[Transcriber's Note: Every effort has been made to replicate this
text as faithfully as possible, including obsolete and variant
spellings and other inconsistencies. Most notably, in Issue No. 2,
April, 1923, spelling errors found in Paul Cuffe's own writings (e.g.,
travel journals, letters, will, etc.) are left as published. Text that
has been changed is noted at the end of this ebook.]
THE JOURNAL
OF
NEGRO HISTORY
CARTER G. WOODSON
EDITOR
VOLUME VIII
1923
THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF NEGRO LIFE
AND HISTORY, INC.
LANCASTER, PA., AND WASHINGTON, D. C.
1923
LANCASTER PRESS, INC.
LANCASTER, PA.
CONTENTS OF VOLUME VIII
NO. 1. JANUARY, 1923
L. P. JACKSON: _The Educational Efforts of the Freedmen's
Bureau and Freedmen's Aid Societies in South Carolina,
1862-1872_ 1
G. R. WILSON: _The Religion of the American Negro Slave: His
Attitude toward Life and Death_ 41
G. SMITH WORMLEY: _Prudence Crandall_ 72
DOCUMENTS: 81
_Extracts from Newspapers and Magazines._
_Anna Murray-Douglass--My Mother as I Recall Her._
_Frederick Douglass in Ireland._
BOOK REVIEWS: 108
BRAGG'S _The History of the Afro-American Group of the
Episcopal Church_; HAYNES'S _The Trend of the Races_;
HAMMOND'S _In the Vanguard of a Race_; The Chicago
Commission on Race Relations, _The Negro in Chicago_.
NOTES: 115
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR
THE STUDY OF NEGRO LIFE AND HISTORY 116
NO. 2. APRIL, 1923
J. W. BELL: _The Teaching of Negro History_ 123
PAUL W. L. JONES: _Negro Biography_ 128
GEORGE W. BROWN: _Haiti and the United States_ 134
H. N. SHERWOOD: _Paul Cuffe_ 153
DOCUMENTS: 230
_The Will of Paul Cuffe._
BOOK REVIEWS: 233
WIENER'S _Africa and the Discovery of America_;
DETWEILER'S _The Negro Press in the United States_;
MCGREGOR'S _The Disruption of Virginia_; JOHNSTON'S
_A Comparative Study of the Bantu and Semi-Bantu Languages_.
NOTES: 243
NO. 3. JULY, 1923
T. R. DAVIS: _Negro Servitude in the United States_ 247
GORDON B. HANCOCK: _Three Elements of African Culture_ 284
J. C. HARTZELL: _Methodism and the Negro in the United States_ 301
WILLIAM RENWICK RIDDELL: _Notes on the Slave in Nouvelle
France_ 316
DOCUMENTS: 331
_Banishment of the Free People of Color from Cincinnati._
_First Protest against Slavery in the United States._
_A Negro Pioneer in the West._
_Concerning the Origin of Wilberforce._
COMMUNICATIONS: 338
_A Letter from Mr. J. W. Cromwell bearing on the Negro in
West Virginia._
_A Letter from Dr. James S. Russell giving Information about
Peter George Morgan of Petersburg, Virginia._
_A Letter from Captain A. B. Spingarn about early Education
of the Negroes in New York._
BOOK REVIEWS: 346
JONES'S _Piney Woods and its Story_; JOHNSON'S _American
Negro Poetry_; RHODES'S _The McKinley and Roosevelt
Administrations_; GUMMERE'S _Journal of John Woolman_.
NOTES: 351
THE SPRING CONFERENCE 353
NO. 4. OCTOBER, 1923
ALBERT PARRY: _Abram Hannibal, the Favorite of Peter the
Great_ 359
ALRUTHEUS A. TAYLOR: _The Movement of the Negroes from
the East to the Gulf States from 1830 to 1850_ 367
ELIZABETH ROSS HAYNES: _Negroes in Domestic Service in the
United States_ 384
DOCUMENTS: 443
_Documents and Comments on Benefit of Clergy as applied to
Slaves, by Wm. K. Boyd._
COMMUNICATIONS: 448
_A Letter from A. P. Vrede giving an Account of the
Achievements of the Rev. Cornelius Winst Blyd of Dutch
Guiana._
_A Letter from Captain T. G. Steward throwing Light on
various Phases of Negro History._
BOOK REVIEWS: 455
FROBENIUS'S _Das Unbekannte Africa_; OBERHOLTZER'S
_History of the United States since the Civil War_;
LUCAS'S _Partition of Africa_; JACKSON'S _Boy's Life
of Booker T. Washington_.
NOTES: 465
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR FOR THE YEAR 1922-23 466
THE JOURNAL
OF
NEGRO HISTORY
VOL. VIII., NO. 1 JANUARY, 1923.
THE EDUCATIONAL EFFORTS OF THE FREEDMEN'S BUREAU AND FREEDMEN'S AID
SOCIETIES IN SOUTH CAROLINA, 1862-1872[1]
INTRODUCTION
Slavery in the United States was abolished by force of circumstances.
The appeal to arms in April, 1861, was made by the North for the
purpose of saving the Union, but only within a few months after
the breaking out of hostilities "what shall we do with the slaves
within our lines" was the cry heard from all sections of the invaded
territory. Deserted by their masters or endeavoring to obtain freedom,
the Negroes came into the Union camps in such large numbers that
humanitarian as well as military reasons demanded that something be
done to change their status and alleviate their physical suffering.[2]
In the absence of a uniform national policy on the matter, the
several commanding generals settled the question according to their
own notions. Butler, at Fortress Monroe, for example, refused
to return the group of fugitive slaves and cleverly styled them
"contraband of war."
It was under these circumstances that voluntary benevolent
associations or freedmen's aid societies sprang up in quick succession
all over the North as agencies first to relieve physical suffering
and finally to administer to the religious and educational needs of
the blacks and white refugees. Missionary efforts were rapidly pushed
by them to all Confederate States just as fast as the Union armies
advanced into the invaded territory. These private philanthropic
efforts which began in 1861 finally led toward the close of the war
to the establishment by the United States Government of the Bureau of
Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands--an agency which carried on the
work already begun by the societies and at the same time cooperated
with them until changed conditions were reached about 1870.
The military event in South Carolina which called forth immediate
relief was the capture of Hilton Head and the adjacent sea islands on
November 7, 1861, by Commodore Dupont and General T. W. Sherman.[3]
The agencies formed to succor the blacks on these islands were
the New England Freedmen's Aid Society, the New York National
Freedmen's Relief Association, and the Pennsylvania Freedmen's Relief
Association. These several bodies were non-sectarian in character.
Cooperating with them were some regular church organizations.
At some time during the seven years existence of the Freedmen's
Bureau it embraced a six-fold program: (1) distributing rations and
medical supplies; (2) establishing schools and aiding benevolent
associations; (3) regulating labor contracts; (4) taking charge of
confiscated lands; (5) administering justice in cases where blacks
were concerned, and (6) the payment of bounties to soldiers. The
societies likewise exercised various physical functions, but it is
only the educational activities of all parties concerned that are of
primary interest here.
The chosen period of ten years, 1862-1872, represents a rise and
fall. During the war the non-sectarian societies operated with all
the vigor that the military situation would permit. At its close in
1865 and lasting through 1866 their greatest efforts were expended.
Beginning about 1867, signs of retrenchment appear; and in 1868 their
operations practically cease. At the same time, both as a cause and as
a result of the dissolution of the non-sectarian societies, the church
organizations took up the work and carried it not only until the end
of this decade but down to the present time. The Freedmen's Bureau,
as guardian over all, had no funds the first year or two, but in 1867
and especially in 1868 and 1869 when the societies weakened, it did
its greatest work. After 1870 the Freedmen's Bureau had but a nominal
existence. By Congressional action the institution expired in 1872.
With this ending and one or two important developments by the church
organizations in 1871 and 1872, this essay likewise closes.
This educational campaign is thus one conducted by outside parties.
The several organizations adopted the policy of "no distinction on
account of race or color"; but, inasmuch as the schools were conducted
primarily for the blacks, these ten years represent an effort for
this race with automatically very little attention to the native
whites. The subject, then, lends itself to the following organization:
The Port Royal Experiment, the organization and relationship, the
establishment and work of schools, the difficulties and complications,
and self-help and labor among the freedmen.
THE PORT ROYAL EXPERIMENT
The sea islands of South Carolina are located between Charleston and
Savannah on the Atlantic seaboard. In the group connected with the
capture of Hilton Head are St. Helena, Port Royal, Morgan, Paris and
Phillips. Collectively, as a military designation, these were known as
Port Royal. On these islands in 1861 there were about nine thousand
slaves,--the lowest in America.[4] As laborers on the cotton and rice
plantations these slaves for generations had been removed from all the
influences that tended to elevate the bondmen elsewhere. They were
densely illiterate, superstitious and in general but little removed
from African barbarism.[5] To add to the general low stage of these
slaves their language was a jargon hardly understandable by those who
came to teach them.[6] For example, some of them would say: "Us aint
know nothin' an' you is to larn we."
Upon the capture of Hilton Head by the Federals, the white masters
fled to Charleston and the up-country and abandoned all of their
property.[7] The control of abandoned property at this time rested
with the Treasury Department. Accordingly, Secretary Chase sent Edward
L. Pierce, of Milton, Massachusetts, to Port Royal to report on the
amount of cotton and also to make recommendations for its collection
and sale. The findings of Pierce together with that of Sherman in
command of the military forces introduce us to our main story. At
the suggestion of Chase, Pierce and Sherman sent appeals broadcast
to the North for the immediate relief of the abandoned slaves. In
February, 1862, Sherman issued this General Order No. 9: "The helpless
condition of the blacks inhabiting the vast area in the occupation of
the forces of this command, calls for immediate action on the part
of a highly favored and philanthropic people.... Hordes of totally
uneducated, ignorant and improvident blacks have been abandoned by
their constitutional guardians, not only to all the future chances of
anarchy and starvation, but in such a state of abject ignorance and
mental stolidity as to preclude all possibility of self-government
and self-maintenance in their present condition.... To relieve the
Government of a burden that may hereafter become insupportable ... a
suitable system of culture and instruction must be combined with one
providing for their physical wants. In the meanwhile ... the service
of competent instructors will be received whose duties will consist in
teaching them, both young and old, the rudiments of civilization and
Christianity."[8]
In response to this appeal there was organized in Boston, on February
7, 1862, the Boston Education Commission, later known as the New
England Freedmen's Aid Society or the New England Society, and on the
twenty-second of the same month, at a mass meeting held at the Cooper
Institute in New York City, the New York National Freedmen's Relief
Association was organized. At this meeting the following rules were
adopted with reference to the abandoned slaves:
1. "They must be treated as free men.
2. "They must earn their livelihood like other freemen and not be
dependent upon charity.
3. "Schools and churches shall be established among them, and the
sick shall be cared for."[9]
Following in the wake of Boston and New York came Philadelphia in
March with the Port Royal Relief Committee, later known as the
Pennsylvania Freedmen's Relief Association or the Pennsylvania
Society. Carrying out the resolutions mentioned above, there assembled
on the third of March, 1862, at the port of New York, a party of
fifty-three teachers and superintendents of labor, including twelve
women, who set sail on the same day for Port Royal.[10] The salaries
of these persons were to be paid by their respective societies, while
transportation and military protection were afforded by the United
States Government. Following this original party in March and April,
came twenty more representatives from the New England Society and
likewise added increments from New York, Philadelphia and elsewhere
all through the year. In the Fall the American Missionary Association
of New York added a corps of thirty-one teachers. It must be remarked
at this point that these individuals represented the flower of New
England culture. The first party, "Gideonites" as they were called,
was made up in part of recent graduates of Harvard, Yale, Brown and
the divinity schools of Andover and Cambridge.[11] Furthermore, they
were sent forward on their mission by William Cullen Bryant, William
Lloyd Garrison, Francis G. Shaw and Edward Everett Hale, with the
sanction and close cooperation of the Secretary of the Treasury, S. P.
Chase.
The voluntary steps taken by these parties attracted considerable
attention and concern from the best minds of Europe, as well as the
United States. Articles on the subject appeared in English and French
periodicals.[12] The result of these efforts to aid and elevate the
sea island Negroes was to be considered as an index as to their
ability to learn and likewise would indicate the possibility of
general development of slaves in other States. The labors of the
United States Government and the societies here, therefore, came to be
known as the "Port Royal Experiment."
The United States Government and the regulation of the abandoned
territory for three years, until the close of the war, underwent a
number of changes. Prior to the arrival of the Gideonites on March
9th, the territory was controlled by the special cotton agent, E. L.
Pierce, as directed by the Treasury Department. In June, in response
to Congressional action, control passed to the War Department. Pierce
was displaced and Major Rufus Saxton was made the administrator with
headquarters at Beaufort on Port Royal. His duties were to supervise
the growth and sale of cotton, to regulate labor, to direct the
activities of new comers and settle them at suitable points over
the several islands. At the same time the military forces stationed
at Hilton Head passed successively under the command of Sherman and
General David Hunter.
Pursuant to the Congressional Act of June 7, 1862, "for the collection
of direct taxes in insurrectionary states" the abandoned property was
bought in by the United States Government and private individuals. In
September, 1863, the Government relinquished its purchases whereby the
"freedmen," as they were now called, could buy property in twenty-acre
lots and at the same time establish school farms of six thousand
acres, the proceeds from which were to be used for educational
purposes. According to the plan laid out by Pierce, the islands were
divided into four districts which contained a total of one hundred and
eighty-nine plantations.[13] Over each district was placed a general
superintendent with a local superintendent for each plantation. W. C.
Gannet and John C. Zachas of the New England Society were placed in
charge of the schools.[14]
School work had already begun prior to the arrival of the main party
through the initiative taken by Pierce and his coworkers. On the
eighth of January, 1862, Rev. Solomon Peck, of Roxbury, Massachusetts,
established a school for the contrabands at Beaufort. Another was
opened at Hilton Head by Barnard K. Lee of Boston the same month.[15]
In February there was organized still another at Beaufort, which
was taught for a short while by an agent of the American Missionary
Association.[16] In estimating what was accomplished by these
preliminary disorganized efforts we can assume that it was no more
than learning the alphabet.
After their arrival in March those persons who had come in the
capacity of teachers began their work immediately. By the eighth
of May there were eight schools in operation.[17] The improvised
school houses consisted of cotton barns, sheds or old kitchens and
"praise houses."[18] Some had classes in tents.[19] The furniture
correspondingly was equally as crude. The desks were mere boards
thrown across old chairs. A fair idea of the general informal state of
affairs both as to the time and place of teaching is gained by this
recital of one teacher's experience: "I leave town about 6 o'clock A.
M. and arrive at the first plantation about 9, and commence teaching
those too young to labor. About 11 the task is done, and the field
hands come in for their share. About 1 P. M. I go to the other three
plantations one and a half miles. They assemble at the most central
one for instruction. This lasts about two hours, first teaching the
young then the older persons ... there being no buildings suitable
for a school on any plantation, I teach them under the shadow of a
tree, where it is more comfortable than any house could be in hot
weather."[20] In only one or two instances were there buildings
erected specifically for school purposes. One interesting case is that
of a building sent from the North in sections and likewise erected
piece by piece. An estimate of what was done as a whole during the
first year of the "experiment" may be made from the fact that 35,829
books and pamphlets were sent to Port Royal by northern agencies, and
3,000 scholars were put under instruction. In addition to this purely
educational effort there were distributed 91,834 garments, 5,895 yards
of cloth, and $3,000 worth of farming implements and seeds.[21]
Further light on the general nature and progress of the work is gained
through a return visit made by Pierce to Port Royal in March, 1863. At
this time he reported that there were more than 30 schools conducted
by about 40 or 45 teachers. The average attendance was 2,000 pupils
and the enrollment 1,000 more. The ages ranged from 8 to 12.[22] As
to the studies "the advanced classes were reading simple stories and
mastered some passages in such common school books, as Hillard's
_Second Primary Reader_, Wilson's _Second Reader_, and others of
similar grade." Some few were having elementary lessons in arithmetic,
geography and writing.
A very large part of the school exercises consisted of utilizing what
the teachers found the scholars endowed with by nature--an abundance
of feeling as expressed in their folk songs and crude religion. An
insight into their inwardly depressed condition is gained by the fact
that these songs were usually cast in the minor mode, although they
were sung in a joyful manner.[23] "In their lowest state singing was
the one thing they could always do well. At first they sang melody
alone, but after having once been given an idea of harmony, they
instantly adopted it. Their time and tone were always true."[24] They
took particular delight in ringing out "Roll Jordan Roll." Along with
the singing the general atmosphere of the instruction was religious.
Indeed, the New Testament was used as a text-book. After the pupils
had learned to read a little they were set to work learning the Psalms
and the Ten Commandments.
One teacher of the Port Royal group, herself of African descent, was
Charlotte S. Forten of Philadelphia. She was a graduate of the State
Normal School, Salem, Massachusetts, and had taught in the same city.
Refusing a residence in Europe, she joined one of the parties for Port
Royal to teach among her own people. This woman enjoyed the friendship
of Whittier and, as a beautiful singer herself, the poet sent her
directly his _Hymn_ written for the scholars of St. Helena Island
which she taught them to sing for the Emancipation Proclamation
exercises of January 1, 1863.[25]
The banner school on "St. Helen's Isle" and Port Royal was the one
in charge of Laura M. Towne, of Philadelphia, and supported by the
Philadelphia Society. After three years' work this school had reached
a fair degree of organization. The school was conducted in the
building sent in sections as referred to above and was known as the
"Penn School" in honor of the society which supported it. Classes
were grouped as primary, intermediate, and higher, each in charge
of one teacher in a separate room. The branches of study, however,
were the same in all--reading, spelling, writing, geography, and
arithmetic.[26] The situation here described represents in the embryo
the present day Penn Normal and Agricultural Institute.
Similarly well housed was the school taught by Elizabeth Hyde Botume,
of Boston, under the auspices of the New England Society. It commands
interest for the reason that it was the beginning in industrial
training on these islands. As plantation laborers the pupils knew
little or nothing of sewing. To supply this need Miss Botume
solicited the necessary apparatus from her northern friends and began
work on some old contraband goods stored in an arsenal. She reported
that sewing was a fascination to all and that "they learned readily
and soon developed much skill and ingenuity."[27] This school has come
down today as the Old Fort Plantation School. The work of these two
women thus took on a permanent character and to this extent largely
formed an exception to the general informality of the schooling at
Port Royal.
Obviously, the heroic efforts of the several societies to assist
the blacks amounted to far more than school-room procedure. Indeed,
this was a very small part of the work of the teachers and it was
so regarded by them. They visited the little cabins, counselled and
advised their wards, attended church, and taught them in the Sabbath
Schools. Three years of this intermingling between the culture of
New England and the most degraded slaves in America resulted in
some promising signs for the latter. There was some improvement in
manners and dress and an increase in wants. At the stores set up on
the islands they were buying small articles for the improvement of
their surroundings.[28] For the first time they were now being paid
wages. At the tax sales in March, 1863, when 16,479 acres were up
for auction they purchased about 3,500 acres at the price of 93-1/2
cents an acre. Shortly afterwards they had doubled this amount.[29]
As free laborers, however, they were somewhat disappointing to their
new employers since old habits still persisted. All in all, with some
three thousand or one-third of the whole number having received "more
or less" instruction in books the societies were well satisfied with
the experiment and at the close of the war increased their efforts at
Port Royal and throughout the State.
ORGANIZATION AND RELATIONSHIP
The Freedmen's Bureau as established by Act of Congress March 3, 1865,
"with the supervision and management of all abandoned lands and the
control of all subjects relating to refugees and freedmen from rebel
states," was an outgrowth of the Port Royal experiment and other such
enterprises carried on elsewhere. Social conditions in the South at
the close of the war called for increased efforts on the part of
northern benevolence, but this was only possible through governmental
aid and supervision. The societies already at work during the war made
appeals to the government toward this end. One committee, for example,
on December 1, 1863, stated that the needs represented "a question
too large for anything short of government authority, government
resources, and government ubiquity to deal with."[30]
The organization of the Freedmen's Bureau as affecting South
Carolina consisted of a commissioner at Washington, an assistant
commissioner for the State at large with headquarters at Charleston,
and sub-assistant commissioners--one for each of the five districts
into which the State was divided. Furthermore, there was a subdivision
of each district with agents in charge. For the educational work
of the Freedmen's Bureau there was a corps consisting of a general
superintendent on the commissioner's staff, a State superintendent
correspondingly on the assistant commissioner's staff at Charleston,
and the various sub-assistant commissioners and agents who combined
the supervision of schools with their other duties. The personnel of
this hierarchy consisted of General O. O. Howard, Commissioner, J. W.
Alvord, general superintendent of education, General Rufus Saxton,
General R. K. Scott, Colonel J. R. Edie, successively, assistant
commissioners, and Reuben Tomlinson, Major Horace Neide, Major E.
L. Deane, successively, State superintendents of education. These
officers, beginning with the lowest, made to their respective chiefs
monthly, quarterly or semi-annual reports which were finally submitted
to the commissioner at Washington, who was required to make "before
the commencement of each regular session of Congress, a full report of
his proceedings."
The duties of the general superintendent were to "collect information,
encourage the organization of new schools, find homes for teachers and
supervise the whole work."[31] Similarly, the State superintendent was
to take cognizance of all that was "being done to educate refugees and
freedmen, secure proper protection to schools and teachers, promote
method and efficiency, and correspond with the benevolent agencies
... supplying his field."[32] On October 5, 1865, Tomlinson sent out
this notice to the people of the whole State: "I request all persons
in any part of this state ... to communicate with me furnishing me
with all the facilities for establishing schools in their respective
neighborhoods."[33]
Between the Freedmen's Bureau and the several aid societies there was
perfect understanding. Howard announced: "In all this work it is not
my purpose to supersede the benevolent agencies already engaged, but
to systematize and facilitate them."[34] So close was the cooperation
between the efforts of the Bureau and the societies that it is hard in
places to separate the work of the two.
Prior to the supplementary Freedmen's Bureau Act of July 16, 1866, the
Commission had no funds appropriated to it for educational purposes.
It was able to help only by supervision, transportation of teachers
and occupation of buildings in possession of the Freedmen's Bureau.
This action of the first year met the full approval of Congress, for
in the Act of July 16, 1866, it was stated "that the commissioner
... shall at all time cooperate with private benevolent agencies of
citizens in aid of freedmen ... and shall hire or provide by lease
buildings for purposes of education whenever such association shall
without cost to the government, provide suitable teachers and means of
instruction, and he shall furnish such protection as may be required
for the safe conduct of such schools." Further, "the commissioner of
this bureau shall have power to seize, hold, use, lease or sell all
buildings and tenements ... and to use the same or appropriate the
proceeds derived therefrom to the education of the freed people."[35]
In the following March, 1867, $500,000 was appropriated by Congress
for the Freedmen's Bureau "for buildings for schools and asylums;
including construction, rental and repairs."[36]
The aid societies which under these provisions operated in South
Carolina may be classified in three groups:
1. Non-sectarian: The New York National Freedmen's Relief Association,
the New England Freedmen's Aid Society and the Pennsylvania Freedmen's
Relief Association (as enumerated above).
2. Denominational: (_a_) The American Baptist Home Mission Society;
(_b_) the Freedmen's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church;
(_c_) the Presbyterian Committee of Missions for Freedmen; (_d_) the
Friends Association of Philadelphia for the Aid and Elevation of the
Freedmen; (_e_) and the Protestant Episcopal Freedman's Commission.
3. Semi-denominational: The American Missionary Association.
To the non-sectarian societies might be added the London Freedmen's
Aid Society and the Michigan Freedmen's Relief Association, although
the latter supported only one school and for a short time only.
The American Missionary Association, during the war, served as
the agency for the Free Will Baptists, Wesleyan Methodists, and
Congregationalists, at which time its work was non-sectarian; but
as the first two drew out at the close of the war, this association
became very largely a congregational agency, establishing churches
along with its schools. None of these several agencies confined their
attention exclusively to South Carolina, although two of them, the New
York and New England societies, did their best work in this State.
The spirit of good will that existed between the Freedmen's Bureau and
the societies, however, did not exist among the societies themselves,
particularly among the church organizations. For the purpose of
bringing about coordination and unity of action from 1863 to 1866, the
New York, New England and Pennsylvania societies joined hands with
various western societies operating in other States. Each year and
oftener these bodies underwent reorganization until in May, 1866, at
Cleveland, all non-sectarian societies in all parts of the country
united and formed the American Freedmen's Union Commission.[37] To
this general body the local societies sustained a relationship of
local autonomy. They were now known as the New York, New England, and
Pennsylvania "Branches."
In addition to the organization already mentioned, there were attached
to each of the branches or local bodies numerous auxiliaries which
usually made themselves responsible for some one teacher or group
of teachers. In 1867 the New England Society had a total of 187
auxiliaries, 104 in Massachusetts, 75 in Vermont, 6 in New Hampshire,
1 in Connecticut and 1 in Georgia.[38] The strongest New England
auxiliary was that at Dorchester, while that of New York was at
Yonkers. The London Freedmen's Aid Society with its many branches
raised one-half a million of dollars for the cause of the freedmen
in America. England reasoned that since America had given so freely
toward the Irish famine that it was now her duty and opportunity to
return the favor.[39] South Carolina's share in this sum was the
support of a school at Greenville and one at St. Helena.[40]
During the war the several church bodies supported the non-sectarian
societies, but toward the close of the war they began by degrees to
withdraw support and take independent action.[41] To their regular
missionary departments was now added this new "Freedmen's Aid Society"
and to support it a "Freedmen's Fund." Several of the churches
also had their Woman's Home Missionary Society which established
and conducted schools in conjunction with the parent organization.
The efforts of the Presbyterians, Friends, and Episcopalians were
similarly directed in that they established the parochial type of
school as an annex to the church. With some exceptions, this policy
militated against the progress of their schools.[42] Among all the
different classes of societies the American Missionary Association
(New York City) was the best prepared for its work. This association
was organized in 1846 and prior to the war had already established
schools and missions.
The several groups of societies had elements in common. They were one
on the question of the treatment of the Negro, there being scarcely
any difference in their purposes as stated in their constitutions.
They felt that the National Government was too silent on the
principles of freedom and equality and that the State Governments,
North as well as South, had laws inimical to the Negro that should be
abolished. The two groups differed in personnel, the non-sectarian
consisting largely of business men, particularly the New York Society,
and the denominational of clergymen. In the selection of teachers the
former made no requirements as to church affiliation, whereas the
latter usually upheld this principle.
The ultimate aim of the church bodies was usually religious. They
endeavored to institute the true principles of Christianity among the
blacks, but in order to do this, in order to raise up ministers and
Christian leaders among them, schools were necessary.[43] The Baptists
in particular emphasized the training of ministers and the reports of
their agents in the field always included the number baptized along
with the number of schools and students.
ESTABLISHMENT AND WORK OF SCHOOLS
The schools established during this period may be roughly classified
as primary and higher, under the auspices of the non-sectarian and
denominational bodies respectively. They include day schools, night
schools, and Sabbath schools.
The term "higher" includes secondary and college instruction, although
within this decade only two or three schools were even doing secondary
work while another which reports "classical" students was really
of secondary rank. Some of the church schools were graced with the
name "college" and "university" which in reality merely represents
the expectation of the promoters. In later years at least two of the
institutions begun at this time reached college rank.[44]
The Freedmen's Bureau assumed general charge and supervision of
education for the State in the fall of 1865, under the direction of
Superintendent Reuben Tomlinson. Schools were in operation, however,
before this time--those at Port Royal and the Beaufort district, as
mentioned above, continued in operation and in increased numbers.
At Charleston schools were opened under the control of the military
government on the fourth of March, 1865, only a few weeks after the
surrender of the city. James Redpath was appointed as superintendent
of these schools. Outside of these two places no regularly organized
schools were begun until the Fall, when they were extended over all
the State.
The Charleston and Columbia schools are of chief interest. On March
31, 1865, after the schools had just opened, Redpath reported the
following in operation with the attendance of each:
Morris Street School 962
Ashley Street School 211
Saint Phillip Street School 850
Normal School 511
King Street School (boys) 148
Meeting Street School 211
Saint Michael's School 221
-----
Total 3,114
There were employed eighty-three teachers, seventy-five of whom,
white and colored, were natives of Charleston. The salaries of these
teachers were paid by the New York and New England societies and
cooperating with Redpath in organizing these schools were agents of
these societies, one of whom served as a principal of one school.
Within a month or two another school was added to this list, and
during the same time there sprang up five night schools for adults.
The students were made up of both white and Negro children and were
taught in separate rooms. The whites, however, represented a very
small proportion of the total number.[45]
In the fall of the year, with the reopening of the schools, the
general organization underwent considerable changes due to the
restoration of the regular civil government in charge of the
ex-Confederates. Most of the schools mentioned above were now
conducted for white children and taught by the native whites as of
old. The Morris Street School, however, was kept for Negro children
and taught by the native whites. The Normal School in time became the
Avery Institute. The New England Society, which in the Spring had
supported the Morris Street School, moved to the Military Hall and
subsequently built the Shaw Memorial School. This school was named in
the honor of Colonel Robert G. Shaw, who was killed during the war in
the assault on Fort Wagner (Morris Island) while leading his Negro
troops. The funds for the erection of the school were contributed
by the family of Colonel Shaw and they retained a permanent interest
in it. In 1874, when the New England Society dissolved, the school
was bought by the public school authorities and used for Negro
children.[46] During the course of four or five years other schools
were established here or in the vicinity of Charleston by the several
church organizations.
Charleston thus made a commendable start in education partly for the
reason that the city had a school system before the war and for a
while during the conflict. The free Negroes of this city likewise had
been instructed under certain restrictions during slavery time.[47]
The schools which were controlled or supported by the northern
agencies were by 1868 offering an elementary grade of instruction
corresponding to about the fourth or fifth grade with classes in
geography, English composition and arithmetic. Just here, however, it
must be said that the personnel of the student body was constantly
changing or at least during 1865 and 1866. Charleston was merely a
sort of way station for the blacks, who, returning from the up-country
where they had fled or had been led during the war, were on their way
to the sea islands to take up land as offered by Sherman's order.[48]
During April, 1865, Redpath reported that at least five hundred pupils
"passed through" the schools, remaining only long enough to be taught
a few patriotic songs, to keep quiet and to be decently clad. Others
in turn came and in turn were "shipped off."[49]
Columbia, though behind Charleston in point of time, made an equally
good beginning in spite of annoying handicaps. There was a fertile
field here for teaching, since the blacks were crowding in from all
the surrounding territory. Sherman having destroyed about all the
suitable buildings, T. G. Wright, representative of the New York
Society, in company with three northern ladies, started a school
on November 6, 1865, in the basement of a Negro church with 243
scholars. Soon thereafter, on November 7th, another was begun in the
small room of a confiscated building "very unsuitable for a school
room." On the same day two other schools were begun at similar places,
one of them at General Ely's headquarters and taught by his daughters.
On the ninth another school started on Arsenal Hill in an old building
rented for a church by the freedmen and on the thirteenth still
another was opened in one of the government buildings. These schools
were numerically designated as "No. 1," "No. 2," etc., being nine in
all. In addition to these there were two night schools begun about
the same time, one of them enrolling fifty adult males and the other
121.[50] The Columbia schools were taught wholly under the control
of the New York Society by northern ladies with the assistance of a
few Negro instructors who were competent to assist them. They had a
large attendance and consequently there were many changes made in the
location of schools in the course even of the first few months.
Fortunately these temporary congested quarters gave way in the
fall of 1867 when the Howard School was completed. This school was
erected by the New York Society and the Freedmen's Bureau at a cost
of about $10,000. It contained ten large class rooms. At the close
of the school year (1868) it had an attendance of 600. The closing
exercises of the year seemed to have attracted considerable attention
inasmuch as the officers of the city, Tomlinson, and newspaper men all
attended. The examinations at the close embraced reading, spelling,
arithmetic, geography, history and astronomy. _The Columbia Phoenix_
(a local paper) said of the exercises: "We were pleased with the
neat appearance and becoming bearing of the scholars ... and the
proficiency exhibited in the elementary branches was respectable."[51]
The New York Society did its best work in Columbia. At Beaufort this
same organization had schools which occupied the large buildings
formerly used by the whites. The New England Society was best
represented at Charleston and Camden. The Philadelphia Society was
best represented at St. Helena. Some notion of the exact location of
the schools fostered by these societies (May, 1866) may be gained from
the following table:[52]
Number of
Town teachers Support
Ashdale 1 New York Branch
Combahee 1 New York Branch
Columbia 10 New York Branch
Edgerly 1 New York Branch
Greenville 6 New York Branch
Gadsden 2 New York Branch
Hopkins 1 New York Branch
James Island 5 New York Branch
Mitchellville 2 New York Branch
Lexington 2 New York Branch
Pineville 1 New York Branch
Perryclear 1 New York Branch
Pleasant Retreat 2 New York Branch
Red House 1 New York Branch
Rhett Place 2 New York Branch
River View 1 New York Branch
Woodlawn 2 Michigan Branch
Camden[53] 2 New England Branch
Darlington 2 New England Branch
Edisto Island 2 New England Branch
Hilton Head 6 New England Branch
Jehosse's Island 2 New England Branch
Johns Island 1 New England Branch
Marion 2 New England Branch
Orangeburg 3 New England Branch
Summerville 3 New England Branch
Port Royal Island 2 Pennsylvania Branch
Rockville 2 Pennsylvania Branch
St. Helena 5 Pennsylvania Branch
Beaufort 9 New York Branch 7
New England Branch 2
Charleston 36 New York Branch 13
New England Branch 23
Georgetown 4 New York Branch 1
New England Branch 3
With some exceptions the schools enumerated here and elsewhere
unfortunately had only a short existence for the reason that the
societies which supported them gradually became short of funds. The
New York Society, for example, in 1868, found itself hardly able to
bring its teachers home. The efficiency of other societies likewise
began to wane. By January 1, 1870, or within a few months afterwards,
the Freedmen's Bureau passed out of existence. Alvord and his whole
staff thereby were discharged from duty. The non-sectarian societies
ceased to exist because the aid societies of the several northern
churches claimed the allegiance of their members. A stronger reason,
as given by them, was that the freedmen were now (1868) in a position
to help themselves politically through the provision of Negro
Suffrage for the new State government, under the Congressional plan
of reconstruction. The Freedmen's Bureau was discontinued for similar
reasons.
A few of the schools so well begun either passed into the hands of
the State under regular State or municipal control of schools, as,
for example, the Shaw Memorial at Charleston, or they became private
institutions with other means of northern support. Before expiration,
however, during 1869, the Freedmen's Bureau used its remaining funds
to establish new schools and repair buildings throughout the State.
A graphic picture of the Bureau's activity during the latter part of
1869 is thus shown:[54]
SCHOOL HOUSES ERECTED
==============+========+============+==========+========+===========
| | | | Value | Ownership
Location | Cost | Size | Material | of lot | of lot
--------------+--------+------------+----------+--------+-----------
Bennettsville | $1,000 | 30 x 40 | Wood | $100 | Freedmen
Gadsden | 800 | 25 x 40 | " | 50 | "
Laurens | 1,000 | 30 x 40 | " | 100 | "
Newberry | 2,500 | 2 stories} | " | 300 | "
| | 26 x 50 } | | |
Walterboro | 1,000 | 30 x 40 | " | 100 | "
Manning | 500 | 25 x 40 | " | 50 | "
Lancaster | 500 | 25 x 30 | " | 50 | "
Graniteville | 700 | 25 x 40 | " | 100 | "
Blackville | 500 | 25 x 30 | " | 50 | "
+--------+ | | |
| $8,500 | | | |
--------------+--------+------------+----------+--------+-----------
SCHOOL HOUSES REPAIRED AND RENTED
Locality Ownership Amount
expended
Conkem Freedmen $ 500
Beaufort Freedmen 1,000
Columbia Bureau 100
Charleston (Orphan Asylum) Protestant Episcopal 2,400
Charleston (Shaw School) Bureau 100
Charleston (Meeting St. Post
Office) Rented 40
Charleston Protestant Episcopal 8,000
Chester Rented 30
Darlington Bureau 100
Eustis Place Bureau 800
Florence Freedmen 35.75
Marion Bureau 150
Mt. Pleasant Bureau 40
Sumter Freedmen 500
Shiloh Freedmen 100
Winnsboro Bureau 50
Orangeburg Methodist Episcopal Church 2,500
----------
Total $16,445.75
After all, the real significance of this educational movement was
the policy adopted by the denominational bodies that they should
establish permanent institutions--colleges and normal schools to
train teachers for the common schools and also in time that the
Negroes themselves should run these institutions.[55] South Carolina
under the Negro-Carpet-Bag rule in 1868, then, for the first time
ventured to establish a school system supported by public taxation.
For this object there were practically no competent teachers to serve
the Negroes. The only sources of supply were the persons trained in
the schools herein described and a few of the northern teachers who
remained behind.[56] Very small and crude it was in the beginning,
but the policy adopted here at least furnishes the idea upon which
ever since the public schools of the State have been mainly justified.
By 1870 the Perm School at St. Helena was sending out teachers in
response to calls from the State.[57] In the same year the principal
of the Avery Institute reported that he was asked by the State to
furnish fifty teachers.[58] This school was perhaps the best fitted to
perform this function.
The American Missionary Association supported, at Port Royal and
other points in the State, schools which, along with many others, had
only a temporary existence. The lasting and best contribution of this
association to this movement was the Avery Institute, its second best
was the Brewer Normal. Avery was established at Charleston on October
1, 1865, in the State Normal School building, which was offered by
General Saxton. The school commenced with twenty teachers and one
thousand scholars with every available space taken, one hundred being
crowded in the dome. The next year, having been turned out of this
building, the school was held for two years in the Military Hall in
Wentworth Street. On May 1, 1869, the school entered its present new
large building on Bull Street when it dropped the name of the Saxton
School for Avery in honor of the philanthropist from a portion of
whose bequest $10,000 was spent by the American Missionary Association
for the grounds and a mission home. The building proper was erected by
the Freedmen's Bureau at a cost of $17,000.[59]
Avery very soon dropped its primary department and concentrated its
efforts on the normal or secondary department where it had from the
beginning a comfortable number of students. These students came
largely from the free Negro class. Under the guidance of their
well-trained Negro principal the boys and girls here were reading
Milton's "L'Allegro," translating Caesar, and solving quadratic
equations.[60] From the standpoint of grade of instruction, Avery was
the banner school of the State. With a less pretentious beginning
Brewer was established by the American Missionary Association at
Greenwood in 1872 on school property valued at $4,000.
The Baptist Home Mission Society, following in the wake of the
American Missionary Association, made a beginning at Port Royal with
the labor of Rev. Solomon Peck, at Beaufort. This society in 1871
established Benedict at Columbia. The school property consisted
of eighty acres of land with one main building--"a spacious frame
residence," two stories, 65 x 65. This property cost $16,000 with
the funds given by Mrs. Benedict, a Baptist lady of New England.
During the first year the school had sixty-one students, most of whom
were preparing for the ministry.[61] In 1868, Mrs. Rachel C. Mather
established the Industrial School at Beaufort which now bears her
name. This school came under the auspices of the Women's American
Baptist Home Mission Society.
The Freedmen's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church conducted
primary schools at Charleston, Darlington, Sumter, John's Island,
Camden, St. Stephens, Gourdins' Station, Midway and Anderson;
but, like the Baptists, its substantial contribution was Claflin
University. This institution was established in 1869 in the building
formerly used by the Orangeburg Female Academy. The property was
purchased through the personal efforts of its first president, Dr. A.
Webster. The University was granted a charter by the State and named
in honor of Hon. Lee Claflin of Massachusetts, by whose liberality
it came into existence. The attendance the first year was 309 and by
1872 the institution had a college department, a normal department, a
theological department, and a preparatory department.[62] The Women's
Home Missionary Society of this same church had the excellent policy
of establishing homes for girls where, in addition to purely classroom
work, they would be taught the principles of home making and Christian
womanhood. In pursuance of this object in 1864 Mrs. Mather of Boston
established a school at Camden which in later years became known as
the Browning Industrial Home.
The Presbyterian Church, through its Committee of Missions for
Freedmen, in 1865 established the Wallingford Academy in Charleston
at a cost of $13,500, the Freedmen's Bureau paying about one-half of
this amount. In 1870 the number of pupils was 335. In later years this
school, like others planted by the churches, was doing creditable
secondary work and training teachers for the city and different parts
of the State.[63] At Chester in 1868 this Committee established the
Brainerd Institute and in the same year the Goodwill Parochial School
at Mayesville.
The Protestant Episcopal Freedmen's Commission in cooperation with its
South Carolina Board of Missions to Negroes established a school at
Charleston (1866) in the Marine Hospital through the effort of Rev. A.
Toomer Porter, a native white man of Charleston. Two years later this
institution had a corps of thirteen teachers and about six hundred
pupils.[64] Smaller efforts were likewise made by this commission at
Winnsboro and other parts of the State.
The Friends (Pennsylvania Quakers) made a most valuable contribution
to this general educational movement in 1868 through the efforts of
Martha Schofield in establishing at Aiken the Schofield Normal and
Industrial School. This institution in time became one of the most
influential, not only in South Carolina but in the entire South. The
Friends' Association of Philadelphia for the Aid and Elevation of
the Freedmen, established, in 1865, at Mt. Pleasant (Charleston) the
school which later became known as the Laing Normal and Industrial
School.[65] Miss Abbey D. Munro, in 1869, became its principal.
DIFFICULTIES AND COMPLICATIONS.
As a result of these efforts an observer said: "In South Carolina
where, thirty years ago, the first portentious rumblings of the
coming earthquake were heard and where more recently the volcanic
fires of rebellion burst forth ... our missionaries and teachers
have entered to spread their peaceful and healing influence.... The
Sea Islands have been taken possession of in the name of God and
humanity.... King Cotton has been dethroned and is now made humbly
to serve for the enriching and elevating of the late children of
oppression."[66] Another said: "New England can furnish teachers
enough to make a New England out of the whole South, and, God helping,
we will not pause in our work until the free school system ... has
been established from Maryland to Florida and all along the shores
of the Gulf."[67] They came to the South with the firm belief in the
capacity of the Negro for mental development and on a scale comparable
to the white man. The letters written by teachers to northern friends
abound in reports to this effect. Such was the spirit in which the
northern societies entered the South.
The northern societies, however, failed "to make a New England out of
the South"; but due credit must be given them for their earnestness
and enthusiasm. They entered the State while the war was in progress
and thus imperiled their lives. The planters at Port Royal who had
abandoned their property certainly looked forward to the restoration
of the same and to this end they struggled by force of arms. The
freedmen themselves, as well as their northern benefactors under
these conditions, lived in fear lest the restored planters should
successfully reestablish the old regime. One teacher at Mitchelville
on Hilton Head reported one week's work as "eventful." A battle only
twelve miles away at Byrd's Point was raging while her school was in
session. The cannonading could be heard and the smoke of the burning
fields was visible.[68]
There were other difficulties. In view of the fact that the
missionaries associated with the freedmen in a way totally unknown
to southern tradition, they were met with social ostracism. It was
impossible to obtain boarding accommodations in a native white family
and in line with the same attitude the lady teachers were frequently
greeted with sneers and insults and a general disregard for the
courtesies of polite society. One teacher said: "Gentlemen sometimes
lift their hats to us, but the ladies always lift their noses."[69]
Social contact with the Negroes, however, was a necessity.[70] The
letter of instruction to teachers from the Pennsylvania Branch
contained this rule: "All teachers, in addition to their regular work,
are encouraged to interest themselves in the moral, religious and
social improvement of the families of their pupils; to visit them in
their homes; to instruct the women and girls in sewing and domestic
economy; to encourage and take part in religious meetings and Sunday
schools."[71] Thus it was that a very large part of the activities
of the teachers were what we call "extracurricular." They were not
confined to the school room but went from house to house.[72]
The spirit of informality which seemed to pervade the whole work,
along with that of the Freedmen's Bureau, moreover, serves to explain
in part their misfortune resulting from poor business methods.
The reports which Howard and Alvord have left us reveal unusually
important facts. Their funds were limited and what monies they did
raise were not always judiciously expended. The salaries of the
teachers usually ranged from $25 to $50 a month. One society paid $35
a month without board and $20 with board. These salaries, the personal
danger, the social ostracism and unhealthy climate, all lead one to
feel, however, that the motive behind these pioneering efforts was
strictly missionary. Some of the teachers worked without a salary and
a few even contributed of their means to further the work.
The campaign of education for the elevation of the freedmen was a
product of war time and as such was conducted in the spirit engendered
by war conditions. In addition to the purely school exercises of the
three R's was the political tenor of the instruction. As staunch
Republicans no little allusion was made to "Old Jeff Davis" and the
"Rebels." Besides the native songs with which the scholars were so
gifted there was frequent singing of _John Brown_ and _Marching
through Georgia_. The Fourth of July and the first of January were
carefully observed as holidays. Several of the teachers in the
schools and officers of the Freedmen's Bureau--Tomlinson, Cardoza,
Jillson, Mansfield, French, and Scott--became office holders in the
Negro-carpetbagger government of 1868.
There was another handicap. The Civil War left South Carolina
"Shermanized." The story of this invader's wreck of the State is
a familiar one. Barnwell, Buford's Bridge, Blackville, Graham's
Station (Sato), Midway, Bamberg, and Orangeburg were all more or less
destroyed. Three-fifths of the capital was committed to the flames and
Charleston, although this city escaped the invader, had been partially
burned already in 1861.[73] With millions of dollars in slave property
lost, added to the above, the native whites were in no frame of
mind to approve this philanthropic effort of the northern teachers.
Furthermore, on the question of education the State had no substantial
background by which it could encourage any efforts at this time.
Free schools had been established prior to the war, but owing to the
eleemosynary stigma attached to them and the permissive character of
the legislative acts very little had been accomplished for the whites
even, in the sense that we understand public education today.[74]
There ran very high the feeling that the Yankees were fostering social
equality and that if they were allowed to educate the freedmen the
next thing would be to let them vote.[75] Some reasoned that since
the North had liberated the slaves, it was now its business to care
for them. It is safe to say that without the protection of the United
States military forces during the first year at least the efforts to
enlighten the ex-slaves would have been impossible. The native white
attitude, however, appears to have undergone a change from year to
year and from locality to locality.
At Orangeburg, the superintendent of education reported that a night
school was fired into on one or two occasions, and the attempt to
discover the perpetrators of this outrage was without success.[76] A.
M. Bigelow, a teacher of a colored school at Aiken, was compelled by
curses and threats to leave the town in order to save his life.[77] In
the town of Walhalla a school conducted by the Methodist church was
taught by a lady from Vermont. A number of white men tried to break
it up by hiring a drunken vagabond Negro to attend its sessions and
accompany the young lady through the village street. The attempted
outrage was frustrated only by the intercession of a northern
gentleman. At Newberry, about the same time, a man who was building
a school for the freedmen was driven by armed men from the hotel
where he was staying and his life threatened. These occurrences the
superintendent reported as "specimen" cases.[78]
In other sections of the State where the planters sustained amicable
relations to all the functions of the Freedmen's Bureau, there was
little opposition to the elevation of the freedmen. In the districts
of Darlington, Marion, and Williamsburg there was a fair spirit of
cordiality. At Darlington the Yankee editor of _The New Era_ in its
first edition probably thus expressed the feeling of the community:
"Let the excellent work be sustained wherever it shall be introduced
and the happiest results will be witnessed."[79]
Charleston and Columbia, despite the wreck of these cities, as already
shown, proved to be an open field for educational endeavor. In the
former city where it was no new thing to see the blacks striving for
education, the opposition expressed itself in the occupation of the
buildings formerly used for the whites.[80] A correspondent of _The
New York Times_ reported that in Columbia "the whites extend every
possible facility and encouragement in this matter of education."[81]
There is one instance of actual initiative in the education of the
freedmen in the case of Rev. A. Toomer Porter of the Episcopal
Church in Charleston as already mentioned. This gentleman went North
to solicit the necessary funds and while there visited Howard and
President Johnson. For his purpose the president himself contributed
one thousand dollars.[82] For this deed _The Charleston Courier_
remarked that it was "a much more substantial and lasting token of
friendship to the colored race than all the violent harangues of mad
fanatics." Finally in enumerating here and there cases of a favorable
attitude, Governor Orr's remarks cannot be overlooked. To the colored
people at Charleston he said: "I am prepared to stand by the colored
man who is able to read the Declaration of Independence and the
Constitution of the United States. I am prepared to give the colored
man the privilege of going to the ballot-box and vote."[83]
The length of service for most of the teachers was one year. In the
original Port Royal party of March 3, 1862, several of the party
returned home before summer. The American Missionary Association
which sent thirty-five teachers to Port Royal reported "eight for a
short time only." From these facts it is to be inferred, despite the
glowing reports of success, that the teachers met with discouragement
and disappointment. Some of them were unfit for their duties and
some no doubt committed acts of indiscretion with reference to the
relationship of the races.
The difficulties and complications of this movement were a part of
the war itself. Calmer moments of reflection which it is ours now to
enjoy, however, reveal the great value of the educational efforts of
the northern missionaries. Unfortunately, the efforts to uplift were
directed to only one race, but in a larger sense the work done has
been for the welfare of all. South Carolinians to-day will all pay
tribute to the work of Abbey D. Munro, Martha Schofield and Laura M.
Towne. These women, with others, gave their lives for the elevation of
the Negro race and what they did is merely a representation of that
common battle against ignorance and race prejudice. "She (Miss Towne)
came to a land of doubt and trouble and led the children to fresh
horizons and a clearer sky. The school she built is but the symbol
of a great influence; there it stands, making the desert blossom
and bidding coming generations look up and welcome ever-widening
opportunities. Through it she brought hope to a people and gave them
the one gift that is beyond all price to men."[84]
SELF-HELP AND LABOR AMONG THE FREEDMEN
Were the Negroes there in such numbers and condition as to help
themselves? South Carolina in 1860 had a white population of 291,300,
a slave population of 402,406 and a free colored population of
9,914.[85] Having this large number of slaves, the dominant race in
its efforts to maintain control passed its police laws by which the
evils of slavery existed there in their worst form. One of these laws
was that of 1834 which made it a punishable offense to teach any slave
to read and write.[86] This law, however, was often violated and free
Negroes and even slaves attended school long enough to develop unusual
power.
After generations of oppression the dawn of freedom brought with it
a social upheaval. The freedmen now proceeded to taste the forbidden
fruit and the people who brought learning to them they received with
open arms.[87] The Yankee school master was not only to the freedmen a
teacher but his deliverer from bondage. Happily in the enthusiasm of
the "late children of oppression" for learning they proved themselves
to be not objects of charity but actual supporters and promoters of
the educational movement.
It was a principle of some of the societies to open no new school
unless a fair proportion of its expenses could be met by the parents
of the pupils.[88] There were made various arrangements by which
the freedmen could help sustain the schools. In some instances they
boarded the teachers and met the incidental expenses of the school
while the societies paid the salaries and traveling expenses. In this
way nearly one-half of the cost was sustained by them and in some
instances nearly two-thirds of it.[89] As the foregoing tables have
helped to show in part, in some cases the freedmen met the entire
expenses, bought the lot, erected the school house, and paid the
salary of the teacher.
During 1866, Tomlinson reported five houses had been built by them and
others were under the course of erection. These were located at the
following places:
Kingstree size 20 x 37 ft.
Darlington size 30 x 72 ft.
Florence size 35 x 45 ft.
Timmonsville size 14 x 24 ft.
Marion size 20 x 50 ft.
During 1867 twenty-three school houses were reported to have been
built by the freedmen aided by the Freedmen's Bureau and northern
societies. For the support of school teachers this year they
contributed $12,200. This with $5,000 for school houses made an
aggregate of $17,200.[90] The school houses were placed in the
hands of trustees selected from among themselves and were to be held
permanently for school purposes.[91]
The means by which the freedmen offered their support was not always
in cash but in kind. During the early years following the war there
was a scarcity of money in circulation. The employers of the blacks,
the planters, were themselves unable always to pay in cash, and as
a substitute a system of barter grew up.[92] Directing attention to
this situation and the general question of self-help, Governor Andrews
of Massachusetts, president of the New England Society, sent out the
following circular to the freedmen of the South: "The North must
furnish money and teachers--the noblest of her sons and daughters
to teach your sons and daughters. We ask you to provide for them,
wherever possible, school houses and subsistence. Every dollar you
thus save us will help to send you another teacher ... you can supply
the teachers' homes with corn, eggs, chickens, milk and many other
necessary articles.... Work an extra hour to sustain and promote
your schools."[93] The value of such labor averaged only about eight
dollars a month, but Governor Andrews' recommendation was carried out
in so many cases that much good was thereby accomplished.
The campaign of education for the freedmen was temporary in character
and was so regarded by the Freedmen's Bureau and the societies. It
was merely an effort to place the ex-slaves on their own feet and
afterwards it was their task. In line with this policy the Freedmen's
Bureau and the military authorities seized every opportunity of
instituting self-government among them, especially where they were
congregated in large numbers. Such a case was Mitchelville.
Sherman's field order 15 called for the laying aside of a vast
stretch of territory exclusively for the freedmen. In the same
manner in 1864 the military officers at Hilton Head laid out a
village for them near the officers' camps and introduced measures
of self-government. The village was called Mitchelville in honor of
General Ormsby Mitchell who had been like a father to the multitude of
fifteen hundred or more occupying the village. The place was regularly
organized with a Mayor and Common Council, Marshal, Recorder and
Treasurer, all black, and all elected by Negroes, except the Mayor and
Treasurer. Among the powers of the Common Council, which concern us
here, was the compulsory provision that "every child between the ages
of six and fifteen years ... shall attend school daily, while they are
in session, excepting only in cases of sickness ... and the parents
and guardians will be held responsible that said children so attend
school, under the penalty of being punished at the discretion of the
Council of Administration."[94] We may or may not call this South
Carolina's first compulsory school law.
With a view to training teachers from among themselves the northern
teachers seized every opportunity to pick out a bright student who
would ultimately assume full responsibility. Accordingly, the schools
were taught by persons of both races. In addition those Negroes who
already had some learning were pressed into service. This arrangement
had its obvious disadvantages as well as advantages. The Negro teacher
understood the environment and the character and nature of the pupils
to a far greater extent than the northern coworker; but, as could be
expected, the native teacher was lacking in preparation. As one of
the northern journals expressed the situation, the "men and women
from the North carry much more than their education. They carry their
race, moral training, their faculty, their character, influence of
civilization, their ideas, sentiments and principles that characterize
northern society."[95] Occasionally native white teachers were
employed, but not always to the satisfaction of either the Yankee
teachers or their pupils.
Besides the regular organized schools that came under the control
of the Freedmen's Bureau and the societies, the freedmen in their
eagerness to learn opened what Alvord styles "native schools" where
some man or woman who had just learned to read and write a very little
set about for the smallest pittance to teach his neighbors' children.
Such teaching, though possibly arising from a commendable spirit,
was a travesty on education. The white teachers characterized these
native schools "so far as any intelligent result goes" as "worse than
useless." They would rather receive "their pupils totally ignorant
than with the bad habits of reading, pronunciation and spelling of
these schools."[96] However, there were among the Negro teachers a few
who deserve special mention as showing signs of an endeavor to help
the movement and at the same time may serve as a test of the value of
the missionary movement by their northern friends.
Some of the Negro teachers were from the North, as in the case of
Charlotte S. Forten already mentioned. There was also Mrs. C. M.
Hicks who was sent South by the New York Society and supported by an
auxiliary association in Albany. Her school was located at Anderson
and contained nearly two hundred pupils. After mentioning the good
order and decorum of the school, _The Anderson Intelligencer_, a local
white paper, says: "We were gratified with the proficiency and success
attained and trust that they will persevere in their efforts to make
better citizens and become more worthy of the high privileges now
granted to the race. This school is presided over by a colored female
(Mrs. Hicks) ... she is intelligent and capable and devotes all her
energies to the school."[97]
At Greenville there was Charles Hopkins who taught a school for the
support of which his white neighbors contributed $230. He bought
at his own risk the building from the State arsenal and moved it
two miles on a piece of ground which he had leased for one year.
The school opened with about two hundred scholars among whom were
"boys and girls with rosy cheeks, blue eyes and flaxen hair, though
lately slaves, mingled with the black and brown faces."[98] A visitor
characterized the school as having "good order, rapid progress in
learning and a great deal more." After supporting the school as long
as possible Hopkins was relieved by the Freedmen's Bureau which
assumed the responsibility he had incurred, and he was further
aided by the accession of three additional teachers. His salary was
contributed by the New York Branch. Frank Carter at Camden was making
similar efforts during this period.
Down on Hilton Head at Mitchelville in connection with the Port Royal
experiment there was Lymus Anders, a full-blooded African, who, prior
to the coming of the northern teachers, was unable to read and write.
Although fifty years old and having a family, he managed to learn to
read by having one of the teachers give him lessons at night and at
odd intervals. He was enterprising and after only a year or two had
managed to save four or five hundred dollars. He bought land at the
tax sales; and, in the efforts of his people at Mitchelville to have
churches and schools, he succeeded in erecting a church and a school
house with help from the whites and Negroes. The building cost nearly
$350 and in time there was added a teachers' home. The school was
taught by ladies from Northampton, Massachusetts, who always had the
cooperation and assistance of Anders. They characterized him as a
"black Yankee," not very moral or scrupulous, but a man who led all
the others of his race in enterprise and ambition.[99]
Ned Lloyd White, who had picked up clandestinely a knowledge of
reading while still a slave, was an assistant to two ladies at St.
Helena, who had a school of ninety-two pupils made up largely of
refugees from a neighboring island. Likewise engaged was "Uncle
Cyrus," a man of seventy, who, in company with one Ned, assembled one
hundred and fifty children in two schools and taught them the best
they could until teachers were provided by the relief societies.[100]
The brightest light among the Negro teachers was F. L. Cardoza.
He was a native of Charleston and received his primary and common
school education there under the instruction of the free Negroes of
that city. Being unable at his own expense to pursue his studies at
home as far as he desired, he attended the University of Glasgow. He
returned to Charleston and became a leader in the educational affairs
of the city immediately at the close of the war. He was employed
by the American Missionary Association and became principal of the
Saxton School, later known as Avery Institute. In conformity with his
classical training, he offered his advanced pupils languages and in
time they were ready for Howard University in Washington. There were
some four thousand children in the city of school age. Seeing the need
of a permanent graded school system supported by public taxation, he
used his influence to bring about this result. With regard to this
project Governor Orr said: "I heartily approve of the scheme of Mr.
Cardoza to educate thoroughly the colored children of Charleston....
I am satisfied he will devote himself to the work earnestly and
faithfully, and merits, and should receive the confidence of the
public in his laudable undertaking." Other public officials spoke in
the same vein. One of the northern teachers said of him: "He is the
right man in the right place and I am very thankful that it has fallen
my lot to be placed under him."[101]
CONCLUSION
Most of the work of the Bureau and the societies as already shown was
temporary in character and perhaps rightly so. In Howard's own words,
"it was but a beginning--a nucleus--an object lesson." Not more than
one-sixth of the total black population of school age was reached. The
movement only inaugurated a system of educational pioneering in the
benighted South. Scientific data as to exactly what was accomplished
unfortunately cannot be obtained owing to the inaccuracy of the
Freedmen's Bureau reports. For example, in the report of July 1, 1868,
the superintendent gives a total of sixty-two schools in operation
with an additional "estimated" number of 451. Again, the amount of
work done by the separate individual societies does not always tally
with the reports of the Freedmen's Bureau.
Notwithstanding the fact that the efforts put forth failed to reach
our modern ideal of the education of all the people, yet the movement
did accomplish at least these three things: (1) By penetrating almost
every county or district in the State, the schools served to awaken
the Negroes to the need of education and to demonstrate to all
persons that it was practicable to educate them; (2) it led up to the
establishment of the public schools and left for this system material
equipment in the form of school buildings and furniture; and (3),
greatest of all, the combined efforts of the Freedmen's Bureau and
the societies left the State with institutions of higher grade--the
principal source of teachers for the common schools.
LUTHER P. JACKSON
FOOTNOTES:
[1] This dissertation was submitted in partial fulfilment of the
requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Faculty of
Education of Columbia University in 1922.
[2] I. The sources for this dissertation are:
1. PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. _Senate_: _38 Cong., 1 Sess., Vol. 1, No.
1--Letter from freedmen's aid societies, Dec. 17, 1863._ _39 Cong.,
1 Sess., Vol. 2, No. 27--Reports of assistant commissioners, Dec. 1,
1865, to March 6, 1866._ _39 Cong., 2 Sess., Vol. 1, No. 6--Reports
of assistant commissioners, Jan. 3, 1867._ HOUSE EXECUTIVE DOCUMENTS.
_39 Cong., 1 Sess., Vol. 7, No. 11_; _39 Cong., 2 Sess., Vol. 3, No.
1_; _40 Cong., 2 Sess., Vol. 2, No. 1_; _40 Cong., 3 Sess., Vol. 3,
No. 1_; _41 Cong., 2 Sess., Vol. 6, No. 142_; _41 Cong., 3 Sess., Vol.
1, No. 1_; _42 Cong., 2 Sess., Vol. 1, No. 1--Reports of_ _Howard as
Commissioner, Dec. 1865-Dec. 1871_. _United States Statutes at Large,
Vols. 13-17. (Boston)._
2. Reports of General Superintendent and the Societies. J. W. Alvord,
_Schools and Finances of Freedmen_ (Washington, 1866); J. W. Alvord,
_Semi-annual reports, 1867-'70_; J. W. Alvord, _Letters from the
South, relating to the condition of freedmen, Addressed to General
O. O. Howard_ (Washington, 1870); American Missionary Association,
_Annual report, 1862-1872_; Educational Commission for freedmen,
_Annual report, No. 1, 1862-'63_ (Boston, 1863); and New England
Freedmen's Aid Society, _Annual report, No. 2, 1863-'64_; New York
National Freedmen's Relief Association, _Annual report, 1865-'66_ (N.
Y., 1866). _Ibid._, _Brief History with 4th annual report, 1865_;
Friends Association of Philadelphia for the Aid and Elevation of
Freedmen, _Annual report, 1866-71_; Freedmen's Aid Society of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, _Annual report, 1869-'72_; American
Baptist Home Mission Society, _Annual report, 1863-'72_; and Board
of Missions for Freedmen of the Presbyterian Church, _Annual report,
1869-'70_.
3. NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS. _The New York Times_; _The New York
Tribune_; _The Charleston Daily Courier_; _The Darlington New Era_;
_The Columbia Phoenix_; _The Nation_. _The Atlantic Monthly_, vol.
XII (Sept., 1863). Edward L. Pierce--"The Freedmen at Port Royal";
_Atlantic Monthly_, vol. XII (May-June, 1864). Charlotte S. Forten,
_Life on the Sea Islands_, _The North American Review_, vol. CI (July,
1865); William C. Gannet, _The Freedmen at Port Royal_; _The Southern
Workman_, vol. XXX (July, 1901). Laura M. Towne, _Pioneer Work on
the Sea Islands_; _The American Missionary_, 1862-'72, organ of the
American Missionary Association; _The American Freedman_, 1866-'68
(incomplete), organ of American Freedmen's Union Commission; _The
National Freedman_, 1865-66 (incomplete), organ of New York National
Freedman's Relief Association; _Pennsylvania Freedmen's Bulletin_,
1866-'67 (incomplete), organ of Pennsylvania Freedmen's Relief
Association; _Freedmen's Record and Freedmen's Journal_, 1865-'68
(incomplete), organ of New England Freedmen's Aid Society; _The
Freedman_, London, 1866 (incomplete), organ of London Freedmen's Aid
Society; and _The Baptist Home Mission Monthly_, 1878-'80, organ of
American Baptist Home Mission Society.
4. DIARY, REMINISCENCES, AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY. Eliza Ware Pearson
(editor), _Letters from Port Royal, written at the time of the Civil
War_ (Boston, 1906); Rupert S. Holland (editor), _Letters and Diary
of Laura M. Towne, written from the sea islands of South Carolina_,
1862-1884 (Cambridge, 1912); Henry N. Sherwood (editor), _Journal of
Mrs. Susan Walker, March 3d to June 6th, 1862_. _Quarterly publication
of the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio_, vol. 1, No. 1,
1912; Eliz Hyde Botume, _First days among the Contrabands_ (Boston,
1893); Oliver O. Howard, _Autobiography_, 2 vols., vol. 2 (New York,
1907); and A. Toomer Porter, _The History of a Work of Faith and Love
in Charleston, S. C._ (New York, 1882).
5. DESCRIPTION AND TRAVEL. Charles Nordhoff, _The Freedmen of South
Carolina; some account of their appearance, condition and peculiar
customs_ (New York, 1863); Whitelaw Reid, _After the War, A Southern
Tour_, May 1, 1865, to May 1, 1866 (New York, 1866); and Sidney
Andrews, _The South Since the War as Shown by 14 Weeks Travel in
Georgia and the Carolinas_, 1866.
II. SECONDARY SOURCES. Myrta L. Avary, _Dixie After the War_ (New
York, 1906); Laura J. Webster, _Operation of the Freedmen's Bureau in
South Carolina, Smith College Studies in History_, vol. 1, 1915-'16;
Paul S. Pierce, _The Freedmen's Bureau, University of Iowa Studies_
(Iowa City, 1904); Thomas Jesse Jones, _Negro Education, U. S. Bureau
of Education, Bulletins_, 1916, Nos. 38 and 39; Colyer Meriwether,
_History of Higher Education in South Carolina, U. S. Bureau of
Education, Circular of Information_, No. 3, 1888; William W. Sweet,
_The Methodist Episcopal Church and the Civil War_ (Cincinnati,
1912); Amory D. Mayo, _Work of Northern Churches in the Education of
the Freedmen. Advanced sheets. U. S. Bureau of Education._ Chapter
V, 1903; Bowyer Stewart, _The Work of the Church in the South during
the Period of Reconstruction_ (Episcopalian). _Hale Memorial Sermon,
1913_ (Chicago, 1913); J. P. Hollis, _Early Period of Reconstruction
in South Carolina. Johns Hopkins University. History and Political
Studies, 1905; Negro Year Book, 1918-'19_ (Tuskegee, Alabama);
_Charleston Year Book_, 1880; and W. E. B. DuBois, _Souls of Black
Folk_ (Chicago, 1903).
[3] Not to be confused with the more familiar Gen. W. T. Sherman
mentioned later.
[4] Gannet, _North American Review_, vol. 101 (1865), p. 2.
[5] Laura M. Towne, _Southern Workman_, July, 1901, "Life on the Sea
Islands"; _Journal of Mrs. Susan Walker_; Charles Nordhoff, _The
Freedmen of South Carolina_.
[6] _The Nation_, vol. I (1865), p. 744. Sidney Andrews, _The South
Since the War_, p. 228.
[7] Charlotte S. Forten, in _The Atlantic Monthly_, vol. XIII (May,
1864), p. 593; Botume, _First Days among the Contrabands_, p. 11.
[8] New York National Freedmen's Relief Association, _Annual Report_,
1866, pp. 5-6.
[9] _Ibid._, pp. 8-9.
[10] _Journal of Susan Walker_, p. 11; Boston Ed. Commission, _Annual
Report_, 1863, p. 7; _Letters from Port Royal_, pp. 2-3.
[11] Pierce, in _The Atlantic Monthly_, vol. XII, 1863, p. 299.
[12] _Ibid._, p. 292.
[13] Nordhoff, _The Freedmen of South Carolina_, p. 12.
[14] _Journal of Susan Walker_, p. 14.
[15] _Congressional Globe_, 41 Cong., 3 Sess., vol. I, No. 1.
[16] J. W. Alvord, _Fifth Semi-annual Report_ (Jan. 1, '68), p. 4.
[17] _New York Tribune_, June 17, 1862.
[18] "Cabins of slaves for religious meetings."
[19] Botume, _First Days among the Contrabands_, p. 42.
[20] _The American Missionary_, vol. VI (Aug., 1862), p. 186.
[21] _House Executive Documents_, 41 Cong., 2 Sess., vol. VI, No. 142,
p. 4.
[22] Pierce, in _The Atlantic Monthly_, vol. XII (1863), p. 303.
[23] _The Nation_, vol. I (1865), p. 745.
[24] Laura M. Towne, _Southern Workman_, July, 1901, p. 337. Nordhoff,
p. 10.
[25]
"Oh, none in all the world before
Were ever glad as we!
We're free on Carolina's shore,
We're all at home and free.
"We hear no more the driver's horn
No more the whip we fear,
This holy day that saw Thee born
Was never half so dear.
"The very oaks are greener clad,
The waters brighter smile;
Oh, never shone a day so glad
On sweet St. Helen's Isle.
"Come once again, O blessed Lord!
Come walking on the sea!
And let the mainlands hear the word
That sets the islands free!"
See Pierce, in _The Atlantic Monthly_, vol. XII, p. 305; _Letters from
Port Royal_, p. 133.
[26] _The Nation_, vol. I (1865), p. 747.
[27] Botume, _First Days among the Contrabands_, p. 64.
[28] _The Nation_, vol. I (1865), p. 746.
[29] N. E. Freedman's Aid Society, _Annual Report_, 1864, p. 15.
[30] _Senate Executive Documents_, 38 Cong., 1 Sess., vol. I, No. 1,
pp. 2-6.
[31] _House Executive Documents_, 41 Cong., 2 Sess., vol. VI, No. 142,
p. 11.
[32] _Ibid._, 39 Cong., 1 Sess., vol. VII, No. 11, p. 49.
[33] _National Freedman_, Oct., 1865, p. 300.
[34] Howard, _Autobiography_, vol. II, p. 221.
[35] _Statutes at Large_, XIV, p. 176.
[36] _Ibid._, p. 486.
[37] _U. S. Bureau of Ed. Bulletin_, 1916, No. 38, pp. 269-271;
_Annual Reports of Societies_, 1863-1868.
[38] _The Freedmen's Record_ (1865-1874), quoted in _Bulletin_, 1916,
No. 38, p. 297.
[39] _The Freedman_, August, 1865, p. 12.
[40] J. W. Alvord, _Semi-annual Report_, July 1, 1869, p. 81.
[41] W. W. Sweet, _Methodist Episcopal Church and the Civil War_, p.
175.
[42] A. D. Mayo, _Northern Churches and the Freedmen_, p. 300.
[43] A. D. Mayo, _Northern Churches and the Freedmen_, p. 291.
[44] _U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin_ (1916), No. 39, p. 16.
[45] _National Freedman_, May 1, 1865, p. 122; _Ibid._, April 30,
1865, p. 150. _American Freedman_, May, 1866, p. 29.
[46] _Charleston Year Book_ (1880), p. 122.
[47] See Carter G. Woodson, _Education of the Negro Prior to 1861_, p.
129.
[48] Sidney Andrews, _The South Since the War_, p. 98.
[49] _National Freedman_, June 1, 1865, p. 150.
[50] _National Freedman_, Nov. 15, 1865, p. 314; _Ibid._, May, 1866,
pp. 139-140.
[51] J. W. Alvord, _Report_, Jan. 1, 1868, p. 27. _American Freedman_,
July-August, 1868, p. 442.
[52] _The American Freedman_, May, 1866, p. 261. This does not,
however, indicate in all cases the number of schools at each town.
[53] The school at Camden increased in size the next year.
[54] J. W. Alvord, _Report_, Jan. 1, 1870, p. 25.
[55] Freedmen's Aid Society of the M. E. Church, _Annual Report_,
1871, pp. 19-20.
[56] Mayo, _Northern Churches and the Freedmen_, p. 300.
[57] _Letters and Diary of Laura M. Towne_, p. 221.
[58] _American Missionary Ass'n Annual Report_, 1870, p. 221.
[59] _History of the A. M. A._, p. 36; _Annual Report_, 1868, p. 47;
Mayo, p. 287.
[60] _The Nation_, vol. 1 (1865), p. 778.
[61] American Baptist Home Mission Society, _Annual Report_, 1872, p.
26.
[62] Merriwether, _History of Higher Education in South Carolina_, p.
125; _Annual Report_ (1872) _F. A. S._, p. 17.
[63] _Charleston Year Book_ (1880), pp. 126-127; _Annual Report_
(1870) _Presbyterian Committee_, p. 12.
[64] Porter, _Work of Faith and Love_, p. 6; Stewart, _Work of the
Church during Reconstruction_, p. 63.
[65] _Annual Report_ (1866) _Friends Ass'n_, p. 8.
[66] _A. M. A. Annual Report_ (1864), p. 16.
[67] _Freedmen's Journal_, Jan. 1, 1865, p. 3.
[68] _Ibid._, p. 7.
[69] _National Freedman_, Feb., 1866, p. 49.
[70] _Letters from Port Royal_; _Letters and Diary of Laura M. Towne_.
[71] _Pennsylvania Freedmen's Bulletin_, Oct., 1866, p. 1.
[72] _Baptist Home Mission Monthly_ (1879), p. 6.
[73] _Columbia Phoenix_, March 21, 1865.
[74] Merriwether, _History of Higher Education in South Carolina_, p.
115.
[75] _House Executive Documents_, 39 Cong., 1 Sess., vol. VII, No. 11,
p. 13.
[76] J. W. Alvord, _Semi-annual Report_ (July 1, 1867), p. 25.
[77] _The Nation_, vol. III, Oct. 25, 1866.
[78] Alvord, _Semi-annual Report_ (Jan. 1, 1870), p. 26.
[79] _The New Era_, July 28, 1865.
[80] Alvord, _Report_, Aug. 6, 1866, p. 5.
[81] _New York Times_, Aug. 14, 1866.
[82] Porter, _Work of Faith and Love_, p. 6; _The Nation_, vol. II
(1866); p. 770.
[83] _Charleston Courier_, Feb. 15, 1867; _American Freedman_, April,
1867, p. 204.
[84] The school referred to here is the one already mentioned, the
Penn Normal and Agricultural School. It is an excellent community
school and one especially fitted for St. Helena, the population of
which is still largely colored. See _United States Bureau of Education
Bulletin_ (1916), No. 39, p. 483. Miss Towne remained in service 39
years, Miss Schofield 48 years, and Miss Munro at Mt. Pleasant 45
years.
[85] _United States Census_, 1860.
[86] Hurd, _Law of Freedom and Bondage_, II, p. 98.
[87] _Baptist Home Mission Monthly_, June, 1879, p. 182.
[88] _Freedmen's Record_, April, 1868, p. 50.
[89] Freedmen's Aid Society, _Annual Report_ (1871), p. 13.
[90] _H. Ex. Docs._, 40 Cong., 2 Sess., vol. II, No. 1, p. 8.
[91] J. W. Alvord, _Report on Schools and Finances of Freedmen_, July,
1866, p. 6.
[92] _American Freedman_, July, 1868, p. 446.
[93] _National Freedman_, Oct., 1865, p. 299.
[94] Whitelaw Reid, _After the War_, pp. 89-91.
[95] _National Freedman_, June, 1866, p. 169.
[96] _Freedmen's Record_, April, 1868, p. 52.
[97] _Anderson Intelligencer_, July, 1867, quoted in _The American
Freedman_, Aug., 1867, p. 264.
[98] _American Freedman_, Feb., 1867, p. 168.
[99] _Letters from Port Royal_, p. 37; _The Freedmen's Journal_, Jan.
1, 1865, pp. 13-15; W. C. Gannet, _North American Review_, vol. CI
(1865), p. 24.
[100] Pierce, in _Atlantic Monthly_, vol. 12 (1863), p. 305.
[101] _A. M. A. Annual Report_, 1866, p. 27; 1867, pp. 32-33;
_National Freedman_, May, 1866, p. 142.
THE RELIGION OF THE AMERICAN NEGRO SLAVE: HIS ATTITUDE TOWARD LIFE AND
DEATH
I propose to discuss the religious behavior of the American Negro
slave, between 1619 and the close of the Civil War, first, by a brief
discussion of the religion of the tribes in Africa, and the tendency
of the old habits and traditions to maintain themselves among the
American slave; second, by a consideration of what the slave found
in America, and his contact with another religious culture called
Christianity; and third, by a description of the slave's reaction to a
Christian environment, or what the slave's religious behavior really
was.[1] My thesis is that the religion of Africa disappeared from
the consciousness of the American slave; that the slave himself, by
contact with a new environment, became a decidedly different person,
having a new religion, a primitive Christianity, with the central
emphasis, not upon this world, but upon heaven.[-99]
My task is to show that the religion of the Negro slave between 1619
and the Civil War did not originate in Africa, but was something
totally different from the prevailing religion of the black continent
in that it placed emphasis upon heaven; and that this distinctive
element in the religion of the slave grew out of his contact with
Christianity in America. In taking this position I have tried to give
due weight to those considerations which tend to support a contrary
position, such as the inertia of African habits and traditions in
the life of the American slave, and the hostile tendency of his
social surroundings to religious development.[3] On the other
hand, I have considered the disintegrating effects of the American
slave system upon black groups that originated in Africa, together
with the American slave's new social contacts, which produced in
him the religious attitude found, and out of which arose the early
slave-preacher and church. Finally, I have attempted to show that the
naive imagery and emphasis in the "spirituals" are selected elements
that helped the slave adjust himself to his particular world.
Our beginning is with the prevailing religion of Africa, Fetishism.
Authorities use the term "Fetishism" as the "(_a_) worship of
inanimate objects, often regarded as purely African; (_b_) Negro
religion in general; (_c_) the worship of inanimate objects conceived
as the residence of spirits not inseparably bound up with, nor
originally connected with, such objects; (_d_) the doctrine of
spirits embodied in, or attached to, or conceiving influence through
certain material objects;[4] (_e_) the use of charms, which are not
worshipped, but derive their magical power from a god or spirit;
(_f_) the use as charms of objects regarded as magically potent in
themselves."
All of the elements embodied in this definition are found, generally,
in the primitive religions of the African peoples. Believing that
persons and objects of this world were inhabited by spirits, the
African necessarily accounted for the phenomena of the universe by the
arbitrary will of spiritual beings, whom he feared, and, therefore,
worshipped, or sought to control by magic. Unable thus to find
companionship with these unseen, mysterious personalities, the men
of Africa knew no land of sunshine beyond the dreadful shadow of the
grave; but the American slave, who experienced death as a short period
of darkness before a day of eternal glory, did not inherit the fears
of Africa.
Now what did the slave bring from Africa? In answering this question
let us consider what is commonly referred to as the inertia of African
heritage. American missionaries reported that it was harder to teach
the slaves who were born in Africa than those born in this country.
This quotation from the Calendar of State Papers, Colonial America
and West Indies, 1699, Section 473, supports this view: "Negroes born
in this country were generally baptized, but for Negroes imported,
the gross barbarity and rudeness of their manners, the variety and
strangeness of their language, and the weakness and shallowness of
their minds rendered it in a manner impossible to attain to any
progress in their conversion."[5]
Two definite cases bear a similar testimony, the one being that of
Phyllis Wheatley, a girl brought here from Africa, who spoke of how
her mother there worshipped the rising sun, the other, this story
related by a man concerning his grandfather: "He was an old man,
nearly 80 years old," he said, "and he manifested all the fondness
for me that I could expect from one so old.... He always expressed
contempt for his fellow slaves, for when young he was an African of
rank.... He had singular religious notions, never going to meeting,
or caring for the preachers he could, if he would, occasionally
hear. He retained his native traditions respecting the deity and
hereafter."[6]
Other cases, though few, clearly demonstrate that among the American
slaves also there existed a belief in ghosts and a lurking fear of
the denizens of a mysterious world. But what was religion in Africa
was generally regarded by the American slaves themselves as mere
superstition.
The hostility of masters to new slave-contacts had some bearing on
the situation. Whatever superstition, whether from Africa or another
source, we find among the slaves, had a tendency to maintain itself
the more because of the attitude of some masters toward the religious
education of their bondmen. Slaves of those owners, who, through love
of money, were indifferent toward education, encouraged in vice and
superstition, had no time for religious training. Although, ever since
1619, and especially after the rebellion of Nat Turner, there were
some slaves whose eagerness to learn occasioned State-laws against the
education or assembling of slaves, nevertheless, during the entire
period there was a countless number of slaves who were absolutely
disinterested in their own education. They were also handicapped in
religious advancement, because many owners believed that baptism
made the slave free, which belief was prevalently held until 1729,
when the Christian nations finally reached the decision that baptism
did not mean manumission, and that even a Christian could be a
slave.[7] Such a sentiment against the contact of slaves with the
Christian religion, beyond doubt, tended to keep them in ignorance and
superstition, and to develop among them religious habits and attitudes
peculiar to an isolated group, but the point can be over-emphasized,
in view of all that actually happened.
Dr. Park says: "Coming from all parts of Africa and having no common
language, and common tradition, the memories of Africa which they
brought with them were soon lost.... The fact that the Negro brought
with him from Africa so little tradition which he was able to transmit
and perpetuate on American soil makes that race unique among all
peoples of our cosmopolitan population."[8] In connection herewith,
moreover, we must also take into account that slave-groups, upon
reaching America, were broken up and the members thereof sold into
different parts of the country, where new habits had to be formed,
because of a different environment. Contrasting the life in Africa
with that of slaves in America, Washington better expresses the idea
in these words: "The porters, carrying their loads along the narrow
forest paths, sing of the loved ones in their far-away homes. In the
evening the people of the villages gather around the fire and sing for
hours. These songs refer to war, to hunting, and to the spirits that
dwell in the deep woods. In them all the wild and primitive life of
the people is reflected....
"There is a difference, however, between the music of Africa and that
of her transplanted children. There is a new note in the music which
had its origin in the Southern plantations, and in this new note the
sorrow and the sufferings which came from serving in a strange land
find expression."[9]
Let us direct attention to what the Negro slave found in America, a
Christian atmosphere. With their various groups broken into fragments
and scattered by the American slave-trade, as the slaves here learned
the English language, they were more able to assimilate the elements
of Christianity found in American life. Sold into Christian homes,
but gathered with their masters around the family altar, they became
actual participants in the singing and praying that broke the morning
and evening silence of those eventful days. The old records show that
from the very beginning of American slavery[10] slaves experienced
Christianity through the conscious help of some masters, and later,
as the whites saw that the Christian religion made the Negroes better
slaves and did not set them free, the blacks secured more favorable
opportunities for religious instruction. In some States masters were
required even by legislation to look after the religious education of
their slaves.[11] In Louisiana, for example, planters were obliged by
the Code Noir to have their Negroes instructed and baptized, to give
them Sundays and holidays for rest and worship. But, even when not
required by law, a few owners established schools for their slaves,
and either taught or hired others to teach them "the way of eternal
life."
So it is reported that by the 19th century: "Few Negroes escaped
some religious instruction from those good people. Usually on Sunday
afternoons, but sometimes in the morning, the slaves would be gathered
in the great house and lessons in the catechism had to be learned. The
Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments were also
taught. Hymns were sung and prayers rose to Heaven. Many good masters
read sermons to their slaves. Other masters hired ministers.... Others
preached themselves."[12]
Another source of contact with Christianity was that resulting from
the attitude of persons who worked, not for the religious development
of their own slaves alone, but who, with a larger human interest,
unmindful of the benefits that might come to their individual
households, gave their lives to bless all slaves. One of the very
purposes of American slavery being to benefit the slaves, one can
readily see how missionary work among them grew with the system of
slavery itself.
"After 1716," Woodson tells us, "when Jesuits were taking over slaves
in large numbers, and especially after 1726, when Law's Company was
importing many to meet the demand for laborers in Louisiana, we read
of more instances of the instruction of Negroes by the Catholics. ...
Le Petit spoke of being 'settled to the instruction of the boarders,
the girls who live without, and the Negro women.' In 1738 he said,
'I instruct in Christian morals the slaves of our residence, who are
Negroes, and as many others as I can get from their masters.'"
Awakened by what the zealous French in Louisiana were doing, English
missionaries made progressive plans for preaching the gospel to the
blacks. During the 18th century numerous missionaries, catechists,
and school-masters, sent from England to America, founded schools for
the slaves, and distributed many sermons, lectures, and Bibles among
them. In 1705 Thomas counted among his communicants in South Carolina
twenty Negroes who could read and write. Later, making a report of the
work he and his associates were doing, he said: "I have here presumed
to give an account of 1,000 slaves so far as they know of it and are
desirous of Christian knowledge and seem willing to prepare themselves
for it, in learning to read, for which they redeem the time from their
labor. Many of them can read the Bible distinctly, and great numbers
of them were learning when I left the province."[14]
"After some opposition," Woodson further says, "this work began to
progress somewhat in Virginia. The first school established in that
colony was for Indians and Negroes.... On the binding out a 'bastard
or pauper-child black or white,' churchwardens specifically required
that he should be taught 'to read and write and calculate as well as
to follow some profitable form of labor.' ... Reports of an increase
in the number of colored communicants came from Accomac County where
four or five hundred families were instructing their slaves at home
and had their children catechised on Sunday."[15]
Side by side with the work done by missionaries, men of different
denominations vied with one another in bringing slaves into the
light of a Christian atmosphere. Some founded Sunday schools, some
preached of the "inner light in every man," others more successfully
preached salvation by faith in the power of a risen Christ, who died
for the sins of men. Soon after the first Negroes were placed upon
the shores of Jamestown, slaves began to be baptized, and received
into the Episcopal Church. Earnest says that "at least one Negro was
baptized soon after the contact with the colonists in Virginia."[16]
Washington says that only five years after slavery was introduced into
Virginia a Negro child named William was baptized, and that from that
time on the names of Negroes can be found upon the register of most
of the churches. In the old record-book of Bruton Parish, 1,122[17]
Negro-baptisms were recorded between 1746 and 1797.[18] In 1809 there
were about 9,000 Negro Baptists in Virginia.[19] The African Baptist
Church of Richmond alone subsequently increased from 1,000 to 3,832
in 24 years. The Methodist Magazine of October, 1827, reports that
as early as 1817 there were 43,411 Negro members in the Methodist
societies.[20]
"The Negro seems, from the beginning," says Washington, "to have
been very closely associated with the Methodists in the United
States. When the Reverend Thomas Coke was ordained by John Wesley,
as Superintendent or Bishop of the American Society in 1784, he was
accompanied on most of his travels throughout the United States by
Harry Hosier, a colored minister who was at the same time the Bishop's
servant and an evangelist of the Church. Harry Hosier, who was the
first American Negro preacher of the Methodist Church in the United
States, was one of the notable characters of his day."[21]
Let us now consider the effects of these early religious contacts upon
the life of slave-preachers, some of whom were comparatively well
educated. Concerning Jack of Virginia it is said that "his opinions
were respected, his advice followed, and yet he never betrayed the
least symptoms of arrogance or self-conceit. His dwelling was a rude
log-cabin, his apparel was of the plainest, coarsest materials....
He refused gifts of better clothing, saying, 'These clothes are a
great deal better than are generally worn by people of my color, and,
besides, if I wear them I find I shall be obliged to think about them
even at meetings.'"[22]
With an influence among the slaves equal to Jack's, two other Negro
messengers of the gospel, Andrew Bryan and Samson, his brother, who
earlier had appeared in Georgia, were publicly whipped and imprisoned
with 50 companions, but they joyously declared that they would suffer
death for their faith found in Christ, whom they expected to preach
until death.[23] By their uncompromising attitude,[24] which
silenced opponents and raised up friends, they won for themselves
among the slaves that sacred esteem belonging to saintly martyrs like
Polycarp, Huss, and Fox.
There were other itinerant ministers in these days, who were either
given their freedom or purchased it by working as common laborers
while preaching. Being better educated, and more closely in contact
with the religious life of the whites than the masses of slaves,
they were carriers of Christian sentiment from the whites to the
blacks, inspiring them with the hope of life in an unseen world.
One day there arrived in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Henry Evans,
a Methodist preacher, a free Negro from Virginia, who worked as a
carpenter during the week and preached on Sunday. Forbidden by the
Town Council of Fayetteville to preach, he made his meetings secret,
changing them from time to time until he was tolerated. Just before
his death, while leaning on the altar-rail, he said to his followers:
"I have come to say my last word to you. It is this: None but Christ.
Three times I have had my life in jeopardy for preaching the gospel to
you. Three times I have broken the ice on the edge of the water and
swam across the Cape Fear to preach the gospel to you, and if in my
last hour I could trust to that or anything but Christ crucified, for
my salvation, all should be lost, and my soul perish forever."[25]
Some of these ministers led an independent movement. Six years after
Richard Allen, with a few followers, withdrew in 1790 from the Free
African Society in Philadelphia,[26] and started an independent
Methodist Church in a blacksmith shop, Negro members of the Methodist
Episcopal Church in New York began separate meetings. After pastoring
a white church,[27] Josiah Bishop started the First Colored Baptist
Church of Portsmouth in 1791. Finding accommodations in the white
church of Richmond inadequate, the Negroes petitioned for separate
meetings in 1823.[28] Harding, speaking of the opportunity of
religious instruction and of divine worship allowed the slaves in
Kentucky, says that "in every church-edifice, seats were set apart for
the occupancy of colored worshippers.... Almost every neighborhood had
its Negro preacher whose credentials, if his own assertion was to be
taken, came directly from the Lord."[29]
What were the results of these contacts? The most important was that
with its charming stories of the creation of the universe, of the
Egyptian bondage, and of the journey across the Red Sea, with its New
Testament emphasis upon the power, death, and resurrection of Christ,
with its apocalyptic imagery, the Bible became to the slave the most
sacred book of books. Upon its pages he saw the tears of men and
women constantly fall, and from its truths he saw the pious preacher
choose words suitable for exhortation. The peculiar interest of the
Negro-slave in reading this book was soon apparent.
One old man, being secretly taught by a slave-girl to read the
Bible, said, with trembling voice, while tears were falling from his
penetrating eyes: "Honey, it 'pears when I can read dis good book I
shall be nearer to God."[31] Another slave prayed thus: "I pray de
good massa Lord will put it into de niggers' hearts to larn to read
de good book. Ah, Lord, make de letters in our spelling books big and
plain, and make our eyes bright and shining, and make our hearts big
and strong for to larn.... Oh, Hebbenly Fader, we tank De for makin'
our massas willin' to let us come to dis school."[32]
Upon a battlefield of the Civil War, another, a soldier, said: "Let me
lib wid dis musket in one hand an' de Bible in de oder,--dat if I die
at de muzzle ob de musket, die in de water, die on de land, I may know
I hab de bressed Jesus in my hand an' hab no fear."[33]
How the text from Hebrews 2:9, "That He, by the grace of God, should
taste of death for every man," became a part of his life, was told by
Josiah Henson after becoming free: "This was the first text of the
Bible to which I had ever listened, knowing it to be such. I have
never forgotten it, and scarce a day has passed since, in which I have
not recalled it, and the sermon that was preached from it. The divine
character of Jesus Christ, his life and teachings, his sacrifice of
himself for others, his death and resurrection were all alluded to,
and some of the points were dwelt upon with great power.... I was
wonderfully impressed, too, with the use which the preacher made of
the last words of the text, 'for every man' ... the bond as well as
the free; and he dwelt on the glad tidings of the Gospel to the poor,
the persecuted ... till my heart burned within me, and I was in a
state of greatest excitement ... that such a being ... should have
died for me ... a poor slave...."[34]
Contemporaries assert that often while following the plow, gathering
up the frosty corn, or driving the ox-cart to the barn, slaves,
burning with enthusiasm, talked of how much sermons satisfied their
hungry souls. Household and plantation slaves, gray-haired fathers
and mothers with their children, crowded eagerly to hear the gospel
preached. Thus Earnest says of one man: "His slaves came 17 miles
to reach Mr. Wright's nearest preaching place."[35] Concerning the
spread of the Christian religion among the slaves on the seaboard
of South Carolina, it is affirmed that "the scenes on the Sabbath
were affecting. The Negroes came in crowds from two parishes. Often
have I seen (a scene, I reckon, not often witnessed) groups of them
'double-quicking' in the roads, in order to reach the church in
time.... The white service being over, the slaves would throng the
seats vacated by their masters...."[36] John Thompson, in the story
of his life, says that, "As soon as it got among the slaves, it spread
from plantation to plantation, until it reached ours where there were
but few who did not experience religion."[37]
From the blighting, superstitious fears of a heartless universe,
the heralds of Christianity brought to the slave words of hope and
salvation, a message of companionship with a heavenly father. "You are
poor slaves and have a hard time of it here," said they, "but I can
tell you the blessed Savior shed his blood for you as much as for your
masters.... Break off from all your wicked ways, your lying, stealing,
swearing, drunkenness, and vile lewdness; give yourselves to prayer
and repentance and fly to Jesus, and give up your heart to him in true
earnest; and flee from the wrath to come."[38]
Fred Douglass relates that "the preaching of a white Methodist
minister, named Hanson, was the means of causing me to feel that in
God I had such a friend. He thought that all men, great and small,
bond and free, were sinners in the sight of God: that they were by
nature rebels against his government; and that they must repent
of their sins, and be reconciled to God through Christ.... I was
wretched."[39]
Besides definite principles of morality which included humble
submission to the divine right of masters, Negro slaves were also
taught that "parents who meet their children in heaven will be more
than consoled for their early death." "You can not imagine," said
they, "what happiness is in reserve for you from this source.... When
you have entered heaven you will probably be met by a youthful spirit
who will call you father! mother! Perhaps you have a little family
there, expecting your arrival ... save your own soul."[40]
Exactly what was this religion of the slave? Thus coming into contact
with this Christian environment, the slave consciously lived a new
life, which definitely began with conversion, the phenomenon marked by
a feeling of remorse, inner conflict, prayer, and release of tension,
or what was felt to be "freedom from hell." Prior to conversion he
had been a member of the "disobedient servant-group," perhaps lying,
stealing, drinking, and using profanity; but after conversion, being
initiated into a new group, he had to live a circumspect life.
Conversion, then, meant to the slave that experience by which he
turned his back toward hell and began the journey toward heaven. Very
often it signified retiring to some lonely spot, where the slave
struggled with an unseen power, until freed by Christ, with whom, no
longer a child of fear, he afterwards lived in filial companionship,
hopefully asking and joyfully securing aid in an unfriendly world.
"I always had a natural fear of God from my youth," declared one
slave, describing his feelings leading up to conversion, "and was
often checked in conscience with thoughts of death, which barred me
from my sins and bad company. I knew no other way at that time to hope
for salvation but only in the performance of my good works.... If it
was the will of God to cut me off at that time, I was sure I should be
found in hell, as sure as God was in heaven. I saw my condemnation in
my own heart, and I found no way which I could escape the damnation
of hell, only through the merits of my dying Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ; which caused me to make intercession with Christ, for the
salvation of my poor immortal soul.... After this I declared before
the congregation of believers the work which God had done for my
soul."[41]
The slaves used to express it thus in song:[42]
"One day when I was walkin' along,
De element opened, an' de love came down,
I never shall forget dat day,
When Jesus washed my sins away."
They also sang such words as these:[43]
"Jesus snatched me from de doors of hell,
An' took me in with him to dwell."
"Jesus told you ... go in peace an' sin no mo'."
"Soul done anchored in Jesus Christ."
With reference to the wilderness, where, without food, they overcame
the spirit of evil by the aid of Jesus, and with reference to the
life led after having this experience, the slaves sang with much
feeling:[44]
"All true children gwine in de wilderness,
Gwine in de wilderness, gwine in de wilderness,
True believers gwine in de wilderness,
To take away de sins ob de world."
"Stay in the field, stay in the field, stay in
the field, till de war is ended."[45]
"You say your Jesus set-a you free;
View de land, view de land,
Why don't you let-a your neighbor be,
Go view de heavenly land.
You say you're aiming for de skies,
Why don't you stop-a your telling lies?"[46]
Another ceremonial feature of slave-conversion was the shout, in which
the prospective convert, upon the "mourners' bench," surrounded by
a group of singing dancers, prayed continually, until convinced of
perfect relief from damnation, when he leaped and ran to proclaim
the joyous news. When shouting, whether for making converts or for
mere group-response, these noisy, black singers of antiphonal songs
preferred to be alone in some cabin or in the praise-house, where they
could express themselves with absolute freedom.
Just how they disturbed the peace is expressed in the following
words: "Almost every night there is a meeting of these noisy,
frantic worshippers.... Midnight! Is that the season for religious
convocation?... is that the accepted time?"[47] Concerning worship
by a light-wood fire another said: "But the benches are pushed back
to the wall when the formal meeting is over, and old and young, men
and women ... begin, first walking and by and by shuffling around,
one after the other, in a ring. The foot is hardly taken from the
floor and the progression is mainly due to a jerking, hitching motion
which agitates the entire shouter and soon brings out streams of
perspiration. Sometimes they dance silently; sometimes as they shuffle
they sing the course of the spiritual, and sometimes the song itself
is also sung by the dancers. But more frequently a band, composed of
some of the best singers and of tired shouters, stand at the side
of the room to 'face' the others singing the body of the song and
dropping their hands together or on their knees. Song and dance are
alike extremely energetic and often, when the shout lasts into the
middle of the night, the monotonous thud, thud of the feet prevents
sleep within half a mile of the praise-house."[48]
"And all night, as I waked at intervals, I could hear them praying and
'shouting' and chattering with hands and heels," relates Colonel T. W.
Higginson. "It seemed to make them very happy, and appeared to be at
least an innocent Christian dissipation ... the dusky figures moved in
the rhythmical barbaric dance the Negroes called a 'shout,' chanting,
often harshly, but always in the most perfect time, some monotonous
refrain."[49]
"By this time every man within hearing, from oldest to youngest, would
be wriggling and shuffling, as if through some piper's bewitchment;
for even those who at first affected contemptuous indifference would
be drawn into the vortex ere long."[50]
Whatever may be said about the "shout," the fact remains, that whether
this ceremony was mere play, or relaxation after a day of repressing
toil, or whether it served to drive away a hostile spirit by creating
within the members of the group the feeling of being possessed with
the power of God, it became an indispensable part of the slave
religious worship. In this Christian dance, the slave sang: "O shout,
shout, de debbil is about, O shut yo' do' an' keep him out." Through
it he expected to destroy the kingdom of Satan, and thereby make the
assurance of reaching heaven more complete. The feeling gained thereby
became spiritual balm for the aches of by-gone and coming days.[51]
The songs, also, used by the slave in these meetings and sung
generally by the individuals thereof, tell in a very definite way
what the religious attitude of the American Negro slave was. They
relate the sorrows of this world, and the joys felt by the slave,
who anticipated a home in heaven. They describe in naive imagery
the rugged journey of the weary traveler and the land of his happy
destination. "Nothing," says Washington, "tells more truly what the
Negro's life in slavery was, than the songs in which he succeeded,
sometimes, in expressing his deepest thoughts and feelings. What,
for example, could express more eloquently the feelings of despair
which sometimes overtook the slave than these simple and expressive
words:[52] 'O Lord, O my Lord! O my good Lord! keep me from sinking
down.'"
Unable to sing or pray during the lifetime of their master, after his
death, by permission of their mistress, a crowd of Negro slaves sang
the following hymn:
"Oh walk togedder, children,
Don't yer get weary,
Walk togedder, children,
Don't yer get weary,
Walk togedder, children,
Don't yer get weary,
Dere's a great camp meetin' in de Promised Land.
Gwine to mourn an' nebber tire ...
Mourn an' nebber tire,
Mourn an' nebber tire,
Dere's a great camp meetin' in de Promised Land."[53]
With longing for that mother who used to carry him upon her back to
the dewy fields, where she, setting her babe upon the springing grass
at the end of the row, began her daily task with the hoe, returning
now and then to give him of her breast; for her whose beaming eyes
turned back until the coming of the night, when she again held him in
her arms, the slave sang in bitter tears. Her tender help was gone.
Father's smile was no more.[54]
"My mother's sick an' my father's dead,
Got nowhere to lay my weary head."
"My mother an' my father both are dead ...
Good Lord, I cannot stay here by myself.
I'm er pore little orphan chile in de worl',
I'm er pore little orphan chile in de worl' ..."[55]
"My mother'n yo' mother both daid an' gone,
My mother'n yo' mother both daid an' gone,
Po' sinner man he so hard to believe.
My folks an' yo' folks both daid an' gone,
Po' sinner man he so hard to believe.
My brother an' yo' brother both daid an' gone,
Po' sinner man he so hard to believe."[56]
With great hope the slave sang:
"Gwine to see my mother some o' dese mornin's,
See my mother some o' dese mornin's,
See my mother some o' dese mornin's,
Look away in de heaven,
Look away in de heaven, Lord,
Hope I'll jine de band.
Look away in de heaven, Lord,
Hope I'll jine de band."[57]
To express his sorrow and his longing for relief from the burdens of
his condition the slave sang:
"One more valient soldier here,
One more valient soldier here,
One more valient soldier here,
To help me bear de cross."[58]
"My trouble is hard,
O yes,
My trouble is hard,
O yes,
Yes indeed my trouble is hard."[59]
"Nobody knows the trouble I've seen,
Nobody knows but Jesus.
Nobody knows the trouble I've seen,
Glory halleluyah!
Sometimes I'm up, sometimes I'm down!
O yes, Lord!
Sometimes I'm almost to de groun'!
O yes, Lord!
What makes old Satan hate me so?
O yes, Lord,
Because he got me once, but he let me go;
O yes, Lord!"[60]
"Ever since my Lord done set me free,
Dis ole worl' been a hell to me,
I am de light un de worl'."[61]
"Oh, what a hard time,
Oh, what a hard time,
Oh, what a hard time,
All God's children have a hard time.
"Oh, what a hard time,
Oh, what a hard time,
Oh, what a hard time,
My Lord had a hard time too."[62]
"I'm a-trouble in de mind,
O I'm a-trouble in de mind.
I'm a-trouble in de mind,
What you doubt for?
I'm a-trouble in de mind."[63]
"I'm in trouble, Lord,
I'm in trouble.
I'm in trouble, Lord,
Trouble about my grave,
Trouble about my grave,
Trouble about my grave.
Sometimes I weep, sometimes I mourn,
I'm in trouble about my grave;
Sometimes I can't do neither one,
I'm in trouble about my grave."[64]
"My father, how long,
My father, how long,
My father, how long,
Poor sinner suffer here?
And it won't be long,
And it won't be long,
And it won't be long,
Poor sinner suffer here.
We'll soon be free,
De Lord will call us home.
We'll walk de miry road
Where pleasure never dies.
We'll walk de golden streets
Of de new Jerusalem ...
We'll fight for liberty
When de Lord will call us home."[65]
"Gwine rock trubbel over,
I b'lieve,
Rock trubbel over,
I b'lieve,
Dat Sabbath has no end."[66]
"My fader's done wid de trouble o' de world,
Wid de trouble o' de world,
Wid de trouble o' de world,
My fader's done wid de trouble o' de world,
Outshine de sun."[67]
Although the songs above tell the slave's dissatisfaction with
the present world, there are other songs that relate his definite
experiences of joy arising from a feeling of triumph over this world
of sorrow by assurances of a future world of bliss. Some of these
songs of joy are the following:
"I started home, but I did pray,
An' I met ole Satan on de way;
Ole Satan made a one grab at me,
But he missed my soul, an' I went free.
My sins went a-lumberin' down to hell,
An' my soul went a-leapin' up Zion's hill."[68]
"Ole Satan's church is here below.
Up to God's free church I hope to go.
Cry Amen, cry Amen, cry Amen to God!"[69]
"I'm so glad, so glad;
I'm so glad, so glad,
Glad I got religion, so glad,
Glad I got religion, so glad.
I'm so glad, so glad;
I'm so glad, so glad,
Glad I bin' changed, so glad,
Glad I bin' changed, so glad."[70]
"My brudder have a seat and I so glad,
Good news member, good news;
My brudder have a seat and I so glad,
And I heard from heav'n today."[71]
"Brudder, guide me home, an' I am glad,
Bright angels biddy me to come;
Brudder, guide me home, an' I am glad,
Bright angels biddy me to come.
What a happy time, chil'n,
What a happy time, chil'n,
What a happy time, chil'n,
Bright angels biddy me to come.
Let's go to God, chil'n,
Bright angels biddy me to come."[72]
"I jus' got home f'um Jordan,
I jus' got home f'um Jordan,
I jus' got home f'um Jordan,
'Ligion's so-o-o sweet.
My work is done an' I mus' go,
My work is done an' I mus' go,
My work is done an' I mus' go,
'Ligion's so-o-o sweet."[73]
"Shout an' pray both night an' day;
How can you die, you in de Lord?
Come on, chil'n, let's go home;
O I'm so glad you're in de Lord."[74]
"Little children, then won't you be glad,
Little children, then won't you be glad,
That you have been to heav'n, an' you gwine to go again,
For to try on the long white robe, children,
For to try on the long white robe."[75]
Even a slave, when dying, cried: "I am going home! Oh, how glad I
am!"[76] The following hymns also vividly set forth what happy
anxiety the slave felt about his journey "home."
"Gwine to weep, gwine to mourn,
Gwine to get up early in de morn,
Fo' my soul's goin' to heaven jes' sho's you born,
Brother Gabriel goin' ter blow his horn.
Goin' to sing, goin' to pray,
Goin' to pack all my things away,
Fo' my soul's goin' to heaven jes' sho's you born,
Brother Gabriel gwine ter blow his horn."[77]
"I want to go to Canaan,
I want to go to Canaan,
I want to go to Canaan,
To meet 'em at de comin' day."[78]
"I'm goin' home fer to see my Lord,
Bear yo' burden, sinner,
An' don't you wish you could go 'long
Bear yo' burden, let in the heat."[79]
"Oh, my mudder's in de road,
Most done trabelling;
My mudder's in de road,
Most done trabelling,
My mudder's in de road,
Most done trabelling,
I'm bound to carry my soul to de Lord."[80]
"Run, Mary, run,
Run, Mary, run,
Oh, run, Mary, run,
I know de oder worl' 'm not like dis.
Fire in de east an' fire in de west,
I know de oder worl' 'm not like dis,
Bound to burn de wilderness,
I know de oder worl' 'm not like dis.
Jordan's ribber is a ribber to cross,
I know de oder worl' 'm not like dis,
Stretch your rod an' come across,
I know de oder worl' 'm not like dis."[81]
"We will march through the valley in peace,
We will march through the valley in peace;
If Jesus himself be our leader,
We will march through the valley in peace."[82]
"My sister's goin' to heaven fer to see my Lord,
To see my Lord, to see my Lord;
Well, my sister's goin' to heaven, to see my Lord,
What's de onbelievin' soul?"[83]
"Bend-in' knees a-ach-in'
Body racked wid pain,
I wish I was a child of God,
I'd git home bim-by.
Keep prayin; I do believe
We're a long time waggin o' de crossin,
Keep prayin; I do believe
We'll git home to heaven bim-by.
O yonder's my old mudder,
Been a-waggin' at the hill so long;
It's about time she cross over,
Git home bim-by.
O hear dat lumerin' thunder
A-roll from do' to do',
A-callin' de people home to God;
Dey'll git home bim-by."[84]
"When the roll is called up yonder,
I'll be there.
By the grace of God up yonder,
I'll be there.
Yes my home is way up yonder,
An' I'll be there.
I got a mother way up yonder,
I'll be there.
I got a sister way up yonder,
I'll be there."[85]
Although this world was a hell to the slave, still he could wait here
with patience until the time of death, after which he would see the
real home of his inner longing. To the slave heaven was a beautiful,
comfortable place beyond the sky. It had golden streets and a sea
of glass, upon which angels danced and sang in praise to Him upon
the golden throne. There was no sun to burn one in that bright land
of never-ending Sabbath. There kindred and friends reunited in the
happiest relationships. The slave was poor, hampered, and sorrowful
in this world; but in that world above, whose glory falling stars and
melting elements would signify in the day of judgment, he would be
rich and free to sing, shout, walk, and fly about carrying the news.
There he would know no tears or the sorrow of parting, but only rest
from toil and care, in the delightful companionship of the heavenly
groups.
"Dere's no rain to wet you,
O, yes, I want to go home.
Dere's no sun to burn you,
O, yes, I want to go home.
O, push along believers,
O, yes, I want to go home.
Dere's no hard trials,
O, yes, I want to go home.
Dere's no whips a crackin'
O, yes, I want to go home."[86]
"Oh de hebben is shinin', shinin',
O Lord, de hebben is shinin' full ob love.
Oh, Fare-you-well, friends,
I'm gwine to tell you all,
Gwine to leave you all a-mine eyes to close;
De hebben is shinin' full ob love."[87]
"How sweet a Sabbath thus to spend,
In hope of one that ne'er shall end."[88]
"Yes my mother's goin' to heaven to outshin the sun,
An it's way beyon' the moon."[89]
"Po' man goin' to heaven,
Rich man goin' to hell,
For Po' man got his starry crown,
Rich man got his wealth."[90]
"Well there are sinners here and sinners there,
An' there are sinners everywhere,
But I thank God that God declare,
That there ain't no sinners in heaven."[91]
"O join on, join my Lord,
Join de heaven wid the angels;
O join on, join my Lord,
Join de heaven wid de angels."[92]
"I'm gwin to keep a climbin' high
Till I meet dem angels in de sky.
Dem pooty angels I shall see--
Why doan de debbil let a me be?
O when I git to heaven goin sit an' tell,
Three archangels gwin er ring dem bells
Two white angels come a walkin' down,
Long white robes an' starry crown.
What's dat yonder, dat I see?
Big tall angels comin' after me."[93]
The following spirituals emphasize what the slave felt that he would
do in heaven.
"Heaven, heaven,
Everybody talkin' bout heaven an' goin' there
Heaven, heaven,
Goin' to shine all 'round God's heaven."[94]
"Oh, I wish I was there,
To hear my Jesus' orders,
Oh, how I wish I was there, Lord,
To wear my starry crown."[95]
"A golden band all 'round my waist,
An' de palms of victory in-a my hand,
An' de golden slippers on to my feet,
Gwine to walk up and down o' dem golden street.
Oh, wait till I put on my robe.
An' a golden crown-a placed on-a my head,
An' my long white robe a-com a dazzlin' down,
Now wait till I get on my gospel shoes,
Gwine to walk about de heaven an' a-carry de news,
Oh, wait till I put on my robe."[96]
"You can hinder me here but you can't hinder me dere
For de Lord in Heaven gwin' hear my prayer.
De evening's great but my Cap'n is strong,
U'm fightin' fer de city an' de time ain't long."[97]
"Well, my mother's goin' to heaven,
She's goin' to outshine the sun, O Lord,
Well, my mother's goin' to heaven,
She's going to outshine the sun, O Lord,
Yes, my mother's goin' to heaven to outshine the sun,
An' its way beyon' the moon.
The crown that my Jesus give me,
Goin' outshine the sun,
You got a home in the promise lan',
Goin' outshine the sun,
Goin' to put on my crown in glory,
An' outshine the sun, O Lord.
'Way beyon' de moon."[98]
"Gwine hab happy meetin',
Gwine shout in hebben,
Gwine shout an' nebber tire,
O slap yo' han's chilluns,
I feels de spirit movin',
O now I'm gittin' happy."[99]
"Gwine to march a-way in de gold band,
In de army bye-and-bye;
Gwine to march a-way in de gold band,
In de army by-and-bye.
Sinner, what you gwine to do dat day?
Sinner, what you gwine to do dat day?
When de fire's a-rolling behind you,
In de army bye-and-bye.
Sister Mary gwine to hand down the robe,
In the army bye-and-bye;
Gwine to hand down the robe and the gold band,
In the army, bye-and-bye."[100]
"You got a robe, I got a robe,
All God's children got a robe,
Goin' try on my robe an' if it fits me,
Goin' to wear it all round God's heaven."[101]
"We'll walk up an' down dem golden streets,
We'll walk about Zion.
Gwine sit in de kingdom,
I really do believe, where sabbath have no end.
Look way in de heaven--hope I'll jine de band,--
Sittin' in de kingdom.
I done been to heaven an' I done been tried.
Dere's a long white robe in de heaven for me,
Dere's a golden crown, golden harp, starry crown, silver slippers,
In de heaven for me I know."[102]
"I want to go to heaven when I die,
To shout salvation as I fly.
You say yer aiming fer de skies,
Why don't yer quit yer tellin' lies.
I hope I git dere bye-an' bye,
To jine de number in de sky.
When I git to heaven gwine to ease, ease,
Me an' my God goin' do as we please,
Sittin' down side o' de holy Lamb.
When I git to heaven goin' set right down,
Gwiner ask my Lord fer starry crown.
Now wait till I gits my gospel shoes,
Gwin-er walk 'bout heaven an' carry de news."[103]
A boy of ten, being sold from his mother, said,
"I'm gwine to sit down at the welcome table,
Den my little soul's gwine to shine.
I'm gwine to feast off milk and honey,
Den my little soul's gwine to shine.
I'm gwine to tell God how-a you sarved me,
Den my little soul's gwine to shine."[104]
The place that heaven must have had in the attitude of the slave we
shall now consider, by an examination of the slave's mental world.
To do so we must feel the hand of slavery holding him in subjection
to the will of the master. The inner voices that called the black
slave at his task, clothed in simple garb, and living on homely fare,
we also must hear speaking to us, and invoking the same response.
Then we shall be able to appreciate the religious significance of the
situations.
The bell upon the white pole in the great-house yard summons the
slaves to their daily tasks in the fields. Quickly, the slave-mother,
rising from the cabin-floor, and taking her babe upon her back, sets
out to join the crowd. With brawny arms around his mother's neck, the
young child glares at the red rising of the sun, until he is left at
the end of the row. Then as mother's hoe cuts grass from the tender
corn, he hears her foot-steps blend with those of the plowman, her
voice of love mingle with the mumble of slaves, and the songs of
birds, that play in the warm sunlight of the morning. With longing
eyes the child watches her who, last night, when her work was done,
fed him from her breast, as she sat upon the cabin-floor, murmuring
of a better world, where child and mother would know no weary sun.
Sitting upon the green grass that fringes the end of the long rows, he
watches her toiling, disappearing into the distance.
Taken from his mother at the age of seven, the child is transferred
to the great-house yard, where the harsh voices of slave-children,
conscious of their lot, fill the air. Yesterday he sat in the
cabin-door, upon grandmother's knee, listening to the grinding of the
big mill down by the pond, and watching the squirrels drop acorns from
the old oak tree. Last night he opened the door for father, who, worn
from being away so long, brought few potatoes and corn. Then there was
a great time. Father, in overalls, grandmother with a "slat-bonnet"
upon her gray head, mother with a "grass-sack" around her waist,
all knelt upon their knees in prayer to God above, father leading
mournfully. "Get up in heaven by-and-by," he said, until all were
filled with joy. How different things are today. The old mill by the
pond is now seen lifting its white, bird-like wings into heaven, where
mother, father and grandmother may be. They may be up there in the
sunlight, singing and shouting with the angels.
The dawn of another day comes in the life of the slave. Now all must
help kill the "fatted hogs." The knives have been sharpened, the
scaffolds built, the ashes brought up from the ash-heap. The slaves
are gathered around the fire, warming themselves and waiting for
the water in the big black pots to boil. They hear the shrill voice
of the cock and the noise of the mules heralding the coming of day,
when the presence of old master will stop their friendly discussions.
While fading stars twinkle in the pines that cast ghost-like shadows
upon the white-washed cabins, the slaves talk of their religious
experiences, how they "overcame the devil in the wilderness" through
the help of Christ. The stars were shining thus a year ago, when Aunt
Lucinda died. She had been a good woman, never receiving a flogging.
She used to make cakes for the neighbors and tell them when to plant
their crops. When she died a bright star, like an angel, lit upon the
cabin-roof, to take her soul away. This morning she is in heaven,
wearing golden slippers, long, white robe, and starry crown, about
which she used to sing in the camp-meetings.
The big hogs killed and put into the "smoke-house" and the coming
of night ending the slave's work, he is now allowed to attend the
camp-meeting, in the log-house, down by the side of the river, that
lies behind the big woods. In the leaves of the old red oak, that
stands upon the shore and that is said to be the place of ghosts,
he hears the noise of the wood owl, calling to him, as he takes his
boat and glides silently away amid the solemn shadows that lie upon
the deep, moon-lit waters. Unconsciously he sings the words of his
comrades as they marched last night to the grave-yard:
"I know moon-rise;
I know star-rise;
Lay dis body down
I march to the grave-yard,
I march through the grave-yard
Lay dis body down
I lay in de grave-yard and stretch out my arms,
Lay, dis body down."
At the meeting-house, not only does he sing and shout, but each slave
for some sinner-friend or relative who has been sold away, sincerely
asks the prayers of the other. There parent prays for child and child
for parent. "Sister Martha," dressed in gingham, is there, that
gray-haired woman, who goes each day to the river, hoping that some
message may come floating from her "Tom." She is there to weep and to
rejoice and to talk with "Brother Robert" about the cross of Christ.
The slaves, singing and shouting, tearfully kiss each other's cheek,
shake hands, and part. They were there to worship and not to play.
Inevitable then is the conclusion that the religion of the American
slaves was decidedly different from the prevailing religion found
among the peoples of Africa. We saw that fetishism was the prevailing
religion found in Africa; that the few American slaves who maintained
any of their African religious heritage were considered grossly
superstitious by the American slaves generally; that the slave-groups
brought to America from Africa were so broken up and scattered that
the old group-habits did not continue to exist. We found on the
other hand that the slaves of America, who were in contact with
Christianity, became very enthusiastic over the Christian religion;
that they developed a sorrow for this world and a joyous longing for
heaven, as they showed by their shouts and songs. This emphasis upon a
place of rest in heaven, we conclude, helped the American slave adjust
himself to his particular environment. As it helped him to live, so it
helped him also to die.
G. R. WILSON.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] This dissertation was submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate
School of Arts and Literature of the University of Chicago in
candidacy for the degree of Bachelor of Divinity, March, 1921, by Gold
Refined Wilson.
[2] Working toward this end, I have examined a vast amount of
material on slavery, much of which is controversial, having been
written by men who favored slaves, or by abolitionists and slaves
who were able to see only one side of the question discussed. Such
literature, being biased, so distorts the truth that it is extremely
difficult to discover what is social fact. As sources, however, I have
used books and magazine-articles, written from a more scientific point
of view. There are a few representative ones. Kingsley's _West African
Studies_, which, although expressing the attitude of the author, gives
us a comprehensive picture of what the life in Africa is. Washington,
in the _Story of the Negro_, in a simple, sincere manner, sets forth
the struggles of the Negro in his contact with a higher civilization.
Woodson's _Education of the Negro prior to 1861_ shows to what extent
effort was made by the whites to bring the slaves into contact with
the white civilization. _The Religious Development of the Negro in
Virginia_, by Earnest, shows how the church of the Negro slave,
beginning in the church of the whites, grew to be an independent
organization. Fragmentary evidence in the histories of the religious
denominations shows the same progressive development. A few of the
stories of fugitive slaves, though written for other purposes, still
speak very clearly of how dependent the slave was upon his cultural
surroundings for his religious ideas. The stories of the lives of
Nat Turner, the Virginia slave insurrectionist, and of _Harriet, the
Moses of Her People_, are filled with apocalyptic imagery. Concerning
the phenomena of cultural contacts, the most scholarly piece of work
yet produced is that by Prof. Park, which shows the tendency of
one civilization to accommodate itself to another, by assimilation
of concepts, expressed in language and custom. For a study of the
religion of the slave, however, the best of all the sources is that
spontaneous, naive body of literature consisting of the slave-songs,
sometimes called "spirituals," which were sung by individuals upon
various occasions, and by shouting groups of religious enthusiasts.
Krehbiel, who set many of these primitive verses to printed scales,
made of them a psychological interpretation that has given the
slave-mood. Colonel T. W. Higginson, the commander of a "black
regiment" in South Carolina, during the Civil War, an eyewitness of
many of the slave religious meetings, gives the circumstances under
which a number of the "spirituals" arose. But Odum, in Volume III of
the _Journal of Religious Psychology and Education_, makes of all
the classes of slave-songs a psychological interpretation that is
unsurpassed. The value of these collections is the common longing
found therein, a burning enthusiasm to live in heaven.
[3] In the preparation of this dissertation the following works
were used: R. H. Nassau, _Fetichism in West Africa_, 1904; Mary H.
Kingsley, _West African Studies_ (London, 1901); J. B. Earnest, _The
Religious Development of the Negro in Virginia_ (Charlottesville,
Va., 1914); H. M. Henry, _Slavery in South Carolina_ (Emory, Va.,
1914); Ivan E. McDougle, _Slavery in Kentucky, 1792-1865_ (Reprinted
from THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY, vol. III, No. 3, July, 1918); H.
A. Trexler, _Slavery in Missouri, 1804-1865, Being a Dissertation in
Johns Hopkins University Studies_ (Baltimore, 1914); J. C. Ballagh,
_Slavery in Virginia, Johns Hopkins University Studies, vol. XXIX,
1902_ (Baltimore); J. H. Russell, _Free Negro in Virginia, 1619-1865,
Johns Hopkins University Studies, Series 31, No. 3_ (Baltimore, Johns
Hopkins University Press, 1913); J. R. Brackett, _Negro in Maryland_
(Baltimore, 1889); G. H. Moore, _Slavery in Massachusetts_ (New York,
1866); R. Q. Mallard, _Plantation Life before Emancipation_ (Richmond,
Virginia, 1892); Frances Anne Kemble, _Journal of a Residence on a
Georgian Plantation in 1838-9_ (New York, 1863); C. G. Woodson, _The
Education of the Negro Prior to 1861_ (New York, 1915); _The Journal
of Negro History_, edited by C. G. Woodson, vols. I-IV, 1916-1919 (The
Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, Inc., Washington,
D. C.); Alcee Fortier, _History of Louisiana_, 4 vols. (New York,
1904); Code Noir, I (Published 1724); M. W. Jernegan, _Slavery and
Conversion in the American Colonies_ (Reprinted from _The American
Historical Review_, vol. XXI, No. 3, April, 1916); G. M. West, _Status
of the Negro in Virginia during the Colonial Period_ (New York); L.
A. Chamerorzow, _Slave Life in Georgia; Narrative of John Brown_
(London, 1865); B. T. Washington, _Story of the Negro_, 2 vols. (New
York, 1909); _Baptist Annual Register_; A. N. Waterman, _A Century of
Caste_ (Chicago, 1901); Geo. Thompson, _Prison Life and Reflections_,
3d Edition (Hartford, 1849); Jacobs, _Incidents in the Life of a
Slave Girl_ (Boston, 1861); Sarah H. Bradford, _Harriet, The Moses of
Her People_ (New York, 1861); Thos. W. Higginson, _Life of a Black
Regiment_ (Boston, 1870); Jas. B. Avirett, _The Old Plantation, Great
House and Cabin before the War, 1817-65_ (New York, Chicago, London,
1901); Jno. S. Abbott, _South and North_ (New York, 1860). Lucius
P. Little, _Ben Harding, His Times and Contemporaries_ (Louisville,
1867); _De Bow's Commercial Review_ (New Orleans, 1847); _Life of
Josiah Henson_ (Boston, 1849); _Baptist Home Missions in America_
(New York, 1883); _Presbyterian Magazine_, I (Philadelphia, 1851);
_Methodist Magazine_, X (New York, 1827); W. L. Grissom, _History of
Methodism in North Carolina, 1772-1805_, vol. I; _Sermons by John
Wesley_, 3d Edition, vols. I-II (New York); B. F. Riley, _History
of Baptists in Southern States East of Mississippi_ (Philadelphia,
1888); _John Rankin, 1793-1886, Letters on Slavery_ (Boston, 1833);
W. G. Hawkins, _Lunsford Lane_ (Boston, 1863); Frederick Douglass,
_My Bondage and Freedom_ (New York, 1857); K. E. R. Pickard, _The
Kidnapped and the Ransomed, Recollections of Peter Still and His
Wife Vina_, 3d Ed. (Syracuse, 1865); _Fifty Years in Chains, Life
of an American Slave_ (New York); H. E. Krehbiel, _Afro-American
Folk-Songs_, R. E. Park, _Education, Conflicts, and Fusions, American
Sociological Society_, vol. XIII (Sept. 3, 1918); _Journal of American
Folk-Lore_, vol. XIV (1901), pp. 1-11, vol. XXVII (1914), pp. 241-5,
vol. XXIII, p. 435, vol. XXIV, p. 255; _Songs by Thos. P. Fennes_;
W. F. Allen, _Slave Songs of the United States_ (New York, 1867);
_Twenty-two Years Work of Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute_
(Hampton, 1893); T. P. Fenner, _Hampton and its Students by Two of
its Teachers, with 50 Cabin and Plantation Songs_ (New York, 1875);
_American Journal of Religious Psychology and Education_, vol. III,
pp. 265-365; _Negro Year-Book_; E. W. Pearson, _Letters from Port
Royal_ (1916); C. H. Jones, _Instruction of Negro Slave_ (1842).
[4] Tylor's _Anthropology_.
[5] Earnest, p. 28.
[6] _Fifty Years in Chains_, p. 14.
[7] Jernegan, pp. 506-7.
[8] _Education, Conflicts, and Fusion_, p. 47.
[9] Washington, _Story of the Negro_, pp. 260-261.
[10] Earnest, p. 19.
[11] Woodson, _Education of Negro Prior to 1861_, p. 23.
[12] Earnest, p. 60.
[13] Woodson, _Education of Negro Prior to 1861_, p. 21.
[14] Woodson, _Education of Negro Prior to 1861_, p. 26.
[15] _Ibid._, p. 29.
[16] Earnest, _Religious Development_, p. 17.
[17] _Ibid._, p. 45.
[18] _Ibid._, p. 66.
[19] Ballagh, p. 114.
[20] In 1841, there were 500,000 slaves who were church members, or
1/5 of total number of slaves. 2,000,000 were regular attendants. J.
C. Ballagh, p. 114.
[21] _Story of the Negro_, p. 257.
[22] _Story of the Negro_, p. 268; Quoted from Ballagh.
[23] Washington, _Story of Negro_, p. 266.
[24] Quite different from the early experiences of Bryan and Samson,
who made adversity serve them, the beginning of Jasper's Christian
career was greatly aided by his master, a man with a similar
conversion and a similar faith in Christ. Using the Bible as the norma
of all truth, in his attack upon current scientific knowledge, Jasper
impressed all men by his sincere conviction and devout Christian
life. A contemporary said of him: "Jasper made an impression upon his
generation, because he was sincerely and deeply in earnest in all
that he said. No man could talk with him in private, or listen to him
from the pulpit, without being thoroughly convinced of that fact....
He took the Bible in its literal significance; he accepted it as the
inspired Word of God; he trusted it with all his heart and soul and
mind; he believed nothing that was in conflict with the teachings of
the Bible."--See Washington's _Story of the Negro_, p. 264.
[25] Washington, _Story of the Negro_, pp. 260-1.
[26] _Ibid._, pp. 254-5.
[27] _Ibid._, pp. 255-6.
[28] Earnest, p. 72.
[29] _Ben Harding, His Times and Contemporaries_, p. 544.
[30] Earnest, p. 73.
[31] Jacobs, _Life of a Slave-Girl_, p. 112.
[32] Coffin, p. 60.
[33] Higginson, p. 26.
[34] Henson, _Life of Josiah Henson_, p. 12.
[35] Earnest, p. 42.
[36] _Plantation Life before Emancipation_, p. 164.
[37] _Life of John Thompson_, p. 19. See _Methodists in N. C._, p.
238.
[38] Earnest, _Religious Development_, p. 54.
[39] _Life of Douglass_, p. 82.
[40] _Presbyterian Magazine_: 1831, p. 27; See vol. 6, pp. 8-9;
Woodson, _Education of Negro Prior to 1861_, p. 49; _Sermons of Wesley
and Whitefield_.
[41] _Journal of Negro History_, vol. I, p. 70.
[42] _Twenty-two Years Work at Hampton._
[43] _Journal of Religious Psychology and Education_, vol. 3, pp.
290-1.
[44] Higginson, _Life of a Black Regiment_, p. 133.
[45] _Twenty-two Years at Hampton._
[46] _Hampton and its Students_, p. 182.
[47] Henry, p. 141.
[48] _Life of Black Regiment_, by Higginson, pp. 51-2.
[49] _Ibid._, pp. 35, 198.
[50] My position is that the shout was a natural and spontaneous
creation of group-phenomena. It differed from the whites' behavior in
ceremonial emphasis. Neither the shout nor the antiphonal song was
brought from Africa. The real religious significance of both, however,
is not in external behavior, but in content.
[51] _Am. J. Rel. Psy. and Ed._, 3: 287.
[52] _Story of the Negro_, p. 260.
[53] Fenner, _Hampton and its Students_, p. 223.
[54] _Am. J. Rel. Psy. and Ed._, 3: 303.
[55] _Ibid._, 340.
[56] _Ibid._, 3: 321.
[57] Fenner, _Hampton and its Students_, p. 190.
[58] Higginson, _Black Regiment of South Carolina_, 200-1.
[59] _Am. J. Rel. Psy. and Ed._, 3: 351.
[60] Krehbiel, p. 75.
[61] _Am. J. Relig. Psy. and Ed._, 3: 304.
[62] _Ibid._, 320.
[63] Allen, 30-1.
[64] Allen, _Slave Songs_, 113, p. 94.
[65] _Ibid._, 112, p. 93.
[66] _Am. J. Relig. Psy. and Ed._, 3: 304.
[67] Allen, _Slave Songs_, 124, p. 101.
[68] _Am. J. Relig. Psy. and Ed._, 3: 288.
[69] Jacobs, p. 109.
[70] _Am. J. Relig. Psy. and Ed._, 3: 309.
[71] Allen, _Slave Songs_, 120, p. 98.
[72] _Ibid._, 107, p. 86.
[73] _Am. J. Relig. Psy. and Ed._, 3: 365.
[74] Allen, _Slave Songs_, 80, p. 60.
[75] Allen, _Slave Songs_, 108, p. 87.
[76] _Plantation Life Before Emancipation_, p. 168.
[77] _Am. J. Relig. Psy. and Ed._, 3: 331.
[78] Atlantic Monthly, 19: 687.
[79] _Am. J. Relig. Psy. and Ed._, 3: 317.
[80] Fenner, _Hampton and its Students_, p. 215.
[81] Fenner, _Hampton and Its Students_, p. 188.
[82] Allen, _Slave Songs_, p. 73.
[83] _Am. J. Relig. Psy. and Ed._, 3: 334.
[84] Krehbiel, p. 99.
[85] _Am. J. Relig. Psy. and Ed._, 3: 362.
[86] Atlantic Monthly, XIX, 687.
[87] Fenner, _Hampton and Its Students_, p. 219.
[88] _Am. J. Rel. Psy. and Ed._, 3: 279.
[89] _Ibid._, 337.
[90] _Am. J. Rel. Psy. and Ed._, 336.
[91] _Ibid._, 328.
[92] _Ibid._, 332.
[93] _Ibid._, 298.
[94] _Ibid._, 328.
[95] _Life before Emancipation_, p. 163.
[96] _Hampton and its Students_, p. 187.
[97] _Am. J. Relig. Psy. and Ed._, 3: 323.
[98] _Ibid._, 337.
[99] _Ibid._, 299.
[100] Allen, _Slave Songs_, Song 103, p. 83.
[101] _Am. J. Relig. Psy. and Ed._, 3: 328.
[102] _Ibid._, 294.
[103] _Ibid._, 293.
[104] _Hampton and its Students_, p. 173.
PRUDENCE CRANDALL
Prior to the Civil War, education for the American of color, was
for the most part surreptitiously obtained. There were, however,
a few fearless men and women of the white race, who, endowed with
a magnanimous spirit and indomitable will, rose above the sordid
plane of self-advancement and comfort, brooked the tide of social
ostracism and censure to a realm of true altruism in behalf of the
circumstantially weak and defenseless race.
Many of these noted benefactors belonged to that sect known in
American history as Friends. True to their noble heritage, they faced
the facts of social crises with intrepidity and strong convictions.
They acted with unerring judgment and penetrating vision upon those
principles sacred to the life and happiness of all mankind. In the
vanguard of this honorable group, of martyrs to the cause of justice,
stands an American school teacher, born of Quaker parentage, at
Hopkinton, Rhode Island, September 3, 1803--Prudence Crandall. The
noble purpose and sympathetic nature of this great teacher are clearly
demonstrated in this extract from a letter addressed to William Lloyd
Garrison, January 18th, 1833:[1]
"Now I will tell you why I write you, and the object is this:
I wish to know your opinion respecting changing white scholars
for colored ones. I have been for some months past determined
if possible during the remaining part of my life to benefit the
people of color. I do not dare tell any one of my neighbors
anything about the contemplated change in my school and I beg of
you, sir, that you will not expose it to any one; for if it was
known, I have no reason to expect but it would ruin my present
school. Will you be so kind as to write by the next mail and give
me your opinion on the subject.
"Yours, with greatest respect,
"PRUDENCE CRANDALL."[2]
This letter shows clearly that Prudence Crandall foresaw that any
undertaking of an educational nature in behalf of Negroes would meet
with opposition, require personal sacrifices, and demand unfaltering
courage and patience.
That she was willing to undergo these tests was proved when a young
Negro girl applied for admission to the school which she was then
conducting for white girls only. This ambitious pupil of color was
Sarah Harris, seventeen years old, the daughter of a respectable man
who owned a small farm near the village of Canterbury. Sarah had
attended the same district school in which the majority of Prudence
Crandall's students had received their elementary training and had
proved herself a bright scholar and a pious young lady. So deeply
impressed was the teacher with this girl's plea and her earnest
desire to get a broader education to teach other girls of color, that
Prudence Crandall admitted Sarah to her school.
The students themselves offered no opposition nor manifested any
objection to her presence. Parents, however, began to complain and
informed Prudence Crandall that her school would not be supported if
she kept the Negro girl as a student. To this threat Prudence Crandall
replied: "It might sink then for I should not turn her out." Soon the
white girls began to leave the school, but the philanthropic teacher
was determined to adhere to the principles of democratic education.
She finally gave up the teaching of white girls entirely and brought
a number of Negro children into her school, then situated in the
most aristocratic part of the town of Canterbury. "If the Canterbury
people," said Ellen D. Larned, "had quietly accepted the situation and
left them in peace the difficulty would soon have ended. Even if the
children had remained they would have given them little annoyance.
Twenty Indian lads were received into Plainfield Academy a few years
later, and few outside of the village even heard of them."[3]
This step, however, aroused the most intense feeling of the town
people and met with strong and immediate opposition. A committee
of four of the chief men of the village, Adams, Frost, Fenner and
Harris, visited Prudence Crandall and attempted to show her that such
an undertaking was decidedly objectionable and seriously detrimental
to the welfare of the whites of the community. One Esquire Frost
intimated that Prudence Crandall's project fostered social equality
and intermarriage of whites and blacks. To this insidious insinuation,
she bluntly replied: "Moses had a black wife." To emphasize their
decided opposition to this project, the people called a public meeting
and drew up and adopted resolutions of a hostile nature. One of the
leading politicians of that day, Andrew T. Judson, was so incensed at
Miss Crandall's action that he denounced her in the most severe and
scathing terms.
The Rev. Mr. May and Mr. Buffum, who were present on behalf of Miss
Crandall, made several attempts to speak in her defense but were
rudely and abruptly prohibited. Denied the privilege of espousing
her cause in this meeting, Mr. May, upon adjournment, rose from his
seat and addressed the people as they were leaving the hall: "Men of
Canterbury, I have a word for you! Hear me!" A few turned to listen,
and he pleaded with force and feeling the cause of the noble little
teacher of Canterbury. He told them that Prudence Crandall was willing
to move her school from its present situation, which was next door to
the residence of Mr. Judson, her bitterest enemy, to some more retired
part of the city.
May's arguments, however, were of no avail and only drew forth tirades
of invective and abuse; for Mr. Judson responded: "Mr. May, we are not
merely opposed to the establishment of that school in Canterbury; we
mean there shall not be such a school set up anywhere in our state.
The colored people can never rise from their menial condition in our
country; they ought not to be permitted to rise here. They are an
inferior race of beings, and never can or ought to be recognized as
the equals of the whites. Africa is the place for them. I am in favor
of the colonization scheme. Let the niggers and their descendants be
sent back to their fatherland and there improve themselves as much
as they can. I am a colonizationist. You and your friend Garrison
have undertaken what you cannot accomplish. The condition of the
colored population of our country can never be essentially improved
on this continent. You are fanatical about them. You are violating
the constitution of our Republic, which settled forever the status of
the black men in this land. They belong to Africa. Let them be sent
back there or kept as they are here. The sooner you abolitionists
abandon your project the better for our country, for the niggers and
yourselves."[4]
In answer to this outburst of feeling, typical of ignorance and
prejudice, though it came from the lips of a prospective judge of
the Supreme Court, Mr. May replied: "Mr. Judson, there never will be
fewer colored people in this country than there are now. Of the vast
majority of them, this is their native land as much as it is ours.
It will be unjust, inhuman in us to drive them out, or to make them
willing to go by our cruel treatment of them ... and the only question
is whether we will recognize the rights which God gave them as men
and encourage and assist them to become all he has made them capable
of being, or whether we will continue wickedly to deny them the
privileges we enjoy, condemn them to degradation, enslave and imbrute
them; and so bring upon ourselves the condemnation of the Almighty,
Impartial Father of all men and the terrible visitation of the God of
the oppressed. I trust, sir, you well e're long come to see that we
must accord to these men, their rights or incur justly the loss of
our own. Education is one of the primal fundamental rights of all the
children of men. Connecticut is the last place where this right should
be denied."
These eloquent remarks truly portrayed the difference in the character
of the two men. Encouraged by such noble characters as May and
Garrison, Prudence Crandall was determined not to be deterred in her
purpose by men like Judson. Her lofty ideals of service to humanity
and to the humbler lot especially were evidenced in this extract from
Garrison's letter to Isaac Knapp, April 11, 1833:
"She is a wonderful woman, as undaunted as if she had the whole
world on her side. She has opened her school and is resolved to
persevere. I wish brother Johnson to state this fact particularly
in the next _Liberator_ and urge all those who intend to send
their children thither, to do so without delay."[5]
Despite all vicissitudes, Miss Crandall opened her school for girls
of color early in April, with an enrollment of fifteen or twenty
students. These for the most part came from Philadelphia, New York,
Providence, and Boston.
The townspeople, greatly incensed, resorted to every foul means
possible to destroy the school. At first, they searched for some
obsolete vagrancy law for the purpose of intimidating those who
came from other cities to attend school. One Negro girl, Anna Eliza
Hammond, seventeen years of age, from Providence, was arrested, but
Samuel May and other residents of Brooklyn gave bonds for $10,000
and thus defeated this plan. Frustrated in their first efforts, the
townspeople held an indignation meeting at which they expressed their
sentiment in the following resolutions:
"Whereas, it hath been publicly announced that a school is to be
opened in this town, on the first Monday of April next, using
the language of the advertisement, 'for young ladies and little
misses of color,' or in other words for the people of color, the
obvious tendency of which would be to collect within the town
of Canterbury large numbers of persons from other States whose
characters and habits might be various and unknown to us, thereby
rendering insecure the persons, property, and reputations of our
citizens. Under such circumstances our silence might be construed
into an approbation of the project: Thereupon, Resolved That the
locality of a school for the people of color at any place within
the limits of this town, for the admission of persons of foreign
jurisdiction, meets with our unqualified disapprobation, and it
is to be understood, that the inhabitants of Canterbury protest
against it in the most earnest manner.
"Resolved, That a committee be now appointed to be composed of the
Civil Authority and Selectmen, who shall make known to the persons
contemplating the establishment of said school, the sentiments
and objections entertained by this meeting in reference to said
school--pointing out to her the injurious effects and incalculable
evils resulting from such an establishment within this town, and
persuade her to abandon the project."[6]
The people then influenced the Legislature to enact a disgraceful but
well-named "Black Law,"[7] amid the ringing of church bells and
great rejoicing. This act outlawed Miss Crandall's school. The people
closed all shops and meeting houses to the teacher and her pupils.
Stage drivers refused them transportation in the common carriers of
the town. Physicians would not attend them. Miss Crandall's own family
and friends were forbidden under penalty of heavy fines to visit her.
The well near her house was filled with manure and water was denied
her from other sources. The house itself was smeared with filth,
assailed with rotten eggs, stormed with stones, and finally set afire.
Not only was Prudence Crandall herself assailed with threats of coming
vengeance and ejection, but her father in the south part of the town
was insulted and threatened. "When lawyers, courts and jurors are
leagued against you," said one to him, "it will be easy to raise a
mob and tear down your house." "Mr. Crandall, if you go to your
daughter," they said, "you are to be fined $100 for the first offense,
$200 for the second and double it every time; Mrs. Crandall, if you go
there, you will be fined and your daughter Almira will be fined, and
Mr. May and those gentlemen from Providence (Messrs. George and Henry
Benson), if they come there, will be fined at the same rate. And your
daughter, the one that established the school for colored females,
will be taken up the same way as for stealing a horse or for burglary.
Her property will not be taken but she will be put in jail, not having
the liberty of the yard. There is no mercy to be shown about it!"[8]
Miss Crandall was arrested and cast into prison, where she spent the
night in a cell previously occupied by a murderer. She was twice
tried. The first trial was held before the county court on August 22,
1833. The attorneys for the prosecution were Jonathan A. Welch, Andrew
T. Judson and Ichabod Bulkley, while those for the defense were Calvin
Goddard, W. W. Ellsworth and Henry Strong. The latter were secured by
Samuel May and paid by Arthur Tappan.
The counsel for the defense argued that the "Black Law" conflicted
with that article of the Federal Constitution which granted to
citizens of each State all the privileges and immunities of citizens
of the several States. The counsel for the prosecution argued that
people of color were not and could not ever be citizens of any
State. The judge, Mr. Eaton, gave the decision that the law was
constitutional and binding upon the people of that State. The jurors,
however, could not agree and so the case went over to the October
term. It was then tried before the Superior Court of Windham County
and its constitutionality again pronounced by Judge Daggett, who
expressed himself as follows: "It would be a perversion of terms and
the well-known rule of construction to say that slaves, free blacks,
or Indians were citizens within the meaning of that term as used
in the constitution." The jurors thus influenced gave their verdict
against the defendant. Prudence Crandall's counsel then appealed to
the Court of Errors, where the decision was reversed, July 22, 1834,
upon the ground of "insufficiency of the information," which omitted
to allege that the school was opened without necessary license.[9]
While the decision of the Court of Errors was pending, Prudence
Crandall and her pupils were the victims of other fiendish acts of the
townspeople. Having failed in their attempt to burn down her school,
a number of them, with heavy clubs and iron bars, crept stealthily
upon her house at midnight on the 9th of September, and simultaneously
smashed in the windows with such force and suddenness that all the
occupants were terror stricken. Even Prudence Crandall, for the first
time, trembled with fear. Realizing that she and her pupils would
ever be the object of insult and injury, she decided, upon the advice
of Mr. May and other friends, to give up the school and send her
girls back to their homes. Samuel May said that when he stood before
Prudence Crandall and her pupils and advised them to leave, the words
blistered his lips and his bosom glowed with indignation. "I felt
ashamed of Connecticut," said he, "ashamed of my state, ashamed of my
country, ashamed of my color."
The burden of these terrible ordeals was somewhat alleviated by the
fidelity of her friends, the love and faith of her pupils and the
devotion of her sister, father and husband. Having recently married
the Rev. Calvin Philleo, a Baptist clergyman of Ithaca, New York,
Prudence Crandall upon solicitation left Windham County never to
return again. Tis true she had but little opportunity to teach the
young women of color, nevertheless through sacrifice and service
she taught the people of Connecticut a lesson of philanthropy and
sacrifice.
G. SMITH WORMLEY.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Garrison's _Garrison_, I, Chap. X, p. 315; B. C. Steiner's
_History of Slavery in Connecticut_ (_Johns Hopkins University
Studies_, XI, 415-422).
[2] May's _Antislavery Conflict_.
[3] _Johns Hopkins University, Studies in Historical and Political
Science_, XI, p. 417. Larned's _Windham County_, p. 493.
[4] May's _Antislavery Conflict_, p. 47.
[5] Garrison's _Garrison_, I, p. 341.
[6] Larned's _Windham County, Connecticut_, II, 490-502.
[7] This law was:
Whereas, attempts have been made to establish literary institutions
in this State, for the instruction of colored persons belonging to
other States and counties, which would tend to the great increase of
the colored population of the state, and thereby to the injury of the
people: Therefore,
Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives,
in General Assembly convened, that no person shall set up or establish
in this State any school, academy or literary institution for the
instruction or education of colored persons who are not inhabitants
of this State; nor instruct or teach in any school, or other literary
institution whatsoever, in this State; nor harbor or board, for the
purpose of attending or being taught or instructed in any such school,
academy, or literary institution, any colored person who is not an
inhabitant of any town in this State, without the consent in writing
first obtained, of a majority of the civil authority, and also of the
Selectmen of the town, in which such school, academy, or literary
institution is situated, etc. See _Superior Court, October Term,
1833_, and _Report of Arguments of Counsel in the Case of Prudence
Crandall_; also _The Laws of Connecticut_, 1833.
[8] Garrison's _Garrison_, I. ch. X, and Larned's _Windham County,
Connecticut_, II, 490-502.
[9] The report of this case was:
This information charges Prudence Crandall with harboring and boarding
certain colored persons, not inhabitants of any town in this State,
for the purpose of attending and being taught and instructed in a
school, set up and established in said town of Canterbury, for the
instruction and education of certain colored persons, not inhabitants
of this State.
She is not charged with setting up a school contrary to law, not with
teaching a school contrary to law; but with harboring and boarding
colored persons, not inhabitants of this State, without license, for
the purpose of being instructed in such school.
It is, however, not here alleged that the school was set up without
license, or that the scholars were instructed by those who had no
license.
If it is an offence within the statute to _harbor_ or _board_
such persons without license, under all circumstances, then this
information is correct. But if the act, in the description of the
defense itself, shows, that under some circumstances, it is no
offence, then this information is defective.
The object in view of the legislature, as disclosed by the preamble,
is to prevent injurious consequences resulting from the increase of
the colored population, by means of literary institutions, attempted
to be established for the instruction of that class of inhabitants of
other States. Such institutions and instructors teaching such schools
are prohibited, unless licensed, as are also persons from harboring or
boarding scholars of that description, without license.
From the first reading of the Act, it might seem as if licenses
must be obtained by each of these classes; by those who set up the
school, those who instruct it and those who board the pupils; but, it
is believed, this cannot have been intended. The object professedly
aimed at is, to prevent the increase of this population, which, it
is supposed, will take place by allowing them free education, and
instruction; to prevent which it provides, 1st, That no person shall
set up or establish any school for that purpose, without license:
2d, That no one shall instruct in any school, etc. without license:
and 3rd, That no one shall board or harbor such persons, so to be
instructed in any such school etc. without license. The object,
evidently is to regulate the schools, not the boarding houses; the
latter only is auxiliary to the former.
This information charges, that this school was set up in Canterbury,
for the purpose of educating these persons of color, not inhabitants
of this State, that they might be instructed and educated; but omits
to state that it was not licensed. This omission is a fatal defect; as
in an information on a penal statute, the prosecutor must set forth
every fact that is necessary to bring the case within the statute; and
every exception within the enacting clause of the act, descriptive
of the offence, must be negated. See _Smith v. Mouse_, 6 Green 1, p.
274; and Judson's Remarks to the Jury, _Superior Court, October Term,
1833_.
DOCUMENTS
EXTRACTS FROM NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES
Magazines and newspapers sometimes unconsciously give valuable facts
not only as to sentiment but as to the actual achievements of persons
and agencies through which they have worked. This is true of the
extracts given below.
Endeavoring to set forth the part which Philadelphia played in African
Colonization before the Civil War, _The Evening Bulletin_ of that city
carried the following, May 9, 1921:
THE LIBERIAN REPUBLIC
PHILADELPHIA'S PART IN FOUNDING THE NEGRO COMMONWEALTH
The visit to Philadelphia of the negro President of the Liberian
Republic, recalls the important part which a small group of local
philanthropists played a century ago in promoting the foundation
of the only free country in Africa under republican rule. The
Liberian enterprise owed its origin, not solely to pity for the
condition of the enslaved blacks of the South but also to the
desire of many northern friends of the negroes to ameliorate the
hardships of the freed blacks of the north. Both Pennsylvania
and New Jersey, in common with several other northern States,
witnessed at close range the evils of slavery. During the
Revolutionary War steps had been taken to liberate the blacks in
Pennsylvania and the famous Act of March 1st, 1780, decreed the
abolition of slavery throughout the colony. In this, as in other
and later efforts to liberate the negroes the Philadelphia Quakers
had an important part and the Pennsylvania Abolition Society,
founded under the presidency of Benjamin Franklin, antedated the
Revolutionary War by two years.
The plan for establishing an African Negro Republic, populated
by emigrants from the United States, is credited to Dr. Robert
Finley, one of the trustees of Princeton, who was well acquainted
with the extent of slavery in New Jersey, where the census of
1810 revealed the presence of more than ten thousand slaves, and
who also had knowledge of the miserable condition of the freed
negroes in Pennsylvania. Late in 1816 he went to Washington,
where his brother-in-law, Elias Boudinot Caldwell was a member
of Congress, and endeavored to obtain national support for his
project. A sympathetic response was not wanting, although Congress
was not yet prepared for immediate action. Accordingly, Finley
turned in another direction, secured the backing of Justice
Bushrod Washington of the Supreme Court, aroused the interest
of Henry Clay and other notables and, toward the end of 1816,
succeeded in forming, at a public meeting in Washington presided
over by Henry Clay, the American Colonization Society which
immediately selected Justice Washington as its president.
As yet Dr. Finley had not hit upon any definite location for
the proposed colony, although years before he began his efforts
in behalf of the negroes. Thomas Jefferson had suggested that
Virginia and other American Commonwealths might profitably
imitate the example set in England by the Sierra Leone Company
in populating that district of Africa. But the English plan of
transporting the indigent negroes from London, started toward the
close of the eighteenth century, was on an altogether different
basis. Blacks and whites were mixed in the English colony, the
emigrants were made up mainly of the idle and the dissolute, and
the humanitarian motive, so strongly marked in the work of the
American Colonization Society, was missing almost entirely.
Oddly enough, the free negroes of the North protested against
the plans of the Colonization Society. In Philadelphia a number
of negroes, meeting in the Bethel Church, adopted an indignant
resolution of protest which Congressman Joseph Hopkinson presented
in the House. But these incidents served also to arouse greater
interest in the society's plan and led to the formation of
several local auxiliaries, one of which was established promptly
in Philadelphia, where the Friends and the Abolitionists were
ready to give active support to any plan for the betterment of
the negroes. Philadelphia money, representing the contributions
of many local philanthropists, aided largely in strengthening
the treasury of the national society, and, as an opportunity was
afforded for the purchase of a number of smuggled slaves, put on
sale by the State of Georgia, in 1817, and George Washington Parke
Custis offered part of his lands for a refuge for the Colonization
Society's purchases, an active effort was made again to arouse
Congressional support, resulting this time in the founding of the
African Republic by the Government of the United States.
While the Society was in the initial stages of development, two
missionary agents, Samuel J. Mills and Ebenezer Burgess, had
visited England and, after receiving a rebuff from Bathurst, the
Secretary of State for the English Colonies, had gone down the
African coast as far as Sherbro Island and selected a site for the
American colony. Interest was aroused to such extent that Congress
assented to the proposal for purchasing the Georgia blacks and
shipping them to Africa and an appropriation of one hundred
thousand dollars was granted for the purpose. A brig was chartered
by the government to carry away the negroes, furnished by the
Colonization Society, and the United States ship Cyane ordered to
accompany the expedition as an armed guard. The vessels departed
from New York in February, 1820, and after a five weeks voyage
landed eighty-six men, women and children on Sherbro Island. The
inclemency of the climate, however, proved disastrous to the
little group, and, after a number had succumbed to malarial fever,
the remainder fled to Sierra Leone. But the Society and its local
auxiliaries kept at work and the next year sent out another party
of negroes from Norfolk, this time seeking Cape Montserado as a
place of settlement.
Success now attended the enterprise. Lieutenant Richard F.
Stockton of the Navy arrived at Montserado in the autumn of 1821
and, in company with Dr. Ayres, the agent of the Colonization
Society, succeeded in purchasing, for a few hundred dollars' worth
of trinkets, the land on which Liberia was founded. Although the
promoters had negotiated a favorable treaty with the natives the
early settlers were attacked by hostile tribes and more than once
they were on the point of abandoning the little town of Monrovia
that had been named in honor of the American President and which
is now the capital of the African Republic and a place of about
six thousand inhabitants. A few years after this Philadelphia took
up the work of colonization on a larger scale. At a meeting, held
in the Franklin Institute in 1829, the Pennsylvania Colonization
Society was formed, with Dr. Thomas C. James as its president and
numbering among its founders many prominent citizens, including
William White, Roberts Vaux, B. W. Richards, J. K. Mitchell,
George W. Blight, James Bayard and Elliott Cresson, the latter
becoming one of the most active assistants of the enterprise, in
which he was joined by Mathew C. Carey, Solomon Allen and Robert
Ralston, the last four contributing liberally to the colonization
cause. For a time, too, a fortnightly journal, known as the
Colonization Herald, was published in this city and local interest
was aroused by reports of the parades of the State Fencibles, the
Liberian imitation of Philadelphia's military organization, which
assembled on fete days on Broad Street, the principal thoroughfare
of Monrovia.
County and local societies to aid the project were formed
throughout Pennsylvania. Philadelphia had a Young Men's Society
fostered by the Methodists, the local Presbyterians endorsed
the enterprise, the Bible societies backed it and the Quakers
lent their friendly support. Ships were chartered and slaves
transported at local expense and under Philadelphia direction a
boat named the "Liberia" was built on the Delaware and employed in
the work, while the manumission of slaves was freely encouraged.
A colony on the St. John's River was assigned particularly to
the care of the Pennsylvanians and African place names, such as
Careysburg and Philadelphia, still commemorate the interest of
Philadelphians. At first the government of Liberia was purely
proprietary under the direction of the society's agents, the
blacks being allowed to select only minor officials and it was
not until 1847, when the colonization movement was losing ground
before the growth of the abolition sentiment in this country, that
the Free and Independent Republic of Liberia came into existence,
after drafting a declaration of independence and adopting a
constitutional form of government. But the dream of repatriating
the negro had failed and now Liberia, extended in area by
Anglo-Liberian and Franco-Liberian agreements of recent years
until it is almost as large as Pennsylvania, numbers less than
fifty thousand of the transplanted stock among a population of a
million and a half.
On September 18, 1921, _The New Orleans States_ displayed on its title
page the following distorted sketch of the late Caesar Confucius
Antoine by W. O. Hart:
_A telegram to The States from Shreveport three days ago
told of the death of C. C. Antoine, colored, who had been
lieutenant-governor of Louisiana and sometimes acted as governor
of the State._
_The death of Antoine, widely known in New Orleans, cuts off
another link with Reconstruction days._
_At the request of The States, W. O. Hart, Louisiana historian,
contributes the story telling how Antoine went from a barber's
chair to power and affluence._
Caesar Confucius Antoine, who was a native of New Orleans, was
in many respects one of the most remarkable of the colored
politicians who thrived in reconstruction days in Louisiana.
He was a native of New Orleans, but appears to have been unknown
until he was elected from the Parish of Caddo, a member of the
Constitutional Convention of 1868.
He was a very small man and light in weight. He was coal-black in
color and always dressed with the utmost neatness and simplicity.
When the Constitution was adopted he was elected to the State
Senate from Caddo Parish and held that office for four years.
In 1872 he was nominated for Lieutenant-Governor on the ticket
headed by W. P. Kellogg, and though that ticket was defeated by
the Democratic ticket which carried the names of John McEnery, of
Ouachita, for Governor, and Davidson B. Penn, of New Orleans, for
Lieutenant-Governor, Kellogg and all those returned as elected by
the Returning Board, were recognized by President Grant and served
out their full terms of four years.
Antoine like many of the other colored Legislators of those days
acquired an almost perfect knowledge of parliamentary law and
presided over the Senate with dignity and impartiality.
He was a man who, in general, had the respect of all parties. He
was renominated on the ticket with S. B. Packard in 1876 and with
Packard remained in the State House, which was the old St. Louis
Hotel, until April, 1877, when President Hayes, having withdrawn
the Federal troops, the semblance of Government which Packard
established, disappeared and the Nicholls Government went into
full possession of all the State Offices.
My recollection is that he held some Federal office after this but
I am not certain what it was.
In a suit which he brought against D. D. Smith and the heirs of
George L. Smith, reported in the 40th Annual (1888), beginning at
page 560, considerable of the record of Antoine is given.
HOW HE MADE MONEY
The suit was brought after the death of George L. Smith, to
recover two hundred shares of the capital stock of the Louisiana
State Lottery Company, which at the time of the suit, had a
very large value. The allegations of Antoine's petition and his
evidence in the case were to the effect that on March 31st, 1873,
he purchased from Charles T. Howard the lottery stock at sixty
cents on the dollar, that is twelve thousand dollars for all, and
that he was induced by George L. Smith, who also owned 225 shares
of the stock, to transfer it to D. D. Smith, a cousin of George L.
Smith, because as Smith said to Antoine: "We are both engaged in
politics, and it would not do to have the stock in our name--more
especially myself, as I was Lieutenant-Governor, and President of
the Senate; that questions in regard to the charter of the Lottery
Company might come up, and that, in case of a tie vote, I would
naturally have to vote on it; and, probably, my vote might be
challenged."
Smith had been Tax Collector and also speculated in salary
warrants for account of himself and Antoine and Antoine's profits
therefrom were three or four thousand dollars.
PARTNER OF PINCHBACK
When Antoine first went into politics he was the proprietor
of a barber shop in the city of Shreveport; a few years
afterwards, he engaged in the cotton factorage business in New
Orleans, in partnership with P. B. S. Pinchback; also once
Lieutenant-Governor. He acquired an interest in a newspaper
establishment; had a grocery store and purchased and operated a
small plantation in Caddo Parish. He also purchased some city lots
in Shreveport and a $1300 residence in this city, this in addition
to the twelve thousand dollars he paid for the Lottery Stock.
The Supreme Court, after stating the above facts, commented
thereon as follows:
"We cannot refrain from expressing some surprise at the auspicious
good fortune that seemed to attend his efforts, whereby his
hitherto slender income and limited means had yielded such a
comfortable little fortune within so few years.
"Money matters appeared to have been so easy with him that he
could loan a friend a thousand dollars, payable on call."
The opinion of the court was rendered by Mr. Justice L. B.
Watkins, and the court concluded that the acquisition of the
stock by Antoine was so tainted with fraud that he was entitled
to receive no redress at the hands of the courts and the judgment
of the lower court which was rendered by Judge Albert Voohries,
presiding in Division "E" of the Civil District Court, was
affirmed.
Antoine was represented in the suit by Rouse and Grant and Thomas
J. Semmes, America's greatest lawyer, while the defendants were
represented by the firm of Leonard, Marks and Brueno. Everyone
connected with the case is now dead except Pinchback who, over
eighty years of age, is now living in Washington.
When under the Wheeler Compromise after the election of
1874, the Democrats secured a majority in the State House of
Representatives, an effort was made to impeach Kellogg, which, if
successful, would have made Antoine Governor, but what benefit
the Democrats could have derived therefrom, it is impossible to
say because even if Antoine had then resigned, as was thought
possible, the President of the Senate, who would become Governor
was or would be a Republican as the Democrats had but nine of the
thirty-six members of that body. However, the impeachment trial
properly speaking, was never held.
As soon as the Senate which had adjourned, heard of the
impeachment resolution, it immediately reconvened and sent for
the Chief Justice, John T. Ludeling, and the Court of Impeachment
was opened without waiting for the presentation of the charges
from the House of Representatives, and Kellogg was "triumphantly"
acquitted.
_The Item_, a New Orleans newspaper, featured the following sketch of
Isaiah T. Montgomery by Stanley Cisby Arthur in its Sunday magazine
section on September 25, 1921:
One of the most interesting figures at the meeting of the
secretaries of the Federal Farm Loan Association, was an aged
negro, "Uncle" Isaiah T. Montgomery, of Mound Bayou City, Bolivar
County, Mississippi. "Uncle" Isaiah is not only one of the
wealthiest farmers in his district, but he founded the town of
Mound Bayou, which is composed exclusively of colored people, who
run the stores, the banks, the postoffice, the schools and the
peace offices, but "Uncle" Isaiah was a former slave and a body
servant of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy.
Black of face, with white hair and a white chin beard "Uncle"
Isaiah looks exactly the part of the regulation stage "Uncle"
of the old regime. He looks every bit of his 74 years but his
mind is exceedingly bright and he recounted the happenings of
over half a century with the utmost clarity of speech and showed
many evidences of his education, which he says he gave himself.
When he took recourse to a piece of paper and a pen to estimate
the ginnage of his community, he set down words and figures with
Spencerian exactness. His handwriting was truly a revelation to
the interviewer.
"I was born on Hurricane plantation, in Warren county,
Mississippi, in 1847, and my father and I were owned by Joseph
E. Davis, brother of Jefferson Davis. The plantation owned by
the late president of the Confederacy adjoined the Hurricane,
and was called Brierfield plantation," said the aged colored
man and former slave who is now a prosperous banker in the town
he founded. "I was about nine years old when I first remember
Jefferson Davis real well. I was working in my master's office
when his brother came back from Congress and I was told to meet
the steamboat Natchez in a row boat and get Mr. Jeff.
"When the Natchez blew her whistle as she came around a bend of
the river I rowed out and Mr. Jeff got in my boat with his grips
and things and I took him to shore and toted all his things into
the 'White Room' where Mr. Jeff staid for a considerable spell.
While there I was his personal attendant, I blacked his shoes,
kept his room in order, held his horse for him and other little
things that a servant like I was was supposed to do. On one of
his trips down the river on the Natchez (Mr. Jeff and Captain
Tom P. Leathers, the historic commander of that boat, were close
friends), he brought his wife and daughter, who was afterwards
Mrs. Hayes, and they all were very kind to me because I was Mr.
Jeff's personal servant all the time they were at the Hurricane.
"When the war between the states came I staid on the Joseph Davis
plantation all during the fighting. In '62 or '63, anyway, after
the battle of Corinth, the Yankees commenced overrunning the South
and Mr. Joe, took all his stock and colored people to Jackson,
and later on to Alabama. He had me return to the plantation with
my mother and act as sort of caretakers and we were there when
Admiral Porter's Mississippi squadron made its way up the river.
It seems sometime before a gunboat, the Indianola, had been sunk
in the river, just off the Hurricane plantation and folks in the
neighborhood had dismantled her.
"When Admiral Porter came up the river he stopped at the
plantation so as to look at the wreck and see if her guns could
be found. But they had been thrown overboard and had gone down in
the quicksand. The Admiral asked me if I wanted to go with him as
cabin boy. I said yes, and ran to get my mammy's consent which
was given. This was in April of '63 and a few months later I was
with the Admiral in the siege of Vicksburg and later the battle
at Grand Gulf. Soon afterwards I got a sickness from drinking
Red River water and when I was sent back to Hurricane I found my
parents had gone to Cincinnati and when I got word of this to
Admiral Porter he secured transportation there for me.
"When the war was over Mr. Joe Davis got in touch with my father
and had him come back to Hurricane plantation and after we got
there he made a proposition that we could buy the two plantations,
Hurricane, that Mr. Joe owned, and Brierfield, of 4,000 acres,
that Mr. Jeff Davis owned. While he could not sell to colored
people under the existing laws, through a court action by which
my father, Benjamin T. Montgomery, and my brother William T. and
myself, agreed to pay $300,000 for the combined properties, they
were turned over to us and we were to pay six per cent a year on
the whole until it was paid off.
"Our first year working the plantation resulted in almost disaster
as we suffered from an overflow and when the first payment came
around we were only able to pay $6,000. When we sent this to Mr.
Joe Davis with our excuses he sent us back a canceled note for
the rest of the $18,000. The Davis brothers, were gentlemen, sir.
Well, we kept the plantation going for thirteen years and in that
time we ranked as third in the production of cotton in Warren
county. While we were growing cotton I became very well acquainted
with Captain John W. Cannon, the commander of the famous steamboat
the Robert E. Lee. He and Captain Tom Leathers, the commander of
the Natchez, were always having some sort of a fight or another
and I saw the famous race between the two when they actually
settled the matter for good and all.
"The death of Mr. Joe Davis and taking over of his properties
by his heirs lost us our holdings and I became interested in
the Yazoo Delta. I heard that the Y. & M. V. was asking colored
people to come in and open up the country and after going over
the situation I decided to select Mound Bayou for the seat of
my future operations. This place was selected because between
Big and Little Mound bayous there was an old Indian mound. This
was in 1887 and it certainly was a wild territory, it had rich
land but it was thickly grown over with oak and ash and gum,
and acres and acres of cane. Well, I plundered around here and
induced other colored folks to settle there. I founded Mound Bayou
Settlement--the railroad folks wanted to name it Montgomery, a few
years ago but I made the original name stick.
"Building up our community was slow work. All the colored folks
bought their places on 10-year contracts and it was hard work
for some of them in the face of a few crop failures, overflows,
boll weevil and other set-backs but we succeeded. Mound Bayou
Settlement is now a town of a little over 1,000 population and
there are about 2,500 in the country nearby. The town is of wholly
colored population and we have three big churches, one costing
$25,000, another costing $15,000 and another $10,000. There are
several other less pretentious places of worship, as well.
"We have two big mercantile establishments. The largest being the
one I founded and known as the Mercantile Co-operative Company
which now has a $20,000 stock. We also have the Mound Bayou State
Bank, with $10,000 capital, a $3,000 surplus, with resources
between $150,000 and $200,000. I am a member of the board of
directors and we make a great many loans to our colored people to
see they get out their crops, and being in the staple cotton belt,
we make most of it on this crop.
"We have just completed a consolidated school house, 95 feet
square, three stories high, with 16 large class rooms. It cost
us $100,000 which was raised by a local bond issue. We have a
seven to eight months' term and employ an agricultural expert,
co-operating under the Smith-Lever national fund and a very fine
domestic science class.
"The town has a mayor and a board of aldermen, all office holders
being colored folks, and the present mayor, B. H. Green, was the
first man born in the settlement. I was mayor for over four years,
being the first to hold the office, resigning it to hold the
office of receiver of public monies at Jackson, Miss.
"We have four gins that can handle over 5,000 bales and our people
now feel that the upward trend of the cotton price will make for
further prosperous times."
Uncle Isaiah Montgomery remembers his services with the Jefferson
family, first as slave and afterwards as a trusted servant, with
the kindliest feelings. He told of the periods in 1880 and 1883
when Jefferson Davis returned to the old Brierfield and Hurricane
plantations, spending several weeks at the old home once or twice
a year. He usually had Mrs. Davis with him and the aged negro said
that Mrs. Davis was a remarkable woman.
"She displayed a wonderful interest in the future of the colored
race," he said. "It was the impression made on me by this lovely
woman that helped confirm my belief in the ultimate outcome of my
work and efforts toward race betterment, education and uplift of
the negro. Mrs. Jefferson Davis had a broader comprehension of the
race's needs than anyone with whom I have ever come in contact
with. With her death the negro lost one of his greatest friends.
"Mr. Jefferson Davis was a wonderful man, too. My thoughts
frequently go back, now that I am approaching the end of my days,
to the time I was his personal servant as a barefoot boy. I truly
believe, when he got his last sickness, had I been near to nurse
and care for him, that he would have lived many more years. I
knew, and so did my wife, what he needed in the way of food and we
could have done for him as no one else could.
"It was the influence of Jefferson Davis and his sweet life that
has guided all my efforts in bettering the life of my colored
brothers and if I have succeeded it was because of them."
_The American Magazine_ in July, 1914, gave the following account, an
achievement of "Comebacks" of recent date:
BEATEN ONCE, PERRY TRIED AGAIN--AND SUCCEEDED.
For years Heman E. Perry, a negro, traveled over Texas for white
companies, selling old line life insurance to his people. But he
had a vision of someday founding a company under negro management,
to transact its business and make its investments among the
colored race.
Finally, plans outlined and prospectus and other literature
completed, he undertook the arduous task of organizing his
company. He applied for a charter under the laws of Georgia, which
require that the full $100,000 capital shall be raised in two
years, or the charter be revoked.
To raise $100,000 among white men, or even $100,000,000, is a
comparatively easy task, for they are accustomed to corporate
investments. But Mr. Perry was to raise $100,000 among a people
whose investments had taken the form of horses and houses, and
who did not understand the value of commercial paper, especially
when purchased for $150 with a par value of $100. In other words,
he had to sell 1,000 shares of stock, one, two or three shares at
a time, and he must do this among a people who had never before
raised $100,000 for a business venture.
For two years, at his own expense, Perry traveled throughout the
South. Then, with a scant thirty days left, he found himself with
but two thirds of the money in hand. He hastened to New York
hoping to obtain a loan from some bankers. They put him off until
the last day slipped by. Then began Perry's heart-breaking task
of returning the money he had collected. He returned every dollar
with four per cent interest--money that he had spent all his own
cash in collecting.
This was enough to crush any ordinary man. But after three months
Perry met a selected assembly of negro business men in Atlanta,
ready to begin all over again.
He retraced his first long journey, constantly hearing, "You
failed once, you'll fail again." But he continued his fight, and
on June 14th, 1913, after $105,000 had been paid for Georgia state
bonds, the first and only old line legal reserve life insurance
company in the world managed and operated by negroes formally
began business. It now operates in nine states, and has over
$2,000,000 insurance on the lives of negroes, because Heman E.
Perry would not acknowledge defeat, and had the power to "come
back" and conquer.
GEORGE F. PORTER
ANNA MURRAY-DOUGLASS--MY MOTHER AS I RECALL HER[1]
Looking backward over a space of fifty years or more, I have in
remembrance two travelers whose lives were real in their activity;
two lives that have indelibly impressed themselves upon my memory;
two lives whose energy and best ability was exerted to make my life
what it should be, and who gave me a home where wisdom and industry
went hand in hand; where instruction was given that a cultivated
brain and an industrious hand were the twin conditions that lead to a
well balanced and useful life. These two lives were embodied in the
personalities of Frederick Douglass and Anna Murray his wife.
They met at the base of a mountain of wrong and oppression, victims of
the slave power as it existed over sixty years ago, one smarting under
the manifold hardships as a slave, the other in many ways suffering
from the effects of such a system.
The story of Frederick Douglass' hopes and aspirations and longing
desire for freedom has been told--you all know it. It was a story made
possible by the unswerving loyalty of Anna Murray, to whose memory
this paper is written.
Anna Murray was born in Denton, Caroline County, Maryland, an
adjoining county to that in which my father was born. The exact date
of her birth is not known. Her parents, Bambarra Murray and Mary, his
wife, were slaves, their family consisting of twelve children, seven
of whom were born in slavery and five born in freedom. My mother, the
eighth child, escaped by the short period of one month, the fate of
her older brothers and sisters, and was the first free child.
Remaining with her parents until she was seventeen, she felt it time
that she should be entirely self-supporting and with that idea she
left her country home and went to Baltimore, sought employment in
a French family by the name of Montell whom she served two years.
Doubtless it was while with them she gained her first idea as to
household management which served her so well in after years and
which gained for her the reputation of a thorough and competent
housekeeper.
On leaving the Montells', she served in a family by the name of Wells
living on S. Caroline Street. Wells was Post-master at the time of
my father's escape from slavery. It interested me very much in one
of my recent visits to Baltimore, to go to that house accompanied by
an old friend of my parents of those early days, who as a free woman
was enabled with others to make my father's life easier while he was
a slave in that city. This house is owned now by a colored man. In
going through the house I endeavored to remember its appointments, so
frequently spoken of by my mother, for she had lived with this family
seven years and an attachment sprang up between her and the members of
that household, the memory of which gave her pleasure to recall.
The free people of Baltimore had their own circles from which the
slaves were excluded. The ruling of them out of their society resulted
more from the desire of the slaveholder than from any great wish of
the free people themselves. If a slave would dare to hazard all danger
and enter among the free people he would be received. To such a little
circle of free people--a circle a little more exclusive than others,
Frederick Baily was welcomed. Anna Murray, to whom he had given his
heart, sympathized with him and she devoted all her energies to assist
him. The three weeks prior to the escape were busy and anxious weeks
for Anna Murray. She had lived with the Wells family so long and
having been able to save the greater part of her earnings was willing
to share with the man she loved that he might gain the freedom he
yearned to possess. Her courage, her sympathy at the start was the
mainspring that supported the career of Frederick Douglass. As is the
condition of most wives her identity became so merged with that of
her husband, that few of their earlier friends in the North really
knew and appreciated the full value of the woman who presided over the
Douglass home for forty-four years. When the escaped slave and future
husband of Anna Murray had reached New York in safety, his first act
was to write her of his arrival and as they had previously arranged
she was to come on immediately. Reaching New York a week later, they
were married and immediately took their wedding trip to New Bedford.
In "My Bondage of Freedom," by Frederick Douglass, a graphic account
of that trip is given.
The little that they possessed was the outcome of the industrial
and economical habits that were characteristic of my mother. She had
brought with her sufficient goods and chattel to fit up comfortably
two rooms in her New Bedford home--a feather bed with pillows, bed
linen, dishes, knives, forks, and spoons, besides a well filled trunk
of wearing apparel for herself. A new plum colored silk dress was
her wedding gown. To my child eyes that dress was very fine. She had
previously sold one of her feather beds to assist in defraying the
expenses of the flight from bondage.
The early days in New Bedford were spent in daily toil, the wife at
the wash board, the husband with saw, buck and axe. I have frequently
listened to the rehearsal of those early days of endeavor, looking
around me at the well appointed home built up from the labor of the
father and mother under so much difficulty, and found it hard to
realize that it was a fact. After the day of toil they would seek
their little home of two rooms and the meal of the day that was most
enjoyable was the supper nicely prepared by mother. Father frequently
spoke of the neatly set table with its snowy white cloth--coarse tho'
it was.
In 1890 I was taken by my father to these rooms on Elm Street, New
Bedford, Mass., overlooking Buzzards Bay. This was my birth place.
Every detail as to the early housekeeping was gone over, it was
splendidly impressed upon my mind, even to the hanging of a towel
on a particular nail. Many of the dishes used by my mother at that
time were in our Rochester home and kept as souvenirs of those first
days of housekeeping. The fire that destroyed that home in 1872, also
destroyed them.
Three of the family had their birthplace in New Bedford. When after
having written his first narrative, father built himself a nice little
cottage in Lynn, Mass., and moved his family there, previously to
making his first trip to Europe. He was absent during the years '45
and '46. It was then that mother with four children, the eldest in
her sixth year, struggled to maintain the family amid much that would
dampen the courage of many a young woman of to-day. I had previously
been taken to Albany by my father as a means of lightening the burden
for mother. Abigail and Lydia Mott, cousins of Lucretia Mott, desired
to have the care of me.
During the absence of my father, mother sustained her little family
by binding shoes. Mother had many friends in the anti-slavery circle
of Lynn and Boston who recognized her sterling qualities, and who
encouraged her during the long absence of her husband. Those were days
of anxious worry. The narrative of Frederick Douglass with its bold
utterances of truth, with the names of the parties with whom he had
been associated in slave life, so incensed the slaveholders that it
was doubtful if ever he would return to this country and also there
was danger for mother and those who had aided in his escape, being
pursued. It was with hesitancy father consented to leave the country,
and not until he was assured by the many friends that mother and the
children would be carefully guarded, would he go.
There were among the Anti-Slavery people of Massachusetts a fraternal
spirit born of the noble purpose near their heart that served as an
uplift and encouraged the best energies in each individual, and mother
from the contact with the great and noble workers grew and improved
even more than ever before. She was a recognized co-worker in the A.
S. Societies of Lynn and Boston, and no circle was felt to be complete
without her presence. There was a weekly gathering of the women to
prepare articles for the Annual A. S. Fair held in Faneuil Hall,
Boston. At that time mother would spend the week in attendance having
charge, in company of a committee of ladies of which she was one, over
the refreshments. The New England women were all workers and there was
no shirking of responsibility--all worked. It became the custom of the
ladies of the Lynn society for each to take their turn in assisting
mother in her household duties on the morning of the day that the
sewing circle met so as to be sure of her meeting with them. It was
mother's custom to put aside the earnings from a certain number of
shoes she had bound as her donation to the A. S. cause. Being frugal
and economic she was able to put by a portion of her earnings for a
rainy day.
I have often heard my father speak in admiration of mother's executive
ability. During his absence abroad, he sent, as he could, support for
his family, and on his coming home he supposed there would be some
bills to settle. One day while talking over their affairs, mother
arose and quietly going to the bureau drawer produced a Bank book with
the sums deposited just in the proportion father had sent, the book
also containing deposits of her own earnings--and not a debt had been
contracted during his absence.
The greatest trial, perhaps, that mother was called upon to endure,
after parting from her Baltimore friends several years before, was
the leaving her Massachusetts home for the Rochester home where father
established the "North Star." She never forgot her old friends and
delighted to speak of them up to her last illness.
Wendell Phillips, Wm. Lloyd Garrison, Sydney Howard Gay and many
more with their wives were particularly kind to her. At one of the
Anti-Slavery conventions held in Syracuse, father and mother were
the guests of Rev. Samuel J. May, a Unitarian minister and an ardent
Anti-Slavery friend. The spacious parlors of the May mansion were
thrown open for a reception to their honor and where she could meet
her old Boston friends. The refreshments were served on trays, one
of which placed upon an improvised table made by the sitting close
together of Wendell Phillips, Wm. Lloyd Garrison and Sydney Howard
Gay, mother was invited to sit, the four making an interesting
tableaux.
Mother occasionally traveled with father on his short trips, but not
as often as he would have liked as she was a housekeeper who felt that
her presence was necessary in the home, as she was wont to say "to
keep things straight." Her life in Rochester was not less active in
the cause of the slave, if anything she was more self-sacrificing, and
it was a long time after her residence there that she was understood.
The atmosphere in which she was placed lacked the genial cordiality
that greeted her in her Massachusetts home. There were only the few
that learned to know her, for, she drew around herself a certain
reserve, after meeting her new acquaintances that forbade any very
near approach to her. Prejudice in the early 40's in Rochester ran
rampant and mother became more distrustful. There were a few loyal
co-workers and she set herself assiduously to work. In the home, with
the aid of a laundress only, she managed her household. She watched
with a great deal of interest and no little pride the growth in public
life of my father, and in every possible way that she was capable
aided him by relieving him of all the management of the home as it
increased in size and in its appointments. It was her pleasure to know
that when he stood up before an audience that his linen was immaculate
and that she had made it so, for, no matter how well the laundry was
done for the family, she must with her own hands smooth the tucks in
father's linen and when he was on a long journey she would forward at
a given point a fresh supply.
Being herself one of the first agents of the Underground Railroad she
was an untiring worker along that line. To be able to accommodate
in a comfortable manner the fugitives that passed our way, father
enlarged his home where a suite of rooms could be made ready for those
fleeing to Canada. It was no unusual occurrence for mother to be
called up at all hours of the night, cold or hot as the case may be,
to prepare supper for a hungry lot of fleeing humanity.
She was greatly interested in the publication of the "North Star" or
Frederick Douglass' paper as it was called later on, and publication
day was always a day for extra rejoicing as each weekly paper was felt
to be another arrow sent on its way to do the work of puncturing the
veil that shrouded a whole race in gloom. Mother felt it her duty to
have her table well supplied with extra provisions that day, a custom
that we, childlike, fully appreciated. Our home was two miles from the
center of the city, where our office was situated, and many times did
we trudge through snow knee deep, as street cars were unknown.
During one of the summer vacations the question arose in father's mind
as to how his sons should be employed, for them to run wild through
the streets was out of the question. There was much hostile feeling
against the colored boys and as he would be from home most of the
time, he felt anxious about them. Mother came to the rescue with the
suggestion that they be taken into the office and taught the case.
They were little fellows and the thought had not occurred to father.
He acted upon the suggestion and at the ages of eleven and nine they
were perched upon blocks and given their first lesson in printer's
ink, besides being employed to carry papers and mailing them.
Father was mother's honored guest. He was from home so often that his
home comings were events that she thought worthy of extra notice, and
caused renewed activity. Every thing was done that could be to add
to his comfort. She also found time to care for four other boys at
different times. As they became members of our home circle, the care
of their clothing was as carefully seen to as her own children's and
they delighted in calling her Mother.
In her early life she was a member of the Methodist Church, as was
father, but in our home there was no family altar. Our custom was
to read a chapter in the Bible around the table, each reading a
verse in turn until the chapter was completed. She was a person who
strived to live a Christian life instead of talking it. She was a
woman strong in her likes and dislikes, and had a large discernment
as to the character of those who came around her. Her gift in that
direction being very fortunate in the protection of father's interest
especially in the early days of his public life, when there was great
apprehension for his safety. She was a woman firm in her opposition
to alcoholic drinks, a strict disciplinarian--her _no_ meant _no_ and
_yes_, _yes_, but more frequently the _no's_ had it, especially when I
was the petitioner. So far as I was concerned, I found my father more
yielding than my mother, altho' both were rigid as to the matter of
obedience.
There was a certain amount of grim humor about mother and perhaps
such exhibitions as they occurred were a little startling to those
who were unacquainted with her. The reserve in which she held herself
made whatever she might attempt of a jocose nature somewhat acrid. She
could not be known all at once, she had to be studied. She abhorred
shames. In the early 70's she came to Washington and found a large
number of people from whom the shackles had recently fallen. She fully
realized their condition and considered the gaieties that were then
indulged in as frivolous in the extreme.
On one occasion several young women called upon her and commenting on
her spacious parlors and the approaching holiday season, thought it a
favorable opportunity to suggest the keeping of an open house. Mother
replied: "I have been keeping open house for several weeks. I have it
closed now and I expect to keep it closed." The young women thinking
mother's understanding was at fault, endeavored to explain. They were
assured, however, that they were fully understood. Father, who was
present, laughingly pointed to the New Bay Window, which had been
completed only a few days previous to their call.
Perhaps no other home received under its roof a more varied class
of people than did our home. From the highest dignitaries to the
lowliest person, bond or free, white or black, were welcomed, and
mother was equally gracious to all. There were a few who presumed on
the hospitality of the home and officiously insinuated themselves
and their advice in a manner that was particularly disagreeable to
her. This unwelcome attention on the part of the visitor would be
grievously repelled, in a manner more forceful than the said party
would deem her capable of, and from such a person an erroneous
impression of her temper and qualifications would be given, and
criticisms sharp and unjust would be made; so that altho' she had her
triumphs, they were trials, and only those who knew her intimately
could fully understand and appreciate the enduring patience of the
wife and mother.
During her wedded life of forty-four years, whether in adversity or
prosperity, she was the same faithful ally, guarding as best she
could every interest connected with my father, his lifework and the
home. Unfortunately an opportunity for a knowledge of books had been
denied her, the lack of which she greatly deplored. Her increasing
family and household duties prevented any great advancement, altho'
she was able to read a little. By contact with people of culture
and education, and they were her real friends, her improvement was
marked. She took a lively interest in every phase of the Anti-Slavery
movement, an interest that father took full pains to foster and to
keep her intelligently informed. I was instructed to read to her. She
was a good listener, making comments on passing events, which were
well worth consideration, altho' the manner of the presentation of
them might provoke a smile. Her value was fully appreciated by my
father, and in one of his letters to Thomas Auld, (his former master,)
he says, "Instead of finding my companion a burden she is truly a
helpmeet."
In 1882, this remarkable woman, for in many ways she was remarkable,
was stricken with paralysis and for four weeks was a great sufferer.
Altho' perfectly helpless, she insisted from her sick bed to direct
her home affairs. The orders were given with precision and they were
obeyed with alacrity. Her fortitude and patience up to within ten
days of her death were very great. She helped us to bear her burden.
Many letters of condolence from those who had met her and upon whom
pleasant impressions had been made, were received. Hon. J. M. Dalzell
of Ohio, wrote thus:
"You know I never met your good wife but once and then her welcome was
so warm and sincere and unaffected, her manner altogether so motherly,
and her goodby so full of genuine kindness and hospitality, as to
impress me tenderly and fill my eyes with tears as I now recall it."
Prof. Peter H. Clark of Cincinnati, Ohio, wrote: "The kind treatment
given to us and our little one so many years ago won for her a place
in our hearts from which no lapse of time could move her. To us she
was ever kind and good and our mourning because of her death, is
heartfelt."
There is much room for reflection in the review in the life of such a
woman as Anna Murray Douglass. Unlettered tho' she was, there was a
strength of character and of purpose that won for her the respect of
the noblest and best. She was a woman who strove to inculcate in the
minds of her children the highest principles of morality and virtue
both by precept and example. She was not well versed in the polite
etiquette of the drawing room, the rules for the same being found
in the many treatises devoted to that branch of literature. She was
possessed of a much broader culture, and with discernment born of
intelligent observation, and wise discrimination she welcomed all with
the hearty manner of a noble soul.
I have thus striven to give you a glimpse of my mother. In so doing
I am conscious of having made frequent mention of my father. It is
difficult to say any thing of mother without the mention of father,
her life was so enveloped in his. Together they rest side by side,
and most befittingly, within sight of the dear old home of hallowed
memories and from which the panting fugitive, the weary traveler, the
lonely emigrant of every clime, received food and shelter.
ROSETTA DOUGLASS SPRAGUE.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] This paper and the one which _follows_ give valuable information
about Frederick Douglass and his wife.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS IN IRELAND
Few persons have any idea as to the connection between the abolition
of slavery in the United States and the struggle of the Irish for
freedom. According to _The Standard Union_, when in the decade 1830
Negro slavery existed in the British West Indies, a little party of
liberal men in the British Parliament began to agitate in season
and out of season for emancipation, Daniel O'Connell, with a few
Irish members who supported him, threw his strength to this little
party on every division. There was a West Indian interest pledged to
maintain Negro slavery, and this interest counted twenty-seven votes
in Parliament. They came to O'Connell and offered their twenty-seven
votes to him on every Irish question if he would oppose Negro
emancipation.
"It was," said Wendell Phillips, "a terrible temptation. How
many a so-called statesman would have yielded!" O'Connell said:
"Gentlemen, God knows I speak for the saddest nation the sun ever
sees, but may my right hand forget its cunning and my tongue
cleave to the roof of my mouth, if to serve Ireland, even Ireland,
I forget the Negro one single hour."
The following account taken from _The Liberator_, including a
letter from Frederick Douglass, shows the genuineness of this Irish
friendship for the Negro in the United States:
A letter of extraordinary interest at this time from Mr. Frederick
Douglass to Mr. William Lloyd Garrison has just come to light in
the columns of _The True American_, a little anti-slavery paper
published in Cortland Village, N. Y., in 1846. The letter, written
with the eloquence and depth of feeling which characterized all
Mr. Douglass's utterances on the subject of slavery and the
abuse of the Negro in this country. The letter, which _The True
American_ copied from _The Boston Liberator_, Mr. Garrison's
Paper, is introduced by the following editorial comment from _The
Albany Journal_ under date of February 11, 1846.
"It is scarcely necessary to direct attention to the letter of
Frederick Douglass which we copy from _The Boston Liberator_.
It will be read with equal pleasure and amazement by those
who remember that eight years ago he was a slave, and that he
literally stole the elements of an education which now gives him
rank among the most gifted and eloquent men of the age.
"We shall not blame those who refuse to believe that Frederick
wrote this letter. Without the personal knowledge we possess of
his extraordinary attainments, we too should doubt whether a
fugitive slave, who, as but yesterday, escaped from a bondage that
doomed him to ignorance and degradation, now stands up and rebukes
oppression with a dignity and force scarcely less glowing than
that which Paul addressed to Agrippa."
The letter is as follows:
VICTORIA HOTEL, BELFAST,
January 1st, 1846.
_My dear Friend Garrison_:
I am now about to take leave of the Emerald Isle, for Glasgow,
Scotland. I have been here a little more than four months.--Up
to this time, I have been given no direct expression of the
views, feelings and opinions which I have formed, respecting
the character and condition of the people of this land. I have
refrained thus purposely. I wish to speak advisedly, and in order
to do this, I have waited till I trust experience has brought my
opinions to an intelligent maturity. I have been thus thankful,
not because I think what I may say will have much effect in
shaping the opinions of the world, but because whatever of
influence I may possess, whether little or much, I wish it to go
in the right direction, and according to truth.
I hardly need say that in speaking of Ireland, I shall be
influenced by no prejudices in favor of America. I think my
circumstances all forbid that. I have no end to serve, no creed
to uphold, no government to defend; and as to nation, I belong to
none. I have no protection at home, or resting place abroad. The
land of my birth welcomes me to her shores only as a slave, and
spurns with contempt the idea of treating me differently.--So that
I am an outcast from the society of my childhood, and an outlaw in
the land of my birth. "I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner
as all my fathers were." That men should be patriotic is to me
perfectly natural; and as a philosophical fact, I am able to give
it an intellectual recognition. But no further can I go. If ever
I had any patriotism, or any capacity for the feeling, it was
whipt out of me long since by the lash of the American souldrivers.
In thinking of America, I sometimes find myself admiring her
bright blue sky--her grand old woods--her fertile fields--her
beautiful rivers--her mighty lakes, and star crowned mountains.
But my rapture is soon checked, my joy is soon turned to mourning.
When I remember that all is cursed with the infernal spirit of
slaveholding, robbery and wrong,--when I remember that with the
waters of her noblest rivers, the tears of my brethren are borne
to the ocean, disregarded and forgotten, and that her most fertile
fields drink daily of the warm blood of my outraged sisters, I
am filled with unutterable loathing, and led to reproach myself
that anything could fall from my lips in praise of such a land.
America will not allow her children to love her. She seems bent
on compelling those who would be her warmest friends, to be her
worst enemies. May God give her repentance before it is too late,
is the ardent prayer of my heart. I will continue to pray, labor
and wait, believing that she cannot always be insensible to the
dictates of justice, or deaf to the voice of humanity.
My opportunities for learning the character and condition of the
people of this land have been very great. I have travelled almost
from the hill of "Howth" to the Giant's Causeway, and from the
Giant's Causeway to Cape Clear. During these travels, I have met
with much in the character and condition of the people to approve,
and much to condemn--much that has thrilled me with pleasure--and
very much that has filled me with pain. I will not in this letter
attempt to give any description of those scenes which have given
me pain. This I will do hereafter. I have enough, and more than
your subscribers will be disposed to read at one time, of the
bright side of the picture. I can truly say, I have spent some of
the happiest moments of my life since landing in this country. I
seem to have undergone a transformation. I live a new life.
The warm and generous co-operation extended to me by the friends
of my despised race--the prompt and liberal manner with which the
press has rendered me its aid--the glorious enthusiasm with which
thousands have flocked to hear the cruel wrongs of my down-trodden
and long enslaved countrymen portrayed--the deep sympathy of the
slave, and the strong abhorrence of the slaveholder, everywhere
evinced--the cordiality with which members and ministers of
various religious bodies, and of various shades of religious
opinion, have embraced me and lent me their aid--the kind
hospitality constantly proffered to me by persons of the highest
rank in society--the spirit of freedom that seems to animate all
with whom I come in contact--and the entire absence of everything
that looked like prejudice against me, on account of the color
of my skin--contrasting so strongly with my long and bitter
experience in the United States, that I look with wonder and
amazement on the transition.
In the Southern part of the United States I was a slave, thought
of and spoken of as property. In the language of the law, "held,
taken, reputed and adjudged to be chattel in the hands of my
owners and possessors, and their executors, administrators,
or assigns, to all intents, constructions, and purposes
whatever."--Brev. Digest, 224. In the Northern States, a fugitive
slave, liable to be hunted at any moment like a felon, and to be
hurried into the terrible jaws of slavery--doomed by an inveterate
prejudice against color to insult and outrage in every hand.
(Massachusetts out of the question)--denied the privileges and
courtesies common to others in the use of the most humble of
conveyances--shut out from the cabins on steamboats--refused
admission to respectable hotels--caricatured, scorned, scoffed,
mocked and maltreated with impunity by any one (no matter how
black his heart), so he has a white skin.
But now behold the change! Eleven days and a half gone, and I
have crossed three thousand miles of the perilous deep. Instead
of a democratic government, I am under a monarchical government.
Instead of the bright blue sky of America, I am covered with the
soft gray fog of the Emerald Isle. I breathe, and lo! the chattel
becomes a man. I gaze around in vain for one who will question
my equal humanity, claim me as his slave, or offer me an insult.
I employ a cab--I am seated beside white people--I reach the
hotel--I enter the same door--I am shown into the same parlor--I
dine at the same table--and no one is offended. No delicate
nose grows deformed in my presence. I have no difficulty here
in obtaining admission into any place of worship, instruction
or amusement, on equal terms with people as white as any I ever
saw in the United States. I meet nothing to remind me of my
complexion. I find myself regarded and treated at every turn with
the kindness and deference paid to white people. When I go to
church, I am met by no upturned nose and scorned lip to tell me,
"We don't allow niggers in here!"
I remember about two years ago, there was in Boston, near the
southwest corner of Boston Common, a menagerie. I had long desired
to see such a collection as I understood were being exhibited
there. Never having had an opportunity while a slave, I resolved
to seize this, my first, since my escape. I went, and as I
approached the entrance to gain admission, I was met and told by
the doorkeeper in a harsh and contemptuous tone, "We don't allow
niggers here!" I also remember attending a revival meeting in the
Rev. Henry Jackson's meeting house, at New Bedford, and going up
the broad aisle to find a seat. I was met by a good deacon, who
told me in a pious tone, "We don't allow niggers here!" Soon after
my arrival in New Bedford from the South, I had a strong desire to
attend the Lyceum, but was told, "We don't allow niggers here!"
While passing from New York to Boston on the steamer
Massachusetts, on the night of the 9th Dec., 1843, when chilled
almost through with the cold, I went into the cabin to get a
little warm, I was soon touched upon the shoulder and told,
"We don't allow niggers here!" On arriving in Boston from an
anti-slavery tour, hungry and tired I went into an eating house
near my friend Mr. Campbell's, to get some refreshments. I was met
by a lad in a white apron, "We don't allow niggers here!" A week
or two before leaving the United States, I had a meeting appointed
at Weymouth, the home of that glorious band of true abolitionists,
the Weston family and others. On attempting to take a seat on the
omnibus to that place, I was told by the driver (and I never shall
forget the fiendish haste), "I don't allow niggers in here!"
Thank heaven for the respite I now enjoy! I had been in Dublin
but a few days, when a gentleman of great respectability kindly
offered to conduct me through all the public buildings of that
beautiful city; and a little afterwards, I found myself dining
with the Lord Mayor of Dublin. What a pity there was not some
American Democratic Christian at the door of his splendid mansion,
to bark out at my approach, "They don't allow niggers in here!"
The truth is, the people here know nothing of the Republican Negro
hate prevalent in our glorious land. They measure and esteem
men according to their moral and intellectual worth, and not
according to the color of their skin. Whatever may be said of the
aristocracies here, there is none based on the color of a man's
skin. This species of aristocracy belongs pre-eminently to "the
land of the free, and the home of the brave." I have never found
it abroad, in any but Americans. It sticks to them where-ever they
go. They find it almost as hard to get rid of as to get rid of
their skins.
The second day after my arrival at Liverpool, in company with my
friend Buffum, and several other friends I went to Eaton Hall, the
residence of the Marquis of Westminster, one of the most splendid
buildings in England. On approaching the door, I found several
of our American passengers who came out with us in the Cambria,
waiting at the door for admission, as but one party was allowed in
the house at a time. We all had to wait till the company within
came out. And of all the faces, expressive of chagrin, those of
the Americans were pre-eminent. They looked as sour as vinegar,
and as bitter as gall, when they found I was to be admitted on
equal terms with themselves. When the door was opened I walked in,
on an equal footing with my white fellow citizens, and from all
I could see I had as much attention paid me by the servants who
showed me through the house as any with a paler skin. As I walked
through the building, the statuary did not fall down, the pictures
did not leap from their places, the doors did not refuse to open,
and the servants did not say, "We don't allow niggers in here!"
A happy new year to you and to all the friends of freedom.
Excuse this imperfect scrawl and believe me to be ever and always
yours,
FREDERICK DOUGLASS
BOOK REVIEWS
_The History of the Afro-American Group of the Episcopal Church._
By GEORGE F. BRAGG, Rector St. James First African Church,
Baltimore. With an Introduction by the Rt. Rev. T. DuBose Bratton,
D.D., LL.D., Bishop of Mississippi. The Church Advocate Press,
Baltimore, 1922, pp. 319.
This work is intended to supply the need of a volume tracing the
connection of the Negro with the Protestant Episcopal Church in
America. As this particular group of communicants has not the status
of independent organization, its peculiar history has remained only
in fragments. To embody these in the form of a handy volume to show
how this denomination has influenced the life of the Negro and how
members of the race have been affected thereby, will be a distinct
service for which the public would feel thankful. Whether or not the
author has accomplished this task the readers themselves will decide.
He has undertaken the work with so much enthusiasm and found so many
things to praise and such a few to condemn that the reader may find
the work somewhat _ex parte_. The struggle of the Negro communicants
in this denomination and its indifference toward the strivings of the
race before the Civil War are not emphasized. Approaching the volume
with reservation, however, the investigator will find the work of some
value.
The volume begins with the early baptism of African children during
the early days. He directs attention to the work of missionaries in
South Carolina, Maryland, Georgia, and Virginia and brings his story
down to the days of the independent movement among Negro communicants
as it culminated in the organization of the Free African Society
of Philadelphia out of which emerged the St. Thomas African Church
under the leadership of Absalom Jones. He then discusses the rise of
such churches as St. Phillips in New York, St. James in Baltimore,
Christ Church in Providence, St. Luke in New Haven, The Church of the
Crucifixion in Philadelphia, St. Matthews in Detroit, St. Phillips in
New Jersey and St. Phillips in Buffalo. The renewed interest of the
Protestant Episcopal Church in the uplift of the Negro is interwoven
around his discussion of the Freedman's Commission organized in 1868
to Christianize and educate the Negroes recently emancipated in the
South. He then discusses the further interest shown by the General
Convention of 1871 and treats with some detail the efforts through
mission schools in the South.
The remaining portion of the book consists of biographical sketches.
It contains a list of the Negro clergy prior to 1866, mentioning such
names as Absalom Jones, Peter Williams, William Levington, James C.
Ward, Jacob Oson, Gustavus V. Caesar, Edward Jones, William Douglass,
Isaiah G. DeGrasse, Alexander Crummell, Eli Worthington Stokes,
William C. Munroe, Samuel Vreeland Berry, Harrison Holmes Webb, James
Theodore Holly, William Johnson Alston, and John Peterson. Among these
are accounts of such veteran friends as Bishops Atkinson, Lyman,
Johns, Whittie, Smith, Quintard, Whittingham, Howe, Stevens, Young,
and Dudley, along with Mr. Joseph Bryan, General Samuel C. Armstrong,
and Mrs. Loomis L. White. He then gives sketches of some self-made
strong characters like James E. Thompson, Cassius M. C. Mason, James
Solomon Russell, James Nelson Denver, Henry Mason Joseph, Henry
Stephen McDuffy, Primus Priss Alston, Paulus Moort, Henry L. Phillips,
August E. Jensen, Joshua Bowden Massiah, William Victor Tunnell, and
John W. Perry. Honorable mention is given to Samuel David Ferguson,
John Payne, Edward T. Demby, Henry B. Delany, and T. Momolu Gardiner.
* * * * *
_The Trend of the Races._ By GEORGE E. HAYNES, Ph.D. With an
introduction by JAMES H. DILLARD. Published jointly by Council of
Women for Home Missions and Missionary Education Movement of the
United States and Canada. New York, 1922, pp. 205.
This volume is at once both historical and sociological. It is
interesting but might have been more readable if the materials had
been better organized so as to avoid unnecessary repetition from
chapter to chapter. It marks an epoch in the history of the Negro in
the United States, however, in that it was written at the request
of white persons constituting the Joint Committee on Home Mission
Literature representing the Missionary Education Movement and the
Council of Women for Home Missions and the Missionary Educational
Boards. The aim of the work is to present to the white workers in
the Church the achievements of the Negro, believing that if the
Negro becomes known to the white man, he will not be any longer hated
by him; or, as the chairman of the committee herself says in the
foreword to the volume: "Our seeking to know him must be on the basis
of the broadest sympathy. In the friendliest and most helpful spirit
we should sincerely desire to understand him in the place where he
is and to apprehend something of the road by which he came and the
direction of his highest and best aspirations, that we may, so far
as we can, make it possible for him to attain his best in our common
civilization. We should at the same time quite as earnestly seek to
know ourselves in respect to our limitations, achievements, and goals
in the building of the social order."
The book begins with a presentation of the case of the Negro,
reviewing two methods of racial adjustment. It then discusses the
conditions under which some choice of procedure must be made in view
of the white and Negro public opinion. The author then endeavors
to show what the Negro has accomplished during the sixty years
emphasizing his achievements both economic and industrial. In this
chapter he deals largely with the progress of Negro farmers, the
growth of business enterprises, improvements in health, moral uplift,
the development of homes, achievements in community life, education,
inventions, scientific discovery, and religious life. The author then
treats in some detail the mental capacity of the Negro, his feelings,
his conduct, his humor and his dramatic ability. He shows how the
Negro practices self-abnegation, toleration and optimism in spite
of oppression and yet brings out the fact that there is a rising
tide of race consciousness, increasing resentment and suspicion. The
development of racial self-respect, and the forward looking program
of self-assertion are also mentioned in showing how the Negroes are
learning to depend upon their own leaders and to undertake to do for
themselves what they have long requested others to accomplish for them.
One of the important features of the book is its emphasis on the
part which the Negro has played in the various wars in the United
States beginning with the American Revolution and bringing the story
through all of our national and international struggles. Most space,
however, is devoted to the Negro's participation in the World War and
to the local economic situation in which the Negroes figured during
the dearth of labor and the scarcity of money when they responded to
the call to render non-combatant service and to lend the Government
their means by purchasing Liberty Bonds. Following this the author
finds it opportune to show the trend of the white world, bringing out
its attitude and ways of action due to conscience. Here he discusses
the influence of economic motives, survivals from the past, attitudes
due to ideals of race, the effects of the principles and ideals of
democracy and the interracial mind. The author believes that the way
to interracial peace is through racial contacts, church co-operation,
efficient reorganization in the division of labor, and through mutual
economic and life interests, group interdependence between mental and
social factors, educational institutions, popular government, and
voluntary organizations coordinating interracial activities.
* * * * *
_In the Vanguard of a Race._ By L. H. HAMMOND. Published jointly
by Council of Women for Home Missions and Missionary Education
Movement of the United States and Canada. New York, 1922, pp. 176.
This is a volume not so serious as that of Dr. Haynes's but written
for the purpose of presenting to the American public a number of
useful leaders now shaping the destiny of the Negro race. Inasmuch
as all famous workers of the race could not be mentioned, the author
endeavored to select one typical of each particular thought and to
portray them as the representatives of a large host of laborers
rebuilding the civilization of a large portion of mankind. The persons
sketched have worked as musicians, painters, sculptors, actors,
singers, poets, educators, physicians, farmers, and clergymen. When
one considers several of the selections made, however, he must be
astounded at the lack of judgment shown as to who are the leading
Negro workers doing something worth while. The author seems to
have obtained advice from such friends and helpers as Miss Ida A.
Tourtellot of the Phelps-Stokes Foundation, Miss Flora Mitchell
of the Woman's Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, Mrs. Booker T. Washington of Tuskegee, Mr. Jackson Davis of
the General Education Board, Mr. N. C. Newbold of the North Carolina
State Department of Education, Mr. W. T. B. Williams of the Jeanes and
Slater Boards, Professor G. L. Imes of Tuskegee, and Dr. A. M. Moore
of Durham, North Carolina, all of whom do not claim to be authorities
in matter of this kind.
On the whole, however, the book has a value. In the first chapter,
"A Long Ascent," there is an interesting sketch of the rising race
showing unusual possibilities which must convince the world of the
inherent worth and bright future of the Negro. The sketch of Booker T.
Washington entitled "A Story of Service" is decidedly interesting and
is written in such a style as to popularize the achievements of the
great educator. Presented very much in the same way is the account of
the valuable service of Dr. C. V. Roman whose efforts have not been
restricted to medicine, inasmuch as he is an author and a lecturer of
recognized standing. Miss Nannie H. Burroughs is properly presented
to typify that part of the story known as "Saving an Idea." Herein is
sketched the rise and the culmination of the career of one of the most
useful women of our day. In the same style the work of Dr. William
N. DeBerry of Springfield, Massachusetts, appears. There follows the
sketch of the career of Mrs. Jane Barrett, a believer in happiness,
then that of John B. Pierce, a builder of prosperity, and next that
of Mrs. Maggie L. Walker, a woman banker. Much space is given also
to the career of the famous composer, Harry T. Burleigh. This sketch
is followed by two others directing attention to Miss Martha Drummer
and James Dunston. The book closes with a brief biography of Joseph
S. Cotter, Jr., the young poet who recently attained distinction in
expressing the strivings of an oppressed people.
* * * * *
_The Negro in Chicago. A study of race relations and a race riot._
By the Chicago Commission on Race Relations. The University of
Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1922, pp. 672.
It is generally admitted that this report of the Commission on Race
Relations is the most important contribution to this interesting
subject. The very organization of the commission deepens this
impression. Before the end of this racial conflict in which 38
lives were lost and 537 persons injured between July 27 and August
6, 1919, representatives of 48 social, civic, commercial and
professional organizations of Chicago met on the first of August
and requested Governor Frank O. Lowden, of Illinois, to appoint an
emergency State Committee "to study the psychological, social and
economic causes underlying the conditions resulting in the present
race riot and to make such recommendations as will tend to prevent a
recurrence of such conditions in the future." In response to this
and other urgent requests, according to the report and pursuant to
his personal knowledge of the situation derived from investigations
made by him in Chicago during the riot, Governor Lowden appointed as
a commission, Edgar A. Bancroft, William Scott Bond, Edward Osgood
Brown, Harry Eugene Kelley, Victor F. Lawson, and Julius Rosenwald
as representatives of the white race and Robert S. Abbott, George
Cleveland Hall, George H. Jackson, Edward H. Morris, Adelbert
H. Roberts, and Lacey Kirk Williams representing the Negroes,
all to serve as a commission to undertake the work suggested by
the memorialists. Mr. Bancroft was designated by the Governor as
chairman but on account of his absence due to ill health, Dr. F. W.
Shepardson, Director of the State Department of Registration and
Education, was appointed to serve as acting chairman and on the
return of Mr. Bancroft, Dr. Shepardson was added to the commission
and made its Vice-Chairman. Inasmuch as the commission had no funds
a committee consisting of Messrs. James B. Forgan, chairman, Abel
Davis, Treasurer, Arthur Meeker, John J. Mitchell, and John G. Shedd,
together with Messrs. R. B. Beach and John F. Bowman of the staff of
the Chicago Association of Commerce, enabled the commission of inquiry
to meet this emergency. The actual work was done under the direction
of an Executive Secretary, Graham Romeyn Taylor and an Associate
Executive Secretary, Charles S. Johnson, the latter assuming charge of
the actual inquiries and investigation.
The report does not present any solution by which all racial troubles
may be avoided. It well fulfills its mission, however, in finding
facts which, if properly studied, will serve to guide others in
promoting amicable relations between racial groups. It at once
convinces the general public that causes of racial friction may be
insignificant in themselves but are nevertheless capable of leading
to serious results, although a little effort can easily effect
their removal in time to avoid such fatal consequences. It shows,
moreover, that grievances too often portrayed as justifiable reasons
for self-help are generally exaggerated primarily for the purpose of
inflaming the public mind and should such findings be given adequate
publicity the effects of such unwise action may be counteracted in
time. It is claimed for this commission, moreover, that its work has
promoted an understanding between the two racial groups in the city of
Chicago and removed misunderstandings which have been such prolific
sources of trouble.
The report covers in some detail an informing account of the race
riot itself and of other outbreaks in the State of Illinois. Going
to the very causes of things, the commission studied the migration
of the Negroes from the South, the Negro population in Chicago,
directing attention to the housing of Negroes, racial contacts,
vicious environments, and lines of industry. One of the most informing
parts of the work is a treatment of public opinion in race relations,
bringing out beliefs concerning Negroes and the background of such and
public opinion as expressed by Negroes themselves. Adequate space is
given to the instruments of opinion-making, such as Chicago newspapers
and the Negro press as well as to rumors, myths, and propaganda. The
recommendations of the Commission require careful attention. While the
public will not generally accept these recommendations as final, they
are at least suggestive and require careful consideration.
One defect of the work, however, if it has a defect, is that it fails
to take into account one important cause, namely, the migration of
many poor whites to the North during the period of scarcity of labor
incident to the World War when these southerners brought north their
own opinions about how to keep the Negro down and helped to aggravate
the situation in Chicago.
NOTES
Mr. George W. Brown, a graduate of Howard University who, as a result
of a year of graduate work in History and Political Science at Western
Reserve University, has received the degree of Master of Arts, has
been appointed Instructor in History at the West Virginia Collegiate
Institute. Mr. Brown is the author of a dissertation entitled _Haiti
and the United States_.
Mr. Miles Mark Fisher who contributed to the last issue of THE JOURNAL
OF NEGRO HISTORY the valuable dissertation and documents bearing on
the career of Lott Cary and who has written two other valuable works,
_The History of the Olivet Baptist Church_ and _The Master's Slave_,
has been appointed an instructor at the Virginia Union University,
Richmond, Virginia.
Mr. Luther P. Jackson, a graduate of Fisk University, who specialized
at Columbia in History and Education leading to the degree of Master
of Arts, and who contributes to the current number of THE JOURNAL OF
NEGRO HISTORY the dissertation entitled _The Educational Efforts of
the Freedmen's Bureau and Freedmen's Aid Societies in South Carolina,
1862-1872_, has been appointed an instructor in the Virginia Normal
and Industrial Institute, Petersburg, Virginia.
The Macmillan Company has published _A Boys' Life of Booker T.
Washington_ by W. C. Jackson, Vice President of the North Carolina
College for Women, Greensboro, and Professor of History.
The A. B. Caldwell Publishing Company, Atlanta, Georgia, has brought
out an autobiography, _Echoes from a Pioneer Life_ by Jared Maurice
Arter, an instructor in Storer College, Harpers Ferry, West Va.
From the University of Chicago Press there has come another
interesting volume on the Negro. This is entitled _The Negro Press in
the United States_ by Frederick G. Detweiler.
Sir Harry H. Johnston, G. C. M. G., K. C. B., Sc.D., has published
through Oxford at the Clarendon Press his second volume of _A
Comparative Study of the Bantu and Semi-Bantu Languages_.
THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY
OF NEGRO LIFE AND HISTORY
The Association met in annual session on the 22d, 23d and 24th of
November in Louisville, Kentucky. The day sessions were held at the
Chestnut Street Branch Library and the evening sessions at the Quinn
Chapel A. M. E. Church. The meeting was a success from both the local
and national points of view. Persons from afar came to take an active
part and the citizens of Louisville and nearby cities of Kentucky
attended in considerable numbers.
The meeting was opened at eight o'clock Wednesday evening at the
Chestnut Street Branch Library with a stereopticon lecture on the
History of the Negro by Dr. A. Eugene Thomson, principal of Lincoln
Institute, Lincoln Ridge, Kentucky. This lecture covered the early
history of the Negro in Egypt and Ethiopia with illustrations of
the historic monuments exhibiting the progress of the natives in
architecture and the fine arts. There followed an informing discussion
of the importance of the study of this particular part of the past of
the dark races.
On Thursday morning at ten o'clock a conference on "The Present State
of the Negro" was held. Mr. E. E. Reed, principal of the Bowling
Green High School, delivered an address on "The Social and Economic
Status of the Negro." This was the main feature of the conference.
The general discussion was opened by Mr. E. A. Carter, secretary of
the Louisville Urban League, who discussed "The Political Status
of the Negro." The views of the speakers were such as to present
both the optimistic and the pessimistic sides of the question. They
believed that while there have been some developments which indicate
improvement in the status of the Negro, there have been also other
changes which indicate a tendency of things to become static.
Early in the afternoon at 1:30 P. M. a special session was held at
the William J. Simmons University. The aim here was to interest the
students in the importance of the preservation of the records of the
Negro. Several members of the Association discussed the history of the
organization, its achievements and plans, and welcomed the cooperation
of all as coworkers in this long neglected field. Dr. W. H. Steward,
the editor of _The American Baptist_, then spoke from his experience
on "The Value of a Written Record," mentioning several cases in
Kentucky where important matters have been decided by such documentary
evidence. He emphasized the importance of the work accomplished by the
Association and encouraged the youth to connect themselves with it
that the cause may be promoted more successfully.
At three o'clock Thursday afternoon with Professor W. B. Matthews,
principal of the Central High School, presiding, there followed a
session devoted to "The Teaching of Negro History." Many of the
teachers from the local school system were present. In a very
thoughtful and impressive manner Mr. J. W. Bell, principal of the
Hopkinsville High School, discussed the teaching of Negro history as
a matter of concern not only to the Negro himself but to the white
man. He expressed the opinion that through the dissemination of such
information the one race may become better acquainted with the other.
He was then followed by Mr. P. W. L. Jones, instructor in History at
the Kentucky Normal and Industrial Institute, Frankfort, Kentucky.
Mr. Jones directed his attention to "The Value of Negro Biography" as
a means of keeping before the race the records of a number of useful
citizens who might otherwise be forgotten and as a means of inspiring
the youth to useful endeavor and noble achievement. He took occasion
to present brief sketches of a number of Negroes once prominent in the
past but now almost forgotten because of the failure to pass their
story on to the coming generation. Mr. Thomas F. Blue, librarian of
the Chestnut Street Branch Library, then opened the general discussion
showing from his experience the need for directing more attention to
these neglected aspects of this peculiar problem of a race in the
making.
The first evening session was held at the Quinn Chapel A. M. E.
Church with Dr. Noah W. Williams presiding. On this occasion the
Honorable C. C. Stoll, representing the Mayor of Louisville, welcomed
the Association in words adequate to arouse interest and enthusiasm.
Dr. L. G. Jordan, secretary emeritus of the National Baptist Foreign
Mission Board, responded to this address on behalf of the Association.
He took occasion, moreover, to make some interesting observations out
of his experiences in America and in Africa. Then followed an address
by Dr. C. G. Woodson who briefly connected the achievements of the
Negro with such movements in history as the commercial revolution,
the intellectual revival, the struggle for the rights of man, the
industrial revolution, the reform movements of the nineteenth century,
and the present effort to attain social justice.
On Friday morning at ten o'clock with Dr. James Bond presiding there
followed a conference on the Negro slave. Mr. W. H. Fouse, principal
of the Russell High School of Lexington, read an informing paper
on "The Contribution of the Slave to Civilization." He emphasized
especially the value of Negro labor as the basis upon which Southern
society was established, showing that whatever valuable culture was
developed was made possible by the work of the Negro slave. He did
not, however, subscribe to the theory that it is necessary to enslave
one part of the population that the other may apply itself to the
study of science, philosophy and politics. Dr. R. S. Cotterill,
instructor in History at the University of Louisville, then read a
valuable dissertation entitled "The Use of Slaves in Building Southern
Railroads." The speaker showed that he had made an extensive research
into documentary material, and he presented an array of facts which
unusually enlightened his audience in this neglected field. During
the general discussion which followed some other important facts were
brought forward, and much interest in the researches of these two
speakers was generally expressed.
From Friday afternoon at two o'clock to 5:30 P. M. there were
exhibited at the Chestnut Street Branch Library samples of the
publications of the Association and a number of valuable engravings
of the Antique Works of Art in Benin, West Africa. This offered the
public an opportunity to judge the progress made by the Association
since its organization in 1915 and to form an opinion as to the sort
of work prosecuted and the manner in which it has been done. The
engravings setting forth the achievements of an important group of
African peoples of the 16th century convinced a large number that the
Negro race has behind it a valuable record which can never be known
except through such research and expeditions as will unearth these
important contributions.
At three o'clock there was held the business session of the
Association. The reports of the Director and the Secretary-Treasurer
were read and, after favorable comment, were accepted and approved by
vote of the Association. These reports follow:
THE REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR.
With respect to the most difficult task of the Director, that of
raising money, the work of the Association has been eminently
successful. Encouraged by the appropriation of $25,000 obtained
from the Carnegie Corporation last year, the Director appealed
to several boards for the same consideration. Last February one
of these, the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial, appropriated
$25,000 to this work, payable in annual installments of $5,000,
as in the case of that obtained from the Carnegie Corporation.
It is to be regretted, however, that smaller contributions,
heretofore yielding most of the income of the Association prior to
obtaining the two appropriations, have diminished in number and
amount. Appealed to repeatedly, many of these persons give the
heavy income tax as an excuse, while not a few make the mistake
of thinking that the other funds received by the Association are
sufficient to take care of the general expenses. During the fiscal
year 1921-1922, thirty-seven persons, most of whom were Negroes,
contributed $25.00 each, whereas during the previous fiscal year
the number was larger.
The following report of the Secretary-Treasurer shows how these
funds have been used:
FINANCIAL STATEMENT OF THE SECRETARY-TREASURER
WASHINGTON, D. C., July 1, 1922
THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF
NEGRO LIFE AND HISTORY, INC.,
WASHINGTON, D. C.
_Gentlemen_:
I hereby submit to you a statement of the amount of money received
and expended by the Association for the Study of Negro Life and
History, Incorporated, from July 1, 1921, to June 30, 1922,
inclusive:
_Receipts_
Subscriptions $ 1,772.63
Memberships 241.00
Contributions 9,113.75
Advertising 195.45
Rent and Light 180.14
Books 1.70
Refunds 50.42
----------
Total receipts $11,555.09
Bal. on hand July 1, 1921 43.09
----------
$11,598.18
_Expenditures_
Printing and Stationery $ 4,929.97
Petty Cash 670.00
Stenographic service 990.23
Rent and Light 714.67
Salaries 3,450.00
Traveling Expenses 468.09
Miscellaneous 286.46
----------
Total expenditures $11,509.42
Bal. on hand June 30, 1922 88.76
----------
$11,598.18
This report does not cover the $5,000 annually received
for research into the Free Negro Prior to 1861 and Negro
Reconstruction History. This fund was made available on the
first of July, the beginning of the fiscal year, and has been
apportioned so as to pay three investigators and a copyist
employed to do this work.
Respectfully submitted,
(Signed) S. W. RUTHERFORD,
Secretary-Treasurer.
The appropriation of $25,000 obtained from the Laura Spelman
Rockefeller Memorial requires the employment of investigators
to develop the studies of the Free Negro Prior to 1861 and of
Negro Reconstruction History. The annual allowance of $5,000 is
devoted altogether to this work, inasmuch as special instructions
received from the Trustees of the Laura Spelman Rockefeller
Memorial prohibit the use of this money for any other purpose. The
Association has, therefore, employed Dr. George Francis Dow to
read the eighteenth century colonial newspapers of New England, C.
G. Woodson to make a study of the Free Negro Prior to 1861, A. A.
Taylor to study the Social and Economic Conditions of the Negro
during the Reconstruction, and a clerk serving the investigators
in the capacity of a copyist.
At present Mr. A. A. Taylor is spending only one-half of his
time at this work, but after the first of next June he will have
the opportunity to direct his attention altogether to this task.
During this year it is expected that he will complete his studies
of the Social and Economic Conditions in Virginia and South
Carolina.
In the study of the Free Negro the Director has spent the year
compiling a statistical report giving the names of free Negroes
who were heads of families in the South in 1830 showing the number
in each family and the number of slaves owned. Within a few months
that part of the report dealing with Louisiana, South Carolina and
North Carolina will be completed.
The Association is also directing attention to the work of
training men for research in this field. The program agreed
upon is to educate in the best graduate schools with libraries
containing works bearing on Negro life and history at least three
young men a year, supported by fellowships of $500 from the
Association and such additional stipend as the schools themselves
may grant for the support of the undertaking. One of these
students will take up the study of Negro History, one will direct
his attention to Anthropometric and Psychological measurements
of Negroes, and one to African Anthropology and Archaeology. In
this undertaking the Director has not only the cooperation of
Prof. Carl Russell Fish, of the University of Wisconsin, and
Prof. William E. Dodd, of the University of Chicago, who with him
constitute the Committee on Fellowships, but also the assistance
of Professors Franz Boas and E. L. Thorndike of Columbia
University and of Professor E. A. Hooton of Harvard University.
Closely connected with these plans, moreover, are certain other
projects to preserve Negro folklore and the fragments of Negro
music. In this effort the Association has the cooperation of Mrs.
Elsie Clews Parsons, the moving spirit of the American Folklore
Society. She is now desirous of making a more systematic effort
to embody this part of the Negro civilization and she believes
that the work can be more successfully done by cooperation with
the Association. As soon as the Director can obtain a special fund
for this particular work, an investigator will be employed to
undertake it.
The interest manifested in the study of Negro History in clubs
and schools has been very encouraging. Most of the advanced
institutions of learning of both North and South make use of
_The Journal of Negro History_ in teaching social sciences. The
Director's two recent works, _The History of the Negro Church_ and
_The Negro in Our History_ are being extensively used as textbooks
in classes studying Sociology and History. The enthusiasm of some
of these groups has developed to the extent that they now request
authority to organize under the direction of the Association local
bodies to be known as State Associations for the Study of Negro
Life and History.
Respectfully submitted,
C. G. WOODSON,
_Director_.
Upon taking up the election of officers there prevailed a motion
to cast the unanimous ballot of the Association for the following
officers:
John R. Hawkins, _President_
S. W. Rutherford, _Secretary-Treasurer_
C. G. Woodson, _Director_
The following were elected members of the Executive Council:
John R. Hawkins Henry C. King
S. W. Rutherford William E. Dodd
Carter G. Woodson E. A. Hooton
Julius Rosenwald Bishop John Hurst
James H. Dillard Alexander L. Jackson
Bishop R. A. Carter Bishop R. E. Jones
Robert R. Church Clement Richardson
Franz Boas Robert C. Woods
Carl Russell Fish
John R. Hawkins, S. W. Rutherford and C. G. Woodson were chosen as
trustees of the Association. John R. Hawkins, S. W. Rutherford and A.
L. Jackson were elected members of the Business Committee.
There then followed a brief discussion of plans and ways and means
for the expansion of the work. Most of this discussion developed from
the various items of the report of the Director. Mr. W. H. Fouse, of
Lexington, Kentucky, proposed that the Association should authorize
the organization of State Associations for the Study of Negro Life
and History to cooperate with the national body in preserving local
biographical records of Negroes in counties and cities inaccessible to
national workers. This proposal was favorably received.
On Friday evening at 8:30 P. M. there took place the second evening
session at the Quinn Chapel A. M. E. Church with Prof. H. C. Russell
presiding. The chief feature of the occasion was the address of Dr.
C. V. Roman entitled "The American Civilization and the Negro."
Following the line of his researches and his opinions already
expressed in various works, Dr. Roman discussed the meaning of culture
and connected the achievements of the Negro therewith. He took
occasion also to show how the history of the race has been neglected
and how many records worth while have been accredited to the defamers
of the Negro race. Mr. J. W. Bell, of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, then
entertained the audience with a very eloquent address, speaking in
general of the achievements of the Association and emphasizing the
importance of close cooperation therewith. The meeting was then
closed with a few remarks by the Director who thanked the people of
Louisville and of Kentucky for their cooperation in making the meeting
a success.
THE JOURNAL
OF
NEGRO HISTORY
VOL. VIII., NO. 2 APRIL, 1923.
THE TEACHING OF NEGRO HISTORY[1]
The teaching of Negro history will serve the two-fold purpose of
informing the white man and inspiring the Negro. The untoward
circumstances under which the Negro lives make the teaching of his
history imperatively necessary. When the founders of this government
brought forth a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the
proposition that all men are created equal, many thought that the
Negro was not regarded as a man. Thomas Jefferson himself, the writer
of that document, held the Negro as a slave. The Negro was regarded
as mere property, as a mere beast of burden. It required four years
of bloody war to transform him from the position of a thing and place
him in the ranks of men with a mere chance to struggle for actual
democracy. These circumstances have caused one of the most intricate
problems, the race problem. They have placed the American Negro in a
category by himself. They have brought about the peculiar situation of
a nation within a nation.
The teaching of Negro history would contribute much to the solution
of this complicated race problem. The solution of any problem depends
upon an adequate understanding of it. The most illuminating approach
to the race problem is the historical approach. The white man of
this country must be supplied with the real facts pertaining to the
Negro. If not, all of his generalizations will be mere verbiage based
upon tradition inspired by prejudice. To prevent a distorted social
perspective and to develop a wider community consciousness, the white
man should read history from the Negro's point of view.
For more than four centuries the Negro has been brought into contact
with the European white man. For the most part the Teutonic stocks
have regarded the Negro as a negative factor in history. The Latin
and Slavic races have been more kindly disposed toward him. They have
been disposed to give honor to whom honor is due regardless of race
or color. To them color has been an incident of birth, not a badge of
inferiority. In the annals of Russia Alexander Pushkin is recognized
as her national poet. France considered Toussaint L'Ouverture, one
of the most commanding figures of any age, a conspicuous example of
the possibilities of the pure-blooded Negro. She recognized Alexander
Dumas as her most distinguished romancer. Today she places this mantle
upon the shoulders of René Maran.
The white people of the United States consider their race to be men of
a superior breed and have ignored the Negro in recording European and
American history. In their desire to substantiate the theory of the
superiority of the white man and the inferiority of the Negro, they
have failed to publish or suppressed the truth about the achievements
of the Negro. They have looked for nothing praiseworthy in him; they
have widely proclaimed his faults and failures. Well did Macaulay say:
By exclusive attention to one class of phenomena, by exclusive
taste for one species of excellence the human intellect was
stunted. The best historians of later days have been seduced from
truth, not by their imagination, but by their reason. They far
excel their predecessors in the art of deducing general principles
from facts, but unhappily they have fallen into the error of
distorting the facts to suit the general principles. They arrive
at a theory from looking at a part of the phenomena; the remaining
phenomena they strain or curtail to suit the theory. In every
human character and transaction there is a mixture of good and
evil: a little exaggeration, a little suppression, a judicious
use of epithets, a watching and searching skepticism with respect
to the evidence on one side, a convenient credulity with respect
to every report or tradition on the other side may easily make a
saint of Laud or a tyrant of Henry IV.
The Negro's most important contribution to American history is his
unparalleled progress--his rise from poverty to wealth, from ignorance
to knowledge, from backwardness to civilization. No other race has
achieved more under the same conditions. No authentic history of the
United States, then, can ignore or exclude the Negro. The part which
he has played in American history has served largely to make the
nation what it is today.
The fidelity of the Negro slave to his master, his devotion and
loyalty to his country should constitute interesting historical
themes. Under the regime of slavery the Negro was literally bought and
sold like the very soil. His life was but one unceasing round of toil
and misery; his faith, his hope, and his ambition, were fettered down
with chains which he had no power to rend. Under these circumstances
he contributed two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil. With
the muscles of his brawny arms he cleared away the forests, tilled
the soil, and made the wilderness to blossom like the rose. With his
callous hands he has built railroads and cities in this country and
has thus made this a goodly land in which to live.
Every time a foreign foe has threatened this nation, the Negro with
unswerving patriotism and undaunted courage has contributed his full
quota of protection. With profound sincerity he has offered his
services to his country; with voluntary devotion he has laid himself
upon her altar. It was Crispus Attucks who rushed upon the plains of
Boston, struck the first blow and thus became the first martyr to
the cause of American independence. It was the Negro soldiers who
plunged dauntlessly into the face of death, scaled the heights of El
Caney and San Juan and brought victory to the American flag. It was
the black boys of the Ninth and the Tenth Cavalry that led the van and
spilt their blood upon the troublous soil of Mexico in order that the
dignity of the United States might be maintained. Negro soldiers were
among the first to carry the stars and stripes into the trenches upon
the gory field somewhere in France. These Negro soldiers have written
their names high upon the scroll of fame.
You cannot erase their record without destroying some of the most
important pages of American history. In the true annals of this nation
their illustrious deeds of valor and patriotism cannot be hidden.
Unobscured by prejudice these records shall shine forth and point out
to posterity some of the most daring exploits and some of the most
vicarious sacrifices. When the ponderous volumes of history rich with
the spoils of time shall unroll their ample pages before the eyes of
generations yet unborn, there in letters which he who runs may read
should be inscribed the names of Johnson, Roberts, Butler, and many
other black boys who staked their lives in the World War upon the
contention that the world should be made safe for democracy.
Teaching of Negro history to the white people will give them a broader
view. It will prove to them that the Negro has contributed a very
considerable portion to the wealth, population and resources of the
nation. It will engender a greater sympathy and a wider community
consciousness. It will prove that the Negro is imbued with the white
man's spirit and strives after his ideals. To the white man who truly
studies Negro history will come views of tolerance and a spirit of
justice, kindness, and helpfulness.
What benefit will accrue to the Negro from the teaching of Negro
history? If the purpose of history teaching in our schools is to train
for citizenship, what kind of a citizen will the Negro be, if the
history he studies does not comprehend his race? The education of any
race is incomplete unless it embodies the ideals of that race. The
histories taught in Negro schools were not written in contemplation of
the race. They were written for the white man and are the embodiment
of his ideals and prejudices. The teaching of Negro history to the
Negro youth is necessary to inspire race pride and arouse race
consciousness. The study of what his race has done under adverse
circumstances will animate the Negro youth to greater achievements.
By contemplating the deeds of the worthy members of his own race the
Negro youth will have his aspirations raised to attain the highest
objective of life.
Because of existing conditions the inevitable conclusion is, that
Negro history should be taught in all the schools of all races in
the United States. The history outline should provide that Negro
history supplement the regular text in United States history. The
teaching of Negro history will bring a knowledge of those essential
elements without which there can be no solution of the race problem.
Standing upon the vantage ground of history retrospecting the past
and prospecting the future, every real seeker of the truth can catch
a glimmer of the glory in the realization of the prophetic utterance:
"Princes shall come out of Egypt and Ethiopia shall soon stretch forth
her hand to God."
J. W. BELL.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] An address delivered before the Association for the Study of Negro
Life and History at Louisville, November 23, 1922.
NEGRO BIOGRAPHY[1]
Twenty years ago I became interested in the study of Negro biography.
I was anxious to know more about the personal histories of a score
or more of Negro men and women whose part in helping to make the
history of the Negro in the United States stood out pre-eminently. I
did not desire detailed accounts of their lives at that time, but I
did wish to know when and where they were born, how they made their
way to front rank, how they suffered, fought, and sacrificed, where
they spent their declining years, and when they passed away. I found
the field of Negro biography a neglected one. I set to work, in my
weak way, then, to bring to light the main facts in these personal
histories.
The early Negro historians seem to have placed little emphasis on
telling the interesting facts in the lives of the leaders of the race,
and these persons themselves, with a few exceptions, were too modest,
too busy, or too poor to publish their lives in book form. Josiah
Henson, Samuel Ringgold Ward, Frederick Douglass, William Wells Brown,
and a few others published their autobiographies. Unsatisfactory brief
sketches of Phyllis Wheatley, Benjamin Banneker, Crispus Attucks,
Lott Cary, and a score of others could be found here and there. Many
writers have attempted to make known the part the Negro group has
played in helping to make American history and civilization, but few
have brought to light the stories of the Negro men and women of might
and mark whose impress upon their generation gives evidence of our
onward march of progress.
Looking over the field of American Negro historiography one sees
a change in aspect and in tone. The early historian told the
chronicled story of the race as a separate and distinct narrative,
an independent, isolated tale of a people apart from the world. He
endeavored to show the part the Negro had played in making possible
his own progress. Today the Negro historian points to the fact that
the Negro's advancement is a part of the forward movement of the
world, and his progress in all the fields wherein he has labored is
a part of the general progress of mankind. The historian of today is
scientifically bringing to light the evidences as to the worth of
the Negro and his contributions to the uplift of the World. More and
more the historian is directing attention to the private lives of our
leaders. More and more the leaders themselves are recording their own
deeds, writing their autobiographies, and uncovering many inside facts
connected with movements with which they were identified and in which
they played conspicuous parts. But the personal histories of the old
leaders, "the Old Guard" of the race, remain unknown. The stories of
their lives, in addition to making rare literature, would shed light
on the past, teach race loyalty and pride, and give inspiration to
thousands of Negro youths who would find encouragement in their trials
and battles.
"Biography," says Lossing, "is history teaching by example." Every
race that has counted for much in history has had its heroes. Every
nation that has helped to build civilization got its inspiration
from within. Every nation that has left a record of value had its
ideal men and women, its patriots, its martyrs--its examples of
usefulness within itself. The white race seeks its ideals within its
own ranks. The Red man's ideal is his group. The Greek youth imbibed
the dare-and-do spirit from the tales of the Greek heroes. The Roman
fashioned his life after those citizens who fought and achieved for
Rome. Englishmen find their heroes among their own, and though they
admire and praise genius and usefulness in men of other nationalities,
their greatest men are those who played well their parts in helping to
expand the influence of England and to establish the British Empire.
The German gets his inspiration from German history. The Japanese
worships at the shrine of those of his country who have been factors
in giving Japan "a place in the sun." The Frenchman sees his examples
of true greatness in the men and women who sacrificed all for the
glory of France.
No race, no nation, no people whose ideals of manhood and patriotism
are without, can hope to be accorded full recognition by the world.
The Negro's ideal must be a Negro if he is to appreciate keenly his
own particular stock. The Negro's examples of achievement and devotion
must be found within his group, if he is to learn to serve the race
faithfully and intelligently. Its sages, its patriots, its heroes must
all be persons of color, men whose faces show the mark of Africa, if
the Negro youth is to develop that essential feeling commonly known
as race pride. Negro achievements must be taught to the young men and
women, if they are to learn to labor and to achieve, to do and to dare.
Negro biography stands out as the medium through which the youths of
the race can be taught to love the race more and to serve it better.
Negro biography is the main source from which the young Negro is to
get inspiration and encouragement. Negro biography is the door through
which he enters Negro history. Negro biography unlocks the past and
explains the present effectively and impressively. If we want our
children trained to love the race we must not only teach them what the
world is, what nations have accomplished, and what individuals within
the ranks of these nations have done toward helping to brighten the
path of life, but we must tell them of the sturdy characters of Negro
ancestry who have labored and struggled and triumphed and by their
contributions enriched the history of civilization. The appreciation
for the record of our own group will stimulate the youth to greater
endeavor.
The histories of nations are but narratives of what their citizens
have said and done. If, then, we would teach effectively the
chronicles of the nations, we must be answering questions, incessantly
responding to inquiries about the men and the women who blazed the way
and led their kinsmen to toil and suffer to bring to pass a happier
and a brighter day for themselves and their posterity. Such examples
of devotion to the cause of humanity, examples of consecration to
truth and righteousness, examples of goodness and greatness worthy
of the praise of all races and creeds, are found everywhere in the
ranks of the Negro race. If unearthed and popularized, these examples
would shed light upon the history of the race in the United States,
illuminate the general history of man, and inculcate a profound
respect for the Negro.
In connection with the Negro's early efforts at freedom and culture
mention is made of John Chavis, George Moses Horton, John Sella
Martin, George Liele, John S. Rock, James Varick, Andrew Bryan, Daniel
Coker, Peter Spencer, David Walker, John T. Hilton, David Ruggles,
William Whipper, James Monroe Whitefield, James McCune Smith, James
Madison Bell, Thomas Paul, Mary Shadd Carey, Jupiter Hammon, and
Samuel Ringgold Ward, about whose personal histories, Ward excepted,
little is known. And even in the case of Ward, his life after he left
the United States is almost a blank. Few people know what work he did
after making his home in Jamaica, and the circumstances under which he
passed away there. Let it be remembered that Frederick Douglass called
Ward the most brilliant Negro orator of the abolition cause. Would
not the story of his remarkable career be a valuable addition to our
history? He was one of the chief pillars of the anti-slavery movement.
Would not the true facts concerning the birth, education and early
life of Lieutenant Colonel William N. Reed, First North Carolina
Volunteers, or the Thirty-fifth United States Colored Troops, who
fell mortally wounded in the battle of the Olustee in 1864, make
interesting reading to arouse the imagination of the youth? A full
narrative of the life of Dr. John V. DeGrasse, the first commissioned
surgeon in the United States Army, would give a new idea of the
versatility of the Negro patriot. The life of David Ruggles, told
in detail, would be both informing and inspiring. His hatred of the
slaveholder and his love of freedom brought him to deal sledge hammer
blows at the institution of slavery and to oppose the colonization of
free Negroes in Africa. His manly appeal to reason and his eloquent
and convincing arguments against deportation did much to make friends
for Negro freedom. James W. C. Pennington, an honor alumnus of the
University of Heidelberg (Germany), deserves more consideration in our
history than will ever be given him because we know so little about
his life and labors. An eloquent preacher and a lover of justice and
truth, he won the praise of the good and the great in both America and
Europe.
How many American Negroes know the name of Joseph Colvis, a native of
the United States who won distinction during the Franco-Prussian War,
who was decorated by the French Government, and who retained till his
death his American citizenship? What Negro of the United States knows
the story of the last years of Edmonia Lewis, the sculptress, one of
the truly great products of the race? Her name should be made to live
by telling every youth of her wonderful career as an artist.
How many Negro youths know the names of C. H. J. Taylor, James Monroe
Trotter, John H. Jackson and J. McHenry Jones, four men of our own
time who successfully labored for the uplift of the race? Taylor and
Trotter were among the first to preach Negro independence in politics,
and Jackson and Jones infused new life into two State schools and
made these institutions mighty instruments of service in the uplift
of the race. What do we know of Whipper, Rock, Martin, Chavis, Jones,
Whitefield, pioneers all? of Bell, Varick, Coker, Cary, Bryan, Liele,
all but martyrs? What these men achieved, in spite of handicap, in
an environment unfavorable to progress by peoples of dark skin, has
won the admiration of the enemies of the race. Is there a student of
history who does not wish to know more about them? Unbiased historians
on both sides of the seas will some day find delight in doing them
honor.
Shall these heroes go unsung? Shall these makers of the history of
the race go unhonored? Should not their names become familiar to our
children and their struggles for truth and right the epics of the
fireside? Lest we forget, and lest our children never know them,
let us do our best to chronicle their deeds and to perpetuate their
memories. Let us do our part towards placing these heroes before the
world, erecting in their honor monuments in song and in story to
the end that coming generations may be inspired to serve their day
faithfully and aspiring youths everywhere be shown the path to true
worth and glory.
PAUL W. L. JONES.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] An address delivered before the Association for the Study of Negro
Life and History at Louisville, November 23, 1922.
HAITI AND THE UNITED STATES[A]
INTRODUCTORY
We do not generally speak of _American imperialism_. Such words are
incompatible. Imperialism in the United States, the land of the free
and the home of the brave, seems ironical. The degenerate, dying one,
however, gave birth to the vital, growing other. Imperialism is the
torch that fired the souls that flared and flamed forth in conquering
righteous anger and tore in twain the bond which held the British
Lion's restless brood intact and set one loose to roam apart a land
in which to breed and suckle a stock after its kind. It was thus the
United States had its beginning. Can it be the echo of that severed
bond still faintly heard shall prematurely die? drown in the clamor of
our near Imperialistic programme in the republics of Haiti and Santo
Domingo? Be that as it may, the sovereignty of Haiti and Santo Domingo
has been impaired, and their independence overthrown by the United
States of America. This is a fact against which no one holds a brief.
Whether we accept the interpretation of our country's actions in the
island republics by Earnest H. Gruening, Managing Editor of _The
Nation_, or that of Carl Kelsey,[1] Professor of Sociology at the
University of Pennsylvania,[2] whether we conclude with, what may
be termed conveniently "public opinion," or with the Investigation
Committee of the Senate,[3] is finally a matter of individual
judicature. To accept or reject, establish or refute, either
interpretation or conclusion would require a thorough study of the
character and motives of the men, and the nature, extent, and the
conditions under which the facts were collected. Such a survey would
lead us far afield in this dissertation.
Knowing as we do the importance of the Monroe Doctrine, we believe
the basis of the present Haitian-Dominican relation with the United
States to be found in our practical interpretation of that unwritten
law. There is another factor which, if possible, is paramount to the
Monroe Doctrine, our economic interests. The strength of a nation is
its wealth. In our economic interests upon which rests our political
government, and in the Monroe Doctrine--time honored, versatile
chaperon and guardian of them both at international fetes--are to
be found the official justification and true motives of the foreign
policy of the United States in Haiti and Santo Domingo.
SURVEY OF HAITI
Before proceeding farther, let us briefly review Haiti up to the
American Occupation. The story of the Santo-Dominican affair is
singularly similar to that of Haiti, and it needs to be referred to
only in the rare instances of dissimilarity.
Hispaniola or Haiti is the second largest island in the Antilles.
It lies between Cuba and Porto Rico. It was discovered by Columbus,
and the earliest Caucasian civilization in this hemisphere took root
there. The tomb supposed to hold the ashes of Columbus is in the
Cathedral of Santo Domingo. The eastern two-thirds of the island
is occupied by the Dominican Republic, the western one-third by
that of Haiti. The island was a French colony until 1804, although
the French claims were frequently disputed by the Spaniards, who
at various times established themselves in the eastern part, where
language and culture remained Castilian. Following nearly fifteen
years of struggle, which began when the Bastile fell, the natives
achieved their independence.[4] This revolution was unique in that
the revolutionaries, who had formerly been slaves, secured both the
political independence of their country and their personal freedom.
The republic of Haiti was established on January 1, 1804, the second
republic in the Western Hemisphere. In 1844 the eastern two-thirds of
the island seceded and set up the Dominican Republic.
The republic of Haiti continued free and independent until 1915.
During that one hundred and eleven years it had a troublous history.
The constitutional office for a president in Haiti is seven years, but
President Salomon, who held office from 1879 to 1886, is apparently
the only such functionary to fill out his term of office. He was
overthrown within two years after his reelection for a second term in
1886.
This drama may be reduced to read thus: In 1804 Dessalines was crowned
as emperor. Two years later he was assassinated; and war broke out
between Christophe and Petion. In 1807 Christophe became king under
the title of Henry I, but had upon his hands annoying strife. In
1811 Petion was made president of the southern part of the island
and civil war ensued. Boyer was declared regent for life in 1820 and
after tremendous insurrection and flow of blood Christophe committed
suicide. In 1843 Boyer was deposed and exiled after a revolution.
In 1844 Santo Domingo, the Spanish port of the island, became an
independent republic in spite of the efforts of the French portion
to subdue it. Herard, the next ruler, was exiled after a rule of one
year. Then came Guerrier and Pierrot, each of whom could hold out one
year only. In 1846 Riché was proclaimed president but he passed away
within twelve months. In 1849 Soulouque was declared emperor after
many wars and much bloodshed. He managed to rule in some way until
he was exiled in 1859. Geffrad then became president and ruled until
1867 when he was exiled. From 1856 to 1867 there followed a dreadful
revolution when Salnave revolted, taking refugees from the British
consulates and killing them. An English ship drove them out and
helped Geffrad who, however, was finally banished. Salnave was then
made president with a new constitution; and the revolt was suppressed
amidst torrents of blood. From 1868 to 1870 there was continual
revolution, but Salnave massacred his enemies, proclaimed himself
emperor, and thus reigned until he was finally defeated and shot.
In 1874 after Nissage Saget had completed his term of four years,
Domingue seized the government, but after bloody revolution he was
exiled in 1876. Then came another bloody revolution when Canal seized
power but after a stormy reign he was exiled in 1879, when Salomon was
elected. Salomon was reelected in 1886 but was deposed and exiled in
1888. Then came civil war between Hippolyte and Légitime resulting in
the temporary success of Légitime, who held sway for one year only.
In 1889 Hippolyte was chosen chief executive and he died in office
in 1896. Sam who became president that year had trouble with Germany
and numerous disorders in the country. In 1902 Sam took all the funds
and left the country. In 1902 General Alexis Nord was proclaimed
president, and he was retired by revolution in 1908 when the powers
sent warships to stop massacre. Cincinnatus Lecompte was elevated to
the presidency in 1911 and was killed in 1912. Tancrede Auguste, who
succeeded him, met the same fate the following year. Michall Oreste,
the next unfortunate, served into the year 1914 when he was dethroned
by the usual upheaval; and so suffered Zamor in 1914, and Guillaume
who was killed in 1915. On July 28, 1915, United States forces landed
at Port-au-Prince and began the present Occupation.[5]
SURVEY OF SANTO DOMINGO
National and domestic conditions of Haiti are popular knowledge. It is
unnecessary to go into that upon which all students of Latin American
countries are agreed. Accordingly we make no mention of the form of
government and detailed exposition of its operation in this country.
It is not agreed that Santo Domingo is as well known. The total
area of the Dominican Republic is over 19,000 square miles, or
somewhat more than the combined areas of the States of Vermont and
New Hampshire. The country is divided by a great central range whose
highest peaks rise to 9,000 or 10,000 feet, forming valleys like
Constanza, whose elevation is over 3,000 feet. The first census of
the Dominican Republic ever taken was completed in the summer of
1921. This showed a total population of 894,587, a little over 45 a
square mile, or about one-fourth the density of Haiti. The crop areas,
rainfall being heavy in the vicinity of the central range, indicate
fairly accurately the location of the mass of the population. The
people are a mixture of Negro, Indian, and Spaniard with the Negro
strain predominant. Among them, as in Haiti, the question of land
ownership is important. There is no system of deeds by which titles
are registered. As the country has never been surveyed, titles are in
confusion.
The agricultural methods of the Dominicans do not differ materially
from those of the Haitians, but modern machinery is rapidly appearing.
Conservatively it might be said that the Dominican farmers are more
prosperous than the Haitian. One finds here the culture of cane,
cacao, tobacco, and bananas to a greater extent than in Haiti, but
these crops are not efficiently handled.
The most valuable crop of the country is sugar. Owing to the enormous
cost of the mills, sugar is produced chiefly on large plantations. Of
these there are about a dozen, most of which are today under American
control. Two of the largest are La Romana in the east and Barahona
in the west. In the former the investment is estimated at $7,000,000
with 16,000 acres in cane and a labor force of 7,000. Barahona is a
new plantation which was grinding the winter of 1921 for the first
time. The investment here is said to be over $10,000,000. A splendid
plant with adequate provision for houses for the employees has been
built. Besides sugar there are a few other industries including a
little manufacturing. Factories are not numerous in the country, but
at Puerto Plata, there are a match factory, a few distilleries, and
two cigar factories turning out excellent products, and they are owned
and operated by Dominicans. It is an open question whether forces
and influences of this kind will do more to advance and stabilize
these countries than all the resorts to force of military control and
occupation.
Some transportation facilities and a few other economic factors of
interest are observed. There are two lines of railroads doing a
general business, with a combined mileage of about 150 miles. The
Dominican Central Railway runs from Puerto Plata through Santiago to
Moca, 60 miles. This was built by foreign interests but was taken over
by the government in 1908. The second road, the Samaná and Santiago
Railway, runs from Moca to Samaná with branches to San Fernando
de Macoris and La Vega. No railroad runs from the northern to the
southern part of the country. On the sugar estates in the south there
are 225 miles of private roads. There is also a short line of some
five miles connecting Azura with its ports. An excellent beginning had
been made in road building. The engineers of the American forces since
the occupation have carried it farther. There are docks at Puerto
Plata, La Romana,[6] San Pedro de Macoris, Santo Domingo and Barahona.
Elsewhere lighters are used. The Clyde Steamship Line has had a
monopoly much of the time in the trade with the United States. Now
at least two other lines send freight steamers regularly. The French
line gives direct connection with Europe, and there is also frequent
communication with Porto Rico.
A study of the statistical table of commerce indicates a very
gratifying increase in the total foreign trade but a considerable
part of the increase after 1914 was due to war time prices, just as
the terrible slump which came in 1921, and had little relation to
production. The output of sugar has been increased from 85,000 tons in
1910 to about 185,000 in 1920. A large part of this commerce is with
the United States. For instance, in 1919-20 the United States trade
represented 77 per cent of the imports and 87 per cent of the exports.
13 per cent more of the imports were from Porto Rico, and to that
island went 26 per cent of the exports. The rapid increase in commerce
brought great prosperity to the country. Then came the reaction,
disastrous to creditors, many of whose accounts were settled for 35
cents on the dollar. The country, however, is relatively undeveloped,
which means its day is yet ahead. Schvenrich is correct in speaking of
Santo Domingo as the country with a future.
Religion, education, and politics come next in this hurried survey.
The Roman Catholic Church is dominant in this country. With the
exception of a few Franciscans all the priests are natives. The
Protestant churches in the country are few and small.
Education is still in a backward state. In 1915 the Dominican
Republic did not own a single school building. Rural schools did not
exceed eighty-four in number. The total school enrollment was about
18,000. While there were some public schools in rented buildings
dependence seems to have been placed on the private subsidized
schools, and the amount granted was determined wholly by political
influence. The teachers were irregularly and poorly paid. A commission
appointed by the government investigated thoroughly the educational
situation and because of its findings prepared and recommended the
following laws: (_a_) Compulsory school attendance; (_b_) school
administration; (_c_) general studies, literary, law, and theological
courses; and an (_d_) organic law of public education, and school
revenues. The educational institutions now total: (_a_) 647 rural
schools--enrollment 50,000, the chief work being in agriculture; (_b_)
194 primary schools; (_c_) 7 secondary and normal schools; (_d_) 6
industrial schools for girls; (_e_) 2 schools of fine arts; and (_f_)
2 correctional schools and the Central University at the capital. The
total school attendance is 100,000, and the total number of teachers
is 1,468.
The constitution establishes a representative form of government--a
republic. The government is of executive, legislative, and judicial
branches. The national congress meets annually at the capital, Santo
Domingo, on February 27 for a period of 90 days, which may be extended
60 days if necessary. It is composed of a senate of 12 members, one
from each province, and of a chamber of deputies of 24 members, two
from each province. Senators are elected by indirect vote for a term
of six years, and the senate is renewed by thirds every two years.
Deputies are elected by indirect vote for a period of four years, and
the chamber is renewed by half every two years. Suffrage is free to
all male citizens over 18 years old. The President is the executive
authority of the republic. He is elected for six years by indirect
vote. There is no Vice-President. The cabinet is composed of seven
functionaries: the Secretary of Interior and Police, Secretary of
Foreign Affairs, Secretary of Treasury and Commerce, Secretary of War
and Marine, Secretary of Justice and Public Instruction, Secretary
of Agriculture and Immigration, and Secretary of Promotion and
Communications.
The chief judicial power resides in the Supreme Court of Justice,
which consists of a president and six justices chosen by Congress, and
one Procurador Fiscal General appointed by the executive to serve for
a term of four years, and sitting at Santo Domingo. The territory of
the republic is divided into twelve judicial districts, each having
its own civil and criminal tribunal and court of first instance. These
districts are subdivided into communes, each with a local justice.
There are two courts of appeal, one at Santiago de los Caballeros, and
the other at Santo Domingo City. For administrative purposes these
twelve provinces are subdivided into communes. The provinces are
administered by governors appointed by the President as are the chief
executive officers of other political divisions.
EARLY INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Let us now direct attention to the early international relations
of Haiti and Santo Domingo with the United States. For many years
recognition of the little state by certain world powers fearing the
disastrous effect on their slaves, was withheld. The French, moreover,
under the constant threat of reinvasion, succeeded in exacting a
90,000,000 franc indemnity for the property of Frenchmen expelled in
the Haitian war of independence. Charles X of France then recognized
the republic. Recognition by the United States did not come until the
presidency of Abraham Lincoln. Until recently, however, Haiti has had
only one significant attraction for the United States. The important
relations of Haiti with this country from then until 1915 amounted
chiefly to negotiations and efforts to secure the cession of Mole St.
Nicholas, a harbor, at the northwestern extremity of the island. It
controls the Windward Passage, and the United States desired it for a
naval base.
Notwithstanding the insistence of the United States that Haiti grant
her Mole St. Nicholas for naval use, the harbor did not change hands.
The Haitians adhered firmly to the constitutional provision, which
forbade the cession of territory. During 1914 and 1915 the United
States began overtures of a different character. A treaty giving
American control of the customs and finances was proposed. The cession
of Mole St. Nicholas appears also in the early exchanges. In October,
1914, William J. Bryan, Secretary of State, wrote to President Wilson,
urging the immediate increase of our naval forces in Haitian waters,
"not only for the purpose of protecting foreign interests, but also
as an evidence of the earnest intention of this Government to settle
the unsatisfactory state of affairs which exists." More naval vessels
were sent, and at the same time the United States offered to assist
the President of Haiti to put down some threatened revolutionary
disturbances. As certain conditions were attached to this assistance,
it was refused. In November and December modifications of previous
treaty drafts were again submitted. They proposed the control and
administration of the Haitian customs by the United States, and were
again refused for reasons similar to those given above. On December
13, 1914, American marines from the United States Ship Machias landed
in the Haitian capital and removed property of the country without the
consent of the people.
The recent Dominican situation may be said to have begun on November
19, 1915. A draft giving the United States military and financial
control was presented to President Jimenez of the Dominican Republic
one week after the final ratification by Haiti of its similar treaty.
It was rejected. In the following April, impeachment proceedings were
entered upon against the President in the Dominican Congress. On May
4, 1916, during some revolutionary disturbances, and without warning
to the Dominican Government, American marines were landed near Santo
Domingo. The American minister at that time gave assurance that these
forces were solely for the purpose of protecting the American Legation.
On the eleventh of May Frederico Henrique Y Carvajol was nominated for
president of the republic in the Chamber of Deputies and confirmed by
the Senate on the twenty-third of May. On the thirteenth of May, the
American minister formally notified the Dominican Government of the
intention of the United States Government to land a large armed force
and to occupy the capital, threatening bombardment of the city and
unrestricted firing upon the natives, if in any way they interfered
with the landing of the American forces. On the eighteenth of May
the American minister notified the Dominican Congress that Carvajol
was not acceptable to the United States as President. On the fifth
of June the American minister gave a formal notice to the Dominican
Government that the Receiver General of Customs would take charge of
all the finances and funds of the Government. Under the treaty of
1907 with the United States one of its citizens appointed by this
country was in charge of the collection of customs of the Dominican
Republic. It was his duty under this treaty to turn in all but the
sum of $100,000 monthly to the Dominican Government. All above this
$100,000 was to go, one half to the Dominican Government for its own
uses, the other half to the sinking fund of the loan contracted under
the treaty. On the sixteenth of June, following orders from Washington
the Receiver General of Customs took charge of all revenues,--internal
as well as customs revenues which alone were stipulated in the treaty
of 1907--and set himself up as disbursing agent of the republic. Then
followed a series of protests, exchange of notes and the like. On
November 26, 1916, there was issued a "proclamation of occupation" by
the United States, followed by martial law, but the Dominicans refused
to ratify the acts of the Military Government. The occupation here
continued more than five years.
These and similar acts in both Haiti and Santo Domingo aside from
questions of expediency, justification, or best interest have given
rise to the present situation. Up to this time the United States
Government has published no complete and comprehensive explanation of
these acts. The answer to the question of motives is not to be found
in surface considerations; not even the unlimited popular accounts
convince us that this country is not adhering to a principle, to an
accepted and subscribed policy, no matter how secret it may be.
THE UNITED STATES IN THE LARGER CANAL ZONE
When the United States secured Panama from Columbia she entered upon
a new era. With the centralization of a large portion of our wealth
in this section of Latin America came the recognition by statesmen
that our political interests would have to expand accordingly. Then
our attitude took on an air of aggression which, conflicting with
our ideals, gives rise to varied conjectures upon our Latin American
policy, and especially our policy in the Caribbean Sea.
There were steps made towards securing a coaling station or naval
base even prior to our ownership of the Panama Canal Lands. In 1867
Admiral Porter and Mr. F. W. Seward, the assistant-secretary of state,
were sent to Santo Domingo for the purpose of securing the lease of
Samaná Bay as a naval station. Later President Grant sent Colonel
Babcock to the island to report on the condition of affairs. Babcock,
without diplomatic authority of any kind, negotiated a treaty for the
annexation of the Dominican Republic and another for the lease of
Samaná Bay.
The Spanish American War was the occasion for the advance of the
United States into the Caribbean. From this conflict we acquired Porto
Rico and a protectorate over Cuba. Furthermore, too much importance
can not be attached to the Hay-Pauncefote treaty of 1901 in studying
this expansion of the United States in that sphere. By this convention
Great Britain abjured her claim to an equal voice with the United
States in the control of an Isthmian Canal and withdrew her squadrons
from the Caribbean Sea, leaving us the naval supremacy in this
important strategic area.
Immediately following these occurrences came the episode of the Panama
Canal. To review briefly a long told and well known story, the United
States Government had not been successful in its attempt to secure
from Columbia the treaty it sought for the building of the Isthmian
Canal. In 1903 a revolution broke out in Panama, and Columbia failed
to coerce effectively the insurgents, hindered, it is asserted, by
the far reaching influence of the Roosevelt Administration. As soon
as this revolution got in full swing the United States recognized
Panama, and negotiated the long sought treaty. By the year 1903 we had
acquired the canal zone. The determination to build a canal not only
rendered inevitable the adoption of a policy of naval supremacy in
the Caribbean Sea, but led also to the formulation of new political
policies to be applied in the larger Canal Zone, that is, the West
Indies, Mexico, Central America, Columbia, and Venezuela. These
new policies are: (_a_) The establishment of protectorates, (_b_)
the supervision of finances, (_c_) the control of naval routes,
(_d_) the acquisition of naval stations, (_e_) and the policing and
administration of disorderly countries. This program of policies has
afforded this country many opportunities for expansion in these areas.
AMERICAN SEAS A COMMERCIAL CENTER
Prior to the completion of the Panama Canal the American Seas, the
Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, for many years had been silent
waters. The Panama Canal has reversed these conditions. The important
trade routes of the world will pass about these islands and over these
seas, and they will be noisy with the whirl of the propeller and
bright with the sail of ships. A great part of American commerce and a
larger part of the traffic of the world will be through the American
seas between the walls of this canal and by the shores of Haiti. These
seas will become more popular with commerce than any other section of
the world. They will be a gathering place and crossing point for the
east and the west, and their possession, either forcibly or otherwise,
will carry with it more potentiality than the possession of any
other body of water on the face of the earth. It will be absolutely
necessary, says this country, so to speak, that the outposts of the
canal shall be in the hands of strong and stable governments, and it
cannot be thought that the harbors necessary for that commerce and
the islands by which it will pass, and in whose broad bays it will
be compelled to anchor, shall be ripe with revolution and dangerous
to that commerce. This country which is practically guardian of this
commerce must allow to obtain no condition which will be a daily
menace to this unusual trade.
In all of these communities the commercial diplomacy of our time will
have a growing interest, an interest greatly enhanced by the fact that
through the Caribbean, the traffic center of the American tropics,
will pass the trade routes developed by the Panama Canal. Both the
competition for the control of the trade which lies within their
borders, and the fact that before their ports passes the commerce of
distant countries, will give to Caribbean communities an importance
in international affairs they have not had since the days when the
Spanish Empire in America was at its height and the people of one of
the great world powers depended for its prosperity on the arrival
of the gold ships from its American colonies. The fortunes of the
Caribbean are no matter of merely local interest. They involve, to
a degree still unappreciated, the world at large and especially the
American continents, both North and South. Upon the solution of the
problems which arise there may depend the character of international
and economic development in America. The importance of the new
position in which the Caribbean region stands is brought home by
almost every development in American international affairs.
Caribbean problems take on another important aspect when we remember
the wonderful possibilities of economic development. Partly acting as
a cause of this trade development, partly one of its results, there
is going on a steady and rapid influx of foreign capital. The English
financing of the Argentine is familiar to students of Latin-American
history. In recent years, with the establishment of order in Mexico,
that country has attracted large amounts of foreign investments.
The departure of Spain from Cuba and Porto Rico was the signal for
a rush of investors to these islands to develop resources which
mistaken fiscal policies and local unrest had formerly kept unused.
Foreign capital exploits the sugar, tobacco, coffee, cocoa, fruit,
oil, and asphalt. These investments are scattered among all the great
commercial nations. They give an international character even to
purely internal improvements. Economic interests now tend to overflow
national boundaries and to make the orderly development of every
state truly a matter of general concern. Under the Monroe Doctrine we
practically say to European nations they shall not for any cause lay
their hands heavily upon a country in this hemisphere, which, with the
added responsibility as trustee for the world in the possession of the
Isthmian Canal, makes it dependent upon the United States, it is said,
to keep order.
HAITI'S COMMERCIAL POSITION
This policy of aggression has only one explanation. Next to Cuba,
Haiti is the island of the greatest strategical influence in the
Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. The two important routes to
the mouth of the canal from North America are, first the route by
the Windward Passage between the island of Cuba and the island of
Haiti; second, the route by the Mona Passage between the island of
Haiti and the island of Porto Rico. This latter passage will be that
chiefly used by the sailing vessels to and from the canal to the
eastern portion of North America. The other important passage to the
mouth of the canal is the Annegada Passage by the islands of St.
Thomas and Porto Rico, and will be the route used from the isthmus
to the Mediterranean and Central Europe. The travel to the British
Islands and northern Europe will also use the Mona Passage between
Haiti and Porto Rico. In other words, every ship sailing from Canada,
New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Newport News, Charleston or the
eastern coast of North America on its journey to the Latin American
world of commerce will be compelled to pass by the island of Haiti,
either through the Windward or the Mona Passage, and the travel to the
greater part of Europe will use the Mona Passage by the east coast of
Haiti. This world-wide commerce in case of stress and storm, according
to the business world, must utilize this island in the necessities of
sea life. It is the first convenient harboring place on its way to
the Canal, and on its return it is the last stopping place. It will
be as necessary to the commerce of this country as Malta or Aden or
Gibraltar are to the Suez route. It lies athwart the greatest commerce
that will cleave the seas. With the friendly influence of Cuba and
Haiti the commerce of the United States will have a tremendous
advantage in case of war or unfriendliness on the part of any nation,
even if Jamaica is held by an unfriendly power. Modern nations with
the shortening of trade routes, the touching of countries, and their
demand for sure commercial conditions, are unfortunately arriving at
the thought that there is no inalienable right on the part of any
people to control any region to the detriment and injury of the world
at large.
SUMMARY
While many believe that the United States has thrown aside her lofty
ideals to take on a program of imperialism, there is a growing
colonial interest and expansion which does not, probably due to the
very nature of conditions, extend these ideals. Whether the condition
is one acceptable to us or not, says the business world, we are
no longer merely a continental power. We already hold an Asiatic
colony. A weak African state founded from this country has asked us
for a protectorate and is already under our benevolent supervision.
Toward the south we hold a colony, Porto Rico, and are the protectors
of Cuba, Panama, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti. We have
responsibilities in Nicaragua.
That the end of this development has come is highly unlikely.
Political parties may differ as to national policies, internal and
external, but they will bend before the natural cause of economic
and political development. Our latest three administrations, those
of Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson, have represented widely divergent
political views, but the general policy of all toward the Caribbean
countries has been fundamentally the same, and the Harding
administration has not yet departed therefrom. All have been willing
to "assume increasing responsibilities toward our weaker neighbors"
to secure economic advantage. It has been a development which is the
response of the nation to its larger economic and political interests
in the Larger Canal Zone.
Whilst this government disclaims any desire for conquest, yet the
great advantage in the world movement and in the vital commercial
affairs of the globe, the commercial world says, demand that the peace
and safety of this hemisphere shall not be needlessly and wickedly
broken, and that the peace, happiness and safety of this nation and
the commerce of the world within the bounds of our governmental life
shall not be imperiled in the future as they have been in the past.
The tremendous impetus, which under the world movement of today has
been so potent and plain, demands order in all the affairs and details
of life. The conditions of the time and the dependence of one part
of the globe upon the other, brought about by the easy interchange
between the nations, mean that no disorder in that great world
commerce can be tolerated. Unstable governments are unwelcome to a
diplomacy which has as one of its controlling motives the creation of
an extensive international exchange, especially when these governments
are of races despised by the Teuton. Weakness of government may
lead in the future, as it has in the past, to the rise of acute
international questions. In recent years there have been many examples
of the complications which may rise out of such conditions.
The areas referred to as the Larger Canal Zone have received great
attention from this country. In fact our latest Latin-American
diplomacy, which has as one of its controlling motives the creation
of an extensive international exchange, is for these areas. Our
economic interests have made demands upon our political life, the
Monroe Doctrine has lighted the way and we have come forward with new
policies. Haiti, it has been said, is not to be set apart and dealt
with particularly in this new diplomatic program; it is but a factor
in our "American Seas" interest, a vital economic and political part
of our present-day American life. The subsequent questions of impaired
sovereignty and overthrown independence, say the aggressors, should
not obscure the real policies. Nor is it fair to accuse the United
States of a lack of appreciation and respect for the governments of
peoples of this section of the world.
Finally we are told: America stands at the dividing of the ways. Are
we to pursue the ideals of "All men are created free and equal" with
the equally idealistic form of government, or are we to keep pace with
our commercial and economic expansion and accept the complementary
program of economic imperialism? We are informed that the trend of
our political policies is one of colonization; that colonization
with respect to Western European Civilization is contradictory to
democracy; and that a program of colonization at a time when racial
and national antipathy exceed even individual expression, are all
demonstrated by the refusal of our government to acknowledge and
commit itself to any definite political program in these island
republics. Our government, the defenders say, has occupied these
republics apparently fearful of European intervention. Entering upon
this policy committed to no program, with a lack of centralization
of authority into one of the many departments of the government, it
has caused much confusion. Obviously the position in which we find
ourselves in Haiti is one of embarrassment and one which has affected
the prestige of our country detrimentally. American statesmen are
put to task. Shall our government admit and support its economic
imperialistic policy inseparably from the added political burden
accompanying our Panama Canal enterprise, profiting, thereby, upon
the commercial importance of the canal; or shall it long continue the
dexterous fête of keeping eyes and hands on democratic ideals with
both feet in the path of imperialism? Our new policy is an economic
imperialistic policy. The world wishes to know if we will admit it and
announce our intentions in these regions, or whether we shall continue
our imperialistic policy under the veil of the Monroe Doctrine held in
position by the idealistic principles of democracy.
GEORGE W. BROWN.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] This dissertation was submitted to the Graduate School of Western
Reserve University in 1922 in partial fulfilment of the requirements
for the degree of Master of Arts.
[1] _Current History_, Vol. XV, No. 6, March, 1922.
[2] _Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science_,
Vol. C, No. 189, March, 1922.
[3] _Treaties and Conventions between the United States and other
Powers._
[4] In the preparation of this article the following works were used:
_Tyranny by the United States in Haiti and Santo Domingo_, by Earnest
H. Gruening, Managing Editor of _The Nation_, in CURRENT HISTORY,
Volume XV, No. 6, March, 1922; _Latin America, Clark University
Addresses_, November, 1913, edited by George H. Blakeslee, Professor
of History, Clark University; _Caribbean Interests of the United
States_, by Chester Lloyd Jones, Professor of Political Science,
University of Wisconsin; _The United States and Latin America_, by
John Holladay Latané, Professor of History, Johns Hopkins University;
_The American Intervention in Haiti and the Dominican Republic_, in
THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE,
Volume C, No. 189, March, 1922, by Carl Kelsey, Ph.D., Professor of
Sociology, University of Pennsylvania; _The Monroe Doctrine and Its
Application to Haiti_, by William A. MacCorkle, Former Governor of
West Virginia, in THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF POLITICAL AND
SOCIAL SCIENCE, Volume LIV, July, 1914; _The Haitian Revolution_, by
T. G. Steward; THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY, Vol. II, No. 4, October,
1917; _Independence of South American Republics_, by F. L. Paxson; and
_Treaties and Conventions between the United States and Other Powers_,
Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C.
[5] These facts are well set forth in Steward's _Haitian Revolution_.
[6] This dock belongs to a sugar company, but it is open to others.
PAUL CUFFE[A]
CHAPTER I
EARLY LIFE
The records tell us that on the sixteenth day of February, 1742, in
consideration of the sum of one hundred and fifty pounds, Ebenezer
Slocum of Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, sold to John
Slocum of the same city a Negro man.[1] He was about twenty-five
years of age and a native African whom, doubtless, a slave trader had
brought over some fifteen years before. This Negro was Cuffe by name
(also spelled Cuff, Cuffee, and Cuffey) and, in conformity with the
custom at that time was called Cuffe Slocum to indicate his master.
While the name of the slave does not appear in the bill of sale yet,
since the bill is a part of the family papers of his son, it must have
been Cuffe.
There exists among the Negro's descendants a tradition that this slave
with the aid of his master worked out his purchase price and obtained
his liberty. It may have been that John Slocum purchased the Negro
with this end in view. At any rate a grand-daughter relates how on a
rainy morning when all, including Cuffe, were seated at the breakfast
table, a justice of the peace appeared with papers of emancipation.[2]
Having received his liberty at an unexpected moment, Cuffe knew not
what to do. Seeing his bewilderment, the gracious squire and the
quondam master gave him temporary employment and, when he was ready
to leave, advised him to lead a steady life, take good care of his
money, and get him a home. With this advice, two suits of clothes, and
freedom, the manumitted slave went happily away.
Now it happened that about this time there came to Dartmouth an
Indian girl called Ruth Moses. In due time the town clerk recorded:
"Intention of marriage between Cuffe Slocum and Ruth Moses both of
Dartmouth, was entered 3 January 1745."[3] The rest of the story is
told by the minister of Dartmouth in these words: "July ye 7, 1746,
Cuffe Slocum a Negro man and Ruth Moses an Indian woman both of
Dartmouth were married by me Philip Taber."[4] These two records tell
us all we know of the courtship and marriage of Cuffe Slocum.
Probably the newly-weds made their home in Chilsmark, Dukes County.
The deed to some land which they bought in 1766 from David Brownell
of Dartmouth refers to Cuffe Slocum of Chilsmark. The land was a farm
of one hundred and twenty acres and sold for six hundred and fifty
Spanish milled dollars. As indicated in the deed, the boundary was:
"Northerly on the Country Road, Westerly on Land belonging to Jonathan
Sowle, Southerly on Land Enos Gifford gave to his Daughter Rachel
Wilbur, Easterly partly on said Gifford and partly on Philip Allen, or
according to the Deed I had of Solomon Southwick."[5]
All of the children, except the youngest, were born previous to this
purchase. There were six girls and four boys. The youngest boy and the
seventh child born January 17, 1759, was Paul. Tradition holds that he
was born on Cuttyhunk, one of the Elizabeth Islands, about nine miles
from the main, and Cuffe himself says that he was born in the only
house on the island.
About 1778, on the initiative of Paul, it is said, all of the
children, except the youngest, dropped the slave name of Slocum. For
their surname they used the given name of their father. In this way
the Cuffe family came to be, and in this way we are introduced to its
best known representative, Paul.
John, an older brother of Paul, made this memorandum which is
preserved with the family papers: "My honored good old father Cuffe
Slocum deceased in the month called March 1772--and our honored good
old mother Ruth Slocum deceased the sixth day of January 1787 at 8
o'clock in the morning." The father left the farm jointly to Paul
and his brother John. Later the brothers agreed to divide it between
themselves. It was unproductive land and, no doubt, this fact caused
the brothers to venture into commercial pursuits. The care of the
family fell for the most part on them, for the older children had
homes of their own.
At thirteen Paul was barely able to read and write. He kept at his
studies, being assisted occasionally by a private tutor, and gave
considerable time to the subject of navigation. On taking his first
lesson in this subject he said it "was all black as midnight"; at the
end of the second lesson he saw "a little gleam of light"; after the
third lesson he had more light. Finally, it was all plain to him. He
told a certain Professor Griscom: "There were always three things that
I paid attention to--latitude, lead, and lookout."
A SEA CAPTAIN
When about sixteen Paul secured employment as a common seaman on a
vessel bound for the Gulf of Mexico on a whaling voyage. His next trip
took him to the West Indies. On a third voyage, the Revolutionary War
having broken out, he was captured by the British and held in New York
for three months. On his release he repaired to Westport to engage in
agricultural pursuits until the times were more propitious for life
on the sea. In the meantime he carried on the study of arithmetic and
navigation.
Having equipped himself for a life at sea both by study and service as
a common seaman, Paul, aided by his brother David, built, at the age
of twenty, an open boat to trade with the Connecticut people. But the
hazard of the sea and the refugee pirates were too much for David. He
left his younger brother and went to the farm, whereupon Paul had for
the time being to give up the venture. Soon, however, he was at sea
again but lost everything. The undaunted youth, nevertheless, would
not give up. He made a boat himself from keel to gunwale, and in it he
started to consult his brother concerning future undertaking. On the
way he was discovered by the pirates who seized him and his vessel. He
was lucky to reach home.
He was now no better off than when he first began. David, however,
agreed to build a boat for him if he would furnish the material. When
the boat was completed Paul, with borrowed money, bought a cargo and
started for Nantucket. On the way he was chased by the pirates and
compelled to return to Westport to refit his boat which was damaged by
striking a rock. He still persevered, reached Nantucket, and sold his
cargo. Financially it was not a profitable voyage.
On a second voyage the pirates robbed him of his cargo and inflicted
personal injuries, but a third voyage netted good returns. Soon
he procured a covered boat and employed a helper. From now on the
business adventures of Cuffe brought him large profits. The war was
over and the new Constitution was in operation--two reasons why the
sea was safer and business more promising. With his new eighteen ton
boat he sailed from his rented home on the Westport River for Saint
George for a cargo of codfish. The voyage was the foundation for a
profitable fishing industry near his home for many years.
At this time Michael Wainer, his brother-in-law, an Indian, entered
his service. His brother-in-law was a good seaman and with a new
twenty ton vessel, the _Sunfish_, the men made two trips to the Strait
of Belle Isle and Newfoundland. With the profits from the ventures he
built in connection with another person, the _Mary_, a forty-two ton
schooner.
In the _Mary_, accompanied by two small boats, and with a crew of
ten, they went on a whaling expedition to the Strait of Belle Isle.
On reaching the Strait, Cuffe found four other vessels fully equipped
with boats and harpoons. These vessels would not, as was customary,
cooperate with Captain Cuffe, so he and his crew went at it alone.
Now fearing they might get no whales the strangers fell in with the
_Mary_. Seven whales were captured, six by the crew of the _Mary_. Two
whales were the victims of Cuffe's own hand. Reaching Westport in the
autumn of 1793 he proceeded to Philadelphia with his cargo of oil and
bone and exchanged it for bolts and iron with which to build a new
vessel.[6]
Accordingly the keel for a sixty-nine ton vessel was laid at Westport
and in 1795 it was launched. He called it the _Ranger_. With a cargo
valued at $2000, he sailed for Norfolk on the Chesapeake. From here
he went to Vienna on Nanticoke River to buy corn. On reaching port
it is said the townspeople "were filled with astonishment and
alarm. A vessel owned and commanded by a black man, and manned with
a crew of the same complexion, was unprecedented and surprising.
Suspicions were raised, and several persons associated themselves
for the purpose of preventing him from registering his vessel, or
remaining among them. On examination, however, his papers proved
to be correct and, therefore, the custom house officers could not
legally oppose proceeding in a regular course. Paul combined prudence
with resolution, and on this occasion conducted himself with candor,
modesty, and firmness; his crew also behaved not inoffensively but
with conciliating propriety. In a few days the inimical association
vanished, and the inhabitants treated him and his crew with respect
and even kindness."[7] Another writer affirms "Many of the principal
people visited his vessel, and at the instance of one of them, Paul
dined with his family in the town."[8] The investment in corn proved
so profitable that a second voyage was made to Vienna. On the two
trips Captain Cuffe cleared about $2000. The _Ranger_ also made a trip
to Passamaquoddy to get a cargo for James Brian of Wilmington.
In 1800 there was launched the _Hero_, a hundred and sixty-two ton
bark, in which Captain Cuffe had one-half interest. This vessel, on
one of its trips, rounded the Cape of Good Hope. In 1806 the _Alpha_
was fitted out. This was a ship of two hundred and sixty-eight tons
in which the Captain had three-fourths interest. Captain Cuffe with
a crew of seven Negroes commanded the _Alpha_ in a voyage from
Wilmington to Savannah, thence to Gottenburg, Sweden, and from there
to Philadelphia. Cuffe also owned one-half of the one hundred and nine
ton brig, the _Traveller_, built in 1806. Of this ship more will be
said elsewhere.
Captain Cuffe was now slightly beyond middle age. Instead of a small
open boat, trading with the neighboring townsmen, he had obtained
a good sized schooner. "In this vessel," to quote from the funeral
oration, "he enlarged the scope of his action, trading to more distant
places, and in articles requiring larger capital, and thus, in the
process of time, he became owner of one brig, afterwards of two,
then he added a ship, and so on until 1806, at which time he was
possessed of one ship, two brigs, and several smaller vessels, besides
considerable property in houses and lands."[9]
FAMILY AFFAIRS
In the Cuffe manuscripts there is a laconic note chronicling this
important event in Paul's life.
Bristol, Dartmouth. February 25, 1783. There personally appeared
Paul Cuffe and Alice Pequit both of Dartmouth and was joined
together in marriage by me.
BENJ. RUSSEL, _Justice of Peace_.
Other than that she was an Indian girl, little is known of this bride.
She, like the groom's mother, probably belonged to the Wampanoag
tribe. Paul's sister Mary married an Indian and there is reason for
believing that his brother Jonathan also wedded an Indian. Certain it
is that it was not uncommon for Negroes and Indians of this vicinity
to intermarry.
For several years Captain Cuffe lived in a rented house. But in 1797,
when he had such a successful venture in importing corn from Vienna,
he purchased a $3500 farm on the shore of the Westport River, a few
miles below Hip's Bridge. He soon built a wharf and a store house.
At Westport Captain and Mrs. Cuffe made their home and reared their
family of two sons and six daughters.
At the time of the purchase of the new farm the neighborhood was
without educational facilities. There was neither school house nor
tutor. This situation was displeasing to Cuffe. He called a meeting
of the neighbors and proposed that steps be taken for adequate
educational equipment. So much difference of opinion resulted that no
agreement could be reached at this initial meeting. Subsequent efforts
were alike unsuccessful. At last Cuffe built a school house with his
own funds on his own farm and offered its use to the public.[12]
One wonders what books were read in his own home. Among his papers a
few items relate to the purchase of books. A representative one reads:
Taylor's Concordance $1.25
Perry's Dictionary 1.00
Clerk's Magazine 1.25
Bowditch Navigators 4.00
Paper .53
$8.03
The religious affiliation of the family was with the Friends. The
parents of Captain Cuffe had attended the meetings of the Quakers and
it was the natural course for the son to follow them. According to the
records of the Westport monthly meeting of Friends, Cuffe requested
membership with that body in 1808. He was faithful to his profession
of Christ. He was considerate of the little folks, for he presented
them with Bibles and good counsel and endeavored to set before them
an example of righteous conduct. He must have believed that children
should have something to do, for in a letter to his brother, he points
out that his nephew Zacharis is lying around too much. Moreover, he
writes:
I observe that my son Paul has brought home a gun that he borrowed
of his Uncle John which I dare say his good uncle lent unto him
out of pure love and good will for the want of due consideration,
for in the first place I have two guns in order and make but
littel use of them which is enough as Christ said unto Peter
by the sword. My wife well knows that it is but littel time
since Paul got my powder and loaded a logg and Charles fired it
and it was wonderful that he had not been killied again he has
lately sold his trunk to be abel to gratify himself in these
unnecessary evils which we hath disapproved of. Now to support him
in that we both disapprove I think that it is for the want of
watchfulness.[14]
Two nieces were entrusted to his care. Although they had good "school
learning for girls" Cuffe wished them to continue their studies.
Later, when he became the guardian of two grandchildren, he began
making arrangements to put them in the New York Yearly Meeting School.
The Westport Friends sold their meeting house in 1813 for $128.72 and
erected a new one costing $1198.08. Material costing almost $600,
including "nine gallons of cider when raising house--$1.00" was
furnished by Captain Cuffe. It is impossible to state just how much if
any of this material was furnished gratis but it is safe to say that
he carried a heavy responsibility in overseeing the business end of
the matter.