"And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in
his hand, shall surely be put to death."
_Exodus xxi. 16._
1. Throughout this work I have numbered the _paragraphs_, a practice
which I find to be attended with numerous advantages. The work was
published in Philadelphia in 1817.
2. The reader will perceive, that Mr. TORREY, the author of the work
here presented to the public, has mixed his reflections with his
narrative of facts. A different arrangement would have tended to
clearness. But, as applicable to the English reader, there is a defect
of greater importance; namely, the want of a description of the relative
extent and situation of the Countries or States, in which this
abominable slave trade is carried on. The author speaks of the _Middle
States_, and the _Southern States_. He speaks of _Maryland_, of
_Delaware_; and, then again, of _Georgia_, _Carolina_, _Mississippi_;
but the English reader ought to be told, and have pretty clearly
explained to him, how these several Countries lie with regard to each
other; and, that he may judge of the magnitude of the evil, he ought to
be informed over how large a part of the whole of the United States
Slavery does actually extend. He ought further to be informed of the
nature of the Governments, and of the laws, as far as these latter
relate to Slavery. For, he must otherwise naturally be astonished to
find that this dreadful traffic is carried on with impunity. He hears
Mr. TORREY talk of Judges, Senators, Governors, Presidents, speaking
against this traffic; and yet he finds it most vigorously carried on;
and actually making a part of the internal trade of the Country; at
which he is utterly astounded, so often hearing the _virtues_ of
Republicans sounded in his ears, and being informed that Mr. JEREMY
BENTHAM is actually engaged, at this moment, in the Southern Peninsula
of Europe, to teach the art of Constitution-making upon the American
plan. The book stands, therefore, in need of a Preface to explain these
matters a little; and such Preface I am now doing myself the honour to
write.
3. For want of a map, I must resort to a description by words. The
States lie in the following order, along the side of the Atlantic from
North to South, _Maine_, _New Hampshire_, _Massachusetts_, _Rhode
Island_, _Connecticut_. The four latter are called the New England
States, _Maine_ being a new territory or State lying to the North and
going on to the British territory of _New Brunswick_. After Connecticut,
going on to the Southward, come _New York_, _New Jersey_,
_Pennsylvania_, _Delaware_ and _Maryland_. These five are called the
_Middle States_. Then come, on to the Southward, _Virginia_, _North
Carolina_, _South Carolina_, _Georgia_ and the _Floridas_. These are
called the Southern States. Then, going back to the North again,
_Vermont_ lies in at the back of the four New England States, on the
western side of a long ridge of mountains. At the back of Pennsylvania
are the States of _Ohio_, _Indiana_, and the district of the ill-fated
creatures that have followed Mr. BIRKBECK, called the _Illinois_. At the
back of _Virginia_ is _Kentucky_, at the back of North Carolina is
_Tennessee_, at the back of _South Carolina_ and Georgia and _Florida_
are _Alabama_, _Mississippi_ and _Louisiana_. Some of these are not yet
recognised as independent States. Now then, all to the South of
_Maryland_, front and back, containing ten States, and, I believe,
_Indiana_ into the bargain. However, all to the South of _Maryland_ is
real unmodified, unmitigated, unrestrained Slavery; and this is that
part of the United States which produces tobacco, cotton, sugar, and
rice. This is the rich part of the United States; twice as extensive as
all the rest; continually growing in population and cultivation; and, as
Mr. TORREY observes, containing a larger portion of personal slavery,
than any other part of the globe.
4. So much for the _Geography_ of the subject. Now, as to the
_Governments_, this is the state of the case. The _United States_ (with
the exception of a small spot to be mentioned by and by) extend from
Canada and New Brunswick, which lie to the North, to the Gulf of Mexico
on the South, seeing that the Floridas are now to make part of this
territory. They extend to the west, from the Atlantic Ocean to the
Pacific Ocean. Great part of this western territory is, as yet, wholly
uninhabited by white people. But, the Country is inhabited more or less
thickly from the North to the South on the side of the Atlantic, and the
space between the utmost points is about seventeen hundred miles. This
territory is divided into _States_, each of which is independent of all
the rest. Each has its Chief Magistrate, its Legislature, its Judiciary,
and its own Code of Laws. It raises its own internal taxes; has its own
Militia; and is, in fact, an independent State, with the following
exceptions; namely, that it has nothing to do, and can have no
particular connexion, with any Foreign Nation; can make no laws with
regard to external commerce; can make neither peace nor war; and is
bound to join the other States in case of war or peace. These matters
are all left to the _Congress_, which is composed of a President, a
Senate, and a House of Representatives. This body manages the affairs of
the whole Country as far as relates to peace and war, and as far as
relates to external Commerce, and to all connexions with Foreign
Nations.
5. So that the Congress can make no Law touching the internal economy
and jurisdiction of any of the States, each of which, may pass what laws
it pleases, so that those laws do not contravene the common compact,
contained in the document, or, act of Congress, usually denominated the
_Constitution of the United States_. Now, that compact does by no means
prohibit the existence of Slavery; but, on the contrary, _expressly
recognises its legality_; and this was one of the _conditions_, upon
which the Union was founded.
6. As to the several States, Slavery did exist in all, except, perhaps,
_Indiana_ and _Ohio_; and, I believe, there also. I mean that it existed
without any _modification by law_. That is to say, Slaves and the
children of Slaves were as much a white man's property as horses and the
young ones of horses. In _Maryland_ (we are now going towards the North)
there is now a mitigation of some sort; also in _Delaware_,
_Pennsylvania_, _New Jersey_, _New York_, _Vermont_, and the _New
England_, States. I do not know whether an _absolute abolition_ has
taken place in any State; though I believe it has. In the State of _New
York_ the law made all free that were born after a certain period; and
after another certain period, those born slaves were to become free. I
cannot take upon me to say exactly how the thing stands with regard to
these States; but I believe, that if you bring your slave into a State
with you, he does not become free by that act of yours; and that, if he
escape from you and go into one of these States, he may be lawfully
seized as a slave and taken away. _Delaware_ State and _Maryland_, which
lie to the South of _Pennsylvania_ and join on to _Virginia_, appear, as
the reader will find, to be the principal theatre of the Slave Trade,
though, as will be seen, the villains who carry on the traffic have the
audacity to carry it on even in the City of _Philadelphia_.
7. So much for the States. Now, which is very material to observe, the
_Congress_, that is to say, the _Government of the Union_, has had
allotted to it a _territorial jurisdiction_, exclusive of all the
States. This spot is on the _Potomac River_, which divides _Maryland_
from _Virginia_. The territory thus allotted is a piece of land ten
miles square, in the centre of which is the City of Washington. Now, we
shall find this spot to be the very focus of the Slave Trade. The reader
will see, in paragraph 46. an account of a drove of chained Negroes
marching under the _Capitol_ of this very City; and Mr. TORREY gives an
account of Members of Congress standing at the threshold of the
building, viewing, on their march by, a troop of manacled slaves, one of
whom raised up his manacled hands towards the building, while he sang,
what Mr. TORREY calls the favourite National Song, "_Hail Columbia,
happy Land! Hail the freest of the free!_" This spot is called the
_district of Columbia_; and on this spot, Mr. TORREY tells us Slaves
were employed when he was there, to re-erect the building burned down by
the British. Yea, Slaves employed to raise up the magnificent Temple of
Freedom!
8. With this sketch before him, the reader will enter on this public
spirited, humane, and highly meritorious gentleman's book with a
tolerable chance of pretty clearly understanding the state of the matter
as a whole. The book will Speak for itself; and it will have this
effect, amongst others, as far as it go, namely, to convince us, that we
ought not to be incessantly railing against West India Slave Holders,
while we see Slavery existing to such an extent, and the Slave Trade
carried on with such shocking cruelty, in a Country which, throughout
the world is famed for its _freedom_. There are acts recorded in this
book; acts committed with perfect impunity; that West India Slave
Holders would be put to death for attempting; a fact which, amongst
thousands of others that might be cited, proves, that there is no
tyranny equal to that, which is practised under the names and forms of
liberty.
9. The Congress of America have passed a resolution to authorize their
Ambassador to negociate with our Government for the sending out of a
joint squadron of Observation to the coast of Africa, to prevent a
violation of the treaties relative to the Slave Trade. I trust that our
government will not tax the blood and bones of Englishmen for any such
purpose, while Negroes, free as well as enslaved, can be killed with
impunity in the United States, and while a trade in the bodies of slaves
actually forms a part of the internal commerce of that Country, the
magazines of which commerce are in the very spot where the Congress
holds its sittings.
10. I do not bring any accusation against the people of the United
States generally, and particularly to the North of Maryland. It has
required great virtue and self denial to do what has been done in the
middle and Northern States, in order to get rid of this stain upon the
Country. In the parts where I have lived, and where there is any thing
of Slavery remaining, I have always observed great gentleness and
goodness in the owners towards their slaves, whom they treat with great
kindness and care, and whom they feed and clothe exceedingly well. But,
while I have always heard them lamenting the existence of Slavery in
their Country, I cannot be so unjust, I cannot act so unnatural a part,
as to conclude that _our own West India Planters_ must be cruel and
brutal; seeing that Slavery exists to so great an extent in America,
notwithstanding the very prevalent and strong disposition to do it away.
How great must be the difficulty to accomplish this, let the reader
judge; and how foolish, then, must the Government of this Country be, if
it think to accomplish any thing similar to it, merely, because the
thing is called for by a set of visionaries, or, what is worse, by a set
of hypocrites, who, by an appeal to the best feelings of the popular
heart, knowing all the while that they are misleading the understanding,
endeavour to gratify their own selfish ambition!