor hold office until all of the
provisions of the Reconstruction Acts, including the ratification of
the 14th Amendment, were complied with, and their political
disabilities removed. Practically all of the "cracker" element or
"poor buckra" as designated by the Negroes could vote but the
statement does not include that element.
The Republican Party was organized in South Carolina in July, 1867,
and Northern men, white and colored, took an active part in the
deliberations, R. H. Gleaves, a Northern Negro, being the President of
the convention.
The Constitutional Convention met in Charleston, January 14, 1868, the
Northern men practically dominating the proceedings, and before
adjournment a State ticket was nominated. R. K. Scott, a Northern
white man, was nominated for Governor. There were other white men
(Northern) on the ticket. The Governor and Lieutenant-Governor were
elected for two years and the other State officers for four years.
This would indicate that the Northern men held the situation well in
hand.
The South Carolina legislature under the Constitution of 1865, refused
to ratify the proposed 14th Amendment on December 20, 1866. This
legislature was composed of Democrats, all of the master class,
conservative and radical, and in view of this it is incomprehensible
to me how intelligent Negroes could have thought of tendering the
leadership to any men of the master class. The conditions were such
that men of the master class could not have accepted the leadership
had they so desired after repudiating the 14th Amendment.
I have read Rhodes, Dunning, Burgess, Hart, Hollis, Pike, and
Schouler, on Reconstruction, also S. W. McCall's _Biography of
Thaddeus Stevens_, E. B. Callender's _Thaddeus Stevens, the Commoner_,
and E. L. Pierce's _Memoirs and Letters of Charles Sumner_, and cannot
find anything that would indicate that either Mr. Sumner or Mr.
Stevens would give the advice as stated in the affidavit.
When Mr. Stevens introduced the proposed 14th Amendment it contained
the following section:
Section 3.--Until July 4, 1870, all persons who voluntarily
adhered to the late insurrection, giving it aid and comfort,
shall be excluded from the right to vote for Representatives in
Congress and for Electors for President and Vice-President.
This section was defeated but relative to it Mr. Stevens in a speech
said:
"The 3rd section may encounter more difference here. Among the
people I believe it will be the most popular of all the
provisions; it prohibits rebels from voting for members of
Congress and electors of President until 1870. My only objection
to it is that it is too lenient.
I would be glad to see it extended to 1878, and to include all
State and municipal as well as national elections."
There are two things about the advice that seem incongruous. First
that intelligent Negroes would think that any men of the master class
would join hands with them, some of whom had probably been their
slaves, to govern the State. In the second place it is hard to believe
that Sumner and Stevens, men of brilliant legal minds, would give
advice that could not be carried out, even if practicable.
No man of the master class in South Carolina, however conservative,
would stand for being called a scalawag.
There were practically no Union men in South Carolina. There were a
few men who opposed secession at the time but when the ordinance of
secession was passed a man who did not go with the State was
considered a traitor. South Carolina was not considered a safe place
for a white man who was opposed to secession after the ordinance was
passed. This probably accounts for the statement in the last part of
the affidavit relative to the frustration of the plans.
I regard the statement in reference to Messrs. Sumner and Stevens as a
reflection on the memory of two of the greatest friends of the Negro.
History, unless it is based on facts, incontrovertible facts, is
worthless.
If there are any readers of _The Journal of Negro History_ who can
produce "irrefragable evidence" relative to this matter I would be
glad if they would do so. Truth is supreme and everlasting.
Prof. R. T. Greener, now of Chicago, Harvard's first Negro graduate,
and the first and only Negro who occupied a chair in one of the old
Southern universities, delivered on Public Day, June 29, 1874, in the
historic South Carolina University, a most eloquent and scholarly
address on "Charles Sumner, the Idealist, Statesman and Scholar." It
made such an impression on the members of the faculty that they
requested Prof. Greener to allow them to have it published and
distributed. Professor Greener was the only Negro on the faculty. He
occupied the chair of Mental and Moral Philosophy. Professor Greener
was closer to Mr. Sumner than any other colored man, although very
much younger, and enjoyed a friendship with the Senator vouchsafed to
very few white men. It is possible that he may be able to throw some
light on the subject in so far as Mr. Sumner is concerned.
Letters from scholars in this field will help us to learn the truth. A
copy of a letter from J. F. Rhodes follows:
RAVENSCLEFT, SEAL HARBOR, MAINE,
Sept. 27, 1920.
HENRY A. WALLACE,
_Dear Sir_:
I have your valued favor of 23 with enclosure. It is now about
fourteen years since I made my study of Reconstruction, and on
some details my memory is not fresh, but I have no hesitation in
saying that I never found anything that would lead me to believe
that either Sumner or Stevens was in favor of the scheme
outlined. The story told by the affidavit "does not fit into the
situation" as Samuel R. Gardiner used to say. Nothing but
irrefragible evidence could lead one to such a view. Your
examination of the subject seems to have been thorough and I
thank you for giving me the results of it.
Very truly yours,
enc. returned Signed. JAMES F. RHODES.
_A Copy of a Letter from Samuel W. McCall_
24 MT. VERNON ST., September 13, 1920.
MR. HENRY A. WALLACE,
245 West 139th St.,
New York, N. Y.
_Dear Sir_:
In reply to your favor of the 3rd inst., with enclosed copy of
the affidavit concerning the position of Thaddeus Stevens and
Charles Sumner upon the proposed policy of organization for the
negroes, I would say that I do not remember ever having come
across anything of the kind in my researches concerning Mr.
Stevens, nor have I ever heard of it about Mr. Sumner.
Very truly yours,
Signed. SAML. W. MCCALL.
_A Copy of a Letter from Hon. H. C. Lodge._
NAHANT, MASS.,
September 8, 1920.
_My dear Sir_:
I have received your letter of the 6th. I have never heard before
of the point which you raise in regard to Mr. Sumner and really
know nothing about it. As I am separated from my library, which
is in Washington, I am sorry that I can give you no information
about it, but if you would examine the Life of Charles Sumner by
Edward L. Pierce, which is very elaborate and thorough, you would
find something about it there, if anywhere.
Very truly yours,
Signed. H. C. LODGE.
HENRY A. WALLACE, ESQ.,
245 West 139th St.,
New York, N. Y.
As the native white men of the master class were ineligible to
hold office until the new Constitution and the 14th Amendment
were ratified and their political disabilities were removed, even
had they acted in an advisory capacity to the newly enfranchised
Negroes, the Northern men being eliminated, only Negroes and
white men of the "cracker" element could have held office and
have been elected delegates to the Constitutional Convention.
There were some native white men of the "cracker" element in the
Constitutional Convention and also in the first legislature
elected.
Very respectfully,
HENRY A. WALLACE.
245 WEST 139TH ST.,
NEW YORK CITY,
January 16, 1921.
CARTER G. WOODSON, Ph.D.,
Editor, THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY,
1216 You St., N. W., Washington, D. C.
_Dear Sir:_
In connection with my letter to you of the 11th instant,
pertaining to the affidavit of Messrs. Miller and McKinlay
relative to the statement made by Mr. Francis Cardoza to them
concerning Mr. Sumner and Mr. Stevens, as published in _The
Journal of Negro History_ for January, 1920, I respectfully
invite your attention to a copy of a letter from Dr. J. W.
Burgess, formerly of Columbia University. You will find him
listed in "Who's Who in America."
Dr. Burgess is the author of two books covering the Civil War and
the Reconstruction period, _The Civil War and the Constitution_
and _Reconstruction and the Constitution_, and evidently made a
thorough research in collecting the data for publication.
I regard this as a very important matter and the truth or falsity
of the statement should be established. It is only by publicity
that the facts can be established.
The names of Stevens and Sumner should be imperishable to the
Negro race and any reflection on their attitude during the
Reconstruction period should not go unchallenged.
A copy of letter from John W. Burgess follows:
BROOKLINE, MASS.,
January 14, 1921.
MR. HENRY A. WALLACE:
Your favor of January 12, forwarded to me here, interests me
highly, and I thank you most sincerely for it. I am obliged to
reply, however, that the affidavit of Messrs Miller and McKinlay
astonished me very much. I cannot remember to have ever read
anything of the kind anywhere and like you, I am very skeptical
about it. I was in the world and a student at Amherst College in
the year 1867, and was even then collecting the material for my
history. I am pretty sure that I should have known of anything of
this kind had it existed. I am going to try to run this assertion
down, as I am here among the acquaintances and relatives of
Sumner.
Very sincerely yours,
Signed. JOHN W. BURGESS.
I have written to Dr. Burgess to inform me as to the result of
his investigation and will let you know what he reports.
Yours very truly,
HENRY A. WALLACE.
BOOK REVIEWS
_Rachel._ By ANGELINA W. GRIMKÉ. Boston, Mass., The Cornhill
Company, 1920. Pp. 96. Price, $1.25.
Miss Grimké's drama of Rachel is a beautiful and poetic creation. She
has produced this effect by a literary instinct which is fine and
mainly cultivated. Its native vigor carries the reader past an
occasional crudity, which it would seem to be hypocritical to notice.
The sweep of passion in the drama is elemental. She has connected the
story of a girl-woman with the most woeful of earthly tragedies,
namely the crime of a great nation against one of its component parts.
The feelings expressed in the drama, though elemental, are uttered in
the terms of modernity. The structure of the drama is modern, and yet
there is something in the figure and movement of Rachel herself which
reminds the present writer of Antigone. We do not see Antigone before
the hour when she has chosen to meet the doom that man's law has
decreed should she perform the task that human love and religious
faith have enjoined upon her. Antigone goes to the death of her body
declaring that in the Infinite there is a longer time for love than
there is on earth.
But we do see Rachel before the ultimate choice has come to her. She
is a gay and happy girl. The drama proceeds to the hour when she too
must choose between the issues of earthly love and those which reach
into eternity. She learns from her mother, Mrs. Loving, that ten years
before, they all lived in the South and her father and her half
brother were lynched. Briefly summarized, this is Mrs. Loving's story.
As a young widow with a boy seven years old, she had married an
educated man of color. She was a person of color herself. Mr. Loving
owned and edited a paper in which he wrote on behalf of the people of
color. A Negro innocent of all crime was murdered by a mob in that
region. Mr. Loving denounced the murder and the murderers in his
paper. He received an anonymous letter apparently written by an
educated person, threatening him with death, if he did not retract
what he had said. In the next issue of his paper he published an
equally stern arraignment of the lynchers and their crime.
That night a dozen masked men broke into his house. Mr. Loving had a
revolver. He defended his life and his home. Mrs. Loving tried to
close her eyes. She could not. She saw all that happened in her
bedroom. Four of the masked assailants fell. "They did not move any
more ... after a little while." Then she saw her husband dragged out
of the room. Her older boy, George, tried to help his stepfather. He
was dragged out also. She went to the bedside of her two younger
children. They were asleep. Rachel was smiling. The mother knelt down
and covered her ears. When at last she let herself listen, she heard
only the tapping of the branch of a pine tree against the side of the
house. She did not know at first that it was _the tree_.
She fled with her two little children to the North. Those children had
never before this day of revelation known how their father had died.
The shadow of white cruelty to the body and souls of black folks had
darkened somewhat over their lives in the North, but still they had
been frolicsome and loving young creatures. Now they begin to realize
the full significance of "race prejudice."
Rachel speaks to her mother: "Then, everywhere, everywhere throughout
the South, there are hundreds of dark mothers who live in fear,
terrible, suffocating fear, ... whose joy in their babies ... is three
parts pain.... The South is full of ... thousands of little boys who
one day may be, and some of whom will be lynched." "And the babies,
the dear, little, helpless babies ... have _that_ sooner or later to
look to. They will laugh and play and sing and grow up, and perhaps be
ambitious,--just for that."
"Yes, Rachel," answers her mother. The girl is one of those rare,
feminine creatures whose soul and body are framed for maternity. In
one swift rush of realization and of premonition, she comprehends all
that the doom upon her race must eventually mean to her; she utters
the cry of Africa's heart in America. "It would be more merciful to
strangle the little things at birth.... This white Christian nation
has set its curse upon the most beautiful, ... the most holy thing on
earth ... motherhood."
Let us consider the historic background forth from which Miss Grimké
has drawn her story. How do its incidents compare with known facts? In
1844, Massachusetts sent Judge Hoar to South Carolina to look after
the interests of Massachusetts citizens of color there. The mob spirit
showed itself so violently that this father of the future Senator was
obliged to leave the South. More careful investigation into hidden
causes for lynching would doubtless disclose more cases when educated
men have been threatened or actually murdered. The rope with which to
hang Wendell Phillips was actually carried into the hall where he was
to speak. And the concerted plan had been to hang him on Boston
Common.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has
investigated and published statistics showing that from 1889 to 1918
in the United States, 702 whites and 2522 blacks have been lynched,
and that 11 of these victims were white women and 50 were women and
girls of color. 6 whites and 142 Negroes were lynched for "no crime."
A few instances may well be cited. After some race riots in 1894 in
which crimes had been committed on both sides, MacBride, "a
respectable Negro of Portal, Georgia, was beaten, kicked, and shot to
death for trying to defend from a whipping at the hands of a crowd of
white men, his wife who was confined with a baby three days old." No
offence on the part of the wife or the three days old baby is
recorded, but the one of that helpless couple who could speak may have
made about the riots remarks which disturbed the delicate
sensibilities of these southerners who are so discriminating in their
"chivalrous treatment" of women.
In 1895 a Negro in Texas was killed by a mob because he was accused of
riding over a little white girl and seriously injuring her. "Later
developments proved that the mob murdered the wrong negro." In 1899 in
Louisiana "an attempt had been made to assault a white woman."
Afterwards one Michael Curry saw a large Negro wandering in a field.
For no reason whatever he decided that that man had been the
assailant. Some white would-be murderers were quickly got together and
shot the black man to death. Then it was discovered that he was an
escaped lunatic, whose recent history did not square with the theory
that he was the assailant.
In Georgia there was in 1911 a Negro woman described as "a good
reliable servant" in her normal condition, but who was subject to
attacks of violent mania. She killed a white woman in such an attack,
as many years ago poor English Mary Lamb killed her own mother. The
world knows with what chivalry her brother Charles shielded her
through life. This Negro native of Georgia had once been adjudged to
be a fit subject for an insane asylum; but the State institution was
crowded and she was not then or now taken into it. Georgia took care
of her in an easier way. Its lynchers put her into an automobile and
placed a rope around her neck, fastened it to a tree, and started the
car from under her, and left her to die. No arrests followed. But why
mention that fact in this case? There are very few instances of mob
murder when white murderers have ever been arrested.
In Oklahoma in 1914, two white men assaulted a seventeen-year-old girl
of color. Her screams brought her brother to the rescue. There was a
fight. He killed one of the men. The next day a mob came to the house
in search of the brother. They could not find him so they killed the
girl. In 1915 a sheriff in Georgia was murdered, and straightway five
Negroes were killed. About a year later it was learned that all five
were innocent. Sometimes "race prejudice" is given as the reason why
certain Negroes were lynched. That probably means that in no such
instance had the lynched Negro committed any offence, or at most none
deserving the death penalty by any legal process.
The next historical question, which Miss Grimké's drama raises, was
pertinently put to the present writer: "Was an educated, high-toned
man like Loving ever lynched?" The answer as to probabilities is
easily made. The American impulse towards mob-murder has always been
strong whenever and wherever the rise of the Negro, either free or
enslaved, has been considered vitally obnoxious to the community. In
the slavery days, Northern mobs prepared often to kill William Lloyd
Garrison, Wendell Phillips, and other Abolitionists, but they were
foiled every time except when, in 1836, the Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy, a
white Northerner, was killed in Alton, Illinois, for denouncing, in
his own paper, the burning to death of a Negro in Missouri. It was
supposed, however, that the men who shot Lovejoy were Missourians and
not Illinoisans.
The southern temper as to the educated Negroes was certainly voiced to
a large extent, when in the eighties, the librarian of a large library
in a southern town made answer to a question asked by a northern
visitor: "Oh, no, the colored people don't come here to take out
books. We don't believe in social equality, you know." And the Negro
teacher in that town answered thus another Northerner's question: "Why
don't you go there and ask for a book?" "I shouldn't like to do that,
if I am going on living here."
In 1898 there were some terrible race riots in North Carolina. Two
well educated Negroes owned and edited a small paper. Like the black
Loving in Miss Grimké's drama, like the white historical Lovejoy,
sixty-two years before, they printed editorials on the side of the
Negroes. They were threatened. They fled and escaped pursuit. It is
safe to assume that, had they been caught, they would have been
lynched.
About a year ago, John R. Shillady, a white man, was engaged on a
peaceful mission in Texas on behalf of the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People, whose agent he was. Prominent white
citizens assaulted and beat him severely. It has always been the same
story; white or black, educated or ignorant, in every part of this
country the defenders of the Negroes have been liable to the decree or
the abuse of the mob.
Still fresh is the memory of that shameful day when a white mob fired
the Omaha jail where a Negro, still unconvicted of crime, was
confined. He helped several of the other prisoners to get in line to
leave the prison in safety, and then went down the steps himself to
the mob which grabbed him and killed him. Meanwhile the ruffians had
seized the Mayor of the town as he was on his way to try to enforce
law and order. They hanged him, but somebody cut the rope before he
was quite dead. There was strong evidence to show that the murdered
Negro was innocent.
We come next to the question: What sort of men are they who make up
these murderous mobs? Wendell Phillips once said, as to the North,
that he had faced many mobs between the seaboard and the Mississippi,
and that he never saw one that did not show that it was inspired if
not actually led by "respectability and what called itself education."
It is harder to know exactly what is the personnel of southern
lynching parties. But a close study of known facts shows that
"respectability and what calls itself education" has countenanced,
approved, and participated in a large proportion of these orgies of
horror. And the southern approval has developed in the South a most
abhorrent type of white woman who holds up her babies to see a black
man cut and burned to death. Miss Grimké's historical accuracy is
unimpeachable when she allows "church members" to lynch Loving and his
stepson.
George W. Cable said to the present writer in the winter of 1888-89,
"You are right, the southerners do not want the Negroes to be
educated." Miss Grimké, inferentially, dates her lynching somewhere in
the decade of the nineties. The mass of black, brown, and
olive-tinted ignorance at that time in the South, was appalling. It is
appalling now--largely through the governing white man's fault. But
still there were in the South at that time and before then many
colored people who had obtained the rudiments of education and some
who might be truthfully called well educated. Some of these became
known to the whole country; but there might easily have been obscure
ones like Loving scattered in many communities.
Now ordinary critics are sure to cry out against my analysis of the
historical situation and remind me of Booker Washington. They will
say, "He was not lynched. He was accepted. Any Negro like him is safe,
if he behaves himself." I answer that I have no fancy for mob murder
or torture of any human being, ignorant or wise, good or bad. There
are, moreover, other answers to the riddle of that great constructive
educator's career. One is creditable to the white southerners. They
are not all eager for Negro blood. There is yet another solution.
Booker Washington surrendered many of the Negro's rights to southern
prejudices. The South liked that surrender. Northern philanthropists
occasionally liked it well enough to give money for purposes which
would tend to make the Negro useful in the ways the whites wanted him
to be, and yet to insure him a little intellectual comfort in his
life.
To return to the direct consideration of Miss Grimké's Rachel; we see
the girl, from the hour that she learns what things are done, and may
be done, in the South to the dusky sons and daughters of America, she
lives under a cloud--a sense of doom. Yet the cloud breaks now and
then. She loves so much, and especially she loves so many little
children, that she cannot fail to be happy sometimes. She also comes
to love a man, and all the possibilities of marriage and motherhood
open radiantly before her. But the shadow falls denser than ever upon
her. She sees, even in the North, the grown men of her race, no matter
how well educated, seldom able to get work befitting their ability.
All this sort of thing would not happen in every northern town but
every careful observer knows that such things do happen in many
northern villages and cities.
Little children flock around her, drawn by the magic of her incarnated
motherliness. She sees them ill-treated by their white school mates.
She has adopted a little boy, Jimmy, and she sees him suffer. She
sees a little girl, very black and ugly, but still a child, who has
been frightened almost into idiocy by white children. Finally Rachel's
ears are so filled with the sound of real wailing that her brain reels
with the thought of the crying children all over the land, and at last
voices come to her from the infinite spaces. Voices of unborn babies,
the little babies who were meant to be born unto her.... They were
begging her never to bring them into earthly existence. Now, like
Antigone, she makes her choice; to soothe a ghostly pain no matter
what may be her earthly doom.
Her lover leaves her. She cries after him once, as if to call him
back. Then she ceases that cry, knowing that her fate is fixed, and
her vow never to be a mother on earth is irrevocable. She begins to
talk as to the pre-existent ghosts of her unborn children, and all the
while the crying of her adopted child mingles fitfully with the
wailing that seems to come to her from the caverns of the unknown
regions.
The drama would probably have to be remoulded for use in the regular
theatre, yet it is the present writer's opinion that to create the
part of Rachel on the stage might well allure any actress who
possesses the most delicate and passionate genius.
LILLIE BUFFUM CHACE WYMAN.
* * * * *
_Songs and Tales from the Dark Continent, recorded from the
Singing and Sayings of C. Kamba Simango, Ndau Tribe, Portuguese
East Africa and Madikane Cele, Zulu Tribe, Natal, Zululand, South
Africa._ By NATALIE CURTIS BURLIN. New York, G. Schirmer, 1921.
Pp. 170.
This work as its title imports does not cover a wide field of
investigation and it was not done in Africa. The object of the author
is to introduce Europeans and Americans to the soul of the African,
who has too long been regarded merely as an object for exploitation.
Believing that in the folk-music of a people is imaged the real soul,
the author has made in this field researches, the results of which
have been herein set forth. The aim finally is to show that the human
family is near of kin and that basic emotions of love, of sorrow, of
rejoicing and of prayer, whether men be primitive or advanced, white,
yellow, red or black, are the same root-feelings planted in us all.
The book begins with a rather long introduction, discussing the
geography, history, and institutions of Africa. Much space is here
given to spiritual beliefs as a stimulus to the development of music.
Then follows a discussion of song-poems and of the early music to
which they were set. The actual contents begin with a treatment of
songs, tales, and proverbs of the Ndau tribe by C. Kamba Simango. The
reader, if he has found the details of the contents mentioned above a
little tiresome, will have his interest quickened again by the
explanation of the _Song of the Rain Ceremony_, the _Spirit-Song_, the
_Love-Song_, the _Dance of Girls, Children's Songs, Laboring-Songs,
Mocking-Songs_, and the like. There are also such folk-tales as the
_Hare and the Tortoise_, the _Baboon, How the Animals dug their Well_,
the _Jackal and the Rooster, Death of the Hare_, the _Legend and Song
of the Daughter and the Slave_, and the _Sky-Maiden_.
After this portion of the book comes the Songs and Tales of the Zulu
Tribe, recorded from the singing and sayings of Madikane Cele, a Zulu
of royal blood. This includes such as the _Song of War_, _Song of
Children_, _Dance Songs_, _Love Songs_ very much like those mentioned
above. It treats also of such folk-tales as the _Creation Story_. The
music to which these song poems have been set, doubtless will interest
most the student of music. Along with this appear keys to the
pronunciation of the dialects and translations of some of the songs.
The book is well printed and well illustrated with the art work of the
Africans portraying in different ways another phase of African life.
* * * * *
_Educational Adaptations._ By THOMAS JESSE JONES. Phelps-Stokes
Fund, New York, 1919. Pp. 92.
This work presents valuable history in its introduction, which
consists largely of a sketch of the life of the founder of the
Phelps-Stokes Fund, Caroline Phelps Stokes. It is interesting to note
that she was a descendant of English Puritan ancestors, eminent for
their ability and Christian character. They early manifested interest
in the relief of the poor and in the enlightenment of the heathen in
foreign parts. From them, therefore, came much of the assistance given
to promote the Sunday School movement, Bible and tract societies,
missionary organization, the colonization enterprise, and the
abolition of slavery. With this record before her it is not
surprising, therefore, that Miss Caroline Phelps Stokes early united
with the church with a desire "to live the years that still remained
with a fixed and determined purpose to do her duty to God, regardless
of how disagreeable that duty might be."
Measuring up to this ideal Miss Stokes became interested in the Negro
race. She visited the South to inspect the schools for the education
of the Negro and impressed with their needs she thereafter lavished
upon them gifts which had a direct bearing upon the development of
education among these people. Among these were donations to the Haines
Industrial School, Hampton, and Tuskegee. Manifesting interest also in
the local problems of the race, she undertook to secure better housing
for the poor whites and blacks in New York City and established the
Phelps-Stokes Fund for the improvement of tenement house dwelling in
New York City for the poor families of New York City and for
educational purposes in the enlightenment of Negroes, both in Africa
and the United States North American Indians and deserving white
students.
There follows then a brief account of how the provisions of this will
have been carried out. Next one finds set forth a plan for
educational-co-operation and the scope of the work of the committee on
education which finally brought out the two-volume report of Dr.
Thomas Jesse Jones, the Educational Director of the fund. This is
followed by a brief statement on Negro education in the United States,
which is a resumé of Dr. Jones's report. The more interesting part of
this volume is that which sets forth in detail the manner in which
this fund is being used by co-operation with the educational and
religious agencies in the South, by giving fellowships to students in
Southern universities to stimulate research into Negro life and
history, by assisting the work of the University Race Commission on
Race Questions, and that of the Southern Publicity Committee.
* * * * *
_The Negro Faces America._ By HERBERT J. SELIGMANN, formerly
Member of the Editorial Staffs of the _New York Evening Post_ and
the _New Republic_. New York and London, Harper and Brothers,
1920. Pp. iv., 319. Price, $1.75 net.
"There is, in fact, no race problem in the United States." A
sociological study which within its first four pages makes this
assertion must gain the reader's attention and interest at the start.
That there is no solution to the race problem is a statement heard so
often in America that it has become almost proverbial; that the
solution is simple if our citizens would approach the problem fairly
is an observation made less often; but that _there is no problem_
would seem to be either the flippant remark of one who dabbles in
sociology or the profound utterance of a new seer.
Mr. Seligmann, nevertheless, does not hesitate either to make this
assertion or to attempt to demonstrate its truth. In "the
conversational tone of the scientist," he cites the testimony of
anthropologists, the opinions of students of racial and sociological
questions, the conclusions reached by scientific surveys of rural and
urban conditions, the observations of sworn eye-witnesses and the
findings of grand juries in cases of inter-racial disturbance. The
conclusion to be reached, to his mind, is that the so-called race
problem is not a problem in itself, but a "blind spot" in the eye of
the American public, a "color psychosis," a "habit of thought" by
which questions of race and racial differences are connected,
"frequently deliberately," with phases of American life with which
they should have nothing to do,--in fact, with every phase of American
life. This habit of thought, Mr. Seligmann says, is prevalent
throughout the southern part of this country and is spreading through
the North and West. In the cities, it makes the smallest and most
natural examples of race tension "definitely subject to manipulation
by political leaders and their allies in newspaper offices," raises
the rent to Negro applicants for houses, protests against their living
in certain localities, opposes the Negro in industry as he awakens to
the strategic position which he occupies and uses such opposition in
the fostering of race riots. In the rural communities of some parts of
the South, it has created an "American Congo" in which peonage is
practiced openly. In the World War, it made the United States'
"essential struggle" internal rather than external, brought about the
rebirth of the Ku-Klux Klan on this side of the waters, and worked
against the success of the Nation's arms abroad. In social questions
it makes sex "the distorted glass by which the Negro is presented to
view." It "lays its fetters upon science" and stifles the truths of
anthropology with a blanket of myth. The spread of the habit of
thought is in many cases part of a deliberate propaganda, the chief
agent of which is the American newspaper, and "the only course for
white Americans to pursue is to cultivate thorough-going skepticism as
to everything which American newspapers publish about the Negro."
Such are the conditions. Meanwhile, Mr. Seligmann continues, a "new
Negro" has been rising. His growth was not started by the War, as some
think, but accelerated by it, for it was inevitable that he should
come into being. He ranges, in type, from the radical editors of _The
Messenger_ to the "new bourgeoisie" which has learned to fight back
and die, if need be, for the sake of principle and justice. This is
the type of Negro who, in spite of differences of opinion within the
race itself, is gradually working his way toward leadership; and this
is the Negro who now "faces America." "Newly emancipated from reliance
upon any white savior, [he] stands ready to make his unique
contribution to what may some time become American civilization."
What is to be his future? It is Mr. Seligmann's opinion and conclusion
that his future lies largely with the forces of labor, among whom
"color and the habits of thought which come from emphasizing color
distinctions must be subordinated to the need for joint consideration
of common difficulties." "It depends largely," too, "upon the
emancipation of the American people from their newspapers" and upon
whether or not they will demand and obtain "systematic information on
matters concerning colored people and their relation to white people";
for a knowledge of the truth will set the nation free from the "color
psychosis" under which it now labors.
That such a book as this should have been written is in itself an
indication, let us hope, of the coming of the new day in racial
relations toward which Mr. Seligmann points the way.
D. A. LANE, JR.
NOTES
Houghton Mifflin & Company has published John Drinkwater's _Lincoln,
the World Emancipator_. This is not a biography of Lincoln but rather
a type representing the ideals of the American nation and at the same
time the bonds which have attached the people of the United States to
those of England.
* * * * *
In the _Magazine of History_ for November-December 1917, there
appeared an important letter of Abraham Lincoln to the Mayor of New
York bearing upon a proposed celebration of the Union victories in the
West during the Civil War.
* * * * *
The article entitled "Fifty Years of Negro Citizenship," by Dr. C. G.
Woodson which appeared in the last number of _The Journal of Negro
History_, is now being used as supplementary reading by the Senior
Class of the Law School of Howard University. This article has been
reprinted.
* * * * *
In the January number of _The American Historical Review_ appeared a
number of documents entitled: "General M. C. Meigs on the conduct of
the Civil War." In that same number is an interesting article
entitled: "A Confederate Diplomat at the Court of Napoleon III," by L.
M. Sears.
* * * * *
The Associated Publishers, a firm recently organized to publish books
bearing on the Negro will soon bring out Dr. C. G. Woodson's work on
_The Negro Church_. This is an intensive treatise of the development
of religion among the American Negroes. The leading topics discussed
are: The Attitude of the Early Missionaries toward the Negro, the Dawn
of the New Day, Pioneer Negro Preachers, The Independent Church
Movement, The Growth of the Negro Church, The Situation in the South
before the Civil War, Preachers of Versatile Genius in the North, The
Civil War and the Church, Religious Education, The Call of Politics,
The Statistics of the Negro Church and The Negro Church Socialized.
This same firm in the near future will publish also Dr. Woodson's long
delayed text book to be entitled _The Negro in Our History_. Because
of the many upheavals in the publishing world, it has been impossible
to bring out this work at an earlier date but this firm promises the
publication of it by next fall.
THE JOURNAL
OF
NEGRO HISTORY
VOL. VI--JULY, 1921--NO. 3
THE MATERIAL CULTURE OF ANCIENT NIGERIA.
The opinion of the Western World toward Africa and Africans is in the
process of a very slow, yet very tremendous, change. The distant yet
ultimate development of this process will bring about a most important
revolution in the world of modern thought. It will be marked by a
complete reversal of the prevailing present-day evaluation of the
history of a continent and of the accomplishments and possibilities of
a great people.
To the lay mind of the modern world, Africa is a gigantic jungle of
barbarians, bamboo and baboons, where Livingstone traveled, Rhodes
prospected, and Roosevelt hunted. Furthermore, it is only within the
last twenty-five years or more that even that learned group whose
profession is the exposition and interpretation of human history has
begun to modify its opinions in this connection.
An insight into the spirit of learned opinion regarding Africa and the
Africans only a comparatively short time ago may be gained from the
following article, which appeared in a Berlin journal in 1891.[1] The
article, in part, runs:
"With regard to its Negro population, Africa in contemporary
opinion offers no historical enigma which calls for a solution,
because from all the information supplied by our explorers and
ethnologists, the history of civilization proper in the continent
begins, as far as concerns its inhabitants, only with the
Mohammedan invasion.
"Before the introduction of a genuine faith and a higher standard
of culture by the Arabs, the nations had neither political
organization nor, strictly speaking, any religion, nor any
industrial development. None but the most primitive instincts
determine the lives and conduct of the Negroes who lack every
kind of ethical inspiration. Every judicial observer and critic
of alleged African culture must once for all make up his mind to
renounce the charm of poetry and wizardry of fairy lore, all
those things which in other parts of the world remind us of a
past fertile in legend and song; that is to say, must bid
farewell to the attractions offered by the Beyond of History, by
the hope of eventually realizing the tangible impalpable realm
conjured up in the distance which time has veiled within its
mists, and by the expectation of ultimately wresting some relics
of antiquity every now and again from the lap of the earth.
"If the soil of Africa is turned up today by the colonist's
plough share, no ancient weapon will lie in the furrow; if the
virgin soil be cut by a canal, its excavation will reveal no
ancient tomb; and if the ax effects a clearing in the primeval
forest, it will nowhere ring upon the foundations of an old world
palace. Africa is poorer in record history than can be imagined.
'Black Africa' is a continent which has no mystery, nor history!"
But now this view of Black Africa and its peoples so widespread and
well established a generation ago is being slowly dissipated and a new
and revolutionary view of the mysterious contents is building itself
in its stead. The facts and forces bringing about this great change
fall into three main classes; they are of an historical,
archaeological and ethnological character.
The real beginning of this change of opinion may be said to date from
the capture of the old African city of Benin by the British military
forces in the year 1897. The economic and political aspects of the
incident do not concern us here, but from an anthropological point of
view it proved to be one of the most important incidents of the
nineteenth century. For as Ling Roth,[2] the noted traveler and
ethnologist, has said, "the taking of Benin City opened up to us the
knowledge of the existence of hitherto unknown African craft, the
productions of which will hold their own among some of the best
specimens of antiquity of modern times."
Many of these objects of art were carried away from Benin by the
members of the invading expedition to Europe, where they created a
profound impression and astounding surprise in scientific circles
throughout the continent. C. H. Read, in a paper before the
Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, on the "Art of
Benin City," the year following their discovery, says: "It need
scarcely be said that at the first sight of these remarkable works of
art we were at once astounded at such an unexpected find."[3]
Just about this time, and continuing down to the present day, a number
of Oriental scholars began to bring out modern language translations
of the works of numerous Arab writers bearing upon African
history--chief among them being the works of El Bekri, Ibn Batuta and
Ibn Khaldoun. The most important, however, at least from one angle,
was a translation of the _Tarikh es Sudan_, or _The History of the
Sudan_, which is not the work of an Arab at all, but the joint work of
several Sudanese blacks. In its original form it was written both in
Arabic and in the Songhay languages. The book was translated into
French by M. Houdas, the eminent French professor of the Oriental
School of Languages of Paris.
"The book," says Lugard,[4] "is a wonderful document, the
narrative of which deals mainly with the modern history of the
Songhay Empire, relating the rise of this black civilization
there in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and its decadence
up to the middle of the seventeenth century.... But it is not
merely an authentic narrative. It is for the unconscious light
which it sheds upon the life, manners, politics and literature of
the country that it is valuable. Above all, it possesses the
crowning quality displayed usually in creative poetry alone, of
presenting a vivid mind picture of the character of the men with
whom it deals. It has been called the 'Epic of the Sudan.' It
lacks the charm of form, but in all else the description is well
merited. Its pages are a treasure house of information for the
careful student, and the volume may be read many times without
extracting from it more than a small part of all that it
contains."
Barth, who obtained some fragments of an Arabic copy when he was on
his way to Timbuctoo, goes so far as to say that the book forms "one
of the most important additions that the present age has made to the
history of mankind."[5] Like the unknown culture which the Benin
bronzes revealed, the translation of these documents brought to the
attention of the learned and academic circles of the Western World, in
a more available form, surprising accounts of the sometime existence
of powerful and age-old kingdoms and empires in the heart of Black
Africa, which hitherto had scarcely been suspected.
Following close upon this was the cursory but illuminating report of
_Une mission archeologique au Sudan francais_, headed by the
soldier-ethnologist, Lieutenant Louis Desplaynes. The report, _Le
Plateau Central Nigirien, Paris, 1907_, brought to Europe much
valuable information bearing upon the past cultures of the practically
unknown Nigerian plateau regions.
Passing over a few very important ethnological studies bearing for the
most part upon present-day cultures, we come last of all to what is in
the truest sense of the word the wonderful and astounding revelations
regarding the pre-historic culture of an ancient Negro race on the
West Coast of Africa. These revelations were brought to light as the
result of the publications by Leo Frobenius of his _Der Afrika Sprach_
in Berlin in 1913.[6] This was a popular account of the experiences
and findings of the German Inner African Exploration Expedition during
its travels in the Nigerian area for the years 1910-1912. As important
as are the ethnological and archaeological finds of this expedition,
which will be considered further on, one of its most significant
features was its bold advocacy and support of an idea which has been
hesitantly advanced in a few circles ever since the study of the Benin
bronzes and the Nubian monuments, namely, the existence of a genuinely
superior type of culture in Central Africa in pre-classical and
pre-Christian times.
Such, then, by way of introduction is the nature of the sources from
which comes the influence which is slowly and haltingly, yet surely,
bringing about the change in current opinion regarding "Black Africa"
as is evidenced by the timely but hitherto unsuccessful effort of
Harvard University to treat the records of the African peoples
scientifically in keeping with the standard set in the first volume of
the _Varia Africana_. This paper, however, as may be inferred from its
title, does not undertake to survey the facts covering the whole
field, but restricts itself to materials of a more or less
archaeological character, that is, to the architecture, tombs and the
arts and crafts of a small section of this ancient land.
There are two reasons for approaching this whole subject in this way.
First, the materials and facts herewith considered are in the main of
a tangible and undisputed character; and, secondly, it is the study of
architecture and the arts and crafts of this particular locality that
has been the premier force in changing the old opinion of the world
towards Africa. Let us then turn now for a somewhat detailed study of
these materials.
As has been said in the introduction, it was the revelation incident
to the taking of Benin by the British that marks the real beginning of
a serious and scientific interest in the past cultures of Central
Africa. The incident started a movement of both a forward and a
backward reach. On the one hand, it led to subsequent searchings which
ultimately resulted in the finding of additional evidences of culture
in that territory, as well as to a reconsideration of the value of the
reports of the travelers and adventurers on the West Coast from the
fifteenth century on.[7] The combined result has been the bringing to
light of objects and evidences of achievement which place the ancient
and medieval African on a plane with, and in many cases above, his
contemporaries in Europe and America.
The reports of earlier adventurers and travelers in the Benin
territory previous to the British conquest gave us pictures of towns
and buildings which, all things considered, are of no mean order, and
which reflect the existence of a social and cultural development of a
very long standing. The earliest recorded description of Benin City,
according to Ling Roth,[8] is that of an old Dutch chronicler who
wrote as "D. R." and whose works first appeared in Germany in 1604.
His description is as follows:
"At first the town seems very large; when one enters it one comes
at once into a broad street which appears to be seven or eight
times broader than the Warme street in Amsterdam; this extends
straight out, and when one has walked a quarter of an hour along
it, he still does not see the end of the street.... At the gate
at which one enters there is a very high bulwark, very thick and
strongly made, with a very deep, broad ditch, but it was dry and
full of high trees. This ditch extends a good way, but we do not
know whether it extends around the town or not. That gate is a
well-made gate, made of wood, to be shut according to their
methods, and watch is always kept there. Outside this gate there
is a large suburb.... One sees a great many lanes and streets on
both sides, which also extend far and straight, but one can not
see the end of them on account of their great extent.
"The houses in this town stand in good order, one close to the
other, like houses in Holland. Houses in which well-to-do people,
such as gentlemen, dwell, have two or three steps to go up, and
in front have an ante-court where one may sit, which court or
gallery is cleaned every morning by their servants, and straw
mats spread for sitting on. Their rooms or apartments with (the
court) are four square, having a roof all round, which, however,
does not join in the middle, but is left open, so that the wind,
rain and daylight may enter. In these houses they live and eat,
but they have specially built little houses for cooking, as well
as other huts and rooms.... The king's court is very large, being
many square places within, surrounded by courts wherein watch is
always kept. This king's court is so large that the end is not to
be seen, and when one thinks he has come to the end, one sees
through a gateway other places or courts, and one sees many, many
stables."
Another description of Benin which seems to corroborate this former
description, and which was itself substantiated by later and more
recent reports, appeared in a book[9] published by one Dapper, a
Dutchman, in Amsterdam in 1668. It seems that Dapper himself was never
at Benin, but received most of his information about the country from
the writings of a Sam Blomert, who, Dapper says, lived for many years
in Africa.[10] As Ling Roth points out, subsequent reports and the
recent finds seem to bear out the truth of his account.
According to Dapper,
"the town comprising the queen's court is about five or six
[Dutch] miles in circumference, or, leaving out the court, three
miles inside the gates. It is protected at one side by a wall ten
feet high, made of double stockades of big trees tied to each
other by cross beams, fastened crosswise and stuffed up with red
clay solidly put together.... The town possesses several gates,
eight or nine feet in height, and five feet in width, with doors
made of a single piece of timber hanging, or turning on a peg
like the peasants' fences here in this country. [Holland.]
"The king's court is square and stands at the right-hand side as
one enters the town by the gate of Gotton, and is certainly as
large as the town of Harlem, and entirely surrounded by a special
wall like that which encircles the town. It is divided into many
magnificent palaces, houses and apartments for courtiers and
comprises beautiful long and square galleries about as large as
the Exchange at Amsterdam, but one larger than another, resting
on wooden pillars from top to bottom, covered with cast copper on
which are engraved the pictures of their war exploits and
battles, and are kept very clean. Most palaces and houses are
covered with palm leaves instead of square pieces of wood
[shingles], and every roof is decorated with a small turret,
ending in a small point on which birds are standing, these birds
being cast in copper, and having outspread wings cleverly made
after living models.
"The town has thirty very straight and broad streets, each of
them about one hundred and twenty feet wide or about as wide as
the Heeren or Keezersgracht [canals] at Amsterdam from one row of
houses to the other, from which branch out many side streets,
also broad, but less so than the main streets.
"The houses are built alongside the street in good order, the one
close to the other as here in this country [Holland], adorned
with gables and steps and roofs made of palm or banana leaves, or
leaves from other trees; they are not higher than a 'stadie,' but
usually broad with long galleries inside, especially so in the
case of the houses of the nobility, and divided into many rooms,
which are separated by walls made of red clay, very well erected,
and they can make and keep them as shiny and smooth by washing
and rubbing as any wall in Holland can be made with chalk, and
they are like mirrors. The upper storys are made of the same sort
of clay; moreover, every house is provided with a well for a
supply of fresh water."
Before going any further with this description, it may be well to
state that the description of the nature and character of the finish
of the walls given here is substantiated by accounts of travelers in
these parts as late as the end of the nineteenth century. Captain
Boisragon, one of the two survivors of the ill-fated white expedition
to Benin in 1897, in comparing the houses of Benin with those of
another nearby city, says that "the chief of Gwatto's house was very
much superior; the walls, which were very thick, being polished till
they were nearly as smooth and shiny as glass."[11] Mr. Cyrl Punch,
who traveled in Yorubaland in the eighties of the nineteenth century,
gives us a hint of the widespread practice of this sort of wall
polishing even so late as forty-five years ago, and furnishes us with
a very interesting account of how the polished effect was produced.
"For giving a high polish to the clay walls in Yorubaland," says
Punch, "the leaves of the _Moringa pterygosperinia_ are mashed up and
rubbed over the clay." Of a certain house in the town Brohemi he
continues to say that "the walls were better polished than any in
Benin. They were like marble."[12]
In comparing the earlier descriptions of Benin and other African
cities in this general area with the descriptions of later writers, an
important fact stands out, namely, that these cities had already
reached their highest point of development before the coming of the
white man; for in a description of Benin by another Dutchman,
Nyendall, which appeared in 1704, we read the following: "Formerly the
buildings in this village were very thick and very close together, and
in a manner it was over-populated, which is yet visible from the ruins
of the half remaining houses; but at present the houses stand like
poor men's corn, widely apart from each other." His description
otherwise is very similar to those previously given, yet his account
does bring out an additional point which is worthy of note, namely,
the reason for the use of clay in building. "The houses are large and
handsome," he writes, "with clay walls; for there is not a stone in
the whole country as large as a man's fist."[13] In the same
connection, Legraing, who visited Benin in 1787, also hints at the
reason for the extensive use of clay and wood as the principal
structural materials. Around Benin, according to this observer, "the
vestiges of an old earthen wall are still to be seen; the wall could
hardly have been built of any other material, as we did not see a
single stone in the whole journey up."[14]
The recent reports by Leo Frobenius on his findings further up into
the interior, aside from giving us a picture of present-day conditions
of cities which he believes to date back to pre-classical and
pre-Christian times, also show the absence or scarcity of durable
producing materials. But, most important of all, the report indicates
the grandeur of African cities in ancient times. In discussing the
buildings in the present-day city of Ilife, which he believes was the
capital or center of an ancient African theocracy, he says: "There can
be no doubt that the entire plan and style of architecture gives the
city of Ilife a pleasantly dignified character. If, however, I am to
summarize all the life and activities of this city of palms and
divinities, I cannot, indeed, speak of anything great and sublime,
because that lies buried too deep beneath the soil and debris of
centuries, yet I can say that it has a dreamy respectability."
But speaking specifically upon the building which now serves as the
palace of the great religious headman of Yorubaland, he says: "The
edifice rests upon foundations not of sun dried, but of fine burnt
brick." Taken as a whole, the present-day structure conveys "the
impression of grandeur in decay." "Such," he says, "is a sketch of the
city whose effect is heightened by the noble ruins of the palace of
this Holiness and the consciousness of its traditional past."[15]
We may now turn for a brief consideration of those strange and most
interesting structures of the Sudan, the tombs of their ancient dead.
All through the Sudan, and especially in Nigeria, are to be found
great conical dome-shaped structures of baked clay ranging in size
from sixteen feet in height and sixty-six feet in basal diameter to
seventy feet in height and two hundred and twenty feet in basal
diameter.[15a] These structures were first mentioned by Lieutenant
Louis Desplaynes in his report of _Une Mission archeologique au Sudan
francais_,[16] but the first close study of these tombs was made by
Frobenius in 1911. Frobenius tells us that these tombs are of three
main types: first, a small size; second, an intermediate size; and
third, a large size. This last type, he tells us, was an extraordinary
large construction, averaging about seventy feet in height and six
hundred and fifty to seven hundred feet in basal circumference. The
external structure is connected with an underground structure composed
of a number of subterranean chambers and compartments, extending in
every direction of the compass, sufficient to accommodate the remains
of a great number of notables and royal personages.
Frobenius states, regarding one of these subterranean chambers which
he explored, that it contained a dome which was paneled and
strengthened with wood from the borassus palm and the whole plastered
with a sort of prepared clay.[17] Frobenius also believes that the
external parts of the tombs, that is, the mound proper--was made layer
by layer. Each layer of clay was first thoroughly worked, moulded, and
baked. This process was repeated time and time again, until the mound
was completed.
The veteran Egyptologist, Flinders Petrie, in the great mass of
evidence adduced by him to show the African origin of the spirit and
substratum of early dynastic Egyptian culture, points out that there
is a very close connection between the subterranean structures of
these tombs and many of those of the Egyptian pyramids, the inference
being that the idea of the pyramids very probably had its origin in
Central Africa.
As interesting and important as are these structures in this
connection, they, like those previously mentioned and those yet to be
described, are of interest in another direction; they bespeak the
sometime existence here of a mighty people with a glorious past, now
lying sleeping within the bosom of the earth, the silent witnesses of
a world that has perished.
Beginning about three hundred years ago, and going back to an unknown
period, it is evident from the above comments and extracts that the
cultural life of the Negro on the West Coast of Africa, especially
from the point of view of his architectural and tomb-building
proclivities, was of a much higher type than anything he has produced
since his contact with the European during the last four hundred
years. The quality and quantity of work accomplished by these ancient
black builders is especially notable when it is remembered that the
type of material which they were forced to use, and the climatic
conditions surrounding them, were of a most discouraging sort. The
manner in which these very serious difficulties were overcome is
itself a durable testimony of the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the
African builder and craftsman of earlier days. One can hardly avoid
the speculation of what might have been the nature of their
accomplishments, had they been provided with a more suitable and
durable building material.
The more we study the cultural products of these people, the more
pregnant such a speculation becomes; for in those fields of endeavor
where they were less handicapped, or better, perhaps, where they were
in a better position to overcome the destroying influence of the
climate and the lack of suitable structural materials, we find the
African artisan and the craftsman producing a wealth of objects of art
of a very superior type. Some of these objects are notable not only in
that they are of a superior type judged according to the standards of
a so-called primitive art, but they compare, so far as technique and
artistic qualities are concerned, very favorably with much of the best
of ancient civilized art. The last generation has brought to light
evidence which shows that the Negroes of the West Coast of Africa were
producing hundreds and even perhaps thousands of years ago objects of
art which, from the point of view of technique and artistic
perfection, equal some of the best works of the ancient Greeks and
Romans, and compares favorably with the best masterpieces of the
Solons of the Italian Rennaissance.
As was above stated, it has been the study of the technique,
originality and artistic qualities as expressed in these recently
found and comparatively little known African objects that has been the
premier force in producing the change of opinion regarding the
capabilities of African folk and the cultural history of the great
continent. In this connection, however, it is perhaps well again to
remind one of the fact that this change of opinion is not yet public
in its scope, but is rather restricted to academic and especially to
anthropological circles.
For the sake of clearness, the whole collection of African arts and
crafts may be classified under three main heads, namely, carved works,
glass and porcelain objects, including terra cottas, and metal
castings. It will, of course, be impossible to treat exhaustively of
the objects in any one of these fields. A considerable amount of
selection will, therefore, be necessary; and in the interest of
fairness it may be stated at the outset that the treatment and
descriptions for the most part will be of the finest and best
specimens so far obtained. In doing this, of course, we follow the
general and most usual method of those engaged in making cultural
studies. There is, however, an additional and very special reason for
such a procedure in this case. It is the opinion of Dalton, Read, Ling
Roth and Frobenius--perhaps the leading authorities on the whole
subject--that the best objects are likewise the oldest objects; and
since this purports to be a study of the ancient and medieval
cultures, our purpose in following the above method of selection is
doubly clear.
Among the large number of carved works discovered at Benin by the
British Punitive Expedition are a large number of huge and splendidly
carved elephant tusks. These objects have been carefully studied by
Ling Roth, and the following is an abbreviation of his description of
them:[18]
"The tusks vary in length up to six feet and over, and are in
themselves magnificent specimens of ivory, speaking eloquently of
the peaceful life which the elephants must once have lived, in
order to produce such tusks. The ornamentation to which the large
tusks have been subjected while preserving their form is in two
grades: the one is severely plain, and the other extremely ornate
and decorative in effect. The former consists of a series of
three to five incised bands of a plait pattern, a design very
common in West Africa, placed at intervals, the bands
diminishing in width as they approach the tip of the tusk. The
embellishment is consequently plain, but elegant, and does not
call for further remark.
"The other grade consists in covering the whole tusk with a
succession of boldly carved grotesque figures--human, animal, and
symbolic--giving the tusk a rich embroidered-like look, the thick
ends being finished off with a suitable diamond pattern belt and
the tip finished with an equally appropriate series of carvings
in the shape of a mascle studded foolscap, or a capsule supported
by elongated cowries. The back appears to be cut to a uniform
depth, and in spite of the multiplicity of figures there is
neither overcrowding nor overloading."
There is another piece of carved ivory which appears to Ling Roth to
be a piece of symbolic sculpture and which was probably used as a
scepter. Roth says of this:
"The execution of the detail is rough--more rugged perhaps than
the carved tusks--nevertheless there is considerable originality
of design, and it is especially remarkable as showing an earlier
stage of the application of hammered metal to carved work."[19]
Among the carved works in ivory are many splendidly carved armlets.
Ling Roth gives a description of one which is particularly interesting
as showing the ingenuity of the Negro artisan.
"While at first sight it appears to depict only one carved
armlet, it is really two armlets, one being carved inside the
other out of the same piece of ivory with only the space of a
knife-blade thickness between them. When moved, the two armlets
rattle against each other. The ornamentation consists of four
figures: a king or chief belonging to the outer armlet, and four
sets of two hands placed between the human figures belonging to
the inner armlet. The whole shows skill and ingenuity on the part
of the artist who planned this difficult piece of work, so
remarkable from a technical point of view. But although the
beauty of design is not its chief attraction, it is nevertheless
a piece of work which can not fail to be admired from the
artistic standpoint also."
Another object of interest described by Ling Roth is a highly ornate
fragment on an article which originally had the shape of a brass
sistrum, consisting of two bell forms, a large and a small one,
grafted onto one handle. Its delicate treatment is described as
differing somewhat from the rugged workmanship of the objects above
described, but it is said to err in its excessive elaboration.
"Yet there are good points," says Roth, "such as the blending of
the two bell forms into the common handle, the happy tapering of
the ornamentation into the Normian bird's beak; the increasing
size of the side cups as they rise to correspond to the enlarged
opening of the bell form; the truthfulness to nature in an
essential like the bust of the Negro, all of which betoken a fair
amount of artistic feeling. The craftsman who probably designed
execution of the smallest detail."[20]
It is the opinion of collectors that there existed in Benin at one
time a very large amount of carved objects in wood, but,
unfortunately, most of these must have been destroyed when the British
burned the city in 1897. Very little of such work, therefore, has
survived. What it may have been like cannot be definitely said, yet
some hint might be gained from a few specimens that escaped the fire,
though these specimens are probably modern in their execution.
One such object is a wooden casket in the form of a bullock's head,
with two hands jutting out of the forehead and grasping the horns of
the animal. The casket is supported by a pedestal of appropriate size
and is decorated to represent cowries. "The ears of the bullock's head
are covered with embossed brass work, and there are strips of brass of
scroll pattern running down the bullock's face and fastened on with
small brass staples."[21]
In this connection it might be mentioned that there are some carved
coconut shell in which the Negro carver often expressed his ingenuity.
These represent in their carving a varied number of forms, including
human beings, animals and plants. The interest in these carvings, as
Roth tells us, "lies in their demonstration of the adaptability of the
native to perform creditably on a material very different from ivory.
Fair ingenuity is displayed in the manner in which the figures are
grouped on a confined surface without overcrowding. In fact, the
feature of the work is the careful distribution and general freedom of
treatment. The details of the carvings are throughout in low relief,
remarkably clean and neat and of a uniform depth."[22]
So far no carved objects in stone, granite, marble, or the like, have
come to view in the immediate Benin territory. This, of course, is
natural enough when it is remembered, as has been pointed out, that
there are no such materials to be found in the country. In 1911,
however, Leo Frobenius discovered in his excavations of Ilife, a few
hundred miles farther back in the interior, a number of carved stone
objects which are interesting from several points of view. In the
first place, might be considered the circumstance and position in
which these objects were found. Many of these objects were dug up out
of the earth at a depth of from eighteen to twenty feet, but several
were found set up in tombs and isolated spots in the African forest.
These forests are described by Frobenius as being sacred groves where
the present-day natives worship their gods. Frobenius testifies that
there were an extraordinary number and variety of these stone figures,
and that they represent very different periods. Some show a coarse
type of workmanship, but others represent a very superior grade of
work. The following is, in the main, Frobenius's description of these
objects:
"When, on leaving the main road, we arrived at the first small
palm plantation, a group of quite coarse little stone pillars
about waist high came into view. They are angular, roundish, and
at all events roughly hewn or chipped off, absolutely bare of any
detail. Going forward we came to another, rather more to the
left. Here there is a wilderness of weeds, a mass of roof battens
and the straw of a collapsed thatch, surmounted by a few stakes
and climbers amidst which rises a stone image. This is about
thirty-two inches high, roughly executed and defaced. It has one
chain around its neck and another hangs over an apron skirt down
to the hands folded over the stomach. On its left side it has a
peculiar hanger, something like the tassels of a Houssa
sword."[23]
In another nearby spot he describes the find of a smaller statue:
"When I first made its acquaintance," he writes, "it was housed
in a badly damaged little hut whose thatch almost hid it. It is a
granite figure about thirty-six inches high above ground level. I
could not find out whether its feet were covered by the earth. It
is exactly like the other figure, with the hands over the belly,
aproned and ornately tasseled on its left. It has armlets and a
ruff-like ornament round its neck. The interesting part of the
statuette is most decidedly its head, which had been knocked off
and only insecurely replaced, when I first set eyes on it. The
thick-lipped, broad-nosed face is negroid in type.... The
treatment of the hair in this granite head is especially of the
very greatest interest. The hair is represented by little iron
pegs inserted in small holes; here, for the first time, we come
upon this singular use of iron, which metal, as we shall see,
played a quite extraordinary part in the realm of Ilifian
antiquities."[24]
Under these same circumstances, he continues,
"a group of all kinds of well-preserved relics is met with in a
carelessly constructed hut in the fourth and last enclosure.
Symmetrically placed there is a stone crocodile to the right and
left in front of a stone block artificially rounded and set on
end. These vary but little in shape between a drop and an egg or
onion, always inclining toward the first, so that I would like to
call them 'drop stones,' ... before such of these drop stones,
the more oval of which is twenty-four, and the more conical one
nineteen and a quarter inches high, there is a crocodile. The
larger and better finished of the two is twenty-four and three
eighths and the other twenty-one and a quarter inches long."[25]
Frobenius further states that he had seen several other similar
objects, made both of quartz granite and of other kinds of stone. In
another sacred grove he reports finding several other very interesting
stone objects:
"Here within a small space surrounded by a low wall there is a
ring of holy stones," he writes, "some of them very valuable.
Firstly, there is a twenty-nine and a half inch long sandstone
block of no very remarkable general aspect, weather-worn and
abraded, but ending in a jagged crowned head of some such animal
as a fish. The second is a block of quartz, like the drum of a
column, damaged in places by exposure, but still recognizable as
a fine piece of antique work."
Finally, we come to what Frobenius calls the stone "stools," of which
"there are quite a number." According to Frobenius, these stools very
much resemble the stools made and used by the present-day Negroes and
remind one of "negro stools with carriers." He says further:
"These are stumpy columns from fourteen to twenty-four inches
high. Sometimes the flat surfaces have a ring between them and
sometimes not. Both quartz and granite examples are characterized
by extraordinary uniformity of shape and surface polish. Their
single handles at the side, mostly broken off, is the strangest
part."
Frobenius comments especially upon the tendency of these objects to
"monumental form." In this connection he says:
"Following the lines of everything taught us in the development
of historical art, I can not well help drawing the inference that
this idea of working in stone was introduced by a people who felt
themselves impelled to monumental expression."[26]
The origin and variety of these carved objects in stone offer us a
very interesting point, yet one may reasonably infer from his other
statements that here in the Ilife, as in the Benin region, granite,
quartz and hard stone materials are in their natural state very, very
limited, if not altogether absent. Like Benin, Ilife is in the Niger
delta region, and, as Frobenius points, is of rather a swampy
character. It is a geological fact that hard stone in any quantity is
seldom to be found in such regions. In addition to this, Frobenius, as
was pointed out above, states that the foundations of the ancient
buildings are of burnt brick rather than sun-dried brick or stone. It
is very reasonable to suppose that hard stone, had it been in any way
common to this area, would certainly have been used for building
operations. One seems more or less justified in concluding, then, that
the materials out of which the above-described objects were made were
not of local origin. This circumstance is very important, for it seems
to indicate that either these materials were imported from a distance
and fashioned on the spot or else they were imported already in their
finished form. If the first view be accepted, it would seem in a
measure to account, on the one hand, for the obvious lack of skill on
the part of the African artist as expressed in the archaic human and
animal forms; but, on the other hand, it would, as is seen in the case
of the "stools" mentioned above, seem to indicate a rather remarkable
liberty and grace on the part of the Negro artist, implying his
ability to become a master even when working with a comparatively
unfamiliar material. For as Frobenius says, "the dexterity acquired in
treating quartz and granite is very considerable. There is a quantity
of eminently beautiful examples of such skill in this country."[27]
If we accept the latter view, namely, that the objects were imported
ready made, it would seem to indicate that there must have been a
rather extensive trade with some other Negro folk having a rather
advanced form of culture, for it is obviously apparent from the
distinctively Negro features of the statuettes and the undoubted Negro
influence as expressed in the style of the "stools" that these objects
must have been the products of a Negro people. A slight hint for such
an origin may be gleaned from the finding by Frobenius of the handle
of an antique cup, of which he testifies that the carved figure
thereon resembles very much the effigy of the Ethiopian or Nubian god
Bes,[28] and which, according to Budge,[29] is held to have been of
Sudanese origin.
Such, then, is an abbreviated account of the carved works which during
the last generation have been discovered to have been produced by
black folk on the West Coast of Africa in ancient and medieval times.
We shall next turn for a brief consideration to the glass and
porcelain objects, including terra cottas. So far as can be
determined, very little or no work of importance which can be classed
under this head had come from the Benin country. By stretching the
category, however, one might include under this head the finely
polished marble-like walls which have been described in connection
with the houses of the Benin territory. One might also include under
this head the benches which were seen in the Benin houses in former
times. The typical character of these benches may be noted from the
brief description given by Captain Jas. Fawckner,[30] who visited the
country in 1825. After describing the houses, he says that "in the
center is a bench formed of brown clay, which by frequent rubbing with
a piece of coconut shell and wet cloths has received a polish, and,
when dry, looks like marble."
A few hundred miles to the West, in the Gold Coast region, is the home
of the famous "aggry" beads. These beads, the manufacture of which is
now a lost art, were found in the possession of natives by the
earliest European explorers.[31] The beads are of two kinds, a plain
type and a variegated. "The plain aggry beads," say Bowdich, who made
a careful study of them, "are blue, yellow, green or a dull red; the
variegated consist of many colors and shades; the variegated strata of
the aggry bead are so firmly united and so imperceptibly blended that
the perfection seems superior to art. Some resemble mosaic work; the
surface of others is covered with flowers and regular patterns so very
minute and the shades so delicately softened one into the other and
into the ground of the bead that nothing but the finest touch of the
pen could equal them. The agate parts disclose flowers and patterns
deep in the body of the bead and thin shafts of opaque colors running
from the center to the surface. The coloring matter of the blue bead
has been proved by experiment to be iron; that of the yellow, without
doubt, is lead and antimony, with a trifling quantity of copper,
though this latter is not essential to the production of the color.
The generality of these beads appears to be produced from clays
colored in thin layers, afterwards twisted together into a spiral
form, and then cut across; also from different colored clays raked
together without blending. How the flowers and delicate patterns on
the body and on the surface of the rarer beads have been produced
cannot be so well explained."[32]
In the earlier days, when much less was known of the technical and
artistic ability of the African, the origin of these beads was quite a
problem. The fact that similar beads were sometimes found in tombs in
North Africa and in the graves and tombs of ancient Egypt and India
led some to suppose them of probable Phoenician origin. Such a theory
implies the existence of a rather extensive trade between the ancient
Phoenicians and the ancient Africans of the West Coast. This may have
been the case, for from Herodotus, and from the fragments of Hanno
from the Temple of Milcarth in Carthage, we learn that frequent
voyages were made beyond the Straits of Gibraltar and to the Gold
Coast hundreds of years before Christ by Phoenicians as well as the
Egyptians. This theory would, however, imply an act of conservation
and preservation of minute objects over a period of thousands of years
on the part of African "savages," which, to say the least, would be
very remarkable. It is likely, in the light of recent research upon
the subject, that the Phoenician theory will have to be made with
caution; for, as will be pointed out, there is now available much
evidence which seems to indicate that these beads were of indigenous
African origin.
Further up in the interior of the Ilifian region a number of important
glass objects have been found. Frobenius, commenting on the find of
this character made as a result of his excavation in the neighborhood
of the ancient "Holy City," testifies that "these furnish proof that
at some remote era glass was made and moulded in this very land, and
that the nation which here of old held rule was brilliant exponents of
apt dexterity in the production of terra cotta images."[33] The spot
where the objects were excavated is "located about a mile or more to
the north of Ilife and undoubtedly marks the impression of an ancient
cemetery." It is located today in what is a vast forest, and "is about
half a mile broad, did hide and still in fact hides quite unique
treasure." Frobenius in describing the excavations here, planned by
himself and executed under the direction of Martins, the engineer of
the expedition, gives the following account:
"We went down some eighteen feet or so, near the ground water,
and can report as follows, viz., the top layer consisted of about
two and a half feet of extraordinary hard and compacted soil.
Even in this we turned up several glazed potsherds.... At about
six and a half feet we found pottery. But the actual adit
averaged about eighteen feet below the surface. For we came upon
charcoal and ash heaps at this depth. This thoroughly verified
the native statements as to the finding of either pearl jars or
ashes so far down.[34] The old excavations made by the
inhabitants reached from twelve to twenty-four feet or
thereabouts."
Frobenius, in describing the objects discovered by this expedition,
says: "The substance of the pots is a sort of cement or stoneware.
They are from fourteen to twenty four inches high and from three and
three quarters to sixteen inches in diameter; they are generally
uniform. The aperture is at the under and upper ends of the walls from
about three quarters to one and a quarter inches thick. The upper of
these portions is covered with an irregular glaze, varying from one
thirty sixth to one eighteenth of an inch thick inside. They were
similarly glazed outside as the edges proved, but this has perished. A
convexly carved plate or cupola in which there are three or four holes
for finger holds seem to have been lids. Inside the pots are glass
beads, rings, irregular bits of glass tubing, and always at the bottom
a mass of fused bits of glass from one eighth to one quarter of an
inch in depth. The colors of the beads and the glaze on the jars vary
from light green, greenish white, dark red, brown and blue."
Frobenius, commenting upon these finds, concludes that "the great mass
of potsherds, lumps of glass, heaps of slag, etc., which we found
proves at all events that the glass industry flourished in this
locality in ages past. It is plain that the glass beads found to have
been so common in Africa were not imported, but were actually
manufactured in great quantities at home."[35]
In addition to these objects of stoneware and glass, there were a
large variety of terra cotta objects which range from the "simplest
little pots and saucers to the most artistic shapes and portraits." To
appreciate the real significance of these objects in view of the
inability to see the originals themselves, one should make a special
effort to see the drawings and photographs of these objects as
contained in Frobenius's _Der Afrika Sprach_, or its English
translation, _The Voice of Africa_. Accompanying these illustrations
there are a few brief descriptions of the more important objects.
There is, for instance, "a specimen which seems to be the mouth or
collar of an urn. On its inner edge there is a mouth below, an ear on
either side, and a pair of eyes.... It looks as if this might have
been a portion of a tube which might have been put over a grave,
through which offerings might have been made to the dead beneath."[36]
This explanation for the original purpose of this object is very
plausible, as a study of the burial customs of various parts of Africa
will show.
Frobenius is of the opinion that the dress of these ancient peoples
"must have been very rich and handsome." A terra cotta truss brought
to light by these excavations is described as showing a "noteworthy
completeness. In the holes scattered on the breast plate and shoulder
piece there were formerly inserted metal or iron pegs as ornaments.
The end of the garment which is thrown over the shoulder is patterned
like the old textures,"[37] which Frobenius believed had reached a
very high degree of development. "Among our terra cottas," continues
Frobenius, "some may have served as pedestals for the heads or busts."
He describes a peculiar "fragment belonging possibly to some sort of
vessel; on one side is seen an owl, whose hooked beak is badly
damaged; on the other a complete figure holding a weapon." Like the
beautifully carved stone handle mentioned above, Frobenius testifies
that this object also resembles the ancient Sudanese and Ethiopian god
Bes,[37a] and hints of an ancient connection between these two
countries.
Another object, not dug up in the cemetery, but in the town of Ilife
proper, is a "fired," square thin plaque showing a crocodile in the
shape of the letter S, so shaped that it seems to finish in a tightly
bound head. The details are not easily seen, but the position of the
legs seems to indicate that the beast is bound there with cords and is
meant to seem fastened to the surface, with a sort of hood over the
eyes ending in a string work and tassels as if in a cunningly made
basket. Frobenius and his associates were of the opinion that this
object is that of a tile which in ages past formed part of the
decorative design of one of the ancient buildings.[38]
Passing over a list of similar objects, we finally come to the
world-famed terra cotta heads. Like the other terra cotta objects,
these are fully illustrated in the above-named work. They are of
"infinite variety" and "every observer may well see that they are
patently portraits." They represent many varieties of Central
Africans, from the restricted minority group of prognathous
flat-nosed, thick-lipped type of the coast to the more delicate and
sharper featured types to which the majority of Africans belong. In
other words, these terra cottas represent almost every African type
suggesting, therefore, a civil life very cosmopolitan in character and
the probable existence of a _jus commercii_ as well as a _jus
connubii_, which in turn argues well for the existence of a demogenic
form of association of a very great age. Frobenius testifies that
these heads are of "great beauty and amazing to those who inspect
them." Commenting upon these terra cottas in general, he says: "I do
not think that there can be the least doubt but that we are faced with
a local form of art whose perfection is absolutely astounding," and
commenting upon one particular head which he calls _mia_ after the
native term for it, he concludes that it "must be regarded as the most
important object hitherto found on African ground and as the finest
work of art so far discovered outside the narrow Nile valley, on the
further side of the old Roman jurisdiction."[39]
We may now turn for a brief study of what is beyond all doubt the most
important division of the whole group of African arts and crafts--the
metal castings. As was mentioned in the Introduction, the conquest of
the city of Benin by the British in 1897 opened up to the knowledge of
the white world a hitherto unknown field of Negro art, "the
productions of which," according to Ling Roth, "will hold their own
among some of the finest specimens of antiquity or modern times."[40]
The excavations of Frobenius's expedition discovered in the heart of
this part of Negro-land, aside from the terra cottas already
described, metal works which are characterized as being "indeed like
the finest Roman examples."[41]
The amount and variety of these works are tremendous and they have
been carefully studied and reported upon by various writers. The
following extracts, taken from the most noted among them, will give
some idea of the nature and character of these objects. The chief
feature of the personal ornaments, according to Ling Roth, is their
variety. Another feature is their play upon patterns. For example, the
same pattern which is seen in one bracelet is so adapted and reduced
in another as to produce a very different effect. Spirals as a basis
of design are not uncommon. "And they are often so twisted and
interwoven that they produce quite a novel effect." Some of the
bracelets are furnished with studs set with agate or coral. Some
gold-plated ornaments have been found, among them a "bracelet formed
by a double-headed snake grasping between its jaws a decapitated human
head and a snake about four inches long." Ling Roth, commenting upon
the workmanship of these smaller objects, says that generally speaking
it is good, but "it is not as a rule equal to that of the large Benin
metal workings; this is no doubt due to the greater difficulty
presented by the smaller surfaces on which the artisans have had to
work."[42]
Speaking of what he calls a curious class of objects, namely, the long
armlets and leglets "so fashionable in West Africa," Ling Roth
declares them to be "elegantly finished productions and good examples
of Benin art.... They are provided with loops for hawk bills, which
turn up everywhere in unexpected places through Benin metal work." In
describing one such bracelet, which, however, is of modern make, he
says that it is "interesting as exhibiting a conventionalized
leopard's face on the top, as well as a European's face on the bottom,
likewise developing into a form of ornament ... the fertility in
design is in all of these forms manifest indeed; it is a feature in
the art of Benin natives which any of our jewelers might do well to
copy."[43]
Passing to a consideration of some of the larger forms of metal
casting, we have the following description by Ling Roth of a bronze
vase "whose ornamentation consists of four mask-like faces in high
relief, two plain and two ribbed, set alternately; above each of the
ribbed masks there is a flat spiral on which rests an ornamental
triangle on its apex. Between the heads are placed bands of very plain
guilloche, each band consisting of alternate three or four rows each,
above and below concentric circles of imitation (coral?) bead work,
all in low relief, and helping to fill in the ground. The whole
arrangement forms a combination of decidedly artistic effect. There is
no enchasing or punching of any sort, nor is there much ornamentation,
but what ornamentation there is, is designed in such a spirited manner
as to produce a result which hardly can be surpassed by Europeans at
the present day."[44]
As another example of this same sort of thing, we may take the
description of another object, a curious metal casket brought to
Europe by a member of the Punitive Expedition. In design, according to
Ling Roth, this casket "is bold and artistic; the high relief of the
bizarre face and the zigzag conventionalized serpents and tadpoles
being well thrown up by enchasing of the ground work. The proportions
are all good, and this is especially the case with an enchasing of the
enclosed lines." Ling Roth says that the relief portions are somewhat
roughly cast, and the enchasing sometimes irregular, but, "on the
other hand," he continues, "the great variety of objects exhibited
without any over-crowding, the general grouping, the tones background,
the real beauty" of the major portion of the design show that the
artist was "a man of considerable taste, judged not only as a Negro,
but as a man of culture."[45]
Another object which Ling Roth mentions as being especially remarkable
for its technique is that which he has ventured to call a _sistrum_.
It consists of what appears to be two brass bell bodies, a larger and
a smaller welded together at the tapering ends. On the face of the
larger bell is represented the now well-known group of a king or chief
with a sort of Persian head-dress, with a harpoon-like projection at
the top. He is supported on both sides by similarly dressed
individuals; somewhat above the level of his head the chief is flanked
by two tablets, each upheld by a hand emerging from the background.
The background is enchased with an elegant foliated design somewhat
Bornean in character. The back of the bell, with a few exceptions, has
a similar relief. After describing the smaller bell, which is of a
somewhat different character, Ling Roth concluded with these rather
significant remarks:
"Taken as a whole the _Sistrum_ is an elegant piece of
workmanship. The thoroughness of the details of execution is
worthy of the Japanese, even the inaccessible and almost hidden
portion of the smaller bell being enchased with a pattern."[46]
As excellent as are these types of castings, the finest works of these
Negro sculptors were achieved, not in works of this character, but,
according to critics like Dalton, Read, and Ling Roth, rather in works
that are done in the round.[47] Dalton, speaking of a bronze head of a
Negro girl now in the British Museum, declares it to be "the most
artistic and perfect of all the castings in the round." Ling Roth,
speaking of the same head, declares it to be the "finest piece of cast
bronze art obtained from Benin."
A find by Frobenius during his excavations at Ilife seems to support
these conclusions. For of all the objects found by him at that site,
his most important discovery he declares to be a bronze head, which he
thinks is that of an ancient African god. The head wears a diadem with
a staff. From the very tip of the diadem staff to the chin the object
measures thirty-one and a quarter inches. "It is cast in what we call
_cere perdue_, or hollow cast, and is indeed finely chased, suggesting
the finest Roman examples. The setting of the lips, the shape of the
ears, the contour of the face, all prove, if separately examined, the
perfection of a work of true art, which the whole of it obviously
is."[48]
Some attention may now be given to the method by which these objects
were made and to the question of their age and origin. In a report
before the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland in
February, 1898,[49] Mr. C. H. Read and Mr. O. M. Dalton described
these objects as having been cast in moulds. They testified as to the
difficulties attendant upon such methods in sculpture, announcing that
they had "been overcome with the certainty and skill which only long
practice of a familiar art could produce. This alone goes to prove
that at whatever period the objects were made they were produced by a
people long acquainted with the art of casting metals."[50]
Their report continues: "The method by which the objects were produced
can only be that known as _cere perdue_ process. By no other is it
conceivable that so much extravagant relief and elaborately undercut
detail could be represented with success. The process may be described
in a very few words. The model is first made in wax, and every part of
its surface is then covered with fine clay; the whole work is then
hidden in a mass of clay. An outlet is then made for the wax to
escape, and the mass is then heated until the wax has melted out,
leaving, of course, a mould of exactly the design of the wax in the
original state. The metal is then poured in and fills every hollow
space left by the wax." Read and Dalton, as well as Ling Roth, testify
that when casting objects in the round, or any object for that matter,
where there was considerable internal bulk or projections, a core of
sand was used as a base and the wax and clay respectively placed over
this. This method, aside from insuring lightness, also saved
considerable metal. Ling Roth, in this connection, points out that
"the ancient Etruscans and Greeks made their castings solid without
any sand core, while the Beni were evidently adept in the superior
method practiced by the ancient Egyptians."[51] Read and Dalton
likewise conclude that "this _cere perdue_ process is that by which
many of the finest Italian bronzes of the best period were
produced."[52] Thus it is that we find the Negroes of West Africa, as
Dalton concludes, "using with familiarity and success a complicated
method which satisfied the fastidious eye of the best artists of the
Italian Rennaissance."[53]
Such, then, is an abbreviated account of the arts and crafts which
have been discovered in a restricted part of West Africa during the
last generation. Whether the results be considered large or small, it
should be remembered that they represent the outcome of but a small
amount of scientific investigation, only one expedition of scientific
qualifications having so far operated in these parts. What the future
holds or may bring forth yet remains to be seen.
There has been, and still is, considerable difference of opinion
regarding the origin and antiquity of the culture which these objects
represent. Some hold it to be of great age and of a more or less
indigenous origin, while others are of the opinion that it is
comparatively modern and that it was introduced, some say, by the
Arabs and Mohammedans, while others believe it was brought by the
Portuguese, at varying dates down to and including the fourteenth and
fifteenth centuries.
Dealing with the latter view first, one hardly considers it unfair to
say that there has never been any serious evidence for such opinion.
The main reason for ascribing this culture to the Arab or Portuguese
origin was due, on the one hand, to a failure to study seriously the
culture itself, and, on the other hand, a kind of _a priori_
conception of the very limited potentialities of Negro peoples. Basing
their opinion upon the popular conception that the Negro represented
the lowest form of human development, it was thought by early critics
of the culture that the Negro could not have produced objects of art
capable of holding their own among the highest forms of human
creations; and so in the exigencies of the situation the theories of
Arab or Portuguese origin were brought to the fore. The advance of
ethnological science during the last generation, the serious study of
the Benin objects in an objective sense, and finally the results of
Frobenius's Expedition, all combined, have not only weakened the
theories of a modern Arab and Portuguese origin, but have practically
destroyed them altogether.
Let us take a summary view of some of this evidence against these
theories. In the first place, there might be mentioned the changing
opinion regarding the supposed mental difference between so-called
cultured and primitive peoples. As a result of many scientific
studies, and some scientific expeditions both in Africa and Oceania,
it is now practically the belief in scientific circles that there is
no potential difference in quality of mind of the various races or of
widely differentiated cultural groups. This removes at the outset the
belief heretofore held as to the inherent limited capacity of the
Negro peoples. According to this modern point of view, then, the
objects above described _could_ have been created by native blacks of
Central Africa.
As a next step, Ling Roth has pointed out that as there is hardly a
traveler from Africa who has not recorded the art of iron smelting
among the Negro or Bantu tribes, "we may accept as a fact that the art
of smelting iron is a very old one in Africa." Not only does the
recent evidence point out that iron smelting _per se_ was an old and
widespread practice in Africa, but, in addition, reports a similar
method of metal working as discovered in the Benin country to have
been in vogue in other and widely separated parts of Africa. For
example, Bowditch[54] describes a method of casting on the Volta
River, where a wood core was used instead of sand, while Robinson[55]
states that at Kano "there are on sale swords, spears and many other
objects made of native wrought iron. The article desired is first
formed in wax and from this clay model is made into which the molten
iron can be poured."[56]
This, it would seem, reduces considerably the need for postulating
modern influence so far as the _method_ is concerned. And even if
modern influence were responsible, it could hardly have been Arab or
Portuguese, for up to date no such objects as above described have
been found among the ruins of the Islamic civilization. And on the
other hand, as Ling Roth has said, "we are still quite in the dark as
to the existence of any such high-class art in the Iberian peninsula
at the end of the fifteenth century; and we know that there was not
much of this art in the rest of Europe."[57] The only serious
evidence, if even it might be so called, which was ever advanced as
indicating Portuguese origin for this art was the fact that on some of
the plaques from Benin there were found Portuguese heads or figures.
But this, instead of indicating a Portuguese origin, gives, when
carefully studied, reasonable evidence to the contrary.
Let us make a brief study of one of these objects. An object described
by Ling Roth[58] as the "head of the staff or wand of offices" may be
used as an illustration. The design is "that of a leopard supporting a
column on its back. The uppermost portion of this staff head consists
of a band of engraved basket work patterns with grained open ground.
This is followed by a band of fish-scale patterns ornamented at the
lower corners of contact pinched indents. On this band there is an
upper series of ornaments in relief. The upper series consists of four
faces; that on the front being probably that of a Negro and that on
the back that of a European. Both faces are boldly and clearly
executed, while the two faces on either side are of Europeans, both of
them flat and poorly executed, and in profile with the mouth curiously
twisted into the full face. The European figures on either side of
the leopard in their flatness and general crudeness are quite out of
keeping with the rest of the work. "Yet," he says, "one cannot help
admiring the boldness with which the leopard has been modelled, or the
firmness with which its claws grasp the ground; while the vigorous way
in which the tail is made to support the back of the column should be
remarked. Equally admirable are the suitable proportions of the bands
of ornament. The upper band is thoroughly subdued so that the faces
next to it are brought more prominently into relief."
It is evident that in every feature, excepting the European faces,
this object is obviously the product of a master. How, then, are we to
account for the crude and archaic appearance of the European figures?
It would seem either that it was done purposely out of disrespect for
the European or else it was the result of an unfamiliarity with the
subject on the part of the artist. If the African artist had been
indebted to the European for his apprenticeship, it is highly
improbable that either of the conditions present here would have been
likely to occur.
In this same connection a statement by Ling Roth testifies that "the
Beni almost invariably give their fellow Africans sturdy lower limbs
while they do not do so invariably to Europeans. The latter of a
certain type are made to stand on well planted feet, while such
Europeans as are in any way about to use their guns have their legs
bent and puny."
That the work of the African artist, when dealing with Europeans, was
necessarily of an inferior grade must not be assumed to be the rule,
however, though it does seem from the evidence that there is more
unaccountable archaicness in objects of this character than in any
others. Ling Roth, speaking in this same connection, calls attention
to the fact that Benin was not discovered by the Portuguese until
about 1472, and that by the middle of the sixteenth century (_e.g._,
1550) we have an almost perfect figure of a European, presumably made
by a native. "It is inconceivable," he concludes, "that an introduced
art could have developed at so rapid a rate that in seventy years,
probably less, for this art would hardly have been introduced the
first day, such a high pitch of excellence could have been attained by
the natives."
If the Portuguese theory is untenable, the Arabic or Islamic theory is
equally, if not more, unacceptable. In the first place, as has already
been pointed out, Arabic or Islamic art shows absolutely nothing in
art approaching objects of the Benin type. Furthermore, Islam itself
did not appear in Central Africa until the eleventh century, and then
only in the northern and western parts of the Sudan. And it was,
moreover, not until the fourteenth century that it made itself a real
part of the life of the northern country, and not until the eighteenth
that its influence spread into Yorubaland. And then its influence was
only felt in the back country.[59]
Furthermore, according to Frobenius and Ling Roth, respectively, both
the Ilifian region and the Benin territory remain until the
present-day non-Mohammedan in character. This would seem to indicate
Islamic influence in those countries where most of these objects above
described were found has been necessarily very slight; yet such a
culture as the above objects represent was unquestionably a very
integral part of the life of the country and could not possibly have
been due to such an influence. Furthermore, if additional evidence
were needed to disprove the theory, it might be cited that it is a
well-known fact that one of the fundamental tenets of the Islamic
faith is the proscription of the representation of the human form in
its art in any whatsoever. And since the height of the material side
of this culture was reached in this kind of art, it appears doubtful
that this culture could have arisen from such a source.
It would seem, therefore, that this culture at least antedates the
coming of the Portuguese and the Arab influence in this part of West
Africa. To state definitely its place of origin, or the exact date of
its origin, is at present, however, impossible, because of the
relatively small amount of scientific work and study carried out in
this part of the Continent. But in spite of this sufficient evidence
is already available to warrant the opinion on the part of all the
critics previously referred to that this culture is essentially
African in origin and very, very old. Frobenius is convinced that it
is at least pre-classical and pre-Christian in its beginning.
Such, then, and until now, is the character of the material culture of
this restricted spot of Black Africa. What the future will bring let
the future tell, but of this let the present be convinced: that at
least this part of Black Africa is _not_ "beyond the reach of interest
in the history of the world; always in a state of apathy asleep to
progress and dreaming its day away." And of this may the present be
ever sure that Black Africa is _not_ "a continent which has no
mystery, nor history!"
WILLIAM LEO HANSBERRY.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Quoted by Leo Frobenius, _Voice of Africa_, Vol. 1, p. 1.
[2] H. Ling Roth, _Great Benin_, p. 217.
[3] _Jour. Anthrop. Inst._, February, 1898, p. 371.
[4] F. L. Lugard, _A Tropical Dependency_, p. 154.
[5] Lugard, _A Tropical Dependency_, p. 154.
[6] Translated into English by Rudolf Blind. Published by Hutchinson
and Company, London, 1913.
[7] Old Dutch and Portuguese manuscripts have been collected and
studied by Ling Roth and the findings appear in his _Great Benin_
quoted in this paper.
[8] Ling Roth, _Great Benin_, p. 157.
[9] Dr. Olfert Dapper, "Nauwkeurige. Beschrijvenge der Afrikansche
Geweslen." (As listed and quoted by Ling Roth, in _Great Benin_.)
[10] Ling Roth, _Great Benin_, p. 2.
[11] _The Benin Massacre_, p. 81.
[12] Quoted by Roth in _Great Benin_, p. 161.
[13] _Ibid._, p. 162.
[14] _Ibid._, p. 163.
[15] Leo Frobenius, _Voice of Africa_, Vol. 1, pp. 21-25.
[15a] Leo Frobenius, _Voice of Africa_, Vol. 1, pp. 21-25.
[16] _Le Plateau Central Nigerien_, Paris, 1907.
[17] Frobenius, _Voice of Africa_, Vol. 1, p. 25.
[18] Ling Roth, _Great Benin_, p. 193.
[19] Ling Roth, _Great Benin_, p. 196.
[20] Ling Roth, _Great Benin_, p. 205.
[21] _Ibid._, p. 209.
[22] Ling Roth, _Great Benin_, p. 209.
[23] Frobenius, _Voice of Africa_, Vol. 1, p. 297.
[24] _Ibid._
[25] _Ibid._, p. 302.
[26] Frobenius, _The Voice of Africa_, Vol. 1, p. 305.
[27] Frobenius, _The Voice of Africa_, p. 305.
[28] _Ibid._, p. 105.
[29] E. A. W. Budge, _The Egyptian Sudan_, Vol. 1, p. 526.
[30] Fawckner, _Travels on the Coast of Benin_, London, 1837, p. 32.
[31] A. B. Ellis, _A History of the Gold Coast_, p. 9.
[32] Bowdich, _Mission to Coomassee_, p. 218. Quoted by Ellis.
[33] Frobenius, _The Voice of Africa_.
[34] It was such reports by the natives and the nature of the objects
which they claimed to have found at this place that led Frobenius to
excavate here. See pages 306-307 of his _Voice of Africa_, Vol. 1.
[35] Frobenius, _The Voice of Africa_, p. 309.
[36] _Ibid._, p. 313.
[37] Frobenius, _The Voice of Africa_, p. 313.
[37a] Frobenius, _The Voice of Africa_, p. 313.
[38] _Ibid._, p. 313.
[39] Frobenius, _The Voice of Africa_, p. 313.
[40] Ling Roth, _Great Benin_, p. 217.
[41] Frobenius, _Voice of Africa_, p. 310.
[42] Ling Roth, _Great Benin_, p. 31.
[43] _Ibid._, p. 33.
[44] Ling Roth, _Great Benin_, p. 225.
[45] _Ibid._, p. 223.
[46] Ling Roth, _Great Benin_, p. 223.
[47] See an article by Dalton and Read in the _Journal Anthrop.
Inst._, February, 1898, p. 372; also Ling Roth, _Great Benin_, p. 216.
[48] Frobenius, _The Voice of Africa_, Vol. 1, p. 310.
[49] "Works of art from Benin City," _Jour. Anthrop. Inst._, 1898, p.
321.
[50] _Ibid._
[51] Ling Roth, _Great Benin_, p. 226.
[52] _Jour. Anthrop. Inst._, 1898, p. 372.
[53] _Ibid._, p. 272.
[54] _Mission to Ashanti_, pp. 311-312.
[55] _Haussaland_, p. 118.
[56] Quoted by Ling Roth, in _Great Benin_, p. 232.
[57] _Ibid._, p. 232.
[58] _Ibid._, p. 219.
[59] Lugard, _A Tropical Dependency_.
THE NEGRO IN BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA.[1]
It was in the United States Senate, during the summer of 1919, that
there was in progress a debate concerning the ratification of the
Treaty of Peace with Germany and the consequent ratification of the
covenant of the League of Nations. Speaking to this question the words
of Senator William Edgar Borah of Idaho were, in substance, these:
"The President of the United States has said that if we fail to ratify
the covenant of the League of Nations we will 'break the heart of the
world.' ... But, sir, failure to ratify this covenant will not break
the heart of China, which constitutes a third of the world; it will
not break the heart of India; _it will not break the hearts of the
natives of the South African Republics_."
How could the Senator from Idaho state so confidently that the failure
of the League of Nations, under which Great Britain retained her rôle
as protector of British South Africa, would not be a source of grief
to the natives of the republics thus protected? What is the status,
political, economic and social, of these people? For what do they
stand on the African continent? How have they withstood the
characteristic onslaught of British colonization and imperialism? What
does "the autonomous development of small nations" mean to them? Any
reasonable attempt to answer questions of this nature necessitates a
review, however brief it may be, of the history of South African
colonization by the English and of its relation to the native.
British South Africa, which occupies the entire southern horn of the
African continent, from the southern coast to the Zambesi River, and
from the Indian Ocean on the east to the Atlantic on the west, has a
population of about 6,500,000 people, fully five-sixths of whom are
of Negro extraction, the other one-sixth being of European--British
and Boer. It is a "southern black belt" in every sense of the term,
and its Negro or Negroid inhabitants belong to the subdivision of the
race to which ethnologists have given the name "Bantu," a native
African word meaning "the people." Their origin is unknown, and no
authentic history of their racial and tribal movements is available.
All that is known of their past is what has been gleaned by
surmise and deduction from the condition in which they were
found by missionaries and traders making their way into South
Africa. A nomadic, patriarchally governed people--polygamists,
ancestor-worshipers, tillers of the soil, sheep-raisers, raiders upon
neighboring tribes--such were the primitive Bantu. Let the reader
substitute "Bantu" for "Germani" in Tacitus's classic description, or
for "Britons" in any accurate portrayal of the manners and customs of
the early inhabitants of the British Isles, and he will catch the true
_spirit_ of life as it was among the primitive Bantu before the advent
of the European missionary and trader.
The missionary, first as civilizer and educator, later as protagonist
of the political rights of the Bantu, has been a potent factor in
their development. "To the Bantu, perhaps more than to any other
people," says Mr. S. M. Molema, himself a member of that race, "the
missionaries have stood for civilization, Christianization and
education."[2] Niggardly and inadequate governmental appropriations
for common schools have been supplemented by missionary funds, and in
many cases missionary funds alone have supported and are still
supporting native schools. "In short, every educated member of the
Bantu race, no matter how great or small his education may be, is
directly or indirectly a product of the mission school."[3] This fact
should be borne in mind whenever one considers the relations which
exist between the native and the government. The Bantu feel that the
missionary, and not the government, is responsible for their
enlightenment, and it is to the missionary that their gratitude is
poured out.
What has been the attitude of the other class of Dutch and British
newcomers, of the trader and colonist group, toward the natives whom
they found living under native law and custom? Some will call it a
credit, others a discredit, to the European regime that more than a
century and a half passed before any inroads were made upon native
independence and sovereignty. Members of the Dutch East India Company,
under Jan van Riebeek, landed on the Cape of Good Hope as early as
1652; the British occupied the Cape in 1806, but it was not until 1846
that any portion of the South African territory came under British
control. Before this time the Boer and Briton had been bent almost
solely upon the establishment of amicable and successful trade
relations with the natives. The Boer had come to the Cape to find an
ocean port for his vessels, and while it is true that wars were waged
between Boer and Bantu for the duration of a century, the natives were
only driven inland and no attempt was made to establish European
sovereignty over them.
In 1806, however, the British obtained final control of the Cape, and
in 1846 put an end to their former policy of "hands off" by making a
British province, called Kaffraria, of all the country lying between
the Kei and the Keiskama Rivers. In 1865 this province was formally
annexed to and incorporated in the English state, called Cape Colony,
which had been set up on the Cape. From this time colony after colony
was formed, annexed and incorporated by both British and Boers, the
latter of whom had marched northward in "the Great Trek" of 1836. The
Boers formed the Republic of Natal in 1838, but moved out in 1842, and
Natal was annexed to the British Cape Colony in 1844. The Boers,
continuing northward, next set up Transvaal and the Orange Free State.
The constitution of the latter bears the date 1854, and of the former
1858.
Cape Colony, Natal, Transvaal and the Orange Free State, then, are the
South African States which were set up by British and Boer--now
five-sixths Negro and one-sixth European in population. An examination
of the constitutions and laws of these republics, as they appear on
the statute books and in practice, reveals that the relationship
between European and native has not been the same in all of the
states.
CAPE COLONY
Cape Colony, farthest south and the oldest of the four states, was
founded upon the principle of political equality of all inhabitants,
black and white. A proclamation of the Duke of Newcastle (1853)
contained the following statement:
"It is the earnest desire of Her Majesty's Government that all
her subjects at the Cape, without distinction of class or colour,
should be united by one bond of loyalty, and we believe that the
exercise of political rights by all alike will prove one of the
best methods of attaining this object."[4]
At the first, every activity of the British colonizers seemed to be
pointing toward the day when they would relinquish all direct
governmental authority and turn it over into the hands of the natives.
Districts were under the control of native boards elected by popular
vote and sending representatives to the Grand Council. Black and white
alike shared the privilege of franchise. Such social distinctions as
were made were personal, not sanctioned by law.
NATAL
Natal is likewise a British colony, but from the first has adopted a
policy toward the native entirely different from that of Cape Colony.
Politically shrewd, she does not flatly deny the right of the native
to vote, but by carefully worded legal phraseology so limits the
voting class that, in effect, her policy is "No votes for natives."
Under date of August 24, 1865, appears a law "disqualifying _certain_
natives from exercising electoral franchise" (the italics are in all
cases ours). The following extract is taken from this law:
"Be it therefore enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor of the Colony
of Natal, etc., as follows:
"1. Every male native, resident in this Colony, or having the
necessary property qualifications therein, whether subject to the
operation of the native laws, customs and usages in force in this
Colony or exempted therefrom save as in this law provided, shall
be disqualified from becoming a duly registered elector, and
shall not be entitled to vote at the election of a member of the
Legislative Council for any electoral district of the Colony of
Natal."[5]
Certain natives, however, may vote. The conditions of their voting are
these:
"2. Any male native inhabitant of this Colony who shall show to
the satisfaction of the Lieutenant-Governor that he has been
resident in this Colony for a period of twelve years, ... and who
shall possess the requisite property qualifications, and shall
have been exempted from the operation of Native Law for a period
of seven years, and who shall produce to the Lieutenant-Governor
a certificate signed by three duly qualified electors _of
European origin_ ... a statement to the effect that the Justice
or Magistrate endorsing said certificate has no reason to doubt
the truth of said certificate, ... shall be entitled _to petition
the Lieutenant-Governor_ of Natal for a certificate to entitle
him to be registered as a duly qualified elector....
"5. The Lieutenant-Governor may, _at his discretion, grant or
refuse_ to any native applying in manner aforesaid for such
certificate entitling him to be registered as a duly qualified
elector...."[6]
This franchise law was amended in 1863, as follows:
"6. No person belonging to a class which is placed by special
legislation under the jurisdiction of Special Courts, or is
subject to special laws and tribunals, shall be entitled to be
placed on the Voters' List...."[7]
When it is understood that special laws for natives, and for natives
only, are actually a part of the Natal Code, the effect of this
amendment may be seen.
TRANSVAAL AND THE ORANGE FREE STATE
The two republics founded by the Boers have at least the virtue of
frankness in their make-up; for, without the circumlocution of their
neighbors in Natal, they flatly and expressly withhold from the native
all rights of citizenship. The following extracts from Transvaal law
are sufficient evidence of this fact:
From the Grondwet (or Constitution) of Transvaal (February, 1858):
"9. The people desire to permit no equality between coloured and
white inhabitants, _either in church or state_.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"31. ... No coloured person or half-castes shall be admitted to
our meetings."
From a law of June 12, 1876:
"No person not regarded as belonging to the white population of
the South African Republic shall be enrolled as a burgher
possessing the franchise according to Article 9 of the
Grondwet."[8]
A resolution of the Volksraad, June 18, 1885, runs thus:
"159. When a male person has been recognized as a burgher of this
Republic, his wife shall thereby also be recognized and remain a
burgheress of this Republic.
"_All coloured people are excluded from this provision_, and (in
accordance with the Grondwet) they may never be given or granted
rights of burghership...."
So much for Transvaal. The Constitution of the Orange Free State,
adopted April 10, 1854, contains a provision restricting the right of
suffrage by incorporating throughout the law the term all white
persons. In short, the Boer plainly and bluntly disdains to use the
diplomatic phraseology of the British statesman. He shuts the door of
hope in the native's face, without apology or equivocation.
THE UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA
Such was the state of affairs in 1910, Cape Colony granting absolute
citizenship to all inhabitants, Natal cleverly refusing it to natives,
Transvaal and the Orange Free State flatly withholding it. In 1910,
however, long-continued propaganda in favor of bringing the Boer and
British states together, to be thenceforth under a common government,
bore fruit, and the four republics united to form the Union of South
Africa.
The day of the passage of the act of union (called the South Africa
Act) was an ill one for the South African native. Cape Colony, the one
benevolent and fair-minded state, could not help but be over-ruled by
the three states whose policy toward the native was one of oppression
and political non-representation. Hence the South Africa Act (1909)
contains the following provisions:
"IV.--(26) The qualifications of a senator shall be as
follows--He must . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
be a British subject _of European descent_.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
36. ... the qualifications of parliamentary voters, as existing in
the several colonies, at the establishment of the Union, shall be
the qualifications necessary to entitle persons in the
corresponding provinces to vote for the election of members of
the House of Assembly.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
44. The qualifications of a member of the House of Assembly shall
be as follows--He must . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
be a British subject _of European descent_."[9]
In other words, no native can be a member of the South African
Parliament. Even if the natives of Cape Colony, who have the right of
franchise under section 36 above; for they had it "at the
establishment of the Union"--even if they should elect one of their
number to represent them, such duly elected person could not be
seated. Under the laws of the Union, then, the Cape Colony right of
franchise has been nullified and "the Bantu and coloured people in the
Provinces of Natal, Transvaal and Orange Free State are unrepresented
in the Union Parliament, and those of the Cape Province are but
indirectly represented. The five million coloured peoples in the Union
have no direct representation, and the one million, five hundred
thousand white people have all the representation and say."[10]
Now, although the natives are not eligible for election to the South
African Parliament, they have a deliberative body, known as the South
African Native National Congress, to which native representatives are
sent from all districts. With no legislative authority, however, this
body can only _discuss_ legislative measures which have been proposed
before the South African Parliament when such measures affect the
natives, and it may use "all available constitutional methods" for or
against the proposed measures. But of what avail to protest against a
law when the persons to whom the protest must be made are those who
have enacted the law? An appeal to the British government would be
useless, for the British government has declared that the Union of
South Africa is "self-governing."
Such, in brief, is the political status of the Negro in British South
Africa, and the government of Great Britain, having set up
"self-governing South Africa," has thus far refused to come to the
rescue of the natives. As a member of the British Parliament said
during the debate on the Union Bill, "it [the proposal for
unification] is the unification of the white races to disfranchise the
coloured races, and not to promote union between all races in South
Africa." The passage of the Union Bill sounded the political death
knell of the South African native.
His economic condition is equally as disheartening. When the Union
was set up, native employees of the government in the railway, post
office, telegraph and civil service systems were discharged in large
numbers and their places were given to Europeans. Enforced labor of
natives is statutory in Natal, and a tax upon natives, from which they
are exempted upon certification that they have worked for a certain
number of months during the year, is levied throughout Cape Colony.
The most iniquitous feature of the economic status of the native South
African, however, is that which resulted from the passage, in 1913, of
the Natives' Land Act "to take effective measures to restrict the
purchase and lease of land by natives" by setting apart certain areas
in which natives were not permitted to acquire land. It assigned
approximately 21,500,000 acres of land to the 5,000,000 natives,
reserving 275,000,000 acres for the 1,500,000 white inhabitants.
Natives who were living within the area set aside for white
inhabitants had to sell their grain and stock and either move their
families to an area assigned to natives or hire themselves out to
white men. This condition has existed, moreover, since 1913. Recently,
however, the Natives' Land Act has been declared to be without effect,
because its provisions conflict with those of the original South
Africa Act; but, as Mr. Molema remarks, the South Africa Act is easily
amended. There is nothing in the past record of the Union to indicate
that an amendment to cover the Natives' Land Act will not be
incorporated in the Constitution, thus making the natives' serfdom
permanent.
Since the native South African is a political and economic nonentity,
it is not surprising to note that, socially, he is on one side of a
great gulf fixed between him and his white neighbors. The South
African native is indeed a social outcast. Portions of the following
extract, describing social relations in South Africa, should ring
familiarly in American ears:
"The peculiar colour-prejudice of South Africa ... finds
expression everywhere--in the streets, in the public buildings,
in the public conveyances, in the press, nay, in the church
itself. Thus, if a black man were to try to get into an hotel,
let his education be what it will, he would be refused admission;
but supposing he did manage to enter somehow, if he appeared at
table, all the whites would leave it.... All over South Africa
whites will not mix with blacks in railway compartments, tramcars
or post-carts....
"Bantu children and European children are provided with separate
schools.
"... On that lavatory you see written 'Gentlemen,' and there
only white men may go. On that other lavatory you see written
'Amadoda' (men), and this is meant for black men.
"One would expect that the distinction would not go the length of
the church, but it does so with sober earnestness....
"The _average_ white man in South Africa would never think of
shaking hands with a black man. The ordinary terms of courtesy
are purposely avoided by him, and such a prefix as 'Mr.' or
'Mrs.' in association with a black man's or woman's name never
escapes his lips....
"'A single case of marriage between white and black by Christian
rites will fill the newspapers with columns of indignant protest,
but illicit intercourse, even permanent concubinage, will pass
unnoticed.'"[11]
The American Negro, it may be said, habitually thinks of himself as
the most unfortunate of God's creatures, but his South African brother
is still more unfortunate. Separate schools, separate churches,
separate waiting-rooms, "jim crow cars"--with these the American Negro
is familiar. With few exceptions, however, he may work independently,
unlike the South African native, and at his own calling. He may
acquire as much property as he can pay for. If he will "go North" for
his education, he may sit at the feet of the best scholars his country
produces. Direct representation in state legislative bodies is not
unknown to him, and direct representation from some districts to the
National Congress seems to be at hand. The trend of the American Negro
is upward, but the South African native remains on an unchanging plane
of misery and oppression. For the American Negro, in spite of
discrimination, lynching and riot, the star of hope shines with
ever-increasing luster, but its beams, at the present time, seem
scarcely to reach his South African brother. The British protectorate
of self-governing South Africa has not been a boon to the South
African native, for the home government has abandoned him to the hands
of his oppressors.
D. A. LANE, JR.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The facts concerning South Africa herein given are obtained from
select constitutional documents in the appendix of _The Bantu_, by S.
M. Molema. This book was published by W. Green and Son, Ltd.,
Edinburgh, 1920.
[2] Molema, _The Bantu_, p. 220.
[3] _Ibid._, p. 237.
[4] Molema, _The Bantu_, p. 241.
[5] Molema, _The Bantu_ (appendix), p. 378.
[6] _Ibid._
[7] _Ibid._, p. 378.
[8] Molema, _The Bantu_, p. 368.
[9] Molema, _The Bantu_ (appendix), p. 384.
[10] Molema, _The Bantu_, pp. 245-246.
[11] Molema, _The Bantu_, pp. 264-266.
THE BAPTISM OF SLAVES IN PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
Somewhat early in the history of Christianity the thought became
manifest that it was at least questionable for one to hold a
fellow-Christian in slavery. This went so far that at length it became
"fireside law" that the baptism of a pagan slave _ipso facto_ effected
his emancipation. There was no foundation for this view in positive
law, but it appears from time to time in non-legal and quasi-legal
writings.
For example, _The Mirror of Justice_, written in Norman French in
Plantagenet times, about the end of the thirteenth century, has it:
"Serfs devenent francs en plusours maneres, ascuns par baptesme sicom
est de ceux Sarrazins qe sont pris de Christiens ou achatez e amenes
par de sa la meer de Grece e tenent cum lur serfs ..."; _i.e._,
"Slaves become free in various ways--some by baptism, as is the case
with those Saracens who are captured by Christians or purchased and
brought from beyond the Sea of Greece and held as their slaves." _The
Mirror_, while received as high authority even by so learned and
capable a lawyer as Sir Edward Coke, Lord Chief Justice of England, is
now quite discredited, the latest editor, Sir Frederick Maitland,
going so far as to say of the author, "The right to lie he exercises
unblushingly."
Nevertheless the book, while nearly, if not quite, worthless as an
authority as to what the law actually was, is very valuable as showing
what an intelligent layman at the time thought it was. The fear that
baptism set a slave free was undoubtedly present among both the French
and the English planters in America, including the West Indies; and
this fear had much to do with their determined objection to missionary
effort among the slave population. The Code Noir relieved the fears of
the French in this regard; but I find no legislation on the matter in
the English Settlements until 1781.
Prince Edward Island (formerly the Island of St. John) had a number of
slaves, as had the other British North American Colonies; and in 1781
the Legislature of the Province passed an act respecting them (21
George III, c. 15 (P. E. I.)). This act, with the others passed in the
same session, was transmitted by Governor Walter Patterson to the Home
Government in a dispatch, March 1, 1781, to Lord Stormont (Earl of
Mansfield), in which he says: "There will be no need to trouble your
Lordship with more than the titles of the above-recited acts to show
the reasons which induced me to consent to their becoming laws." From
a perusal of the act it will at once be seen that the statute went far
beyond the title and fixed the status of slavery upon "all Negro and
Mulatto servants" then on the island, or thereafter to be imported
(being slaves), and provided that they should continue to be slaves
until freed by the owner. The act reads:
"AN ACT declaring that baptism of slaves shall not exempt them
from bondage.
"WHEREAS some Doubts have arisen whether Slaves by becoming
Christians, or being admitted to Baptism, should, by Virtue
thereof, be made free:
"1. Be it therefore enacted by the Governor, Council and
Assembly, That all Slaves, whether Negroes or Mulattos, residing
at present on this Island, or that may hereafter be imported or
brought therein, shall be deemed Slaves, notwithstanding his, her
or their Conversion to Christianity; nor shall the Act of Baptism
performed on any such Negro or Mulatto alter his, her or their
Condition.
"2. And be it further enacted, That all Negro and Mulatto
Servants who are now on this Island, or may hereafter be imported
or brought therein (being Slaves), shall continue such, unless
freed by his, her or their respective Owners.
"3. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That
all Children born of Women Slaves shall belong to and be the
property of the Masters or Mistresses of such Slaves."
This statute had absolutely no effect to stay the evolution of a
strong public opinion against the institution of slavery. The latest
recorded sale of a slave was in 1802, and slavery gradually died out
as a fact, although it was possible in law until the Imperial Act of
1833, freeing all slaves under the British flag.
Before the culminating emancipation act, however, the Provincial
Legislature had repealed the obnoxious statute of 1781. The act of
1825, 5 George IV, c. 7 (P. E. I.), reads:
"AN ACT, to repeal an Act, made and passed in the twenty-first
year of His late Majesty's Reign, intituled 'An Act declaring
that BAPTISM OF SLAVES shall not exempt them from BONDAGE.'
"WHEREAS by the aforesaid Act Slavery is sanctioned and permitted
within this Island, and it is highly necessary that an Act so
entirely in variance with the laws of England and the Freedom of
the Country should be forthwith repealed, and Slavery forever
hereafter abolished in this Colony.
"Be it therefore enacted by the Lieutenant Governor, Council and
Assembly, That from and after the passing hereof the said Act,
intituled 'An Act declaring that Baptism of Slaves shall not
exempt them from Bondage,' and every Clause, Matter and thing
therein contained, be, and the same is hereby, repealed.
"Provided always, That nothing herein contained shall have any
effect until His Majesty's Pleasure shall be known."
The act was transmitted by the Lieutenant-Governor, Colonel John
Ready, in a dispatch to Secretary of State George Canning, of date
November 8, 1825, in which he says: "The preamble explains the reasons
for passing this act." The bill received the Royal approval and became
law. But it will be seen that, while the act of 1781 went further than
its preamble, that of 1825 fell far short. It did not abolish slavery,
but simply repealed the previous act.
WILLIAM RENWICK RIDDELL.
OSGOODE HALL,
TORONTO, March 24, 1921.
DOCUMENTS
From the Proceedings of the American Convention of Abolition Societies
may be obtained valuable information in the form of the reports as to
slavery, the appeal of the anti-slavery groups to Congress, and their
addresses to the citizens of the United States. There is unconsciously
given in these documents most interesting facts as to what the Negro
was doing and what was being done for him. The important documents
falling within these three groups follow.
* * * * *
The Report of the Committee on the State of Slavery in the United
States, being again considered, was amended and adopted as follows.
_To the American Convention for the Abolition of Slavery, Ec._
The committee appointed (at the last session of the Convention) on the
state of slavery in the United States, beg leave to report as follows:
Your committee were rather at a loss to perceive the precise design of
the Convention, in the appointment of a committee on the state of
slavery in the United States. But have thought proper to review the
subject; first with reference to its progress; secondly in reference
to the situation or treatment of slaves; and thirdly in reference to
the prospect of its diminution or final removal.
First. In reference to the progress of slavery in the United States,
your committee find that at the time of the first census under the
Constitution in 1790, there were 694,280 slaves in the Union. These
were with the exception of about 40,000, confined to a surface of
about 212,000 square miles. In 1800, the number was 889,118 on a
surface of 289,000 square miles or nearly so! In 1810, the number was
increased to 1,191,364 and covered an extent of territory of about
431,000 square miles! At the time of the last census in 1820, the
slaves in the United States and territories amounted to 1,538,178, and
your committee have good reason to believe that the number at the
present time or at the census of 1830, will be found to be about two
millions, occupying a territory including Arkansas, of nearly 600,000
square miles!!
Your committee have been surprised at the result of their own
enquiries, for they had fondly hoped that the dreadful evil was if not
diminishing, at least advancing with less rapidity. From various
estimates, on which your committee place much reliance, they are
confirmed in the opinion, that the increase (independent of
clandestine importations) must amount at the present time to at least
near 50,000 per annum.
As this increase like that of population generally, is in its nature,
a geometrical progression, it must continue to augment, as long as
subsistence can be obtained. This view of the subject is truly
alarming; but when we consider the extent of territory which is
overspread by this foul blot on the map of our beloved country, the
heart sickens at the prospect.
To behold 600,000 square miles of the best land in North America,
teeming with slaves,--a surface greater, than that of many European
kingdoms, held too by men who are constantly boasting of their love of
liberty; sending up daily to Heaven, the sighs and groans of millions
of broken hearts, while the sweat and tears and even the blood of
thousands moisten its soil, must excite deep emotion in every breast,
not dead to those feelings which become the patriot, or animate the
Christian. But furthermore your committee are of opinion that if the
scheme, of adding a large portion of Mexican territory, to our
south-western border, should be consummated, the price of slaves will
be so enhanced and the facilities of smuggling so much increased, that
the African slave trade will be greatly augmented, as well as the
practice of kidnapping in the more eastern parts of our own country.
So that upon the whole, your committee are of opinion, that slavery is
fearfully on the increase, and that every effort is making, by many of
those interested in its continuance, to multiply its victims and
extend its influence. This state of things calls loudly on every
friend of his country, on every friend of man, to use every effort in
his power, to arrest the torrent of misery and crime.
Secondly. On the treatment of slaves,--your committee have long
indulged an opinion which they believe is common with their
fellow-citizens, that slaves in this country are somewhat better
treated than formerly. This opinion seems to prevail to an extent
which your committee fear, is not sustained by facts. A writer in
Niles's Register for 1818, says, speaking on this subject, "The
favourable change which has occurred in the treatment of negro slaves
in this state (Maryland) since the revolution, must be to every
benevolent mind a source of very agreeable reflections, our oldest
citizens well remember when it was very customary to inflict on the
manacled and naked person of the slave, the most intolerable
punishments for very trivial offences. _Within the last twenty years_
it has been the practice to muster all the slaves on a farm once a
week, and distribute to each his peck of corn, leaving him to walk
several miles, to some neighbours hand mill, to grind it himself,
under cover of night, when exhausted nature called for rest from the
labours of the day; in many cases they received not an atom of animal
food, and their usual bedding was a plank, or by particular kindness a
single blanket."
The above writer does not specify any particulars in which the
improvement spoken of is apparent, but we think all will admit that a
very considerable improvement might be accomplished, and yet the
treatment might be such as could not be called _good_. He adds however
that "much remains to be done, which the obligation of _humanity_
require."
Your committee are of opinion, that in consequence of what has been
written, spoken, and done by the friends of abolition, much light has
been diffused through the community even in the slave holding states,
and many masters restrained by the force of public opinion, thus
enlightened, have abstained from cruelties which they would otherwise
have inflicted; yet we cannot but believe, that very much anguish of
heart, and exquisite sufferings of body are endured by this unhappy
race, even in Maryland: (and we believe they are used as well here, as
in any other part of our country.)
The multitudes that are annually sold to the southern markets, by
which parents and children are violently separated, and all the ties
of consanguinity rent asunder, if no other indication of bad treatment
were discovered; would itself speak volumes.
The treatment of slaves may be estimated with some degree of accuracy
by the laws which are in force respecting them. The laws of the land
are always understood to be intended for the protection of the
subject, but with respect to negro slaves (in the slave states) they
have an effect directly the reverse. So far from securing him in the
enjoyment of happiness, his very life is placed at the mercy of any
white man, (especially of his master or overseer) who may take the
opportunity to kill him in the absence of any other free white person.
Resistance to the will of the master, may be punished with stripes,
and if the resistance amount to striking, may be punished by
imprisonment and whipping; and for a third offence the slave may
suffer death! It will be perceived that by the operation of those
laws, a virtuous female slave, may suffer death for defending her
chastity against the ruffian assaults of a debauchee. The manner in
which those laws are administered in some of the states, frequently
occasions great outrages upon the common charities of our nature. The
discretion rested in a court of two or three freeholders, or a single
magistrate, over the persons of the accused is often exercised with
great severity. In Stroud's Slave Laws, we have an account of the
burning to death of a negro woman, under a law of South Carolina, so
late as 1820. (See page 124, in the note.)
It appears also that the mental improvement of the slave is a thing
generally deprecated by the master, and in some cases provided against
by law. (See Niles's Register, April 21, 1821.)
How deplorable must be the state of that community, which supposed its
safety to depend on keeping one half of its members totally ignorant,
and not even able to read the Holy Scripture.
How contrary to the nature of man? how offensive in the sight of that
God who "_has made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the
face of the earth_!"
It furthermore appears that in transporting slaves from one part of
the nation to another, either in the domestic slave trade or in large
bodies by removals of planters, &c. they are usually chained and
handcuffed, or otherwise manacled, like the vilest criminals, &c. &c.
In considering the treatment of slaves, your committee deem it
necessary to notice the amount and quality of labour required of them.
In some cases this is known to be extremely severe, and attended with
many aggravating circumstances. Such as scarcity of supplies which are
sometimes insufficient, and frequently of very inferior quality:
exposure to disease, and want of proper attention in the incipient
states of sickness. The cultivation of rice one of the great staples
of the Carolinas, is an instance to illustrate this point. Mr. Adams
in his Geography says, "the cultivation is wholly by negroes. No work
can be imagined more laborious or more prejudicial to health. They are
obliged to stand in water often times mid-leg high, exposed to the
scorching heat of the sun, and breathing an atmosphere poisoned by the
unwholesome effluvia of an oozy bottom and stagnant water."
It appears therefore, that in the treatment of slaves in general, as
well as in the legal provisions respecting them, the interest,
convenience, security and inclinations of the master, constitute the
only object in view; the comfort or even safety or health of the slave
makes no part of the consideration, any further than it is supposed,
to promote one or the other of the former. Finally after taking a
rapid view of this part of the subject, your committee are led to
doubt whether the evils of slavery are materially lessened in certain
portions of our beloved country, notwithstanding all that has been
done in favour of manumission, colonization and abolition of the slave
trade, &c. &c. and what it might have been at this time, if no efforts
had been made to arrest its progress, is beyond human wisdom to
determine.
Thirdly, In reference to the diminution or the final extinction of
slavery in the Union, your committee remark, that it seems to be the
expectation of all, that it must at some period cease to exist, an
evil so tremendous--a practice so completely at war with all the
principles of justice, mercy and truth, so repugnant to all the best
feelings of human nature, and fraught with such fearful consequences
to society; cannot but excite in every reflecting mind a strong desire
that it should be removed. In view of the divine government, which
rules all with justice and righteousness, the human mind is naturally
led to expect that such oppression and cruelty must have an end.
But how this revolution in society is to be brought about, perhaps no
human foresight can yet divine. If our slave holding fellow citizens
could be induced to establish schools for the instruction of the
rising generation among the blacks, and thus qualify them for self
government, which every principle of equity requires they should do,
and to teach them by precept and example the importance of moral
obligation; one of the greatest obstacles would be removed. If they
would introduce among them a sacred regard for the social duties,
arising from marriage, and from the relations subsisting between
parents and children; they might with perfect safety and great
advantage to the state, be emancipated. A few years of effort of this
kind, would form a class of men from whom the nation would not only
have nothing to fear; but on whom she could safely rely for aid in
her greatest emergency. In their present condition of abject slavery
what can be expected of them, but that they should lay hold on every
apparent opportunity, of regaining their freedom, and ever retorting
on the masters the evils they have suffered?
Facts uniformly sustain this position; what multitudes of slaves
joined the enemy during his temporary invasions of our southern coasts
in the late war, notwithstanding all the efforts of the whites to
prevent it? While on the contrary none were found more efficient in
repelling his attacks than the free blacks of the south. Such was
their zeal and valour in defence of Louisiana, that General Jackson,
the present Chief Magistrate of the Union; bestowed on them the
following eulogium.
"TO THE MEN OF COLOUR."
"Soldiers! From the shores of Mobile I collected you to arms; I
invited you to share in the perils, and to divide the glory of your
white countrymen. I expected much from you, for I was not uninformed
of those qualities which must render you formidable to an invading
enemy. I knew that you could endure hunger and thirst, and all the
hardships of war.--I knew that you loved the land of your nativity!
and that like ourselves you had to defend all that is dear to man. But
you _surpass my hopes_. I found in you united to those qualities, that
noble enthusiasm which impels to great deeds." In a subsequent
communication, the General in numerating the officers whose commands
had distinguished themselves, makes honourable mention of the one who
led these troops in the different actions of that memorable campaign.
There are many circumstances which encourage the hope, that the time
is drawing nigh when the African race shall enjoy the sweets of
liberty. Their successful attempt at self government in St. Domingo,
under so many disadvantages, the abolition of slavery in several of
the South American provinces, and recently in Mexico, and the efforts
of the British nation in their behalf, together with many other
co-operating causes seem to indicate the interposition of Divine
Providence in favour of the oppressed. In HIS Almighty hand, the most
inefficient causes sometimes produce the most astonishing effects, and
often the very means made use of to rivet the chains of oppression are
so overruled by Him as to burst the bonds they were designed to
perpetuate. We may therefore rest assured that He will in his own
good time crown our labours with complete success, by bringing
deliverance to the captive "and the opening of the prison doors to
them that are bound." In the mean time let every friend of the cause
remember that he has a duty to perform. Let the result be what it may,
he is equally bound to oppose as far as possible, the growing evil.
It becomes us therefore to enquire how this may most effectually be
done. Our opposition should be peaceable but firm. It should be the
opposition of brothers not of enemies, it may be shewn by acts of
kindness and forbearance, but it _must be opposition_ and it _must be
shown_. It may exhibit itself in peaceable efforts to protect the
rights of free blacks, and instructing their offspring, or it may be
shown by rational attempts to enlighten the public mind on the
subject, or in encouragement of those publications that are so
employed; or by memorials to congress and the state legislature, &c.
&c.
Our means of considerable efficiency for exciting the public mind to
the consideration of the injustice and impolicy of slavery, may
probably be found in the persevering efforts now making on the part of
many friends of abolition to encourage the creation and consumption of
the products of free labour.
We cannot withhold the tribute of our respect and admiration from
those patriotic females, who have associated for this purpose both in
England and America, and heartily, recommend their example, as one
worthy of universal imitation.[1]
WM. KESLEY, CHAIRMAN.
A TABLE SHEWING THE RECOMMENDATIONS AND REQUISITIONS OF THE CONVENTION
OF 1796, AND OF FORMER CONVENTIONS, AND HOW FAR THEY HAVE HITHERTO
BEEN COMPLIED WITH BY EACH SOCIETY.
I. _To send delegates to a Convention to meet at Philadelphia in May,
1797._
New-York Society, complied.
New-Jersey society, ditto.
Pennsylvania society, ditto.
Maryland society, (_at Baltimore_) ditto.
Choptank society, (_Maryland_) ditto.
Alexandria society, (_Virginia_) ditto.
Virginia society, (_at Richmond_) ditto.
Rhode-Island, Connecticut, Washington (_Pennsylvania_,) Wilmington,
(_Delaware_,) Delaware, Chester-town (_Maryland_,) Winchester,
(_Virginia_) and Kentucky societies sent none.
II. _To transmit certified copies of all the laws in the respective
states relating to slavery; as well of those repealed as of those in
force._
Connecticut transmitted in 1795.
New-York, in 1797.
New-Jersey, in 1796.
Pennsylvania, in 1797.
Maryland, in 1797.
Virginia and Alexandria in 1797.
a copy of professor Tucker's dissertation on slavery, which contains
the substance of all the laws of Virginia respecting slavery from its
settlement till 1794. Copies of the laws since that period also sent.
Rhode Island, Delaware, and Kentucky societies have not yet
transmitted.
III. _To forward correct lists of the officers and other members of
each respective society._
_New-York_ complied in 1796 and 1797, number of members two hundred
and fifty.
_New-Jersey_ complied partially.
_Pennsylvania_ complied in 1797. Members five hundred and ninety-one.
_Wilmington_ complied in 1796. Members about sixty.
_Maryland_ complied in 1797. Members two hundred and thirty-one.
_Choptank_ complied in 1797. Members twenty-five.
_Alexandria_ complied in 1797. Members sixty-two.
_Virginia_ complied in 1796 and 1797. Members one hundred and
forty-seven.
Rhode-Island, Connecticut, Washington, Delaware, Chester-town,
Winchester and Kentucky societies have not yet sent lists of their
members.
IV. _An account of the proceedings of each society in relieving
persons unlawfully held in bondage._
_New-York._ Since January 1796, have had complaints from ninety
persons, Africans or of African descent--twenty-nine freed on the law
prohibiting importation--seven as free born--two unsuccessful--heavy
damages recovered in some instances--twenty-one cases now in
suit--nineteen under consideration.
_New-Jersey, Society._ Many manumissions have been effected since
January 1796, but no precise information is yet received to what
number and under what circumstances.
_Pennsylvania Society._ It appears from the minutes of the acting
committee of the society, that many hundreds of Africans have been
liberated through their aid since the institution of the society.
_Wilmington Society._ Has sent a list of persons liberated by their
agency up to 1796, amounting to eighty since 1788.
_Maryland Society at Baltimore._ A variety of suits were instituted
against the unlawful holders of slaves last year, and in consequence
many have been liberated--there are several suits now pending in law,
which are expected to have the like favorable issue.
_Choptank Society._ This society has exerted itself in favor of the
Africans, for seven years; and been the instrument of liberating more
than sixty individuals, and has failed but in a single application to
a court of justice in their behalf.
_Alexandria Society._ Twenty-six complaints made to the society--six
persons relieved on the law against importation; five will probably be
relieved, the other fourteen cases on which as well as on the above
suits are pending are doubtful. A suit in Norfolk court and one in
North Carolina now carrying on at the expense of this society.
_Virginia Society._ Nothing of material importance since the
convention of 1796. Suits commenced before now pending in behalf of
between twenty and thirty persons.
Rhode-Island, Connecticut, Washington, Delaware, Chester-town,
Winchester, and Kentucky societies sent no account.
V. _A Statement of the condition of the blacks in each State both bond
and free, with respect to the property of the free, and the employment
and moral conduct of all._
_New-York._ The number of people of color in the state of New-York not
known--exceeds two thousand--in the city names of one thousand
collected--of these more than half are free, employed as servants,
labourers, sailors, mechanics, &c.--a few are small traders--condition
tolerable--many in town and country freeholders--several worth from
three hundred to thirteen hundred dollars--various associations among
the free blacks for mutual support, benefit and improvement--one has
a lot for a burying ground and the site of a church worth fifteen
hundred dollars. In a state of progressive improvement.
_New-Jersey._ Condition, as to enjoyments of life and respectability,
much the same as in New-York.
_Pennsylvania._ Complied with in 1796. See the minutes of the
convention of that year--page 20 and 21.
_Maryland at Baltimore & Choptank._ The condition of the blacks from
the information this society has received is greatly ameliorated, and
some few of the free are enabled to provide for themselves without
manual labor--moral conduct equal to that of the whites in like
circumstances--minute information not yet obtained.
_Alexandria._ Generally slaves--their treatment less rigourous than
formerly--moral conduct of the free generally good--as labourers
preferred to the whites.
From Rhode-Island, Connecticut, Washington, Wilmington, Delaware,
Chester-town, Virginia, Winchester and Kentucky Societies,--none sent.
VI. _Reports of trials and adjudications relative to Africans._
_New-York._ A bill for the gradual abolition of slavery brought into
the Legislature at their last session, but postponed till the next
session.
_New-Jersey._ A bill brought into the last session of the Legislature
for a gradual abolition of slavery which is postponed to the next
session as in New-York.
_Pennsylvania._ A bill for the total abolition of slavery was brought
into and read in the House of Representatives near the close of the
last session of the Legislature, but lies over to the next session.
_Maryland at Baltimore._ No attempt has been made since the Convention
of 1796.
_Alexandria._ Have drawn up and mean to present to the next
Legislature, a remonstrance against a late law of the State which is
peculiarly severe against Africans.
Rhode-Island, Connecticut, Washington, Wilmington, Delaware,
Chester-town, Choptank, Virginia, Winchester, and Kentucky societies
transmitted no information.
VIII. _The progress made in extending to Africans the benefits of
instruction._
_New-York._ House and lot for a school purchased by the society since
January 1796--school has existed many years--more flourishing now than
ever--property of the society for its accommodation worth upwards of
three thousand five hundred dollars--annual expense of the school one
thousand dollars--has a master, usher and mistress--scholars taught
reading, penmanship, arithmetic, English grammar and geography--girls
(additionally) needle work--number one hundred and twenty-two--boys
sixty three girls fifty-nine--improve fast and behave as well as any
other children--evening school in the winter for free blacks,
adults--taught by the master and usher of the society's
school--number, forty-four--usher a black man.
_New-Jersey._ Nothing done by the society--a bill is now pending
before the Legislature providing for the instruction of all children
in the state, which, if carried, will include the Africans as well as
the whites.
_Pennsylvania._ Within the city and liberties of Philadelphia there
are at present seven schools for the education of people of colour; at
which perhaps near three hundred scholars of both sexes usually
attend--two other schools are about to be opened for the same purpose.
_Maryland at Baltimore._ Several children of Africans and other people
of color now under a course of instruction--an academy (of which no
notice was given to the last convention) will be opened the ensuing
season, and suitable teachers provided.
_Alexandria._ A Sunday school opened by this society in December,
1795, for the reception of Africans and their descendants--the number
of scholars who usually attend is one hundred and eight--they are
instructed in reading, penmanship and arithmetic.
From Rhode-Island, Connecticut, Washington, Wilmington, Delaware,
Chester-town, Choptank, Virginia, Winchester, and Kentucky
societies--no information received.
IX. _To establish periodical discourses on the subject of slavery and
the means of its abolition._
_Connecticut._ No information this year--there have been seven or
eight discourses delivered before the society, the greater part of
which have been printed and circulated extensively.
_New-York._ The first annual discourse delivered before this society
the twelfth of April, 1797.
_Pennsylvania._ Not deemed necessary in this state, where the general
sentiments of the people are, in a great degree, congenial with those
of the society.
_Maryland._ Complied with.
Rhode-Island, New-Jersey, Washington, Wilmington, Delaware,
Chestertown, Choptank, Alexandria, Virginia, Winchester, and Kentucky
Societies transmitted no information on the subject.
X. _To keep accurate registers of all deeds of manumission executed
within the precincts of each society._
_New-York._ Attended to by this society from the first, so far as
depended on itself.
_Pennsylvania._ A register of manumissions kept by the acting
committee.
_Maryland at Baltimore, and Choptank._ The society preserve a
register--and all manumissions are matter of record in the county
courts.
_Alexandria._ A register is kept by the society, manumissions are
recorded in the court of Common Pleas.
_Virginia._ Deeds of emancipation are recorded in the county courts.
From Rhode-Island, Connecticut, New-Jersey, Washington, Wilmington,
Delaware, Chester-town, Winchester and Kentucky societies--no
information.
XI. _To distribute suitable publications tending to promote the design
of the institutions._
_New-York._ Attended to partially.
_New-Jersey._ Attended to generally.
_Pennsylvania._ Faithfully attended to.
_Alexandria._ Attended to, and a new publication is soon to be made on
the subject of slavery.
From Rhode-Island, Connecticut, Washington, Wilmington, Delaware,
Maryland, Chester-town, Choptank, Virginia, Winchester, and Kentucky
societies--no information.
XII. _To endeavour to free negroes from St. Domingo retained here as
slaves, contrary to the decree of the National Convention of France._
_Pennsylvania._ Acted on as cases have occurred--from the other
societies--no information.
XIII. _To discourage the use of articles manufactured by slaves._
No particular measures on this subject are represented as being
adopted by any of the societies.
XIV. _To distribute the address to the free people of color from the
convention of 1796._
New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Alexandria
societies,--done.
_Choptank society._ Not received till late by this society.
_Virginia society._ Done in part.
From Rhode-Island, Connecticut, Washington, Wilmington, Delaware,
Chester-town, Winchester, and Kentucky societies--no information.
XV. _To send copies of the constitutions of the respective societies._
_Connecticut._ Sent.
_New-York._ Sent the original in 1796, and the revised one in 1797.
_New-Jersey._ Sent in 1796.
_Pennsylvania._ ditto.
_Wilmington._ ditto.
_Maryland._ ditto.
_Alexandria._ Sent in 1797.
_Virginia._ Sent in 1796.
Rhode-Island, Washington, Delaware, Chester-town, Choptank,
Winchester, and Kentucky societies sent none.[2]
A PLAN FOR THE GENERAL EMANCIPATION OF SLAVES.
_"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable rights; among these are life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness that to secure these rights, governments
were instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of
the governed."_ (Declaration of Independence.)
These self-evident truths, thus solemnly promulgated, and always
admitted in theory; at least in relation to ourselves; are well-known
to be partially denied or disregarded, in most sections of the union,
in relation to the descendents of the African race. That a nation
professing the justice of its laws, should contain a population,
amounting to nearly one-seventh of the whole, who know little of the
operation of those laws, except as instruments of oppression, is one
of those political phenomena, which prove how little the patriot's
boast, or the creator's declamation is guided by the light of truth.
It must be admitted that it would neither be politic nor safe, for the
present system of slavery in the United Sates to be long continued,
without providing some wise and certain means of eventual
emancipation.
Slavery with its present degrading characteristics, is a state of
actual hostility between master and slave, in which "a revolution of
the wheel of fortune, in exchange of situation, is among possible
events; and this may become probably by supernatural interference! The
Almighty has no attribute which can take part with us in such a
contest."--_Jefferson._
It is a truth generally acknowledged, that Slavery is an evil, not
only by those whom principle, or education have taught to proscribe
the practice, but by men of reflection, even in the very vortex of
slavery. To condemn then, what few, if any, will presume to defend is
rendered unnecessary; and the ingenuity of the philanthropist would be
more judiciously exercised in devising a practicable remedy for this
deep-rooted disease, than in heaping reproaches upon these, who, by
the conduct of their ancestors, are placed in the condition of masters
of slaves. Few of those who from their childhood, have been placed in
situations far removed from the scenes which slavery exhibits, can
fully appreciate the difficulties, the vexations, and the anxieties,
incident to the life of a slaveholder. To devise a plan, then, by
which the condition, both of the master and slave may be meliorated,
is a desideratum in the policy of this country:--A plan which will
promote the immediate interest of the master, in the same ratio, that
the slave is made to rise in the scale of moral and intellectual
improvement; and which will eventuate in the ultimate enfranchisement
of the long injured and degraded descendants of Africa. The evils of
slavery being generally acknowledged, and its impolicy fully evinced,
the important question which remains to be solved, will naturally
present itself: What are the means by which this evil is to be
removed, consistently with the safety of the master, and the happiness
of the slave? Perhaps to some, this question, considered on the ground
of absolute justice, may appear of easy solution: _Immediate,
universal emancipation_.
But however pleasing the prospect may be to the philanthropist, of
getting clear of one of the evils of slavery, yet a full examination
of local circumstances, must convince us that this would be, to cut,
rather than untie the Gordian knot.
Reformation on a large scale, is commonly slow. Habits long
established, are not easily and suddenly changed. But were it possible
to induce the inhabitants of the slaveholding states, to proclaim
liberty to the captives, and to let loose at once the whole tide of
black population, it may reasonably be questioned whether such a
measure would not produce as much evil as it would cure. Besides, such
a measure, if it were practicable, would fall short of simple justice.
We owe to that injured race, an immense debt, which the liberation of
their bodies alone would not liquidate. It has been the policy of the
slaveholder to keep the man whom he has doomed to interminable
servitude, in the lowest state of mental degradation: to withhold from
him as much as possible the means of improving the talents which
nature has given him. In short, to reduce him as near to the condition
of a machine as a rational being could be. Every inducement--every
excitement, to the exertion and development of native talent and
genius, is wanting in the slave.--Hence, to throw such a being, thus
degraded, thus brutalized, upon society, and then expect him to
exercise those rights which are the birthright of every son and
daughter of Adam, with advantage to himself, or to the community upon
which he is thrown, is to suppose that the laws established for the
government of universal nature, should in this case be changed. As
well might we expect a man to be born in the full maturity of his
mental faculties, or an infant to run before it had learned the use of
its limbs.
A plan, then, for universal emancipation, to be practicable, must be
gradual. The slave must be made to pass through a state of pupilage
and monority, to fit him for the enjoyment and exercise of rational
liberty.
"If then the extremes of emancipation, and perpetual, unlimited
slavery be dangerous," and impolitic, "the safe and advisable measure
must be between them." And this brings us again the question, How can
we get clear of the evils of slavery, with safety to the master, and
advantage to the slave? For the solution of this difficult problem,
the following outlines of a plan for a gradual, but _general_ and
_universal_ emancipation is proposed. Let the slaves be attached to
the soil,--give them an interest in the land they cultivate. Place
them in the same situation as their masters, as the peasantry of
Russia, in relation to their landlords. Let wise and salutary laws be
enacted, in the several slave holding states, for their general
government. These laws should provide for the means of extending to
the children of every slave, the benefits of school learning. The
practice of arbitrary punishment for the most trivial offences, should
be abolished.
An important step towards the accomplishment of this plan, would be,
to prohibit by law the migration, or transportation of slaves from one
state to another:--and also to provide, that no slave should be sold,
out of the county, or town in which his master resides, without his
own consent. Provision should then be made for the introduction of a
system of general instruction on each farm or plantation; each slave
who has a family should be furnished with a hut, and a portion of land
to cultivate for his own use; for which he would pay to the landlord
an annual rent. For each day he was employed by the master or
landlord, he should be allowed a stipulated price: out of the proceeds
of his stipulated wages, those things necessary for his comfortable
maintenance, should be deducted; if furnished by the master.
The time given him to cultivate his allotment of ground should be
deducted from his annual hire. A wise and equitable system of laws,
adapted to the condition of blacks, should be established for their
government. Then a character would be formed among them; acts of
diligence and fidelity would meet their appropriate reward, and
negligence and crime would be followed by their merited chastisement.
The execution of this plan, in its fullest extent, would be followed
by increased profits to the landholder.
It would be productive of incalculable advantage to the slave, both in
his civil, and moral condition:--And thus the interest of the master,
and the melioration of the condition of the slave, would be gradually
and reciprocally advanced in the progress of this experiment. Although
legislative provisions would greatly facilitate the adoption of this
plan, it is not necessary for individuals to wait the movement of
government. Any one may introduce it on his own plantation, and reap
many of its most important advantages.
The plan now proposed is not new. It is not a Utopian and visionary
theory, unsupported by experience. It has been successfully tried in
the Island of Barbadoes, by the late Joshua Steele; and the result
exceeded his most sanguine expectations. "The first principles, of his
plan," says Mr. Dickson, "are the plain ones, of treating the slaves
as human creatures: moving them to action by the hope of reward, as
well as the fear of punishment: giving them out of their own
labours, wages and land, sufficient to afford them the plainest
necessaries:--And protecting them against the capricious violence, too
often of ignorant, unthinking, or unprincipled, and perhaps drunken
men and boys, invested with arbitrary powers, as their managers, and
'drivers.' His plan is founded in nature, and has nothing in it of
rash innovation. It does not hurry forward a new order of things;--it
recommends no fine projects of ticklish experiments; but, by a few
safe and easy steps, and a few simple applications of English law,
opens the way for the gradual introduction of a better system." "To
advance above three hundred debased field Negroes, who had never
before moved without the whip, to a state nearly resembling that of
contented, honest and industrious servants; and after paying them for
their labour, to triple, in a few years, the annual net clearance of
his estates--these were great achievements, for an aged man, in an
untried field of improvement, preoccupied by inveterate vulgar
prejudices. He has indeed accomplished all that was really doubtful or
difficult in the undertaking; and perhaps all that is at present
desirable, either to owner or slave. For he has ascertained as a fact,
what was before only known to the learned as a theory, and to
practical men as a paradox:--that the paying of slaves for their
labour, does actually produce a very great profit to their owners."[3]
TO THE AMERICAN CONVENTION FOR PROMOTING THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY, AND
IMPROVING THE CONDITION OF THE AFRICAN RACE.
The Committee appointed to take into consideration the subject of the
Internal Slave Trade, and report such facts as they may deem suitable
for publication, in relation to it,
Respectfully Report--That they consider the subject as one of the
greatest magnitude and importance that can gain the attention of this
Convention. That such a trade should be permitted to be practised by
the Laws of the United States of America, is a matter of the deepest
regret, and can only be reconciled by a consideration of the frailty
of all human institutions. From the short time afforded the Committee
they have been unable as fully to consider the subject as they
desired, but from the enquiry they have been able to make, the
following appears to be at present the principal markets for the sale
of human beings in the United States, viz. the Territories of Florida
and Arkansas, the states of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and
Louisiana; these states and territories are supplied with their
victims of oppression and cruelty, from the states of Delaware,
Maryland, the District of Columbia, Eastern and Northern parts of
Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. The principal depots where men,
women, and children are collected, frequently kept in irons and
exhibited for sale are--Patty Cannon's house, situated on the confines
of Delaware and Maryland; a large establishment in the city of
Baltimore; the Jail of Baltimore County; one at Saddler's Cross Roads,
and the Jail in the city of Washington a public tavern in the same
place, and several places in the town of Alexandria; and in most of
the towns of Virginia, and in the city of Charleston, S. C. In
addition to the evils of legalized Slavery, we may add, as growing out
of the trade, acts of kidnapping not less cruel than those committed
on the Coast of Africa. Individuals are well known, who have made a
business of decoying free people of Color on board their vessels, and
of selling them for Slaves; two instances came particularly under
observation in one of our principal sea ports, (and we believe they
are numerous in other places,) one a boy of about 12 years of age, was
decoyed on board a vessel and taken to one of the above places of
deposite, from thence sent in their chain of communication to the home
of the purchaser. Another instance occurred by the next trip of the
vessel, of a woman being taken in the same manner, who on attempting
to leave the cabin was knocked down, gagged, and severely whipped, to
intimidate, and make her acknowledge herself a slave. She was taken to
the same place of deposite, but apprehending it was to be searched,
they removed her with two others, free persons, (one of them stolen
within twelve miles of the place,) to the woods, where they were
chained, with but little clothing, and exposed day and night in the
open air; one of the persons so confined released himself from the
tree to which he was attached and with an axe extricated the others.
The woman above alluded to has since arrived and gave the information,
and in addition says, they have pits to conceal their captives when
close pursuit is apprehended, which they cover with earth and leaves.
It may be asked, as the persons are known, why not bring them to
justice? We may reply, that notwithstanding we could bring some of the
persons last alluded to, to identify their kidnappers, yet their
evidence, on account of their color, is not allowed to be received in
the Courts of Slaveholding States. Many other instances have occured:
and many instances of persons who were entitled to their freedom
after serving a limited time, being sold into irredeemable Slavery in
other states are deplorably numerous; the covert manner of doing which
is generally such as to elude detection. It is suggested whether
Legislative enactments requiring that persons so situated, should be
required to be registered every time they change masters would not
obviate in some measure this evil--humane persons could then trace
individuals so circumstanced, and bring offenders to justice:--all
which is respectfully submitted.
Some of your Committee have been the unwilling witnesses of gangs of
men, women and children, being driven off in chains from some of the
above places to be sold like cattle. The shrieks and groans of the
wretched victims, would have melted any heart but that of a Slave
Trader, steeled by avarice or petrified by cruelty: and as if in utter
defiance of the laws of God and man:--the Sabbath is the day generally
chosen for receiving and sending off the unfortunate objects of their
cupidity and so blunted has public opinion become from the long
existence of this unhallowed traffic, that individuals in the city of
Alexandria, publicly advertise their having prepared their prisons and
furnished themselves with every accommodation for selling men, women,
and innocent children, to any purchaser.
The number transported by sea from the single port of Baltimore by a
noted trader of that place is believed to exceed several hundreds per
annum. How long, may we ask, is our land to be polluted with such
abominations? Is there no fear of the awful vengeance of him who has
declared, "Is not this the fast that I have chosen, to loose the bonds
of wickedness, and that ye let the oppressed go free, and that ye
break every yoke?" If cruelty to the Israelites, (and their acts of
oppression was mildness, in comparison with ours,) what may we not
expect, we who have received the blessings of divine revelation, who
proclaim the goodness of God, in having freed us from the political
bondage of Great Britain.
Respectfully submitted, on behalf of the Committee,
--THOMAS SHIPLEY, _Chairman_.[4]
TO THE AMERICAN CONVENTION, &c.
The Committee appointed at the last Convention to procure information
of the cultivation of Sugar, Cotton, &c. by free labor, &c.
Respectfully Report--That they have given some attention to the
subject of their appointment, but have not been as successful as could
have been desired. They have been enabled to procure some general
information, relative to the production of sugar and cotton by the
labor of emancipated slaves, and other free persons of color, in the
West Indian Islands and on the American Continent; but have not had it
in their power to obtain such particulars concerning it as will shew
the extent of the pecuniary advantages which this mode of proceeding
undoubtedly possesses over that of cultivating the land by slave
labor.
We are credibly informed that the article of sugar is now produced by
free labor, in two or more of the West Indian Islands, of a quality
fully equal to that of any other, and is, also, brought into the
market upon quite as favourable terms. Coffee is also produced in
abundance in the island of Hayti, and some parts of South America, by
free labor. These productions, unstained by slavery, may now be had in
the cities of New York and Philadelphia, and likewise at Wilmington in
Delaware.
In the Territory of Florida, we learn, that a company, composed
principally of citizens of the United States, have purchased a large
tract of land, with the view of cultivating the sugar cane and other
tropical productions, by the labor of free men. Samples of the sugar
made by this company have been shewn to some of the members of your
committee, and have been pronounced to be of a good quality. In
Louisiana, likewise, we are informed that sundry persons are engaged
in producing sugar in the same way, but we have not ascertained to
what extent they have carried their experiments.
Sundry cotton planters in the states of North Carolina and Alabama,
have, for several years cultivated their lands by free hands. They
have disposed of considerable quantities of cotton in New York and New
England, and we are informed appear well satisfied to continue the
practice of employing free laborers to the total exclusion of that of
slaves.
A gentleman in Rhode Island has manufactured some of this cotton
separately into coarse muslins, which may also be had as above stated.
A few of the citizens of Pennsylvania and Delaware, have likewise
purchased some of this cotton, and manufactured it into calicoes and
other fabrics. We presume, however, that this has not been done to any
considerable extent; neither have we ascertained the degree of
encouragement held out to those engaged in the enterprise.
The article of tobacco, has, for some years, been successfully
cultivated in the state of Ohio, where it is known that slavery does
not exist; and we learn that it can be afforded in the Baltimore
market at a lower price than that produced in the state of Maryland,
by the labor of Slaves, after defraying the expenses of transportation
some hundreds of miles further than the latter. But we are informed
that even in the Province of Upper Canada, sundry colored persons from
Kentucky, have made a settlement, and have raised large quantities of
this article which has been disposed of to advantage in some of our
Atlantic ports.
But the most particular account your committee have obtained
respecting the experiment of free, contrasted with slave labor, has
been obtained from Ward's Mexico, a work lately published in London.
The author was an Envoy of the British Government, and the most entire
reliance may be placed on his statement, which, as in every other fair
experiment completely proves the advantages of cultivation by freemen.
It appears, from his account, that the experiment was tried in
consequence of the difficulty of procuring slaves during the war, and
the great mortality which always took place on the first introduction
of the slaves, from a change of climate. Being desirous to produce a
race of free laborers, a large number of slaves were manumitted and
encouraged to intermarry with the native Indians, which they soon did
to a great extent, and so beneficial was the plan found to the
master's interest, that in the year 1808 on most of the largest
estates, there was not a slave to be found. From a personal inspection
the author above alluded to declares that their tasks were performed
with great precision and rapidity, (vol. 1, p. 67, 68.). A most
important improvement appears also to have taken place; the whip being
banished from the field and the females released from the field labor.
From 360 to 450 tons of sugar are produced by 150 free laborers, while
in Cuba, where the soil is superior in fertility the same number
produce but 180 tons.
Should the Convention think proper the committee are willing to
continue the further investigation of the subject.
Respectfully submitted,
B. LUNDY, Chairman.[5]
TO THE AMERICAN CONVENTION,--The committee appointed to procure
information in relation to the culture of sugar, cotton, &c. on this
continent by free labor.,
_Respectfully State_--That owing to the inadequacy of the means to
make the requisite investigations, your committee has not been able
since the last session of the Convention to acquire much information
of any farther general facts. The following notice of the cultivation
of sugar in Mexico, to which your committee then briefly advertised
has been obtained through the medium of the London Anti-Slavery
Monthly Reporter for August, 1829. It is an extract of a letter from
Mr. Ward, Mexican Envoy of the British Government to the Right
Honourable George Canning, viz.
_Mexico, March 13, 1826._
"SIR,--The possibility of introducing a system of free labour into the
West India Islands having been so much discussed in England, I
conceived that it might not be uninteresting to His Majesty's
Government to receive some details respecting the result of the
experiment in this country, where it certainly has had a fair trial.
"I accordingly took advantage of Mr. Morier's prolonged stay here to
visit the Valley of Cuernavaca, and Cuantla Amilpas, which supplies a
great part of the federation with sugar and coffee, although not a
single slave is at present employed in their cultivation.
"I have the honour to inclose a sketch of the observations which I was
enabled to make upon this journey, together with such details as I
have thought best calculated to show both the scale upon which these
estates are worked, and the complete success with which the abolition
of the slavery has, in this instance been attended.
"The valley which extends almost uninterruptedly from Cuernavaca to
Cuantla Amilpas and Juncar (covering a space of about forty miles,) is
situated on the road to Acapulco, at the foot of the first range of
mountains by which the descent from the Table Land towards the
south-west commences, about fifty miles from the Capital.
"It is about 2,000 feet lower than the Table Land of Mexico. The
difference of temperature is proportionably great, so that two days
are sufficient to transport the traveller into the very midst of
Tierra Caliente.
"It is believed that the sugar-cane was first planted there about one
hundred years ago; from that time the number of sugar-estates has
gone on increasing, until there is now hardly an acre of ground on the
whole plain which is not turned to account.
"The cultivation was originally carried on entirely by slaves, who
were purchased at Vera Cruz, at from 300 to 400 dollars each.
"It was found, however, that this system was attended with
considerable inconvenience, it being impossible to secure a sufficient
supply of slaves during a war. The losses likewise, at all times, were
great, as many of the slaves were unable to support the fatigue and
changes of temperature, to which they were exposed on the journey from
Vera Cruz to Curnavaca, and perished, either on the road, or soon
after their arrival.
"Several of the great proprieters were induced by these circumstances
to give liberty to a certain number of their slaves annually, and by
encouraging marriages between them and the Indians of the country, to
propagate a race of free labourers, who might be employed when a
supply of Slaves was no longer to be obtained.
"This plan proved so eminently successful that on some of the largest
estates there was not a single slave in the year 1808.
"The policy of the measure became still more apparent on the breaking
out of the revolution in 1810.
"The planters who had not adopted the system of gradual emancipation
before that period saw themselves abandoned, and were forced, in many
instances, to give up working their estates, as their slaves took
advantage of the approach of the insurgents to join them en masse;
while those who had provided themselves with a mixed cast of free
labourers, retained even during the worst times, a sufficient number
of men to enable them to continue to cultivate their lands, although
upon a smaller scale."
The same work for September 1829, speaking of free and slave labour,
remarks.
"The controversy is fast tending to its termination. The march of
events will scarcely leave room much longer, either for
misrepresentation or misapprehension. The facilities already given in
Bengal by Lord W. Bentinck, to the investment of British capital and
the development of British skill in the cultivation of the soil; the
almost certainty that those fiscal regulations which have hitherto
depressed the growth of sugar in Bengal, and prevented the large
increase of its imports into this country, will soon be repealed; the
prospect of an early removal of the other restrictions which still
fetter the commerce of our Eastern possessions: the rapidly increasing
population and prosperity of Haiti; the official statements of Mr.
Ward, as to the profitable culture of sugar by free labour in Mexico;
and the rapid extension of the manufacture of beet root sugar in
France; a prelude as we conceive, to its introduction into this
country, and especially into Ireland; all these circumstances
combined, afford a promise which can scarcely fail of seeing a death
blow inflicted on the culture of sugar by slave-labour, which all the
misrepresentations of all the slave holders in the world, with all
their clamourous partisans in this country cannot avert, or even long
retard."
Since their views have been directed to the subject, your committee
are fully satisfied that its further investigation will be highly
important; and that at no very distant period, _the results of very
interesting experiments nearer home may be obtained_.
Respectfully Submitted,
B. LUNDY, Chairman.[6]
_Baltimore, December 1, 1829._
AN ACT TO PROHIBIT THE CARRYING ON THE SLAVE-TRADE, FROM THE UNITED
STATES TO ANY FOREIGN PLACE OR COUNTRY.
Section I. _Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America, in Congress assembled._ That no
citizen or citizens of the United States, or foreigner, or any other
person coming into, or residing within the same, shall, for himself or
any other person whatsoever, either as master, factor or owner, build,
fit, equip, load or otherwise prepare any ship or vessel, within any
port or place of the said United States; nor shall cause any ship or
vessel to sail from any port or place within the same, for the purpose
of carrying on any trade or traffic in slaves, to any foreign country;
or for the purpose of procuring, from any foreign kingdom, place or
country, the inhabitants of such kingdom, place or country, to be
transported to any foreign country, port or place whatever, to be sold
or disposed of, as slaves: And if any ship or vessel shall be so
fitted out, as aforesaid, for the said purposes, or shall be caused to
sail, so as aforesaid, every such ship or vessel, her tackle,
furniture, apparel and other appurtenances, shall be forfeited to the
United States; and shall be liable to be seized, prosecuted and
condemned, in any of the circuit courts or district court for the
district, where the said ship or vessel may be found and seized.
Section II. _And be it further enacted_, That all and every person, so
building, fitting out, equipping, loading, or otherwise preparing, or
sending away, any ship or vessel, knowing, or intending, that the same
shall be employed in such trade or business, contrary to the true
intent and meaning of this act, or any ways aiding or abetting
therein, shall severally forfeit and pay the sum of two thousand
dollars, one moiety thereof, to the use of the United States, and the
other moiety thereof, to the use of him or her, who shall sue for the
prosecute the same.
Section III. _And be it further enacted_, That the owner, master or
factor of each and every foreign ship or vessel, clearing out for any
of the coasts or kingdoms of Africa, or suspected to be intended for
the Slave-trade, and the suspicion being declared to the officer of
the customs, by any citizen, on oath or affirmation, and such
information being to the satisfaction of the said officer, shall first
give bond with sufficient sureties, to the Treasurer of the United
States, that none of the natives of Africa, or any other foreign
country or place, shall be taken on board the said ship or vessel, to
be transported, or sold as slaves, in any other foreign port or place
whatever, within nine months thereafter.
Section IV. _And be it further enacted_, That if any citizen or
citizens of the United States shall, contrary to the true intent and
meaning of this act, take on board, receive or transport any such
persons, as above described, in this act, for the purpose of selling
them as slaves, as aforesaid, he or they shall forfeit and pay, for
each and every person, so received on board, transported, or sold as
aforesaid, the sum of two hundred dollars, to be recovered in any
court of the United States, proper to try the same, the one moiety
thereof, to the use of the United States, and the other moiety to the
use of such person or persons, who shall sue for and prosecute the
same.
FREDERICK AUGUSTUS MUHLENBERG,
_Speaker of the House of Representatives_.
JOHN ADAMS, _Vice President of the United
States, and President of the Senate_.
Approved--March the twenty second, 1794,
Go. Washington,
_President of the United States_.
AN ACT IN ADDITION TO THE ACT, ENTITLED, "AN ACT TO PROHIBIT THE
CARRYING ON THE SLAVE-TRADE FROM THE UNITED STATES TO ANY FOREIGN
PLACE OR COUNTRY."
Section I. _Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America, in Congress assembled_, That it shall
be unlawful for any citizen of the United States, or other person
residing within the United States, directly or indirectly to hold or
have any right or property in any vessel employed or made use of in
the transportation or carrying of slaves from one foreign country or
place to another, and any right or property belonging as aforesaid,
shall be forfeited, and may be libelled and condemned for the use of
the person who shall sue for the same--and such person transgressing
the prohibition aforesaid, shall also forfeit and pay a sum of money
equal to double the value of the right or property in such vessel
which he held as aforesaid, and shall also forfeit a sum of money
equal to double the value of the interest which he may have had in the
slaves which at any time may have been transported or carried in such
vessel after the passing of this act, and against the form thereof.
Section II. _And be it further enacted_, That it shall be unlawful for
any citizen of the United States or other person residing therein, to
serve on board any vessel of the United States employed or made use of
in the transportation or carrying the slaves from one foreign country
or place to another, and any such citizens or other person voluntarily
serving as aforesaid shall be liable to be indicted therefor, and on
conviction thereof, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding two
thousand dollars, and be imprisoned not exceeding two years.
Section III. _And be it further enacted_, That if any citizen of the
United States shall voluntarily serve on board of any foreign ship or
vessel which shall hereafter be employed in the Slave-trade, he shall
on conviction thereof, be liable to, and suffer the like forfeitures,
pains, disabilities and penalties as he would have incurred had such
ship or vessel been owned or employed in whole or in part by any
person residing within the United States.
Section IV. _And be it further enacted_, That it shall be lawful for
any of the commissioned vessels of the United States, to seize and
take any vessel employed in carrying on the trade, business or traffic
contrary to the true intent and meaning of this or the said act to
which this is in addition, and such vessel, together with her tackle,
apparel and guns, and the goods or effects other than slaves which
shall be found on board, shall be forfeited and may be proceeded
against in any of the District or Circuit Courts, and shall be
condemned for the use of the officers and crew of the vessel making
the seizure, and be divided in the proportion directed in the case of
prize; and all persons interested in such vessel, or in the enterprise
or voyage in which such vessel shall be employed at the time of such
capture, shall be precluded from all right or claim to the slaves
found on board such vessels as afore said, and from all damages or
retribution on account thereof, and it shall moreover be the duty of
the commanders of such commissioned vessels to apprehend and take into
custody every person found on board of such vessel so seized and
taken, being of the officers or crew thereof, and him or them convey
as soon as conveniently may be, to the civil, authority of the United
States in some one of the Districts thereof, to be proceeded against
in due course of law.
Section V. _And be it further enacted_, That the District and Circuit
Courts of the United States shall have cognizance of all acts and
offences against the prohibitions herein contained.
Section VI. _Provided nevertheless, and be it further enacted_, That
nothing in this act contained, shall be construed to authorize the
bringing into either of the United States any person or persons, the
importation of whom is by the existing laws of such state prohibited.
Section VII. _And be it further enacted_, That the forfeitures which
shall hereafter be incurred under this or the said act to which this
is in addition not otherwise disposed of, shall accrue and be one
moiety thereof to the use of the informer, and the other moiety to the
use of the United States, except where the prosecution shall be first
instituted on behalf of the United States, in which case, the whole
shall be to their use.
THEODORE SEDGWICK, _Speaker of the House
of Representatives_.
THOMAS JEFFERSON, _Vice President of the
United States, and President of
the Senate_.
Approved--May 10th A. D. 1800,
John Adams, _President of the United States_.[7]
AN ACT TO PROHIBIT THE CARRYING ON THE SLAVE TRADE, FROM THE UNITED
STATES TO ANY FOREIGN PLACE OR COUNTRY.
Section I. _Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America, in Congress assembled_, That no
citizen or citizens of the United States, or foreigner, or any other
person coming into, or residing within the same, shall, for himself,
or any other person whatsoever, either as master, factor or owner,
build, fit, equip, load or otherwise prepare any ship or vessel,
within any port or place of the said United States, nor shall cause
any ship or vessel to sail from any port or place within the same, for
the purpose of carrying on any trade or traffic in slaves to any
foreign country; or for the purpose of procuring, from any foreign
kingdom, place or country, the inhabitants of such kingdom, place or
country, to be transported to any foreign country, port or place
whatever, to be sold or disposed of, as slaves; And if any ship or
vessel shall be so fitted out, as aforesaid, for the said purposes, or
shall be caused to sail, so as aforesaid, every such ship or vessel,
her tackle, furniture, apparel and other appurtenances, shall be
forfeited to the United States; and shall be liable to be seized,
prosecuted and condemned, in any of the circuit courts or district
court for the district, where the said ship or vessel may be found and
seized.
Section II. _And be it further enacted_, That all and every person, so
building, fitting out, equipping, loading, or otherwise preparing, or
sending away, any ship or vessel, knowing, or intending that the same
shall be employed in such trade or business, contrary to the true
intent and meaning of this act, or any ways aiding or abetting
therein, shall severally forfeit and pay the sum of two thousand
dollars, one moiety thereof, to the use of the United States, and the
other moiety thereof, to the use of him or her, who shall sue for and
prosecute the same.
Section III. _And be it further enacted_, That the owner, master or
factor of each and every foreign ship or vessel, clearing out for any
of the coasts or kingdoms of Africa, or suspected to be intended for
the Slave-trade, and the suspicion being declared to the officer of
the customs, by any citizen, on oath or affirmation, and such
information being to the satisfaction of the said officer, shall first
give bond with sufficient sureties, to the Treasurer of the United
States, that none of the natives of Africa, or any other foreign
country or place, shall be taken on board the said ship or vessel, to
be transported, or sold as slaves, in any other foreign port or place
whatever, within nine months thereafter.
Section IV. _And be it further enacted_, That if any citizen or
citizens of the United States shall, contrary to the true intent and
meaning of this act, take on board, receive or transport any such
persons, as above described in this act, for the purpose of selling
them as slaves, as afore said, he or they shall forfeit and pay, for
each and every person, so received on board, transported, or sold as
afore said, the sum of two hundred dollars, to be recovered in any
court of the United States, proper to try the same, the one moiety
thereof, to the use of the United States, and the other moiety to the
use of such person or persons, who shall sue for and prosecute the
same.
FREDERICK AUGUSTUS MUHLENBERG,
_Speaker of the House of Representatives_.
JOHN ADAMS,
_Vice President of the United States,
and President of the Senate_.
Approved--March the twenty second, 1794,
Go. Washington,
_President of the United States_.
TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES IN
CONGRESS ASSEMBLED.[8]
The memorial and petition of the Delegates from the several Societies,
formed in different parts of the United States, for promoting the
abolition of slavery, in Convention assembled at Philadelphia, on the
first day of January, 1794.
_Respectfully shew_,
THAT your memorialists, having been appointed, by various Societies,
in different parts of the Union, for the benevolent purpose of
endeavouring to alleviate or suppress some of the miseries of their
fellow-creatures, deem it their duty to approach the Congress of the
United States with a respectful representation of certain evils,--the
unauthorised acts of a few, but injurious to the interest and
reputation of all.
America, dignified by being the first in modern times, to assert and
defend the equal rights of man, suffers her fame to be tarnished and
her example to be weakened, by a cruel commerce, carried on from some
of her ports, for the supply of foreign nations with African slaves.
To enumerate the horrors incident to this inhuman traffic, of which
all the worst passions of mankind form the principal materials, would
be unnecessary, when we offer to prove its existence.
Nor is it requisite to consume much of your valuable time in the
endeavour to prove it a national injury.
While it exposes the lives and the morals of our seamen to peculiar
danger, it renders all complaints of retaliation unjust; for those who
deprive others of their liberty, for the benefit of foreign countries,
cannot reasonably murmur, if, by other foreign nations, they are
deprived of their own.
True it is, that the captivity at Algiers is not without a hope, and
that the slavery of the West-Indies terminates only with existence;
but, in proportion as that to which we are accessary is more severe,
the duty of desisting from it becomes more urgent.
Your memorialists observe, and mention with pleasure, that this venal
cruelty is at present confined to a few ports, and a few persons.
Hence it becomes more easy to destroy a degrading exception from the
general dignity of our commerce, and to restore our citizens to their
former fame, of preferring the spirit of freedom to the delusions of
interest.
An additional reason for the legislative interference, now requested,
arises from the natural consequence of the facts already suggested.
Foreigners, seduced by the example, and believing that they may commit
without reproach, what American citizens commit with impunity, avail
themselves of our ports to fit out their vessels for the same traffic.
Thus we become the accomplices of their offences, and partake of the
guilt without the miserable consolation of sharing its profits.
Your memorialists, therefore, trusting that a compliance with their
request, will not exceed the constitutional powers of Congress, nor
injure the interests or disturb the tranquility of any part of the
Union, respectfully pray, that a law may be passed prohibiting the
traffic carried on by citizens of the United States for the supply of
slaves to foreign nations, and preventing foreigners from fitting out
vessels for the slave-trade in the ports of the United States.
MEMORIAL
TO THE HONOURABLE THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED,
The Memorial of the American Convention for promoting the Abolition of
Slavery, and improving the condition of the African Race,
_Respectfully sheweth_,
That, in the pursuit of the object of their association, your
memorialists feel it their duty, to call your attention to the
territory over which Congress holds exclusive legislation. The
patriot, the philosopher, and the statesman, look to this spot, where
the legislative authority of the Republic has an uncontrolled
operation, for that perfect system of laws, which shall at once
develope the wisdom of the government, and display the justice and
benevolence of its policy.
Is it not an incongruous exhibition to ourselves, as well as to
foreigners who may visit the seat of the government of the nation,
whose distinguishing characteristic is its devotion to freedom, whose
constitution proclaims that all men are born free, to behold, on the
one hand, the representatives of the people, asserting, with
impassioned eloquence, the unalienable rights of man; and, on the
other, to see our fellow men, children of the same Almighty Father,
heirs like ourselves of immortality, doomed, for a difference of
complexion, themselves and their posterity, to hopeless bondage?
Deeply impressed with this sentiment, your memorialists do earnestly,
but respectfully, request your honourable body, to take into your
serious consideration, the situation of Slavery in the District of
Columbia; to devise a plan for its gradual, but certain abolition,
within the limits of your exclusive legislation; and to provide that
all children born of slaves, after a determinate period, shall be
free.
_Signed on behalf and by order of the American Convention, assembled
at New-York, November 28th_, 1821."[9]
The report of the committee was accepted: and the Memorial proposed,
TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED,
The American Convention for promoting the Abolition of Slavery, and
improving the condition of the African race, being deeply impressed
with the magnitude of the evil of involuntary servitude, beg leave to
call the attention of Congress, to the devising of such means as may
be practicable for preventing its extension.
When we reflect on the praiseworthy regard shown to the rights of man
by the Republics of South America, in their public acts respecting
Slavery, we cherish a hope that the United States will emulate their
example, so far as the constitution will allow; and thus assist in
hastening the period, when our country will no longer afford the
advocates of despotism arguments in its defence, drawn from the
inconsistency of Republicans;--when it will no longer furnish an
exemplification of the truth, that those who are most zealous in
asserting political and religious liberty for themselves, are too
prone to trample on the claims of others to those blessings.
The evils of slavery, and its injustice, abstractedly considered, are
so generally admitted by the citizens of all the states, that we deem
it unnecessary to adduce arguments for their proof. A favourable
occasion for circumscribing these evils, and discountenancing this
injustice, is, we conceive, now offered to Congress, in the power and
opportunity of legislating for the newly acquired territory of the
Floridas.
The first Congress after the adoption of the American Constitution,
composed partly of the framers of that instrument, having, with great
unanimity, forbidden the introduction of slaves into the territory
northwest of the Ohio; and more than three-fourths of the last
Congress, having, after a full discussion of the constitutionality of
the act, voted in favour of restricting the migration of slaves to
another territory of the United States; the right of imposing such a
restriction with regard to the Floridas, appears sufficiently
established. Such being the case, we beseech you, by your duty to that
Almighty Being who controls the destinies of nations, to strive to
mitigate and limit an evil, so universally acknowledged and deplored.
And may you, from so doing, reap a satisfaction, beyond any to be
derived from possessing the fruits of the industry of thousands--the
satisfaction of having been governed, in your conduct, by the
principles of reason, humanity, and religion!
Though the motives already urged, appear sufficient to induce a
prohibition of the further introduction of slaves into the Floridas,
yet we will briefly mention some additional ones, supposed to possess
considerable force.
The vacant lands within the new states and territories, have been
looked upon as a field of promise,--a common patrimony for all the
sons of the Republic who may choose to partake of it. The introduction
of many slaves into a territory, will totally prevent the settlement
of free labourers within it. As the states, adapted to the cultivation
of the valuable staples, cotton, sugar, and tobacco, having been
hitherto open to the migration of slaves, it appears but equitable,
now to reserve a district, for the free labourer to occupy in the
culture of these articles. It is but just, that the citizens of those
states where slavery is interdicted, should be enabled, without a
sacrifice of their principles, to obtain a portion of the profits
arising from the settlement of those new lands, which are suitable for
rearing such products as are most in demand, and are, consequently,
the most lucrative.
_Signed on behalf, and by order of the American Convention, held at
New York, the 28th of November, 1821._[10]
TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN
CONGRESS ASSEMBLED.
The Memorial of the American Convention for promoting the Abolition of
Slavery, and improving the condition of the African race, respectfully
sheweth:
That your memorialists, acting in accordance with the designs of their
Association, and prompted by their love of country and the paramount
obligations of Christianity, earnestly solicit your attention to the
condition of the population of the territory over which your
honourable body holds exclusive jurisdiction. More than half a century
has elapsed since the representatives of the American States, in
Congress assembled, declared to the world, as "self-evident truths:
that all men are created equal, and endowed by their Creator with
certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness." But that Congress, one of the greatest and most
dignified bodies the world ever beheld having but limited
jurisdiction, were unable to do more than to proclaim these truths, as
the basis of the government they were about to establish. The
Constitution since framed, has delegated no authority to the General
Government to enforce their views in relation to slavery, existing in
any of the States; but that instrument, so far as it respects the
District of Columbia, has invested Congress with an unrestrained
privilege.
To this spot the eyes of the friends of equal rights are directed: to
this spot the patriot, the philosopher, and the statesman, look for
that perfect system of laws which at once develope the wisdom of the
Government, display the justice and benevolence of its policy, and
exhibit a practical illustration of the principles proclaimed in our
declaration of independence.
Within this District, however, slavery yet exists; many of the African
race, purchased for a distant market, are concentrated here, where the
sounds of the clanking fetters mingle with the voice of American
statesmen, legislating for a free people!
We, therefore, most respectfully, but most earnestly, entreat your
attention to the subject of slavery in the District of Columbia; and
especially we solicit that your honorable body may designate a period
by law, after which no child, born within the District, shall be held
a slave. We respectfully submit that the honor of our common country,
a decent respect for the opinions of mankind, and the strong
injunctions of Christianity, alike call for your interference upon
this momentous subject.
WM. RAWLE, _President_.[11]
Edwin P. Atlee, _Secretary_,
_Philadelphia, Oct. 1827._
TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN
CONGRESS ASSEMBLED:
The American Convention for promoting the abolition of slavery and
improving the condition of African race, most respectfully represent:
That an opportunity is now offered, in which, without violating any
supposed private rights, or encroaching upon any state sovereignty,
the exalted principles of liberty, on which our constitution was
founded, may be fully displayed and enforced by your honourable body.
The eminent rank, which these United States have so rapidly attained
among nations, is mainly attributable to the high dignity and
undeviateing rectitude of their public proceedings--to the equal
rights and universal freedom of their citizens. Our enemies can cast
on us but one reproach, but, of that reproach they are not sparing.
Why, they ask, if all men are born free and equal, is the slavery of
so large a portion of your inhabitants still continued among you? To
this enquiry no better answer can be given than, that at the period of
our political emancipation, the situation of the Southern States was
supposed to render the measure of domestic emancipation dangerous, if
not impracticable. Yet those who had the misfortune to be subjected to
this evil, would willingly have commuted a species of precarious and
artificial property for any other more substantial in itself, and more
consonant with their own moral feelings. It has since been the
frequent effort of Southern legislation to diminish the quantity of
the evil, which, it is was supposed, could not wholly be removed.
Hence their concurrence in the suppression of the slave trade, and
hence, in some instances, their refusal to admit other slaves from
other States into their own precincts. In all similar efforts, we
doubt not that the legislature of the United States would accordingly
coöperate, but the defect of power sometimes impedes the wishes of
benevolence and the dispensation of justice.
Aware that however consonant the opinions of your honourable body on
this subject may be with our own, your constitutional powers as thus
limited, we abstain from preferring any request to which you cannot
accede; but we respectfully submit that in the late acquisition of an
extensive tract, in a great part yet unsettled, the absolute dominion
and internal regulation of which belong to Congress alone, the trial
might be made, whether a southern latitude necessarily requires the
establishment of domestic slavery; or whether in the Territory of
Florida, as well as in other places, the cultivation of land, and the
general prosperity of the country, would not be eminently promoted by
the use of free labor alone. If the few persons who are already
settled there, desire to retain their fellow creatures in bondage, let
the example of the superior productiveness of free labor be set before
their eyes, and let Congress avail itself of the happy opportunity to
elevate the Territory itself to a pinnacle of prosperity, while it
supports our national character, in the preservation of human rights
and consistent justice.
Another consideration may be added to the foregoing. The extensive
unsettled coast of this Territory, and its vicinity to the West India
Islands, render the evasion of the existing laws against the slave
trade easy--whereas, if it were settled by a free yeomanry, it would
form an effectual barrier to such illicit trade, and a strong
protection to the slave holding states against the invasion of a
foreign enemy.
Our most respectful request is, that Congress will be pleased to
prohibit, by law, the further introduction of slaves into the
Territory of Florida.
WM. RAWLE, _President_.[12]
Edwin P. Atlee, _Secretary_,
_Philadelphia, Oct. 1827._
TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES IN
CONGRESS ASSEMBLED.
The memorial of the American Convention for promoting the Abolition of
Slavery, and improving the condition of the African Race,
RESPECTFULLY REPRESENTS,
That your memorialists being citizens of this free republic, and
feeling in a high degree thankful for the favours and protection of
its benign government, are solicitous, in common with all the
advocates of true liberty, that its benefits should be extended to the
whole human family--that all mankind might be permitted to enjoy
peaceably, the full fruition of national rights, and the great
blessings of heaven, while here on earth, the right to "life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness."
Your memorialists, without presuming to question the dignity, superior
wisdom, and qualifications of your honourable body, would ask leave
most respectfully to urge, as a sentiment, every day gaining a wider
spread, and a deeper root, in the best feelings of freemen, that
slavery is alike derogatory to the present enlightened condition of
man, and a solecism in the institutions of our country: without, in
any degree, wishing to appeal to the prejudices, either sectarian or
geographical, of any portion of your honourable body, your
memorialists cannot consent to withhold themselves from the influence
of the irresistible current, manifest in the march of mind, towards
perfection, and are therefore free to acknowledge, that they cannot,
as consistent republicans, omit to raise their voices, in a respectful
petition to their government on behalf of the sufferings, the
privations, and the unmerited degradation of their fellow-men the
colored people of America.
That the several states in this confederation, are, to a certain
constitutional extent, sovereign and independent, is readily admitted;
but that their independence is qualified by the federal constitution,
is equally certain. No state, has a right to injure or destroy the
fair fame of the republic: and no state has a right, unnecessarily to
jeopardize the peace of prosperity of any other state. And that all
the states, and all the people of each and every state in the union,
are indissolubly bound to submit to the majority, is a fundamental
principle of the union.
With these preliminary remarks, your memorialists will ask your
paternal and special attention to the subject of _slavery in the
District of Columbia_. This District, the seat of the national
councils, and the common property of the whole republic, is by the
constitution of the country, under your immediate care, and exclusive
government--and to the combined wisdom, patriotism and prudence of
your honourable body, is the common mind turned, with intense anxiety,
knowing that nothing can exempt any portion of us from the shame and
mortification that may attach to the character of its public laws and
institutions; while nothing can prevent their participation in the
splendour and renown of its wisdom, prosperity, and happiness. The
District of Columbia, then, being the common property of the nation,
the nation has an indubitable right, and it is consistent with the
fitness of things, to have the institutions and the laws of the
District, conformably to the aggregate sentiment of the whole people.
The clearly expressed public opinion is against the continuance of
slavery--and, by every rule of right, slavery should cease, as soon as
practicable, within the national domain.
Under a full conviction of the truth of this doctrine, and the justice
of their cause, your memorialists ask of your honourable body, the
immediate enactment of such laws as will ensure the abolition of
slavery within the District of Columbia, at the earliest period that
may be deemed safe and expedient, according to the wisdom of Congress.
They ask this, conscientiously believing that this is the sentiment
and expectation of the nation: and believing furthermore, that the
example will be gradually followed by many of the southern States, as
the evils, impolicy, and injustice of slavery are more and more
developed.
Commending you and themselves, with the best interests of humanity, to
the mercies of a just God, your memoralists very respectfully and
earnestly entreat your prompt attention to the subject.
Signed by direction of the Convention.[13]
The following Memorial was reported by Mr. Kesley, and having been
amended, was adopted as follows:
TO THE HON. THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, OF THE UNITED
STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED.
The Memorial of the American Convention, &c,
_Respectfully sheweth_--That your memorialists, citizens of the United
States, feel grateful to that Divine Providence, who hath so
gloriously protected this nation in the enjoyment of all the
privileges of freemen; and whose parental care still preserves to us
untrammelled, the right of conscience, and affords to our free
citizens all needful facilities in the pursuit and enjoyment of as
full a share of happiness as the present condition of man is
susceptible of. But while thus enjoying all the blessings of Heaven's
richest bounty, your memorialists have viewed with deep regret and
heartfelt sorrow, the dark stain on our national character, which is
inflicted by the existence of slavery in the District of Columbia.
That district being the common property of the nation, and immediately
under the control of congress; whatever enormity may be legally
permitted therein, becomes the common concern of the whole
confederacy. Furthermore if slavery be an evil both moral and
political as is generally admitted at the present day, it would seem
that the whole nation becomes implicated in its support, so long as it
remains sanctioned by law in that district which is the seat of our
government, and depository of our rights. Your memorialists therefore,
feeling in common with many thousands of their fellow citizens,
unwilling to sanction so great an evil, and desirous to do all that is
in their power towards its removal, beg leave, earnestly, yet
respectfully, to urge the consideration of this subject, on the
attention of congress.
Your memorialists are aware that difficulties are found in the way of
an immediate emancipation of those slaves now existing; arising out of
a supposed right of property in those who hold them; as well as from a
disqualification for self-government on the part of the slaves
themselves, but which would be entirely obviated by an enactment
providing that from and after a given date all persons born within the
district, shall be free at a given age. By the enactment of such a law
the wishes of a very large proportion of the individuals represented
by your honourable body, it is believed would be met; and that so much
at least, ought to be done by the national legislature, seems to be
demanded not only by the claims of humanity and justice, but also by
those of patriotism and consistency. Amongst the first acts of the
congress of this Union, was one to abolish the African slave trade;
and our whole existence as a nation is based on the principle that
"all men are created equal;" and shall the congress of these states at
the present day, hesitate to declare, that henceforth and forever, the
child that is born within the limits of its special legislation, shall
breathe an atmosphere of liberty?
Under a full conviction that the true interest of the nation requires
the interposition of congress in this important matter; and with a
full and entire reliance on the wisdom of your honorable body; your
memorialists decline any argument to prove the justice or
reasonableness of the prayer, or to show the obligation that lies upon
the legislature of this happy country, to interpose its authority in
behalf of the offspring of these subjects of oppression, and thus
remove the odium which attaches to the American name by the existence
of slavery in the national domain.
Your memorialists would also intreat your attention to the necessity
of passing laws for the prevention of kidnapping, and the scenes of
cruelty connected with the slave trade in the District of Columbia,
until its final abolition.
Many of the African race, purchased for a distant market, are
concentrated here, where the sounds of the clanking fetters mingle
with the voice of the American statesmen, legislating for a free
people.
This district, from its central situation, has become a depot of
slaves, purchased and introduced by dealers from other states, and
here incarcerated till the time of their transportation arrives. In
near view from the capital, are private jails, from whose walls issue
the agonizing cries of those separated from kindred and friends,
revolting to every citizen and philanthropist. Here, through the
defect of existing laws, facilities are afforded persons denominated
slave traders, to consign to perpetual bondage those who are entitled
to freedom after a term of years, and the people regard with
abhorrence and pain, a traffic extensively carried on by those who
prefer wealth to the love and esteem of mankind.
In this district whether its citizens be the friends or opponents of
the abolition of slavery, they regard this traffic as alike
dishonorable to our character as Americans and Christians, and
demanding the interposition of the government. The honor of our common
country, a respect for the opinions of mankind, the ardent desire of
our patriots and statesmen to remove the curse of slavery entailed on
us while colonies, when it can successfully be done, call for your
interference on this momentous subject.[14]
* * * * *
TO THE AMERICAN CONVENTION, &c.--The committee appointed to draft a
memorial to the legislatures of the several states praying that their
representatives in Congress may be requested, and their senators
instructed to use their exertions to produce the passage of an act for
the gradual abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia,
Respectfully report, That they have prepared and herewith present the
draft of such a memorial for the consideration of the Convention.
JAMES OSWALD GRIM,
Chairman.
December 11, 1829.
To the Honourable the legislature of the state of
The Memorial of "The American Convention for promoting the Abolition
of Slavery and improving the condition of the African race" assembled
at Washington, in the District of Columbia.
Respectfully Represents,--That feeling a strong solicitude to advance
the object for which they are associated, your memorialists approach
your honorable body for its concurrence and aid upon a matter which
they conceive to be of great interest to the American people. That the
existence of slavery within the United States is a great evil and one
for which an adequate remedy is, of all national objects the most to
be desired, is a truth in which the whole body of our fellow-citizens
have for a long time acquiesced; but whether its ultimate and entire
removal is ever to be affected, compatibly with that justice to the
parties concerned upon which it should be based, is a problem that
remains to be solved, but to which philanthropists are now daily
directing their attention.
The success, however which has attended the efforts of many of the
States of the Union, who at an early period of our national history
were encumbered by the same evil in a lesser degree but who have since
been successful in removing it, induce a hope in your memorialists
that slavery may be abolished in the District of Columbia. That if
possible it _ought_ to be, some interesting considerations of a local
character, peculiarly dictate. The significant and peculiar silence
discovered upon the face of the constitutional compact of the land,
upon the great subject of human servitude with which the country then
was burthened, the care which was observed by the sages, who framed
the instrument, not to employ a term in its structure which might in
after years and in times of universal freedom, be appealed to for the
purpose of accusation or reproach, enjoin it, we think as a strong and
imperative duty to their successors to remove this growing evil from
the seat of the counciles of the nation and the limits emphatically of
the national domain. Without therefore attempting to interfere with
the exclusive duties of state sovereignties, it is incumbent we think
upon national legislators, to give effect to the noble and benign
spirit of the great charter under which they are convened, by devising
and enacting measures for the gradual emancipation of all who are in a
state of servitude in the District of Columbia. Nor can we for a
moment believe that it is a subject upon which local situation can
give rise to any diversity of sentiment among Americans at large. The
dictates of patriotic pride and of national consistency must have the
same force with all of them.
The people of these states have cause to be distinguished for numerous
occasions upon which, and that too in many instances by discarding all
interested considerations they have sought the establishment of great
national principles. Without advertising to the events connected with
the origin of their independence, further than to say that they were
founded in a regard for free principles in the abstract, more than in
any practical evil under which they were suffering, we may mention the
extension of the principles of free trade, the abolition of private
warfare on the ocean, the denunciation of the African slave trade as
piracy, &c. as propositions by which our country has endeavoured to
discharge its duty in the great family of nations. From a people thus
naturally disposed, what may not be expected? What circumstances of
accident or temporary advantage will be able to stifle the
strengthening voice of freedom and manly justice?
The friends of Abolition must indeed expect that the object can only
be obtained by very gradual means, but a period no matter how distant,
for the certain operation of any principle which may have the desired
effect, must afford a great degree of satisfaction to every friend of
equal rights and every well wisher of the reputation of his country.
This object however, cannot be obtained except perhaps at a distance
of time now invisible, unless the wishes of the states with regard to
it are audibly expressed. Congress have been heretofore memorialized
on this subject, but as they were not guided by any expression of the
wishes of their constituents, no satisfactory result was produced. But
the great body of the American people never can be indifferent to a
matter of this nature, and the friends of the cause of Abolition have
taken measures to draw the attention of Congress once more to it.
Your memorialists therefore respectfully request your Honorable body
to instruct your senators and request your representatives in
Congress, to use all their effort for the passage of a law, which may
have for its end the gradual abolition of slavery in the District of
Columbia, upon principles of justice and a regard to the rights of
individuals.
Thomas Earle presented the follow report, which was read and accepted
Viz.
The committee to whom was referred the consideration of the various
proposed schemes for effecting the abolition of slavery and improving
the condition of the African race, respectfully report:
That it has been proposed, as a preliminary to complete emancipation,
to reduce slaves to the condition of the serfs of Poland and Russia,
fixed to the soil, without the right on the part of the master to
remove them. It appears extremely doubtful to your committee whether
such a measure would in any degree accelerate entire emancipation. The
proposition moreover, has not received that degree of public
approbation which is necessary to justify any expectation of its
speedy adoption.
Some individuals have believed it perfectly safe and judicious, to
obtain, if practicable, legislative enactments for the immediate
liberation of all slaves. Propositions of this nature are met by a
reprobation so universal on the part of the citizens of those states
where slavery exists, who have undoubtedly the best means of judging
of the probable consequences, that it may be considered certain they
will not be adopted. Gradual abolition is the only mode which at
present appears likely to receive the public sanction.
Another proposition has been that those who are not owners of slaves
should abstain from the products of slave labour, and thus by
destroying the market compel emancipation. Your committee are of
opinion that it would be far easier to persuade the majority of the
people to pass laws for the abolition of slavery than to break off all
commercial intercourse with slave holders. The more practicable
measure would render the less practicable, unnecessary.
It seems probable, however, that the example of individuals who, from
conscientious motives, abstain from the produce of slavery, will have
its uses in exciting public attention to the nature and magnitude of
the evil which leads to these instances of self-denial.
It has been strenuously urged that there is less pecuniary profit in
the employment of slave labour, than in that of freemen, and that the
extensive promulgation of this truth will be effective in inducing
slave holders, from motives of interest, to consent to emancipation.
Although this doctrine has been promulgated for several years, facts
have not been adduced sufficient to carry general conviction to the
minds of those interested. Unless some evidence of a more conclusive
or effectual nature can be adduced, it appears that little good can be
expected from the agitation of this matter.
But in whatever degree the question of immediate pecuniary profit may
be unsettled, the evils of slavery in affecting the morals and
happiness of society, in abridging public and private enterprize, in
promoting idleness and extravagance, and in accelerating the
impoverishment of land, are sufficiently capable of demonstration, and
are indeed freely admitted by many slave holders. To continue to call
the attention of the people to these effects, will undoubtedly be
useful in the furtherance of the grand object of our aim.
The passage of laws by our state legislatures, fixing a certain period
after which all shall be born free, or shall be free at a certain age,
is a proposed measure which has formerly received the sanction of this
Convention. It is analagous to those which have already been adopted
in some of our states, and it is that by which the final extinction of
slavery will probably be effected throughout our country. But it seems
unlikely that those states where slaves are very numerous, will
consent to the measure, until the proportion of slaves has been
considerably reduced by other means. It can hardly be expected that
the whites, where they are a minority, will, at any near period of
time, consent to surrender political power into the hands of a race
which they are accustomed to look upon as inferior and degraded, or
that they will be free from apprehension of a contest for property as
the probable result. History furnishes no instance of the passage of a
law for abolishing slavery in a nation where the slaves at the time
of its passage were nearly equal in number to the freemen. We have no
evidence to justify the assumption, that mankind in future will act
differently. The condition of some of our states, never-the-less, is
such, that measures of this kind may with great propriety be urged,
and kept constantly in view of the public.
Appeals to a sense of justice, and the dictates of religion, operating
on individuals to produce voluntary emancipation, have been the chief
means by which slavery has been abolished or greatly reduced, in most
countries where it once extensively existed. Such were the means of
the liberation of serfs in Great Britain and other European
countries.[15] They are those which have produced the emancipation of
most of the free coloured people now existing in the United States.
They are those which must be looked to, for so far diminishing the
evil, as to produce that state of society in which the passage of laws
for complete abolition may be obtained. But unfortunately a sense of
danger, mingled with other motives or interest, has produced the
enactment of laws in most of the slave holding states, prohibiting or
greatly limiting the exercise of benevolent feelings in this way. The
repeal of these laws must be the first or an early measure towards the
completion of the great work.
It has been supposed that adequate provision of the colonization of
emancipated persons in Africa, Hayti, or other foreign or domestic
territory, would tend to produce the repeal of those laws, as well as
of those which restrict the education of slaves, and would thus pave
the way for the adoption of laws for complete emancipation. If, in
this way, the number of slaves could be kept stationary, while that of
the free whites should continue to increase, the relative proportions
would ere long be obtained which would justify the hopes of
legislative interference. The interference of legislatures does not
depend so much on the number of slaves, as upon their proportion to
the free inhabitants. This position is illustrated by the fact that in
New York where slavery is now extinct, the number of slaves in 1820
was ten thousand and eighty-eight, while in Delaware, where no laws
for emancipation have been passed, the number was only four thousand
five hundred and nine.
We are informed that a conviction of the injurious effects of the
presence of free blacks, is general in the slave-holding states, even
perhaps among those citizens who have no property invested in slaves.
We are also assured and believe that there are great numbers of
persons in those states who would emancipate their slaves, if a
suitable asylum abroad were provided for them; and that the number of
individuals of this description is likely greatly to increase if ample
means of emigration are provided.[16]
The question therefore arises, whether colonization to any
considerable extent is practicable. The solution of this question
depends, in a degree, upon the expense, and the means which there is
reason to hope may be commanded. The public mind in the greater
portion of our country appears more favorable to colonization than to
any other proposed means of emancipation, as may be gathered from the
resolutions and laws adopted by Congress, and by various State
Legislatures, as well as from inquiry into the sentiments of private
individuals. Consequently, if adequate colonization could be effected
by the national government without materially embarrassing its
operations, or requiring the imposition of new taxes upon the people,
there is reason to hope for its realization. The question of expense,
and practicability is, we apprehend, too often decided hastily, and
without those accurate calculations which can alone justify a positive
conclusion.
We will therefore state the results of some of our inquiries. The
number of slaves in the United States is rather under two
millions:[17] and the annual increase is something less than two and a
half _per centum_ on the population of the preceding year.[18] The
total increase per annum, is therefore short of fifty thousand. The
expense of transportation to Africa in merchant vessels will not
exceed thirty dollars per head, and to Hayti from ten to fifteen
dollars per head. The expense of transporting the increase, half to
each of the above named countries, would therefore be from one
million to one million one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars
yearly. If we add two dollars per head for corn to maintain the
emigrants until they can provide for themselves, the total expense
will not exceed one and one fourth million of dollars per annum.
The average annual revenue of the national government may be estimated
at twenty-three millions;[19] and the annual expenditure exclusive of
the public debt, is about twelve millions. As the public debt will be
extinct in four or five years, there will shortly be a surplus revenue
of about eleven millions yearly. One eighth of this sum will be
sufficient for transporting the whole increase of slave population.
Again: the annual expenditure of the Naval Department of the United
States, was estimated in 1827 at $4,263,877, and in 1828 at
$4,420,000. This expenditure is more than treble that of the same
department, at some periods of our history. Without expressing any
opinion of the propriety of this expenditure, a question not proper
for this Convention to decide, we may remark that rational men will
readily admit that it would be wiser to reduce the expenditure one
half, and abolish slavery, than to continue both the expenditure and
the servitude. A reduction of one half in the naval expenditures would
produce a fund of $2,200,000 per annum; a sum sufficient to transport
to Africa and Hayti, ninety thousand slaves per annum, or forty
thousand more than the annual increase. We offer this observation
merely in illustration of the ease with which the government _can_
command the necessary funds without any sacrifice that is not greatly
overbalanced by the importance of the subject. There would, however,
be no occasion for retrenching any of the present expenditures of the
government.
It has been suggested that the public vessels of the nation, most of
which are useless during peace, should be employed in the
transportation of emancipated persons. The number of these vessels is
about fifty, and the average number of persons which they could
transport at a voyage, may be estimated at one thousand, although the
ships of the line, of which there are twelve built and building, can
transport two thousand five hundred each, at a voyage. These vessels
going one half to Africa, and one half to Hayti, and the former making
two and the latter four voyages per year, would transport one hundred
and fifty thousand persons per annum, or three times the increase of
slaves; and would at this rate extinguish slavery in twenty years.
The whole increase of slaves might therefore be transported in public
vessels, without interfering with other national objects, or very
materially increasing the national expenses.
We will now consider the effect of transporting the increase. The
present population of the slave holding states is about 5,800,000, of
which above 3,800,000, are freemen; perhaps from one third to one half
the free people are interested in slave property. If the increase of
slaves were colonized, in about twenty-five years there would be in
the slave states, seven millions of free people to two millions of
free people to the above number of slaves, or a proportion of ten to
one. The consequent increased ease, safety, and probability of
obtaining laws for total emancipation, is manifest.
Thus the practicability of great benefit, with little sacrifice, from
the aid of government in the work of emigration, is very apparent. A
great recommendation of the measure arises from the fact, that it is
the only efficient one which is likely to be speedily sanctioned by
the people; and is the only one by which voluntary emancipation, in
most of the slave holding states, can be effected.
Even if colonization should not be adopted to the extent of carrying
away the whole increase, it ought still to be encouraged. It is
considered a great and good work to have obtained by law, the
emancipation of about fourteen or fifteen thousand persons in New York
and Pennsylvania. If so, the emancipation of no more than that number,
by aid of emigration to suitable countries, would also be a work
worthy the united efforts of the friends of abolition.
Your committee do not look to the transportation of the whole coloured
population from this country, at any period. Emancipation will be
effected without it. But partial emigration may greatly aid the cause;
particularly in its early stages, by preparing the way for the repeal
of the laws against education and against voluntary emancipation.
Under the influence of the foregoing considerations your committee
would recommend, that the friends of emancipation persevere in their
efforts to convince the whole community of the pernicious effects of
slavery on the morals, the enterprize, and the happiness of a people.
That they continue in temperate and conciliatory language to
illustrate the inconsistency of bondage, with sound political
doctrines, as well as with the obligations of justice and religion.
That they constantly endeavour to procure the repeal of those laws
which restrict the education and emancipation of slaves.
That they exert themselves, particularly in the states where slaves
are the least numerous, to procure the speedy passage of laws for
gradual abolition.
That they endeavour to procure from the National Government the
appropriation of adequate funds to aid the voluntary emigration of all
emancipated people of colour, to any country where a suitable asylum
may be found: and that, as an auxiliary means, they petition the state
legislature for the passage of resolutions approbatory of such
measure.
That they cordially aid in any just mode of promoting abolitions which
is favourably received by the people, without insisting on a
preference of other modes, which might be abstractedly the best, but
are not likely to be generally adopted.--All of which is respectfully
submitted.
On behalf of the Committee,[20]
T. EARLE, Chairman.
December 11th, 1829.
TO THE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES.
The address of the Delegates from the several Societies, formed in
different parts of the United States, for promoting the abolition of
slavery, in Convention assembled at Philadelphia, on the first day of
January, 1794.
_Friends and Fellow-citizens,_
United to you by the ties of citizenship, and partakers with you of
the blessings of a free government, we take the liberty of addressing
you upon a subject, highly interesting to the credit and prosperity of
the United States.
It is the glory of our country to have originated a system of
opposition to the commerce in that part of our fellow-creatures, who
compose the nations of Africa.
Much has been done by the citizens of some of the states to abolish
this disgraceful traffic, and to improve the condition of those
unhappy people, whom the ignorance, or the avarice of our ancestors
had bequeathed to us as slaves; but the evil still continues, and our
country is yet disgraced by laws and practices, which level the
creature man with a part of the brute creation.
Many reasons concur in persuading us to abolish domestic slavery in
our country.
It is inconsistent with the safety of the liberties of the United
States.
Freedom and slavery cannot long exist together. An unlimited power
over the time, labour, and posterity of our fellow-creatures,
necessarily unfits men for discharging the public and private duties
of citizens of a republic.
It is inconsistent with sound policy; in exposing the states which
permit it, to all those evils which insurrections, and the most
resentful war have introduced into one of the richest islands in the
West-Indies.
It is unfriendly to the present exertions of the inhabitants of
Europe, in favour of liberty. What people will advocate freedom, with
a zeal proportioned to its blessings, while they view the purest
republic in the world tolerating in its bosom a body of slaves?
In vain has the tyranny of kings been rejected, while we permit in our
country a domestic despotism, which involves, in its nature, most of
the vices and miseries that we have endeavoured to avoid.
It is degrading to our rank as men in the scale of being. Let us use
our reason and social affections for the purposes for which they were
given, or cease to boast a preeminence over animals, that are
unpolluted with our crimes.
But higher motives to justice and humanity towards our
fellow-creatures remain yet to be mentioned.
Domestic slavery is repugnant to the principles of Christianity. It
prostrates every benevolent and just principle of action in the human
heart. It is rebellion against the authority of a common FATHER. It is
a practical denial of the extent and efficacy of the death of a common
SAVIOUR. It is an usurpation of the prerogative of the GREAT SOVEREIGN
of the universe, who has solemnly claimed an exclusive property in the
souls of men.
But if this view of the enormity of the evil of domestic slavery
should not affect us, there is one consideration more which ought to
alarm and impress us, especially at the present juncture.
It is a violation of a divine precept of universal justice, which has,
in no instance, escaped with impunity.
The crimes of nations, as well as of individuals, are often designated
in their punishment; and we conceive it to be no forced construction,
of some of the calamities which now distress or impend our country, to
believe that they are the measure of evils, which we have meted to
others.
The ravages committed upon many of our fellow-citizens by the Indians,
and the depredations upon the liberty and commerce of others of the
citizens of the United States by the Algerines, both unite in
proclaiming to us, in the most forcible language, "to loose the bands
of wickedness, to break every yoke, to undo heavy burthens, and to let
the oppressed go free."
We shall conclude this address by recommending to you,
_First_, To refrain immediately from that species of rapine and murder
which has improperly been softened with the name of the African trade.
It is Indian cruelty, and Algerine piracy, in another form.
_Secondly_, To form Societies, in every state, for the purpose of
promoting the abolition of the slave-trade, of domestic slavery, the
relief of persons unlawfully held in bondage, and for the improvement
of the condition of Africans, and their descendants amongst us.
The Societies, which we represent, have beheld, with triumph, the
success of their exertions, in many instances, in favour of their
African brethren; and, in a full reliance upon the continuance of
divine support and direction, they humbly hope, their labours will
never cease, while there exists a single slave in the United
States.[21]
TO THE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES.
Friends and Fellow Citizens,
VARIOUS Societies having been formed, in different parts of the Union,
for the purpose of promoting the Abolition of Slavery, they have
several times met in convention to deliberate on the best means of
furthering the humane work they have undertaken.--We, the seventh
association of Delegates from these bodies, now convened in the city
of Philadelphia, appealing to the Searcher of hearts for the rectitude
of our intentions, believe it our duty to address you with a few
remarks, to which we solicit your candid consideration and attention.
Believing as we do, that the benevolent Author of nature has made no
essential distinction in the human race, and that all the individuals
of the great family of mankind have a common claim upon the general
fund of natural bounties, we have never hesitated to avow the objects
of our institutions, now the honest means by which we hope for their
ultimate attainment. Yet we are sensible that many of our fellow
citizens have laboured under mistaken impressions on both these
points, and have ascribed to us views as inconsistent with the policy
of our country, as with our real prospects. It is true we contemplate
the deliverance from slavery of all the blacks and people of color in
these states, sooner or later, by such means as your humanity, and the
wisdom of our rulers may suggest; and though we think the existing
laws of some of the states unnecessarily severe; yet we pointedly
disavow any wish to contravene them, while they remain in force, or to
hazard the peace and safety of the community by the adoption of ill
advised and precipitate measures.
In common with the rest of our fellow citizens, we sincerely deplore
the late attempts at insurrection by some of the slaves of the
southern states, and participate in the dreadful sensations the
inhabitants in their vicinity must have felt on so awful an occasion.
It is fervently to be hoped that they may induce a weighty
consideration of the source of the evil, and of the best means of its
future prevention. We are convinced, that so long as a relation
subsists between cause and effect, and the present policy of those
states is pursued, so long the deprecated calamity is to be dreaded;
and while we all revolt with horror from the anticipation of an
organization on the part of the slaves, we conceive there is a certain
state of degradation and misery to which they may be reduced, a
certain point of desperation to which the human mind may be brought,
and beyond which it cannot be driven.--If then the premonitory signs
of this crisis have appeared, if a recurrence of the desperate
feelings which gave birth to the design is to be so awfully dreaded,
ought not the attention of every humane mind to be exerted in devising
adequate means for averting so enormous a danger? We advance with
confidence our firm belief, a belief founded on mature reflection,
that to be effectual they must be in many respects different from
those which have heretofore been adopted. An amelioration of the
present situation of the slaves, and the adoption of a system of
gradual emancipation, while it would tend to remove the charge of
inconsistency, between the constitutional declaration, and the legal
provisions of some of the states; would also be an effectual security
against revolt. If the severity of their treatment were lessened, and
the hope of freedom for them or their posterity were held forth as the
reward of good behaviour, the slaves would be bound by personal
interest to be civil, orderly, and industrious. It has been argued,
that they are not qualified to enjoy the blessings of freedom, even
under a gradual emancipation: but are they not rational creatures, and
why will not the same method which have civilized others, in the
course of time also civilize them? A principal mean of effecting this
purpose, would be to instruct them in the duties and obligations of
religion, morality, and social justice. We find that the cultivated
inhabitants of different countries and even the individuals of the
same country, have very different ideas on these subjects. Is it
therefore to be wondered at that the poor illiterate blacks, who are
so little instructed in the principles of Christianity, and strangers
to the refined sentiments which result from education; is it, we ask,
to be wondered at, that they are susceptible of error and delusion?
Fellow citizens of the southern states! we invite your calm and
dispassionate attention to the subject; and, with the aid of that
Being to whom we must look for instruction in this, as in all our
other undertakings, we firmly trust that you will be enabled to devise
such measures as may terminate in your own peace, and security, and
the benefit of that unfortunate race whose miseries excite our
sympathy, and the improvement of whose situation is the object of our
anxious solicitude and care.
Another subject that required general attention, is the inhuman crime
of kidnapping, which, in some parts of our country, has recently
increased to an alarming degree. The friends of liberty view with
horror the perpetuation of this abominable practice, and the holders
of slaves have no security for them, as property, during its
continuance. There is therefore a common interest in the removal of
the grievance; and we confidently look for the assistance of the
humane of all descriptions in detecting and bringing to punishment,
these shameless violations of the rights of their fellow-men.
It is also a lamentable fact, that notwithstanding the general
repugnance of all well disposed citizens to any further importation of
Africans into this country, or concern in the infamous commerce in the
persons of our fellow creatures, notwithstanding the prohibitions of
the laws of most of the states on this subject, and the strict
instructions of those of the general government, upwards of two
hundred vessels, belonging to our own citizens, are employed in the
purchase and transportation of slaves from Africa to the West-Indies,
and the southern parts of this country.
The rage for this traffic is so far extended by avarice, that many
persons have risqued their all in its pursuit; and it seems that
nothing can stop the cruel and disgraceful enormities which are thus
committed, in violation of the dictates of humanity, and the laws and
policy of our country, but a more general activity and exertion on the
part of good citizens, in the discovery and prosecution of the
offenders. So large a number of vessels are fitted out for this trade,
and sent to the coast of Africa from the eastern states, that we are
induced earnestly to call on our brethren of those parts, to aid in
its suppression; and surely as they have done away the evil of
personal slavery among themselves, they cannot want inducements to
enforce the laws against such of their citizens as set them at
defiance, by pursuing a prohibited commerce, as shocking to the
feelings of every benevolent mind, as it is offensive in the eyes of
the Almighty Ruler of the universe.
Finally, fellow citizens! as you value your own peace and that of your
families; the quiet and security of our country; the obligations of
our holy religion; and the favor of an over ruling Providence; let us
entreat you to enter into the consideration of the subjects now
submitted to you. Assist in mitigating the present ills of personal
slavery, by an amelioration of the situation of slaves; lay the
foundation for an eventual extinction of the mighty evil throughout
our land; commence a determined opposition to the wicked infractions
of justice and the laws of our country; and may the Divine blessing
attend you, in every attempt that you may be encouraged to make, for
the good of your fellow men.[22]
CIRCULAR ADDRESS
TO THE ABOLITION AND MANUMISSION SOCIETIES IN THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA.
At the close of the session of 1821, the American Convention deem it
proper to address you on the important subjects which have occupied
our attention.
In reviewing the labours of Abolition Societies in this country, we
find much reason for congratulation. The cause of truth and humanity
has regularly advanced, in the minds of an enlightened community; and
nothing but perseverance, in presenting this subject to the public in
its appropriate simplicity, is requisite to promote its triumphant
march over the prejudice, hostility, and opposition of its enemies. To
the perseverance of its advocates alone, may be imputed the great
change in the public opinion, in favour of the Abolition of Slavery,
that has already been effected in the Northern, Middle, and some of
the Western States: and we confidently hope, that this will ultimately
produce a similar change in the South. We therefore trust, that you
will never relax your efforts to promote the emancipation of slaves,
till every human being in the United States, shall equally enjoy all
the blessings of our free constitution.
The best mode of effecting the abolition of slavery, so as to promote
the interests and the happiness of the slave, and to be satisfactory
to the master, is a subject of difficult solution; and one that has
much engaged the attention of the Convention. However desirable a
total emancipation might be to the philanthropist, we cannot expect
the speedy accomplishment of that event.
Although the subject of colonizing the free blacks, has been
repeatedly considered and disapproved by former Conventions; it has
been revived, fully discussed, and, as we trust, definitively decided
by this, that such a colony, either in Africa or in our own country,
would be incompatible with the principles of our governments, and with
the temporal and spiritual interests of the blacks.
How far voluntary emigration to Hayti should be encouraged, is a
question which we do not possess sufficient information to decide; but
which may receive much additional light from the correspondence
already directed to be instituted for that purpose. We think it worthy
of consideration, how far any measure should be recommended that may
tend to draw from our country the most industrious, moral, and
respectable of its coloured population, and thus deprive others, less
improved, of the benefit of their example and advice.
Deeply injured as they have been by the whites, the coloured people
certainly claim from us some degree of retributive justice. And if our
efforts succeed in improving their intellectual and moral condition,
and in imparting to them a correct knowledge of the only true God, we
shall do much towards compensating them for all the wrongs they have
sustained. This object can be best attained by their permanent
resident in a Christian country, and under suitable moral and
religious instruction.
Influenced by a conviction of this truth, our attention has been
directed to a gradual melioration of their condition, and to the
adoption of such measures as will conduce to their elevation to a
higher rank in society. We conceive that these objects may be
promoted, by giving the slaves an interest in the soil they
cultivate, by placing them in relation to their masters, in a
situation somewhat similar to that in which the peasantry of Russia
are placed in relation to their landlords.
This plan has been successfully executed by an extensive planter in
Barbadoes; and it was found to conduce essentially to the promotion of
his slaves. Should our southern planters be induced to adopt a similar
course, there is doubt, that the result would be equally favourable.
We think it particularly desirable, that the legislatures of the
slave-holding states, should be induced to fix a period after which
all who are born of slaves shall be free. This is an object which we
ought never to lost sight of, until it is attained. Although this
period should be remote, and therefore no benefits be afforded to the
present generation, yet an inestimable benefit would thus be assured
to posterity.
_Signed on behalf, and by order of the American Convention, held at
New-York, the 29th of November, 1821._[23]
THE MEMORIAL OF THE AMERICAN CONVENTION FOR PROMOTING THE ABOLITION OF
SLAVERY, AND IMPROVING THE CONDITION OF THE AFRICAN RACE,
RESPECTFULLY SHEWETH,
That it has long been a source of deep regret to a large portion of
the citizens of the United States, as well as to the friends of human
rights and liberty throughout the world, that domestic Slavery, with
all its odious features, continues to be tolerated by the national
government in the small territory over which the Constitution invests
it with exclusive jurisdiction. Your Memorialists are convinced, that
a strong simultaneous effort of those who hold this sentiment in
different sections of our country, would imperiously engage the
attention of Congress to this interesting subject; especially if that
effort were sanctioned and directed by the authority of the different
state legislatures. Impressed with this belief, we earnestly solicit
your honourable body to use such means as your wisdom and the spirit
of our admirable constitution will sanction, in order to remove this
national reproach, and vindicate the purity and vigour of our
republican institutions from the reproaches of their enemies.
We are only known to foreign states as one great nation, of which the
Federal Government is the organ and representative; every state
comprising the Union and all its inhabitants, are compelled to endure
the _opprobium_, however they may abhor, the _guilt_ of holding their
fellow men in bondage. To permit the existence of slavery within the
very sound of the voice of the orator and statesman, while he is
pleading the cause of _Liberty_, or uttering his boast of _American
Independence_ upon the floor of Congress, is a flagrant inconsistency,
which, in the view of foreign nations, attaches equally to
Massachusetts and Virginia! We entreat you, therefore, by your regard
for justice and the rights of man--by your religion, and the welfare
of our common country--by your respect for yourselves and for the
honour of your constituents, not to suffer the present session to
elapse, without a recorded vote, which shall be _your_ witness to
posterity, that, if the exclusive territory of the national government
remains to be polluted by the footsteps of a slave, it is because
_your_ exertions in the cause of liberty have been unavailing.
Respectfully, but most earnestly, do your memorialists request your
honourable body, seriously to consider this subject; and if it shall
appear to you advisable, let your senators be requested, to bring the
subject into the view of the Congress of the United States, enforced
with the commanding weight of your recommendation to an early and
profound enquiry into the expediency of the measure.
W. RAWLE, _President_.[24]
THE FOLLOWING IS A CIRCULAR, PREPARED AND ISSUED BY THE ACTING
COMMITTEE OF THE CONVENTION, AND SELECTED AND ORDERED TO BE PLACED
UPON THE MINUTES OF THE CONVENTION:
RESPECTED FRIEND,
In inviting our fellow citizens to join in the great cause of justice,
and humanity, it seems almost unnecessary to dwell upon the reasons
which should influence their cordial co-operation. It would be an
insult to their feelings and understanding, to suppose them unmindful
of the rights of their fellow men, or indifferent to the honour of
their country; yet it may be well to direct their attention to some of
the calamities inseparably connected with slavery, and to strive to
awaken the exertions requisite to effect its abolition.
By the Law of Nature, all men are entitled to equal privileges, and,
although, the artificial distinctions of society may have abrogated it
in practice, they are unable to justify the destruction of a right,
which claims for the African that Freedom which the express and
implied will of the Almighty has declared to be inherent in every
individual of the human race.
The barbarous policy which sanctified the introduction of slaves into
this country, sacrificed the injunctions of Revelation to mercenary
ambition, and for temporary interest bestowed a lasting disgrace upon
posterity. Time and perseverance may eradicate the evil, which is
increasing in importance, and which not only has brought obloquy upon
our national character, but threatens to involve us in all disastrous
results of civil discord.
There is nothing in our Republic so deeply calculated to promote
sectional jealously as the existence of slavery. The conflicting
policy of slave-holding and non-slave-holding states, will increase
with its unhappy cause. We have already seen to what extent it may be
carried, and it requires no effort to imagine consequences, from
future excitement, the most dangerous to our political existence.
There is also much to be feared, in many States, from the physical
superiority of the Black population. The innate principle which so
strongly impels to the acquisition of liberty, is, in itself,
sufficient to arouse the energies of the slave; but, when the
consciousness of numerical power unites with the desire of vengeance,
arising from long oppression, the influence of example only, can be
wanting to enkindle the exterminating rapacity that usually attends
successful insurrection.
One of the strongest reasons that should induce us to exert every
power for the suppression of slavery, is the indelible disgrace it
brings upon our country. A people, enjoying the utmost limit of
rational liberty, who proudly claim the name and rights of freemen,
tolerate in their very bosom the most unnatural and cruel bondage.
This glaring inconsistency, in part, justifies the sneers which the
advocates of arbitrary power are continually casting on the boasted
liberality of our political institutions.
We are trying the great experiment, whether liberal Government is best
calculated for the happiness of man, and its opposers seize with
readiness the argument, that one portion of our population is
dependent for its luxuries, and even for its existence on the abject
servitude of another. The power of example is lessened, and patriotism
turns with disgust from our practical application of that splendid
theory, which declares that all men should be free and equal.
The voice of humanity is loud in its appeal for the emancipation of
the human race. The connection between slavery and cruelty, which
results from the rigid discipline necessary to exact unnatural
obedience, is alone sufficient inducement to excite the attention of
the Philanthropist. It is degrading to behold the image of God bending
under the brutality of imperious dictation, subject to the caprice of
rude and ignorant authority, and liable to ignominious death for
seeking that liberty which nature has declared to be equally due to
all men.
Is the participation of natural right to be graduated by shades of
complexion? Shall one man lead a life of thraldom, because his skin
has darkened under a hotter sun? Shall he be the perpetual servant of
his fellow man, because deficiency of intellectual power, naturally
resulting from a want of education and opportunity, have given him
less keenness of perception, disqualified him to stand forth the
vindicator of the oppressed, to assert his rights, and demand redress
for his injuries? No! We trust that there is a redeeming virtue in our
fellow citizens, which will urge them to unite with us in abolishing
Domestic Slavery. We invite them, because we believe it to be
contradictory to the Law of Nature--in violation of the commands of
Christianity--hostile to our political union--dangerous to a portion
of our white population--inconsistent with our professed love of
liberty--degrading to our national character--and in opposition to the
feelings of humanity. Then let not this appalling injustice bring down
the wrath of offended Heaven on our country--join with us in the
endeavour to benefit mankind, and be determined that your zeal shall
not waver, nor your exertions diminish, while a single spot in our
land is polluted by a slave.
We respectfully invite a correspondence on the subject of this
address, and the communication of such facts as may, from time to
time, come to your knowledge.
By order of the Acting Committee of the American Convention
for promoting the Abolition of Slavery, and Improving the
condition of the African Race.
OTIS AMMIDON, _Chairman_.[25]
Isaac Barton, _Secretary.
Philadelphia, 22, 1825._
THE AMERICAN CONVENTION FOR PROMOTING THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY, &C. TO
THE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES.
Among the various subjects which have obtained our attention at this
time, that of the education of indigent colored children is considered
one of primary importance. When we look around upon the one hand, and
see the incalculable advantages which have accrued to the children of
white persons in limited circumstances, from the instruction bestowed
upon them by judicious benevolent provisions; and upon the other, to
observe the deplorable effects of the want of instruction, in the case
of the neglected children of colored parents, we feel a conviction
that the period has arrived, when the Abolitionist and the
Philanthropist ought to renew and redouble their efforts to remove the
unpleasant contrast; and it is with much satisfaction we have learned
that in some parts of our country, the attention of benevolent
individuals, and charitable institutions, has been attracted to this
subject, and the success which attended their endeavours, furnishes a
most powerful inducement to follow up so praiseworthy an undertaking
by the united efforts of all those who are one in sentiment with us,
in improving the condition of the African race. We trust it will be
readily conceded, that whatever measures have the effect of
enlightening any portion of the community, are a public good; and upon
this maxim, the education of the children of what are called the lower
classes, has often been recommended with a laudable zeal, by statesmen
eminent for their wisdom and foresight; from hence, and the acts of
some of the State Legislatures, much has been done to enlighten the
minds of indigent children; unhappily, in some parts of our country,
colored children are deprived of the benefits of education by
ungenerous constructions of existing laws; in some, by the absence of
all legal provision for their instruction, and in others by the
existence of legal prohibitions; thus leaving a wide field open for
the benevolent operations of those who feel an interest in raising the
degraded African from a state of ignorance which is a reproach to the
age and country in which we live.
As regards the capacity of colored children to acquire knowledge, when
the opportunity is afforded them, many facts might be collected to
shew that they are by no means deficient in intellect; that the minds
of many of them are of quick perception, and capable of arriving at
considerable degrees of eminence in scientific research; in short,
that nothing but the means of instruction are wanting to the poor
colored child, to elevate him to that station in society which he is
entitled to upon every principle of justice and humanity; which his
and our Creator, no doubt, designed he should occupy, and from which
he is debarred by the cruel hand of injustice and oppression.
If these views are correct, it is much to be lamented that instruction
has been so long withheld from thousands of these objects of pity, and
our efforts ought to be so directed as to repair or remove the evil.
Under these impressions, we earnestly recommend to the friends of
emancipation and equal rights, that they give to this subject the
solemn consideration which its importance so loudly demands, and adopt
such measures as may appear best calculated to dissipate the cloud of
ignorance by which the present colored generation is enveloped, and
succeeding ones threatened. If those measures are pursued with a zeal
worthy of such a cause, we trust your labors will be crowned with
success, and the benevolent heart will expect no richer reward.[26]
TO THE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES.
The American Convention for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, and
improving the condition of the African race, now convened in the city
of Baltimore, most respectfully takes the liberty of addressing you on
the important subject of the gradual extinction of Slavery in the
District of Columbia.
It is doubtless well understood, by our fellow citizens generally,
that this District _is the property of the nation_--that the laws for
the government thereof emanate from the representatives of the people,
in Congress assembled, and that all who are entitled to the elective
franchise in every State of the Union, have an equal right to express
their sentiments, and urge the adoption of measures, relative to the
abolition of the system of Slavery therein.
We are well aware that some will contend for the _legality_ of
Slavery, as tolerated in some parts of the United States, and insist
that the question of its abolition should be left to the decision of
the people of the District, themselves. When we consider that slaves
are, generally, viewed _as property_, this kind of reasoning assumes a
specious appearance: yet it must be borne in mind, that the
inhabitants of the District of Columbia _are not represented in any
legislative body_; but that the sovereignty over that particular
section of the country is vested in the people of the States--And
when we reflect, that the question has long since been settled whether
a legislative body possesses the right to enact laws for the
prohibition or extinction of Slavery--that it has indeed been _acted
on_, by several of the State Legislatures, and also by Congress--we
think that no reasonable doubt can be entertained as to the expediency
of the measure in the present case. It is well known that a very large
proportion of the citizens of the United States are inimical to the
system of Slavery; and it is believed by many intelligent persons, who
are themselves residents of the District of Columbia, that a great
majority of the inhabitants thereof are desirous for its total
abolition. Viewing the subject in this light, we cannot, for a moment,
hesitate in urging your attention to it.
The friends of Universal Emancipation, in several of the States, viz.
North Carolina, Tennessee, Maryland, &c. have for several years
memorialized Congress upon this important subject; but as a few,
comparatively speaking, were thus heard to express their sentiments,
little notice has yet been taken of their petitions. At the last
session, a memorial, against the perpetuation of the cruel system, was
presented to that body, by the people of the District, themselves.
This memorial was signed by about one thousand of the most respectable
portion of the inhabitants, among whom were several of the Judges of
the District Courts, and even some holders of slaves. Whatever may
have been the doubts or scruples entertained by some of our citizens
heretofore, respecting the propriety of urging this subject upon the
attention of the National Legislature, we conceive that there is no
longer cause for hesitation, since a very respectable number of the
people of the District have themselves raised their voice in its
favour; and, as we have before stated, it is also believed that by far
the greater number are favourably disposed towards it.
That the discussion of this question may excite a lively interest,
both in and out of Congress, and that whatever measures may be
proposed, for promoting the object in view, will meet with violent
opposition, from the advocates of Slavery, we are well aware. All past
experience teaches us that this is to be expected. Not only the
opponents of emancipation in the south may be expected to throw
impediments in our way, but the prejudice against the unfortunate and
degraded Africans, and the self-interest of many others will also be
arrayed against us. Yet we would calmly and dispassionately appeal to
the good sense of the people of this nation--to those who exercise the
sovereign authority in this great republic--this boasted land of
freedom and equal rights--and recommend the serious consideration of
this very important subject. We most earnestly beseech them to weigh
well the consequences of tolerating within the limits of this
District, a system that has uniformly proved destructive to every
nation that long permitted its continuance. But most especially, we
would appeal to them as Christians and Philanthropists; and urge them
by all the feelings of humanity and benevolence--by all the ties of
social affection that binds man to his fellow man--by a due regard to
the immutable principles of justice, mercy, and consistency--and by
every desire for the perpetuation of our free institutions and the
peace and happiness of our posterity,--to come forth in their might,
and exert every moral energy to arrest the march of this gigantic
evil, ere it overwhelms us, and precipitates us into the vortex of
corruption and despotism.
Not only do we consider the honour of the nation as implicated by the
toleration of Slavery in the District of Columbia; but the example has
a most deleterious and pernicious effect even upon those whose
education and habits have opposed it, when they come within the range
of its influence. As a proof of the correctness of this opinion, we
need only advert to the conduct of sundry persons who have acted in
the capacity of representatives to Congress from non-slave holding
states. We have reason to believe that they have thus in some
instances become so insensible of the evils of the anti-christian
practice as to disregard the will of their constituents, and join with
its advocates in the adoption of measures for its extension and
perpetuation. And we fear that this state of things cannot be remedied
until the people of the United States in general turn their attention
to the subject, and adopt measures for the extinction of the odious
system, wheresoever it can be done, consistently with the Constitution
of the Republic.
From statements submitted to this Convention, we are glad to find that
this subject has already arrested the attention of a respectable
portion of our fellow citizens, in different parts of the Union.
Petitions and memorials, we learn, are preparing in many places for
signatures, which will, in due season be laid before Congress. It is
also understood that efforts will soon be made by some of the members
of that body, to effect the great and desirable object. Let, then,
all who are sincerely desirous to wipe from our moral escutcheon this
crimson stain, come forward at this interesting crisis, and raise
their voice in favour of the great principle of universal liberty, and
the inalienable rights of man.
Signed by order, and on behalf of the Convention.[27]
TO THE PUBLIC
"The American Convention for promoting the abolition of slavery and
improving the condition of the African race," having met for the first
time at the city of Washington, deem it proper to address the public
in general, relative to the objects and present prospects of the
Institution.
We do not consider it necessary to enter into a detail of the history
of our proceedings, in this address; neither shall we attempt to
adduce any argument to prove the justice of our cause. The first is
within the reach of those generally, who take an interest in the
success of our undertaking; the last stands undenied and undeniable,
among men of the least pretensions to virtue and candor. But having
located this Convention at the seat of the National Government, many
of our fellow citizens, who have never acquainted themselves with our
proceedings, may be desirous to know the objects we have in view, as
well as our prospects of success. A compliance with a wish so
reasonable, we deem incumbent on us; and we shall frankly state our
views and ultimate design.
The sole aim and end of this Convention ever has been, and now is, the
abolition of slavery and improvement of the African race, (as its
title imports,) in the United States, upon the principles of justice,
equity and safety. The means by which it seeks to accomplish this
great work, are:
1st. To enlighten the public mind, relative to the actual state of the
slave system.
2nd. To concentrate the opinions and labors of philanthropists in
every portion of the country, respecting the adoption of measure for
its abolition.
3d. To give efficiency to the labors of individuals, and the various
kindred associations in different parts of the Union, by petitions and
memorials to the constituted authorities, accompanied by such
information as may be useful to them.
4th. To point out the best and most practical modes of lessening the
evils resulting from that system, during its existence in this
republic.
With these views the Convention was originally organized, and upon
these principles it has ever proceeded. It has been eminently
successful in promoting the cause of emancipation in that portion of
the Union, where it was at first located; and we consider it strictly
within the bounds of reason to infer, from past experience, that it
will exert a salutary influence where it is now established. As the
light of liberty advances, and the bright luminary of truth shines
through the mists of popular error, the labors of the advocates of
emancipation will be duly appreciated and their laudable exertions
crowned with success.
If we may be allowed to compare the exertions of philanthropists at
the present day, with those of former periods in the history of our
country, the most sanguine anticipations of future success may be
indulged. Within little more than half a century, few, very few, and
most of them possessed of comparatively little influence in the
political circles, were known to advocate our cause. Now thousands are
enlisted in it, some of whom are among the most influential characters
in the nation. Then, the system of slavery was tolerated within the
limits of the United States, from the Mississippi to the western
confines of Massachusetts, and from the Atlantic to the farthest
north-western frontier. Now, the vast extent of country, comprising
the states of Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, in the whole of which
slavery was permitted to exist, is almost totally freed from the foul
pollution. And further, a law has been enacted and enforced,
positively prohibiting its extension beyond the line of thirty-six
degrees and thirty minutes, north latitude, in all the territory
belonging to the republic. This great and important work has
unquestionably been accomplished by the active labors of those who
have exerted themselves to show the impropriety of continuing to
tolerate the system, and the feasibility of its total extinction.
From this view of the subject we draw the conclusion, that as "like
causes produce like effects," we have sufficient ground for the
belief, that by a faithful perseverance in the same course of
benevolence, the same happy results will follow. We frankly admit that
where the evil of slavery is felt to a greater extent than in the
states to which we have adverted, not only must _greater exertions_ be
used, but even the plans of proceeding must be somewhat varied. Yet
we contend that the same grand object must be kept constantly in view,
and the same leading principles ever be acted on, to produce the
desired result.
In locating this Convention at the city of Washington, we are actuated
by the hope that influential men from different parts of the Union,
may thereby become more ultimately acquainted with our proceedings,
and so far as they may approve thereof, be induced to co-operate with
us. From the very nature of the principles which we profess, it will
be seen that our success depends wholly on the _united exertions_ of
the wise and virtuous. Our plans being entirely of a pacific character
and having nothing in view but what is consistent with the welfare and
happiness of all, we confidently rely on the wisdom of the patriot and
philanthropist, and the good sense of our free, enlightened
fellow-citizens, for the realization of our hopes, and the
consummation of our important undertaking.[28]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] American Convention, Abolition Societies, Minutes, 1821-1829, pp.
42-48.
[2] Minutes of the Proceedings of the Fourth American Convention of
Delegates from the Abolition Societies, 1797, pp. 37-43.
[3] American Convention Abolition Societies, Minutes, 1821, pp. 50-55.
[4] American Convention Abolition Societies, Minutes, 1828, pp. 21-24.
[5] American Convention Abolition Societies, Minutes, 1828, pp. 25-27.
[6] American Convention Abolition Societies, Minutes, 1829, pp. 16-18.
[7] American Convention Abolition Societies, Minutes, 1795-1804, pp.
24-29.
[8] Minutes of Proceedings of a Convention of Delegates, from the
Abolition Societies, 1794, pp. 26-27.
[9] Minutes of Proceedings, Convention of Abolition Societies,
Philadelphia, 1821, pp. 41-42.
[10] American Convention Abolition Societies, Minutes, 1821, pp.
46-48.
[11] American Convention Abolition Societies, Minutes, 1827, pp.
29-30.
[12] Minutes of Proceedings, Convention of Abolition Societies,
Baltimore, 1827, pp. 30-31.
[13] American Convention Abolition Societies, Minutes, 1828, pp.
33-35.
[14] American Convention Abolition Societies, Minutes, 1829, pp.
21-24.
[15] "The holy fathers, monks and friars, had in their confessions and
specially in their extreme and deadly sickness, convinced the laity
how dangerous a practice it was, for one Christian man to hold another
in bondage; so that temporal men by little and little, by reason of
that terror in their consciences, were glad to manumit all their
villeins."--Sir T. Smith His. Common, vide 2. Blackstone, p. 96.
[16] Two thousand slaves are said to be now offered to the
Colonization Society for transportation.
[17] The slave population in 1810 was 1,191,364; in 1820, 1,531,436.
Increasing in the same ratio, in 1830 it will be 1,948,587.
[18] The increase in ten years is about twenty-eight per centum, but
as the increase of the latter portion of the period is much greater
than that of the former portion, it will be evident that our estimate
for a single year is correct.
[19] In 1828 it was $24,789,463. See Treasury Report for 1829.
[20] American Convention Abolition Societies, Minutes, 1821-1829, pp.
25-35.
[21] Minutes of Proceedings of a Convention of Delegates from the
Abolition Societies, 1794, pp. 22-25.
[22] American Convention Abolition Societies, Minutes, 1801, pp.
37-41.
[23] American Convention Abolition Societies, Minutes, 1821, pp.
57-58.
[24] American Convention Abolition Societies, Minutes, 1825, pp.
31-32.
[25] American Convention Abolition Societies, Minutes, 1825, pp.
33-35.
[26] American Convention Abolition Societies, Minutes, 1827, p. 19.
[27] American Convention Abolition Societies, Minutes, 1828, pp.
17-20.
[28] American Convention Abolition Societies, Minutes, 1829, pp.
37-40.
BOOK REVIEWS
_The Bantu, Past and Present._ By S. M. MOLEMA. Edinburgh, W.
Green and Son, Limited. Pp. 398. Price, 25/net.
This is an ethnographical and historical study of the native races of
South Africa. The author of the work is a member of the race whose
life he has described. To some extent, then, he has told here his own
story, "relying somewhat on the life of the people in interpreting the
psychological aspect which must be invaluable to a foreigner." As this
book, however, is replete with quotations from various works of white
men who have seen the country only from the outside, and the work
contains no evidence that the writer has extensively traveled in his
own native land, it drifts too much in the direction of a summary of
what these various travelers have thought of Africa. The book,
moreover, is not altogether scientific; and fraught with too many of
the opinions of others who should know less about Africa than the
native himself, it does not satisfy the need for a definitive account
of the life and history of the various peoples of South Africa. On the
whole, however, it is far in advance of most works bearing on the
achievement of that continent and is certainly a step in the right
direction, when the story of Africa will be told as it must be told by
the native of Africa himself.
The book begins with an interesting introduction of that part of the
work called _The Revelation_, which consists of an account of the
antiquity of man in Africa, prehistoric Africa, the unveiling of South
Africa and the distribution of the primitive races. In that portion of
the work styled _The Past_ there is a valuable summary of African
ethnology, setting forth the various stocks of the southern part of
the continent, their manners and customs, moral conduct, religious
beliefs and language. This portion of the work is valuable, because it
is a brief summary of valuable matter scattered through a large number
of volumes.
In that part of the work styled _The Present_ there is much matter
which may be found in almost any history of Africa. What is said about
missionaries, missions, the South African wars, and the like, may be
found in various works, and in some more extensively treated. In those
chapters bearing on the education of the Bantu, the relation of the
races and the attitude of the government to the natives, there are
adequately set forth the race problem in that part of the world and
the effort toward its solution as expressed in such strivings of the
natives as the Bantu National Congress and the Bantu Press. There is,
moreover, the reaction of an intelligent native of Africa to the
impressions made upon him by the European civilization there
implanted.
The author does not seem to be very hopeful. On the whole, the ring of
the book is rather pessimistic. Yet he mentions intellectual
possibilities as well as impossibilities, bright prospects for
religious developments as well as an unfavorable religious outlook,
social and economic prospects favorable and unfavorable, and finally
the hope that relations between the races may be amicably adjusted so
as to secure to the black and white the privileges of a common
government.
* * * * *
_An American History._ By DAVIS SAVILLE MUZZEY, Ph.D. Revised
edition. New York, Ginn and Company, 1920. Pp. 537.
This new edition of the author's former work brings the narrative down
to the spring months of the year 1920. The author has entirely recast
that part of the book following the Spanish war and has made
considerable changes in the preceding chapters to emphasize the social
and economic factors in our history. Some illustrative material has
been added, the maps have been improved and the bibliographical
references brought down to date.
This book follows the line of the most recent writers of American
history in giving less attention to the problems of the early periods
to treat somewhat in detail movements culminating in our day. It does
not contain so much about the discovery and exploration of the new
world and gives only limited space to colonial history. The treatment
of the birth of the nation, the development of the Constitution and
the rise of political parties, is more interesting. The author is more
elaborate in his discussion of the sectional struggle between the
North and South, the crisis of disunion and the Civil War. The drama
of reconstruction, however, is decidedly neglected; but the problems
confronting the people thereafter are more extensively treated.
When a reader in quest of the truth has read this text-book of
American History, however, he will be compelled to ask the question as
to why there appears throughout this volume references to the
achievements of all groups influencing the history of this country,
and there is no mention whatever of what the Negroes, constituting a
tenth of the population of the United States, have thought and felt
and done. It is unreasonable to think that such a large element of the
nation could be so closely connected with it without having decidedly
influenced the shaping of its destiny, and history shows that the
record of the Negro race in the western hemisphere is so creditable
and far-reaching that it is impossible to write the history of the
United States and omit the achievements of this group. Professor
Muzzey's _American History_, therefore, is not a balanced and
unprejudiced account of the rise and progress of the United States,
but such a treatise as he believes that the American mind will absorb,
and such a story as conforms with the biased minds of pseudo-American
historians who do not desire to publish to posterity the achievements
of all the people of this country.
* * * * *
_The Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the
Year 1918, Volume II. The Autobiography of Martin Van Buren._ By
JOHN C. FITZPATRICK. Washington, 1920. Pp. 808.
This autobiography of Martin Van Buren was presented to the Library of
Congress by Mrs. Smith Thompson Van Buren in 1905, at the same time
when the Van Buren papers were presented to the Library. It is a
manuscript copy in seven folio volumes, made by Smith Thompson Van
Buren, the son and literary executor of the President, from Van
Buren's original draft. The editor reports that portions of Volumes VI
and VII are in another hand and the last fifteen pages of the
manuscript have many changes and corrections by Van Buren himself. A
portion of the book was edited by Mr. Worthington C. Ford. The notes
of Van Buren himself are distinguished by letters from the numbered
notes of the editor of the work.
A study of this manuscript leads the editor of this work to the
conclusion that it is written "with engaging frankness, and the
insight it afforded to the mental processes of a master politician is
deeply interesting." Van Buren's desire to be scrupulously fair in his
estimates is evident, and if he did not always succeed, his failures
are not discreditable. Mr. Fitzpatrick does not believe that the
autobiography compels a revision of established historical judgments,
although it "presents authority for much in our political history
hitherto somewhat conjectural and records political motives and
activities of the period in an illuminating and suggestive manner." On
reading this work one must agree with its editor that, "in analyzing
men and measures, Van Buren all unconsciously paints a picture of
himself."
For students of Negro history certain parts of this work are both
interesting and valuable. This is especially true of Chapter XI, in
which Van Buren sets forth his own views on the slavery question and
discusses the men and their measures proposed for dealing with it.
This chapter not only gives a review of the history of slavery in the
United States up to the time of the crisis of thirties, but brings out
additional facts throwing light upon the situation at that time. In
the beginning of Chapter XVIII, and on pages 528-529, Van Buren takes
up the question of the concession of Great Britain by treaty
stipulation of the right of search to prevent the prosecution of the
slave trade under our flag, which he considered merely a pretense on
the part of Great Britain for the impressment of our seamen. Near the
end of Chapter XXX may be found other interesting comments and facts
concerning the action of the leading statesmen of this country during
the critical period of conflicting sectional interests. Much of the
book has to do with slavery directly or indirectly, but those portions
referred to may be of special interest to the reader.
* * * * *
_Two Colored Women with the American Expeditionary Forces._ By
ADDIE W. HUNTON and KATHERINE M. JOHNSON. New York, Brooklyn
Eagle Press, 1920. Pp. 256.
This is one of the first volumes published since the war to set forth
the truth concerning the participation of the Negro troops in that
struggle. While their achievements have evoked appreciative
expressions from those who learned of the war from afar, this volume
undertakes to present the observations of two women of culture who
went forth with these black soldiers to war. The story is set forth in
an interesting manner, under such topics as _The Call and the Answer,
The First Days in France, Welfare Organizations, The Combatant Troops_
in contradistinction to the _Non-Combatant Troops, Pioneer Infantries,
Over the Canteen in France, The Leave Area, Relationship with the
French and the Religious Life Among the Troops_. Many of these facts
do not strike the reader as new, but the human touch given the story
by these authors, who participated in the events themselves, makes
the volume readable, interesting, and valuable.
The work is otherwise significant. From chapter to chapter there
appear various documents giving unconsciously convincing evidence as
to the part the Negro troops played in the war. While the authors make
no pretense to scientific treatment, they have certainly facilitated
the task of the historian who must undertake the writing of a
definitive history of the Negroes' participation in the World War. The
book, moreover, is well illustrated and well printed. It will be read
with interest and profit by all persons who seek the truth and
endeavor to record impartially the achievements of the various
elements constituting the population of this country.
The greatest value of this work, however, lies not so much in the
interesting facts set forth and the beautiful story told, as in the
example set by these women of achievement. They are writing not only
to convince the present generation as to the important service
rendered by the Negro troops in France, but they would hand down these
facts in printed form that coming generations may not be so biased as
the present in estimating the character of the Negro and his worth to
the nation. It is to be hoped that every Negro who, during his service
at the front, received such impressions and had such experiences as to
throw light upon the many phases of that world cataclysm will in the
near future follow the example of these worthy women. The public will
welcome history of divisions and regiments and will certainly be
interested in the mere personal narrative presenting the experiences
peculiar to those individuals placed in strategic positions to see at
close range what was actually happening and had the time and availed
themselves of the opportunity to record it.
NOTES
Answering a call to duty a number of persons, chief among whom are
Carter G. Woodson, Washington, D. C., John W. Davis, Institute, West
Virginia, Louis R. Mehlinger, Washington, D. C., D. S. S. Goodloe,
Bowie, Maryland, Mordecai W. Johnson, Charleston, West Virginia, Byrd
Prillerman and C. E. Mitchell, Institute, West Virginia, incorporated
under the laws of the District of Columbia on the third of June, a
firm to be known as THE ASSOCIATED PUBLISHERS, INCORPORATED, with a
capital stock of $25,000. This firm will publish books of all kinds,
but will direct its attention primarily to works bearing on Negroes so
as to supply all kinds of information concerning the Negro race and
those who have been interested in its uplift. Carter G. Woodson is
President; John W. Davis, Treasurer; and Louis R. Mehlinger,
Secretary.
The idea in the minds of the incorporators is to meet a long-felt need
of supplanting exploiting publishers sending out book agents, who
since the emancipation of the Negroes have gone from door to door
filling their homes with literature which is neither informing nor
elevating. Inasmuch as these publishing houses find it profitable to
sell literature which in this advanced age of civilization of the race
must be less attractive than it was years ago, it is to be expected
that success will come to an enterprise like THE ASSOCIATED
PUBLISHERS, INCORPORATED, bringing out more valuable works for which
there is an increasing demand.
During the recent years the Negro race has been seeking to learn more
about itself and especially since the social upheaval of the World
War. The Negro reading public has been largely increased and the
number of persons interested in the Negro have so multiplied that any
creditable publication giving important facts about the race now finds
a ready market throughout the United States and even abroad. To supply
this demand these gentlemen have launched the enterprise, THE
ASSOCIATED PUBLISHERS, INCORPORATED.
* * * * *
_Africa Slave or Free_, by John H. Harris, has been published by E. P.
Dutton and Company, New York City.
* * * * *
_Unsung Heroes_: by Elizabeth Ross Haynes is being advertised as a
forthcoming publication of DuBois and Dill, Publishers, New York
City. This work consists largely of biographical material for average
readers.
* * * * *
The following interesting articles have recently appeared: _West
African Religion_, by R. E. Dennett (The Church Quarterly Review,
January, 1921); _Christian Missions and African Labor_, by J. H.
Oldham (International Review of Missions, April, 1921); _Unreached
Fields of Central Africa_, by H. K. W. Kumm (The Missionary Review of
the World, June, 1921); _A Doctor's Experience in West Africa_, by H.
L. Weber (The Missionary Review of the World, June, 1921); _South
Africa and its Native Problem_, by Earl Buxton (Journal of the African
Society, April, 1921); _Semi-Bantu Languages of East Nigeria_, by Sir
Harry H. Johnston (Journal of the African Society, April, 1921); _The
Fulas and their Language_, by Sir Harry H. Johnston (Journal of the
African Society, April, 1921); _Race Legislation in South Carolina
since 1865_, by F. B. Simkins (South Atlantic Quarterly, January,
1921); _Santo Domingo: A Study in Benevolent Imperialism_, by R. G.
Adams (South Atlantic Quarterly, January, 1921).
THE JOURNAL
OF
NEGRO HISTORY
VOL. VI--OCTOBER, 1921--NO. 4
THE NEGRO MIGRATION OF 1916-1918[1]
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
In accordance with its title, this essay is intended to be an
interpretation of the recent Negro migration in the United States. Its
object is to sift out from the mass of writings the most salient
facts pertaining to this movement and to present them in such a manner
as to give a correct impression of it in its entirety. In this regard,
however, it is not a mere narration of events, but, as far as
possible, a sort of scientific analysis of the facts therein
contained. Thus, it aims to treat in a systematic and logical manner
the various aspects of the movement, to show the relationship between
them, and to try to understand and account for the economic and social
forces involved. In pursuance of this it has, therefore, seemed
fitting to include in this study a brief survey of migration in
general, the origin, nature, and scope of the recent movement, its
relation to previous movements, its causes and effects, and some
conclusions regarding its meaning and significance.
In the preparation of this essay, moreover, the writer has drawn very
freely from the material contained in a report of the United States
Department of Labor. Accurately described, this source is rather a
compilation of reports based on investigations of this movement during
the summer of 1917. These inquiries were authorized by the Secretary
of Labor and were supervised by Dr. James H. Dillard, formerly a
professor and a dean of the faculty at Tulane University, New Orleans,
Louisiana, and, at present, Director of the Jeanes and Slater Funds
for Negro education in the South. The actual investigations were made
and reported on by the following: Mr. T. J. Woofter, Mr. R. H.
Leavell, Mr. T. R. Snavely, Mr. W. T. B. Williams and Professor F. D.
Tyson of the University of Pittsburgh.
This essay, however, views this movement as the Negro Migration of
1916-18 instead of the "Negro Migration of 1916-17," as some have
termed it. This position is taken on the following grounds: The
Negroes were attracted to the North largely through the great demand
for labor which had been made a fact by the departure of thousands of
aliens to serve their respective countries in the Great War. The Negro
migration stream began flowing in the spring of 1916, reached its
highest mark in 1917, and, even though much diminished, coursed on
through 1918 up to the signing of the armistice. With the occurrence
of this event the need for Negro labor became considerably less acute,
thus causing a decided dwindling of the movement, but not a sudden
stoppage of it. It drifted on, however, but with an ever-decreasing
volume. Even during the latter part of the summer of 1919 signs that
this movement was still in progress were evident, as Negroes were
found moving North, though in very small numbers.
A study of the movement of any group of mankind almost of necessity
reverts to the consideration of the relation of man to his
environment, both natural and human. In the first place, it is known
that man, like the plant or the animal, is greatly influenced by his
natural surroundings. It is the policy of nature to allow an
unlimited number of individuals to be born, while at the same time the
amount of food and space upon the earth is limited. This results in a
perpetual struggle for survival, or existence. In this struggle,
through the process of natural selection, the individuals possessing
those qualities suitable for life in their environment are allowed to
survive and to transmit these favorable qualities to their offspring,
whereas those having the less fit traits are weeded out. In a word,
the battle is to the strong, the race is to the swift.[3] The chances
of survival of all organisms, therefore, depend on adaptation or
adjustment to external conditions.[4]
Besides adaptation, however, nature also presents to the plant or
animal other alternatives whenever any fundamental change occurs in
the environment which affects the life of these individuals. These
alternatives are death, degeneration, and flight. These have all had
their effects upon man as well as upon plants and animals. "It is well
known that men die when natural conditions become favorable enough;
famines recurrently sweep many from the earth. Again, they degenerate
when they are forced to live a life that it is possible to live but
only in a miserable way. Some of the lowest tribes of men, like the
South African Bushmen, or the Digger Indians, have been forced by
stronger tribes to withdraw into the desert and to exist upon a lower
plane of life. The physique of such peoples betrays the hardships
which they have suffered. Men also flee from an unfavorable
environment, thus escaping death or degeneracy, if the way into a more
favorable locality lies open to them. Much of migration and
colonization comes under this alternative."[5] This topic is well
illustrated by those farms of New England which have been abandoned
by their former owners, and have been occupied by immigrants from
Europe.[6]
As man is compelled to adapt himself to his natural surroundings in
order to survive, so he must do in regard to his human or social
environment. This external situation is due to the fact that man lives
his life in a group, or a society, composed of numerous individuals
like himself. In this society are laws or conventions which are
imposed on all by the group, and which all are required to obey.[7]
Often, however, it happens that in various ways the acts of large
numbers of the group come into conflict with these laws, and the
result is the maladjustment of those who have behaved thus. Society
then takes steps to compel these individuals to bring themselves back
into harmony with the life of the rest of the group. During this
period of compulsion, however, all do not comply with the commands of
society, for many avail themselves of the alternative of flight or
migration to another place where conditions of life seem more
favorable. The numerous historical accounts of men and women leaving
their native lands in order to escape discomforts, dissatisfactions,
punishment or persecution for various reasons, are examples of this
state of affairs.
Migration then is an important element in man's environmental
relations. It is the means by which he is enabled to escape the pain
of an unfavorable environment and to find the pleasure which might
result from adaptation in more favorable surroundings. Through flight
or migration man simply adopts the course on which his efforts meet
with the least resistance, because, instead of remaining in the
unfavorable locality to struggle against the most adverse
circumstances, or to run the risk of suffering death or degeneracy, he
moves elsewhere, where the obstacles appear to be fewer, and where
adaptation seems a matter of easier accomplishment. Now, should this
same principle be applied to this specific subject under discussion,
it would, perhaps, be demonstrated that the Negroes, likewise, simply
used migration as a means of escaping the intolerable conditions in
their home environment and of making their way into another accessible
locality, where the chances of winning out in the struggle for
existence seemed more certain.
In this view of migration as a means of escape from unfavorable
environmental conditions we must distinguish it, however, from those
earliest movements of primitive men. These were, perhaps, instinctive
and differed little from the movements of animals. They were mere
"wanderings"; but they were the necessary forerunners of the more
recent movements.[8] Migration, in its truest sense, is a reasoned
movement which arose after man had progressed far enough in the scale
of civilization to have a fixed abiding place. It is a definite
movement from one place to another. It involves an actual and
permanent change of residence. Migration, therefore, occurred only in
the most rudimentary form among people in the hunting stage; more
developed forms of it occurred among pastoral peoples, when they, for
instance, changed their base of operation; but in its most complete
form migration occurred only after man had reached the stage of
agriculture.
If migration is a reasoned affair, it then follows that for every
migration there must be some definable cause. This cause must be a
very powerful one, because man is inclined to become attached to the
locality in which he finds himself placed. There are formed ties of
various kinds which tend to hold him to his home. These are the ties
of family, friendly associations, customs and habits of the community,
politics, religion, business, property, and superstitious reverence
for graves. His life is, therefore, closely bound up with his
surroundings, and the changing of it for that of another locality is a
matter of serious concern. Thus, "there is a marked inertia, a
resistance to pressure among human beings, and the presumption is that
people will stay where they are unless some positive force causes them
to move."
Furthermore, the force which operates in causing men to move generally
presents one of two aspects, viz., attractive and repellent. "Men are
either drawn or driven to break the ties which bind them to their
native locality." Again, the causes of migration are classified as
positive advantages and satisfactions, and negative discomforts and
compulsions. The causes of the repellent or negative type exist in the
environment of the locality to which man is already attached. They,
therefore, are much more important than the others, because, despite
the inducements of another locality which may be opened to him, it is
the tendency of man to remain where he is, if he is contented. These
forces must produce dissatisfaction with existing conditions in order
to induce man to move. The causes of the attractive or positive type,
on the other hand, are in a foreign environment, and operate often by
stimulating dissatisfactions through comparison. They must, before
movement can be induced, show that conditions in the new locality are
superior to those in the home environment. "Thus, in almost every case
of migration one is justified in looking for some cause of a repellent
nature, some dissatisfaction, disability, discontent, hardship, or
other disturbing condition;" and, likewise, some positive advantage,
satisfaction, prospect of contentment, or other favorable condition.
Therefore, it goes almost without saying that the study of this
subject of Negro migration will show that these two types of forces or
causes were also present in this recent movement.
Again, these repellent or negative conditions which cause men to move
may arise in any of the various interests of human life, and may be
classified as economic, political, social, and religious. Of these
"the economic causes of migration are the earliest and by far the most
important. They arise in connection with man's effort to make his
living and concern all interests which are connected with his
productive efforts. They are disabilities or handicaps which affect
his pursuit of food, clothing and shelter, as well as the less
necessary comforts of life. These are vital interests and any
dissatisfaction connected with them is of great weight to men."
Inasmuch as the economic causes of migration are primal and most
important, and since like causes played such a large part in giving
rise to this recent movement, it might be well to pause here to
enumerate some of these causes, and to note briefly the nature of the
same. In the first place, a migration may occur because of permanent
infertility of the soil, harsh climate, or a dearth of natural
resources which may perpetually intensify man's struggle for
existence. In the next place, it may be due to temporary natural
calamities such as drought, famine, flood, extreme seasons and so on.
This latter set of causes, as will be seen later on, were prominent
factors in the recent Negro movement from the South to the
North. Again, people may be forced to move because of serious
underdevelopment of the industrial arts which may make living hard by
limiting the productive power of the people or by retarding them in
the struggle for trade. Finally, migration may be due to
overpopulation--a condition in which the population of a country has
increased to such a degree that there are too many people in
proportion to the supporting power of the environment.
As has just been intimated, the causes of migration are fourfold,
namely, economic, political, social, and religious. Because of this it
must not be thought, however, that these causes are separate and
distinct; but it should be understood that they overlap each other and
exist almost always in conjunction. In any migration two or more of
them will be found present. For example, it is very difficult to find
cases in which social causes alone account for a migration. They
often, nevertheless, act as a contributory factor to a movement. The
economic causes are by far the most important and universal; but
behind them are frequently other causes. "Political maladjustments
often express themselves through economic or social disabilities,
religious differences through economic and social limitations, etc."
In short, it may be said that the motives of migration may be due to a
complication of causes. This may be well illustrated by the study of
the recent Negro migration in which it will be found that this
movement was occasioned by a number of interacting economic, social,
and, to a small extent, political forces.
As there are types of forces or causes giving rise to migration, there
are likewise types of migration. These are the following four:
invasion, conquest, colonization and immigration. Besides these four
main types of movement there are other less important forms which
deserve notice. They are of two kinds, namely, forced forms of
migration, and internal or intra-state migration of peoples. The
former occurs (1) when people are expelled from a country because of
non-conformity to the established religion; (2) when they are
compelled by actual force to leave one place and go to another, as in
the case of the importation of Negroes from Africa to the United
States to become slaves; and (3) when people are subjected to
banishment from a country as a form of punishment for crime. The
internal or intra-state movement is that which is going on all the
time in most civilized countries, and which is usually a phenomenon of
non-importance; but when it involves large masses of people, moving in
certain well-defined directions, with a community of motives and
purposes, it becomes of great interest and significance and deserves
to be classed with the other great movements of peoples. One good
example of this is the westward movement of the people of the United
States during the early decades of the past century. Another which
might be rightly classed as such is the recent large Negro migration
which is under consideration in this essay.
The subject of migration in general is capable of very lengthy
treatment, but as this is not our purpose here we shall terminate this
discussion at this juncture. In this preliminary survey the aim has
been to try to show, though in an exceedingly brief manner, the
meaning and significance of migration as a factor in the human
struggle for existence; the distinction between migration and the
earliest movements of primitive man; the types of forces which figure
in any migration; and the various forms in which a migration may
occur. This has been done with the further intention of endeavoring to
imbue the mind at the outset with the idea that this Negro migration
is not very radically different from the past movements of civilized
man, and that, like them, it occurred in obedience to certain laws
which were operating in the environment of the migrants. If this
object can be accomplished, little doubt is entertained that it will
do much toward affording a clearer and more comprehensive view of the
movement than could be otherwise obtained.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] This dissertation was presented by Henderson H. Donald to the
Faculty of the Graduate School of Yale University in candidacy for the
degree of Master of Arts, May, 1920. Since then it has been
considerably revised and augmented.
In the preparation of this work the following books were used: James
Bryce, _The American Commonwealth_, Volume II; F. S. Chapin,
_Introduction to the Study of Human Evolution_; H. P. Fairchild,
_Immigration_; H. E. Gregory, A. G. Keller, and A. L. Bishop,
_Physical and Commercial Geography_; A. G. Keller, _Societal
Evolution_; R. F. Hoxie, _Trade Unionism in the United States_; E. J.
Scott, _Negro Migration during the War_; W. G. Sumner, _Folkways_; F.
J. Warne, _The Immigration Invasion_; C. G. Woodson, _A Century of
Negro Migration_.
The following magazine articles were also helpful: Ray S. Baker, "The
Negro Goes Forth" (_World's Work_, 34: 314-17, July, 1917); W. E. B.
DuBois, "The Migration of Negroes" (_The Crisis_, 14: 63-66, June,
1917); B. M. Edens, "When Labor is Cheap" (_Survey_, 38: 511,
September 8, 1917); H. A. Hoyer, "Migration of Colored Workers"
(_Survey_, 45: 930, March 26, 1921); G. E. Haynes, "Negroes Move
North" (_Survey_, 40: 115-22, May 4, 1917) and "Effect of War
Conditions on Negro Labor" (_Academy of Political Science_, 8:
299-312, February, 1919); T. A. Hill, "Why Southern Negroes Don't go
South" (_Survey_, 43: 183-85, November 29, 1919); H. W. Horwill, "A
Negro Exodus" (_Contemporary Review_, 114: 299-305, September, 1918;
_Literary Digest_, 54: 1914, January 23, 1917); "The South Calling
Negroes Back; An Exodus in America" (_Living Age_, 295: 57-60, October
6, 1917); "The Negro Migration" (_New Republic_, 7: 213-14, January 1,
1916; _New York Times_, November 12, 1916, 11, 12: 1; September 4,
1917, 3: 6; October 7, 1917, 111, 10: 1; January 21, 1919, 3: 6; June
14, 1919, 3: 6; June 16, 1919, 12: 5; June 11, 1920, 18: 1; December
12, 1921, 14: 1); H. B. Pendleton, "Cotton Pickers in Northern Cities"
(_Survey_, 37: 569-71, February 17, 1917); W. O. Scroggs, "Interstate
Migration of Negroes" (_Journal of Political Economy_, 25: 1034-43,
December, 1917); "The Lure of the North for Negroes" (_Survey_, 38:
27-28, April 7, 1917); "Reasons why Negroes go North" (_Survey_, 38:
226-7, June 2, 1917); "Negro Migration as the South sees It"
(_Survey_, 38: 428, August 11, 1917); "Health of the Negro" (_Survey_,
42: 596-7, June 19, 1919); "Negroes in Industry" (_Survey_, 42: 900,
September 27, 1919); "A New Migration" (_Survey_, 45: 752, February
26, 1921); F. B. Washington, "The Detroit New Comers' Greeting"
(_Survey_, 38: 333-5, July 14, 1917); W. F. White, "The Success of
Negro Migration" (_The Crisis_, 19: 112-15, January, 1920); T. J.
Woofter, Jr., "The Negro and Industrial Peace" (_Survey_, 45: 420-421,
December 17, 1921); J. A. Wright, "Conditions among Negro Migrants in
Hartford, Connecticut" (a letter).
The following pamphlets and reports were also valuable: Branson and
others, _Migration, Minutes of University Commission on Southern Race
Questions_, pp. 48-49, 1917; Bureau of the United States Census,
_Negro Population in the United States, 1790-1916_, and _Negroes in
the United States_, Bulletin 129: A. Epstein, _The Negro Migrant in
Pittsburg_; G. E. Haynes, _Negro New-comers in Detroit, Michigan_;
Home Mission Council, _The Negro Migration_; E. K. Jones, _The Negro
in Industry, Proceedings of the National Conference of Social Work_,
pp. 494-503, June, 1917; United States Department of Labor, _Negro
Migration in 1916-17_, and _The Negro at Work during the War and
Reconstruction_.
[2] A full list of these occurs in the bibliographical section of this
essay.
[3] Chapin, F. S., _Introduction to the Study of Human Evolution_, pp.
30-31.
[4] This law, of course, does not fully operate among men in a highly
civilized state of living, for in this state its force is much
diminished by various uplift, or counter-selective, agencies.
[5] Gregory, Keller, and Bishop, _Physical and Commercial Geography_,
pt. II, p. 126.
[6] Gregory, Keller, and Bishop, _Physical and Commercial Geography_,
pt. II, p. 126.
[7] Keller, A. G., _Societal Evolution_, pp. 24-37.
[8] What is said here, and also in the remaining pages of this
chapter, are for the most part reproductions of parts of Chapter I of
_Immigration_, by H. P. Fairchild. In some cases quotations and
paraphrases from this source are also given. The acknowledgment here,
however, is once and for all.