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THE JOURNAL
OF
NEGRO HISTORY
Volume V
1920
Table of Contents
Vol V--January, 1920--No. 1
The Negro in Education LORETTA FUNKE
Negro Migration to Canada FRED LANDON
Richard Hill FRANK CUNDALL
Negroes and Indians in Massachusetts C. G. WOODSON
Documents
Book Reviews
Notes
Vol V--April, 1920--No. 2
Negro Public School System in Missouri HENRY SULLIVAN WILLIAMS
Religious Education DAVID HENRY SIMS
Aftermath of Nat Turner's Insurrection JOHN W. CROMWELL
Documents
Correspondence
Book Reviews
Notes
Vol V--July, 1920--No. 3
The Slave in Canada WILLIAM RENWICK RIDDELL
Book Reviews
Notes
Vol V--October, 1920--No. 4
The Return of Negro Slaves ARNETT G. LINDSAY
The Negro in Politics NORMAN P. ANDREWS
Henry Bibb, a Colonizer FRED LANDON
Myrtilla Miner G. SMITH WORMLEY
Communications
Documents
Some Undistinguished Negroes
Book Reviews
Notes
THE JOURNAL
OF
NEGRO HISTORY
VOL. V., NO. 1 JANUARY, 1920.
THE NEGRO IN EDUCATION[1]
In the early history of America there were three types of
settlements--the French, Spanish, and English. In the French Provinces
the teachings of the "Code Noir" made it incumbent upon the masters to
teach the slaves, at least to read, in order, of course, that they
might read the Bible; and in the Spanish districts the Latin custom of
miscegenation prevented the rise of objections to the teaching of
slaves, in case there should be any who cared to instruct the Negroes.
In the English Provinces, on the other hand, since teaching the slaves
would probably result in their becoming Christians, the colonists
naturally were strenuous in their efforts to prevent any enlightenment
of the blacks, due to the existence of an unwritten law to the effect
that no Christian might be held a slave. Many planters forbade the
teaching of their slaves, until finally the Bishop of London settled
the difficulty by issuing a formal declaration in which he stated that
conversion did not work manumission.[2]
The rudimentary education of Negroes was one of the first claims on
pioneer Christian teachers. Although the _Negro Year Book_ for 1914-15
makes note of a public school for Indians and Negroes established in
1620, according to Brawley and Du Bois, the first schools to be
established were private institutions.[3] In New York City in 1704 a
school was opened for Negroes and Indians by Elias Neau and in 1750
Anthony Benezet established an evening school for the blacks in
Philadelphia. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
established in Charleston in 1744 a mission school, in which two
Negroes were employed to instruct their fellowmen. The free Negroes in
Charleston established a school in 1774 and those in Boston started a
school in 1798. In 1764 the editor of a paper in Williamsburg,
Virginia, opened a school for Negroes and in 1800 a schoolhouse and
350 acres of ground were left by the will of Robert Pleasants to be
used for the benefit of Negro children.[4] About this same time in
Newark, New Jersey, the Kosciusko School was established by means of a
sum amounting to $13,000 left by Kosciusko for the education of the
Negroes.[5] In the Middle West private schools had been organized by
manumitted Negroes.
St. Frances Academy, established in Baltimore in 1829, by The Colored
Woman's Society, was the first school for colored girls. An institute
for Negro children was established in 1837 in Cheyney, Pennsylvania,
with the $10,000 left by Richard Humphries. By 1838 there were
thirteen private schools in Philadelphia for the education of the
Negro and in 1849 Avery College was established in Allegheny. Many of
the schools were organized by church societies. The African Methodist
Episcopal Church purchased in 1844 120 acres of land in Ohio upon
which was opened the Union Seminary in 1847. This church later in
co-operation with the Methodist Episcopal Church, North, established
Wilberforce University in Ohio in 1856. Oberlin College in Ohio was
opened in 1833 and Ashmun Institute, which later became Lincoln
University, was established in 1854 in Pennsylvania. Nevertheless,
there was in certain parts much opposition on the part of the
citizens, evidenced by the mobbing of a young Quaker woman, Prudence
Crandall, in Canterbury, Connecticut, in 1832, for having opened a
school for Negro children; and in 1835 by the removal from the town of
Noyes Academy in Canaan, New Hampshire, a school which had opened its
doors to Negroes.
The efforts toward education for the Negro were disconnected and
unorganized, while the laws opposing such education were fast
increasing, so that the results seem very astonishing, despite the
fact that so little was really accomplished. As early as 1740 South
Carolina enacted a law forbidding the education of Negroes or the
employment of slaves as scribes. Ohio in 1848 forbade Negroes and
mulatoes to attend schools. Indiana enacted no law against Negro
education but in 1850 omitted the Negroes from the school tax, which
in turn resulted in their expulsion from education in that State. In
1852 Delaware enacted a law declaring the schools free for all white
children over five years of age. In spite of all the regulations and
severe laws opposing the education of the Negro many "clandestine
schools" were held in Charleston, Savannah, and New Orleans before
1860.[6] The private schools increased in number rapidly during the
early nineteenth century among the free Negroes in the District of
Columbia and the border States. They were less numerous in the South
except in certain particular districts. In Washington, D.C., and New
Orleans it is reported that at the opening of the Civil War there were
about twenty schools for Negroes established.[7] It is also estimated
that in the slave States in 1860 there were 4,000 free Negro children
in school.[8] These figures, however, are relatively small in
comparison with the numbers and economic standards of the free
Negroes. In 1836 in New Orleans alone the freedmen numbered 855, owned
620 slaves, and held property whose assessed value equaled
$2,462,470.[9] By 1860 the total number of free Negroes was 487,970,
or about one ninth of the entire black population;[10] but the
majority of these freedmen were in the rural districts, whereas the
educational opportunities were in the cities, so that in 1863, with
only 5 per cent of the Negro population literate the problem was
indeed difficult, as far as the education of the black race was
concerned.
The next period in the education of the Negro was a decade of the
establishment of schools by the carpet-bag governments, mission
societies, and the Freedmen's Bureau. Some of the schools established
by the Negro carpet-baggers became very efficient. For example, in
Florida, Jonathan C. Gibbs, a Negro graduate of Dartmouth, succeeded
in founding in that State a splendid system of schools, which remained
even after the fall of the carpet-bag governments.[11] The American
Missionary Association was the first benevolent organization to take
up the work of education. The plan of this association was to
establish one school of higher learning in each of the larger States
in the South; normal and graded schools in the principal cities; and
common and parochial schools in the smaller country places. As a
result of this program, the principal institutions established were
Hampton Institute, Atlanta University, Fisk University, Straight
University, Talladega College, Tougaloo University, and Tillston
College.[12] The American Baptist Home Mission Society started work in
1862, which resulted in eight schools: Atlanta Baptist College and
Virginia Union University for men; Spelman Seminary and Hartshorn
Memorial College for women; and the coeducational institutions, Bishop
College, Benedict College, Shaw University, and Jackson College.[13]
In 1866, just before the beginning of the work of the Freedmen's
Bureau in education, the schools so far established had in attendance
nearly 100,000.[14] The Freedmen's Bureau had been established in 1865
by an act of Congress and by 1867 it reported 1,056 Negro teachers and
in 1870 the number was increased to 1,342. During the five years of
its work, this bureau established 4,239 schools in the South, with a
total number of teachers of 9,307 and of students, 247,333.[15]
Howard University, established in 1867, was one of these institutions.
The Freedman's Aid Society was organized by the northern Methodists in
1866 and to-day this society supports fifty institutions, ten of which
are collegiate.[16]
At the end of this period many religious agencies were establishing
schools. The Episcopalians established the St. Paul Normal and
Industrial School at Lawrence, Virginia, and St. Augustine's in
Raleigh, North Carolina. The Roman Catholics opened St. Joseph's
Industrial School at Clayton, Delaware; St. Augustine's Academy and
St. Frances' Academy. Besides these they have in the United States 87
schools for Negro children cared for by 24 sisterhoods.[17] The
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church has established twelve
institutions, four colleges, one theological school, and seven
secondary schools.[18] The Presbyterian Board of Missions has
established Biddle University in North Carolina, five seminaries for
girls, and 70 academies and parochial schools.[19] The work of this
period was not only constructive as far as Negro education was
concerned, but it also affected the life of the white population as
well by instituting public school systems in "regions where public
schools had been unknown,"[20] bringing about a new attitude in the
South toward public schools in general, since the whites up to this
time had, in the words of Colonel Richard P. Hallowell, "regarded the
public school system in the North with contempt."[20]
Toward the end of this period a new type of education was introduced
by the founding of Hampton Institute in 1875. This marked the
beginning of the period of industrialism, the purpose of such
education being to give the Negro children "combined mental, moral and
industrial training."[21] Following the founding of Hampton, Tuskegee
Institute was established; also being an industrial school. With
these two institutions as centers, the ideals of the industrial
propagandist radiated in all directions, finally permeating the whole
educational system, not only that of the Negro, but the educational
system of the schools for white children as well.
Although separation of the black and white children in the public
schools is forbidden in fourteen of the States, the law requires the
separation of the children in the following States: Alabama, Arkansas,
Delaware, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana,
Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas,
Virginia, and West Virginia. In Arizona, Indiana, Kansas, and Wyoming,
the boards of education are given the power to decide the question.
Eleven of the States of the Union make no provision in their laws one
way or the other[22] Separation is demanded in the private schools in
Kentucky, Florida, Tennessee, and Oklahoma. The law in Kentucky was
created at a time when it affected only one institution--that of Berea
College, which was established in 1856 for the education of
anti-slavery whites and was opened to Negro students after the Civil
War. In 1904, the date of the passage of the law, this college had 927
students, 174 of whom were Negroes.[23] All of the Northern States
have compulsory education, but only two of the Southern States,
Kentucky and Missouri, have enacted such laws. This does not mean, of
course, that these laws are enforced, nor is this a key to the amount
of education obtained in proportion to the population, but it does
indicate the difference in opportunities for education between the
Northern and Southern States.
In regard to the elementary education of the Negro children the whole
situation is rather discouraging, but great progress has been made and
one may hope for still greater progress in the future. The increase in
facilities for education between 1866 and 1870 was quite marked, with
a corresponding increase in the number of pupils, as shown by the
following table:
INCREASE IN EDUCATION FROM 1866 TO 1870[24]
+==========+===========+===============+==========+
| Date | Schools |No. Teachers | Pupils |
+----------+-----------+---------------+----------+
| 1866 | 975 | 1,405 | 90,778 |
| 1867 | 1,839 | 2,087 | 111,442 |
| 1868 | 1,831 | 2,295 | 104,327 |
| 1869 | 2,118 | 2,455 | 114,522 |
| 1870 | 2,677 | 3,300 | 149,581 |
+----------+-----------+---------------+----------+
The total expenditure for education during this period was $5,879,924.
There was in 1870, however, only about one tenth of the Negro children
of school age in school. Later, from 1889 to 1909, the number of
children enrolled greatly increased:
PERCENTAGE OF PERSONS 5 TO 18 YEARS ENROLLED[25]
Date White Colored
1889-1890 66.28 51.65
1899-1900 72.32 57.67
1908-1909 74.76 58.34
In the first year more than half the children were in school, a decade
later the increase was practically the same in the case of the Negro
children as it was in the case of the white children, but nine years
later the percentage had risen over 2 per cent in the case of the
white children and had decreased in the case of the blacks. The census
report of 1910 shows the percentage of Negro children enrolled in
school to be but 47.3 per cent, a decrease of 9 per cent. The average
attendance of the Negro children amounted to about one-third of the
number enrolled.[26] For these children there were 28,000 teachers, or
in other words, one teacher to every group of 57 children; whereas the
teachers for the white children averaged one to 45. The report of the
Commissioner of Education in 1909 gives a total number of school
children in the slave States of 3,054,888, instructed by 9,000 school
teachers--3,114 males and 5,886 female.[27] According to this report,
there would only be one teacher to every group of 184.35 children.
This seems an impossible number, so that one feels that surely
something must be wrong with the report. The training of these school
teachers is not of the highest, nor do they have a great deal of
training. The State School Commissioner of Georgia gives the following
report of conditions there:[28]
326 teachers with normal certificates,
129 teachers with first grade certificates,
476 teachers with second grade certificates,
2,037 teachers held third grade certificates.
The expenditures for all the children equaled $46,000,000, but the
Negro children who were one third of the total number received but one
seventh of this sum. For 231,801 Negro children South Carolina spent
$366,734.28, or $1.58 per capita, whereas Massachusetts spends $27 per
capita each year, and the District of Columbia spends $35.21. The
South Carolina school tax is heavier than the tax in Massachusetts,
but this State spends only $3.82 per capita for white children.[29]
Louisiana spends 93 per cent of the school funds for the white
children, and 7 per cent for the colored, making a per capita
expenditure of $16.60 for the white children and for the Negro an
expenditure of $1.59. The District of Columbia spends more for the
colored children than for the white, per capita expenditure: white,
$20.82; Negro, $21.87.[30]
The rural schools, as may be expected, are in a worse condition than
those of the city, in regard to equipment, teachers, and especially in
subject matter relating to the adjustments to a rural community.
Nevertheless, it seems that there is much more progress being made in
these schools than in those in the city. Baily in his _Race Orthodoxy
in the South_ describes a visit to what he terms a typical rural
school.[31] "There were no desks and only a small fragment of a
blackboard in one corner. The teacher showed signs of having very
little education himself and used no methods whatsoever in teaching.
There was only one whole book for the entire reading class. The pupils
came at all hours of the day and left whenever convenient for them.
When the teacher was asked how many pupils were enrolled in the
school, he answered that there were sixty." Mr. Bailey remarks that,
after glancing over the room, he fancied there were sixty "acomin' and
agoin'."
The Negroes in the rural communities have practically no literature
with the possible exception of a few patent inside newspapers carried
on by the heads of one or the other Negro orders.[32] The amount of
elevating reading matter may be judged by the type of advertisements
which run along the line of "hair-dressing that makes kinky hair soft,
pliant and glossy," and also of experiments of surgeons with the X-ray
in making black skin white. Among the books furnished in the schools,
nothing contained in them relates in any way to rural life.
In 1908 in North Carolina the average length of term for the rural
Negro school was 82.1 days,--the average length for all Negro schools,
including high schools, being 93 days. In this State there are 195 log
schoolhouses and 2,216 of the Negro schoolhouses are furnished with
home-made desks and benches. The rural Negro teacher receives an
average salary of $22.48 per month and the city Negro teacher receives
but $30.20.[33] The conditions in the agricultural communities in the
North seem to be better than those in the South. 20,700,000 ruralites
in the South average 7,000,000 children of school age, 4,400,000 of
whom are enrolled in school with an average attendance of 2,700,000.
In the North, on the other hand, 20,700,000 ruralites average
6,000,000 children, 4,500,000 of whom are enrolled, with an average
attendance of 3,200,000. For the South there are 92,000 school
teachers, whereas there are 158,000 in the North. School property in
the South is valued at $42,000,000 and in the North at $217,000,000.
The school revenue is $26,000,000 and $92,000,000 respectively. Per
capita expenditure in the South is under $10 and in the North it is
almost $30. The South spends only 16 cents on each $100 valuation, and
the North 20 cents.[34]
Many signs of progress are visible in the South, due mainly to the
influence of industrial institute graduates who attempt to reorganize
the rural districts with more or less success. One graduate of
Tuskegee seems to have met with unusual success in Hinds County,
Mississippi.[35] The Negroes in this community outnumber the white
population seven to one, but out of 40,000 of the inhabitants 13,000
can neither read nor write. In five years this graduate has built up
an industrial school with a farm of 1,500 acres, three large and
eleven small buildings, one large plantation house and thirty farm
houses. The school property is valued at $75,000, and he has started
an endowment fund in order to make the work permanent. In Macon
County, Alabama, improvements have been rapid. In five years' time
through the influence of a changed school system the value of the land
has risen from $2 an acre to $15 and $20. It is reported that crime
has been reduced to a negligible quantity. At the last sitting of the
grand jury there were only 17 cases of all kinds.[36] The "Rising
Star" School in West Virginia through a change in teacher and
curriculum has affected the community in as equally astonishing
manner. Not only are the homes of the farmers improved, but the number
of land-owning citizens has also increased. Even the religion preached
has been greatly changed with the introduction of industrial
training.[37] There is one school fund which is for the purpose of
improving rural conditions, that is the Jeanes Fund amounting to
$1,000,000, the interest on which is to be used for the rural schools
in supplying competent teachers as supervisors to introduce industrial
training. The influence of this fund together with the influence of
Hampton and Tuskegee Institutes seems to be the hope of the future for
the rural districts.
In the matter of secondary education, high schools for the Negroes are
practically lacking. In Atlanta with a Negro population of 51,902
Negroes; in Savannah with 33,246; and in Augusta with 18,344, there
are no Negro high schools whatsoever.[38] The following table shows
the distribution of the 156 high schools for Negroes[39] (1913):
Alabama 6 Maryland 1
Arkansas 4 Mississippi 10
Delaware 1 Missouri 14
District of Columbia 2 North Carolina 3
Florida 6 Ohio 1
Georgia 14 Oklahoma 5
Illinois 5 Pennsylvania 1
Indiana 6 South Carolina 13
Kansas 1 Tennessee 9
Kentucky 8 Texas 37
Louisiana 1 Virginia 4
West Virginia 5
The increase in the number of high schools in the Southern States from
year to year is shown by the following:[40]
============+==============+============+==============
Year | High Schools | Year | High Schools
------------+--------------+------------+--------------
1899-1900 | 92 | 1905-1906 | 129
1900-1901 | 100 | 1906-1907 | 121
1901-1902 | 99 | 1907-1908 | 106
1902-1903 | 123 | 1908-1909 | 112
1903-1904 | 131 | 1909-1910 | 141
1904-1905 | 146 | |
------------+--------------+------------+--------------
Apparently there is no effort in the South to supply high schools for
the Negro. The General Assembly of Georgia passed a bill to establish
high schools in all of the congressional districts of the State.
Eleven were established and supported by a fertilizer tax, most of
which was paid by the Negroes who numbered 45.1 per cent of the
population of the State, and 80 per cent of whom lived in the rural
districts. None of these schools, however, were for members of the
Negro race.[41]
The founding of the two most important industrial schools has been
mentioned before. Hampton Institute which was founded by the American
Missionary Society in 1868 now consists of 113 buildings, including
the instructors' cottages.[42] 76 of these buildings were erected by
student labor. There are 120 acres to the Home Farm and 600 acres to
Shellbanks, six miles from the Institute. The enrollment in 1910 was
875, or 1,399 including the Normal Practice School. Tuskegee Institute
which began with one hoe and a blind mule now possesses 2,000 acres of
land, 800 of which are cultivated each year by the young men of the
school. During 1903, 33 trades were taught to over 1,400 men and
women. By means of this work, the students pay more than one half of
their expenses. Of the sixty buildings, all but four were almost
wholly erected by students, even to the making of the bricks.[43]
Although the average Negro was greatly antagonistic regarding this
training at the beginning of the work at these institutes and many
protests were heard from all sides, Mr. Washington stated in _The
Negro Problem_ that it has been several years since they have received
a protest from parents against teaching industrial training.[44] The
graduates of Tuskegee have established more than fifteen similar
schools in the South.[45] Among those established are Voorhees
Industrial School, Robert Hungerford School, Snow Hill Normal and
Industrial Institute, Topeka Normal and Industrial Institute, Port
Royal Agricultural School, and Mt. Meigs Institute.
No one of the Negro institutions for higher learning has as yet become
a fully equipped university. No one of the institutions maintains a
graduate school. Howard University is the only one that has even
started graduate work.[46] The real influence of the college has been
to prepare men to be leaders in education, as may be witnessed by the
fact that out of the 5,000 Negro college graduates in the United
States 54 per cent are teaching, while 20 per cent are preaching.[47]
The following table shows the number of college graduates by
decades:[48]
==========+===============+==========+===============
Year | No. of Grads. | Year | No. of Grads.
----------+---------------+----------+---------------
1820-29 | 3 | 1870-79 | 313
1830-39 | -- | 1880-89 | 738
1840-49 | 7 | 1892-99 | 1,126
1850-59 | 12 | 1900-09 | 1,610
1860-69 | 44 | |
| +----------+---------------
| | Total | 3,856
----------+---------------+----------+---------------
The distribution of the college Negro is indicated in the
following:[49]
Districts No. of Graduates
New England States 16
So-Northern Atlantic States 42
No-Southern Atlantic States 92
So-Southern Atlantic States 276
E-Northern Central States 61
W-Northern Central States 47
E-Southern Central States 141
W-Southern Central States 99
Rocky Mountain States 2
Basin and Plateau States 3
Pacific States 3
Outside U. S. 2
Unknown 18
Total 802
103 of these graduates were born in the North, 65 or 63 per cent of
whom remained in the North and 35 or 34 per cent migrated to the
South; 682 of these were born in the South, 102 or 15 per cent of whom
went to the North, and 563 or 82.5 per cent remained in the South.
This shows that the tendency of the college graduate is to remain in
the South where he is most needed.
Of the graduates of 107 colleges which are not Negro institutions 79.2
per cent or 549 have been men, and 20.8 per cent or 144 have been
women. Of 2,964 graduates of 34 Negro colleges, 82.7 per cent have
been men and 17.3 have been women.[50] This difference may be due to a
greater economic standard of the Negro in the North, since the
colleges admitting Negroes which are not Negro institutions would be
in the North, and to the fact that more Negroes would be located near
educational institutions in the North than they would be in the South.
From another report the average age for the women graduates was 21-1/3
years, and the average for the men was 22-3/16 years. There seems to
be a tendency of the age to increase, as shown by the following:[51]
1880-1890 the average age was 21 years for men and women.
1890-1900 the average age was 22 years for men and women.
1900-1910 the average age was 22-4/10 years for men and women.
Of the 24 graduates reported 16 were under 35, and one was over 50.
Of 799 graduates 67.3 per cent of the males were married, and 31.1 per
cent of the females were married. Among these graduates there are only
two cases of divorce, one man and one woman. The ages at which they
married were for the men between 25 and 34 and for the women between
20 and 29. The families averaged four children. The death rate among
the children has not equalled one child per family.[52]
Statistics taken in 1913 of 258 schools show the college students to
be only 4.1 per cent of the entire number of Negroes in schools. If
the college graduate were in proportion to the population their number
would be about five times as great as it is at present.[53]
The Negroes have contributed in all lines to a large extent toward
their own education. Since 1865 religious and philanthropic
associations have contributed $57,000,000 and the Negroes by direct
contributions have supplied $24,000,000.[54] In 1869 in one year the
Negroes raised $200,000 for the construction of school houses. A
report from a State Superintendent of Schools of Florida stated that
in the Black Belt Counties the Negro schools cost $19,457 and the
direct and indirect contributions on the part of the Negroes amounted
to $23,984. There were $4,527 remaining which was used for the benefit
of the white schools.[55] It is thought on the part of some that the
Negro, although he may not pay in direct taxes a sum sufficient to
provide for his schools, may in reality be paying his full share
indirectly. I believe, however, that it is quite safe to say that he
probably pays as much for his education as any other poor class of the
population, especially so in comparison with some of the immigrant
classes. There have also been quite a number of Negro philanthropists,
the most prominent of whom have been Bishop Payne who gave several
thousand dollars to Wilberforce, Wheeling Grant who gave $5,000 to
Wilberforce, Mary E. Shaw who left $38,000 to Tuskegee, Nancy Addison
who left $15,000 for education in Baltimore, Louis Bode who left
$30,000 and George Washington of Jerseyville, Illinois, who left
$15,000 for education. Thomy Lafon, of New Orleans, left $413,000 to
be used for educational purposes with no distinction regarding race or
color. Colonel John McKee, of Philadelphia, left about $1,000,000 in
real estate to be used for education.[56] The Negro Baptist Churches
alone raised in 1907 $149,332.75.[57] In nine years the Negro students
paid in cash to 74 Negro institutions $3,358,667 and in work
$1,828,602, making a total of $5,187,269. This amounted to 44.6 per
cent of the entire running expenses of the institutions.[58]
The attitude of the Negro immediately after the war was that of
opposition to all kinds of labor. He had not as then learned the
distinction between working as a slave and working as a freedman. What
he wanted most was an education, a literary education, such as the
white man had. He did not want his education for any definite purpose,
except as an end in itself. The chief reason probably may have been
that of a desire to put himself on a par with the white man, and to
prove his intellectual equality. The attitude to-day is radically
different, being represented by men like Washington and DuBois.
Washington preached the gospel of industrial education, believing
strongly that that method would lead to an increase of the economic
wealth of the race, whereby they could acquire the so-called higher
education. DuBois, however, although he believed in the efficiency of
industrial training, also felt that the race should not neglect to
educate leaders even at the present time, so that his attitude differs
from that of Washington in a slight degree. Two short quotations from
Washington's writings may illustrate to a certain extent the attitude
of the leaders of Negro education: "What Negro education needed most,"
said he, "was not so much more schools or different kinds of schools,
as an educational policy and a school system,[59] and "I want to see
education as common as grass, and as free for all as sunshine and
rain.[60]
Prejudice is an important factor in the attitude of the white race
toward Negro education. This prejudice seems to be in all sections of
the country, but it is the southerner who is heard from the most,
possibly because he is more in contact with the real problem and then
because it seems to be a policy of southern politicians to attempt to
outdo each other in their speeches along the line of race prejudice.
According to Weatherford prejudice has arisen out of the fear that
education will lead to the dominance of the Negro in politics and to
promiscuous mingling in social life. "The southern white man will
never be enthusiastic for Negro education, until he is convinced that
such education will not lead to either of these."[61] This feeling of
a group is expressed in the following statement in a report to the
Baltimore Council by a committee in 1913: "No fault is found with the
Negroes' ambitions," said the report, "but the Committee feels that
Baltimoreans will be criminally negligent as to their future
happiness, if they suffer the Negroes' ambitions to go unchecked."[62]
Mr. Thomas Dixon, Junior, deplores the fact that Washington was
training the Negroes to be "masters of men," stating that "if there is
one thing the southern white man cannot endure it is an educated
Negro."[63]
School officials and educators on the other hand show an entirely
different attitude. Mr. Glenn, recently Superintendent of Education of
Georgia, made the declaration that "The Negro is ... teachable and
susceptible to the same kind of mental improvement characteristic to
any other race."[64] Thomas Nelson Page states that "the Negro may
individually attain a fair and in uncommon instances a considerable
degree of mental development."[65] Another states that "We must
educate him because ignorant men are dangerous, especially to a
democracy pledged to educate all men."[66] Some believe that we must
also educate him for self-protection from vice and disease. The
Southern Educational Association in 1907 passed the following
resolution: "We endorse the accepted policy of the States of the South
in providing educational facilities for the youth of the Negro race,
believing that whatever the ultimate solution of this grievous problem
may be, education must be an important factor in that solution."[67]
Illiteracy which in 1863 equaled about 95 per cent of the Negro
population has been decreasing rapidly since the Civil War. The
illiteracy of the Negro during the last three decades has been as
follows: in 1890, 57.1 per cent; in 1900, 44.5 per cent; and in 1910,
30.4 per cent. In the North in 1910 the illiteracy was 18.2 per cent
in the South 48.0 per cent, and in the West 13.1 per cent.[68] The
urban Negro in 1910 showed 17.6 per cent illiteracy and the rural 36.5
per cent. Louisiana showed 48 per cent, whereas Minnesota and Oregon
showed only 3.4 per cent.[69] In 1900 when the Negro illiteracy was
44.5 per cent, the children between ten and twenty-five years of age
showed only 30 per cent and those between 10 and 14 years in
Mississippi showed only 22 per cent.[70] The illiteracy for all Negro
children was 25 per cent, whereas the illiteracy for all white
children was only 10.5 per cent.[71] The illiteracy of our Negroes
does not seem so great when a comparison is made with some foreign
countries:[72]
Race Illiteracy
Negroes 30.4
Bulgaria 65.5
Greece 57.2
Hungary 40.9
Italy 48.2
Poland 59.3
Portugal 73.4
Russia 70.0
Servia 78.9
Spain 58.7
Chile 49.9
Cuba 56.8
Mexico 75.3
Porto Rico 79.6
India 92.5
Philippines 55.5
Cape of Good Hope 65.8
Egypt 92.7
The percentage of Negro illiteracy in America is less than any one of
these foreign races.
The criminality of the Negro seemingly has decreased as the illiteracy
has decreased. Out of every 100 criminals only 39 could read and 61
could not, whereas in the general population 43 could read and 57
could not.[73] In the Mississippi penitentiary where they had 450
convicts of Negro blood one half of them could neither read nor write,
and less than 10 per cent had anything like a fair education.[74]
Atlanta University has graduated 800 Negro men and women, not one of
whom has ever been convicted of crime. Fisk University has only one
graduate who has ever been convicted. Greensboro Agricultural and
Technical College has had 2,000 students since its establishment, and
only five have ever been convicted of crime. Two of these had been
expelled students, and none were among the three hundred graduates of
the college. Negro students who have gone to high school show a
remarkably low percentage of crime. Of the 200 graduates from the
Winston-Salem High School (North Carolina) only one has a criminal
record. Waters Normal Institute at Winton, North Carolina, has
graduated more than 130 students and not one of these has ever been
arrested or convicted of any crime.[75] The records of the southern
prisons show that at least 90 per cent of those in prison are without
trades of any sort.[76] According to Booker T. Washington, "Manual
training is as good a prevention of criminality as vaccination is of
smallpox."[77] In 1903, in Gloucester County, Virginia, twenty-five
years after education had been introduced, there were 30 arrests for
misdemeanors, 16 white and 14 black; and in the next year there were
15 arrests for misdemeanors, 14 white and one black.[78] The general
opinion of the southerner may be judged by the answers to a
questionnaire sent out to prominent southern men in each of the
Southern States. To the question "Does crime grow less as education
increases?" there were 102, answered "yes" and 19 answered "no."[79]
One of the charges against the Negro has been his shiftlessness, both
as far as his personal industriousness is concerned, and as far as the
care of his home and things about him. Now, however, education has
increased his standards and his wants, so that since he desires to
have land, homes, churches, books, papers, and education for his
children, he will labor regularly and efficiently to supply these. The
graduates of Tuskegee Institute are kept in touch with by one of the
school officials, who reported that not 10 per cent could be found in
idleness and that only one was in a penitentiary.[80]
LORETTA FUNKE
FOOTNOTES:
[1] In the preparation of this manuscript the following books have
been useful: Thomas P. Bailey, _Race Orthodoxy in the South_ (New
York: the Neale Publishing Company, 1914); Benjamin Griffith Brawley,
_A Short History of the American Negro_ (New York: The Macmillan
Company, 1913); Daniel Wallace Culp, _Twentieth Century Negro
Literature_ (Naperville, Illinois, J. L. Nichols and Company, 1902);
Albert Bushnell Hart, _The Southern South_ (New York, D. Appleton and
Company, 1912); Mary White Ovington, _Half a Man_ (New York and
London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1911); William Passmore Pickett, _The
Negro Problem_ (New York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1909);
Charles Victor Roman, _American Civilization and the Negro_
(Philadelphia: F. A. Davis Company, 1916); Gilbert Thomas Stephenson,
_Race Distinctions in American Law_ (New York and London: D. Appleton
and Company, 1910); Booker T. Washington, _My Larger Education_
(Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Page and Company, 1911); Booker T.
Washington, _Working with the Hands_ (New York: Doubleday, Page and
Company, 1904); Booker T. Washington and W. E. Burghardt Du Bois, _The
Negro in the South_ (Philadelphia: G. W. Jacobs and Company, 1907);
Booker T. Washington and others, _The Negro Problem_ (New York: J.
Pott and Company, 1903); Willis Duke Weatherford, _Negro Life in the
South_ (New York: Young Men's Christian Association Press, 1910);
Carter Godwin Woodson, _The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861_ (New
York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1915).
The following articles have also been used: Henry E. Baker, _The Negro
in the Field of Invention_ (_Journal of Negro History_, January, 1917,
p. 21); W. H. Baldwin, Jr., _The Present Problem of Negro Education_
(_American Journal of Social Science_, 37, 1899, p. 52); W. E.
Burghardt DuBois, _The College Bred Negro_ (Atlanta University
Publications, No. 15, Atlanta, 1910); _The Common School and the Negro
American_ (Atlanta University Publications, No. 16, 1911); _The
School_ (Atlanta University Publications, No. 14, 1909); _Education
and Crime Among Negroes_ (_Review of Reviews_, 55, 1917, p. 318);
Hampton Negro Conference, _Annual Report_, July, 1899 (Hampton
Institute Press, 1889); _Higher Education of the Negro_ (_The Nation_,
100, 1915, p. 187); George Johnson, _Education of the Negro_ (_The
Nation_, 100, 1915, p. 443); Jesse Lawson, _How to Solve the Race
Problem_ (Report of the Washington Conference on the Race Problem in
the United States, Washington, D. C., 1904); William Mathews, _The
Negro Intellect_ (_North American Review_, 149, 1889, p. 91); _More
Testimony on Negro Migration_ (_Survey_, July 14, 1917, p. 340);
National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, _Bulletin_, Vol. V,
No. 1, November, 1915; Michael E. Sadler, _Education of the Colored
Race_ (Great Britain Educational Department, Special Reports of, 1902,
Volume II); Charles Dudley Warner, _The Education of the Negro_
(_American Journal of Social Science_, 38, 1900, p. 1); Booker T.
Washington, _Fifty Years of Progress_ (_Forum_ 55, 1916, pp. 269-79);
Monroe N. Work, _The Negro Year Book_ (Nashville, Sunday School Union
Print, 1915).
[2] Woodson, _The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861_, p. 24.
[3] Brawley, _History of the Negro_, p. 104; Du Bois, Atlanta U. Pub.
No. 16, p. 16.
[4] Brawley, _History of the Negro_, p. 104.
[5] Washington, _My Larger Education_, p. 241.
[6] Sadler, _Gr. Britain Edu. Reports_, p. 537.
[7] Du Bois, _Atlanta U. Pub._ No. 16, p. 16.
[8] Weatherford, _Negro Life in the South_, p. 94.
[9] Brawley, _History of the Negro_, p. 103.
[10] _Ibid._, p. 102.
[11] Du Bois, _Atlanta U. Pub._ No. 16, p. 21.
[12] Brawley, _History of the Negro_, p. 135.
[13] _Ibid._, 137.
[14] Weatherford, _Negro Life in the South_, p. 94.
[15] Work, _Negro Yearbook_, 1915, p. 201.
[16] Brawley, _History of the Negro_, p. 139.
[17] _Ibid._, p. 141.
[18] _Ibid._, p. 168.
[19] _Ibid._, p. 140.
[20] Du Bois, _Atlanta U. Pub._ No. 16, p. 22.
[21] Washington, _The Negro Problem_, p. 19.
[22] Stephenson, _Race Distinction in American Law_, p. 189.
[23] _Ibid._, p. 154.
[24] Du Bois, _Atlanta U. Pub._ No. 16, p. 20.
[25] _Ibid._, p. 27.
[26] Hart, _The Southern South_, p. 310.
[27] Weatherford, _Negro Life in the South_, p. 96.
[28] Weatherford, _Negro Life in the South_, p. 108.
[29] _Ibid._, p. 96.
[30] Work, _Negro Yearbook_, 1915, p. 223.
[31] Baily, _Race Orthodoxy_, pp. 273-280.
[32] Hart, _Southern South_, p. 324.
[33] Weatherford, _Negro Life in the South_, p. 98.
[34] Hart, _Southern South_, p. 294.
[35] Washington, _My Larger Education_, p. 191.
[36] _Ibid._, p. 152.
[37] _Ibid._, p. 146.
[38] Du Bois, _Atlanta U. Pub._ No. 16, p. 127.
[39] Work, _The Negro Yearbook_, 1915, p. 216.
[40] Du Bois, _Atlanta U. Pub._ No. 16, p. 129.
[41] DuBois, _Atlanta U. Pub._ _No._ 16, p. 128.
[42] Brawley, _The Negro Yearbook_, 1915, p. 147
[43] Washington, _The Negro Problem_, p. 20.
[44] _Ibid._, p. 22.
[45] Brawley, _History of the Negro_, p. 153.
[46] _Ibid._, p. 142.
[47] Brawley, _History of the Negro_, p. 145.
[48] Du Bois, _Atlanta U. Pub._ No. 15, p. 45.
[49] _Ibid._, p. 54.
[50] Du Bois, _Atlanta U. Pub._ No. 15, p. 46.
[51] _Ibid._, p. 28.
[52] _Ibid._, p. 57.
[53] Work, _The Negro Yearbook_, 1915, p. 229.
[54] Work, _The Negro Yearbook_, p. 235
[55] Washington, _Working with the Hands_, p. 72.
[56] Brawley, _History of the Negro_, p. 174.
[57] _Ibid._, p. 169.
[58] Du Bois, _Atlanta U. Pub._ No. 14, p. 18.
[59] Washington, _My Larger Education_, p. 310.
[60] _Ibid._, p. 139.
[61] Weatherford, _Negro Life in the South_, p. 87.
[62] Bailey, _Race Orthodoxy in the South_, p. 265.
[63] Hart, _The Southern South_, p. 319.
[64] _Ibid._, p. 326.
[65] _Ibid._, p. 327.
[66] Bailey, _Race Orthodoxy in the South_, p. 269.
[67] Hart, _The Southern South_, p. 327.
[68] Work, _Negro Yearbook_, 1915, p. 226.
[69] _Ibid._, p. 226.
[70] Hart, _The Southern South_, p. 294.
[71] _Ibid._, p. 292.
[72] Washington in the _Forum_, p. 270.
[73] _Review of Reviews_, p. 318.
[74] _Review of Reviews_, p. 319.
[75] _Ibid._, p. 319.
[76] Weatherford, _Negro Life in the South_, p. 110.
[77] Washington and Du Bois, _The Negro in the South_, p. 64.
[78] _Ibid._, p. 71.
[79] Washington, _Working with the Hands_, p. 239.
[80] Washington and Du Bois, _The Negro in the South_, p. 61.
THE NEGRO MIGRATION TO CANADA AFTER THE PASSING OF THE FUGITIVE SLAVE
ACT
When President Fillmore signed the Fugitive Slave Bill[1] on September
18, 1850, he started a Negro migration that continued up to the
opening of the Civil War, resulting in thousands of people of color
crossing over into Canada and causing many thousands more to move from
one State into another seeking safety from their pursuers. While the
free Negro population of the North increased by nearly 30,000 in the
decade after 1850, the gain was chiefly in three States, Ohio,
Michigan and Illinois. Connecticut had fewer free people of color in
1860 than in 1850 and there were half a dozen other States that barely
held their own during the period. The three States showing gains were
those bordering on Canada where the runaway slave or the free man of
color in danger could flee when threatened. It is estimated that from
fifteen to twenty thousand Negroes entered Canada between 1850 and
1860, increasing the Negro population of the British provinces from
about 40,000 to nearly 60,000. The greater part of the refugee
population settled in the southwestern part of the present province of
Ontario, chiefly in what now comprises the counties of Essex and Kent,
bordering on the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair. This large
migration of an alien race into a country more sparsely settled than
any of the Northern States might have been expected to cause trouble,
but records show that the Canadians received the refugees with
kindness and gave them what help they could.[2] At the close of the
Civil War many of the Negroes in exile returned, thus relieving the
situation in Canada.
The Fugitive Slave Bill had been signed but a month when Garrison
pointed out in _The Liberator_ that a northward trek of free people of
color was already under way. "Alarmed at the operation of the new
Fugitive Slave Law, the fugitives from slavery are pressing northward.
Many have been obliged to flee precipitately leaving behind them all
the little they have acquired since they escaped from slavery."[3] The
American Anti-Slavery Society's report also notes the consternation
into which the Negro population was thrown by the new legislation[4]
and from many other contemporary sources there may be obtained
information showing the distressing results that followed immediately
upon the signing of the bill. Reports of the large number of new
arrivals were soon coming from Canada. Hiram Wilson, a missionary at
St. Catharines, writing in _The Liberator_ of December 13, 1850, says:
"Probably not less than 3,000 have taken refuge in this country since
the first of September. Only for the attitude of the north there would
have been thousands more." He says that his church is thronged with
fugitives and that what is true of his own district is true also of
other parts of southern Ontario. Henry Bibb, in his paper _The Voice
of the Fugitive_[5] published frequent reports of the number of
fugitives arriving at Sandwich on the Detroit River. In the issue of
December 3,1851, he reports 17 arrivals in a week. On April 22, 1852,
he records 15 arrivals within the last few days and notes that "the
Underground Railroad is doing good business this spring." On May 20,
1852, he reports "quite an accession of refugees to our numbers during
the last two weeks" and on June 17 notes the visit of agents from
Chester, Pennsylvania, preparatory to the movement of a large number
of people of color from that place to Canada. On the same date he
says: "Numbers of free persons of color are arriving in Canada from
Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia, Ohio and Indiana. Sixteen
passed by Windsor on the seventh and 20 on the eighth and the cry is
'Still they come.'" The immigration was increasing week by week, for
on July 1 it was reported in _The Voice of the Fugitive_ that "in a
single day last week there were not less than 65 colored emigrants
landed at this place from the south.... As far as we can learn not
less than 200 have arrived within our vicinity since last issue."
Almost every number of the paper during 1852 gives figures as to the
arrivals of the refugees. On September 23 Bibb reported the arrival of
three of his own brothers while on November 4, 1852, there is recorded
the arrival of 23 men, women and children in 48 hours. Writing to _The
Liberator_ of November 12, 1852, Mary E. Bibb said that during the
last ten days they had sheltered 23 arrivals in their own home. The
American Missionary Association, which had workers among the fugitives
in Canada noted in its annual report for 1852 that there had been a
large increase of the Negro population during the year[6] while
further testimony to the great activity along the border is given by
the statement that the Vigilance Committee at Detroit assisted 1,200
refugees in one year and that the Cleveland Vigilance Committee had a
record of assisting more than a hundred a month to freedom.[7]
The northern newspapers of the period supply abundant information
regarding the consternation into which the Negroes were thrown and
their movements to find places of safety. Two weeks after President
Fillmore had signed the Fugitive Slave Bill a Pittsburgh despatch to
_The Liberator_ stated that "nearly all the waiters in the hotels have
fled to Canada. Sunday 30 fled; on Monday 40; on Tuesday 50; on
Wednesday 30 and up to this time the number that has left will not
fall short of 300. They went in large bodies, armed with pistols and
bowie knives, determined to die rather than be captured."[8] A
Hartford despatch of October 18, 1850, told of five Negroes leaving
that place for Canada;[9] Utica reported under date of October 2 that
16 fugitive slaves passed through on a boat the day before, bound for
Canada, all well armed and determined to fight to the last;[10] _The
Eastport Sentinel_ of March 12 noted that a dozen fugitives had
touched there on the steamer _Admiral_, en route to St. John's; _The
New Bedford Mercury_ said: "We are pleased to announce that a very
large number of fugitive slaves, aided by many of our most wealthy and
respected citizens have left for Canada and parts unknown and that
many more are on the point of departure."[11] The Concord, New
Hampshire, _Statesman_ reported: "Last Tuesday seven fugitives from
slavery passed through this place ... and they probably reached Canada
in safety on Wednesday last. Scarcely a day passes but more or less
fugitives escape from the land of slavery to the freedom of Canada ...
via this place over the track of the Northern Railroad."[12]
Many other examples of the effect of the Fugitive Slave Act might be
noted. The Negro population of Columbia, Pennsylvania, dropped from
943 to 487 after the passing of the bill.[13] The members of the Negro
community near Sandy Lake in northwestern Pennsylvania, many of whom
had farms partly paid for, sold out or gave away their property and
went in a body to Canada.[14] In Boston a fugitive slave congregation
under Leonard A. Grimes had a church built when the blow fell. More
than forty members fled to Canada.[15] Out of one Baptist church in
Buffalo more than 130 members fled across the border, a similar
migration taking place among the Negro Methodists of the same city
though they were more disposed to make a stand. At Rochester all but
two of the 114 members of the Negro Baptist church fled, headed by
their pastor, while at Detroit the Negro Baptist church lost 84
members, some of whom abandoned their property in haste to get
away.[16] A letter from William Still, agent of the Philadelphia
Vigilance Committee, to Henry Bibb at Sandwich says there is much talk
of emigration to Canada as the best course for the fugitives.[17] _The
Corning Journal_ illustrates the aid that was given to the fugitives
by northern friends. Fifteen fugitives, men, women and children, came
in by train and stopped over night. In the morning a number of Corning
people assisted them to Dunkirk and sent a committee to arrange for
passage to Canada. The captain of the lake steamer upon which they
embarked, very obligingly stopped at Fort Maiden, on the Canadian
side, for wood and water and the runaways walked ashore to freedom.
"The underground railroad is in fine working order," is the comment of
_The Journal_. "Rarely does a collision occur, and once on the track
passengers are sent through between sunrise and sunset." That time did
not dull the terrors of the Fugitive Slave Act is shown by the fact
that every fresh arrest would cause a panic in its neighborhood. At
Chicago in 1861, almost on the eve of the Civil War, more than 100
Negroes left on a single train following the arrest of a fugitive,
taking nothing with them but the clothes on their backs and most of
them leaving good situations behind."[18]
The Underground Railroad system was never so successful in all its
history as after 1850. Despite the law, and the infamous activities of
many of the slave-catchers, at least 3,000 fugitives got through to
Canada within three months after the bill was signed. This was the
estimate of both Henry Bibb and Hiram Wilson and there were probably
no men in Canada who were better acquainted with the situation than
these two. In _The Voice of the Fugitive_ of November 5, 1851, Bibb
reported that "the road is doing better business this fall than usual.
The Fugitive Slave Law has given it more vitality, more activity, more
passengers and more opposition which invariably accelerates
business.... We can run a lot of slaves through from almost any of the
bordering slave states into Canada within 48 hours and we defy the
slaveholders and their abettors to beat that if they can.... We have
just received a fresh lot today and still there is room." _The Troy
Argus_ learned from "official sources" in 1859 that the Underground
Railroad had been doing an unusually large business that year.[19]
Bibb's newspaper reports, December 2, 1852, that the underground is
working well. "Slaveholders are frequently seen and heard, howling on
their track up to the Detroit River's edge but dare not venture over
lest the British lion should lay his paw upon their guilty heads."
Bibb kept a watchful eye on slave-catchers coming to the Canadian
border and occasionally reported their presence in his paper.
Underground activity was also noted in _The Liberator_. "The
underground railroad and especially the express train, is doing a good
business just now. We have good and competent conductors," was a
statement in the issue of October 29, 1852.[20]
Not all those who fled to Canada left their property behind. _The
Voice of the Fugitive_ makes frequent reference to Negroes arriving
with plenty of means to take care of themselves. "Men of capital with
good property, some of whom are worth thousands, are settling among us
from the northern states." says the issue of October 22, 1851, while
in the issue of July 1, 1852, it is noted that "22 from Indiana
passed through to Amherstburg, with four fine covered waggons and
eight horses. A few weeks ago six or eight such teams came from the
same state into Canada. The Fugitive Slave Law is driving out brains
and money." In a later issue it was stated "we know of several
families of free people of color who have moved here from the northern
states this summer who have brought with them property to the amount
of L30,000."[21] Some of these people with property joined the Elgin
Association settlement at Buxton, purchasing farms and taking
advantage of the opportunities that were provided there for education.
A letter to _The Voice of the Fugitive_ from Ezekiel C. Cooper,
recently arrived at Buxton, says: "Canada is the place where we have
our rights."[22] He speaks of having purchased 50 acres of land and
praises the school and its teacher at Buxton. Cooper came from
Northampton, Massachusetts, driven out by the Fugitive Slave Law. A
rather unusual case was that of 12 manumitted slaves who were brought
to Canada from the South. They had been bequeathed $1,000 each by
their former owner. They all bought homes in the Niagara district.[23]
While fugitives and free Negroes were being harried in the Northern
States slaves continued to run away from their masters and seek
liberty. "Slaves are making this a great season for running off to
Pennsylvania," said the Cumberland, Virginia, _Unionist_ in 1851.[24]
"A large number have gone in the last week, most of whom were not
recaptured." At the beginning of 1851 _The Liberator_ had a Buffalo
despatch to the effect that 87 runaways from the South had passed
through to Canada since the passing of the bill the previous
September.[25] Bibb mentions two runaways from North Carolina who were
101 days reaching Canada.[26] The Detroit _Free Press_ reported that
29 runaways crossed to Canada about the end of March, 1859, "the first
installment of northern emigration from North Carolina."[27] About the
same time _The Detroit Advertiser_ announced that "seventy fugitive
slaves arrived in Canada by one train from the interior of Tennessee.
A week before a company of 12 arrived. At nearly the same time a party
of seven and another of five were safely landed on the free soil of
Canada, making 94 in all. The underground railroad was never before
doing so flourishing a business."[28] The New Orleans _Commercial
Bulletin_ of December 19, 1860, asserted that 1,500 slaves had escaped
annually for the last fifty years, a loss to the South of at least
$40,000,000. The American Anti-Slavery Society's twenty-seventh report
said "Northward migration from slave land during the last year has
fully equalled the average of former years."[29]
It is interesting to note that several of the most famous cases that
arose under the Fugitive Slave Act had their ending in Canada.
Shadrack, Anthony Burns, Jerry McHenry, the Parkers, the Lemmon slaves
and others found refuge across the border after experiencing the
terrors of the Fugitive Slave legislation. The Shadrack incident was
one of the earliest to arise under the new law. Shadrack, a Negro
employe in a Boston coffee house, was arrested on February 15, 1851,
on the charge of having escaped from slavery in the previous May. As
the commissioner before whom he was brought was not ready to proceed,
the case was adjourned for three days. As Massachusetts had forbidden
the use of her jails in fugitive cases Shadrack was detained in the
United States court room at the court house. A mob of people of color
broke into the building, rescued the prisoner and he escaped to
Canada. The rescue caused great excitement at Washington and five of
the rescuers were indicted and tried but the jury disagreed. The
incident showed that the new law would be enforced with difficulty in
Massachusetts in view of the fact that the mob had been supported by a
Vigilance Committee of most respectable citizens.[30]
A few months later, at Syracuse, a respectable man of color named
Jerry McHenry was arrested as a fugitive on the complaint of a slaver
from Missouri. He made an attempt to escape and failed. The town,
however, was crowded with people who had come to a meeting of the
County Agricultural Society and to attend the annual convention of the
Liberty Party. On the evening of October 1, 1851, a descent was made
upon the jail by a party led by Gerrit Smith and Rev. Samuel J. May,
both well-known abolitionists. The Negro was rescued, concealed for a
few days and then sent on to Canada where he died, at Kingston, in
1853.[31]
A more tragic incident was that known as the Gorsuch case. A slaver
named Gorsuch, with his son and some others, all armed, came to
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in search of two fugitives. In a house two
miles from Lancaster was a Negro family named Parker and they were
besieged by the Gorsuchs. The Negroes blew a horn and brought others
to their help. Two Quakers who were present were called upon to render
help in arresting the Negroes, as they were required to do under the
Act, but they refused to aid. In the fighting that took place the
elder Gorsuch was killed and his son wounded. The Negroes escaped to
Canada where they spent the winter in Toronto and in the spring joined
the Elgin Association settlement at Buxton in Kent county.[32]
The Anthony Burns case attracted more attention than any other arising
in the execution of the Fugitive Slave Law. Burns, who was a fugitive
from Virginia living in Boston, betrayed his hiding place in a letter
which fell into the hands of a southern slaver and was communicated to
a slave hunter. The slaver tried to coax Burns to go back to bondage
peaceably but failing in this he had him arrested and brought before a
commissioner who, on June 2, 1854, decided that Burns was a fugitive
and must be sent back to slavery. Boston showed its feelings on the
day that the Negro was removed from jail to be sent South. Stores were
closed and draped in black, bells tolled, and across State Street a
coffin was suspended bearing the legend THE DEATH OF LIBERTY. The
streets were crowded and a large military force, with a field piece in
front, furnished escort for the lone black. Hisses and cries of "
shame" came from the crowd as the procession passed. Burns was soon
released from bondage, Boston people and others subscribing to
purchase his liberty. He was brought North, educated and later entered
the ministry. For several years he was a missionary at St. Catharines,
Canada, and died there in the sixties.[33]
Along the international boundary there were exciting incidents at
times, fugitives being chased to the border and often having narrow
escapes from recapture. The Monroe family, mother and several
daughters, escaped from slavery in Kentucky in 1856 and were carried
by the Underground Railroad to Ann Arbor and on to Detroit, the master
in hot pursuit. So close was the chase that as the runaways pulled out
from the wharf on the ferry for Windsor, Canada, the master came
running down the street crying out "Stop them! stop them!" He was
jeered at by the crowd which sympathized with the Negro woman.[34]
In June, 1852, three fugitives arrived in Detroit and in response to
frantic messages from Toledo were held for their pursuers. In
desperation the Negroes made a savage attack on their jailer, gained
their freedom and got across the border with the assistance of friends
in Detroit. Rewards that were offered for their recapture were
useless as the fugitives took care to remain on the Canadian side.[35]
Hiram Wilson tells of an incident that came under his notice at St.
Catharines. A beautiful young girl, 14 years of age and almost white,
was brought to Buffalo as maid for a slaveholder's daughter travelling
in the North. She was spirited off by some Buffalo abolitionists,
transferred to a steamer flying the British flag, and landed in
Canada. She was taken to St. Catharines and sheltered in the home of
Hiram Wilson. The master came over from Buffalo bringing a couple of
lawyers with him and tried to secure his property but his demands were
refused. The owner claimed that he valued the girl at $1,000. It was
later discovered that she had been sold no less than four times before
coming to Canada.[36]
The brutality of the Fugitive Slave Law was shown on more than one
occasion along the border. A case that attracted much attention at the
time was that of Daniel Davis. He was cook on the steamer _Buckeye_.
One day while the vessel was in port at Buffalo he was called up from
below. As his head appeared above the deck he was struck a heavy blow
by a slave catcher named Benjamin Rust who had a warrant from a United
States commissioner for his arrest. The Negro fell back senseless into
the hold and on top of a stove, being badly burned. He was brought
into court at once and the newspaper accounts relate in detail how he
sat during the proceedings "dozing, with blood oozing out of his mouth
and nostrils." After a trial that was rushed in a most unseemly way
the Negro was ordered delivered over to Rust, who was really agent for
one George H. Moore, of Louisville. The brutality of the whole
proceeding stirred up deep interest in Buffalo and on a writ of habeas
corpus the fugitive was brought before Judge Conkling of the United
States Court at Auburn and released. Before there could be further
steps taken to hold the Negro he was hurried into Canada, where he
remained. He was in attendance at the large Negro Convention held in
Toronto in September, 1851, and with his head still in bandages
afforded striking evidence of the effects of the Slave Law. Rust,
Davis's assailant, was afterwards indicted at Buffalo but allowed to
go after paying a paltry $50 fine.[37]
Another memorable border incident occurred at Sandusky, Ohio, in
October, 1852. A party of fugitives, two men, two women and several
children had been brought from Kentucky and were aboard the steamer
_Arrow_ about to sail for Detroit when they were all arrested by the
alleged owner and taken before the mayor of the town. Rush R. Sloane,
a local lawyer, offered to act in their defence. The proceedings were
so hurried that no warrant or writ was ready to be produced in court
and Sloane signified by a gesture that the Negroes were free. There
was an immediate rush for the door on the part of the fugitives and
their friends, but even as they fled from the court room the claimant
entered calling out: "Here are the papers. I own the slaves. I'll hold
you personally responsible for their escape." The fugitives meanwhile
had gone to the harbor, entered a sailboat owned by friendly fishermen
and were on their way to Canada. The slaver, frantic at seeing his
property vanishing, tried in vain to get other fishermen to pursue
them. He then hurried to a neighboring town, trying to secure help,
but with no more success. Within a few hours the runaways were landed
at Port Stanley, safe from all pursuers. The slaver made good his
threat to hold Sloane responsible for the loss of his property,
entering action and securing a judgment for $3,000. It is related as
one of the pathetic incidents of this case that when the fugitives
were first taken off the steamer _Arrow_ one of the women dropped her
infant child on the ground and disowned it, hoping that it at least
would be free if she were condemned to return to slavery.[38]
With so great an influx of refugees into a country that was sparsely
settled, some suffering was inevitable, but contemporary evidence
indicates that after all it was but slight. There was probably more
distress during the winter of 1850-1 than later on because of the
large number who came in during the few months immediately after the
passing of the Fugitive Slave Bill. In their haste to find safety many
left everything behind, entering Canada with little more than the
clothes on their backs. A. L. Power, of Farmington, who visited
Windsor at the beginning of 1851, found about a score of families
living in an old military barracks, most of them in need of both fuel
and clothing. At Sandwich, near by, he also found distress and
mentions seeing a family of eight children who were almost nude and
who were suffering from the cold.[39] Sickness was, in many cases, a
result of the exposure to which the Negroes had been subjected in
their effort to reach Canada. Later on, the situation improved and by
1855 the workers of the American Missionary Association reported that
"in general, those who have gone there from the United States, even
the fugitives, may provide for the wants of their families, after a
short residence there; especially if they meet a friendly hand and,
more than all, good counsel on their arrival."[40]
Various agencies in both the United States and Canada were active in
the work of relieving the distress among the newcomers. The American
Anti-Slavery Society early addressed itself to this task. "Several
agents," said Bibb, "have during the past year proceeded to Canada to
exert the best influence in their power over the fugitives that have
flocked to the province in years past and especially those who have
gone the past year. They are supplied with the means of instructing
the colored population, clothing some of the most destitute fugitives
and aiding them in various ways to obtain employment, procure and
cultivate land and train up their children. Our friends in Canada are
exerting a good influence in the same direction."[41]
The fugitives themselves were banded together to aid the newcomers.
The Windsor Anti-Slavery Society and the Fugitives' Union were both
organized to relieve distress and assist their fellows in making a
living.[42] Supplies were sent in from points at considerable
distances in some cases, clothing, food, money, and in one case a
donation of 2,000 fruit trees from Henry Willis, of Battle Creek, for
refugees who were going on the land.[43] Michigan people were
exceedingly generous in extending aid and there is record also of
supplies sent from Fall River, Whitestown, New Jersey, Boston and
other places in New England. There was plenty of work for the Negroes,
the fifties being a period of railroad building in western Ontario, so
that writing in 1861, William Troy maintained, that nine tenths of the
fugitives had got along without outside aid of any kind. "The
fugitives show a marked disposition to help each other and relieve
want," he says. "I could show hundreds of instances of kindheartedness
to all persons, irrespective of race."[44]
The organization of the Anti-Slavery Society of Canada came largely as
a result of the sudden influx of Negroes after 1850 which, perhaps
more than anything else, impressed upon Canadians the great issue that
was rapidly dividing the neighboring republic. Beginning at Toronto
the anti-slavery forces in Canada were organized in the various cities
and towns of the province and continued active until the Civil War.
There was developed in Canada a marked anti-slavery sentiment which
manifested itself in part in the very large number of Canadians who
enlisted in the northern armies.[45] The Anti-Slavery Society was also
active in extending the helping hand to the fugitives, considerable
sums being raised for relief purposes and support being given to
educational and other movements designed to elevate the race.
In Canada the refugees were absolutely safe from the operations of the
Fugitive Slave Law. No loophole could be found in the Canadian law
that would permit the rendition of a slave. A famous case arose in the
Canadian courts on the eve of the Civil War when a Negro, John
Anderson, was arrested charged with the murder of a slaver named Diggs
some years before, the crime having been committed while Anderson was
trying to make his escape from slavery. Canadian opinion was much
aroused and though the first decision of the courts was that the Negro
must be extradited this finding was overruled from England and in the
end the prisoner was released on a technicality. It was made quite
clear that the British Government would view with marked disapproval
any decision in Canada that would return a refugee to slavery.
There were doubtless numerous attempts to kidnap Negroes who had
escaped to Canada, especially in the border towns, but such attempts
must have been rarely successful. An open attempt to induce a Canadian
official to act as slave catcher was exposed in the _Montreal Gazette_
of January 13, 1855, when there was published a letter written by one,
John H. Pape, of Frederick, Maryland, to Sheriff Hays, of Montreal,
proposing that the latter should use his power to arrest Negroes who
would then be turned over to Pape. The proceeds from the sale of the
captured chattels would be divided evenly, according to the plan
suggested.
Canadians took a measure of pride in the sense of security with which
their Negro immigrants could look back at their pursuers. That the
slavery issue in the United States was rapidly coming to a head was
also recognized in Canada during the fifties and this, too, may have
been an influence with the Canadians in doing what they could to
assist the great number of more or less helpless people who came among
them. Viewed in the light of more than half a century it can be seen
that the influence of Canada in determining the course of the slavery
issue was by no means slight.
FRED LANDON
FOOTNOTES:
[1] "One of the most assailable laws ever passed by the Congress of
the United States ... Under this act ... the Negro had no chance; the
meshes of the law were artfully contrived to aid the master and entrap
the slave." Rhodes, _History of the United States_, I, 185.
[2] "A large proportion of the colored persons who have fled from the
free states have sought refuge in Canada where they have been received
with remarkable kindness and have testified the grateful sense of
their reception by their exemplary conduct." American Anti-slavery
Society, annual report for 1851, p. 31.
[3] _Liberator_, October 18, 1850.
[4] Annual report for 1851, p. 30.
[5] A file of this paper for 1851 and 1852 is in the library of the
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
[6] American Missionary Association, _Sixth Annual Report_, 1852, p.
34.
[7] Mitchell, _Underground Railroad_, p. 113.
[8] _Liberator_, October 4, 1850.
[9] _Ibid._, October 18, 1850.
[10] _Ibid._, October 4, 1850.
[11] _Ibid._, April 25, 1851.
[12] _Ibid._, May 2, 1851.
[13] Siebert, _Underground Railroad_, p. 249.
[14] _Ibid._, p. 249.
[15] Stevens, Anthony Burns, a _History_, p. 208.
[16] American Anti-slavery Society, _Eleventh Annual Report_, 1851, p.
31.
[17] _The Voice of the Fugitive_, April 9, 1851.
[18] _Cong. Herald_, May 13, 1861, quoted in American Missionary
Association, 15th annual report, 1861, p. 28. There is evidence that
the Fugitive Slave Law was used in some cases to strike fear into the
hearts of Negroes in order to cause them to abandon their property.
_The Liberator_ of October 25, 1850, quotes the _Detroit Free Press_
to the effect that land speculators have been scaring the Negroes in
some places in the north in order to get possession of their
properties.
[19] American Anti-slavery Society, _Twenty-seventh Annual Report_,
1861, p. 49.
[20] In _The Liberator_ of July 30, 1852, a letter from Hiram Wilson,
at St. Catharines, says: "Arrivals from slavery are frequent."
[21] _The Voice of the Fugitive_, July 29, 1852.
[22] _Ibid._, July 1, 1852.
[23] _St. Catharine's Journal_, quoted in _The Voice of the Fugitive_,
September 23, 1852.
[24] Quoted in _The Liberator_, September 12, 1851.
[25] _Liberator_, February 14, 1851.
[26] _The Voice of the Fugitive_, August 27, 1851.
[27] Quoted in American Anti-slavery Society, Twenty-seventh Report,
1861.
[28] American Anti-slavery Society, Twenty-seventh Annual Report,
1861, pp. 48-49.
[29] P. 157.
[30] Rhodes, _History of the United States_, I, 210.
[31] _Ibid._, I, 224-25. See also Ward, _Autobiography of a Fugitive
Negro_, p. 127.
[32] _Ibid._, I, 222-23. See also _The Voice of the Fugitive_, June 3
and July 1, 1852.
[33] Schauler, _History of the United States_, V, 290-291.
[34] Troy, _Hairbreadth Escapes_, pp. 39-43.
[35] _Liberator_, June 11, 1852. See also _The Voice of the Fugitive_,
June 17, 1852.
[36] _Ibid._, July 30, 1852.
[37] _Liberator_, Sept. 12, 1851; _The Voice of the Fugitive_, Sept.
24, 1851; Anti-slavery Tracts, New Series, No. 15, p. 19.
[38] Sandusky _Commercial Register_, Oct. 21, 1852; _Liberator_, Oct.
29, 1852; Anti-slavery Tracts, New Series, No. 15, p. 24.
[39] _The Voice of the Fugitive_, February 12, 1851.
[40] Ninth Annual Report, N. Y., 1855, p. 47
[41] American Anti-slavery Society, Eleventh Annual Report, 1851, p.
100.
[42] _The Voice of the Fugitive_ of January 15, 1851, and November 18,
1852.
[43] _Ibid._, January 1 and May 20, 1852.
[44] Troy, _Hair-breadth Escapes_, pp. 108 and 122.
[45] "The Canadian government reckoned that there had been not less
than 40,000 Canadian enlistments in the American Army during the Civil
War."--Goldwin Smith's _Correspondence_ (letter to Moberly Bell), p.
377.
RICHARD HILL[1]
Richard Hill, one of Jamaica's most famous sons, was born at Montego
Bay on the first of May, 1795. In 1779 his father, also named Richard,
came to Jamaica from Lincolnshire, where the family had lived for
several centuries, and along with a brother settled at Montego Bay.
There he became a substantial merchant, and on his death in 1818 left
his property in Jamaica to his son and two daughters, Ann and Jane.
Hill's mother, who had East Indian as well as Negro blood in her
veins, survived her husband many years, her son being constant in his
attention to her up to the last.
At the early age of five Hill was sent to England to reside with his
father's relations then living at Cheshunt, there to remain till his
fourteenth year when he was sent to the Elizabethan Grammar School at
Horncastle to finish his education. Upon the death of his father in
1818 Hill returned to Jamaica. Although his property came into the
possession of his son and two daughters the father's death in some way
involved Richard Hill in irksome money obligations which harassed him
for many years, and even after he had discharged them left a gloom
over his life.
His father was a man in advance of his times, hating and deploring the
intolerance and the tyranny that grew out of slavery as it then
existed in Jamaica. On his death-bed he made his son solemnly pledge
himself to devote his energies to the cause of freedom, and never to
rest until those civil disabilities, under which the Negroes were
laboring, had been entirely removed; and, further, until slavery
itself had received its death-blow.
The time and opportunity for fulfilling this pledge soon came, for in
the year 1823 the Negroes in Jamaica commenced their agitation for
obtaining equal privileges with their white brethren. It does not
appear that Hill attached himself openly to any of the societies that
were formed for the purpose of carrying on this agitation. But he
freely gave them the benefit of his abilities, helping the whole
movement with his advice and with his pen.[2]
In the year 1826 Hill visited Cuba, the United States and Canada, and
then went on to England, landing there in September. In 1827 he was
deputed by the organization in Jamaica to use his efforts in England
to secure the assistance of the leading members of the Anti-Slavery
party. During his stay there he was on terms of close intimacy with
Wilberforce, Buxton, Clarkson, Babington, Lushington and Zachary
Macaulay,[3] all members of the Anti-Slavery Society, as well as
Pringle and other men eminent for their philanthropy and talents and
noted for the deep interest they took in all that related to the
elevation and welfare of the Negroes of the British West Indian
colonies. The petition from the people of color of this island to the
House of Commons for the removal of their civil disabilities, was
entrusted to Hill, who upon the occasion of presenting it was
permitted "within the bar" of the House. On that occasion Canning
delivered his last speech a splendid effort in favor of the
petitioners. Hill remained several years in England and contributed
largely by his pen and his speeches to enlighten the public mind of
England as to the real character of West Indian slavery. But the
remittances from the "people of color" in Jamaica, never very large,
soon became few and far between. So Hill, always independent in every
way, even in his friendships and political alliances, maintained
himself and his sister, Jane, almost entirely by his contributions,
literary and scientific, to several popular newspapers and
periodicals.[4]
After a residence of several years in England, Hill was sent by the
Anti-Slavery Society on a visit to San Domingo, chiefly for the
purpose of ascertaining by personal observation and inquiry what was
the actual social and political condition of the people of that
island.[5] But his commission had a more extensive object than that
attached to it, which, however, directed him to obtain besides all the
information he possibly could concerning the natural resources of
every part of the country through which he was to travel. San Domingo
was then under the wise and able rule of President Boyer, the whole
island forming one undivided republic, enjoying internal tranquillity,
and being in a comparatively flourishing condition. On his way from
England to Port-au-Prince, where he arrived on the sixteenth of June,
1830, Hill visited France staying there a few months. He spent nearly
two years in San Domingo travelling incessantly and making notes about
everything. He has left more than one sketch-book full of sketches
showing a knowledge of perspective, a keen eye for the picturesque and
a true artist's feeling. He sailed from San Domingo for England on the
third of May, 1832, and then for Jamaica a few months after, never
again to quit his native country. In that year he was made justice of
the peace for Trelawny.
He was never greedy for money and seems to have been ill-paid for his
labors in San Domingo. Upon his return to Jamaica either on that
account or from motives of policy he ceased all communication with the
Anti-Slavery Society, and only now and then did he write to one or two
of its members, and even then more as personal friends than as old
political allies.
On the third of February, 1834, Hill was appointed one of a number of
forty stipendiary magistrates whose duty it was to adjudicate between
the former slaveholders and their "apprentices."[6] This appointment
he held until the first of January, 1872. In this connection it may be
interesting to quote the opinion of Hill expressed by the Rev. James
Thome and J. H. Kimball, who in 1838 published for the American
Anti-Slavery Society an account of _Emancipation in the West Indies: a
six months' tour in Antigua, Barbadoes and Jamaica in the year 1837_.
They say: "We spent nearly a day with Richard Hill, Esq., the
secretary of the special magistrates' departments, of whom we have
already spoken. He is a colored gentleman, and in every respect the
noblest man, white or black, whom we met in the West Indies. He is
highly intelligent and of fine moral feelings. His manners are free
and unassuming, and his language in conversation fluent and well
chosen.... He is at the head of the special magistrates (of whom there
are sixty (_sic_) in this island) and all the correspondence between
them and the governor is carried on through him. The station he holds
is a very important one, and the business connected with it is of a
character and extent that, were he not a man of superior abilities, he
could not sustain. He is highly respected by the government in the
island and at home, and possesses the esteem of his fellow citizens of
all colors. He associates with persons of the highest rank, dining and
attending parties at the government house with all the aristocracy of
Jamaica. We had the pleasure of spending an evening with him at the
solicitor general's. Though an African sun has burnt a deep tinge on
him he is truly one of nature's nobleman. His demeanor is such, so
dignified, yet so bland and amiable, that no one can help respecting
him."[7]
Hill represented St. James and afterwards Trelawny in the House of
Assembly which sat from October 24, 1837, to November 3, 1838, and
during that time he served on several important committees, notably
one appointed to inquire into the state of the several courts of
justice in the island. But the fact that he unsuccessfully contested
the representation of Port Royal in November, 1838, may have had
something to do with his withdrawal from political strife. About 1840
he was offered the governorship of St. Lucia, but his love for his
native island caused him to decline the offer. He was in 1855
nominated a member of the Privy Council which post he held only about
ten years.
His political career was ended early in life, and the remainder of his
days were passed in retirement at Spanish-Town where he had taken up
his abode upon being appointed stipendiary magistrate. He occupied his
time with his daily official duties and literary work and seldom left
home except for change of air at the sea side, to visit some intimate
friend in Kingston, or perhaps to take the chair at some missionary
gathering, or to join in the deliberations of a committee meeting. In
1847 Hill acted as Agent General of Immigration, and in December of
that year he submitted an interesting report to the Assembly.
When the cholera swept over the island in 1851 Hill turned his
botanical studies to good account. The saline treatment was then in
high esteem; but by means of the bitter-bush, _Eupatorium nervosum_, a
shrub not unlike the wild sage in appearance, which grows freely on
waste lands, he is said to have alleviated much suffering and saved
many lives.
He was Vice-President from 1844 to 1849 of the Jamaica Society for the
encouragement of Agriculture and other Arts and Sciences, instituted
in 1825. In 1849 this Society ceased to exist and in its stead sprang
up the Colonial Literary and Heading Society, of which Hill was one of
the managing committee. He was one of the nominated members of the
then Board of Education. He was a member of the original council of
the Royal Agricultural Society of Jamaica, founded in 1843,
Vice-President as late as 1857 of the Royal Society of Arts of
Jamaica, established in 1854 as the Jamaica Society of Arts, and
Vice-President of the Royal Society of Arts and Agriculture, which was
the result of the amalgamation of these two societies in 1864. In 1861
he had undertaken to edit jointly with the Rev. James Watson, the
Secretary, the _Transactions of the Royal Society of Arts_, to which
he contributed various notes. But in the first number of the
_Transactions of the Incorporated Royal Society of Arts and
Agriculture_ (1867) is the record of a vote of sympathy and regret at
his inability to attend through ill-health; and although he
contributed articles to the journal he was not able to be present at
the meetings. His leisure was devoted to scientific study, especially
the ornithology, ichthyology, and anthropology of the West Indies. He
never let a single opportunity pass by, if he could possibly help it,
without trying to benefit his country with his ready pen, and he
always gave all the encouragement he could to those who seemed at all
anxious to study any subject with which he was in the least
acquainted. He read some twenty-five lectures in all at various times
on various subjects.
On the title page of his _Naturalist's Sojourn in Jamaica_, as well as
in his preface, Gosse bears testimony to the assistance which Hill
rendered to him. The appearance of Hill's name on the title page
("Assisted by Richard Hill, Esq., Cor. M. Z. S. Lond., Mem. Counc.
Boy. Soc. Agriculture of Jamaica") was, Mr. Edmund Gosse tells us in
his memoir of his father, greatly against that modest gentleman's
wish. He tells us also that the friendship for Hill was one of the
warmest and most intimate friendships of his father's life. The
publication of this book was delayed by the fact that every sheet was
sent to Spanish Town to be read by Hill.
Hill contributed to several scientific publications both in England
and America and by this means became connected with some of the
leading learned societies of the world. He was corresponding member of
the Zoological Society of London, of the Leeds Institute and of the
Smithsonian Institution, and he numbered amongst his correspondents
Darwin and Poey. Darwin had written in September, 1856, to Gosse for
further information with respect to the habits of pigeons and rabbits
referred to in his _Sojourn_, and it was at Gosse's suggestion that
Darwin wrote to Hill. In a later letter, of April, 1857, he says: "I
owe to using your name a most kind and valuable correspondent in Mr.
Hill, of Spanish Town."
The cony of Jamaica, _Capromys brachyurus_, found commonly in his day,
but now becoming extinct, was named by Hill in Gosse's _Naturalist's
Sojourn_; as well as four birds--three in the _Birds of Jamaica_ and
one in the _Annals and Magazine of Natural History_, and two fishes.
One bird (_Mimus hillii_), two fishes and four mollusca, three being
Jamaican, were named after Hill.
In addition to his collaboration with Gosse of the _Birds of Jamaica_
and the _Naturalist's Sojourn in Jamaica_, Hill's best-known literary
productions are _A Week at Port Royal_, published at Montego Bay in
1858; _Lights and Shadows of Jamaica History_, published in Kingston
in 1859; _Eight Chapters in the History of Jamaica, 1508-1680_,
illustrating the settlement of the Jews in the island which appeared
in 1868; and _The Picaroons of One Hundred and Fifty Years Ago_, which
was published in Dublin in 1869.
He contributed, moreover, a large number of articles on natural
history subjects to various Jamaica publications too numerous to
mention. Some of these were: _The Jamaica Almanacs_; _Transactions of
the Jamaica Society of Arts_; _Transactions of the Royal Society of
Arts of Jamaica_; _The Jamaica Physical Journal_; _Jamaica Monthly
Magazine_; _Jamaica Quarterly Magazine_. In England he contributed to
the _Proceedings of the Zoological Society_; and in America to the
_Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Science_, Philadelphia, and the
_Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History_, New York.
In stature he was tall and commanding, though perhaps the comparison
of him to Antinous made by the writer of an obituary notice was a
little exaggerated. All who knew bore testimony to his generosity,
philanthropy, modesty, even temper, and unfailing self-forgetfulness,
his kindness of heart, his piety, and his catholicism in matters of
religion. A portrait of him executed in oils, it is said, by James
Wyeth, an American artist who spent a short season in the island, is
in the Jamaica History Gallery at the Institute of Jamaica, which also
possesses a pencil sketch of him done by himself.
For two or three years before his death Hill suffered from failing
eyesight. He died, unmarried, at Spanish Town, on September 28, 1872,
at the advanced age of seventy-eight. His remains were followed to the
grave by an immense concourse of all classes.
FRANK CUNDALL,
_Secretary, The Institute of Jamaica_
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Taken in great measure from the biographical notice by the writer
in the _Journal of the Institute of Jamaica_, July, 1896.
[2] For a general sketch of this period see W. J. Gardner's _a History
of Jamaica_, pp. 211-317.
[3] This movement had for years been promoted by the heroic few. It
was then getting a hearing in Parliament. They first advocated the
abolition of the slave trade and then directed attention to slavery.
[4] These contributions closely connected Hill with the men whose new
thought revolutionized science a few decades later.
[5] San Domingo was then independent and the success of the free
Negroes there would have a direct bearing on the anti-slavery
movement, as indifferent white men sometimes contended that the free
Negro was a failure.
[6] Slavery in the British West Indies was not actually abolished
instantly. Gradual emancipation was the method tried in most parts and
even in cases of immediate emancipation the system of apprenticeship
which followed was not much better than slavery.
[7] The office of Secretary to the Stipendiary Magistrates was
established in order to assist Governor Sligo to get through the
enormous amount of correspondence entailed by the complaints sent to
him in connection with the administration of the laws with regard to
the apprenticeship system.
THE RELATIONS OF NEGROES AND INDIANS IN MASSACHUSETTS
One of the longest unwritten chapters of the history of the United
States is that treating of the relations of the Negroes and Indians.
The Indians were already here when the white men came and the Negroes
brought in soon after to serve as a subject race found among the
Indians one of their means of escape. That a larger number of the
Negroes did not take refuge among the Indians was due to the ignorance
of the blacks as to the geographic situation. Not knowing anything
about the country and unacquainted with the language of the white man
or that of the Indians, most Negroes dared not venture very far from
the plantations on which they lived. Statistics show, however, that in
spite of this impediment to the escape of Negroes to Indian
communities, a considerable number of blacks availed themselves of
this opportunity. From the most northern colonies as far south as
Florida there was much contact resulting in the interbreeding of
Indians and Negroes.
In no case was this better exemplified than in Massachusetts. Because
of the cosmopolitan influences in that State where the fur trade,
fisheries, and commerce brought the people into contact with a large
number of foreigners, the Indian settlements by an infusion of blood
from without served as a sort of melting pot in which the Negroes
became an important factor. There was extensive miscegenation of the
two races after the middle of the seventeenth century. In the course
of ten or twelve generations there was an opportunity for "foreign
blood early introduced to permeate the whole mass and when it is
considered that the intermixture was constantly kept up from the
outside, it is a wonder that Indians of pure native race
remained."[1]
According to the first authentic census of Massachusetts, published in
1765, all of the counties of the State except Hampshire, Hampden, and
Franklin had both a Negro and Indian population. Barnstable had 231
Negroes and 515 Indians; Berkshire had 88 Negroes and 221 Indians;
Bristol, 287 Negroes and 106 Indians; Dukes, 46 Negroes and 313
Indians; Essex, 1070 Negroes and 8 Indians; Middlesex, 860 Negroes and
45 Indians; Nantucket, 44 Negroes and 227 Indians; Suffolk, 844
Negroes and 37 Indians; Worcester, 267 Negroes and 34 Indians, making
a total of 4900 Negroes and 1697 Indians.[2] After a careful survey of
the Indian situation in 1861, however, it was discovered that only a
part of these Indians had retained their peculiar characteristics and
these had been finally reduced to a few reservations known as the
following: Chappequiddick, Christiantown, Gay Head, Marshpee, Herring
Pond, Natick, Punkapog, Fall River, Hassanamisco, and Dudley. There
were other Indians at Yarmouth, Dartmouth, Tumpum, Deep Bottom,
Middleborough, and a few scattered.[3]
The Indians were generally neglected for the reason that they were
considered beyond the pale of Christianity, despite professions to the
contrary. As a matter of fact, being wards of the State they were
scantily provided for and their fundamental needs were generally
neglected. They were offered few opportunities for mental, moral, or
religious improvement for the reason that the missionary spirit which
characterized Cotton Mather and John Eliot no longer existed. Only a
small sum was raised or appropriated for their rudimentary education
and with the exception of what could be done with the "Williams Fund"
of Harvard College there was little effort made for their
evangelization. Left thus to themselves, the Indians developed into a
state within a state.
When, therefore, the Negroes became conscious of the wrongs they
suffered in slavery, a few early learned to take refuge among the
Indians and even after they were freed in Massachusetts their social
proscription was such among the whites that some free people of color
preferred the hard life among the Indians to the whiffs and scorns of
race prejudice in the seats of Christian civilization. Coming into
contact there with foreigners, who found it convenient to move among
these morally weak people, the Negroes served as important factors in
the melting pot in which the Indians were remade and introduced to
American life as whites and blacks. Referring to the moral condition
of the Fall River Indians, as a case in evidence, an investigator
reported in 1861 that in two families there were twelve cases of
bastardy and in one of them it was said that, of eight children, the
paternity was apparently about equally divided among the Indian,
Negro, and white races.[4]
The reports on the state of the Indians always disclosed the presence
and the influence of Negroes among them. "Of the publishments of
colored persons interested and the early records of Dartmouth," said
J. M. Earle in 1861, "by far the larger proportion of those of them
were Negro men to Indian women. In Yarmouth a large portion of those
of Indian descent have intermarried with whites until their progeny
has become white, their social relations are with those of that color
and they are mingled with the general community having lost their
identity as a distinct portion of the Hassanamiscoes and it would have
been a fortunate thing for all if it had been so with them all. But
the mixture in most of the tribes has been more with the Negro race
than with the white until that blood probably predominates though
there are still a considerable number who have the prominent
characteristics of the Indians--the lank, glossy, black hair, the
high cheek bones--the bright dark eye and other features peculiar to
the race."[5]
Investigating the Indians of Gay Head in 1861, John M. Earle observed
that the people of Gay Head, like those of other plantations, were a
mixture of the red, white and black races. They had also "an infusion
of the blood of the chivalry of the South as well as of the Portuguese
and Dutch, as might be inferred from the names of Randolph, Madison,
Corsa, Sylvia and Vanderhoop being found among them."[6] The admixture
was much like that on the other plantations with perhaps a less
infusion of the African than in some of them. A few were so strongly
marked with Indian characteristics as to lead one to conclude that
they are very nearly of pure blood, but there were none so nearly
white as in some of the other tribes.
It appeared that these people had lived without the law, so to speak,
in Massachusetts because of their refusal to accept certain
regulations which the State desired to impose upon them. By the act of
June 25, 1811, the governor was authorized to appoint three persons to
be guardians of the Indian, Mulatto and Negro proprietors of Gay Head,
which guardians, in addition to the usual powers given to
functionaries in such cases, were empowered to take into their
possession the lands of Indians, and allot to the several Indians such
part of the lands as should be sufficient for their improvement from
time to time. The act further provided for the discontinuance or
removal of the guardians at the discretion of the governor and
council.[7] Under this act three guardians were appointed and in 1814
the Indians became dissatisfied with their guardians, who resigned,
and the guardianship disappeared.
In 1828 there was enacted another measure providing that whenever the
Indians and people of color at Gay Head should by a vote in town
meeting accept that act and should transmit to the governor an
attested copy of the vote, the governor might then authorize the
guardian to take up his duties at Gay Head, and might upon their
request, appoint suitable persons to divide their lands. As the
Indians had unpleasant recollections of the guardian-system, they
never accepted that proposal. For about thirty years they were without
any guardians, and their affairs, except that of the public schools,
were left to themselves.
It appears, however, that the mere provision for the appointment of a
guardian was not the only objectionable feature of the Act of 1828.
The guardian was given power to "punish, by fine not exceeding twenty
dollars, or by solitary imprisonment not exceeding twenty days, any
trespasses, batteries, larcenies under five dollars, gross lewdness
and lascivious behavior, disorderly and riotous conduct, and for the
sale of spirituous liquors within the territory, or on the lands of
these Indians and people of color.[8] The guardian or other justice of
the peace might issue his warrant directed to the constable of the
Indians and people of color, or other proper officer, to arrest and
bring before him, any offender against the provisions of this act; and
after judgment, he might order execution to be done by said constable
or other proper officer; and if the guardian or other justice of the
peace should adjudge any offender to solitary imprisonment, such
offender should not, during the term of said imprisonment be visited
by, or allowed to speak with any person other than the jailer, or the
guardian or justice of the peace or such other person as the guardian
or justice of the peace should specially authorize thereto; nor should
such offender be allowed any food or drink other than coarse bread and
water, unless sickness should, in the opinion of a physician, render
other sustenance necessary,"[9] "With such a provision in the Act,"
said J. M. Earle, "making a discrimination so odious and unjust,
between themselves and other prisoners, the Indians would have been
greatly wanting in self-respect had they accepted it. It is a
provision disgraceful to the statute book of the State, and
discreditable to the civilization of the age. Yet two tribes, the
Chappequiddick and the Christiantown, were made subject to the
provisions of this law, without the power to accept or reject it, and
are governed by it to this day"[10] (1861).
The Marshpee tribe doubtless had a larger infusion of Negro blood than
any. When the population of this tribe was 327 in 1771, 14 of them
were Negroes, married to Indians. In 1832 there were 315 inhabitants,
of whom 16 were Negroes. According to the report of the Indian
commissioner in 1849 the population was 305 in 1848, of whom 26 were
foreigners, all Negroes or mulattoes. The tribe numbered 403 in 1859,
"including 32 foreigners, married to natives of the tribe, all Negroes
or mulattoes, or various mixtures of Negro, Indian, or white
blood--none of them being pure whites."[11]
The Punkapog Tribe of Indians formerly dwelt on a tract of land in
Canton, Norfolk County, containing five thousand acres, granted them
by the General Court of Massachusetts. Before 1861, however, they had
lost all of this property, the last of it being sold by the guardian,
about 1841, in pursuance of a resolve of the legislature. "The
full-blood Indians of the tribe," says the report of 1861, "are all
extinct. Their descendants, who, like those of all the other tribes in
the States, are of various grades of mixtures, of Indian, white, and
Negro blood, number, so far as is ascertained one hundred and
seventeen persons."[12]
According to the survey made in 1861 the moral condition of the
Indians was rather low and it was a regret that the people of color
exhibiting generally more moral stamina should be degraded by living
among them. Accounting for this condition of Affairs a contemporary
said of the low moral condition of the Fall River Indians in 1861:
"The prejudice of color and caste, and the social proscription to
which the colored people are subjected, has a twofold unfavorable
effect upon them; first to detract from their self-respect and so to
weaken the moral instincts, and then to throw them into the
association of the more dissolute and degraded of other races, where
they fall an easy prey to immoral habits. There are, however, in this
tribe as well as the others, instances of those who rise above all the
evil influences with which they are encompassed and maintain a good
standing, as worthy and respectable members of the community. It would
be a cause for gratification, if it could be said truly that these are
increasing, or that there was any decided progress in the general
character of the tribe. But, from all the evidence that can be
gathered, it does not appear that, for the last twelve or fourteen
years, there has been much, if any improvement in their moral and
social condition,"[13]
The situation in the Hassanamisco Tribe shows how the Indians in some
of these reservations became extinct. Interbreeding with both races
they passed either to the blacks or to the whites. "But little trace
of Indian descent is apparent in the members of this tribe," said J.
M. Earle in 1861. "It is most marked in the few who have mixed chiefly
with the whites, yet some of these have no perceptible indications of
it, and have become identified with the white race. The remainder of
the tribe have the distinguishing marks of African descent and mixed
African and white, of various grades, from the light quadroon and
mulatto, to the apparently nearly pure negro, and, in every successive
generation the slight remaining characteristics of the race become
less apparent."[14]
Referring to the Yarmouth Indians the investigator informs us that
these had tended to go almost altogether over to the white race. "With
this exception," said he, "nearly all of his descendants have
intermarried with whites, down to the present day, so that they are
substantially merged in the general community, having their social
relations with white people, with the exception of one or two
families."[15] It was observed that in all the families, in which both
heads are living, there were only two in which one of them was not
pure white, and those having the Indian blood were usually so little
colored, that it would hardly be noticed by one not acquainted with
the fact. Some of them had but one sixteenth part of Indian blood. Of
the two widows found there in 1861 one was the wife of a white man.
The other was a Marshpee Indian whose husband belonged to the Yarmouth
tribe and she associated with the people of color.
Discussing the Middleborough Indians, the same report said: "They have
been, for some time, commingled with them in the same community,
generally under as favorable circumstances, in most respects, as the
other colored population of the State, to which they assimilate and
have not been subjected to the peculiar present disadvantages under
which those labor who are residents of the plantations,"[16]
Because of numerous complaints to the effect that the unnecessary
restrictions placed on Indians no longer dependents worked a hardship,
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts enacted in 1861 a measure providing
that all Indians and descendants of Indians in that State should be
placed on the same legal footing as other inhabitants of that
Commonwealth, excepting those who were supported or had been, in whole
or in part, by the State and excepting also those residing on the
Indian plantations of Chappequiddick, Christiantown, Gay Head,
Marshpee, Herring Pond, Fall River and Dudley tribes or those whose
homes were thereon and were only temporarily absent. It further
provided that any Indian or person of color, thus denied the right of
citizenship but desirous of exercising that privilege might certify
the same in writing to the clerk of his town or city, who should make
a record of the same and upon the payment of a poll tax should become
to all intents and purposes a citizen of the State, but such persons
should not return to the legal condition of an Indian. Indians unable
to avail themselves of this opportunity remained under a guardian in
their former state but by complying with this provision they finally
emerged from their tribal state into the large body of citizens.
Giving further consideration to the situation among the Indians, the
legislature of Massachusetts passed in 1869 what is known as _An Act
to Enfranchise the Indians of the Commonwealth_. By this measure
practically all Indians in that State were made citizens entitled to
all the rights, privileges, and immunities and subject to all the
duties and liabilities to which other citizens were entitled or
subject. The same provision was made in the acts of 1884, 1890, 1892
and 1893.[17] With a proviso exempting from attachment or seizure on
execution for a debt or liability existing before the passage of the
law this measure further declared all Indian lands "rightfully held by
any Indian in severalty and all such lands which had been or may be
set off to any Indian should be and become the property of such person
and his heirs in fee simple."[18]
The Indians thereby became vested not only with the rights of any
other citizen to sell or control his interest in property whether
legal or equitable but were given similar rights in the common lands
which were transferable. Prior to this legislation the common lands
had been exploited by the State for the benefit of those Indians
having the status of wards. Recognizing only equitable rights of
ownership in the Indians, the commonwealth kept their property under
public guardianship to protect them from the consequences of their
own improvidence. Indians had the right immediately to have their
share of the common lands of the tribe transferred to them or sold for
their special benefit. They were granted also the right to have their
share in any funds or other property held in trust for the tribe
turned over to them.
The Indians of the Marshpee and Gay Head settlements, however, were
made exceptions in this case for the reason that the improvement in
their condition was not adequate to justify the extension to them of
the same treatment given others; but they were given these same rights
in 1870.[19] By the Act of 1870 the district of Marshpee was abolished
as such and incorporated as a town by that name. To establish the
claim to the rights and privileges guaranteed other Indians in the Act
of 1869, the Superior Court of the State was given jurisdiction and a
board of Selectmen was constituted as the authority for making such
applications instead of any member of a tribe.
It would seem that this legislation of 1869 and 1870 solved the
problem of the wardship of Indians and free persons of color on the
reservations. It developed thereafter, however, that all members of
these communities were not in a position to maintain themselves. In
1902, therefore, it was enacted that the State Board of Charity upon
the application of the overseers of the poor of any town should make
provision in the State hospital or elsewhere for the support of
Indians who may be unable to support themselves and have not acquired
a settlement in any town. Upon the application of an Indian who
received aid from the commonwealth prior to the twenty-third day of
July in the year 1869, the State Board was obligated to furnish him
in the State hospital or elsewhere such aid as it might consider
expedient.
The provisions in the law of 1870 for the sale of certain lands in the
proceeds of which these persons would share led to further action. In
1870 the probate court appointed commissioners to make partition of
the common lands of the Marshpee Indians referred to in the Act of
1869. These commissioners did not make their report until 1878. In
1870 there was presented to the Superior Court by the Selectmen of
Marshpee a petition for the division of common lands among the persons
entitled thereto. In spite of argument to the contrary the Supreme
Court of Massachusetts held that the members of the Indian tribes
mentioned in the Act of 1869 acquired both legal and equitable rights
in tenants in common of the undivided lands of the tribe which were
transferable. It was provided in 1878 that the proceeds from the sale
of such lands should be divided among the persons entitled to the land
in proportion to their interests.
In 1870 the Gay Head district also was abolished and incorporated as a
town. The Indians were guaranteed the same rights to lands in
severalty and the division of common lands as in the case of other
Indian communities thus disestablished. The partition of these lands
was to be made in the Probate Court on application of the Selectmen or
ten resident owners of such land. An Indian feeling aggrieved because
of an invasion of his rights could appeal his case, according to the
provision set forth in chapter 117 of the General Statutes of
Massachusetts.[20]
Some of these Negroes from the very beginning of their association
with the Indians took high rank.[21] The most prominent Negro of all,
however, to come out of the Indian plantations was the celebrated Paul
Cuffe, well known in this country and Europe by his efforts in behalf
of African colonization. He was a native of the tribe of Dartmouth
Indians, of mixed African and white descent. His important achievement
was that of exploring the western coast of Africa with ships which he
owned and fitted out and commanded and which he used in the
transportation of Negroes to Africa where he was the first to
undertake the deportation of freedmen from the United States,
preparing the way for the organization of the American Colonization
Society. On one of his voyages he visited England where he was
received with marked attention by the nobility and the royalty itself.
Men who knew Cuffe considered him a man of great character and
respected him because of his being able by dint of energy to
accumulate sufficient property to place himself in circumstances of
pecuniary independence. Some of his descendants remained in the
vicinity of the original Dartmouth Indians but others moved to
California.[22]
Several families of Negroes in Massachusetts trace their ancestry back
to these Indians. According to the Attorney General of Massachusetts,
there are no special records kept at present of Negroes or persons of
color who had interbreeded with Indians as regards the receipts by
them of pensions from the commonwealth given as the result of having
been dispossessed of their lands. Some persons of color assert,
however, that they are the direct descendants of King Philip and
Massasoit. Because of this close connection with the Indians it was
necessary for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on dispossessing the
Indians of their lands to give these persons of color the benefits of
the acts securing remuneration to the Indians. As these lands were
disposed of regardless of the rights of the Indians, the State has
assumed the obligation of satisfying these claims by pensioning the
complainants.
Mr. William George Butler, of West Medford, Massachusetts, a man now
sixty years of age, receives such a pension. Mr. Butler's father came
to Boston from Baltimore about 1815 and married a woman of color with
an infusion of Indian blood. In looking up her estate this connection
was discovered and a petition was sent to the Massachusetts
Legislature in her favor. Upon the investigation of her claim, which
proved to be just, she was granted a pension of $250 a year, which
Butler inherited.[23] In the following list of persons and tribes from
which are descended all Indians who are at present receiving pensions
from the Commonwealth, of Massachusetts, however, appear several
Negroes or persons of color.[24] These are:
Lemuel D. and Anna Burr Ponkapoag
Fannie S. Butler Wampanoag
William G. Butler Wampanoag
James L. Cisco Hassanamisco
Delia L. Daley Oneida
Alice Gigger Hassanamisco
Elbridge G. Gigger Hassanamisco
Angela M. Leach Pegon and Dudley
Rebecca C. Hammond Algonquin
Teeweleema Mitchell Wampanoag {Descendants of King
Wontonekamuske Mitchell Wampanoag {Phillip and Massasoit
Sarah B. Pocknett Algonquin
Zeriah Robinson Wampanoag
Samantha Talbot Oneida
C. G. Woodson
FOOTNOTES:
[1] _Documents printed by order of the Senate of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts during the Session of the Grand Court_, 1861, No. 96, p.
10.
[2] The figures given by _The Centinel_ differed a little from these.
According to its census in 1765, Barnstable had 516 Indians instead of
515; Bristol had 401 Negroes and 167 Indians; Essex 977 Negroes
instead of 1,070; Middlesex 871 Negroes and 37 Indians; Nantucket 93
Indians instead of 149; Norfolk 420 Negroes instead of 414; Plymouth
223 Indians instead of 227; Suffolk 891 Negroes instead of 844;
Worcester 304 Negroes instead of 267. See J. H. Benton's _Early Census
making in Massachusetts_.
[3] _Documents printed by order of the Senate, 1861_, No. 96, passim.
[4] _Documents printed by order of the Senate of Massachusetts, 1861_,
No. 96, p. 84.
[5] _Documents printed by order of the Senate, 1861_, No. 96, p. 10.
[6] _Ibid._, p. 34.
[7] The Laws of Massachusetts, 1811.
[8] _Documents printed by order of the Senate, 1861_, No. 96, pp.
38-39.
[9] Laws of Massachusetts, 1828.
[10] "Sixty-six out of the whole number of the tribe, at the time of
the enumeration, were not residents of the District; but 52 of them
were considered as retaining their rights in the tribe, and more than
half of the 66 were understood to be only temporary residents abroad,
expecting, at some time, to return to Marshpee, and make it their
permanent place of residence. A few others, as a matter of personal
convenience, are now residing just over the line, and are so returned,
but they consider themselves as identified with the tribe in all
respects, and are so considered by the tribe. Fourteen individuals,
included in the above 66, whose names are in the 'Supplementary List,'
own no land in the District, but have been gone so long from it, that
they are not now recognized by residents as members of the tribe."
_Documents printed by order of the Senate, 1861_, No. 96, p. 40.
[11] _Documents printed by order of the Senate, 1861_, No. 96, p. 47.
[12] _Ibid._, pp. 73-74.
[13] _Documents printed by order of the Senate, 1861_, No. 96, p. 84.
[14] _Documents printed by order of the Senate, 1861_, No. 96, p. 101.
[15] _Ibid._, p. 109.
[16] _Ibid._, pp. 131-132.
[17] _Massachusetts Acts of 1884, 1890, 1892, and 1893._
[18] _Massachusetts Acts of 1869_, Chapter 463.
[19] "A method was also provided through which his title might be
established. This was through Commissioners which were to be appointed
by the Probate Court who were to act under the direction of the Court
and determine all necessary questions and make their report from which
the Court could make its order or decrees. Any person who deemed
himself aggrieved had the right to appeal to the Supreme Judicial
Court. The right of the Indians became vested and forcible the moment
the statute took effect." See a statement from the present Attorney
General of Massachusetts, dated December 1, 1919.
[20] "Section 5, chapter 463 of the Acts of 1869 provided that the
general agent of the board of state charities shall take charge of the
house, and all property connected therewith, in the town of Webster,
belonging to the Commonwealth and permission was given him to lease
the same to persona heretofore known as members of the Dudley tribe of
Indians, upon terms substantially like those upon which they have
heretofore occupied it; or to sell the same at public auction under
the direction of the state board of charities and pay the proceeds of
such lease or sale into the Treasury of the Commonwealth." Statement
of present Attorney General of Massachusetts, submitted December 1,
1919.
[21] Samuel A. Drake, _History of Middlesex County. Massachusetts_,
pp. 194, 280.
[22] John W. Cromwell, _The Negro in American History_, 98-103.
[23] These facts were obtained from Mr. Butler himself.
[24] This list was obtained from the office of the Attorney General of
Massachusetts.
DOCUMENTS
To meet the demand for an enlargement of the liberty granted the
Indians and the mixed breeds living on the reservations, the
Massachusetts Legislature enacted in 1861 the following measure
intended to offer every ambitious one of these groups a way of escape
from the wardship of the State and at the same time safeguarding the
interests of those who objected to having turned loose upon society a
large number of dependents who could not function as persons having a
permanent attachment to the community and primarily concerned with the
welfare of the body politic.
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
IN THE YEAR ONE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND SIXTY-ONE.
AN ACT
CONCERNING THE INDIANS OF THE COMMONWEALTH
_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in
General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as
follows:_--
Sect. 1. All Indians and descendants of Indians in this State are
hereby placed on the same legal footing as the other inhabitants
of the Commonwealth, excepting those who are supported, or have
been, in whole or in part, by the State, and excepting also,
those residing on the Indian plantations of the Chappequiddick,
Christiantown, Gay Head, Marshpee, Herring Pond, Fall River, and
Dudley tribes, or those whose homes are thereon and are only
temporarily absent.
Sect. 2. Any Indian or person of color, belonging to either of
the tribes before mentioned, and residing within the limits of
any town or city of this Commonwealth, to whom the right of
citizenship is not extended by the first section of this act but
who wishes to exercise that privilege, may certify the same in
writing to the clerk of the town or city where he resides, who
shall make record of the same: and upon paying a poll tax, he
shall become, to all intents and purposes, a citizen of the
State, and shall not, thenceforward, return to the legal
condition of an Indian. And settlement shall be required, by
those who become citizens, under the provisions of this act, in
the same manner they are acquired by other persons, under the
General Statutes of the Commonwealth.
Sect. 3. It shall be the duty of the governor, by and with the
advice and consent of the council, to appoint an able, discreet,
and suitable person, to be Indian commissioner, who shall hold
his office for the term of three years, unless sooner removed by
the governor and council. And the governor and council shall fill
all vacancies which shall happen in said office, by death,
resignation, expiration of said term, or otherwise. It shall be
the duty of said commissioner to exercise a careful supervision
over the affairs of all the Indians of the Commonwealth, not
endowed by the provisions of this act, with the rights of
citizenship, and to aid them, by advice, counsel, and whatever
other suitable means may be within his control, to promote their
welfare, to improve their general condition, and to qualify
themselves, judiciously, and with safety to themselves and
others, to be placed, at as early a time as may be, on the same
legal footing as the other inhabitants of the Commonwealth. He
shall exercise all the powers, perform all the duties, and be
subject to all the restrictions, responsibilities and
liabilities, which now by law appertain to the treasurer of
Marshpee, and to the guardians of other tribes except so far as
they may be charged or varied by the provisions of this act; and
he shall give bonds, to the satisfaction of the governor and
council, for the faithful performance of such trust.
Sect. 4. The said commissioner shall, as soon as is convenient,
after his appointment, cause a registration to be made, on the
basis of the general registration of the State, of all the
members of the several tribes, specifying the parentage and date
of the birth of each, as near as can be ascertained, and the date
of all marriages of parties now living, with all the particulars,
that are now required of town clerks, by the laws of the State,
and having completed the same, up to the time required by law for
the last preceding return to be made, he shall, thenceforward
make and keep a true registration of all the births, marriages,
and deaths, in each of the said tribes, and shall annually make
due return thereof, the whole to be done in the same manner as is
required of town clerks, and under the same liabilities and
conditions that are, by law, imposed upon them.
Sect. 5. The said commissioner shall, in concurrence with the
proper officers of the Gay Head tribe, cause a survey of all the
land held in severalty, by the members of said tribe, setting out
the same to each, by betes and bounds, and, when the survey is
complete, shall cause a record of the portion of each proprietor
to be made in the registry of deeds, of the county of Dukes
County, and thereupon, the legal title shall vest in the several
proprietors thereof, their heirs, and assigns, forever:
_provided, however_, that no land on the plantation shall ever be
alienated from the tribe or be held or possessed by any person
who is not a member thereof; and when ever the family of any
proprietor becomes extinct, the real estate of said proprietor
shall revert to said tribe and become the property thereof, in
common. And whenever, hereafter, any common land shall be taken
up to be occupied and possessed in severalty, by any member of
the tribe, having the concurrence of the tribe therein, the same
shall be surveyed, set forth, and recorded, under the supervision
of said commissioner, as is above provided; and no title to any
common land, to be held in severalty, on said plantation shall be
acquired in any other manner.
Sect. 6. The said commission shall cause a survey to be made of
the Indian plantation at Fall River and the bounds thereof to be
renewed, agreeably to the surveys made by order of the State in
one thousand seven hundred and sixty-three. He shall ascertain to
whom the several lots belong by hereditary descent from the
proprietors to whom they belonged in one thousand seven hundred
and sixty-four, so far as descendants of said proprietors still
remain, and shall designate the same by the numbers of the lots
respectively; and in the same manner, he shall designate the
several lots, if such there be, of which the families of the
former proprietors have become extinct, and shall make return of
the same to the governor and council, for the use of the
legislature, and shall report such other facts connected
therewith as may be useful to them, and shall recommend such
disposition of the land remaining in common, as in his judgment,
shall be most conducive to the welfare of the Indians, and of the
State.
Sect. 7. The said commissioner shall, as soon as the performance
of the duties of his office shall have made him sufficiently
acquainted with the necessities and wants of the Indians, and
with the other facts necessary to qualify him for the service,
prepare a bill embodying a system for governing, managing, and
regulating the affairs of the several tribes, as nearly uniform
in its provision respecting them severally, as the circumstances
of the different tribes will permit, as a substitute for the
present laws on that subject, and report the same to the governor
and council for the consideration of the legislature, accompanied
by the reasons on which the several provisions therein
recommended are sustained.
Sect. 8. The Indians and people of color on Gay Head, and the
officers by them appointed for the purpose, shall have the same
powers in the management of their municipal affairs, and in
relation to the employment of teachers, and the making and
enforcing of all rules for the regulation and government of their
schools, that by law are exercised by the inhabitants and
corresponding officers of the several towns of the Commonwealth:
_provided, however_, that this shall not be construed to
authorize the alienation of any of the territory of the
plantation: and _provided, further_, that no person shall be
authorized to vote in municipal affairs, except natives of the
Gay Head tribe, natives of other Indian tribes of this State
married or having been married to a Gay Head woman and resident
on the plantation, or such other person resident on the
plantation and married or having been married to a Gay Head
woman, as shall have the right conferred on him by a vote of
two-thirds of the voters of the plantation.
Sect. 9. All acts and parts of acts heretofore passed, so far as
they conflict with the provisions of this act, are hereby
repealed.
Sect. 10. This act shall take effect from and after its passage.
If the legislature should decide not to authorize the appointment
of a single commissioner for the State, I would propose the
passage of the same Bill with the following amendments:--
Strike out the whole of section 3.
Strike out in section 4 the words "said commissioner shall, as
soon as is convenient after his appointment," and insert the
words--clerks of Marshpee, the guardians of the several
plantation tribes, and the clerk of Gay Head shall.
In section 5, strike out the words "said commissioner," and
insert the words--guardians of the Chappequiddick and
Christiantown tribes. Also, in the latter portion of the same
section, strike out the word "commissioner" and insert the
word--guardian.
In section 6, strike out the words "said commissioner," and
insert the words--guardian of the Troy or Fall River tribe.
Strike out section 7, entire.
Alter the numbering of the sections after 2, to correspond to the
changes.
Insert the following section after section 8:--
Sect. --. No person shall be entitled to support by any tribe in
the State, of whose parents, one only was an Indian, and whose
residence was not on the plantation of the tribe at the time of
his birth, unless the rights of himself or parents as members of
the tribe, shall have been subsequently recognized by the tribe.
SOME NEGRO MEMBERS OF RECONSTRUCTION CONVENTIONS AND LEGISLATURES AND
OF CONGRESS[1]
No systematic effort has hitherto been made to save the records of the
Negro during the Reconstruction period. American public opinion has
been so prejudiced against the Negroes because of their elevation to
prominence in southern politics that it has been considered sufficient
to destroy their regime and forget it. As future historians will seek
for facts beyond those compiled by biased investigators now writing
monographs in this field, a few persons realizing the importance of
preserving the records in which the actual facts are set forth, are
now directing the attention of the country to this neglected aspect of
our history. These lists of suggestive names of the men who figured
conspicuously in this recent drama will be decidedly useful in the
collection of facts adequate to the presentation of both sides of the
question. These lists are far from being complete. This is but a step
in the right direction and persons in possession of such facts are
earnestly urged to cooeperate in collecting them.
It has been extremely difficult to determine the race of the members
of the various Reconstruction bodies. The lists of members as
published in the Journals of the legislatures do not indicate the
race. This has to be determined by contemporary information. The
methods used by other persons and agencies in identifying the race
have been various. The Negro members of the North Carolina General
Assembly, for example, were indicated by the figure 37 in the State
Manual listing all persons who had been in the Assembly. Where no such
information could be obtained from printed matter, it has been
necessary to rely upon information obtained from individuals who
participated in the Reconstruction.
NEGRO MEMBERS OF THE ALABAMA CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, 1867[2]
District Name County
1st John Carraway Mobile
Ovide Gregory Mobile
6th Thomas Diggs Barbour
7th B. F. Royal Bullock
13th Washington Johnson Russell
15th Peyton Finley Montgomery
16th H. Stokes Dallas
J. Hatcher Dallas
17th J. Wright McLeod Marengo
18th Benjamin Inge Sumter
19th Samuel Blanden Lee
21st Thomas Lee Perry
22nd J. K. Greene Hale
B. F. Alexander Greene
42nd Lafayette Robinson Madison
C. Jones Madison
43rd J. T. Rapier Lauderdale
NEGRO MEMBERS OF THE ALABAMA CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, 1875[2]
District Name County
H. A. Carson Lowndes
25th A. H. Curtis Perry
21st G. S. W. Lewis Perry
_Senate_[3]
Session 1872-1874
Name County
Jeremiah Haralson Dallas
J. W. Jones Lowndes
Lloyd Leftwich Greene
B F. Royal Bullock
Session 1874-1875 and 1875-1876
Name County
A. A. Curtis Perry
J. K. Greene Hale
Jeremiah Haralson[4] Dallas
J. W. Jones Lowndes
Lloyd Leftwich Greene
B. F. Royal Bullock
_House_
Session 1868 and 1869-1870
Name County
Benjamin Alexander Greene
J. H. Alston Macon
Matt Avery Perry
Samuel Blandon Lee
N. A. Brewington Lowndes
John Carraway (Speaker of House) Mobile
George Cox Montgomery
Thomas Diggs Barbour
Joseph Draun Dallas
J. K. Greene Hale
Ovide Gregory Mobile
George Houston Sumter
Benjamin Inge Sumter
C. Jones Madison
G. S. W. Lewis Perry
David Law Barbour
Jeff McCally Madison
H. W. W. Rice Talladega
James Shaw Mobile
Lawrence S. Speed Bullock
Holland Thompson Montgomery
William V. Turner Elmore
Latty J. Williams Montgomery
Henry Young Lowndes
Session 1870-1871 and 1871-1872
Name County
H. Craig Montgomery
A. H. Curtis Perry
Thomas Diggs Barbour
John Dozier Perry
William D. Gaskins Lowndes
Ned Gee Dallas
J. K. Greene Hale
Jeremiah Haralson Dallas
R. L. Johnson Dallas
Lawrence S. Speed Bullock
Henry St. Clair Macon
Holland Thompson Montgomery
Mansfield Tyler Lowndes
Latty J. Williams Montgomery
_House_
Session 1872-1873 and 1873-1874
Name County
W. E. Carson Lowndes
T. J. Clark Barbour
Mentor Dotson Sumter
John Dozier Perry
Hale Ellsworth Montgomery
Samuel Fantroy Barbour
J. H. Goldsby Dallas
J. K. Green Hale
R. L. Johnson Dallas
Reuben Jones Madison
G. S. W. Lewis Perry
Perry Matthews Bullock
January Maul Lowndes
G. R. Miller Russell
Willis Merriweather Wilcox
S. J. Patterson Autauga
George Patterson Macon
Robert Reid Sumter
Bristo W. Reese Hale
Lawrence S. Speed Bullock
Henry St. Clair Macon
Lawson Stelle Montgomery
F. H. Threat Marengo
J. R. Treadwell Russell
Thomas Walker Dallas
E. A. Williams Barbour
Latty J. Williams Montgomery
William V. Turner, _Assistant Clerk_ Elmore
Phillip Joseph, _Engrossing Clerk_ Mobile
W. H. Council, _Assistant Engrossing Clerk_ Madison
C. O. Harris, _Assistant Enrolling Clerk_ Montgomery
Stephen Russell, _Page_ Montgomery
_House_
Session 1874-1875 and 1875-1876
Name County
Elijah Baldwin Wilcox
W. H. Blevins Dallas
Matt Boyd Perry
H. V. Cashin Montgomery
Elijah Cook Montgomery
Charles Fagan Montgomery
W. D. Gaskin[5] Lowndes
Captain Gilmer Montgomery
C. E. Harris Dallas
A. W. Johnson Macon
Samuel Lee Lowndes
G. S. W. Lewis Perry
Jacob Martin Dallas
P. Matthews Bullock
G. W. Allen Bullock
Willis Merriweather Wilcox
George Patterson Macon
Bristo W. Reese Hale
Robert Reid Sumter
C. S. Smith Bullock
Manly Wynne Hale
H. A. Carson[6] Lowndes
E. W. Locke[6] Wilcox
NEGRO MEMBERS OF CONGRESS FROM ALABAMA
Year Name County Congress
1871-1873 Benjamin F. Turner Dallas 43rd
1873-1875 James T. Rapier Lauderdale 43rd
1875-1877 Jeremiah Haralson Dallas 44th
James H. Alston was a member of the Alabama Legislature for Macon
County, 1868 and 1869-79. He was a shoemaker by trade and had formerly
been a slave. It was reported that before the war there was a Military
Company in the town of Tuskegee. The members of this company desired
to have a drummer, and for this purpose they sent to South Carolina
and bought James H. Alston. It was thought that he came from
Charleston.
Henry Young was a member of the Alabama Legislature about 1868 and
1869-70. He was a slave who could read and write, having been taught
by his master's children. He would, somewhat like Frederick Douglass,
spell out the words on letters that he was called upon to deliver or
to get from the post office, and in this way he also increased his
ability to read.
CONWAY, ARK.,--October 14, 1916.
NEGROES IN POLITICS IN ARKANSAS DURING RECONSTRUCTION
In the constitutional convention of 1868, there were 8 Negro
delegates, that is, J. W. Mason, Richard Samuels, William Murphy,
Monroe Hawkins, William Grey, James T. White, Henry Rector and Thomas
P. Johnson. (_Proceedings of the Constitutional Convention of 1868_,
pages 2 to 5.)
Negroes in the Arkansas Legislature: Session April 2 to July 23, 1869,
and session November 17, 1868, to April 10, 1869, were seven Negro
members of whom J. W. Mason, the leading Negro in the Senate; W. H.
Grey, leading Negro in the House. (_Daily Republican_, Oct. 1, 1868).
In the Legislature of January 2 to March 25, 1871, there were eleven
Negro members: J. W. Mason and J. T. White in the Senate: J. M.
Alexander, Austin Barrow, Conway Barbour, John Webb, Adam Johnson,
Jeff Haskins, A. Mays, William Young, Carl Pope, A. J. Robinson, E. A.
Fulton in the House. (_Daily Republican_, March 25, 1871.)
In the 19th session, January 6 to April 25, 1873, the last session
before Baxter called his special session, something less than one
fifth of all the members were Negroes. I have been unable to ascertain
the exact number in this session, but from the standpoint of numbers,
I would judge that there is no great difference between this session
and the previous one. _The Arkansas Gazette_ of January 12, 1873, says
of the Negro members: "There are a few men among these colored members
who are bright and intelligent, and much superior to some white
members, but as a rule, this is not the case."
(Signed) THOMAS S. STAPLES,
Hendrix College
Conway, Arkansas
NEGRO MEMBERS OF THE FLORIDA LEGISLATURE DURING RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD
AND AFTER
_Senate_
Year Name County
1880-1888 H. W. Chandler Marion
1881 T. V. Gibbs Duval
80's Joseph E. Lee Duval
.... Thomas W. Long Marion
1881 Robert Meacham Jefferson
1881-1865 Daniel C. Martin Alachua
.... G. W. Proctor Jefferson
1863 John E. Proctor Leon
80's Egbert C. Sammis Duval
.... John Wallace Leon
_Representatives_
Year Name County
1885 Edward I. Alexander[7] Madison
.... Josiah Armstrong Columbia
.... Henry Black Jefferson
1879 Kellis B. Bonner Marion
.... James Dean Bryant Monroe
.... William Bradwell Duval
1881-83 Joseph N. Clinton Alachua
1881 Wallace B. Carr Leon
.... Lucian Fisher Leon
.... John Ford Leon
.... Samuel Frazier Leon
.... Robert Gabriel Monroe
.... Alfred Grant Duval
1881 David E. Jacobs Marion
Before 1881 Isaac Jenkins Leon
.... A. J. Junius Jefferson
.... Thorns W. Long Marion
1889-91 George A. Lewis[8]
80's Joseph E. Lee Duval
.... Samuel Petty Nassau
1881-83 (about) A. B. Osgood
.... Charles H. Pierce Leon
80's Riley E. Robinson Nassau
.... Henry St. Clair Hernando
.... John R. Scott, Sr. Duval
.... I. E. Purcell Putnam
_Representatives_
Year Name County
1889-91 John R. Scott, Jr. Duval
.... Charles Shavers Monroe
.... Rev. Catherine B. Simmons Duval
80's Peter Okes Jefferson
.... W. G. Stewart Leon
Before 1881 John N. Stokes Leon
.... N. Trenton Alachua
.... Josiah T. Walls Alachua
Probably before 1881 R. W. Washington Jefferson
80's George W. Wetmore Duval
1881-83 W. A. Wilkinson Marion
.... George W. Witherspoon Escambia
Joseph N. Clinton was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, November 4,
1854, and was reared in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended the
Institute For Colored Youth and then entered Lincoln University, where
he was graduated in 1873. He then taught school in South Carolina,
Maryland and Florida. In addition to being a member of the Florida
Legislature, 1881-83, he was clerk in the United States Land Office of
Florida. He was Inspector of Customs at Pensacola, and for fourteen
years held the position of Internal Revenue Collector at Tampa.
H. W. Chandler was Senator, Marion County, 1880-1888. For sketch of
early life, see Simmons' _Men of Mark_. He was delegate to the
National Republican Convention 1884-1908. He was Inspector of Customs
at Tampa from May 1908 to December 1913.
George H. Mays was marshal of Jacksonville. This was an elective
office. The position made him head of police force with appointive
powers.
James Dean was County Judge, Monroe County in 1889, but served less
than one year. He was impeached for issuing license to a colored Cuban
man to marry a white Cuban woman. This a custom in Cuba. Dean was
impeached on ground that he had issued license to Negro to marry a
white woman. He was summarily removed without a hearing. This was said
to have been a put-up job, as the man was secured to get a license.
Dean did not have a trial. The only way to get case reviewed was to
institute quo warranto proceedings. To do this, it was necessary to
get the permission of the State's Attorney General to use the State's
name. He was not able to do this.
Mitchell Chappelle was Negro Mayor of LaVilla. Formerly these were two
adjoining towns, Jacksonville and LaVilla. The two are now
Jacksonville.
Charles Dupont was reported as being sheriff of Monroe County about 27
years ago.
In 1887 Republicans went out of power in Florida. The Constitutional
Convention put Negroes and Republicans out.
NEGRO MEMBERS OF THE GEORGIA LEGISLATURE, 1868-69
_Senate_
Year District Name
1868-68 ...... A. Alpeoria Bradley (expelled).
1868-69 2nd Tunis G. Campbell (unseated, 1868-69)[10]
reseated in 1870.
1868-69 20th George Wallace (unseated, 1868-69)[10]
reseated in 1870.
_House_
Year Name County
1868-69 T .M. Allen Jasper Unseated 1862-69, Reseated in 1870[10]
E. Barnes Hancock " " " "
T. G. Campbell McIntosh " " " "
G. H. Clower Monroe " " " "
A. Colby Greene " " " "
J. T. Costin Talbot " " " "
Monday Floyd Warren " " " "
S. Gardner Warren " " " "
W. A. Golden Liberty " " " "
W. H. Harrison Hancock " " " "
U. L. Houston Bryan " " " "
Philip Joiner Dougherty " " " "
George Linder Laurens " " " "
R. Lumpkin Macon Unseated 1862-69, Reseated in 1870[10]
Romulus Moore Columbia " " " "
Peter O 'Neal Baldwin " " " "
James Porter Chatham " " " "
A. Richardson Clarke " " " "
J. M. Sims Chatham " " " "
Abram Smith Muscogee " " " "
Alexander Stone Jefferson " " " "
H. M. Turner Bibb " " " "
J. Warren Glynn " " " "
Samuel Williams Burke " " " "
M. Claiborne Harris " " " "
R. B. Hall Burke " " " "
---- Beard[11] Richmond
Madison Davis[11] Clarke
---- Fyall[11] Macon
_House_
Year Name County
1871 James Blue[12] Glynn
1872 " " "
1873 " " "
1874 " " "
1874 " " "
1875 " " "
1876 " " "
1877 " " "
1878 Thomas M. Butler[12] Camden
1879 " " "
1884 A. Wilson[12] Camden
1885 " " "
1886 Lectured Crawford[12] McIntosh
1887 " " "
1890 " " "
John M. Holzendorf Camden
1891 Lectured Crawford McIntosh
John M. Holzendorf Camden
1900 Lectured Crawford McIntosh
H. A. McKay[12] Liberty
1901 Lectured Crawford McIntosh
H. A. McKay Liberty
1902 W. H. Rogers12] McIntosh
1903 " " " "
1904 " " " "
1905 " " " "
1906 " " " "
1907 " " " "
1908 " " " "
LIST OF NEGRO MEMBERS IN MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE--1870
_Senate_
Name County
Rev. H. R. Revels Adams
Rev. William Gray Washington
Rev. T. W. Stringer Warren
Charles Caldwell Hinds
Rubert Gleed Lowndes
_House_
Name County
Charles P. Head Warren
Peter Barrow Warren
Albert Johnson Warren
Henry Mayson Hinds
C. F. Norris Hinds
J. F. Bolden Lowndes
John R. Lynch Adams
H. P. Jacobs Adams
Edmund Scarborough Holmes
Cicero Mitchell Holmes
Dr. J. J. Spellman Madison
William Holmes Monroe
Isham Stewart Noxubee
Nathan McNeese Noxubee
A. R. Davis Noxubee
John Morgan Washington
Dr. Stiles Washington
W. H. Fonte Yazoo
Ambrose Henderson Chickasaw
M. T. Newsom Claiborne
Emanuel Handy Copiah
Merrimon Howard Jefferson
J. Aaron Moore Lauderdale
David Higgins Oktibbeha
C. A. Yancy Panola
J. H. Piles Panola
H. M. Faley Wilkinson
George W. White Wilkinson
C. M. Bowles Bolivar
Richard Griggs Issaquena
George Charles Lawrence
John R. Lynch elected speaker of the House.
H. R. Revels elected to United State Senate for the unexpired term.
--From J. M. Garner, _Reconstruction in Mississippi_, New York, 1901.
NEGROES ELECTED IN 1871[13]
Name County
Henry P. Jacobs Adams
Reuben Kendrick Amite
Joseph Smothers Claiborne
Thomas McCain DeSota
Monroe Bell Hinds
William Johnson Hinds
F. Stewart Holmes
Richard Griggs Issaquena
William Landers Jefferson
Alfred Handy Madison
Arthur Brooks Monroe
A. K. Davis Noxubee
Randle Nettles Oktibbeha
John Cocke Panola
H. C. Carter Warren
F. D. Shadd Warren
J. H. Morgan Washington
H. M. Foley Wilkinson
James M. Dixon Yazoo
R. W. Houston Issaquena
John R. Lynch Adams
G. W. Gayles Bolivar
Emanuel Handy Copiah
J. H. Johnson DeSota
Charles Reese Hinds
H. H. Truehart Holmes
Perry Howard Holmes
James D. Cessar Jefferson
James J. Spelman Madison
James Hill Marshall
William Holmes Monroe
Isham Stewart Noxubee
James H. Piles Panola
Gilbert Smith Tunica
W. H. Mallory Warren
Charles W. Bush Warren
John D. Webster Washington
George W. White Wilkinson
F. D. Wade Yazoo
ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS FOR MISSISSIPPI
Josiah T. Settle was a member of the House from Panola in 1883-84.
G. W. Gayles was a member of the House 1873-77 and a member of the
Senate 1877 to some time after 1886. He was the last Negro to be a
member of the Mississippi Senate. For sketch of his career see
Simmons' _Men of Mark_, 379-381.
Garner, _Reconstruction in Mississippi_, page 294, gives Negro members
of the Mississippi Legislature for 1873 as Senate, 9; House, 55. On
page 402, for 1876, Senate, 5; House, 16. Total membership, Senate,
37. Total membership, House, 116.
NEGRO MEMBERS OF THE NORTH CAROLINA RECONSTRUCTION CONSTITUTIONAL
CONVENTIONS, 1868 AND 1875
Dates of the Conventions January 14-March 17, 1868, and September
6-October 11, 1875. Total members of each Convention 120. Negro
members, 13 in Convention of 1868, and 5 in Convention of 1875.
County Year Name
Bertie 1868 P. D. Robbins
Bryant Lee
Caswell 1868 Wilson Cary
Caswell 1875 Wilson Cary
Craven 1868 C. D. Pierson
Duplin 1868 J. W. Petterson
Samuel Highsmith
Edgcombe 1868 Henry C. Cherry
Edgcombe 1875 W. P. Mabson
Franklin 1868 John H. Williamson
Halifax 1868 Henry Epps
W. J. T. Hayes
Halifax 1875 J E. O'Hara
New Hanover 1868 A. H. Galloway
New Hanover 1875 J. H. Smythe
Wake 1868 James H. Harris
Warren 1868 John Hyman
Warren 1875 J. O. Crosby
NEGRO MEMBERS OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA DURING
RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD AND AFTER[15]
County Year Senatorial Senators Representatives
District
Bertie 1868 ... ... Parker D. Robbins
Bertie 1870 ... Parker D. Robbins
Bertie 1876 3rd George A. Mebane ...
Bertie 1881 ... Augustus Robbins
Bertie 1883 3rd George A. Mebane ...
Bladen 1874 ... John Newell
Bladen 1879 ... John Newell
Bladen 1881 ... John Newell
Bladen 1883 ... John Newell
Caswell 1868 ... Wilson Cary
Caswell 1870 24th Wilson Cary ...
Caswell 1874 ... Wilson Cary
Caswell 1876 ... Wilson Cary
Caswell 1879 ... Wilson Cary
Caswell 1883 ... James W. Poe
Caswell 1889 ... Wilson Cary
Chowan 1870 ... John R. Page
Chowan 1874 ... Richard Elliott
Craven 1868 ... A. W. Stevens
B. W. Morris
Craven 1870 ... R. Tucker
E. R. Dudley
G. B. Willis
Craven 1872 ... I. B. Abbott
E. R. Dudley
Craven 1874 8th Richard Tucker John R. Good
Edward H. Hill
Craven 1879 ... Willis D. Pettipher
Craven 1881 ... J. (Geo.) H. White
Craven 1885 8th George H. White John E. Hussey
Craven 1887 8th Charles C. Clark John E. Hussey
Craven 1889 ... John E. Hussey
Craven 1899 ... Isaac H. Smith
Cumberland 1868 ... John S. Leary
Isham Sweat
Edgecombe 1868 ... Henry C. Cherry
Edgecombe 1870 ... Willis Bunn
R. M. Johnson
Edgecombe 1872 7th Henry Eppes Willis Bunn
Edgecombe 1874 5th W. P. Mabson Willis Bunn
Edgecombe 1876 5th W. P. Mabson Willis Bunn
Edgecombe 1883 5th Robert R. Gray A. R. Bridgers
Edgecombe 1885 5th R. S. Taylor B. W. Thorpe
Edgecombe 1887 5th R. S. Taylor
Franklin 1868 ... John H. Williamson
Franklin 1870 ... John H. Williamson
Franklin 1872 ... John H. Williamson
Franklin 1876 ... John H. Williamson
Franklin 1887 ... John H. Williamson
Granville 1868 ... Cuffie Mayo
A. A. Crawford
Granville 1870 ... W. H. Reavis
Granville 1872 ... H. T. Hughes
Granville 1874 ... W. H. Crews
H. T. Hughes
Granville 1876 21st Hanson T. Hughes W. H. Crews
Granville 1893 ... W. H. Crews
Halifax 1868 6th Henry Epps H. T. J. Hayes
Ivey Hutchings
Halifax 1870 6th Henry Epps John R. Bryant
Halifax 1872 4th Henry Epps John R. Bryant
Halifax 1874 4th John R. Bryant J. A. Jones
John A. White
Halifax 1876 4th John R. Bryant John A. White
Halifax 1879 4th Henry Eppes John A. White
Halifax 1887 4th Henry Eppes John A. White
Hertford 1870 ... W. D. Newsom
New Hanover 1868 13th A. H. Galloway George W. Price
John S. W. Eagle
New Hanover 1870 13th G. W. Price, Jr. G. L. Mabson
New Hanover 1872 12th George L. Mabson Wm. H. McLaurin
Alfred Lloyd
New Hanover 1874 ... H. Brewington
W. H. Moore
Alfred Lloyd
New Hanover 1876 12th W. H. Moore J. C. Hill
New Hanover 1879 ... H. E. Scott
New Hanover 1881 12th H. E. Scott ...
New Hanover 1883 12th H. E. Scott ...
Northampton 1883 ... Wiley Baker
Wake 1868 ... James H. Harris
Wake 1870 ... Willis Morgan
Stewart Ellison
Wake 1872 18th James H. Harris Stewart Ellison
Wake 1879 ... Stewart Ellison
Wake 1883 ... James H. Harris
Wake 1895 ... James H. Young
Wake 1897 ... James H. Young
Warren 1868 20th John A. Hyman William Cawthorn
Richard Falkner
Warren 1870 20th John A. Hyman William Cawthorn
Richard Falkner
Warren 1872 19th John A. Hyman J. W.H. Paschall
Warren 1874 19th John M. Paschall
Warren 1879 19th Isaac Alston
Warren 1891 19th Isaac Alston
Washington 1881 ... Alexander Hicks
NUMBER WHITE AND NEGRO MEMBERS EACH SESSION OF THE ASSEMBLY IN WHICH
THERE WERE NEGRO MEMBERS
(Number Senators in Assembly, 50; Representatives, 120)
Year White Negro
1868 Senators 47 3
Representatives 102 18
1870 Senators 46 4
Representatives 101 19
1872 Senators 45 5
Representatives 108 12
1874 Senators 45 4
Representatives 107 13
1876 Senators 45 5
Representatives 113 7
1879 Senators 48 2
Representatives 114 6
1881 Senators 49 1
Representatives 116 4
1883 Senators 47 3
Representatives 115 5
1885 Senators 48 2
Representatives 118 2
1887 Senators 47 3
Representatives 117 3
1889 Senators 50 -
Representatives 118 2
1891 Senators 49 1
Representatives 120 -
1893 Senators 50 -
Representatives 119 1
1895 Senators 50 -
Representatives 119 1
1897 Senators 50 -
Representatives 119 1
1899 Senators 49 1
Representatives 119 1
DELEGATES TO THE SOUTH CAROLINA CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION[16] HELD AT
CHARLESTON, JANUARY 14 TO MARCH 18, 1868[17]
Abbeville--John A. Hunter, B. Milford, white; H. J. Lomax, W. N.
Joiner, Thomas Williamson, colored.
Anderson--William Perry, N. J. Newall, white; Samuel Johnson, colored.
Berkeley--M. F. Becker, D. H. Chamberlain, Timothy Hurley, Joseph H.
Jenks, A. C. Richmond, white; William Jervey, Benjamin Byas, W. H. W.
Gray, George Lee, colored.
Beaufort--J. D. Bell, R. G. Holmes, white; F. E. Wilder, L. S.
Langley, W. J. Whipper, Robert Smalls, J. J. Wright, colored.
Barnwell--C. P. Leslie, Niles G. Parker, white; James N. Hayne, A.
Middleton, C. D. Hayne, Julius Mayer, colored.
Charleston--A. G. Mackey, C. C. Bowen, Gilbert Pillsbury, white; F. L.
Cardozo, William McKinlay, R. H. Cain, R. C. DeLarge, A. J. Ransier,
colored.
Chester--Purvis Alexander, Barney Burton, Sancho Sanders, colored.
Chesterfield--R. J. Donaldson, white; H. L. Shrewsbury, colored.
Clarendon--Elias E. Dickson, white; William Nelson, colored.
Colleton--J. S. Craig, white; William M. Thomas, William Driffle, W.
M. Vinery, colored.
Darlington--B. F. Whittemore, white; Isaac Brockenton, Jordan Lang,
Richard Humbird, colored.
Edgefield--Frank Arnim, white; R. B. Elliott, Prince R. Rivers, John
Bonum, David Harris, John Wooley, colored.
Fairfield--James M. Rutland, white; H. D. Edwards, Henry Jacob,
colored.
Georgetown--Henry W. Webb, white; F. F. Miller, Joseph H. Rainey,
colored.
Greenville--James M. Allen, J. M. Runion, white; Wilson Cook, W. B.
Johnson, colored.
Horry--Henry Jones, A. R. Thompson, colored.
Kershaw--J. K. Jillson, S. G. W. Dill, white; John A. Chestnut,
colored.
Lancaster--Albert Clinton, Charles Jones, colored.
Lexington--Lemanuel Boozer, Simeon Corley, white.
Laurens--Joseph Crews, Y. J. P. Owens, white; Harry McDaniels, Nelson
Davis, colored.
Marion--W. S. Collins, white; J. W. Johnson, H. E. Hayne, B. A.
Thompson, colored.
Marlboro--Calvin Stubbs, George Jackson, colored.
Newberry--B. O. Duncan, white; James Henderson, Lee Nance, colored.
Orangeburg--E. W. M. Mackey, white; E. J. Cain, W. J. McKinlay, T. K.
Sasportas, B. F. Randolph, colored.
Pickens--M. Mauldin, Alexander Bryce, L. B. Johnson, white.
Richland--Thomas J. Robertson, white; W. B. Nash, S. B. Thompson, C.
M. Wilder, colored.
Spartanburg--J. P. F. Camp, J. S. Gentry, white; Rice Foster, Coy
Wingo, colored.
Sumter--T. J. Coghlan, F. J. Moses, Jr., white; W. E. Johnson, Samuel
Lee, colored.
Union--J. H. Goss, white; Abram Dogan, Samuel Nuckles, colored.
Williamsburg--William Darrington, white; C. M. Olsen, S. A. Swails,
colored.
York--J. L. Neagle, William E. Rose, white; J. W. Mead, J. H. White,
colored.
Three of the delegates elected failed to attend,--F. A. Sawyer, white,
Charleston; John K. Terry, white, Colleton; George D. Medis, colored,
Edgefield.
Of the 124 delegates elected, forty-eight were white and seventy-six
colored. The white men classed as Republicans were about equally
divided as natives or newcomers--in the vernacular of the times,
"scalawags" or "carpetbaggers."
The following table gives the previous residence of the delegates:
Whites Negroes
South Carolina 23 South Carolina 59
North Carolina 3 Pennsylvania 2
Georgia 1 Michigan 1
Massachusetts 7 Georgia 1
Connecticut 1 Tennessee 1
Rhode Island 1 Ohio 1
New York 1 North Carolina 1
Other Northern States 5 Virginia 1
England 2 Massachusetts 2
Ireland 1 Dutch Guiana 1
Prussia 1 Unknown 6
Denmark 1 ---
Unknown 1 76
---
48
SENATORS OF SOUTH CAROLINA--RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD[18]
*[19]---- Barber Fairfield Co.
---- Bird Fairfield Co.
R. H. Cain Charleston Co.
*Lawrence Cain Edgefield Co.
*Rev. H. Cardozo Kershaw Co.
F. A. Clinton Lancaster Co.
*S. E. Gaillard Charleston Co.
Samuel Green Beaufort Co. formerly of H. of Rep.
*C. D. Hayne Aiken Co.
H. E. Hayne Marion Co.
*W. R. Jervey Charleston Co.
*Rev. W. E. Johnson Sumter Co.
*W. H. Jones Georgetown Co.
*---- Jamison Orangeburg Co.
*John Lee Chester Co.
H. J. Maxwell Marlboro Co.
*W. F. Myers Colleton Co.
W. Beverley Nash Richland Co.
J. H. Rainey Georgetown Co.
Rev. B. F. Randolph Orangeburg Co.
*Robert Smalls Beaufort Co.
S. A. Swails Williamsburg Co.
*J. H. White York Co.
Rev. B. H. Williams Georgetown Co.
Lucius Wimbush Chester Co.
*Thomas E. Miller Beaufort Co.
R. E. Wall Kershaw Co.
MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF SOUTH CAROLINA DURING
RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD[20]
*---- Bascomb Beaufort Co.
S. J. Bampfield Beaufort Co.
B. A. Bosemon Charleston Co.
Joseph D. Boston Newberry Co.
*J. A. Bowley Georgetown Co.
Benjamin Byas Berkley Co.
E. J. Cain Berkley Co.
*J. E. Clyde Charleston Co.
Wilson Cook Greenville Co.
*---- Davis Charleston Co.
*James Davis Richland Co.
R. C. DeLarge Charleston Co.
W. A. Driffle Colleton Co.
*Major M. R. Delaney Charleston Co.
*William Elliott Charleston Co.
R. B. Elliott Edgefield Co.
*---- Ellison Abbeville Co.
*---- Fraser Colleton Co.
*John Freeman Charleston Co.
*F. H. Frost Williamsburg Co.
*John Gilmore Richland Co.
*W. A. Grant Charleston Co.
*Adam Green Aiken Co.
Charles Green Georgetown Co.
*Samuel Green Beaufort Co.
Thomas Hamilton Beaufort Co.
David Harris Edgefield Co.
*H. E. Hayne Marion Co.
*Zachariah Hines Darlington Co.
*---- Howard Marion Co.
Richard Humbert Darlington Co.
Rev. H. H. Hunter Charleston Co.
*S. J. Keith Darlington Co.
S. J. Lee Edgefield Co.
Harry McDaniels Laurens Co.
*Thomas McDowell Georgetown Co.
John W. Mead York Co.
Thos. E. Miller Beaufort Co.
*A. Middleton Barnwell Co.
Chas. S. Minort Richland Co.
June Mobley Union Co.
*Wm. Moultrie Georgetown Co.
Nathaniel B. Myers Beaufort Co.
*---- Nehemiah Beaufort Co.
*Fred Nix, Jr. Barnwell Co.
Saml. Nuckles Union Co.
*Lee Nance Newberry Co.
R. J. Palmer Richland Co.
M. H. Priolean Charleston Co.
*J. H. Rainey Georgetown Co.
G. A. Reed Beaufort Co.
Prince Rivers Edgefield Co.
*John Rue Beaufort Co.
Sancho Saunders Chester Co.
H. L. Shrewsbury Chesterfield Co.
*---- Singleton Darlington Co.
*Paris Simpkins Edgefield Co.
Wm, Simmons Richland Co.
J. A. Smith Darlington Co.
*Butler Spears Sumter Co.
*Jas. A. Spencer Abbeville Co.
*Nath. T. Spencer Charleston Co.
D. A. Straker Orangeburg
W. H. Thomas Newberry Co.
Rev. W. M. Thomas Colleton Co.
S. B. Thompson Richland Co.
*Robert Turner Charleston Co.
James Wells Richland Co.
*Ellison Weston Richland Co.
W. J. Whipper Richland Co.
B. A. Thompson Marion Co.
*Isaac Brockenboro Darlington Co.
*T. Andrews Sumter Co.
Additional names by Bishop George W. Clinton.
Aaron Logan
Nelson Davis, York
Allen Hudson, Lancaster
Alfred M. Moore, Fairfield
Samuel P. Coker.
See Reynold's _Reconstruction_, p. 505.
MEMBERS OF SOUTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY, 1868[22]
_Senators_
*Anderson--John H. Reid, white.
Barnwell--C. P. Leslie, white.
Beaufort--J. J. Wright, colored.
Charleston--D. T. Corbin, white; R. H. Cain, colored.
Chester--Lewis Wimbush, colored.
Chesterfield--R. J. Donaldson, white.
Clarendon--E. E. Dickson, white.
Colleton--William R. Hoyt, colored.
Darlington--B. F. Whittemore, white.
Edgefield--Frank Arnim, white.
Fairfield--James M. Rutland, white.
Georgetown--Joseph H. Rainey, colored.
Greenville--James M. Allen, white.
*Horry--H. Buck, white.
Kershaw--J. K. Jillson, white.
*Lancaster--R. M. Sims, white.
Laurens--Y. J. P. Owens, white.
Lexington--E. S. J. Hayes, white.
Marlboro--H. J. Maxwell, colored.
Marion--Henry E. Hayne, colored.
Newberry--C. W. Montgomery, white.
*Oconee--D. Biemann, white.
Orangeburg--B. F. Randolph, colored,
succeeded by Joseph A. Greene, colored.
*Pickens--T. A. Rodgers, white.
Richland--W. B. Nash, colored.
*Spartanburg--Joel Foster, white.
Sumter--T. J. Coghlan, white.
Union--H. W. Duncan, colored.
Williamsburg--S. A. Swails, colored.
York--William E. Rose, white.
The number of white senators elected was twenty-one, and of colored,
ten.
Representatives
Abbeville--George Dusenberry, T. B. Milford, James Martin, white; R.
M. Valentine, W. J. Lomax, colored.
*Anderson--John B. Moore, B. Frank Sloan, John Wilson, all white.
Barnwell--B. F. Berry, W. J. Mixson, white; C. D. Hayne, James N.
Hayne, Julius Mayer, R. B. Elliott, colored.
Beaufort--C. J. Stolbrand, Charles S. Kuh, white; W. J. Whipper, P. E.
Ezekiel, Robert Smalls, G. A. Bennett, W. C. Morrison, colored.
Charleston--Reuben Tomlinson, Joseph H. Jenks, John B. Dennis, F. J.
Moses, Jr., B. F. Jackson, white; R. C. DeLarge, A. J. Ransier,
colored.
W. H. W. Gray, B. A. Bosemon, George Lee, William McKinlay, W. J.
Brodie, John B. Wright, William R. Jervay, Abraham Smith, Samuel
Johnson, Stephen Brown, Edward Mickey, colored.
The counties marked * were Democratic.
Chester--Barney Humphries, Sancho Sanders, Barney Burton, colored.
Chesterfield--H. L. Shrewsberry, D. I. J. Johnson, colored.
Clarendon--William Nelson, Powell Smyth, colored.
Colleton--George F. McIlntyre, white; W. B. Hoyt, W. M. Thomas, Wm.
Driffle, colored.
Darlington--G. Holliman, white; Jordan Lang, John Boston, Alfred Rush,
colored.
Edgefield--T. Root, white; David Harris, Samuel J. Lee, John Wooley,
Prince R. Rivers, John Gardner, Lawrence Cain, colored.
Fairfield--L. W. Duvall, white; Henry Jacob, Henry Johnson, colored.
Georgetown--Henry W. Webb, white; F. F. Miller, W. H. Jones, colored.
Greenville--Samuel Tinsley, John B. Hyde, white; Wilson Cook, W. A.
Bishop, colored.
*Horry--Zadock Bullock, W. W. Waller, white.
Kershaw, S. G. W. Dill, white; John A. Chestnut, J. W. Nash, colored.
*Lancaster--T. Frank Clyburn, W. G. Stewart, white.
Laurens--Joseph Crews, white; Griffin Johnson, Wade Perrin, Harry
McDaniels, colored.
Lexington--G. A. Lewie, white; H. W. Purvis, colored.
Marlboro--T. B. Stubbs, white; John G. Grant, colored.
Marion--W. S. Collins, white; Evan Hayes, B. A. Thompson, colored.
Newberry--Joseph Boston, James Hutson, James Henderson, colored.
*Oconee--O. M. Doyle, W. C. Keith, white.
Orangeburg--W. J. McKinlay, T. K. Sasportas, F. DeMars, E. J. Cain,
James P. Mays, colored.
*Pickens--W. T. Field, white.
Richland--S. B. Thompson, William Simmons, C. M. Wilder, Aesop
Goodson, colored.
*Spartansburg--Samuel Littlejohn, Robert M. Smith, Javan Bryant, C. C.
Turner, white.
Sumter--John H. Ferriter, white; W. E. Johnson, James Smiley, Burrell
James, colored.
Union--Samuel Nuckles, Junius Mobley, Simon Farr, colored.
Williamsburg--C. H. Pettingill, white; R. F. Scott, Jefferson
Pendergrass, colored.
York--P. J. O'Connell, John L. Neagle, white; J. H. White, John W.
Mead, colored.
The number of white representatives was forty-six, and of colored
seventy-eight. On joint ballot there were sixty-seven whites and
eighty-eight colored--135 Republicans and twenty Democrats.
The counties marked * were Democratic.
SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES ELECTED TO SOUTH CAROLINA GENERAL
ASSEMBLY IN 1876[23]
*Aiken--Senator, A. P. Butler; Representatives, C. E. Sawyer, J.
Woodward, L. M. Asbill, J. G. Guignard, all white.
*Abbeville--Senator, J. C. Maxwell; Representatives, W. K. Bradley, R.
R. Hemphill, F. A. Connor, Wm. Hood, J. L. Moore, all white.
*Anderson--Representatives, H. R. Vandiver, R. W. Simpson, W. C.
Brown, James L. Orr, all white.
*Barnwell--Senator, J. M. Williams; Representatives, I. S. Bamberg,
John W. Holmes, L. W. Youmans, W. A. Rountree, Robert Aldrich, all
white.
Beaufort--Senator, Samuel Green; Representatives, Thomas Hamilton,
Hastings Gantt, Joseph Robinson, George Reed, N. B. Myers, Thomas E.
Miller, all colored.
Charleston--Senator--W. M. Taft (white); Representatives, E. W. M.
Mackey (white), J. J. Lesesne, B. F. Smalls, Robert Simmons, W. C.
Glover, F. S. Edwards, Isaac Prioleau, John Vanderpool, William J.
Brodie, J. S. Lazarus, S. C. Brown, Benjamin F. Capers, A. P. Ford,
Richard Bryan, Julius C. Tingman, Abram Smith, W. G. Pinckney,
colored.
Chester--Representatives, John Lee, Samuel Coleman, Purvis Alexander,
all colored.
*Chesterfield--Representatives, J. C. Coit, D. T. Redfearn, all white.
Clarendon--Representatives, S. Melton, H. Boston, all colored.
*Colleton--Representatives, H. E. Bissell, J. M. Cummins, S. E.
Parler, white; William Maree (colored), R. Jones (white).
Darlington--Representatives, R. H. Humbert, S. J. Keith, Z. Wines, J.
A. Smith, all colored.
*Edgefield--Senator, M. W. Gary; Representatives, W. S. Allen, J. C.
Sheppard, James Callison, T. E. Jennings, H. A. Shaw, all white.
Fairfield--Senator, Israel Byrd, Representatives, John Gibson, Daniel
Bird, Prince Martin, all colored.
Georgetown--Senator, B. H. Williams; Representatives, C. S. Green, P.
R. Kinloch, all colored.
*Greenville--Senator, S. S. Crittenden; Representatives, J. W. Gray,
J. F. Donald, J. T. Austin, J. S. Westmoreland, all white.
*Horry--Senator, William L. Buck; Representatives, L. D. Bryan, J. K.
Cooper, all white.
Kershaw--Representatives, R. D. Gaither, A. W. Kough, E. H. Dibble,
all colored.
*Laurens--Senator, R. P. Todd; Representatives, J. B. Humbert, J. W.
Watts, W. D. Anderson, all white.
*Lancaster--Representatives, J. B. Erwin, J. C. Blakeney, all white.
*Lexington--Senator, H. A. Meetze; Representatives, G. Leaphart, G.
Muller, all white.
*Marion--Senator, R. G. Howard; Representatives, J. G. Blue, J. McRae,
R. H. Rogers, J. P. Davis, all white.
Newberry--Senator, H. C. Corwin (white); Representatives, William
Keitt, J. S. Bridges, W. H. Thomas (colored).
*Oconee--Senator, J. W. Livingston; Representatives, B. F. Sloan, J.
S. Verner, all white.
The counties marked * were Democratic.
Orangeburg--Senator, J. L. Duncan; Representatives, D. A. Straker, S.
Morgans, W. H. Reedish, C. M. Caldwell, E. Forrest, all colored.
*Pickens--Representatives, D. F. Bradley, E. S. Bates, all white.
Richland--Representatives, A. W. Curtis, Charles Minort, R. J. Palmer,
J. W. Lowman, James Wells, all colored.
*Spartanburg--Senator, Gabriel Cannon; Representatives, W. P. Compton,
J. W. Wofford, E. S. Allen, Charles Petty, all white.
Sumter--Representatives, J. Westberry (colored), Thomas B. Johnston
(white), J. H. Ferriter (white), T. Andrews, colored.
*Union--Representatives, W. H. Wallace, G. D. Peake, William
Jefferies, all white.
Williamsburg--Representatives, W. Scott, J. F. Peterson, John Evans,
all colored.
*York -- Senator, I. D. Witherspoon; Representatives, A. E.
Hutchinson, J. A. Deal, W. E. Byers, B. H. Massey, all white.
The counties marked * were Democratic.
STATE OFFICERS IN SOUTH CAROLINA DURING THE RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD[24]
Alonzo J. Ransier Lieut. Governor 1870-1872
Richard H. Gleaves Lieut. Governor 1872-1876
Francis L. Cardozo Secretary of State 1868-1872
Francis L. Cardozo State Treasurer 1872-1876
Henry E. Hayne Secretary of State 1872-1876
Henry W. Purvis Adjutant General 1872-1876
J. J. Wright Associate Justice Supreme Court 1870-1877
R. C. DeLarge State Land Commissioner 1870
R. C. DeLarge State Commissioner Sinking Fund.
FEDERAL OFFICE HOLDERS IN SOUTH CAROLINA DURING RECONSTRUCTION
PERIOD[25]
Dr. B. A. Bosemon Postmaster--Charleston, S.C.
Charles M. Wilder Postmaster--Columbia, S.C.
John Lee Postmaster--Chester, S.C.
Rev. J. E. Wilson Postmaster--Florence, S.C.
S. J. Bampfield Postmaster--Beaufort, S.C.
Fred. Nix, Jr. Postmaster--Barnwell, S.C.
There were many others but I cannot recall their names.
NAMES OF CONGRESSMEN WHO REPRESENTED SOUTH CAROLINA DURING THE
RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD[26]
Joseph H. Rainey 41st, 42d, 44th, 45th, 46th, 47th,
48th Congress.
Robert Brown Elliott 42d Congress.
Alonzo J. Ransier 42d Congress.
Robert C. DeLarge 42d Congress.
Rev. R. H. Cain 43d, 45th Congress
Robert Smalls 44th, 45th, 48th 49th Congress.
NAMES OF CONGRESSMEN WHO REPRESENTED SOUTH CAROLINA AFTER THE
RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD
Robert Smalls Part before and part after Reconstruction.
Thomas E. Miller 51st Congress.
George W. Murray 53d Congress.
103 WEST 131ST STREET,
NEW YORK CITY,
October, 1917.
MR. MONROE N. WORK,
Editor--_The Negro Year Book_,
Tuskegee Institute, Ala.
_Dear Sir_:
In reply to your letter requesting my assistance in getting data
relative to the Reconstruction Period in South Carolina, I have the
honor to submit the following:
It will be utterly impossible to give dates after a lapse of nearly
fifty years, especially with reference to the terms the legislators
served, unless I had access to the records. I was a boy when our
family returned to South Carolina in 1870, two years after the
adjournment of the Constitutional Convention. At that period I was not
especially interested in the trend of affairs. I was thinking more of
the splendid opportunities I had left behind in Canada.
I think it very important that all of the data possible should be
collected pertaining to the Constitutional Convening as I regard it
the most important Convention ever held in which colored men
participated. I was very fortunate in finding a copy of the
Proceedings of the Convention in the Public Library in this city. I
have given only such names as I could positively identify as colored.
No doubt some names have been omitted but not of any who took an
active or important part in political affairs.
F. B. Perry, of Greenville, S.C., was appointed Provisional Governor
of South Carolina by President Johnson in 1865.
Pursuant to a call for a convention of the people issued by Governor
Perry in obedience to the proclamation of President Johnson for the
purpose of organizing a State Government, the Convention assembled at
Columbia, S.C., September 13, 1865.
To show the intense bitter feeling of Governor Perry the following is
from his proclamation:
"It is a source of congratulation to know that the colored troops,
whose atrocious conduct has disgraced the service and filled the
public mind with the most horrible apprehensions, have been withdrawn
from the interior of the State, and are to be placed in garrisons on
the coast where they can do no further mischief. In all of my personal
interviews with the President and in all of my dispatches to him I
urged this course most earnestly."
A Constitution was adopted by the Convention without being submitted
to the people for ratification.
The Constitution provided that only free white men were eligible for
membership in the Senate and House of Representatives; only free white
men were entitled to vote and that the appointment of members of the
House of Representatives among the several election districts of the
State should be in accordance with the number of white inhabitants in
each.
The Convention adjourned September 27, 1865.
Congress decided that it was no part of the prerogative of the
Executive to call conventions or to direct the adoption of
Constitutions.
J. L. Orr, of Anderson, S. C., was elected Provisional Governor,
October, 1865, to succeed Governor Perry.
Persuant to an Act of Congress of the United States entitled "An Act
to provide for the More Efficient Government of the Rebel States" an
election was held in South Carolina on November 19th and 20th, 1867,
and the electors of that State voted in favor of a Constitutional
Convention, and at the same time voted for delegates thereto.
Brevet Major-General E. R. S. Canby, Commanding 2d Military District
of South Carolina issued orders for the delegates to assemble in
convention at Charleston, S.C., January 14, 1868.
The Convention composed of 124 delegates, a large majority being
colored, met at Charleston, on the date named.
T. J. Robertson, white, was elected temporary President and Dr. A. G.
Mackey, white, was elected permanent President.
W. J. McKinlay and H. E. Hayne were elected temporary Secretary and
Assistant Secretary, respectively.
General Carlos J. Stalbrand, white, was elected permanent Secretary.
Josephus Woodruff, white, compiled the proceedings.
John R. Pinckney and Peter Miller were elected Sergeants-at-Arms.
F. L. Cardozo was Chairman of the Committee on Education.
S. A. Swails, Chairman of the Committee on Rules and Regulations.
Robert C. DeLarge, Chairman of the Committee on Franchise and
Elections.
Colored members were on all of the Committees, in most cases being in
the majority.
In looking over the proceedings I find that the following named
delegates took a very active part in all of the deliberations:
R. B. Elliott, R. C. DeLarge, F. L. Cardozo, J. J. Wright, W. J.
Whipper, W. J. McKinlay, S. A. Swails, A. J. Ransier, R. H. Cain, B.
F. Randolph, and W. B. Nash.
The Constitution provided for the election of Senators and
Representatives on April 14, 15 and 16, 1868, to assemble at Columbia,
May 12, 1868.
The Convention adjourned sine die March 14, 1868.
The Constitution adopted in 1868 stood unchanged until 1895 when a
Convention was called to meet at Columbia, on September 10, 1895, to
revise it.
The fact that the old Constitution stood for nineteen years after the
Democratic party came into power (1876) shows that there could not
have been anything objectionable in it to the Democrats or they would
have changed it immediately after regaining control. It speaks volumes
for the wisdom and foresight of the men of the Reconstruction Period.
In the Convention which met at Columbia in 1895, there were only five
colored delegates and they were all from Beaufort County, a county
which has very few white persons in it. The delegates were W. J.
Whipper, Robert Smalls, Thomas E. Miller, James Wigg, and L. R. Reed.
Of these, W. J. Whipper and Robert Smalls were delegates to the
Constitutional Convention which met at Charleston in 1868.
As General Smalls died only about two or three years ago what a wealth
of information he could have furnished pertaining to the
Reconstruction Period had your request been sent out before his death.
Inclosure 2 contains the names of State Senators and the counties they
represented. In several cases of Senators and also of Members of the
House of Representatives I cannot recall their initials.
There were 32 senators, the majority being colored, of whom the
following were conspicuous for their activity on all important
legislation:
S. A. Swails, J. H. Rainey, R. H. Cain, W. H. Jones, W. B. Nash and H.
J. Maxwell.
Inclosure 3 contains names of members of the House of Representatives
at various times. Some served more than one term. The more prominent
were: R. B. Elliott, S.J. Lee, Dr. B.A. Bosemon, J. H. Rainey, R. C.
DeLarge, J. A. Bowley, W. J. Whipper, D. A. Straker, C. M. Wilder,
Prince Rivers, F. H. Frost, T. E. Miller, and W. H. Thomas.
The House of Representatives was composed of 124 members and colored
members were always in the majority.
Inclosure 4--Names of State Officers.
Inclosure 5--Names of Federal Office holders.
Inclosure 6--Names of Congressmen who represented South Carolina.
I shall never forget the scene in 1876 when Col. A. C. Haskell,
Chairman of the Democratic State Committee at the head of the
Democratic members of the legislature forced his way into the Hall of
the Representatives then occupied by the Republican members.
Pandemonium reigned for a time. There were two Houses, each having its
own officers trying to transact business at the same time. Finally the
U. S. soldiers were called upon and those Democrats who had no
certificate of election were ejected.
All of the Democratic members then withdrew and formed an organization
in another hall.
Three colored Republicans whose names I do not care to mention went
over to the Democrats, but the latter could do nothing without the
Senate which was admittedly Republican.
The struggle was kept up until Mr. Hayes was inaugurated President,
when he withdrew the U. S. troops, leaving the Republicans without any
protection.
Governor Chamberlain and the State Officers elected with him seeing
that they were deserted by the National Administration withdrew from
the contest, leaving Gen. Hampton who was the Democratic nominee for
Governor in possession.
The Democrats then organized the Senate and House of Representatives,
and in joint session elected Gen. M. C. Butler, U. S. Senator. D. T.
Corbin, who received the Republican votes, contested, but the Senate
which was Republican by a small majority seated Butler. Senators Don
Cameron from Pennsylvania and John J. Patterson from South Carolina,
both Republicans, voted for Butler.
That there was no one killed or injured while the contest was going on
is remarkable when the great excitement during and after the "Red
Shirt" campaign is considered. It shows what absolute control the
gubernational candidates had over their followers. No doubt the
Democrats, who were assured that the U. S. soldiers would be
withdrawn, did not care to make a slip as Chamberlin was still
governor and the troops were practically under his orders.
Thus ended the Reconstruction Period in South Carolina.
At every step the Republican Party in South Carolina was betrayed by
Republicans.
Col. T. W. Parmele, white. Superintendent of the Penitentiary,
appointed as a Republican by Gov. Chamberlin, recognized an order from
Gen. Hampton for the pardon of a convict. Legal complications ensued
and the case was carried before Associate Justice Willard, white, of
the Supreme Court, a Republican elected by the legislature, and he
decided in favor of Hampton.
Three colored members of the legislature deserted to the Democrats,
which practically made the House Democratic.
Col. Parmele and Justice Willard were Northern white men.
This paper would not be complete without some reference to the
prominent colored men who helped to make history during that eventful
period.
Robert Brown Elliott--
Born at Boston, Mass., August 11, 1842.
Entered High Holborn Academy, London, England, 1853.
Entered Eton College, 1855 and graduated in 1859. Studied law.
Member of the State Constitutional Convention.
Member of the House of Representatives of South Carolina,
1868-1870.
Assistant Adjutant General.
Elected to the 42nd Congress.
Resigned his seat in Congress and was elected to the House of
Representatives of S.C. for the second time, and was elected
Speaker of the House.
He came within a few votes of being elected U. S. Senator in
1874, but the powerful influence of the Pennsylvania R. R. Co.,
was exerted in behalf of John J. Patterson, white, the successful
candidate. There was a colored majority in both branches of the
legislature at the time and had the colored members so desired
they could have elected Gen. Elliott.
In 1876 Gen. Elliott was the nominee on the Republican ticket for
Attorney General and was elected but was forced to withdraw with
the rest of the ticket.
He was Chairman of the State Republican Committee during the
campaign of 1876.
For scholarly attainments, legal acumen, political sagacity and
oratorical power, Robert Brown Elliott stands out as the most
brilliant figure of the Reconstruction Period.
Joseph H. Rainey--
Born at Georgetown, S.C., June 21, 1832.
Although debarred by law from attending school he acquired a good
education and further improved his mind by observation and
travel.
He was a barber by trade and followed that occupation at
Charleston, S.C., until 1862, when having been forced to work
upon the fortifications of the Confederates he escaped to the
West Indies, where he remained until the close of the war, when
he returned to his native town.
Delegate to the State Constitutional Convention.
State Senator from Georgetown County.
Elected to the 41st Congress, being the first colored man having
that distinction, and was re-elected to the 42nd, 43rd, 44th and
45th Congresses, five successive terms, the only colored man with
such a record.
He received a caucus nomination as Clerk of the House, from the
Republican members of Congress, the only colored man who has ever
been honored by a Republican caucus.
The House was Democratic.
He was a delegate to several National Republican Conventions.
Served as Special Agent for the Treasury Department.
Polished in his manners--a fluent and convincing speaker, he was
prominent in the Councils of the Republican Party.
Gen. Robert Smalls--
Born in South Carolina, at Beaufort, April 5, 1839.
Although debarred by Statute from attending school, he educated
himself with such limited advantages as he could secure.
Removed to Charleston, S.C., in 1851, worked as a rigger, leading
a sea-faring life.
Employed on the _Planter_, a steamer plying in Charleston harbor
as a transport, which he took over Charleston Bar in May, 1862,
and delivered her and his services to the U. S. Blockading
Squadron.
In recognition of his services was appointed Pilot in the U. S.
Navy, and served in that capacity on the monitor "Koekuk."
Promoted as Captain for gallant and meritorious conduct, December
1, 1863, and placed in command of the _Planter_, serving until
she was put out of commission in 1866.
Delegate to the State Constitutional Convention.
State Senator from Beaufort Co.
Elected to the 44th Congress, and re-elected to the 45th, 48th
and 49th Congresses.
Was a delegate to every National Republican Convention up to
within a short time of his death.
Collector of the Port of Beaufort, S. C.
Died two or three years ago, the last of the "Old Guard" in S. C.
Alonzo J. Ransier--
Born at Charleston, S.C., 1834.
Self educated. Employed as a shipping clerk in 1850 by leading
merchant, who was tried for violation of law "in having a colored
clerk" and fined one cent with costs.
Delegate to the State Constitutional Convention.
Member of the House of Representatives of S.C.
Elected Lieutenant Governor on ticket with Gov. R. K. Scott, in
1870.
President of Southern States Convention held at Columbia, S.C.,
in 1871.
Presidential Elector on Grant and Colfax ticket in 1868.
Delegate to National Republican Convention in 1872.
Elected to the 42 Congress.
A man singularly gifted with political farsightedness.
Robert C. DeLarge.
Born at Aiken, S.C., March 15, 1842.
Farmer--Self-educated.
Agent of the Freedmen's Bureau from May, 1867 to April, 1868.
Delegate to the State Constitutional Convention.
Member of the House of Representatives, 1860-1870.
One of the State Commissioners of the Sinking Fund.
Elected State Commissioner in 1870.
Elected to the 42d Congress.
Very prominent in the Party Councils.
Rev. R. H. Cain--
Born in Greenbrier Co., Va., April 12, 1825.
His father moved to Ohio in 1831 and settled in Gallipolis.
Entered the ministry at an early age and became a student at
Wilberforce University in 1860 and remained there one year.
Removed to Brooklyn, N. Y., at the breaking out of the war where
he discharged ministerial duties as pastor for four years.
Was sent by his church as a missionary to the Freedmen in South
Carolina.
Delegate to the State Constitutional Convention.
State Senator from Charleston Co.
Elected to the 43d Congress, and re-elected to the 45th Congress.
Bishop in the African Methodist Church and a power in that
denomination.
William Beverly Nash--
Born in South Carolina.
Of limited education but endowed with wonderful common sense and
political foresight.
Delegate to the State Constitutional Convention.
State Senator from Richland Co., in which Columbia is located.
For one term (four years) was Chairman of the Powerful Ways and
Means Committee.
An elector on the Hayes and Wheeler ticket in 1876.
It was reported that he was offered $100,000 to vote for Tilden
and Hendricks. Had he accepted the offer the Democratic ticket
would have been elected, as the vote stood 186 for Hayes and 185
for Tilden. Be it said to his eternal honor he was beyond price.
Stephen A. Swails--
Delegate to the State Constitutional Convention.
Represented Williamsburg Co., in the Senate.
Elected President pro term of the Senate for the whole period.
A very strong character and exerted considerable influence in
legislation.
Was in the 54th Massachusetts Infantry.
Had musical talent of a high order.
Judge Lee--
Judge of the Municipal Court of Charleston, S. C.
A man of ripe scholarship and of high legal attainments.
Until President Roosevelt appointed Judge R. H. Terrell of
Washington to a similar position, I think he was the only colored
man who ever occupied such a position.
Francis L. Cardozo--
Born in South Carolina, at Charleston.
Educated in Scotland, at Glasgow University.
Delegate to the State Constitutional Convention.
Secretary of State for four years.
State Treasurer for two years.
Scholarly, courtly and dignified.
Took great interest in the education of the colored youth, and
was popular among the boys on account of the fatherly interest he
manifested in them.
Moved to Washington, D. C., after 1876 and accepted a position in
the office of the Auditor for the Post Office Department.
After serving for several years in the Department he was elected
to the Principalship of the Colored High School in Washington, a
position he filled with honor and credit to the race and himself.
After his death the Board of Education named one of the School
Buildings the "Cardozo Building" as a tribute to his great
interest in the educational welfare of the colored race.
Henry E. Hayne--
Born in South Carolina.
Delegate to the State Constitutional Convention.
State Senator from Marion, Co.
Secretary of State.
Was very much interested in the education of the colored youth.
Richard H. Gleaves--
Served two terms as Lieutenant Governor.
Elected with Gov. F. J. Moses in 1872 and with Gov. D. H.
Chamberlin in 1874.
Was nominated a third time with Gov. Chamberlin and elected but
forced by the Democrats to withdraw.
Henry W. Purvis--
Born in Philadelphia, Pa.
Son of Hon. Robert Purvis, the great Abolitionist. Member, house
of Representatives, 1868-1870, and then was Adjutant General.
Was Adjutant General of the State most of the Reconstruction
Period.
He was a man without fear.
In the campaign of 1876 he went to Edgefield, the homes of
Generals Butler and Gary, the Democratic leaders, and regarded as
fire eaters and spoke on the campaign issues. He also went to
other parts of the State equally as dangerous and filled his
engagements.
J. J. Wright--
Delegate to the State Constitutional Convention.
On account of his great legal ability he was elected by the
legislature as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the
State. (There were two Associate Justices.) He had the respect of
the entire Bar of the State.
He was pre-eminently fitted for the position.
He is the only colored man who has ever occupied such an exalted
judicial position in this country.
Thomas E. Miller--
Born at Ferrybeeville, Beaufort Co., June 17, 1849.
Attended the free public school for Negro youths up to the
breaking out of the war.
Graduated from Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, in 1872.
Read law under Judge P. L. Wiggin and Chief Justice Moses of
South Carolina and was admitted to the Supreme Court of S. C. in
1875.
Elected to the House of Representatives of S. C., 1874-1876-1878.
Elected Senator from Beaufort Co., 1880.
Elected to the 51st Congress.
Elected to the House of Representatives of S. C., in 1866, and
while serving was instrumental in having the "State College for
Colored Youth" established at Orangeburg, S. C., and on that
account was elected its first President.
Dr. B. A. Bosemon--
Born at Troy, N. Y.
Delegate to the State Constitutional Convention. Member of the
House of Representatives of S. C. Appointed Postmaster at
Charleston, S. C., by President Grant and served four years with
entire satisfaction to the people of that city with honor and
credit to himself and the race.
Suave and polished he had a pleasing personality.
He had quite a large and lucrative practice in his profession.
Charles McDuffie Wilder--
Born in South Carolina. Delegate to the State Constitutional
Convention.
Member of the House of Representatives of S. C. Member of the
City Council of Columbia, S. C.
Postmaster at Columbia, S. C. for sixteen years. Appointed by
President Grant two terms and one term each by Presidents
Garfield and Hayes.
There were two white applicants for the position after President
Garfield was inaugurated and Postmaster General James, who was
supposed to be friendly with one of them, sent a Post Office
Inspector to Columbia to find out the sentiment of the business
men. They were almost unanimously for Mr. Wilder. They stated
that he had served them efficiently for eight years and did not
approve of a change.
Generals Hampton and Butler represented the State in the U. S.
Senate at the time, Columbia being Senator Hampton's home and had
he objected Senatorial courtesy would have sustained him.
It shows in what estimation Mr. Wilder was held by his home
people.
Mr. Wilder's appointment of four successive terms to a
first-class post office is a record.
Mr. Wilder was a delegate to all of the National Republican
Conventions up to and including that of 1888.
Mr. Wilder was a man of good sound judgment, of great political
force and one of the few who had anything to show after the
political upheaval of 1876.
Samuel J. Lee--of Aiken, S. C.
Born in South Carolina.
Member of the House of Representatives of S. C.
Speaker of the House of Representatives for one term.
A lawyer of recognized ability.
An expert in parliamentary procedure.
A man of engaging address, of a genial disposition, a pleasing
speaker, he was the most popular presiding officer of that
period.
D. Augustus Straker--
A prominent member of the House of Representatives during the
latter part of the Reconstruction Period.
A man of brilliant parts and one of the leading lawyers of the
State.
Moved to Detroit, Mich., after the collapse in 1876, and played
quite an active and conspicuous part in politics there.
William J. Whipper--
Born in South Carolina.
Delegate to the State Constitutional Convention.
Member of the House of Representatives of S. C.
A man of splendid legal talent.
Elected by the legislature a Circuit Court Judge but Gov.
Chamberlain refused to commission him, (Ex. Gov. Moses, white,
was elected a Circuit Court Judge at the same time and he was
also refused a commission by Gov. Chamberlin.)
Judge of Probate of Beaufort Co., for more than ten years.
Prince Rivers--
Born in South Carolina.
Delegate to the State Constitutional Convention.
Member of the House of Representatives of S. C.
Brigadier General in the South Carolina Militia.
Called the "black Prince" and he looked it with his fine physique
and military bearing as he rode at the head of the colored troops
as they passed in review before the Governor at their annual
inspection.
John Lee--
Born at Columbia, S. C.
State Senator from Chester Co.
Postmaster at Chester.
Self educated.
Very prominent in his county.
W. J. McKinlay--
Born at Charleston, S. C.
Delegate to the State Constitutional Convention.
One of the most prominent colored men in Charleston Co., and one
of the most influential in the Party Councils.
Member of the House of Representatives 1868 and part of 1869.
Resigned to accept position of Register of Mesne Conveyances, a
very important office which he held for several years.
W. H. Thomas--
Born in Ohio.
A man of brilliant intellect.
One of the most prominent members of the House of Representatives
at the close of the Reconstruction Period.
I remember well the conspicuous part he took in the proceedings
in the House of Representatives in 1876. Those were times that
tried men's souls but Mr. Thomas held his own with the best men
in the Democratic party.
Samuel Lee of Sumter, S. C.--
Born in South Carolina.
Delegate to the State Constitutional Convention.
A very strong character and one of the bright young men of the
state.
He was elected to Congress but the Democrats counted him out.
He contested the seat and though the House was Republican and his
case a good one, the Chairman of the Committee on Elections, a
Republican from Indiana, who was personally antagonistic to him
failed to report on the case and Congress adjourned without
taking any action.
Jas. A. Bowley--
Member of the House of Representatives.
For one term he was chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means.
He wielded considerable power in legislation.
Was considered the "Beau Brummel" of the House.
F. H. Frost--
Born in South Carolina.
Member of the House of Representatives.
Active in all legislation.
Polished and highly cultured.
Henry J. Maxwell--
Born in South Carolina, at Charleston.
Senator from Marlboro County.
Active in all legislation.
Considered the best dressed member in the Senate.
Known to his associates at the "Duke of Marlboro."
W. H. Jones--
State Senator from Georgetown Co.
Quite a fluent speaker and well versed on all public questions.
On account of his bellicose nature he was given the sobriquet of
"Red Hot Jones."
A. C. Jones--
Born in Washington, D. C.
Clerk of the House of Representatives during the whole
Reconstruction Period.
A very capable officer and very popular.
Walter R. Jones--
Born in South Carolina at Charleston.
Graduate of Oberlin College.
Secretary of the State Financial Board, consisting of the
Governor, Attorney General, State Treasurer and Comptroller, all
white at that time.
Elected Clerk of the City Council of Columbia, S. C., by the
unanimous vote of the members.
Resigned that position to accept the position of Private
Secretary to Governor Chamberlain.
The best equipped and most brilliant young colored man I ever
met.
J. E. Green--
Sergeant at Arms of the Senate during the whole Reconstruction
Period.
A very efficient officer and a man of fine parts.
John Williams--
Sergeant at Arms of the House of Representatives during the whole
period.
A very capable man and popular with the members.
There were many colored men who occupied positions of importance in
the different countries--positions such as Sheriff, Treasurer,
Auditor, Clerk of Court, Commissioner, Coroner and School
Commissioner.
I never heard of any of them being removed for incompetency,
dereliction of duty or malfeasance.
I regret very much that I cannot give you any information as to
whether the men mentioned were free or slaves, as the persons from
whom I could have gotten that information have all passed away. Had I
received such inquiry eight or ten years ago I could have furnished it
as there were several persons then living who, I know, were well
posted on that subject.
Of the names noted in this paper the following were from the North.
Some of them may have been from the South originally and returned
after the war: R. B. Elliott, D. A. Straker, Maj. M. R. Delaney, W. H.
Jones, Dr. B. A. Bosemon, W. H. Thomas, H. W. Purvis, R. H. Gleaves,
A. C. Jones, S. A. Swails, J. A. Bowley, J. E. Green.
The colored men of South Carolina played a more conspicuous part and
held more offices of a high grade during the Reconstruction Period
than the colored men of any other State.
South Carolina has the distinction of electing the first colored
Congressman, (Joseph H. Rainey) and the last (George W. Murray.)[27]
South Carolina was represented in Congress by eight colored
men--Rainey, Elliott, Ransier, Cain, Delarge, Smalls, Miller and
Murray.
Mr. Miller and Mr. Murray served after the Reconstruction Period and
most of Gen. Smalls' service was after that period.
When I compare the present political leaders in South Carolina with
those of the Reconstruction Period I must confess that we have
retrograted politically. They may be due to conditions. Not only in
South Carolina, but where would you find in any State at the present
time, political leaders who can measure up to the caliber of Elliott,
Rainey, Straker, Cardozo, Swails, DeLarge, Bosemon, Wright, Ransier,
Lee, McKinlay, Cain, Whipper and Wilder?
When the Negro race can again produce political leaders of the type
named then we may look forward with some degree of hope for a solution
of the Negro problem.
Your idea in collecting data relative to the Reconstruction Period is
a laudable one, and the wonder is, and the pity of it is, that it had
not been thought of long ere this. There are very few now left to tell
the tale, and that in a very unsatisfactory way.
Some of the data relative to the Congressmen I got from Congressional
Directories. To recall all names, dates and incidents pertaining to
the Reconstruction Period after a period of fifty years would require
the prodigious memory of a Macauley, even had I been an active
participant in political affairs at that time. There may be a few
errors but they are of a minor character. I am glad that I am able to
be of some assistance to you in this matter, however, little, and I
can only say in the words of Macbeth,
"The service and the loyalty I owe,
In doing it, pays itself."
Very respectfully,
(Signed) H. A. WALLACE.[28]
All names referred to in this paper are of colored men unless
otherwise stated.
CORRECTIONS OF DATA SUBMITTED BY MR. H. A. WALLACE, OF NEW YORK CITY
103 WEST 131 ST.,
NEW YORK, N. Y.,
February 18, 1918.
MR. MONROE N. WORK,
Editor--Negro Year Book,
Tuskegee Institute, Ala,
_Dear Sir:_
In reply to your letter of the 11th inst., I beg leave to state that
Hunter and Dickson were white. As to Brokenton I probably was thinking
of a Brockenboro in Washington and got the names mixed.
Before leaving Washington in 1913 I let Whitfield McKinlay have my
book, "Reconstruction in South Carolina" by John S. Reynolds, to read.
When I received your letters asking for assistance in getting the data
relative to reconstruction in South Carolina I wrote to Mr. McKinley
for the book. I wrote for it several times but not until about a month
ago did he send it. I did not care to delay sending you the data,
consequently I mailed it before the book came to hand. Had I received
the book in time I could have made my paper a little more readable and
avoided the errors referred to.
As you have, no doubt, taken data from the book by Reynolds I would
like to correct a few errors I found therein.
_Reconstruction Convention_
Colleton--W. M. Vinery, should be Viney
Darlington--Richard Humbird, should be Humbert
Edgefield--John Wooley, colored, should be white
Greenville--Wilson Cook, should be Cooke
Kershaw--John A. Chestnut, should be Chesnut
_Chapter III--Scott's First Term_
Senate--
Chester--Lewis Wimbush, should be Lucius Wimbush
Union--H. W. Duncan, colored, should be white
This would make ten colored Senators
House of Representatives--
Abbeville--James Martin, white, should be colored
Charleston--B. A. Bosemon, should be Dr. B. A. Bosemon, Jr.
William R. Jervay, should be Jar_vey_
Chesterfield--H. L. Shrewsberry, should be Shrews_bury_
Colleton--W. R. Hoyt is in the Senate column Wm. Driffle,
should be Wm. _A._ Driffle H. James and T. Richardson, as
members in addition to Thomas and Driffle.
Edgefield--John Wooley, colored should be white
Georgetown--W. H. Jones, should be W. H. Jones _Jr._
Greenville--Wilson Cook, should be Cooke
Kershaw--John A. Chestnut, should be _Chesnut_
Williamsburg--Jeff. Pendergrass, should be _Jeffery Prendergrass_.
Jas. Martin, Lee Nance and Wade Perrin, representatives and B. F.
Randolph, senator, were assassinated by the Ku-Klux Klan.
Page 111--"Among Mr Robertson's earliest official acts was the
recommendation of an incompetent colored man to be postmaster at
Columbia."
If you will look at the sketch I gave of Mr Wilder, the postmaster
referred to, you will note that in 1880 when the Democrats had
absolute control of South Carolina and Gens. Hampton and Butler
represented the State in the U. S. Senate, Mr Wilder was confirmed for
the fourth time, and as Columbia was the home post office of Senator
Hampton it is not likely that he or Butler would have voted to confirm
an imcompetent colored man when senatorial courtesy would have
sustained them had they objected.
Page 229--W. R. Jervay, should be Jar_vey_.
Page 233--Relative to Henry E. Hayne going to the communion table I
have to say that is all rot in so far as there were any objections.
The communicants with the exception of Mr Babbitt and family were
nearly all colored. I know that the wardens and vestrymen were
colored.
Page 234--I do not know about all of the colored men mentioned as
having matriculated in the School of Law, but I am certain that Mr
Wilder did not.
Page 236--William R. Jervay, should be Jer_vey_.
Page 333--With reference to Dr. Bosemon being under the influence of
liquor I desire to state that he did not touch, taste nor handle the
stuff. Dr Bosemon was a cultured gentleman, polished in his manners
and was a surgeon in one of the colored regiments during the war.
Page 366--Instead of N. B. Myers being the elector for the fifth
district I think it was his brother, Senator William F. Myers.
As N. B. Myers went over to the Hampton House it is not probable that
he would stultify himself by voting for Hayes and acknowledging
Hampton as Governor.
Page 462--Gen. Elliott did not become a department clerk in
Washington. He moved to New Orleans where he practised law several
years before his death.
All the Republican politicians who remained in South Carolina _did
not_ sink into actual obscurity or harmless inactivity after 1876.
Mr. Wilder was postmaster at Columbia until June 30, 1885.
Gen. Smalls represented the State in Congress for several terms after
1876, and was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1895. Was
also Collector of Port of Beaufort.
Thomas E. Miller was also a delegate to the same convention and served
a term in Congress, and was a member of the S. C. House of
Representatives.
W. J. Whipper was a member of the legislature. Probate judge of the
county for ten years and a delegate to the Constitutional Convention
of 1895.
John Lee was postmaster at Chester for several years.
Mr Rainey was a special agent of the Treasury Department with
headquarters in South Carolina.
H. L. Shrewsbury and W. F. Myers were in the Revenue Service and
active in politics as was A. W. Curtis.
There were others but I cannot recall their names.
Referring to the data mailed to you I desire to make the following
corrections:
Page 2--J. H. Rainey was not a member of the House of Representatives
but Senator from Georgetown.
Page 6--Relative to Judge Lee I desire to state that I am in error as
to his case being the first where a colored man was elected to a
municipal judgeship. Macon B. Allen was elected by the legislature as
judge of the Inferior Court of Charlestown prior to Lee's election or
appointment. Therefore Judge Allen should be given the honor.
Of course J. J. Wright who was elected an associate Justice of the
Supreme Court of the State by the legislature was the first Negro in
this country who ever occupied a judicial position.
Page 7--Henry W. Purvis was elected Adjutant General for the four year
term 1872-1876. Member of Legislature 1868-1870.
Page 10--W. J. McKinlay was also a member of the House of
Representatives for part of 1868-69 period but resigned his seat to
accept the position of Register of Mesne Conveyanes for Charlestown,
to which the legislature elected him.
Page 11--W. H. Jones, should be W H. Jones, Jr.
John Williams was Sergeant-at-Arms from 1870 to close of period.
As there were no free public schools for colored youth in South
Carolina it is an error to state that Thomas E. Miller was educated in
that way. It was against the law for anyone to teach a Negro even to
read or write.
I am also told that I am in error as to giving him credit for the
establishment of the " State College" at Orangeburg. I will try to
find out something about that matter.
Very respectfully,
H. A. WALLACE
SOME CORRECTIONS FOR DATA SUBMITTED BY MR. H. A. WALLACE OF NEW YORK
CITY
103 WEST 131 ST.,
NEW YORK CITY.
March 11, 1918.
MR. MONROE N. WORK,
Editor Negro Year Book,
Tuskegee Institute, Ala.
_Dear Sir_:
I presume you received my letter of February 18, also the one of
January 19, relative to corrections in the data on Reconstruction.
I herewith send you a few more before you go to press on your book
pertaining to the part the Negro played in the political history of
the Southern States during the Reconstruction period:
I am in error as to James Martin, of Abbeville, who was assassinated,
as being colored. I was informed that he was colored, but in reading
the eulogies delivered by the different members of the House and
Senate, I find that he was not even an American. He was a native of
Ireland.
W. A. Bishop, who represented the Greenville district in the first
legislature, was white, not colored. In the list of delegates to the
Republican meeting at Charlestown, May 9, 1867, he is given as white
in Reynolds' book. I met a friend from Greenville about ten days ago
and in speaking to him about Bishop he said that he was white and that
he knew of no colored Bishops in that district.
On page 9 of my data I state that Mr. Whipper was born in South
Carolina. I met his son, who is living here, sometime ago and he
informed me that his father was born in Pennsylvania.
With reference to Judge Whipper I would add that one of the first acts
of the first legislature was to elect a commission of three members to
revise and consolidate the Statute laws of the State and that he was
the first member elected. Quite a tribute to his legal ability.
On page 12 add the following names as from the North.
Rev. B. F. Randolph--Senator--Orangeburg district.
W. J. Whipper--Member--Beaufort district.
Judge J. J. Wright--Beaufort district--afterwards Associate Judge
Supreme Court, and on page 8, under his name please state--born in
Pennsylvania.
On page 107 Reynolds' book--Abbeville Co.--W. J. Lomax, should be
Hutson J. Lomax, this is official. On page 59 and 77 he has it H. J.
which is correct.
Same page--Fairfield--Henry Jacob, should be Jacobs--He was also a
delegate to the Constitutional Convention--See page 77.
Very Respectfully,
(Signed) H. A. WALLACE
Copy.
SUMNER AND STEVENS ADVISE WITH REFERENCE TO RECONSTRUCTION POLICY IN
SOUTH CAROLINA
The late Honorable Francis L. Cardoza at one time Secretary of State
for South Carolina, several years before his death stated to the
undersigned the following in substance:
That a number of colored men met and appointed a committee which was
sent to Washington to get the advice of Charles Sumner and Thaddeus
Stevens concerning the formation of the political organization for the
newly enfranchised Negro citizen shortly after the adoption of the
14th Amendment.
Pains were taken to keep the plans from both the native whites and the
so-called carpet baggers from the North. That both Mr. Sumner and Mr.
Stevens advised the committee to tender the leadership to native
whites of the former master class of conservative views: but this plan
was frustrated because they were not able to secure the consent of
desired representatives of the former master class to assume the
proffered leadership.
(Signed) KELLY MILLER
(Signed) WHITEFIELD MCKINLAY
WASHINGTON, D. C., December 14, 1917.
Subscribed to and sworn before me, SAMUEL E. LACY a Notary Public in
and for the District of Columbia, this Fourteenth (14th) Day of
December 1917.
(Signed) SAMUEL E. LACY,
_Notary Public, D. C._
SOME NEGRO MEMBERS OF RECONSTRUCTION LEGISLATURES
_Texas_
J. H. Stewart who now lives in Austin.
Edward Patton, San Jacinto County, now living in Washington is in
Government service.
Nathan H. Haller, Brazoria County. House, 1892-94. Reelected and
counted out. Contested his seat and won.
R. L. Smith, Colorado County, 1895-99, now living in Waco. Is
president of the Farmers Bank and head of the Farmers Improvement
Association. For sketch of, see _Negro Year Book_, p. 322. For his
work in the Legislature, see attached letter.
Elias May, Brazos County, in the early days of Reconstruction.
R. J. Moore, Washington County, representative.
---- Gaines, senator, Lee County.
Copy.
COOPERATIVE EXTENSION WORK IN AGRICULTURE AND HOME ECONOMICS
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS
WACO, TEXAS, March 26, 1918.
PROF. MONROE N. WORK, Tuskegee Inst. Ala.
_Dear Mr. Work_:
I was elected in Nov. 1894 as representative for Colorado county and
was re-elected in 1896.
My majority in 1894 was 168 and in 1896 at the next election it was
450 as I recollect it.
I was appointed on the committee on education and on privilege and
election and on agriculture.
I introduced a bill restoring colored trustees which finally passed.
I fought a bill establishing separate waiting rooms for the races at
R. R. Station and killed it for four years.
I introduced a resolution inviting manufacturing cotton plants to come
to Texas. I introduced a resolution granting the use of the Hall of
the House of Representatives to the colored citizens of Austin to hold
their memorial services for Fred Douglas. When one understands the
race feeling in the South this was indeed a triumph. I introduced a
bill establishing a college course as a part of our curriculum at
Prairie View Normal which passed carrying with it a grant of fifty
thousand acres of land.
I worked hard to help carry a bill through making any peace officer
automatically lose his office whenever a lynching took place in his
county. This bill passed but was declared unconstitutional by the
supreme court. I was appointed by the speaker as a member of the
visiting board for Prairie View State Normal. As a member of the
committee on privileges and Election I single handed fought for a
colored man elected from Brazoria county, N. H. Haller by name who had
the nerve to contest the seat of a white man to whom the certificate
of election had been awarded. After a long and bitter fight in which
three times I carried in and presented a minority report we won and
Haller was seated. This isn't the only case of its kind that I know of
in this state.
Haller of course had able legal talent to take care of his case.
I voted for the purchase of the battle field of San Jacinto which is
in Harris country about twenty miles below Houston. It was on this
battlefield that Texas won her independence from Mexico in 1836. It
is now a beautiful state park. For this action I was publicly thanked
by the Daughters of the Republic.
Respectfully
(Signed) R. L. SMITH.
The legislatures which I served in were the 23d and 24th.
Charles A. Culberson, now U. S. senator was governor and our relations
were very cordial.
In 1902 I was tendered and accepted a position in the U. S. Marshal's
office for the Eastern Dist. of Texas by Pres. Roosevelt. Held same
until 1909. This was the most honorable and best paid federal position
ever held by a Negro in Texas except that held by Hon. N. W. Cuney who
was collector of the Post of Galveston. In 1915 I took charge of the
Extension Service work for Negroes in Texas which I now hold.
SOME NEGRO MEMBERS OF THE TENNESSEE LEGISLATURE DURING RECONSTRUCTION
PERIOD AND AFTER[29]
By Honorable J. C. Napier, of Nashville, Tenn., register of United
States Treasury, May, 1917
Year Name County
1871-73 Sampson W. Keeble Davidson
1877-79 Thos. A. Sykes? Davidson
1879-81 S.A. McElwee? Haywood
1881-83 T. Frank Cassells Shelby
J.F. Norris Shelby
Thos. A. Sykes? Davidson
S.A. McElwee? Haywood
1883-85 J.W. Boyd Weakley
S.A. McElwee Haywood
D.F. Rivers Fayette
1885-87 G.E. Evans Shelby
W.A. Fields Shelby
W.C. Hodge Shelby
S.A. McElwee Haywood
D.F. Rivers[30] Fayette
1887-89
1889-91 ---- Goodman Fayette
1891-93
1893-95
1895-97 J. M. H. Graham Montgomery
Davidson county, Tennessee, sent two colored men to the Legislature.
The first colored member of the Legislature was Sampson W. Keeble from
71-73. From 77-79 the colored member was Thomas A. Sykes. Both of
these were representatives. Tennessee never had any colored senators.
Sampson W. Keeble was a native of Tennessee. Thomas A. Sykes was a
native of North Carolina and had been a member of the North Carolina
legislature.[31]
Captain James H. Sumner, of Davidson County, was elected a door-keeper
of the House of Representatives for 1867-69. He was afterwards
appointed captain of a Militia Company which rendered the State
valuable service in putting down the Ku-Klux. Later by act of the
Legislature a committee was authorized for Nashville consisting of
three persons to audit claims against the State for destruction of
property by soldiers of the Confederates and Federal armies during the
war. Governor Brownlow appointed on this commission James H. Sumner, a
white man named Lassiter, and J.C. Napier. They examined claims
amounting to millions of dollars, some of which were afterwards paid
and others rejected. There were other colored men on such commissions
in other parts of the state whose names I do not now recall.
Haywood county first sent Samuel A. McElwee. He served from 79-83. The
same county afterwards sent Rev. D.F. Rivers who is now pastor of the
Berean Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. Rev. Rivers defeated the
father of a very popular white girl and she met him in the street and
spat in his face. McElwee made a very active member and was highly
respected by all. He was a graduate of Fisk University and the law
department of Walden University.
Weakley County sent John W. Boyd who served two or three terms in the
legislature. He ran for the senate but was defeated.
Perhaps there was one from Hamilton county or Knox county.
Shelby county sent quite a delegation of colored men from time to
time. Among them were T.F. Cassells and I.F. Norris, who is still
living in North Dakota. Cassells was a lawyer, educated at Oberlin.
Mr. Norris was a successful business man of Memphis, Mr. Keeble was a
barber in Nashville.
Mr. Sykes was Internal Revenue Collector in Nashville and came there
with high revenue officials from North Carolina. He entered politics
and was quite influential and finally died at Nashville.
Keeble was of a family highly respected and of very high standing in
Nashville. The men from Memphis and Haywood counties were more highly
educated than the others. They were free men of high class and up to
the standard of the whites who were sent to the legislature in those
days.
COLORED MEN IN OTHER POSITIONS
At one time the county government of Davidson County was run by three
Commissioners; one of these commissioners was a colored man, named
Randall Brown of limited education, but large experience and a large
amount of good common sense. He was very influential and highly
thought of by white and colored people.
Nashville city government during the days of reconstruction had among
its membership, perhaps, one-third colored members. These men were not
of the same calibre as the colored members of the legislature. They
were picked up in the different wards by their friends. They were
chosen for their popularity rather than for fitness for the work
before them.
Immediately following the reconstruction days, Josiah T. Settle was
elected Assistant Attorney General for Shelby county under General
Patterson who afterwards served as Governor of the State of Tennessee.
Mr. Settle had previously been a member of the Mississippi
Legislature.
In Knoxville men have served in the legislature of the city
government.
When they changed the form of government in Nashville, there was a
colored man a member of the Board of Aldermen. Two colored men were
elected to the council. As a result, two fire companies were given to
colored men. Mr. Charles Gowdey and Mr. J.C. Napier were the colored
members of the council. The first two brick school houses were erected
for colored children during their term. They were the Pearl High
School and the Meigs School. At that time the people of Nashville, the
Democrats especially, showed a very liberal spirit to the colored
people and divided the positions with them. Shorty after this with a
more liberal spirit, they erected the third brick school house in the
city of Nashville, The Napier School.
After things went out of the hands of the Republicans in Tennessee,
Capt. Sumner went down into Mississippi, entered politics and was
elected Sheriff of Holmes county. He became quite wealthy. His family
was of high standing. Owned property in Nashville and the descendants
still own it.
Settle and Cassells were free men. Keeble was owned by a very
distinguished Tennessee family named Keeble.
SCHOOLS FOR FREE NEGROS AND SLAVES
In Tennessee before the war there were schools for Negroes. There were
no laws against schools for free colored people until the agitation
that brought on the war.
At Nashville, Franklin college graduated three colored men; that is
the school gave them graduation papers. They were prepared for the
ministry in the Christian church (Disciples). These men were Samuel
Lowery, Daniel Watkins and James T. Rapier. Lowery, Rapier and Watkins
were all free men. Rapier served a term or two from Florence, Ala., in
Congress during the Reconstruction Period. He was a man of some
wealth, was very active and traveled a good deal. Lowery's father was
also a minister, before him, in the Christian Church. He had a farm as
well as city property. Franklin College was a Campbellite Institution
or what is now known as the Christian Church Institution.
When the agitation came about preceding the Civil War they closed all
of the colored schools.
Mr. Napier's father and mother with some other colored people had a
man named Rufus Conrad come down from Cincinnati, Ohio, to teach their
children. This was in 1859. Both free and slave children went to this
school. The school had been open two or three months when one day,
while the class was spelling the word baker, an abrupt knock on the
door interrupted the class and then a man entered without waiting to
be admitted. He said to the teacher, "What is your name?" The teacher
answered, "Rufus Conrad." "Where did you come from?" was the next
question. The teacher answered, "From Cincinnati, Ohio." The man said,
"I have been authorized by the powers that be in Nashville to send
these children home, to close the doors of this school and give you
just 24 hours to leave this town." This ended this school.
There were three or four schools in Nashville, before the war. One was
taught by Samuel Watkins. He taught school in an old church right over
a branch. It was built up on stilts, and was a place of worship built
for the slaves by their owners. Another one was taught by a Mrs. Tate,
who was of a very excellent family. Mrs. Sallie Player, a most
delightful teacher taught another one of these schools. Mrs. Player
was a free woman but her husband was a slave. He belonged to a very
excellent family of white people, whose slaves enjoyed every privilege
that free people enjoyed. They were protected by their owner. She was
a woman of some education. Her husband also had some education,
although a slave. There was another school taught by a white man and
his wife whose name was Westbrooks. They came to Nashville from St.
Louis, Missouri and organized a school. These two gathered
considerable money from the free and slave people who wanted to send
their children to school. They taught school about three weeks when
they suddenly disappeared.
SLAVES IN BUSINESS AND NEGROES WHO OWNED SLAVES
Slaves had more money than is generally thought. Henry Harding, a
slave with some education, was a thorough business man from beginning
to end. Everything he touched turned to money. His home in Nashville
now is as pretty a home as you want to see. He was allowed every
liberty by his owners that a free person enjoyed. He was a carpenter
and contractor. He did all the construction work on three plantations,
that of General Harding, his son's, John Harding and of David
Gavock's. One of the Hardings was his father. He was held as a slave
until Emancipation in '63. He immediately came to Nashville and went
into business building houses. When he died he had considerable
property.
Hardy Perry, a slave in Nashville, had a line of hacks and transfer
teams during slavery time. He hired his own time. Steven Boyd and Mr.
Napier kept a livery stable.
My father's father was a pioneer iron man in middle Tennessee. His
parents came from England and went to Dixon county and established
what is still known as the Napier Iron Works. He was a man of
considerable force of character and influence. He had four colored
sons and daughters. He had these sons go to school along with the
white children. When he died his will provided that they should leave
Tennessee and go to a free state or to Liberia. They went to Ohio and
lived on Walnut Hill where they bought a farm. They concluded to sell
the farm on Walnut Hill, trading it for a farm at New Richmond, Ohio.
Two of the sons went to Richmond with my grandmother, another went to
St. Louis, Mo., and my father went back to Nashville. Two of the
brothers who went to Richmond with their mother became school teachers
in Richmond. The one who went to Nashville went into the livery
business.
My father's father was a physician, having graduated from the medical
school of the University of Pennsylvania. He had great political
influence and it was through his influence that one of the governors
of Tennessee was elected.
Alice Bosley, whose husband was white, and her family owned two large
plantations south of Nashville and the other north-east of Nashville.
They owned about twenty-five or thirty slaves. She was a thoroughly
religious woman and every Sunday would have her slaves and children
attend church.
Manse Bryant was another large land owner and slave owner.
VIRGINIA STATE LIBRARY
RICHMOND, VA.
September 28, 1916.
MR. MONROE N. WORK, Editor,
Tuskegee, Alabama.
_My Dear Sir_:--
The Journals of the Senate and House of Delegates for the years in
which there have been Negro members do not indicate which of the
members were white and which negro. The almanacs, however, do as a
general thing though the almanacs are not extremely reliable. I have
gotten the following information from the almanacs. The first year in
which negroes were allowed to hold office in Virginia was 1869.
The almanac for the year 1870 (which was printed the latter part of
1869 and which gives, therefore, the members of the General Assembly
for the session of 1869-70) gives no negro members of the Senate of
Virginia, but 18 negro members of the House. The total membership of
the House was 137. The membership of the Senate was 40. For the
session of 1870-71 there were, according to the almanac, no negro
members of the Senate. For the session of 1870-71, I regret to say
that the almanac does not differentiate between white and negro
members. For the session of 1871-72, I regret to say that the almanac
does not give the members of the House of Delegates; nor in the list
of the members of the Senate does it differentiate between the two
races. For the session of 1872-3 the almanac does not differentiate.
For the session of 1873-4 the almanac gives 3 negro members out of 40
in the Senate, and 17 out of 132 members in the House. For the session
of 1874-5 there were three negro members out of 40 in the Senate, and
there were 17 negro members in the House. In the session of 1875-6
there were 3 negro Senators, and 13 negro members of the House. In the
session of 1876-77 there were three negro members in the Senate, and
12 negro members of the House. In 1877-78 there were 3 negro members
of the Senate, and four negro members of the House. In 1878-9 there
were three negro members of the Senate and four negro members of the
House. For the session of 1879-80 the almanac gives no marks of
differentiation. For the session of 1880-81 the almanac makes no
distinction. For the 1881-2 session the almanac has no list of the
members. For the session of 1882-3 the almanac does not differentiate.
For the session of 1883-4 there were 3 negro senators and 8 members of
the House. For the session of 1884-5 there was one negro senator, and
7 members of the House, out of a total membership of one hundred. In
the session of 1885-6 there was only one senator out of a membership
of 39, and only one member of the House of Delegates, out of one
hundred. In the session of 1886-7 there was one senator and one member
of the House. In the session of 1887-8 there was one negro senator,
and there were seven members of the House. In the session of 1889-9
there was one senator, and seven members of the House. In the session
of 1889-90 there was one negro senator, and three members of the
House. In the session of 1890-91 there was one negro senator, and
three members of the House. In the session of 1891-2 there were no
negroes in either the Senate or the House, that is, none marked. For
the session of 1892-3 no negroes were marked. For the session of
1893-4 there seem to have been none. I have not looked further, but I
do not believe there has been a negro member in either House since
that time.
Very truly yours,
(Signed) H. R. MCILWAINE
_State Librarian._
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Compiled by Monroe N. Work.
[2] Beverly, _History of Alabama_, 202, 208.
[3] Not returned for the 1875-1876 session.
[4] Beverly, _History of Alabama_, pp. 202-208.
[5] Served only in the session of 1874-1875.
[6] Served only in the session of 1875-1876.
[7] Alexander is said to have been counted out. He is said to have
held the position of postmaster at Madison and also to have had a
deputy reserve collector.
[8] Lewis and Scott were the last Negro members of the Florida
Legislature.
[9] Lewis and Scott were the last Negro members of the Florida
Legislature.
[10] Letter on October 11, 1916, from L. L. Knight, official compiler
of Georgia Records; Thompson, _Reconstruction in Georgia_, pp.
211-214, 262, 264.
[11] The names of these four were later stricken out. They were so
nearly white that their race was indeterminate. They remained in the
house after the others were expelled.--Thompson, _Reconstruction in
Georgia_, p. 213; House Journal Georgia Legislature, p. 229.
[12] Letter on October 11, 1916, from L.L. Knight, official compiler
of Georgia Records.
[13] Furnished by Major John R. Lynch, May 19, 1915.
[14] North Carolina Manual, by North Carolina Historical Commission,
1913, pp. 863-906.
[15] _Ibid._, pp. 481-862.
[16] Reynolds, _Reconstruction in South Carolina_, pp. 76-79.
[17] In 1895 South Carolina again revised her constitution. In the
convention held for this purpose there were found Negro delegates,
viz.: Thomas E. Miller, L. R. Reed, Robert Smalls, W. J. Whipper and
James Wigg, all from Beaufort County. Smalls and Whipper had been
delegates in the 1868 convention. (Reported by H. H. Wallace.)
[18] Furnished by Mr. H. A. Wallace, a former page in the South
Carolina House of Representatives in the Reconstruction Period.
[19] Names marked with asterisk not in lists given in Reynold's
_Reconstruction in South Carolina_, pp. 106-107, 394-396.
[20] Furnished by H. A. Wallace, a former page in the South Carolina
House of Representatives in the Reconstruction Period.
[21] Names marked with asterisk not in lists given in Reynold's
_Reconstruction in South Carolina_, pp. 107-108, 394-396.
[22] Reynolds, _Reconstruction in South Carolina_, pp. 106-108.
[23] Reynolds, _Reconstruction in South Carolina_, pp. 394-396.
[24] Furnished by H. A. Wallace, a former page in the South Carolina
House of Representatives in the Reconstruction Period.
[25] _Ibid._
[26] _Ibid._
[27] George H. White, North Carolina, member of 55th and 56th
Congresses, as the last Negro member. (Editor.)
[28] He was a page in the South Carolina House of Representatives in
the Reconstruction Period.
[29] There were no colored members of the Tennessee Senate.
[30] Contested, not seated.
[31] 1868, 1870, see North Carolina list, Pasquotank County.
JAMES G. THOMPSON, THE ORIGINAL CARPETBAGGER[1]
"I suppose I might call myself the first Carpet Bagger." This
expression casually let fall by Mr. J.G. Thompson, of this city, in a
conversation with the writer, was so striking and so suggestive that I
asked him to explain. He complied, and in so doing, gave the following
extraordinary narrative, which he subsequently consented to have
published:
From the 7th of November, 1861, when Hilton Head was captured by the
United States naval forces, the sea islands of South Carolina never
passed out of the hands of the United States. Those islands and a
considerable portion of the mainland were thereupon brought under the
operation of the United States direct tax act, and were in time sold
for United States taxes to whoever would buy them. They were mainly
bought in by the United States and were subsequently re-sold to
soldiers, army followers and Negroes. Towards the close of the war,
having concluded my service under the government, I resolved to settle
in the South, and purchased in 1864, a plantation on St. Helena, one
of these islands, with the intention of becoming a Southern planter. I
was thus engaged when Andrew Johnson began his reconstruction efforts
and appointed Benjamin F. Perry provisional governor. This was the
first attempt at the reconstruction of the South, and South Carolina
was the first state called upon to resume its relations with the
Union, as she had been the first to go out. In October, 1865, the
provisional governor issued a proclamation setting a day for an
election of delegates to a
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION
His Proclamation called upon the people to repeal the ordinances of
secession form a constitution and make such preparations as were
necessary to obtain admission into the Union. St. Helena parish was
entitled to one delegate to that constitutional convention.
All the original inhabitants of the parish, upon the approach of the
Federal forces, had fled. There was but one man left in the whole
parish when the United States took possession of the town of Beaufort,
and he was found in a garret dead drunk. Consequently when the
convention was called the question arose who were citizens of the
parish. There were few white natives of South Carolina in the parish.
The managers of election were not present. Governor Perry had named
the managers of the previous elections held under the confederate
government as the ones to conduct the election now to be held, but
none of these people were there. So a town meeting in the New England
style was called to consider the situation, at which the colored
people were in a large majority. Probably one hundred white
ex-soldiers, army officers, settlers, clerks, quartermasters,
employes, etc., came to the meeting. An examination of the law of
South Carolina as to
WHAT CONSTITUTED CITIZENSHIP
showed that it required a three years' residence to be a citizen, and
that no person then a soldier of the United States could vote in the
state at any election. A long discussion followed, whether to nominate
a candidate or not, which ended in a decision to nominate. Then came
the query whether every one at the town meeting could take part in
naming a candidate to be voted for. The advocates of Negro suffrage
claimed that the colored native citizens of South Carolina had a
better right to select the candidate to be voted for than any of the
white men present. It should be remembered that at this time the
Fifteenth amendment had not been adopted. The point was made on the
other side that only those who would have the right to vote for such a
candidate had the right to participate in the nomination. This
proposition was voted down, however, by a large majority, and H.G.
Judd, a philanthropist engaged in the work of educating the Negroes,
was nominated. Subsequently, however, another meeting was held by the
white settlers who had acquired a residence, and who were entitled
under the laws of South Carolina to vote, having resided there three
years, at which meeting I was nominated.
THIS ELECTION
occurred the next day, and I received 36 votes and H.G. Judd 8 votes.
There being no authorized managers of the election, the voters
assembled at the polls on the morning of the election and elected
three persons to act in that capacity. These persons made a
certificate that I had received the largest number of votes at the
election.
When the convention assembled in Columbia, I presented by credentials
and could have been sworn in without question if I had preferred to
make a statement to the convention that it might not act unadvisedly
of the circumstances of my election. I asked that the credentials be
referred to the committee on credentials. It was so ordered and I then
appeared before the committee and related the facts. After the hearing
a report was presented which stated that perhaps this was the only
case known to legislative history in which a man contested his own
seat, and that all the evidence for and against my right to the seat
was presented by myself. The committee reported unanimously in favor
of
SEATING ME
A long debate, however, ensued in the convention upon the question,
and it was finally decided only by the close vote of 53 to 50 that I
be seated. George D. Tillman, now a member of Congress from South
Carolina, made a very bitter speech against seating me. He thought the
insolence of this Yankee was beyond precedent in claiming to represent
the grand old parish of St. Helena, which had been represented in the
past by Middleton, Rhett, Bull and other distinguished citizens of the
State. In a speech that was really prophetic, he predicted that to
admit me would be to show dragons' teeth, and that ultimately I would
be followed by a horde which should devour the state.
James L. Orr made a speech in favor of my admission, and said that he
hoped to see the state overrun with just such newcomers. I was,
perhaps, the youngest man in the convention, and was surrounded by men
of the first rank of the State. Scarcely a man in that convention but
had a title. There were ex-senators, ex-governors, ex-chancellors,
ex-judges and ex-members of Congress. It was the intellectual power of
the state to say nothing of ex-generals, colonels and ex-captains of
the confederate army. Probably two-thirds of those men had been
members of the convention which carried the state out of the Union,
and had looked upon that act at the time it was performed as
THE CROWNING END
of a lifetime of agitation and anxiety. Now they were called upon to
undo it all, but they seemed incapable of understanding the true
position of affairs, and were totally ignorant of what had been
accomplished by the war and blind to the logic of events.
For instance, one of the questions early raised and referred to the
judiciary committee was whether Negroes should be allowed to testify
in the courts. Judge Frost of Charleston introduced a resolution that
the ordinance fixing the status of the Negro upon this question should
be passed by the convention. Chancelor Ingalls, who recently died in
Baltimore, opposed the proposition, claiming that a sovereign
convention called as this was for a special purpose, ought not to
legislate. Upon the question of discharging the committee from further
consideration of the subject, there were but two votes in the
negative, Judge Frost, the mover, a man of 80 years, and myself.
Isolated as I was from the start, I was treated by the convention with
the utmost courtesy, and when I occasionally rose to speak, I received
the
UNDIVIDED ATTENTION
of the members, and the rather obtrusive attention of the ladies who
filled the galleries. Such remarks could be heard as: "There, that
Yankee is going to speak."
Another point that agitated the convention was, what laws should be
passed to fix the status of the Negro, and, after a long discussion, a
committee was appointed to frame a code of laws to be submitted to the
legislature, which should assemble under the constitution adopted by
this convention. The product of that commission was "The Black Code."
Its intentions and provisions were foreshadowed in the debates of the
convention. At the close of the debate I spoke for five minutes,
closing with the prediction that if the convention thought that its
work would be of any value to the state, they were mistaken. If the
convention thought it possible to provide a different code of laws for
the government of the loyal black citizens of the United States, from
that which governed the disloyal white citizens of South Carolina,
they did not understand what the war had accomplished. I said that I
knew more of the
OPINION OF THE WAR
than it was possible for any man in that convention or all of them to
know. While I spoke with modesty before men who had occupied high
political positions in the past, I spoke with confidence as to the
opinion of the people of the North who had waged a successful war
against secession and slavery. Speaking for them I predicted that
their laws would be made by major-generals and executed by
provost-marshals until the last man present would fall into his grave
before the North would admit the state into the Union under a
constitution which did not recognize that all men were equal before
the law. When I sat down there was a dead silence and solemn faces.
To show the opposition I excited, let me give another anecdote.
James L. Orr came to my room one evening and asked me not to be
offended if he requested that upon a certain question he proposed to
bring before the convention the next day I would not speak in its
favor. He said: "There are fools enough in this convention that do not
want anything that you do want, and every time you speak on a measure
you hinder its adoption." The proposition he had at hand was to
REDUCE THE TIME
requisite to obtain citizenship in the state from three years to one,
and after much difficulty he persuaded the convention to make the
change. He also wished to abolish the property qualification for state
senators. Tillman appealed to him in an eloquent speech to spare this
last relic of South Carolina conservatism. Orr, in reply, asked what
in God's name had South Carolina conservatism done for South Carolina.
He pointed to what its condition was once and what it now was, and
charged South Carolina conservatism with the result. His speech was a
powerful one, and brought the convention to his views, and no property
qualification was thereafter imposed upon any officer.
Near the close of the convention I asked leave to present a petition
from 250 colored property owners of the city of Charleston, who asked
that the right of suffrage be extended to them. This, I suppose, was
the first petition of the kind ever offered in the slave states. A
member of the convention immediately moved that the petition be
returned to me and not received by the convention. Mr. Orr said that
the petition was respectful in form and ought to be received. He
moved that it be laid on the table. Another delegate moved that
NO MENTION
of the reception of the petition be made in the journal. I then rose
to speak upon the last of these motions, but the president of the
convention entertained a motion to adjourn, and the convention did so.
The convention made a constitution which was not, however, submitted
to the people for their approval. Under it a governor and legislature
were elected.
THE BLACK CODE
was ratified by the legislature, and many preposterous laws relating
to the Negroes were passed. It was evident that the freedman was to be
reduced to a condition worse than slavery--he was to be made a serf,
attached to the land, and to be under all the disabilities of slavery
without having the protection of the property interest of the owner.
CONGRESS took charge of the reconstruction, and the new government of
South Carolina fell to pieces, after a brief and inglorious existence.
Although I was the first "carpet bagger," I did not pursue the
occupation. I never held office again in the state, although I
continued to live there for sixteen years, and taking part in politics
as the editor of the Beaufort _Republican_ and the Columbia
_Union-Herald_.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] This account was taken from James G. Thompson's Papers by his
daughter, Caroline B. Stephen, of Washington, D.C. Special
Correspondence of the _New York Tribune_.
BOOK REVIEWS
_The Negro in Virginia Politics, 1865-1902._ By RICHARD L.
MORTON, Ph.D., Phelps Stokes Fellow in the University of
Virginia, 1917-1918. Charlottesville, Virginia, 1919. Pp. 199.
Price, $1.50.
This is the fourth number of a series of studies in the race problem
promoted by the Phelps Stokes Fund with a view to interesting a larger
number of southern white scholars in this field. The seriousness of
the problem during recent years has driven home the thought that
without scientific investigation it will be extremely difficult to
find a rational basis upon which the two races may cooperate for the
greatest good of the greatest number. These monographs are very much
like the addresses and studies of the University Commission making an
effort to meet this need. Judged from the value of the monographs
hitherto produced, however, one must express the regret that these
works do not measure up to the desired standard. The chief difficulty
lies in the misconception that the whole matter of readjustment may be
effected by using the white man only. He is to do the thinking,
outline the method of attack, and direct the movement. The Negro, the
other half of the equation, has not been invited to share this work
and the writers making these investigations are unfortunately biased
rather than scientific.
The purpose of this monograph is to show the bad effects of Negro
suffrage which had no place in Lincoln's plan of Reconstruction or in
the early Congressional plan, but was forced upon the South by a group
of aggressive radicals led by Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner as a
means of their personal aggrandizement and of executing punishment and
revenge upon the Southern States. It is not true that these two
statesmen desired to force Negro rule upon the South. They tried to
give that section a democratic government. At first they advised the
Negroes to choose for their leaders the intelligent southern whites
and the Negroes entreated their former masters to serve them in this
capacity. When the whites refused to cooeperate, therefore, Congress
could do nothing else but make the Negroes the basis of the
reconstructed governments. From this partisan point of view only then
the monograph is very much of a success. The writer suffered from a
preoccupation of mind and in his researches was governed accordingly.
He knew what he wanted to write and found facts to assist him toward
this end.
The book covers in detail form the beginnings of Negro suffrage in
Virginia, the campaign of 1867 in which radicals and Negroes drew the
color line, the constitutional convention of 1867-68, the committee of
nine, the campaign of 1869, the restoration of Virginia, the
elimination of the Carpetbaggers from 1869 to 1879, the Readjuster
movement in Virginia from 1879 to 1883, politics and race friction
from 1885 to 1900, the constitutional convention of 1901-1902, and the
new constitution. He, therefore, discusses certain topics already
treated in J.A.C. Chandler's _Representation in Virginia_, and _The
History of Suffrage in Virginia_; J.P. McConnell's _Negroes and their
Treatment in Virginia from 1865-1867_; H.J. Eckenrode's _The Political
History of Virginia during Reconstruction_; and C.C. Pearson's _The
Readjuster Movement in Virginia_.
The author makes a survey of the situation prior to the Civil War,
explaining why the aristocratic Virginians long since accustomed to
rule even by excluding the poor whites from the electorate could not
tolerate the enfranchisement of the Negroes. An effort is made also to
show that inasmuch as most of the Northern States prior to the Civil
War had not accepted Negro suffrage, it was natural for the southern
people to be opposed to such a policy. To strengthen this point he
refers to such authorities as Oliver P. Morton, Governor Andrew and
Abraham Lincoln.
The author considers the Negro a failure in politics and supports his
contention by a quotation from George W. Murray, who felt that it was
the mistake of the nineteenth century to attempt to make the ex-slave
a governor before he had learned to be governed and of Booker T.
Washington who said, "There is no doubt but that we made a mistake at
the beginning of our freedom of putting the emphasis on the wrong end.
Politics and the holding of office were too largely emphasized almost
to the exclusion of every interest."
Since the Negro has been eliminated, the author seems to rejoice that
the races in Virginia now work together in harmony and are friends. He
believes that this relationship will continue only so long as no
exterior factor disturbs the equilibrium and concludes with a
quotation from John Sharp Williams who feels that "It will be well
that wise men think more, that good men pray more and that all men
talk less and curse less." If the author really intends to set forth
the views of such radicals as John Sharp Williams as those upon which
the races may expect to cooeperate in the South, he might have added
his recent pronunciamento that "when it comes to maintaining the honor
of a white woman the South respects no law human or divine."
These observations are sufficient to establish the idea of the book.
The Negro during the Reconstruction period was a failure. The white
man who has been restored to absolute power so as to establish social
ostracism, segregation and lynching is a success. In other words, the
whole study is from the white man's point of view. The Negro has no
political rights which the white man should respect and unless things
are in conformity with the white man's prejudice they are wrong.
No one would gainsay that the enfranchisement of all ex-slaves was a
mistake. Oliver P. Morton, and Governor Andrew, of Massachusetts, were
to some extent right in their criticism of such a policy. It would
have been much better to have followed Abraham Lincoln's plan of
enfranchising those Negroes who were owners of property or able to
read and write and those white men who had not taken any part in the
Rebellion. While it should not have been expected that ex-slaves could
administer the affairs of the country it could not, on the other hand,
have been imagined that their masters who had begrudgingly abandoned
their title to men as property would in a few years deal with them as
one should with human beings. As a matter of fact the black codes
which the Southern States enacted immediately after the war show the
inability of the aristocratic southerners to deal humanely with a
subject people. If, therefore, Abraham Lincoln's policy, of gradually
recruiting voters from such blacks as gave evidence of wealth and
education and from such whites as manifested a disposition to do the
right thing by the country and by the freedmen had been followed, the
mistakes of the Reconstruction would have been avoided.
* * * * *
_The Negro Trail Blazers of California._ By DELILAH L. BEASLEY,
Los Angeles, California, 1919. Pp. 317.
This is, according to the author, a compilation of records from the
California Archives in the Bancroft Library at the University of
California and from the diaries, papers and conversations of pioneers
in the State of California. It includes also a record of present-day
Negroes in that State. The book is illustrated with portraits
exhibiting the life of the people past and present. The work is
divided into three parts, the first being historical, the second
biographical, and the third an account of the present-day Negro.
Taking up the historical task, the author accounts for the discovery
of California and mentions the important roles played by Estevanecito
and the Negro priest accompanying the explorers. She then discusses
the rule of Spain in California, the Bear Flag Party, the landing of
Commodore John D. Sloate, the admission of California to the Union,
the Pony Express, the right of testimony, the homestead law, the
elective franchise, slavery in California, and freedom papers.
Although intended as a continuous sketch, however, this portion of the
work, like most of it, is a mixture of narratives and documents.
In the second part of the book giving biographical sketches there is a
chapter on the first Negro settlers on the Pacific coast, a pioneer
list and the Forty-Niners of color engaged in mining. Into this are
worked all sorts of personal narratives without any organizing or
unifying scheme as to place or achievement. Not much attention is paid
to proportion. The author seemingly wrote all she had heard or
collected in each case regardless of the worth of these personal
achievements.
The same style holds in the treatment of the present-day Negro of
California. There is something about almost everything. The Negro
churches and the Negro in education, law and music have considerable
space. The author next takes up distinguished women of color, doctors,
dentists, literary persons, Negroes at the Panama Pacific
International Exposition, and Negroes in the army. Then follow the
notes on the text which, instead of being given throughout the work as
footnotes are placed at the end of the work.
Judged from the point of view of the scientific investigator, the work
is neither a popular nor a documented account. When one considers the
numerous valuable facts in the book, however, he must regret that the
author did not write the work under the direction of some one well
grounded in English composition. As it is, it is so much of a
hodge-podge that one is inclined to weep like the minister who felt
that his congregation consisted of too many to be lost but not enough
to be saved.
* * * * *
_A History of South Africa._ By DOROTHEA FAIRBRIDGE, Oxford
University Press, London, 1918. Pp. 319.
One hears much nowadays about the history of South Africa and the
development of that recently enlarged domain under the direction of
Great Britain adds further interest to the story. The present volume
differs, however, from the type of most recent accounts of South
Africa in that it is a small illustrated work within the reach of
those too busy or not sufficiently well grounded in the social
sciences to read an intensively scientific treatise. As such, it has a
place in the current historical volumes growing out of the
reconstruction of the countries revolutionized by the world war.
The work begins with a picture of the country as nature made it. There
is an account of early plant life, prehistoric animals, paleoliths,
and prehistoric man. The early inhabitants are then given more
detailed treatment. Attention is directed to the Bushman, the
Hottentot, and the Bantu as each figured in South Africa. An effort to
contrast the country as the natives kept it with the country as the
white man developed it, is a large part of this chapter.
Beginning then with Prince Henry of Portugal the author presents an
array of "Great Adventurers." Following this sketch comes the account
of the rounding of the Cape of Good Hope by Bartholomew Diaz and next
Vasco da Gama's voyage around the Cape to India. The climbing of the
Table Mountain by Antonio de Saldanha, the landing of Don Francisco of
Almeida, the voyage of Sir Francis Drake, and the adventures of other
travellers appear in chronological order.
The rise of settlements in South Africa or on the neighboring islands
as half-way stations, show the early importance of the country which,
after being conquered, soon experienced considerable expansion. Then
followed in the seventeenth century an era of prosperity which paved
the way for better beginnings the next century under Governors
Hendrik, Swellengrebel and Tulbagh. The troubles of the eighteenth
century when the settlements had to reckon with natives and foreigners
constitute a critical period of the colony ending with the capture of
the Cape by the English in 1795. Then follow the first British
occupation, the restoration of the Cape to the Dutch by the Treaty of
Amiens in 1802, the second rule of the Dutch and the second coming of
the British.
With the nineteenth century the British were to be free to start upon
an all but uninterrupted rule of prosperity. The establishment of
courts, the rise of missions, the improvement in agriculture, and the
extension of the frontier characterized the first efforts of the
pioneering British. Their relations with the natives and difficulties
with the Boers are treated in the chapters on the Story of Natal, the
Vootrekkers, the founding of the Boer Republic and the retrocession of
the Transvaal. The chapters covering the subsequent period consist of
a discussion of new influences, the Uitlanders, the Jameson Raid, the
War of 1899-1902, and the problems of peace and reconstruction.
* * * * *
RECONSTRUCTION IN LOUISIANA. By ELLA LONN, Assistant Professor in
Grinnell College. G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York and London, 1919.
Pp. 538. Price $3.00 net.
Miss Lonn's book is an exhibition of the true scholarly spirit. Her
analysis of the situation in Louisiana politics during the period of
Reconstruction is most ably executed. She has neglected no source
which would throw light upon this very anachronistic epoch. Public
documents of all kinds, and especially those which embody the debates
in the Senate and assembly of Louisiana have been made to yield
interesting testimonies of the passing shows of the years 1867-1876.
Not content, however, with these testimonies, she has called to her
aid many other sources including the newspapers of the day wherein is
displayed popular reaction towards the orgies being indulged in the
State House. And thus the reader's mind, by means of most carefully
chosen quotations from these records, as if by a lightning flash, is
frequently illumined; so that the whole comedy unfolds before the eyes
in a most interesting fashion.
The book is not only filled with a wealth of detailed information
concerning the period, it not only tells the story of political
debauchery, ignorance and fraud; but notes also the few shreds of
constructive work done by the legislators under the coercion of public
opinion. All of these facts are put together in a logical manner and
show that the author is not only gifted with keen analytic powers, but
is also endowed with a peculiar faculty for organizing and marshalling
facts in such a manner as to weave a beautiful mosaic of otherwise
widely divergent elements.
Miss Lonn has succeeded in writing a very interesting narrative and
her book will hold the attention of a widely differing clientele. The
student of American politics will find an illuminative study of this
very remarkable period, and therefore much food for thought. But this
book offers to the lover of fiction a new field. There is the hero,
Warmoth, the villain, whose protraiture has been limned by a masterly
hand. Little by little, sometimes directly and sometimes indirectly;
sometimes by the words of his own mouth, oftener by the mouths of
those whom he attacked, and almost constantly by the unfriendly
newspapers, she deftly portrays the elements of his character. Warmoth
had almost unlimited power and he used it like Cataline to corrupt the
corruptible elements of the State. He was essentially a Nero, callous
to the last degree and indifferent to the progressive anemia which was
destroying the State's finances. Like Julius Caesar he attained his
gubernatorial power by making multiple false promises and kept it by a
species of corrupt practices which were incredibly vile. There is the
tragic setting, the broken, maimed, devastated State of Louisiana,
just out of the War of Rebellion and struggling hard to regain her
"former glory." There are the carpetbaggers, irresponsible, predatory
and indigent, of whom an army estimated to have been five hundred
thousand strong invaded the State attracted as vultures by the rich
pickings of political conquest. There are scalawags, remnants of the
Confederate army, also indigent, nevertheless troublesome and among
whom many brigands, murderers and cut-throats sprang up. There were
respectable Republicans and Democrats, whites and blacks who formed
the background for the tragedy of Reconstruction in Louisiana. There
were also the Manichean gods of sharply defined good and evil, sanity
and insanity, righteousness and corruption, civic pride and utmost
indifference; murder, theft, malfeasance, ignorance and crass
stupidity. All these thrown in the pot of political regeneration made
a situation that was tragically immoral and horrific.
During Warmoth's administration the legislature was a minstrel show.
It was worse than a minstrel show; it was profoundly corrupt.
Lobbyists openly paid legislators, black and white, for their votes.
And what is more, the money was parceled out to each one on the very
floor of the Senate and House. This corruption was so rife that it was
sickening; it is even nauseating now to read about it. He was finally
impeached by the Senate. When it became certain to him that the Senate
would vote for his impeachment he cowardly sought to nullify the vote
by resigning and fleeing the State. But he regained his power and
influence and held office two years longer. And during this time his
power was so absolute that the fear of him is manifest in the Senate
and House debates. Speakers in making charges of corruption, and even
when speaking against bills aimed at increasing the power of the
governor, always added, so great was their fear of him, "no reflection
is meant upon the present incumbent," or words to that effect. This
although they knew well that it was his very abuse of power which
called forth many of the bills under consideration.
It was scarcely possible, however, that such abuses, such corruption
and infamy, such vile and degraded practices as those which
characterized Warmoth's administration as Governor of Louisiana could
long continue. So in 1871 came the crash. An open rupture in the ranks
of the Republican party developed. The gatling gun convention,
so-called, because federal troops with two gatling guns, guarded the
convention building, was held. Warmoth, scenting a conspiracy, bolted
and held an independent convention in Turner Hall. With him as the
leading spirit of the gathering was Pinchback, then majority leader in
the Senate.
The career of Pinchback sheds additional light upon this period. He
held a high place in the political life of that day, rising from
majority leader, by successive stages, to the lieutenant-governorship,
and to the presidency of the Senate. He also became immensely wealthy
on account of his association with Warmoth, who is said to have
acquired a fortune of more than a million dollars during three years
of his administration. While Pinchback was Park Commissioner he was
accused by Antoine of cheating him out of $40,000 at one clip. For a
time Pinchback was one of Warmoth's staunchest supporters, and when
the party in Louisiana was split by the two factions, the Custom House
ring and the Warmoth faction, Pinchback was elected permanent chairman
of the Warmoth convention and made the keynote speech for the
campaign. Subsequently, Warmoth's utter degeneracy alienated him and
so they parted company. Warmoth's star descended, and he went down to
ignominious defeat. Upon his name and memory were heaped derogations,
curses and anathemas. And unfortunately these will always be
associated with his memory. On the other hand, Pinchback's star rose
to the ascendant and he was elected to the United States Senate.
Pinchback was a man of good breeding, education and culture; and if he
yielded to the corrupt influences of his time, it was because he was
unable to withstand the flood; it was because the corrupt hand of
everyone in politics at that time, Ishmael-like, was turned against
the forces of righteousness in political affairs. For, at that time,
as the author clearly shows, crime, corruption and fraud were so
rife, so common, that they were taken for granted. And the moral sense
was so low, so negligible, that men did not think of their crimes as
crimes. They committed them simply because "everybody was doing so,"
and unrighteousness filled the State as "the waters the great deeps."
Finally, by a species of corrupt and criminal practices which made
those of the Warmoth regime pale into the utmost insignificance, the
tide was turned. Another party came into power and the lily-white
government was established. Out of such conditions as Miss Lonn has
depicted the government of all the Southern States sprang. This book
helps us to understand, in some slight degree, the curious political
bias of these States. It is in part a heritage of unreasoning
fear--not so much of Negro domination as of again being overwhelmed by
a flood of corruption let loose by their own kind. How this fear has
expressed itself in more recent times we all know too well.
Miss Lonn closes her book with this fitting paragraph: "And therewith
the curtain fell upon the last act in this long and weary drama. One
can hardly help feeling that surely if Louisiana had sinned, she had
paid the penalty of her sins in full measure of atonement."
R. T. BROWNE
NOTES
Recently there passed from this life Sir T. F. Victor Buxton, Bart., a
man attracted to Africa, no doubt, by the record of his distinguished
great grandfather T. F. Buxton, Bart., who belonged to that group of
English reformers instrumental in giving the death blow to the African
slave trade. Early interested in the natives of Africa, the grandson
soon became associated with the Church missionary movement. He was
largely concerned in the establishment of two corporations, the Uganda
Company and the East African Industries, both intended to benefit the
natives.
Closely connected with Africa, he often visited various parts with a
view to studying the many problems arising in the commercial, social
and political world. On these occasions many Africans were entertained
by him and he maintained friendly relations with them so as to bring
together the representatives of various interests to work for the good
of all. His interest in the African natives is further shown by his
service as president of the Anti-Slavery and Aborigines Protection
Society and as a firm supporter of the Native Races and Liquor Traffic
Committee.
* * * * *
Owing to the printers' strike the publication of Dr. C.G. Woodson's
illustrated textbook, _The Negro in our History_, has been delayed. It
is highly probable that the volume will appear before spring.
THE JOURNAL
OF
NEGRO HISTORY
VOL. V--APRIL, 1920--NO. 2
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEGRO PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM IN MISSOURI[1]
THE PERIOD FROM 1865 TO 1875
On Tuesday, the eleventh day of January, 1865, the Negro of Missouri
awoke a slave; that night he retired a free man.[2] His darkest hour
had passed but before him loomed a great task, that of living up to
the requirements of a man. His emancipators were confronted with the
responsibility of preparing him for his new duties and for the proper
use of suffrage which was to be granted him a few years later.
Prior to 1865 the State had seen fit to prohibit the education[3] of
the slave because, although the educated slave was the more efficient,
yet he was the more dangerous; as his training might aid him to make a
better revolt against his position. But the qualities which were
objectionable in the slave were necessary to the freed man, if he was
to prove other than a menace to the State. His emancipators faced the
education of the Negro fairly, and the same convention which had
passed the Emancipation Act of 1865, drew up a new State constitution
which was ratified the same year. This constitution[4] provided for
the establishment and the maintenance of free public schools for the
instruction of all persons in the State who were between the ages of
five and twenty-one. It further provided that all funds for the
support of the public schools should be appropriated in proportion to
the number of children without regard to color.
The legislature, which met the same year, passed a law[5] which
required that the township boards of education, and those in charge of
the educational affairs in the cities and the incorporated villages of
the State should establish and maintain one or more separate schools
for the colored children of school age within their respective
jurisdictions, provided the number of such children should exceed
twenty. Persons over twenty-one were to be admitted to these schools.
The same officers who were in charge of the educational interests of
the white schools were to control the Negro schools. The length of the
term and the other advantages to be enjoyed by these schools were to
be the same as those enjoyed by the white schools of the same grade.
This law further provided that if the average attendance for any month
should drop below twelve the school might be closed for a period not
to exceed six months. In districts where there were less than twenty
Negro children, the money raised for their education was to be
reserved by the boards of education in those districts and to be
appropriated as the boards saw fit for the education of the Negro
children upon whom the money had been raised. The same legislature[6]
passed an act authorizing towns, cities, and villages to organize for
school purposes with special privileges. This act, however, provided
that any town, city or village so incorporated should be required to
establish one or more Negro schools according to the law. At this
session of the legislature[7] there was enacted a law to compel the
school authorities in each sub-district to prepare a school census of
their respective jurisdictions which should enumerate separately and
according to sex the white and the Negro children who were permanently
resident within the sub-district. In case the directors failed to
perform this duty the township clerk was to have the census taken and
to recover from the directors by judicial proceedings the cost of the
work.
If we were to judge from the constitutional and the statutory laws of
this period, we might conclude that the education of the Negro was
very popular and that his needs were well taken care of. But before we
can draw any conclusion we must study certain conditions. We must know
something of the character of the men who were to enforce the law, of
the desire of the Negroes for an education, of popular opinion
concerning public education, and of the distribution of the Negro
population.
The State Superintendents of this period were well trained men,[8] and
their reports show that they were faithful in the discharge of their
duty. One of these superintendents, John Monteith,[9] showed great
zeal in the establishment and development of the Negro school system.
He was born in the Western Reserve district of Ohio, a section noted
for its strong anti-slavery sentiment. He belonged to a family of
educators. His father was one of the first presidents of the
University of Michigan. Monteith completed his education at Yale and
served for a number of years as a minister in St. Louis. Upon becoming
State Superintendent, he wrote in favor of Negro education a pamphlet
which he sent to each of the county superintendents. His annual
reports,[10] to which we shall refer later, show the interest and the
effort which this man put forth to develop the Negro schools of the
State.
The Negroes were not indifferent to the efforts which were put forth
in their behalf. There is much evidence to show that they took an
active part in the establishment[11] and the maintenance of schools
for their children. In those districts in which Negro schools were
maintained and an honest effort was made to better the conditions of
the Negroes, they responded heartily to their opportunities. The
following quotations are typical of the reports which the
superintendents in those counties were able to make in 1874: "In most
of the townships a commendable interest is manifested in the support
of Negro schools, which I am happy to report, is appreciated by the
Negroes[12] themselves. The schools have been well attended with
considerable diligence manifested by the pupils." A.A. Neal,
Superintendent of Pettis County, reported:[13] "The Negro schools are
doing better than could be expected under existing circumstances." The
Superintendent of Bay County said:[14] "The Negro schools have been
well attended. The pupils have manifested great enthusiasm, and have
made surprising advancement in the rudiments." _The Journal of
Education_[15] which was printed in St. Louis, by J.B. Merwin in 1869,
states: "It is a well known fact that our Negro population manifests
the greatest zeal in taking advantage of every opportunity for
acquiring education."
At the beginning of this period, popular opinion concerning free
public schools in general and Negro schools in particular was not
favorable. The school laws of the State were in advance of the people.
These laws[16] were the product of a few statesmen who appeared at
intervals, and who, in spite of well known social protests, pushed
forward with great energy school laws modeled after those of the more
progressive eastern States.[17] The State Superintendent complained in
his report for 1867 that in those counties in which the southern
sympathizers predominated, the people were either wholly negligent or
bitterly opposed to their public school right. Three classes of
opposers were enumerated;[18] those who believed that the public
schools tended to foster infidelity, those who believed that the
State, the county or a municipal body had no right to tax for
educational purposes, and those who regarded as unnecessary any
education beyond reading, writing, and simple arithmetic. In March of
the year 1866, four months after the constitution of 1865 had gone
into effect, of the thirty-four Negro schools[19] in the State only
two were situated in counties in which the southern element
predominated. Thus we see that the attitude toward public schools in
general was reflected upon the Negro schools.
The school laws themselves, which seem to have been adequate to
provide equal school rights for all the children in the State, were
easily evaded when the officials of a community were hostile to them.
In his first annual report,[20] State Superintendent Parker called
attention to the following facts: No remedy was provided in case the
township board refused to comply with the statutes. There was no
remedy in case the local board of directors refused to hire teachers
for the school when the requisite number of pupils were in the
district. In this manner, he reported, the Negro children in many
districts were deprived of an opportunity to attend school. Even where
there was no apparent hostility to the statutes and to the education
of the Negroes there was a failure to make the requisite enumeration
of the Negro children in many townships and consequently many children
were by the very law itself deprived of the benefits of the State
school fund. He pointed out that in the year 1867 many would thus be
deprived, since the law regulating the apportionment of the State
school fund, compelled the apportionment to be made on the basis of
the enumeration which had already been made, and which in many cases
did not include the Negro children. The law concerning the
establishment of Negro schools was abused here and there throughout
the entire period. As late as 1876 the State Superintendent
complained[21] that in many cases through ignorance of the law and in
other cases through willful disobedience of the law, schools for the
Negroes had not been established. In the first case, he reported that
merely explaining the law had the desired effect and in the other case
it was necessary to call the assistance of county clerks and of grand
juries.
During this period there was a growing sentiment in favor of public
schools. This is shown by the reports which came from the various
counties to the State Superintendent's office, and also by the
increase in the number of children enumerated and by the increasing
number of schools. In 1870,[22] the county superintendents reported a
great deal of opposition and indifference to the schools especially on
the part of the tax-payers. In 1872 a majority of the county
superintendents were able to report[23] a growing sentiment in favor
of public education. They could then say that the enemies of this
institution were becoming its friends. The State Superintendent[24]
reported in 1874 that in the four years of his administration there
had been a steady growth in the popularity of the public school
system. We can better appreciate the progress made in this period when
we remember that prior to the Civil War, the public school in Missouri
had been considered a pauper's school. The Constitution[25] of 1820
had provided: "One or more schools shall be established in each county
township as soon as practicable and necessary where the poor shall be
taught gratis." The attendance also showed a healthy growth. In
1870[26] there were 280,473 pupils attending 7,547 public schools in
the State. There were 389,956 pupils attending these schools in 1872.
In 1874 the enumeration showed that there were 708,354 children of
school age in the State.
As sentiment in favor of the public school grew, the willingness to
enumerate and to provide schools for the Negro children also
increased. In 1867 the number of Negro children enumerated was 33,619.
This was an increase of 13,709 over the previous year. Fifty-six
public schools were provided for these children. In 1869 forty
counties reported 12,871 Negro children and 80 schoolhouses which were
devoted to their use. The average school term was four and one-third
months. In 1871 the enumeration had increased to 37,173, and the
number of public schools to 212. These schools had an enrollment of
4,358 pupils. In 1873[27] the enumeration had increased to 38,234 and
the number of schools to 252.
The work of the public school for the education of the Negro was
supplemented by two other classes of schools. In 1867[28] the State
Superintendent called attention to three classes of schools which were
educating the Negroes in the State. In the first place there were
those supported by benevolent societies in other States. These schools
were generally supplied with white teachers and were doing good work.
There were then the private or subscription schools, which were
supported by the tuition of the pupils and in many cases these were
taught by colored teachers of inferior qualifications. Finally there
were the public schools as contemplated by the law. A few such schools
had been established in the large towns and cities.
In 1869[29] it was estimated that there were in the State 34,000 Negro
children of educable age. For their accommodation there were 59 Negro
public schools with an average attendance of 2,000. This report also
states that the majority of these schools were taught in churches and
cabins with walls admirably adapted for ventilation and for admission
of copious shower baths of rain. The same year Colonel Seely, Agent
for the Freedman's Bureau in Missouri, reported 114 schools for the
freedmen. Most of these were public schools and the attendance was
6,240. The ninth census for 1870, reported that 9,080 Negro children
were attending school in Missouri. Thus we see that the public schools
of this period were greatly aided by mission and private schools.
In 1868 the legislature enacted a law[30] which gave the State
Superintendent the authority to assume the powers of the school board
for establishing and maintaining a school for Negro children when the
township, city, or village, neglected to establish and to maintain
such a school in accordance with the law. The same year the school
law was amended[31] so as to require the township, the city or the
incorporated village to establish one or more schools for Negro
children when there was more than fifteen children in the
jurisdiction. A Negro school could be closed for six months when the
attendance for any month dropped below ten.
There is evidence to show that the State Superintendent used his power
to establish Negro schools when the local authorities neglected this
task. In 1873, he reported:[32] "I have established between 50 and 60
Negro schools in the State without resorting to the expedient of a tax
as indicated and authorized by law." In 1875 he reported: "I have
levied taxes for Negro schools in three instances. The medicine is
good and effective and I trust it will be administered in every
similar case in the State until the Negroes enjoy schools equally good
in every way as the white schools." Thus we see that by the Law of
1868 the State Superintendent had the power to remedy conditions as
far as the Negroes were concerned but there was no evidence to show
that he used this power prior to 1872, although there are reports of
violations of the law. In 1874 there was passed a law[33] which made a
school official subject to a fine of not less than fifty or more than
five hundred dollars, for the persistent neglect or refusal to perform
any duty or duties pertaining to his office. In view of this and the
offensiveness of the results threatened in the civil rights bill,[34]
the State Superintendent[35] was astonished at the number of
delinquencies and persistent evasions of the law.
The Commissioner of Education was able to report in 1870: "This State
has a larger proportion of schools[36] for Negro children than any
former slave State. Opposition to the education of the Negroes is
rapidly disappearing. Their rapid improvement and good conduct help to
disarm prejudice." Among the methods of evading the law the following
were reported; the failure to enumerate the Negro children, the
complaints of a lack of funds, and the plea of an inability to secure
teachers. In 1875 the State Superintendent reported[37] that the
citizens of Calloway County, the most strongly southern county in the
State during the Civil War, were evincing the greatest readiness to
provide good schools for their large Negro population. This, he
believed, augured well for the future of the Negro schools of the
State, since it indicated a growing kindly disposition of the southern
element of the State towards them. How great was the change in
sentiment can be readily seen by contrasting this report with those of
the county superintendent for 1866 and 1867. In 1866 the
Superintendent of Calloway reported[38] much objection to public
schools in that county on account of the impartial application to
children of all races and colors. The only Negro school in the county
had been established under very discouraging circumstances at Fulton.
In many rural districts there were not enough children to permit the
establishment of a school and in other districts the existing
opposition to Negro schools made their establishment impossible. The
next year it was reported[39] that the white schools were better
fitted for pigs than for children and that there was no interest at
all in the education of Negro children.
Another factor which effected the development of the Negro school
system was the sparseness of the Negro population. In many districts
and even in some counties there were not enough Negro children to form
a school. In 1871, reports[40] were received from 109 of the 115
counties of the State. Thirty-nine of the 109 counties did not report
a single school district with the required number of Negro children
to establish a school. The other seventy counties reported 395 school
districts having twenty or more Negro children of school age. The same
counties also reported 158 schools for these children. In their annual
letters for 1872 twenty-one county superintendents called attention to
the fact that the Negro population was so distributed over the
counties that it was impossible to provide schools for them according
to the law. Three of these superintendents asked that the law might be
so amended as to provide for Negro children in the sparsely settled
districts, and one superintendent advocated[41] that in districts in
which there were too few Negro children to form separate schools, they
should be admitted to the white schools.
That same year the State Superintendent reported[42] that in several
cases in which no schools were provided because of the small number of
pupils, that their parents had asked why their children could not
enter the white schools since there was no direct law prohibiting it.
The next year[43] the Negro children in several districts did enter
the white schools with the tacit consent of the white population. When
the State Superintendent was asked whether or not they could be
ejected[44] he replied that there was no law to that effect. At this
time the enactment of a civil rights bill was being agitated in the
State. This bill[45] provided that the public schools of the State
should be open to all children regardless of color. When the civil
rights bill was defeated in 1874, there was passed another bill which
aimed to relieve the situation in the sparsely settled districts.
In 1869 the legislature had passed a law[46] permitting two or more
districts, each of which had less than fifteen Negro population but
which when taken together had more than that number, to establish a
union school for those children. This law on account of its lack of
force did not accomplish much good. In 1874 the law[47] was amended in
such a way as to make it obligatory for two or more districts, each of
which had too few Negro children, to form a school to unite to form a
union school. It was also ordered that all taxable property in a
township in which a Negro school was situated should be taxed for its
support.
In 1875 each district supported its own school[48] for white children,
while the whole township in which a Negro school was situated was
taxed for its support. No district in the State could be compelled by
the law to maintain a school for its white children, but if there were
more than fifteen Negro children in the district, the law compelled
the local authorities to establish a school for them. If they failed
to do so, the law directed the State Superintendent to establish and
to levy taxes for the support of Negro schools in such communities. In
those districts in which there were too few Negro children to form a
separate school, union schools were to be established. The last
mentioned law, however, was passed too late to have much effect upon
the period under discussion. School officials who refused to perform
the duties of their office could be fined[49] not less than fifty nor
more than five hundred dollars.
In the larger centers of the State where there was a large Negro
population the necessity of establishing schools[50] for the Negroes
seems to have been better realized. Thirty-nine out of seventy-three
towns and villages incorporated under the special Act for Towns and
Villages, reported[51] a sufficient population for a Negro school.
There were 19,879 white and 3,609 Negro pupils enrolled in the public
schools of these thirty-nine towns and villages. The length of the
school term was the same in the white and the Negro schools in a
number of cases; but the average length was lower in the Negro schools
than in the white schools. The average length of the white school was
thirty-four weeks and the average length of the Negro school term was
twenty-eight weeks. The average expense a pupil in these schools was
8.1 cents a day for each white pupil and 7.8 cents a day for each
Negro pupil. The average attendance in the Negro schools was below
that in the white schools. The average attendance of the white schools
was 61.89 per cent and that of the Negro schools was 51.86 per cent of
the enrollment.
The lower attendance of the Negro children may be accounted for as Asa
Martin accounts for a similar condition in Kansas City.[52] In this
city from 1885 to 1913 a larger per cent of the Negro than of the
white children of school age attended the public schools, but the
average attendance of the white children enrolled was above that of
the Negro children. This he accounted for by the poverty of the Negro
population. Since the Negroes were poorer as a whole than the whites,
they were more poorly housed and clothed. Consequently the Negro
children were more susceptible to sickness and to the disagreeable
effects of inclement weather. On this account they were oftener absent
from school than the white children.
The report of the State Superintendent of Schools for the year 1874
contains reports[53] from thirty-five of the urban communities which
were organized under the act for cities, towns and villages. Five of
these towns reported that they did not have any Negro children of
school age. The thirty towns reported 4,701 Negro children, 2,379 of
whom were enrolled in the public schools. Salisbury was the only town
having more than sixteen Negro children for whom no school was
maintained, while Bolivar and Augusta, which had in the first case
eleven and in the second four Negro children of school age, reported
respectively five and three Negro children in the public schools.
The largest cities in the State were St. Joseph, Kansas City and St.
Louis. These cities provided public schools for the freedmen soon
after the war. St. Joseph opened a school[54] with seventy seats for
Negro children in 1866. In 1871 the city had for Negro children, two
schools,[55] each of which was provided with one teacher. One of these
schools had an enrollment of 96 pupils and the other 94. In 1874 this
city enumerated[56] 651 Negro children of school age, 386 of whom were
enrolled in the two public schools. The number of teachers had
increased from two to four.
The first Negro public school[57] in Kansas City was reported in 1867.
The enumeration[58] for 1873 was 408 Negro children of school age. The
average attendance was 165. The length of the school term was forty
weeks. The amount spent on each pupil was 7.5 cents a day in the Negro
school and 8.6 in the white school. The average salary paid to male
teachers was $68.33 in the Negro school and $112.50 in the white
schools. The average salary paid to female teachers was $45 in the
Negro school and $65 in the white schools. In 1874 the number of Negro
children enumerated was 885.[59] There was one Negro school in the
city for their use which had 356 pupils and five teachers.
In St. Louis, the largest city in the State, there was a steady growth
of the Negro school system. The State Legislature granted this city
the power to establish separate schools[60] for Negro children in
1865. The next year Ira Divoll, the City Superintendent, established
three schools for Negro children.[61] One was in the northern, one in
the central and another in the southern part of the city. In 1868
there were five Negro schools[62] in the city with a total enrollment
of 924 pupils. Three of these schools held night sessions which ran
from the first Monday in October of the year 1867 to the fifth of
February, 1868. Twelve teachers were employed in these schools. In
1871 a sixth Negro school[63] was added and school No. 3 was improved
to accommodate five hundred pupils. There were sixteen teachers and
seventeen school rooms. The expenses for the year amounted to
$11,787.80.[64]
The next year it was reported[65] that good buildings had been built
for the Negro schools. A gain of eight pupils over the number enrolled
the previous year was reported. This small gain was not charged to
indifference, but to a decrease in the Negro population. In 1875 there
were twelve Negro schools in the city. The legislature of that year
passed a bill[66] which permitted the city to establish a Negro high
school with a normal department in the old Washington School building
and was known from this time on as the Sumner High School.
The first teachers of these schools were white, but they were
gradually replaced by Negro teachers. The first teacher[67] of color
was appointed largely through the influence of Samuel Crupples, who
was a member of the Board of Education of St. Louis and also a regent
of Lincoln Institute. He was so impressed with the work done by
Lincoln Institute in preparing Negro children that he favored the
giving of its graduates a trial in the public schools of that city.
The chance to try teachers of color came when the friends of a white
teacher, who had been assigned to a Negro school, protested against
the assignment. From this time on the white teachers in the Negro
schools were gradually replaced by those of color.
Very early in the history of the Negro schools the question of
training teachers came up. The white teachers did not care to teach in
the Negro schools and it was hard to find trained teachers of color at
this date. Ten county superintendents in their annual[68] letters for
1872 mentioned the difficulties which they experienced in obtaining
good teachers for their Negro schools. There was a prejudice on the
part[69] of both the white and the black people of the State against
white teachers for Negro schools; and it is reported[70] that in many
cases the white teachers in these schools did not take the interest in
the advancement of the people which was taken by the Negro teachers.
The positions in the Negro school, moreover, were less desirable than
those in the white schools because the financial returns were less in
teaching in the Negro schools. In 1873 the cities, towns and villages
which reported[71] Negro schools also reported an average salary of
$46.70 per month for male teachers and $40.00 per month for female
teachers. The white schools in the same towns paid an average monthly
salary of $87.72 to male teachers and $46.64 to female teachers.
The first school[72] in the State which was devoted to the work of
training Negro teachers was Lincoln Institute. This school[73] had its
origin in a fund of $6,379 which was contributed by the soldiers of
the sixty-second and sixty-fifth United States Negro infantry. These
men upon being mustered out of service at the close of the war gave
part of their pay to found in Missouri a school where their children
might enjoy the blessings of a good education. The school was opened
at Jefferson City,[74] the State Capital, September 17, 1866. Richard
Baxter Foster, a New England white man who was educated at Dartmouth
College and who had served as first lieutenant in the sixty-second
United States Negro Infantry, became the first principal of this
school.
In his report[75] to the adjourned session of the Twenty-fifth General
Assembly, T.A. Parker, the State Superintendent of Schools, offered as
his most important suggestion for the improvement of Negro schools in
the State, the establishment of a Normal School for the training of
Negro teachers. He gave five reasons why such a school should be
supported by the State: first, the number of teachers were
insufficient to supply the rapidly increasing demand; second, the
character of the teaching in a large proportion of the Negro schools
needed elevating as white teachers of high qualifications could
usually do better in white schools and Negro teachers of high
qualifications could not be found in any great number; third, as
Negroes had not, in many vocations, an equal opportunity with white
people, and as teaching is one of the most respectful and useful
vocations open to them, they should be encouraged to engage in it;
fourth, justice demanded it, for as a large part of the wealth of
Missouri had been produced by the unrequited labor of slaves, it was
but a small return that the State should give to their children, now
free, the largest privileges of education; and fifth, the State gave
no funds to institutions of learning above the grade of common
schools, which were practically, if not by force of law, limited to
white pupils. Equality of treatment demanded that something be
appropriated for a school of higher learning to which the people of
color could have access. If such a school could not be established at
the time, he advised that a sum of $5,000 per year should be given to
the normal department of Lincoln Institute to aid in the training of
Negro teachers.
Acting on this advice, the legislature passed in 1870 a bill[76]
granting the normal department of Lincoln Institute an annual sum of
$5,000 for the training of teachers. In his reports for 1872 and 1873
the State Superintendent commented on the excellent work which this
school was doing. But as this school was hampered by debt and could
not train the number of teachers needed, he advocated that the State
should take a greater interest in the school or better still, the
State should take the school over entirely and make it into a normal
school for Negro teachers. The annual reports of the State
Superintendents from this time up to 1879, when the school was finally
given over to the State, contained accounts of the excellent work
which this school was doing in the training of teachers and he
recommended from year to year that the State should give it more
financial aid.
By the year 1875 the Negro public school system of Missouri was well
established. Elementary schools had been started in all parts of the
State. A high school for Negroes had been established in St. Louis and
the first steps had been taken towards the establishment of a Negro
State normal school. Popular opinion had crystallized in favor of
separate schools for Negro children taught by teachers of color. The
progress of the Negro schools had been somewhat retarded by a
prejudice against public schools in general and to a greater extent by
a prejudice against the education of Negroes. Towards the end of the
period there was evidence to show that this prejudice was dying out.
Much good legislation had been passed with the idea of giving the
Negro children the same educational advantages as were held by the
white children of the State. The Negro school system of this period
was in advance of the corresponding systems in the other States which
had recently held slaves.[77] The report of the Commissioner of
Education for 1872, shows that there were no public schools for the
education of the Negro in Georgia, Alabama, Delaware, Kentucky, and
Maryland. Ninety per cent of the Negro school population of Tennessee
was without the benefit of public schools. Although the Negro public
schools of Louisiana and West Virginia were established before those
of Missouri, the greater illiteracy of their population in 1870 and
1880 show that these schools were not as efficient as those in
Missouri.
THE CRITICAL PERIOD, 1875 TO 1885
The year 1875 marked an epoch in Negro education in Missouri. That
year a new State constitution was adopted. This meant the beginning of
a critical period in the school history of the State. In order to
understand the educational trend of this period it is necessary to
consider the political history of this and the preceding period.
During the Civil War the State had been almost equally divided between
the Union and the Confederate sympathizers; but the Union forces held
control of the government. At the close of the war and while the
feeling between the two factions was still very bitter, there were
enacted very harsh laws[78] by which those who had sided with the
South were not only disfranchised, but were also deprived of the right
to practice law, to preach, or to teach. As the intense bitterness of
the war died out there was strong agitation to restore the right of
suffrage to the disfranchised citizens. In 1870[79] the Liberal
Republicans gained control of the State with the result that there was
passed the next year a law removing the restriction placed upon the
southern element. In 1872 the Liberal Republicans and the Democrats
united to defeat the Radical Republicans, and at the next election
which took place in 1874 the Democratic Party came into full power.
One of the first acts of the new administration was to call a
constitutional convention which drew up a new State constitution which
was ratified by the people in 1875. With the return to power of a
party[80] which strongly favored local self-government, and which was
supported to a great extent by those who but a few years before had
been reported to have been opposed to the extension of their public
school rights, it is not surprising that the progress of the public
school system was for a time checked. In many districts the people had
accepted the public schools but they had not become thoroughly
reconciled to the system.
In 1870 the local district school boards[81] were subordinate to the
township boards of education. The clerk of the township board was both
treasurer and recording secretary of all the school districts within
his township. He was responsible to the county school superintendent
and he made statistical reports to him as well as to the county
clerks. The county school superintendents and the county clerks were
in turn responsible to the State Superintendent of Schools. In 1874
the legislature[82] so changed the old statutes as to do away with
county and township supervision. The office of county superintendent
was abolished and each district became independent. Even the district
board was deprived of some of its power and the right which it had to
extend the school term and to levy money for new buildings was vested
in the voters of the district. The new State constitution sanctioned
tendency toward decentralization by providing[83] that the right of
the people to local self-government should not be impaired.
Although the old constitution was very objectionable to a large number
of the citizens of the State, nevertheless, it contained some good
school legislation and fortunately much of this was embodied in the
new constitution. The Constitution of 1865 had provided[84] that
"separate schools may be established for children of African descent."
The new constitution provided that "separate free public schools shall
be established for the education of children of African descent." The
legal school age provided by the old constitution was from five to
twenty-one but the legal school age provided by the new constitution
was from six to twenty.
The decentralization of the public school system caused many abuses to
spring up. Statistics became harder and harder to collect, and school
practice less and less uniform in the different parts of the State.
The school law was disregarded to such an extent as to cause a
decrease in the school enumeration and enrollment in spite of the fact
that the population was steadily increasing. In 1875 the
enumeration[85] showed 720,186 children of school age, 394,780 of whom
were enrolled in the public schools. In 1877 the enumeration had
shrunk to 553,278 and the enrollment to 364,189. From this time on
there was a steady growth until 1880 when the enumeration surpassed
that of 1875.
The Negro public schools of the State also suffered a decline[86] in
this period. In 1875 there was a Negro school population of 41,916 and
an enrollment of 14,832. In 1877 the reported enumeration was 32,411
and the enrollment was 14,505. The enumeration did not equal that of
1875 until 1885, but the enrollment of 1878 surpassed that of 1875 by
6,376. The enrollment of 1877 was only 328 smaller than the enrollment
of 1875. Thus, it would appear that while there was a failure in some
districts to enumerate their children of color, that in those
districts in which they were enumerated an increasing percentage of
the children of color attended the public schools.
As has been pointed out before, the emancipators[87] of the Negro, in
attempting to provide equal school rights for the Negro child, made
more stringent laws for the enforcement of his school rights than were
made for the enforcement of the school rights of the white child. The
State Superintendent was empowered to enter districts which did not
provide schools for Negro children according to the law, and to
establish schools for these children, and to levy taxes for the
maintenance of the schools. It is not surprising, therefore, to find
that the State Superintendent was called upon a number of times in
this period to exercise his power.
This official reported[88] in 1878 that the law in relation to the
public schools for Negro children had been repeatedly evaded and
violated during the two preceding years, and that a wicked and
malicious advantage was being taken of the ignorance and the weakness
of the Negro to shield the law-breaker who was using the money
appropriated by the law for the education of the Negro youth. The
method of evasion was fully described. In the first place, there was a
failure to enumerate a sufficient number of Negroes of school age
before the convening of the annual school meeting. After the meeting,
when the directors were appealed to, they required the production of
evidence that there was a sufficient number and then required time to
look into the evidence which took a month or more. They would then
inform the Negroes that it was too late to do anything that year, that
they should have attended to the matter before the annual school
meeting and that they must attend to it in time the following year. In
many cases while the money due the Negroes was being used for other
purposes, they were promised schools for the next year which the
directors did not intend to give them. Sometimes the directors
promised well and were then unable to find teachers or they disagreed
with the Negroes concerning the site of the school. The year would
thus elapse and a new board knowing nothing of the promises of the old
board would be elected. The same course would then be followed
sometimes with a little variation to suit the emergency. Finally the
case would be brought to the State Superintendent and after an
annoying and repeated correspondence to collect the facts in the case
and to explain the law, the officers were induced to comply with the
law by threats of its execution. In counties at a distance from the
capital this threat was frequently of no avail because the Negroes
were either induced to drop the matter by promises of future
fulfillment, were unwilling to proceed to law, or lacked intelligent
leadership.
The next year the State Superintendent complained that the demand upon
this functionary to establish Negro schools in districts which
neglected to fulfill the law required an undue amount of his time. The
legislature which met that year, therefore, removed from the State
Superintendent the responsibility of enforcing this law. But it
provided[89] that any school district which neglected to establish a
Negro school or schools according to the law should be deprived of any
portion of the State school funds for that year. This was a severe
punishment in a State having as large a school fund as Missouri
has.[90]
By the year 1885 the public school system of Missouri was on a firm
basis. The right of every child in the State to the benefits of a free
public school education had been established. The Negro public schools
were prosperous. The Negro school population[91] had increased to
44,215 and the percentage of the enumerated actually enrolled in the
public schools had increased from forty-two per cent in 1877 to
sixty-three per cent in 1885.
THE PERIOD OF GROWTH, 1885 TO 1915
A few minor changes have been made in the State statutory law since
1885. Prior to 1889 not only the district but the whole township in
which a Negro school was located, was taxed for the support of this
school. In 1889 the law[92] was so revised as to throw the entire
burden of support upon the district in which the school is located. In
the same year, the statute which gave Negro adults the right to attend
the public schools was abrogated.
The last revision of the law relating to Negro public schools was made
in 1909. By the present law[93] the boards of directors in districts
having fifteen or more Negro children of school age are required to
establish and maintain schools for these children which shall have
the same length of term and shall enjoy the same privileges as are
enjoyed by the white schools of the same grade in the district. The
indebtedness incurred by the board of directors in providing suitable
buildings, hiring teachers, and maintaining the school shall be paid
out of the appropriate funds of the district. If the average daily
attendance for any month falls below eight, the school can be closed
for a period not to exceed six months. If there are adjoining
districts in either or both of which there are less than twenty-five
Negro children of school age, a joint Negro school may be established
in either of the districts. The expense of maintaining the school is
borne by the districts which established it in proportion to the
number of Negro children enumerated in each. The control of the school
is vested in the board of directors of the district in which the
school is located.
When the number of Negro children residing in a district is less than
fifteen as shown by the last enumeration, these children have the
right of attending any school for Negro children in the county for the
same length of time as school is maintained in their own district.
Their tuition is paid by the district in which they reside. When the
directors of a district neglect to establish a Negro school according
to the law, the district is deprived of any part of the State school
funds for that year.
From 1885 to 1890 the Negro schools of Missouri steadily grew. In
1890, 70.8 per cent of the school population[94] was enrolled in the
schools. This marked the high water mark in the per cent of
enrollment. From this date to 1900 the per cent of the school
population enrolled in the public school decreased. In 1899 only 55.05
per cent of the school population was enrolled in the public schools.
The school population, however, increased from 44,214 in 1885 to
54,600 in 1899. In 1900 there were 472 Negro schools with 769 school
rooms with 804 Negro teachers employed. The Negroes[95] of the State
received about $475,000 as their share of the State school fund,
between a third and a half of the money appropriated for the support
of their schools coming from the white tax payers. As the result of
this good school system, Missouri stood last among the sixteen
ex-slave States in illiteracy in 1890.
Since 1900 the rural Negro population has been decreasing and city
population has been steadily increasing. Lured by the prospect of
better wages, shorter hours, and better educational advantages for his
family, the rural Negro has migrated just as his white brother[96] has
to the large cities. The Negro population of the small towns is also
decreasing. The populations of Kansas City and of St. Louis are being
swelled by the Negro from the farm and from the small town. The
problem of Negro education, therefore, is largely a city problem. In
1910 the Negro school population was 42,764. Of this population
33,465[97] dwelt in cities and only 9,299 dwelt in the rural
districts. The enrollment showed that of the 29,562 pupils who were
attending school, 21,694 were enrolled in the city schools and only
7,868 in the rural schools.
In 1915 St. Louis had a Negro school population of 7,233 and an
enrollment of 5,811. Nine grade schools and a high school were
maintained by the city to accommodate these children.[98] In 1916 a
Negro industrial[99] school was opened for delinquent youth, and
$40,000 was appropriated to build two cottages on the city farms at
Bellefountaine for delinquent Negro children. The Negro schools are
modern and well equipped. Kindergarten classes are provided, manual
training courses are open to the boys and domestic science classes are
provided for the girls. In the year of 1915-16 three elementary night
schools were in session with an enrollment of 759.
The Negro school population of Kansas City is also well provided for.
In 1880 this city had a Negro school population of 2,035[100] and
there was an enrollment of 623 or of 30.5 per cent of the school
population. In 1911 the Negro school population was 6,500 and the
number of pupils enrolled reached 3,251. 54.1 per cent of the Negro
school population and 47 per cent of the white school population were
enrolled in the public schools. The school property[101] devoted to
the use of the Negroes was valued at $465,565 and the value of the
property devoted to the white people was $5,792,468. The Negro
population which comprised 9.7 per cent of the total population had
public school property valued at 7.4 of the total. The average cost
for each white pupil enrolled was $42.20 a year and the average cost
for each Negro child was $35.02. In 1910-11, there were 86 Negro
teachers in the system. There was one teacher for every 37 children
enrolled in the white schools and one teacher for every 41 Negro
pupils. In the same year the Negro night schools had an enrollment of
472. In 1915 there were ten elementary and one high school[102]
devoted to the use of the Negroes. The Negro school population had
increased to 7,637 and the enrollment was 3,654.
In 1915 there were fifteen colored schools in the State doing work of
a high school grade. Two of these, Sumner High School of St. Louis and
Lincoln High School of Kansas City are first class high schools.[103]
The Negro high schools of Hannibal and of Springfield are ranked
second class and the high schools of Chillicothe and St. Joseph are
rated third class. The other nine high schools are unclassified.
Until the opening of the new Dunbar High School in Washington,
District of Columbia, in 1916 the Sumner High School was considered
the finest Negro high school in the country. This school was
established in 1875 and had only twenty pupils[104] in 1885. By the
year 1900 the enrollment had increased to 250. In 1907 the city
appropriated $297,827[105] for the building of the new Sumner High
School, a magnificent building. It is three stories high and is well
equipped. It contains a large auditorium, and gymnasiums on the top
floor. On the second floor are laboratories, for the teaching of
chemistry, physics, physiology, and biology. Courses for girls are
given in domestic science and in domestic art. The school also
maintains a commercial department. In the basement there are shops in
which the boys are taught carpentry, cabinet making, machinery, and
blacksmithing. A swimming pool for the boys is also located in the
basement. There is provided a cafeteria at which the children can
purchase at a small cost their noonday meal. It is possible for the
pupil to take any one of the several courses. He may prepare himself
to enter a first-class college, to enter the business world, or to
become an artisan.
Sumner High School also maintains[106] a normal training course for
its girl graduates. The Cottage Avenue graded school is under the
supervision of the High School principal and it serves as an
observation school for those taking normal work. This high school also
maintains an evening school. In 1915-16 the enrollment was 457. The
Negroes of St. Louis are very proud of their high school, and it is
well patronized. In 1915-16 the enrollment[107] was 811 and in 1916-17
it passed the 1,000 mark. There were employed in this high school in
1915 thirty-five teachers who received an average salary of $127 a
month. The school has a library containing about 2,000 volumes and
equipment[108] valued at $30,000.
The Lincoln High School of Kansas City, although it is not as large or
as well equipped as Sumner High School, is nevertheless a good high
school. The first Negro high school[109] was opened in the Lincoln
Grade School Building. A high school building was erected on Eleventh
Street in 1890. This building was used as such until the erection of
the present high school, the site of which was purchased in 1899 and
the new building was opened September 6, 1906. In 1915 this school had
an enrollment[110] of 462 pupils. Seventeen instructors were employed
at the average salary of $115 a month. Besides the regular high school
courses, this school has departments of domestic science and domestic
arts for the girls. Vocational courses are open to the boys and a
course in military training has recently been opened for the boys. In
1915 the equipment[111] of the school was valued at $10,000. The
library contained a number of valuable works.
In the development of Negro education in keeping with the policy of
establishing high schools the State in 1879 assumed complete
control[112] of Lincoln Institute. Prior to this date, the legislature
had merely given the normal department of this institution $5,000
annually for the purpose of training teachers. The Thirty-fourth
General Assembly established an academic and a college department in
the school, and the Thirty-sixth General Assembly established
an industrial department. The State has since then dealt very
liberally with its Negro normal school. In 1915 the legislature
appropriated[113] $116,600 for the bi-annual period of 1915-1916. This
school then had a campus of twenty acres, upon which was situated six
modern buildings and a model training school for the use of students
preparing to teach. The school also had a farm of sixty acres. The
property[114] of the school was valued at $222,202. There were
thirty-one teachers employed and the school enrollment was 343. The
academic work is divided between a high school course and a two year
normal course. Graduates from the normal department obtain life
certificates to teach in Missouri. The following trades are taught:
domestic science and domestic art, carpentry, wood-turning, machinery
and blacksmithing. The work which this school has done in preparing
teachers for the Negro rural schools of the State cannot be over
estimated.
Because of these many efforts in behalf of Negro education, therefore,
Missouri stood in 1915 in the lead of the ex-slave States in the
provisions which it had made for the education of Negro children. Only
the District of Columbia stood ahead of it in the amount of money[115]
which was invested in public school property for Negroes. The District
of Columbia had $135.30 invested for every Negro child of school age
and Missouri had $50 for each Negro child. Oklahoma and West Virginia
ranked next to Missouri, each having $26.00 invested for every Negro
child of school age. Missouri ranked first among the States in the
proportion of the total school investment devoted to the education of
the Negro child. Missouri had 96 per cent as much invested for each
Negro child as was invested for each white child while the District of
Columbia had only 74 per cent as much invested in Negro school
property[116] as it had invested in white school property for every
child of school age. If we leave out the District of Columbia, which
is not comparable with a State, Missouri stood at the head of the
States, in which separate schools were maintained for Negro children,
in the annual expenditure for every child of school age. Missouri
spent $12.13 for every Negro child[117] of school age enumerated. This
was more than was spent by 12 of the southern States for every white
child enrolled. Missouri's nearest rivals, Oklahoma and West Virginia,
spent $11.16 and $10.38 for every Negro child respectively. As the
result of her excellent school system, Missouri had, according to the
census of 1910, a smaller proportion of her population illiterate[118]
than did any of the other ex-slave States.
HENRY SULLIVAN WILLIAMS
FOOTNOTES:
[1] This dissertation was in 1917 submitted to the Faculty of the
Graduate School of Arts and Literature of the University of Chicago,
in candidacy for the degree of Master of Arts by Henry S. Williams.
The following original sources were used in the preparation of this
manuscript: _Reports of Superintendent of the Public Schools of the
State of Missouri_, 1866-1917; Session Laws of the State of Missouri,
1866-1913; _Reports_ of the U.S. Commissioner of Education, 1870-1916;
U.S. _Census Reports_, 1860-1910; _The Missouri Republican_,
1866-1870; _Journal of Education_, Vols. I and II (St. Louis,
Missouri, 1879); _Revised Statutes of Missouri_, 1879-1909;
_Proceedings and Occasional Papers of the Slater Fund_ (Baltimore,
Maryland); _Missouri Historical Society Collections_, Vols. II and
III; Asa E. Martin, _Our Negro Population_ (Kansas City, Missouri,
1913); N.H. Parker, _Missouri as it is in 1867_ (Philadelphia, 1867);
_Am. Annual Cyclopedia_, 1870-1877; _Annual Reports of the Board of
Education of St. Louis_, 1867-1916; _Annual Reports of the Board of
Education_, of Kansas City, 1870-1915.
The secondary sources consulted follow: Lucian Carr, _American
Commonwealths, Missouri a Bone of Contention_ (Boston, 1894); C.R.
Barnes, _Switzler's Illustrated History of Missouri_ (St. Louis,
1889); W.B. Davis, and D.S. Durrie, _An Illustrated History of
Missouri_ (Cincinnati, Ohio); S.B. Harding, _Life of George R. Smith_
(Sedalia, Missouri, 1904); W.E.B. DuBois, _The Negro Common School_
(Atlanta, Georgia); C.L. Butt, _History of Buchanan County_ (Chicago,
1915); H.A. Trexler, _Slavery in Missouri_, 1804-1865 (Baltimore,
Maryland, 1914); C.G. Woodson, _The Education of the Negro Prior to
1861_, (New York, 1915); _History of Calloway County_ (St. Louis,
1884); _History of Cole, Moniteau, Morgan, Benton, Miller, Maries, and
Orange Counties_, _Missouri_ (Chicago, 1889); J.T. Shaff, _History of
St. Louis City and County_ (Philadelphia, 1885); R.A. Campbell,
_Campbell's Gazetteer of Missouri_ (St. Louis, 1875); _Encyclopedia of
the History of St. Louis_ (New York, 1889); _Missouri Historical
Review_, Vols. I, II, IV, VI, VII, and IX (Columbia, Missouri); _The
Negro Year Book_ (Tuskegee, Alabama, 1917).
[2] Parker, N.H., _Missouri as it is in 1867_, p. 424.
[3] Woodson, C.G., _Education of the Negro Prior to 1861_, p. 159-168.
[4] _Missouri State Convention of 1865_, Art. IX.
[5] _Laws of State of Missouri_, Adjourned Session 23d General
Assembly, p. 177.
[6] _Laws of the State of Missouri_, _op. cit._, p. 191.
[7] _Ibid._, p. 173.
[8] Ira Divoll, see Schaff, _Hist. of City and County of St. Louis_,
Vol. I, p. 843; R.D. Shannon, see Davis, W.B., _Ill. Hist. of Mo._, p.
587.
[9] _Ibid._, p. 550.
[10] _Ann. Reports_ of Supt. of Pub. Schools, 1871-'72-'73-'74.
[11] _8th Ann. Report of Supt. of Pub. Schools_, 1874, p. 37.
[12] _7th Ann. Report of Supt. of Pub. Schools_, 1873, p. 250.
[13] _7th Ann. Report of Supt. of Schools_, 1873, p. 281.
[14] _Ibid._, p. 256.
[15] _Journal of Education_, Vol. II, No. 1, p. 5, St. Louis, 1869.
[16] _Report of Commissioner of Education_, 1870, p. 202.
[17] N. H. Parker, _Missouri as it is in 1865_, p. 53. _Op. cit._
[18] _Report of Commissioner of Ed._, 1871, p. 260.
[19] _Parker_, _op. cit._, p. 54.
[20] _1st Ann. Report of Supt. of Schools of Missouri_, 1867, p. 9.
[21] _27th Ann. Report of Supt. of Schools of Mo._, 1877, p. 17.
[22] _5th Ann. Report of Supt. of Schools of Mo._, 1871, p. 125-245.
[23] _7th Ann. Report of Supt. of Schools of Mo._, 1873, pp. 233-300.
[24] _9th Annual Report of Supt. of Schools_, 1875, p. 23.
[25] _Missouri State Constitution of 1840_, Art. 6.
[26] _5th Ann. Report of Supt. of Schools_, 1871, p. 6.
[27] _8th Ann. Report of Supt. of Schools_, 1874, p. 5.
[28] _2nd Ann. Report of Supt. of Schools_, 1868, p. 10.
[29] _Journal of Education_, 1869, Vol. I, p. 181.
[30] _Laws of State of Mo._, Adj. Sess., 24th Assembly, p. 170.
[31] See page 140 of this work.
[32] _Ann. Report of Supt. of Schools_, 1874, p. 44.
[33] _Laws of State of Mo._, Adj. Sess., 27th Assemb., p. 168.
[34] _A Bill to establish mixed schools._
[35] _9th Ann. Report of Supt. of Schools_, 1875.
[36] _Report of Com. of Ed._, 1870, p. 202.
[37] _26th Ann. Report of Supt. of Schools_, 1876, p. 12.
[38] _Ann. Report of Supt. of Schools_, 1867, p. 28.
[39] _Ibid._, 1868, p. 59.
[40] _6th Ann. Report of Supt. of Schools_, 1872, p. 257.
[41] E.H. Davis, _Clark County_. See _7th Ann. Report of Supt. of
Schools_, 1872, p. 246.
[42] _Ibid._, p. 45.
[43] _8th Ann. Report of Supt. of Schools_, 1873, p. 38.
[44] _Ibid._
[45] _9th Ann. Report of Supt. of Schools_, 1875, p. 18.
[46] _Laws of State of Missouri_, 25th Gen. Ass., 1869, p. 86.
[47] _Laws of State of Missouri_, Reg. Session, 25th Gen. Assemb., p.
164.
[48] _26th Ann. Report of Supt. of Schools_, 1876, p. 12.
[49] _27th Gen. Assemb._, Adj. Sess., p. 168.
[50] _7th Ann. Report of Gen. Ass._ Adj. Sess., p. 233. By reading the
annual letters of the county superintendents the fact is brought out
that most of the colored schools of that period were in the towns and
cities. It was in the rural districts that the Negro suffered most.
[51] _8th Ann. Report of Supt. Of Schools_, 1874, p. 165-219.
[52] Asa E. Martin, _Our Negro Population_, p. 165.
[53] _9th Ann. Report of Supt. of Schools_, p. 90 to 136.
[54] _Ann. Report of Supt. of Schools_, 1867, p. 10.
[55] _Ibid._, 1872, p. 51.
[56] _Ibid._, 1875, p. 84.
[57] _2nd Ann. Report of Supt. of Schools_, 1868, p. 94.
[58] _Ibid._, 1874, p. 185.
[59] _Report of Supt. of Schools_, 1875, p. 77.
[60] _Reg. Session, 28th Gen. Assembly_, p. 349.
[61] _Ency. of History of St. Louis_, Vol. IV, p. 2076.
[62] _14th Ann. Report of Bd. of Dir. of St. Louis Pub. Schools_,
1868, pp. 63 and 67.
[63] _Report of Commissioner of Education_, 1871, p. 264.
[64] _Ann. Report of Supt. of Schools_, 1876.
[65] _Ibid._, 1873, pp. 263 and 268.
[66] _Report of Commissioner of Education_, 1871.
[67] _Ibid._, 1871.
[68] _Ann. Report of Supt. of Schools_, 1873, p. 253-303.
[69] _Ibid._, 1876.
[70] _Ibid._, 1873, p. 263-268.
[71] _Ibid._, 1873, pp. 263-268.
[72] _8th Ann. Report of Supt. of Schools_, 1874, p. 165.
[73] _Report of Commissioner of Education_, 1870, p. 204.
[74] _44th Ann. Catalog of Lincoln Institute_, p. 6.
[75] _4th Ann. Report of Supt. of Schools_, 1870, p. 36.
[76] _Adj. Session 25th Gen. Assembly_, 1870, p. 136.
[77] This fact can be verified by studying abstracts from the State
Superintendents' reports for this period. These abstracts are found in
the Reports of the Commissioner of Education for this period.
[78] _Ann. Cyclopedias_ for 1870-75. Art. Missouri.
[79] _Ibid._, 1871, p. 516.
[80] _9th Ann. Report Supt. of Schools_, 1874, p. 7.
[81] _9th Ann. Report of Supt. of Schools_, p. 6.
[82] _Ibid._
[83] Art. II, Sec. 3.
[84] Art. XI, Sec. 3.
[85] _Report of Commissioners of Education_, 1880, p. 184.
[86] _Ibid._
[87] See page 26.
[88] _Report of Supt. of Schools_, 1877, p. 18.
[89] _Rev. Statutes of Mo. 1879_, Vol. II, p. 1861.
[90] In this period a very noteworthy step was taken by the Negro
teachers. In 1878 they organized a State teachers' association. In
that year its meeting was held in Columbia, Missouri, and a number of
professors in the State University took an active part. The next year
the Association met in Jefferson City. Since that time, the meeting of
the Association has become an annual affair.
[91] DuBois, _Negro Common School_, p. 61.
[92] _Rev. Statutes of Mo._, 1889, p. 2271.
[93] _Ibid._, 1909, p. 790.
[94] DuBois, _Negro Common School_, p. 61.
[95] _Ibid._
[96] _Report of Supt. of Schools_, 1910, p. 69.
[97] _Report St. Louis Board of Education_, 1916, p. 302.
[98] _Ibid._, p. 350.
[99] _Ibid._, p. 308.
[100] Martin, _op. cit._
[101] _Ibid., op. cit._
[102] _Ann. Report Board of Ed. of Kansas City_, 1915, p. 123.
[103] _Report of Supt. Public Schools, 1916_, p. 69.
[104] _Report of The Board of Education of St. Louis_, 1908, p. 234.
[105] _Report of Board of Education of St. Louis_, 1908, p. 235.
[106] _Ibid._, 1913, p. 108.
[107] _Report of Public Schools of Mo._, 1916, p. 290.
[108] _Ibid._
[109] _Report of Board of Dir. of Schools_, Kansas City, 1911, p. 243.
[110] _Report of Supt. of Schools_, 1916, p. 286.
[111] _Ibid._, p. 292.
[112] _Ann. Cat. Lincoln Inst._, 1916, p. 6.
[113] _Laws of Mo._, 1915, p. 69.
[114] _Report of Commissioner of Education_, 1916, p. 586.
[115] _Negro Year Book_, 1917, pp. 234-241.
[116] _Ibid._, pp. 234-240.
[117] _Ibid._
[118] Missouri had 174 illiterate out of every one thousand, and
Oklahoma and West Virginia had 177 and 203 respectively.
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN NEGRO COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES[1]
Within the last few decades a deepening sense of responsibility for
the religious direction of the American College and University
students has arisen. The problem of religious education has become a
part of our national consciousness. The term "religious education" has
come into general circulation respecting every grade of education. And
in every instance it seems to be more or less a characterization of an
ideal type of education and a method of realizing that type. Evidence
of this is presented in the numerous religious, semi-religious and
educational periodicals, as well as in the reports and published
statements of educational institutions and organizations since 1903.
There is a new conscience for character and social usefulness in the
college and university. It manifests itself in topics under discussion
in conferences of educators, in their personal inquiries, and in the
hearty cooperation given agencies for the higher life. In the whole
range of education there is a growing recognition of the religious and
moral elements inherent in all education. The former emphasis on the
difference between religious education and secular education is
passing. The foundation of teaching is being lifted into the religious
realm. Education is aiming to develop men and women to their highest
possibilities for their own sakes and for the sake of their
contribution to the welfare and progress of society. The National
Educational Association is a potent factor in establishing a strong
belief in the worth of religion in education.
The Religious Education Association, organized in 1903, is one of the
chief, if not the chiefest, agencies in hastening this new era. The
secretary has said: "The leadership of this new crusade seemed
successful in directing a passion for religious education born of the
fusion of the scientific spirit with the spirit of humanistic
idealism." Between 1903 and 1913 over $120,000 was spent in religious
educational endeavor. The period subsequent to 1913 shows a larger
proportionate expenditure. The larger part of this sum stands for
gifts.
How has the movement demanding efficiency in religious education
affected Negro institutions? The status of religious education in
Negro colleges and universities, considered quantitatively and
qualitatively is the task of this investigation. What do the
supervisors of Negro institutions conceive religious education to be?
How does religion function in student life? These are questions
arising during the investigation of the problem before us.
There are 38 private and denominational institutions for Negroes,
which do college grade of work with varying degrees of efficiency. Of
this number, thirty-four are co-educational colleges, two are colleges
for men and two are colleges for women. There are six State colleges
which do some college work. These are all land-grant colleges with
donations from the respective States in which they are located. There
are several so-called colleges having curricula for college grade of
work prescribed but no students matriculated to take the courses. They
are not included in this study for obvious reasons.
The terms "colleges and universities" are by no means safe criteria
for measuring the efficiency of, or even for classification of Negro
colleges and universities. This condition is not peculiar to Negro
colleges. Those for whites, in the South especially, present the same
condition of variety. It seems that there has been a special mania, in
our South Land especially, for setting up a laudable ideal in the
classification of educational institutions, and then working up to it
during subsequent ages. They believe there is much in a name or title.
This keen sense of potentiality being in the classification, college
or university, is too often misleading if taken on faith.
Another phase of this classification may throw some light on the
numerous Negro "colleges" with such wide divergences in standards of
curricula. In the South, $9,000,000 are spent for the elementary
education of the Negro, when $25,000,000 should be used for that
purpose by the States. There are 1,000,000 without any school
facilities at all, and 2,000,000 who cannot read or write. Then the
money spent does not begin to meet the needs of those who are
receiving the education given. For example, the South spends $10.23
for each white student of elementary age and $2.82 for each Negro
student of the same age now given the opportunity to attend school.
Thus many institutions of a private nature are stimulated by this
State of affairs and seek to meet it. But in so doing, they are
actuated by various motives and perhaps they all could not justly be
labelled sinister. It is evident then that our study deals with 38
private colleges, all denominational except four, and six State
colleges on land-grant bases.
The method of the thesis, therefore, has assumed a four-fold form. The
writer took nine months in making personal investigation of twelve
typical Negro colleges. One in the Northwest, one in the Northeast,
and ten in the South. Of these ten, five are in Georgia, two in South
Carolina, two in Tennessee and one in Alabama. The second method was
the questionnaire. Questionnaire No. 1 was sent to 60 educational
institutions. 38 responded in full. Eight returned the questionnaires
with some answers. These were excluded from the study because they
lacked desired data. A second questionnaire was used. It contained
data from students in the respective institutions considered typical.
The Y.M.C.A. leaders also contributed to this sort of data.
Questionnaire No. I follows:
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN NEGRO COLLEGES
1. Name of the institution, president and dean.
2. Enrollment in the college department.
3. What religious services are held by the school? Is attendance
required and what number attend?
4. What curriculum courses in religious education have you, viz:
Bible courses, Sunday School Teacher Training, Psychology of
Religion, Philosophy of Religion, Religious Pedagogy, Social
Service, Social Ethics, Methods of Social Reform, etc.
5. Which of the courses are elective and which are required? How
much credit is given for each?
6. Have you any courses in the Seminary or Divinity School for
which you give college credit? What are they?
7. Are the teachers of curriculum courses of religious education
professionally trained for their task, for example; were they
trained in a school of religious education or in a divinity
school? What institution attended and what degrees received?
8. How many students are in your curriculum courses of religious
education?
9. What voluntary religious organizations have you, for example:
the Y.M.C.A., Students Volunteer Movement, B.Y.P.U., C.E. League,
College Church, Sunday School, etc.?
10. Are the teachers or conductors of your voluntary
organizations professionally trained (viz, as in question 7)?
11. How many students are enrolled in your voluntary
organizations?
12. What opportunity have the students for the expression of
ideals received through these organizations? What Christian work
is done, such as handling boys' or girls' clubs, ministering to
the poor and infirm, orphans, foreign missions, visiting prisons,
asylums, or orphanages, teaching vacation Bible schools, etc.?
13. What is your own estimate of the religious value of your
courses and organizations? Have you any definite data upon which
to base your estimate?
14. Does your school have a special appropriation for religious
work, viz: for the Y.M.C.A., for a chaplain, college pastor,
etc.?
15. In your opinion, are the Negro colleges meeting the needs of
definite religious training?
16. Any other information or suggestion concerning religious
education in Negro colleges will be gladly received.
QUESTIONNAIRE NO. II
1. What is your estimate of the religious services at your
college, viz: Church preaching service, Sunday School, Young
People 's meetings, Week-day Prayer meetings, Week of Prayer for
colleges, Y.M.C.A., Y.W.C.A. or any other religious service?
(Mark each according to your estimate as Church 1, Prayer meeting
2, Y.W.C.A. 3, etc.)
2. What are the items of importance in these respective services,
the sermon, prayer, ritual, congregational singing, special
music, etc.?
3. Why did you make the preceding ranking as you did?
4. What suggestion have you to offer for the improvement of these
services? What other criticism have you to offer on these
services?
5. What is your church affiliation? For example, Baptist,
Methodist, Presbyterian, etc.?
The majority of Negro institutions--all included in this study--have
published statements concerning religious education in their
respective curricula and voluntary organizations. These statements
appear in announcements, catalogues, and reports. These have been
secured and critically reviewed. From these the spirit of religious
education, the attitude towards the work, their aim, their own ideas
as to value of results obtained from such instruction may in a large
measure be determined.
The last means resorted to were the reports of denominations on
education. These reports appear in various forms, sometimes in year
books, and at other times in the quadrennial reports, viz: the General
Conference reports of the Methodist Episcopal, the African Methodist
Episcopal, the A. M. E. Zion and Colored Methodist Episcopal Churches.
I. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN PRIVATE AND DENOMINATIONAL COLLEGES AND
UNIVERSITIES
Let us first direct our attention to the work as it is being conducted
in private and sectarian schools. The most important factor in this
study is the teacher. What is the type of teachers in Negro
institutions, for the progressive socialization of the individuals
whom they instruct? The student's religious life will be conditioned
very likely, by the teachers in the colleges. The preparation of the
teacher then requires careful consideration.
There are 86 teachers of religious education in some form in these
institutions. Of these 86 instructors, 64 have had some degree of
professional training for their tasks. Thirty-one of those who have
received professional training are graduates of first rank
institutions. The institutions in which they were trained are among
the best in the country and of long standing. The distribution shows:
Yale College 1; Yale Divinity School 3; Drew Theological Seminary 3;
Oberlin College and Divinity School 2; Ohio Wesleyan University 1;
Columbia University 1; Union Seminary 1; Boston University 2; Colgate
University 1; Rochester Theological Seminary 2; the University of
Chicago and Divinity School 3; Princeton University 2; Newton
Theological Seminary 2; the Chicago Bible Training School 2; Grinnell
College 1; Hillsdale College 1; New York School of Philanthropy 1;
Andover Theological Seminary 1; Union Theological Seminary 1; and the
Chicago Theological Seminary 1. The remaining 33 teachers were trained
in Negro seminaries and colleges, the most of them coming from the
older institutions for Negroes, such as Wilberforce, Howard, Lincoln,
Talladega, and Fisk.
Though these latter have had some type of professional training, it
still remains for us to see the types. The classical theological
course claims most of this number as its representatives. We should be
surprised if it were otherwise, because it has been comparatively
recent that the seminaries of America have begun what they term a
reconstruction of the seminary curriculum. The most of these men and
women were middle-aged persons and had taken their courses before the
evolution took place. Of the sixty-four who have had professional
training, forty-five have had the traditional seminary courses which
contained no work in "scientific religious education." I am not at
this point arguing whether they were the losers or gainers. I am
simply stating a fact in terms which all students of religious
education understand. The remaining nineteen had received courses in
scientific religious education, either theoretical and laboratory
exercises, or laboratory courses in practical social service and
philanthropy. 57 of these teachers are ministers.
In this study it was discovered that very few of the teachers of
religious education have chairs of Religious Education. Most of them
give only part of their time to that work and their programs are
divided up to meet the urgent needs of other departments in the
colleges and universities. Three are teachers of education and give
courses in the Psychology of Religion, the Psychology of the Bible,
and the Educational Method applied to the Bible. Those three give the
rest of their time to the college and normal school courses in
Education. Four have chairs established for teaching the Bible and
give almost all of their time to this work. All others are only
occasional religious education teachers, so far as curriculum courses
are concerned.
What then is the attitude of these teachers toward their task? In the
first place we note a large amount of optimism over results achieved
or thought or hoped to be achieved. Sixty-four of them said directly,
in answer to a question concerning their attitude and estimate, that
they were optimistic. Seven were uncertain, and withheld their
opinions and three were very pessimistic indeed. The presidents and
deans answering the major questionnaire were quite certain that the
teachers had the attitude of sustained interest in the work of
religious education.
Teachers and conductors of voluntary religious courses and
organizations were found helpful. Much of the work in religious
training in Negro colleges is done by voluntary organization, some of
the most prominent of which are the Young Men's Christian Association,
the Young Women's Christian Association, the Student Volunteer
Movement associations, the Young People's Societies of the various
denominations and Temperance Societies. Sometimes they are centralized
and sometimes otherwise. But our task here is to see what preparation
the leaders and instructors of these organizations have received, the
time given and the attitude.
These volunteers are, for the most part, not professionally trained.
Only seven are so reported, and six of the seven are professors who
give Bible or social service courses upon the invitation of these
voluntary organizations. There is in all America, so far as has been
ascertained, only one Negro college that has a paid professionally
trained director of one of these organizations. Perhaps it would not
be unjust to name that institution, on account of its uniqueness, at
least. It is Howard University. The leader is the Y. M. C. A.
secretary who has been trained at the Y. M. C. A. Training School and
is a salaried officer of the University.
The most accurate account given of the amount of time spent by these
instructors and conductors is found in the reports of the Young Men's
Christian Association. There are 36 Young Men's Christian Associations
and 36 Young Women's Christian Associations in the institutions
represented in this study. The average time spent per week for the
leaders of these two organizations is one hour and forty-seven
minutes. Of this time one hour is spent in the weekly meetings and the
other forty-six minutes in meeting committees, planning for activities
of the associations, or in conducting Bible study, Mission study or
social service classes. Extra time not counted in the estimate is
given on extraordinary occasions.
The average time given to the young people's meetings is an hour and
twelve minutes. About the same would no doubt represent the other
voluntary organizations, the social service work excepted perhaps. The
present study has data only on the time spent in certain cases. The
attitude of the volunteer is, as would be expected, usually that of
optimism and sustained interest. He or she is selected by the
students, and on the basis of some manifested interest in the
particular line of endeavor.
The courses of religious education will give further light in this
study. The courses are not the only agencies, besides the teachers,
for assisting college men and women in acquiring a religious
personality which will function efficiently in society. Nevertheless,
they are one of the factors and are connected with the educative
process in such a way that any endeavor similar to the present one
must consider them. What then are the courses included in the
curricula of these institutions? How much credit is given for them,
and how many students are affected by them? These queries are
necessary to find the part which intellectual knowledge plays in the
educative process, in behalf of religious education. Does intellectual
knowledge of this particular type function religiously in the lives of
the students?
Let us first investigate the required courses of the curriculum. The
Bible is the leader in the list of requirements. Thirty-six colleges
and universities require it as a text book. Three give it as an
elective and one does not offer it at all. These exceptions are Howard
University, Talladega College, Tillotson College and Straight College
respectively. Social Ethics is prescribed by ten colleges as follows:
Allen University, Lane College, Clark University, Paine College, Roger
Williams College, Rust College, Samuel Houston College, Shorter
College, Spellman Seminary, and Virginia Theological Seminary and
College. Bishop College, Claflin University, Clark University,
Knoxville College and Samuel Houston College have required their
students at some stages in their college courses to study Christian
Evidences. Morris Brown University, Paine College, and Swift Memorial
College prescribe courses in social service or Practical Sociology.
Comparative Religion, a course in Sunday School Teacher Training, New
Testament History, Philosophy of Religion and Church History are
designated as requirements by State University, Knoxville College,
Lane College, Paine College and Knoxville College respectively.
Spellman Seminary, Tougaloo, State University, Fisk University, and
Claflin University require courses in Hebrew History. The requirements
in Negro colleges are as follows: thirty-five require the Bible as a
text book; ten prescribe Social Ethics; six prescribe Christian
Evidences; three make courses in Social Service or Practical Sociology
requirements; five prescribe Hebrew History; one college requires
Comparative Religion; one, Sunday School Teacher Training; one, New
Testament History; one, Philosophy of Religion; and two, Church
History.
We shall omit the consideration of the amount of credit given and the
number of students enrolled in these courses until we have given
attention to elective courses. Here the Sunday School Teacher Training
courses lead. They are composite courses in most instances. In other
words, they are elective courses, composed chiefly of sketches of
child psychology, the principles of teaching, school management, Old
Testament History, New Testament History, geography of Bible lands and
story telling. These courses have become very popular in Negro
colleges during the last seven or eight years.
Dr. H.C. Lyman, Superintendent of the Negro work under the auspices of
the International Sunday School Association, has done incalculable
good in the way of encouraging this particular kind of work. The great
majority of these courses have been installed as a result of his
endeavors. Only three of the 21 courses in these colleges have been
established independently of his encouragement but in most instances
by his formal installation. The following institutions offer as
electives courses in Sunday School management, organization and
teaching: Atlanta University, Benedict College, Lane College, Claflin
University, Clark University, Fisk University, Howard University,
Lincoln University, Livingstone College, Morehouse College, Morgan
College, New Orleans University, Roger Williams University, State
University, Swift Memorial College, Talladega College, Tillotson
College, Wilberforce University, Spellman Seminary, and Morris Brown
College.
Social Ethics is elective in Virginia Union University, Morris Brown
College, Fisk University, and Knoxville College. Social Service
courses are offered under the elective provision in several
institutions. Seven of them offer these courses under their
departments of sociology. They are: Atlanta University, Benedict
College, Fisk University, Howard University, Morgan College, Talladega
College, Virginia Union University and Wilberforce University.
Comparative Religion is offered at Talladega and Wilberforce. The
Principles of Religious Education and the Organization of Religious
Education have been offered recently by Talladega and Fisk. Howard
University, Knoxville College and Morris Brown College offer in their
elective systems New Testament Greek. The Bible is elective at Fisk,
Tillotson and Howard Universities. Mission Study is elective at
Talladega College.
Howard University has a wide range of electives covering a large scope
of religious subjects which are offered in the School of Religion.
They are New Testament and Old Testament introduction courses,
Comparative Religion, Church History, Hebrew, Missions, the Teachings
of Jesus, the Teachings of Paul, and New Testament biographical
courses. Wilberforce has a similar condition. They allow New Testament
Greek, Hebrew, Social Service courses, the Life of Christ and the Life
of Paul to count toward the Bachelor of Arts Degree. These courses,
however, are all given in Payne Theological Seminary which is a part
of the Wilberforce system.
Morehouse College has a combination of the elective and prescribed
system relative to the Bible. The English Bible is required in the
Freshman year but elective in all of the other years. The following
will show the courses in religion which are offered in Negro colleges
and will designate the number of institutions offering the several
courses as well as whether they are elective or prescribed.
Courses Elective Required
1. English Bible 3 36
2. Philosophy of Religion 1 1
3. New Testament Greek 3
4. Hebrew 2
5. The Principles of Religious Education 2
6. The Methods and Organization of R. E. 2
7. Social Ethics 4 10
8. Social Service 7 3
9. Comparative Religion 2 1
10. Hebrew History 5
11. New Testament History 1
12. Church History 2 2
13. Christian Evidences 6
14. Missions 2
15. New Testament Introduction 1
16. Old Testament Introduction 1
17. Sunday School Teacher Training 20 1
18. Teachings of Jesus 1
19. Teachings of Paul 1
20. Life of Jesus 1
21. Life of Paul 1
___ ___
18 10
Thus it is seen that the colleges under investigation offer 18 courses
for the religious education of those who come under their supervision
and prescribe 10 courses for the same purpose.
What is the number enrolled in these curriculum courses? In the 38
private institutions for Negroes of college rank, which come under our
observation, there were enrolled for the scholastic year 1916-1917
college students numbering 1,952. The numbers in the several colleges
run from 558 to 6. It is interesting to observe that over one-half of
that number was registered in four universities as follows: Howard
University, 558; Wilberforce University, 202; Fisk University, 208;
and Lincoln University, 163. The total is 1,131. Of the remaining 821
Negro college students over fifty per cent of them were distributed as
follows among these eight institutions: Talladega College, 66;
Virginia Union University, 66; Morehouse College, 65; Benedict
College, 60; Bishop College, 60; Atlanta University, 59; Shaw
University, 49; and Biddle University, 40. The total is 465. In these
twelve colleges and universities we have 1,596 students or over 75 per
cent of the total for all of the 38 institutions.
The investigation shows that 1,104 of the 1,952 students are enrolled
in these religious education courses. This is more than fifty per
cent. In fact, it is 56 per cent of the total number enrolled. Making
a comparison of the same institutions which have the majority of
students we note a difference in their proportion of students in
religious education to the total number enrolled. Howard University
has 98; Fisk 110; Lincoln 163; and Wilberforce 60. The total is 331,
which is less than a third of the total number enrolled. Talladega has
25; Virginia Union University 51; Shaw University 12; Benedict
College 40; Bishop College 40. And the total is 262, which is
considerably less than 50 per cent of the remaining 773. But when the
twelve schools are taken together they afford 53 per cent of the
entire number enrolled in the courses of religious education in the 38
colleges and universities.
The investigation of the amount of credit given for these religious
courses reveals facts as interesting as those relative to the number
influenced by these courses. We have selected the unit to describe the
credit given. By unit we mean a course given 4 or 5 times a week for
36 weeks. This is not intended to be technical. Most of these
institutions have 45-minute periods. There are only four exceptions of
which three have 60- and one 50-minute periods and a few 55-minute
periods. Their periods have been translated in terms of the 45-minute
periods for the sake of convenience. The units designate the amount of
credit given for both prescribed and elected courses. In the colleges
where the elective system is extensive, the units represent the
maximum amount of credit which one may receive for courses in
religion. For an itemized description of the amount of credit given
see chart on last page.
Only one college of the 38 which we had under investigation offered no
credit for courses in Bible or correlated subjects. The other 37
offered credit varying from one unit up to six units. Howard
University leads in the amount of units offered, and Knoxville
College, Virginia Union and Lincoln contend for second place each
having four and one-half units. Wilberforce takes third rank with four
and one-fourth units. Texas College, one of the smallest in numbers,
ties Fisk University for the fourth place. The whole number of
institutions investigated offer 85-1/2 units of credit for courses in
religious education.
The volunteer courses in colleges have been considered by many
exceedingly efficacious for social and religious development. These
volunteer courses have various sources. In some few colleges they are
offered by the faculty. But in the great majority of cases they come
through the channels of the voluntary religious organizations of the
respective institutions. The Young Men's Christian Association and the
Young Women's Christian Association are the most active sources. The
Young People's Societies such as the Christian Endeavor and The
Epworth League foster this project in a few of our Negro colleges but
very little data can be obtained therefrom, because they keep no
accurate records from year to year.
There are thirty-six Young Men's Christian Associations in the
colleges comprising this study. All of the co-educational institutions
and those for women especially have the Young Women's Christian
Association. Therefore, we have thirty-six Young Men's Christian
Associations and thirty-six Young Women's Christian Associations in
these private colleges and universities. Fourteen institutions report
Bible study classes for men under the direction of students, more or
less prepared. The membership in these classes is one hundred and
seventy. Only five report Bible classes for women.
Mission study classes are also offered under the supervision of the
Association in some of the colleges. The men in eleven colleges attend
the mission study classes and number three hundred nine. The women
have such provisions in two colleges with a membership of eighteen.
The numbers in these classes fluctuate from year to year depending
largely on two factors, the leaders of the respective association and
the leaders of the classes. The personnel of the student body is also
a factor. It is among the things natural that from time to time
changes in the personnel of the student body bring changes of interest
and there is no guarantee of fixity so far as numbers are concerned.
It is the ideal of the Central Associations to have the classes
sustained each year with an increased efficiency, but all of the
institutions testify to the fluctuation caused by the human element in
the problem. These courses are mostly mapped out, even to the
assigning of specific texts by accepted authors, by the International
Association.
To what extent do religious services figure in this work? Worship has
always played an important part in the life of human beings. Whether
man is in Babylonia worshipping the stars, or in Egypt at the
Isis-Osiris shrine, or whether he ascends Mount Olympus with Homer, he
is a worshipper. He may ascend to the indescribable, unthinkable
realms with Plotinus or he may with twentieth century enlightenment
claim allegiance to the God designated Father of all. Yet he worships.
It will prove interesting to note the stimulation of this instinct
under the supervision of the Negro colleges and universities.
The chapel services claim our attention first because it was
unanimously denoted in the questionnaires as one of the services which
these institutions emphasize in the life of the students; many of them
point out its significance even for the teachers. Every one of these
institutions require daily chapel attendance at a service, which lasts
on the average one-half hour among the thirty-eight institutions
investigated. In nine-tenths of the announcements or bulletins sent
from these institutions to prospective students, the chapel attendance
is emphasized as one of the rigid requirements of the institutions. In
four-fifths of these same institutions, chapel attendance is recorded
by some member of the faculty or some one deputized by the authority
vested with that right.
What value is the chapel service to the religious development? This
cannot be answered indiscriminately. The answer depends upon the
chapel activities. One should ask what happens at the chapel service.
One student answered that question thus: "The chapel is the place
where the president gets us all together to give us all a general
'cussing out' instead of taking us one by one." This expresses the
sentiment of several hundred students in those colleges included in
our study. During this investigation I visited and had reports from 21
chapel services. Out of the 21 investigated, 19 were exhibits of the
opportune reprimand, with the president or his vice-president or the
dean performing the task effectively. But it would be a gross
injustice even to the twenty-one institutions referred to, if we
should leave the impression that the sum total of chapel services is
described in the remarks relative to reprimands. A professor of one of
the leading Negro colleges, in defending the chapel service, said the
"calling down" is merely the introduction and conclusion of the chapel
exercises to give opportunity for ex-officio display.
There is obtaining in Negro institutions another condition which
perhaps does not suffice as a legitimate excuse for the daily
reprimand but at least explains it or is provocative of it. I have in
mind the indiscriminate assembling of students from the high school or
preparatory department and too often from the grammar school along
with the college students. Very often the official censor of morals
aims his remarks at some grammar school or high school character of
notoriety, but is democratic enough to include "some of you students."
There are only two of these colleges of the entire 38 where the high
school students are separated from the college students for chapel
services. In all cases, except these two, they all assemble in the
same auditorium at the same time with the same privileges and under
the same circumstances. The most prominent index of distinction
between a Junior college student and a Junior High School student in
chapel is the locus of the seats.
The chapel exercises are led by the president, chaplain university
pastor, or some member of the faculty. Occasionally local and visiting
ministers are asked to serve in this capacity. Where the members of
the faculty lead they either come in their turn serving every morning,
or whenever chapel services take place, until relieved by members of
the faculty who likewise serve for a designated period.
The nature of the service varies very slightly in these colleges and
universities. One might readily get the impression that they all have
the same model. They all begin with religious music selected in most
cases by the one who has the music of the institution under
supervision. Scripture reading or a brief moral, aesthetic, or ethical
address follows. Then prayer usually closing with the Lord's Prayer.
In seven of the institutions the scripture reading follows the prayer.
A song usually closes the devotional period, but not the chapel
exercises. It is subsequent to this song that the moral admonition
undisguised usually follows. This is the time when visitors of
distinction and otherwise, entertain or detain the students.
The attitude of the students has much to do with the religious value
received from the chapel service. All of the authorities have
estimated that their particular chapel services have excellent effects
upon the students, judging from their attitude at chapel, which they
describe as fair. They are confronted, however, with the problem not
so easily solved in answering the question. It is extremely difficult
for them to distinguish just what part of that attitude comes from the
influence of rules and regulations regarding chapel attendance and
what part comes from choice.
One of the common religious agencies among Negro colleges is the
college church. Twenty-nine of these colleges have church services
every Sunday, either morning, afternoon or evening. In twelve
institutions they have preaching twice a day. All of them require
attendance at church. The nine which have no preaching service at
their places every Sunday have it occasionally and make up the deficit
by requiring the students to attend a neighboring church, in most
cases a church of the denomination under whose auspices the
institution is operated. The students attending so far as the
requirements of the colleges are concerned are those who live in
college dormitories. In no case has this requirement affected students
living in the community, beyond campus control. This means that the
attendance at the college church aside from that given by those under
dormitory supervision is voluntary. A large proportion of the
students, therefore, attend other churches, the where and why of which
is not known by the investigator. The proportion attending the college
churches, however, is ascertained.
The "boarding" students are the church goers so far as the college
churches are concerned. The number of college students living in the
dormitories of these various institutions is 651 or just a fraction
over one-third of the entire number enrolled in the thirty-eight
private institutions. The other students, numbering 1,301, go whither
they please so far as the institutions are concerned, and no data as
to the number attending the college church are available. In these
churches the pastors are usually the presidents or some other member
of the faculty. In two instances the pastors are called chaplains and
have other religious functions during week days. In four cases, the
pastors and presidents are identical. This assures the college church
which operates on the basis just stated, a good pastor. There are
eighteen which have these pastors. Eleven have no pastors or chaplains
but invite ministers of the city or neighboring cities to conduct
their religious services on Sunday. This service is had at the time
which is most convenient for pastors of local churches. The most
frequently used hour is from three or three-thirty to four-thirty or
five in the afternoon.
The established churches have prayer meeting during the week on one of
the following nights: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Saturday. Just
why Friday night is boycotted one is unable to say. The "luck"
psychology may not have had any part in establishing the tradition
along that line. Here again we find the law of the "Medes and
Persians" working effectively in securing corporeal attendance. The
students are required to be there and are there in a body at least.
The times for convening these prayer meetings are chiefly two. Just
after supper in nine of the institutions and at the close of the
"study" period in twenty-five. Four have the hours between seven and
eight o'clock in the evening or thereabouts.
The Sunday School is a prevalent religious agency among the Negro
colleges and universities. We find a Sunday School reported in
thirty-seven of these. In these Sunday Schools the teachers who reside
at the college dormitories constitute a part of the Sunday School
faculty. Some of the advanced students are used as teachers and
officers.
Another phase of religious service prescribed by several colleges is
the Young People's Society. They are all of the same general nature.
They take different names such as the Epworth League, The Baptist
Young People's Union, the Allen Christian Endeavor and so forth,
depending in the main upon their denominational affiliation. Thirty
colleges expect their boarding students to be present at these
meetings. These thirty institutions have 388 students of college rank
living in the dormitories of these respective institutions. Thus three
hundred eighty-eight students attend these Sunday afternoon or Sunday
evening meetings.
Five colleges which are co-educational have the "quiet" hour for girls
on Sunday afternoon. It was designed to be religious or semi-religious
at least. Each girl goes to her room and remains there quiet for a
designated period of time. During this time she is expected to read
her Bible or some religious book, or engage in some meditation which
is in keeping with the holy day. Where this idea originated, the
writer is unable to say. He, with those who have observed this
mystical quiet hour, is puzzled concerning its religious efficacy. One
naturally asked those in authority why not a "quiet" hour for the boys
as well. There seems to be either a very high compliment paid to the
boys or quite an unpardonable insinuation on the inherited tendencies
of the girls.
The nature of the Sunday services and the Sunday School is evident
without further elaboration. Perhaps a more detailed description of
the prayer meeting and the Young People's meeting is in order. A
common element is seen in the prayer meetings, "sentence prayers" and
singing. Several students think I should add a third, namely,
sleeping. Another very frequent activity is the testimony of religious
achievements, disappointments and hopes. Eleven colleges have topics
which are posted each week prior to the meeting. These topics are
religious in the orthodox sense but three of the eleven have pushed
far away from the shore of orthodoxy and discuss current topics of
vital interest. In these three institutions the meeting re-resembles a
forum where every one expresses his opinion, and exhausts his energy
on favorite themes. The Young People's meetings without exception,
according to reports, have two common phases. The first is the study
and discussion of the specified topics, accompanied of course with
music and prayers. This might be called the devotional phase of the
meeting. Then there is a change in program, in which the literary side
is given precedent. Music of a classical nature constitutes the
feature of the program.
One of the all important interrogations in this connection is the
feeling of the students concerning these religious organizations
mentioned. Do they function in the lives of the students? Do they feel
that these organizations are vital to them or do they feel as one
student in an eastern university? When interviewed he said: "Oh, well,
I guess they are pretty good. I suppose they are among the necessary
evils of college life."
An extensive interview of the students at seven institutions revealed
some interesting facts. The presidents or deans from the thirty-eight
colleges gave some data and much opinion on the benefits which the
students derived from these organizations, according to the students
testimonies and the observation of these presidents or deans. I am not
inclined to place too much emphasis upon the students' testimony to
the presidents, because, the psychological situation of a student who
is asked by a college president what he thinks of the church service,
Sunday School and Epworth League is not conducive to frankness. This
is especially true of students who know what the president wants him
to say. It is a sort of begging the question. The average college
student is apt to have too much respect for the president's feelings
to be frank in such a case. He likewise has a keen sense of
self-preservation. He does not want to incur the displeasure of the
president.
In the case of five other institutions, therefore, I had students, Y.
M. C. A. workers, interview the leaders of various activities in these
colleges with a view to getting their candid opinion and the
reflection of the opinion of the other students. In these various ways
we secured data which represented a high degree of probability to say
the least. Ninety-five per cent of the students in Negro colleges
reckon the church service on Sunday a beneficial agency for religious
functioning. They vary greatly as to the degree of good derived. In
eleven institutions the singing and liturgy are placed first in the
rank of importance and the prayer last. These same colleges think the
sermon takes second place. By many of this same number congregational
singing is given a very high place. The general complaint against the
sermon is that it is too dry. I think what is meant by this is that
the sermon lacks enthusiasm.
There may be two reasons for the impression of the dryness of the
sermon, if the complaint is justified. In the first place, a large
number of the college pastors begin their sermons on the assumption
that a student's religious life is essentially different from that of
the average person in a congregation eight blocks away in another
church, a matter which cannot always be taken for granted. That
assumption conditions his sermons in character of composition and
especially in delivery. The minister works on the assumption that the
college man will be interested and benefited by science, philosophy
and so forth, regardless of how it is presented. In the reaction
against excessive emotion he too often swings to the other extreme.
Again the college students in these universities have come from such a
variety of environments. It would be a safe estimate to say that in
all Negro colleges 90 per cent of the students are Baptist and
Methodists. The registrar's records from these 38 organizations show
the following: 983 Baptists; 790 Methodists; and 179 divided among the
other denominations. This gives the Baptist and Methodists 90.8 per
cent of the total enrollment in these 38 institutions. This means then
that 90.8 per cent of these students have had a Baptist-Methodist
environment for eighteen or twenty years. Well, what does that matter
so far as the estimate of the value of sermons delivered to them? It
means that, at least, it is not likely that the impression through
childhood, youth, and young manhood or womanhood will be easily offset
by the college religious environment in one, two, three or four years.
Ideals theoretical, of course, change remarkably, but inevitably some
elements of satisfaction afforded by the earlier environment will be
demanded in the college environment by the students. Then the
Baptist-Methodist environment among the Negroes is, if anything at
all, an enthusiastic environment. The sermon is one of the conspicuous
features. A student affected by such an environment does not
necessarily demand all of the crudities but he does not like the swing
to the other extreme.
It is the opinion of students and teachers that the Sunday School is
beneficial. From answers received it is calculated that 98 per cent of
all the college students believe in the Sunday School's beneficent
influence in student life. Several included in their remarks criticism
of the literature used. The same beneficent functioning was attested
to in behalf of the Young People's meetings, but the hammer falls
heavily on the mid-week prayer meeting, out of which very few see any
good come. One dubs "the prayer meeting, the driest, deadest event,
which takes place just at the time when it is most difficult to be
interested in such." Many other similar expressions concerning the
prayer meetings were made. It was noted, however, that the schools
which had been diverged the fartherest from the traditional prayer
meeting had the most good to say in behalf of the prayer meeting. In
the great majority of instances the opinion is that the prayer meeting
is a bore and should be abandoned. A student in one of the southern
colleges, expressing what he had reasons for believing was the
student's attitude towards prayer meetings, said: "It isn't
interesting and isn't even a good sleeping place because one cannot
stretch out as he desires."
The general attitude towards the services on Sunday, however, is
favorable. These services are considered beneficial. The students
feel that they are moral and religious supports, and in all cases they
believe with slight modifications that these services could be more
effective. A great premium is placed upon congregational singing and
the liturgy in the services.
The week of prayer for colleges has become in these institutions as
universal as the national holidays. This occasion affects the regular
routine of school work in 22 colleges and universities. It is
conducted variously. In some colleges the effort consists of a series
of prayer and song services offering opportunity to those who have not
made a decision for the better life to do so openly. Their names are
recorded, and they become members of the college church, where there
is one. Otherwise they are provided for through other means. Those who
fail to make decisions are made special objects of moral and religious
endeavor during the following months. In the other cases of 18
colleges, a religious survey is made of the student body, usually
through the Young Men's Christian Association and the Young Women's
Christian Association. This survey is made sometimes prior to the week
of prayer and personal workers are selected to do campaign work which
is to culminate in decisions during the week of prayer. The week of
prayer service is conducted by the president, college pastor, or
chaplain usually assisted by the members of the divinity school where
there is one connected with the institution. Nine colleges have this
convocation led by some strong minister from the community. Four
surrender the entire task to a professional evangelist.
The students and officials of these colleges report some very
significant results and all of them are agreed in this: the week of
prayer is a very valuable harvester for gathering the fruits of
previous endeavor, as well as a decision promoter itself. There is no
unanimity of opinion relative to the best way of conducting the week
of prayer, except that the method will vary with conditions. Eight
college pastors and chaplains declare it injurious in the long run to
have professional evangelists. The others except four did not know,
as they had never given the evangelist a test. They were at least
dubious about making the experiment.
Some of the results reported from the week of prayer are as follows:
For the scholastic year 1916-1917 there resulted 322 confessions for
the better life. The most of these were followed by what the
presidents of these colleges denominated religious growth. In these
colleges there were, prior to the week of prayer, 390 confessors. This
means then that subsequent to the week of prayer 68 non-confessors
remained among the college men and women. This shows also that prior
to the week of prayer one-fifth of a student body of 1,952 were
non-confessors. The week of prayer was the occasion of transforming
82.5 per cent of that one-fifth into confessors. The Negro colleges
subsequent to the week of prayer 1916-1917, therefore, were 96.5 per
cent Christian as a result of the week of prayer, in part at least.
Just how much the personal work, the Christian environment and other
factors during other times prior to the week of prayer played is
conjecture.
Perhaps it will suffice to state that each of these colleges has
morning devotions every day at the breakfast hour. They are very
terse, consisting chiefly of the Lord's Prayer or a blessing sung or
recited. Seventeen have night devotions closing the study hour except
on the night appointed for the weekly prayer meeting. The benefit of
the dining-room is not easily detected. The enthusiasm often
manifested may be due to anxiety to dine. The interest due to that
desire, and that due to the religious stimuli, then and thereafter are
not easily distinguished one from the other.
Voluntary religious services are conducted under the auspices of the
religious organizations in the colleges and universities. These
organizations present quite a variety in name. But most of them are
very similar in function. Some of the organizations which are included
in the study of required religious services will be given space under
this topic because while they are required in some colleges, they are
voluntary in others. The organizations are the Young Men's Christian
Association, the Young Women's Christian Association, Missionary
Societies, Temperance Societies, The Student Volunteer Movement, the
Circle of King's Daughters, the White Cross League, and Young People's
Societies of Endeavor.
The Young Men's Christian Association is the most popular among the
men of the institutions, and the Young Women's Christian Association
is the choice of the women. The reasons for this situation is fairly
obvious. In the first place, the Young Men's and Young Women's
Christian Associations have been stimulated more by the international
Associations than any other similar parent organization has stimulated
its offspring. There is a continuous program, and alert men whose
business it is to see that these associations go. They are paid good
salaries for that purpose. Then the very fact that the Y. M. C. A. is
international in scope and system has its bearing upon the local
branches in the various colleges. What has been asserted concerning
the Y. M. C. A. might likewise be said about the Y. W. C. A.
There is, no doubt, another reason explanatory of the popularity of
these associations. Those who are in authority in the international
Association have studied student life with an eye single to meeting
the needs of men and women so environed. Perhaps then, these
organizations appeal more to men and women than the others. In
1916-1917 these colleges had enrolled in the Y. M. C. A. and the Y. W.
C. A. 1,252 students. They estimated an average attendance at their
Sunday meetings of 940, including men and women. These meetings are
about an hour long. One feature which the men respond to very readily,
according to the reports, is the participation in the discussion of
the topic after a leader has opened it. There is, however, an evident
lack of accurate records of the effect of these services upon the
student life in these institutions. Howard University, Fisk and
Talladega Colleges have made the most progress along this line.
Eleven colleges reported temperance societies which have occasional
services. These are Lane College, Fisk University, Howard University,
Conroe College, Edward Waters College, Livingstone College, New
Orleans University, Texas College, Roger Williams University, Samuel
Houston College, and Shaw University. Wilberforce and Benedict have
student Volunteer services.
The following twelve institutions have missionary societies holding
services fortnightly: Howard University, Morgan College, Morris Brown
College, New Orleans University, Rust College, Samuel Houston College,
Shaw University, Swift Memorial College, Virginia Union University,
Wilberforce University, Spellman Seminary and Virgina Theological
Seminary and College.
Eight of the thirty-eight colleges under consideration encourage the
Young People's Sunday evening meetings but they have not made
attendance compulsory believing, they say, that there should be some
opportunity for choice in respect to attending some of these meetings.
They report a large attendance and think that compulsion would add
very little to the attendance and detract perhaps from the
effectiveness of such meetings. Why this point of view does not hold
true in respect to the Sunday school which is required by these same
institutions one is at a loss to say.
EXPRESSIONAL ACTIVITIES OF THE NEGRO COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
We have investigated the knowledge of religious education derived from
religious education courses in the curricula of thirty-eight colleges
as well as those offered by voluntary associations. We have likewise
reviewed the preparation of the teachers of these courses, the time
given to the teaching of them, the attitude of the teachers towards
the work, and the character and amount of worship given by these
students. It now remains for us to examine the expressional activities
of these students. What opportunity have they for the expression of
their religious thought and devotional attitude in actual service? The
means to that end are not to be viewed lightly, if the education
principle, no impression without expression, is worth anything in the
process of religious growth. The religious laboratories must be as
vital for the students, as the chemical or biological laboratory.
35 of these schools report Sunday School work of some kind for 360
students. This work is of the general kinds. There are many who teach
in the College Sunday Schools. 187 teach in Mission Sunday Schools in
the vicinity of the college. 400 teach vacation Sunday Schools in the
various localities to which they go during the summer vacation. These
360 students doing Sunday School work during the scholastic year are
distributed among 23 institutions. There is a likelihood of more
colleges furnishing teachers for this work but they have not reported
it because they keep no record of that work. The schools reporting
are: Allen University, Atlanta University, Clark University, Spellman
Seminary, Morehouse College, Morris Brown College, Howard University,
Fisk University, Lincoln University, Edward Water's College, Lane
College, Claflin University, Conroe College, Benedict College,
Livingstone College, Morgan College, Roger William University, Shaw
University, Virginia Union University, Tougaloo University, Talladega
College, Wilberforce University, and Rust College. Fisk University and
Virginia Union conduct mission Sunday Schools. They seem to have
unique places relative to the Sunday School service.
Boys Clubs are not numerous among the activities participated in by
the Negro college students. Only four report such an organization.
Wilberforce has a local Boy's Scout Club conducted under the auspices
of the Young Men's Christian Association. Howard University, Fisk
University and Morehouse College conduct boys clubs and some of the
men find excellent opportunity for service. The following make visits
to prisons and render the inmates service: Knoxville College, Benedict
College, Virginia Union University, Atlanta University, and Morris
Brown College.
There are several institutions that minister to the poor and
dependents through the various voluntary organizations. Wilberforce
distributes a limited number of Bibles, and other necessities to the
community in which it is situated. It does this through the Young
Women's Christian Association. Morgan College, Fisk University, Morris
Brown College, Benedict College, Morehouse College, Edward Waters
College, Virginia Union, Talladega College, and Biddle University do
similar work for the poor.
The colleges and universities rendering other social service such as
work among the boys at the reform schools, visiting and ministering to
orphans, assisting at Old Folk's homes and asylums, are Fisk
University, Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Morgan College,
Howard University, Talladega College, Virginia Union University, Shaw
University, Biddle University, Allen University, and Bishop
College.[2] Fisk University has a university settlement house, the
Bethlehem House, which operates under the social science department.
This affords the Fisk students a splendid opportunity to serve society
at first hand.
All of the thirty-eight colleges and universities give opportunity for
service in the college churches or in the churches where the college
worship. All have some students serving in the choirs. In the
churches, which are college churches in the real sense of the work,
that is, regularly organized with pastor and officers the students are
largely the officers. Thirty college presidents think this is splendid
expressional activity.
Five institutions use their missionary societies to help support some
one whom they know on the foreign mission field. The other seven
reporting organized missionary societies all have what might be called
foreign mission rallies and give the proceeds to that work. In the
most of these cases, the money goes to the foreign field through
denominational channels.
Service in the Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A. as chairman and members of
committees gives a small number opportunity for expressional activity
of a kind. The same may be said for the other voluntary organizations.
The financing of religious education in these colleges is significant.
Question number fourteen in the general questionnaire is: _Does your
college have a special appropriation for religious work, viz, for the
Y. M. C. A., for Chaplain, College Pastor and so forth?_ All of these
institutions except four answered this question in the negative.
Morgan College has an appropriation for the chaplain and special
appropriation for a teacher of Bible. Fisk University and Lincoln have
Bible chairs endowed. Howard University has special appropriations for
the Y. M. C. A. Tougaloo has a part of the college pastor's salary
appropriated by the American Missionary Association. The others have
no appropriation which pertains to the special religious work. This
means that the religious work in these colleges has a decided
financial handicap of which they are all very conscious. The special
work is financed by subscriptions, funds raised by entertainments, and
the donations of the students and teachers. This means a fluctuation
from time to time depending upon the generosity of the donors. An
endeavor to secure funds to carry out the programs of these voluntary
organizations usurps much of the time and energy of those who lead
them.
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN STATE COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
This study embraces the following State institutions offering complete
college curricula or doing college grade of work: Florida Agricultural
and Mechanical College, Georgia State College for Colored Youths,
Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College, Alabama Agricultural and
Mechanical College, Agricultural and Technical College of North
Carolina, and the West Virginia Collegiate Institute.
The teachers of religion in none of these institutions are
professionally trained. They are usually laymen who are teaching in
the other departments of the institution. The time given varies but
averages fifty-five minutes per week each. Their attitude toward the
subject of religious education is optimistic. The very fact that all
of them are volunteers save three shows that there is an interest in
the process.
Four State colleges offer Teacher Training courses but they are all
elective as might be expected since they are State colleges. In all
cases these colleges would have to make the most of these courses
elective in order to avoid a conflict with State constitutions. Note,
however, that Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College offer
courses in social service, which are required. Of the 325 college
students enrolled in these six State institutions 165 of these are
enrolled in the religious education courses. This is more than
one-third of the entire number, a larger proportion than in the
private institutions.
The State colleges have voluntary religious organizations, but none of
the conductors are professionally trained. These courses are of the
same type as those found in the private institutions, except for the
denominational features. The Young Men's Christian Association, the
Young Women's Christian Association and the Temperance Clubs are those
found in these institutions and there are enrolled for this work 213
men and women.
Alcorn A. and M. College has five men in the mission study class and
five in the Bible study class. Florida A. and M. College has eight in
the Bible study class and three in the mission study. The Georgia
State College has twenty in the Bible and the Alabama Agricultural and
Mechanical College sixteen. The Agricultural and Technical College of
Greensboro, North Carolina, reports none in the Bible and mission
study classes.
Religious services are not foreign to the State institutions for
Negroes. They are the daily chapel exercises, Sunday morning
preaching, Sunday School, Sunday afternoon or evening services, and
the weekly prayer meeting. The chapel exercises are made compulsory
for the students. The nature of the service is very much like that in
the denominational and private institutions described above.
The Sunday services are as conspicuous in these State colleges for
Negroes as they are in the private and denominational institutions.
Attendance is required by every one of the State institutions being
considered. Two of these have chaplains: the Agricultural and
Mechanical College of Alabama and Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical
College of Mississippi. In two instances the students attend
neighboring churches and have preachers from the outside to minister
unto them. Sunday School is conducted at each of the State colleges
and attendance is required. Each has on Sunday evening some kind of
meeting which the students are required to attend.
The prayer meeting in Negro colleges, State as well as private and
denominational, is a permanent organization. Each of these State
colleges report that the students are required to attend the prayer
meeting. As there are 187 boarding students in the State colleges of
college rank, this means a fair attendance at Sunday services and
prayer in these institutions. The other 188 attend service
promiscuously.
The week of prayer for colleges is observed by all, and all regard it
a valuable asset to the religious life of their student bodies. In
1916-1917 prior to the week of prayer 119 of the 325 students of
college rank enrolled in these State colleges were not professed
Christians. Subsequent to the week of prayer 24 of the one hundred
nineteen were left. Thus before the week of prayer there was 63.3 per
cent professed Christians. The week of prayer was instrumental in
reducing the percentage of non-confessors. After the week of prayer
92.6 per cent of all of the students were professors of Christianity.
Here as in the other institutions the morning and evening devotions
are daily for terse periods. They precede breakfast, in the dining
halls and at the close of the study periods. The services of the Y. M.
C. A., the Y. W. C. A., and the temperance societies are very much
like the services of these organizations in the denominational and
private colleges and universities. The students in State colleges have
feelings similar to those in private colleges about religious
services. Very few are defenders of the weekly prayer meetings.
Expressional activities at State colleges are not wanting. The six
colleges report service rendered in the college church and voluntary
religious organizations. Seventy-seven teach Sunday School. Five of
these colleges are situated in the rural districts and there are
students who serve the rural communities in church work. All of them
do some extension work of a religious nature. Periodically the
students are sent out to investigate conditions among the poor and to
offer services to relieve these conditions. Under this social service
are lectures and demonstrations portraying ideals which are genuinely
religious. The great majority of the students of college grade are
assistants to the professors in this work. Five do special social
service work during three holidays, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New
Year's Day. They take food, fuel, clothes and money to the needy of
their communities.
THE CONCEPTION OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN NEGRO COLLEGES
An exhaustive psychological analysis of the conception of religious
education is not the aim of this part of the study. But from certain
data which has come out of the study one is able to obtain ideas
concerning the view of the educators on the aim of religious education
and the degree in which this aim is being attained. We note in the
first place that all of those who answered the questionnaires were
cognizant of the religious motives in education. Perhaps a few typical
quotations will emphasize that. "I think much personal good is done.
The student gets a clearer idea of the Bible and its value in the
world today." "I regard the course in religion as vital and essential
to any thorough education." "The religious value of the course given
is inestimable." "The religious training through these courses gives
education the impetus which pushes it on to its goal." "The religious
courses are regarded as valuable adjuncts to the educational
institutions." "I have abundant data from graduates of this
institution and other individuals of our constituency confirming our
opinion of the abiding gains for character and efficiency through the
influence of these courses and their expression in service."
"Experience is the basis of the conclusion that the religious work in
the colleges gives sympathetic training for efficient service. More
attention must be given to our curricula in this respect." "The
students who are most exemplary in worthwhile endeavor are prominent
in these courses and organizations." "I have a high estimate of the
actual work done by these students and of the development of their own
character."
An examination of the statements concerning the religious aims and
privileges published in the catalogues of these schools show that,
theoretically at least, they have begun their task in directing the
educative process with a consciousness of the choice place of moral
and spiritual culture in the task. To illustrate, let us note the
following: "The aim of all the religious work in our institution is to
build up a strong Christian character, to develop the spirit of
service, and to train in the methods and the habit of religious work."
"This work aims at teaching colored young people how to want the best
things in life, and at training them in ability to get those things by
skill of hand and power of mind. Character and efficiency are thus the
twin essentials of the ideal. It would enable its pupils to make a
sufficient living, teach them to live efficient lives, and inspire
them to render society sufficient service. To hold such an aim
thoroughgoingly is to be positively Christian." "To all who are
inclined to respect the Christian religion and its institutions, the
welcome hand will be heartily extended; but to those whose influence
will be prejudicial to religion and good morals, no protracted stay
can be allowed; since the success of an educational institution is
strictly proportional to its moral tone." "Self-mastery, symmetrical
character, high ideals and purposes are regarded as the chief ends of
education. Special attention is given to the spiritual needs of the
students. In the life and discipline of the school, constant effort is
made to inculcate Christian principles." These are some of the typical
statements published in catalogues, announcements and in other college
advertising media.
One will note that although the great majority of these colleges and
universities are sectarian they have refrained, theoretically at
least, from obtruding sectarianism in the religious education. They
have made sectarianism take at least a secondary place. This is
further strengthened by the fact that there are in these
denominational schools 36 Catholics who apparently have met no
offensive media of instruction.
The results justify the following statement concerning the conception
of religious education in Negro colleges and universities: They
conceive religious education to be no quantum of doctrine but a life
lived efficiently, being animated by the social service motive. Thus
religious education is social evolution, and ninety-nine per cent of
those in charge of these institutions have conceptions of religious
education becoming more efficient than it now is. As proof of this, I
may cite the results of their answers to question; fifteen in the
general questionnaire. This question is: "_In your opinion are the
Negro colleges meeting the needs of definite religious training?_"
Every one's answer except one might be summarized thus: Some good has
been accomplished but we are far from the real goal. We need
reconstruction and a new impetus.
The emphasis which they are putting on expressional activity as an
essential in the process of religious education does seem to indicate
that they regard self activity. Wherever the social service was very
scant the one reporting felt it his duty to give an apology for the
actual conditions and express a hope of better results in the future.
This showed that they felt it the vital factor in the progressive
socialization of the individuals. The place of prominence given to
worship, to religious services on Sunday and in the week is either an
index to their conception concerning the value of worship or else an
index of their habit toward orthodoxy. Circumstances surrounding these
schools would suggest the former for the larger number of these
institutions.
SOME CURRENT CONCEPTIONS OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN RELATION TO GENERAL
EDUCATION
Religious education is considered a part of general education and is
included under that genus. What is general education? For a long time
education was defined in terms of intellect, but that ground is no
longer tenable. Spencer said: "Education is the preparation for
complete living." Modern educators reject this as an inadequate
statement of education. Education does not merely prepare for
something in the future. It endeavors to fill one full of life, and
human experience during the educative process. Education must be
expressed in social terms. James describes education as the
organization of acquired habits of conduct and tendencies to behavior.
This emphasizes the psychological side.
It was thought that the aim of education could be expressed in purely
individual terms. It was said to be the harmonious development of all
the powers of the individual. Dewey attacks this definition showing
that there is no criterion for telling what is meant by the terms
used. We do not know what a power is; we do not know what is meant by
development or harmony. A power is a power with reference to the use
to which it is put, the function it has to serve. There is nothing in
the make-up of human beings, taken in any isolated way which furnishes
controlling ends and serves to mark out powers. Unless we have the aim
supplied by social life we have only the old faculty psychology to
furnish us with ideas of powers in general or the specific powers.[3]
Dewey defines education as the regulation of the process of coining
to share in the social consciousness. And the majority of educators
use social terms to define education. Soares has this conception in
mind when he gives the following definition of education. "Education
is a scientifically directed process of developing progressive
socialized personality." But to achieve personality one must achieve
sympathy and sympathy is one of the concerns of religion. Hence all
true education involves religion.
What is religion? Wright in the _American Journal of Theology_, Volume
XVI, page 385, quotes Leuba as defining religion as a belief in a
psychic superhuman power. Wright has objections to this definition on
the ground of its narrowness. He attempts to add breadth to the
definition in: "Religion is the endeavor to secure the conservation of
socially recognized values, through specific actions that are believed
to evoke some agency different from the ordinary ego of the individual
or from other merely human beings, and that imply a feeling of
dependence upon this agency. Religion is the social attitude toward
the non-human environment." This is not synonymous with sectarianism,
creeds, dogmas or ceremonies. Creeds and ceremonies have to do with
ecclesiasticism not with religion per se. Creeds are developments of
theology and dogma is an outgrowth of religion and not religion. Modes
of worship developed into rites and ceremonies are ecclesiastical
means of fostering the religious spirit but not religion. Religion is
not a feeling to be imposed from without. Religion is a life and a
life-long process. "The religious life is the response the heart of
man makes to God, as the heart of the universe. The religious person
is one who is conscious of his divinity because of his kinship with
the universe through God, and who because of this consciousness seeks
fellowship with God and the Godly."
Having arrived at the conclusion concerning education and religion
which are given by some of the most representative students of the
subjects, let us ascertain some conceptions of religious education. As
indicated in the beginning of this topic, religious education is not
regarded as a separate entity. It is a part of the process of
efficient education. The human organism is a unit. Life is a whole and
connects physical, mental and religious phases. The whole personality
is the object for consideration for the educator. The emphasis in
education varies from physical to mental and from mental to religious,
or social. When the emphasis is placed on the social or religious
phase the procedure may be properly called religious education.
Professor Hartshorn carries the social idea to an adequate conclusion.
He says: "Religious education is the process by which the individual
in response to a controlled environment, achieves a progressive,
conscious social[4] order based on regard for the worth and destiny of
every individual." Professor Peabody states the matter in the
following words:[5] "Religious education is the drawing out of the
religious nature, the clarifying and strengthening of religious
ideals, the enriching and rationalizing of the sense of God.... The
end of religious education is service...." Dewey's idea of education
is much akin to the current conceptions of religious education. "The
moral trinity of the school is social intelligence, social power and
social interests. Our resources are, (1) the life of the school as a
social institution in itself, (2) methods of learning and doing work,
and (3) the curriculum."[6]
The goal of general and religious education is the same; namely, the
getting of the individual into the highest and most desirable
relationship with both the human and non-human elements, in his
environment. The standard of each is found in the functional
relationship of each to society. Modes of expression and emphasis may
vary but the ideals for both are the same. Dr. Haslett[7] has given an
unique representation of this conception. "Religious education," says
he, "is closely related to secular education and is largely dependent
upon it. The fundamental laws and principles of psychology and of
education require to be recognized as central." Professor Coe[8]
reminds us, however, that "religious education is not and cannot be a
mere application of any generalities in which the university
departments of education deal. It is not a mere particular that gets
its meaning or finds its test in the general." Religious education
deals with original data and with specific problems that rarely appear
in the instruction that is called 'general' and that grow out of the
specific nature of our educational purpose. In the analysis of these
data and in the determination of the method, we can and must use
matter contained in general courses of education. But the field of
study of religious education is not exhausted there, but is so
specific and yet so broad as properly to constitute a recognized
branch of educational practice. The religious purpose in religious
education yields the point of view and the principles of
classification that are important for religious educators.
The conceptions of religious education just passed in review warrant
certain deductions. Any institution which meets adequately the
requirements of religious education must have genuinely religious men
and women in the entire teaching and official force. Such persons will
determine the atmosphere and spirit of the institution. These teachers
should have clear conceptions of the ideals of religious education.
The blind cannot lead the blind. The students must be trained along
three fundamental lines, of the religious life. First, he must have
some of the intellectual value of religion. He must have social
knowledge. He must have the opportunity of expressing the devotional
attitude in worship. He must have the outlet of religious energy in
social service. The duty of the college will be far from discharged
unless it makes provision for laboratory religion where there is a
working place for each member. Religion is a life and the college
should be a society where this life may be lived in its fullest
extent, encouraging practical altruism and giving the protection which
an ideal society affords against demoralization.
EVOLUTION OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN NEGRO COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
The problem of religious education in Negro institutions is real. On
the basis of the investigation we are able to point out some prominent
phases of the problem. The first element of this problem is the
teacher. There are in Negro colleges, 22 teachers of religious
education who have had no professional training for the work. This
means that one-fourth of the entire corp of teachers of religion in
these institutions are without the prestige, at least, of even the
semblance of professional training. Two main causes account for this.
These institutions have not those who are professionally trained on
their faculties and they lack funds to procure the service of such
persons. In the next place they think it is not necessary.
One observation here is important. These services seem to be
significant in proportion to the participation in them by the students
themselves. The Sunday School and the Young People's meetings are the
most popular services for the students. They do the things in which
they have a volitional interest. We cannot thrust our religious
experiences upon the students from without. They must achieve their
own religious experience in contact with the environment in which they
live. The prayer meetings in all except four institutions follow a
program which was effective for those who lived in another
civilization. The traditional Negro prayer meeting does not function
religiously in the life of the Negro college student.
One of the big problems of religious education is compulsion in regard
to religious services. Where should that stop? Many are beginning to
think that the religious value of the services is often nullified by
the compulsory attendance. There are many conscientious objectors
among the students who think the removal of compulsion would be
conducive to better religious development. But the likelihood of some
swinging from one extreme to the other is very great. It is still a
problem left for the religious educators in the colleges to solve. The
solution must result in the conservation of the good found in the
compulsory system and the good to be found in freedom of choice.
Expressional activities are increasing in Negro colleges but with few
exceptions these are inadequate in scope and number. It is true that
not enough students are able to share in the social service projects.
This is really one of, if not the most important factors in religious
education. Men gain religious power by acting out their beliefs,
allowing their convictions to flow out into service.
There is an unfortunate lack of coordination of religious agencies in
Negro colleges. Frequently we find several organizations attempting to
do the same thing and each makes a miserable failure in the attempt.
More than that, this lack of coordination and correlation results in
duplications which surely mean wasted energy and non-effectiveness. If
all of the religious agencies were supervised in such a way that each
would know his specific task and would not overlap that of other
agencies, much more effective work would be the result.
There are signs of hope in the religious education of these Negro
colleges. The almost unanimous recognition of the religious motive in
efficient education by the educators and the manifest consciousness of
needs of better religious education have been mentioned. There are
others. An increasing number of trained teachers from Northern,
Eastern and Western colleges and universities is evident. These men
and women are coming from the institutions where the points of view
and training represented in the previous chapter are found. The summer
schools of the various colleges and universities in the North, East
and West are offering many of these modern religious education courses
and larger numbers of the teachers of religious education are availing
themselves of the opportunities. Much literature of religious
education published recently is finding its way to these schools, the
most notable of which is the _Religious Education Magazine_.
TABLE SHOWING STATISTICS ON RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN NEGRO COLLEGES
Units of Credit Given |
Students in Voluntary Courses of Religious Education | |
Students in Curriculum Courses of Education | | |
College Students | | | |
---------------------------------------+---------+----------+---------+
Agricultural and M. College 20 15 11
Agricultural and T. Col. of N. C 35 11 30
Alcorn A. and M. College 152 40 115
Allen University 38 38 30 3
Atlanta University 59 12 50 1/4
Arkansas Baptist College 16 16 15 2-1/4
Biddle University 40 40 20 1
Benedict College 60 40 22 2
Bishop College 60 40 20 1
Claflin University 20 20 14 3-1/2
Clark University 21 7 14 2
Conroe College 14 10 12 1
Edward Waters College 32 15 2
Fisk University 208 110 90 4
Florida Agricultural and M. College 36 15 20
Georgia State College 29 15 17
Howard University 558 98 60 6
Hartshorn College 10 4 5 2
Knoxville College 33 33 30 4-1/2
Lane College 17 10 12 1
Lincoln University 163 163 100 4-1/2
Livingstone College 37 27 30 3
Morehouse College 65 34 40 1-3/4
Morgan College 46 46 46 1-1/2
Morris Brown College 21 21 19 3
New Orleans University 30 30 26 2
Paine College 11 6 11 2
Texas College 9 9 8 4
Roger Williams University 14 14 14 2-1/2
Rust College 12 10 12 2-1/4
Samuel Houston College 35 13 29 2
Shaw University 49 20 40 1-1/2
Shorter College 25 25 20 2-1/2
Spelman Seminary 6 6 6 2-1/2
State University 13 7 10 2
Straight College 36 0 29 2
Swift Memorial College 9 5 9 1-1/4
Talladega College 66 25 60 4
Tillotson College 34 19 11 3
Tougaloo University 16 9 11 2-1/4
Virginia Theological Seminary and Col.27 21 20 3
Virginia Union University 66 51 30 4-1/2
West Virginia Collegiate Institute 33 25 20
Wilberforce University 202 60 150 4-1/4
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DAVID HENRY SIMS
FOOTNOTES:
[1] This dissertation was in 1917 submitted to the Faculty of the
Graduate School of Arts and Literature of the University of Chicago,
in candidacy for the degree of Master of Arts, by David Henry Sims.
The following sources were used in the preparation of this
dissertation: _American Missionary Association Report_, 1916; _Baptist
Missionary Society (Woman's) Reports_, 1910-1916; _Catalogues--Negro
Colleges_, 1916-1917; W. E.B. DuBois, _Morals and Manners Among Negro
Americans_, Atlanta University Publications, No. 18; _Journal of the
Proceedings of the A. M. E. Church_ (General Conference), 1916;
_Journal of the Proceedings of the Methodist Episcopal Church_
(General Conference), 1916; Thomas J. Jones, _Negro Education_, United
States Bureau of Education, Bulletins 38 and 39, 1916; Thomas J.
Jones, _Recent Movements in Negro Education_, United States Bureau of
Education, 1912, Vol. I; _Questionnaires_, from Negro Colleges, 1917;
United States Bureau of Education Investigations, _Education in the
South_, Bulletin 30, 1933; Monroe N. Work, _Negro Year Book_, 1914,
1915, 1916; Young Men's Christian Association, _Report of the
International Committee_, May 12, 1916; _Year Book_, 1915-1916.
The author used also the following works for general reference: W. S.
Athearn, _Religion in the Curriculum-Religious Education_; R. E.
Bolton, _Principles of Education_; H. F. Cope, _The Efficient Layman_;
H. F. Cope, _Fifteen Years of the Religious Education Association, The
American Journal of Theology_, July 1917, p. 385 ff; Committee Report,
_Standardization of Biblical Courses_, Rel. Educ. August, 1916, p. 314
ff; Crawford, _The Media of Religious Impression in College_, N. E. A.
1914, p. 494 ff; John Dewey, _Ethical Principles Underlying Education,
Moral Principles in Education_; T. S. O. Evans, _The University Young
Men's Christian Association as a Training School for Religious
Leaders_, Rel. Educ. 1908; H. F. Fowler, _The Contents of an Ideal
Curriculum of Religious Education for Colleges_, Rel. Educ. 1915, p.
355 ff; E. N. Hardy, _The Churches and The Educated Man_; S. B.
Haslett, _Pedagogical Bible School_, Parts I and II; International
Sunday School Association, _Organized Work in America_, Vol. XIII; C.
F. Kent, _Training the College Teacher_, Rel. Educ. 1915, Vol. X, p.
327; P. Monroe, _Cyclopedia of Education_, Vol. I, p. 370; E. C.
Moore, _What is Education_; A. Morgan, _Education and Social
Progress_; F. G. Peabody, _The Religious Education of an American
Child_, Rel. Educ. 1915, p. 107; I. J. Peritz, _The Contents of an
Ideal Curriculum of Religious Instruction_, Rel. Educ. Vol. X, 1915,
p. 362; C. Reed, _The Essential Place of Religion in Education_, N. E.
A. Monograph Publication, 1913, p. 66; R. Rhees, _Evangelisation of
Education, Biblical World_, August 1916, p. 66; C. E. Pugh, _The
Essential Place of Religion in Education_, N. E. A. Monograph
Publication, 1913, p. 3; I. T. Wood, _The Contents of an Ideal
Curriculum of Religious Instruction for Colleges_, Rel. Educ. 1915,
Vol. X, p. 332; _The Survey of Progress in Religious and Moral
Education_, Rel. Educ. 1915, Vol. X, p. 114.
[2] None of these does all of the things described, but all of them do
at least some one of them.
[3] Dewey, _Ethical Principles Underlying Education_.
[4] _Ideals in Religious Education_, R.E.A., June, 1917, p. 185.
[5] _Ibid._, p. 94.
[6] Dewey, _Ethical Principles Underlying Education_.
[7] _Pedagogical Bible School_, page 207.
[8] R. E. A., April 19, 1917, page 123.
THE AFTERMATH OF NAT TURNER'S INSURRECTION[1]
Nat Turner was a man below the ordinary stature, though strong and
active. He was of unmixed African lineage, with the true Negro face,
every feature of which was strongly marked. He was not a preacher, as
was generally believed, though a man of deep religious and spiritual
nature, and seemed inspired for the performance of some extraordinary
work. He was austere in life and manner, not given to society, but
devoted his spare moments to introspection and consecration. He
thought often of what he had heard said of him as to the great work he
was to perform. He eventually became seized with this idea as a
frenzy. To use his own language he saw many visions. "I saw white
spirits and black spirits engaged in battle," said he, "and the sun
darkened--the thunder rolled in the heavens, and blood flowed in
streams and I heard a voice saying, 'Such is your luck, such you are
called to see and let it come rough or smooth you must surely bear
it,'"[2] This happened in 1825. He said he discovered drops of blood
on the corn as though it were dew from heaven, that he found on the
leaves in the woods hieroglyphic characters and numbers, with the
forms of men in different attitudes, portrayed in the blood and
representing the figures he had previously seen in the heavens.[3]
These were without doubt creatures of Nat Turner's own imagination
made by him with coloring matter to make the Negroes believe that he
was a prophet from God.
Receiving, as he says, further directions from the Holy Spirit, he
communicated his designs to four of his most confidential friends.
July 4, 1831, the anniversary of American Independence, was the day on
which the work of death was to have been begun. Nat Turner hesitated
and allowed the time to pass by, when, the mysterious signs
reappearing, he determined to begin at once the bloody work. Sunday,
August 21, he met those who had pledged their cooperation and support.
They were Hark Travis, Henry Porter, Samuel Francis, Nelson Williams,
Will Francis and Jack Reese, with Nat Turner making the seventh. They
worked out their plans while they ate in the lonely woods of
Southampton their feast of consecration, remaining at the feast until
long after midnight. The massacre was begun at the house of Joseph
Travis, the man to whom Nat Turner then belonged. Armed with a hatchet
Turner entered his master's chamber, the door having been broken open
with the axe, and aimed the first blow of death. The hatchet glanced
harmless from the head of the would-be victim and the first fatal blow
was given by Will Francis, the one of the party who had got into the
plot without Nat Turner's suggestion. All of his master's household,
five in number, soon perished.[4]
The insurgents procured here four guns, several old muskets with a few
rounds of ammunition. At the barn, under the command of Nat Turner the
party was drilled and maneuvered. Nat Turner himself assumed the title
of General Cargill with a stipend of ten dollars a day. Henry Porter,
the paymaster, was to receive five dollars a day, and each private one
dollar. Thence they marched from plantation to plantation until by
Monday morning the party numbered fifteen with nine mounted. Before
nine o'clock the force had increased to forty and the insurgents had
covered an extent of territory two or three miles distant from the
first point of attack, sweeping everything before them. Nat Turner
generally took his station in the rear, with fifteen or twenty of the
best armed and reliable men at the front, who generally approached the
houses as fast as their horses could run for the double purpose of
preventing escapes and striking terror. His force continued to
increase until they numbered sixty, all armed with guns, axes, swords,
and clubs, and mounted. This line of attack was kept up until late
Monday afternoon, when they reached a point, about three miles distant
from Jerusalem, the county seat, where Nat Turner reluctantly yielded
to a halt while some of his forces went in search of reenforcements.
He was eager to push on to the county seat as speedily as possible and
capture it. This delay proved the turning point in the enterprise.
Impatient at the delay of his men who had turned aside, Turner started
to the mansion house whither they had gone and on their return to the
wood found a party of white men who had pursued the bloody path of the
insurrectionists and disposed of the guard of eight men whom Turner
had left at the roadside. The white men numbered eighteen and were
under the command of Captain Alexander P. Peete. They had been
directed to reserve their fire until within thirty paces, but one of
their number fired on the insurgents when within about one hundred
yards. Half of the whites beat a precipitate retreat when Nat Turner
ordered his men to fire and rush on them. The few remaining white men
stood their ground until Turner approached within fifty yards, when
they too followed the example of their comrades, fired and retreated
with several wounded. Turner pursued and overtook some of them and
their complete slaughter was only prevented by the timely arrival of a
party of whites approaching in another direction from Jerusalem.
Being baffled, Nat Turner with a party of twenty men determined to
cross the Nottaway river at the Cypress Bridge and attack Jerusalem
where he expected to procure additional arms and ammunition from the
rear. After trying in vain to collect a sufficient force to proceed to
Jerusalem, the insurgents turned back toward his rendezvous and
reached Major Thomas Ridley's, where forty assembled. He placed out
sentinels and lay down to sleep, but there was to be no sleep that
night. An attack on his forces was at hand, and the embarrassment
which ensued left him with one half, but Turner, determined to recruit
his forces, was proceeding in his effort to rally new adherents when
the firing of a gun by Hark was the signal for a fire in ambush and a
retreat followed. After this Turner never saw many of his men any
more. They had killed fifty-five whites but the tide had turned.
Turner concealed himself in the woods but was not dismayed, for by
messenger he directed his forces to rally at the point from which on
the previous Sunday they had started out on their bloody work; but
the discovery of white men riding around the place as though they were
looking for some one in hiding convinced him that he had been
betrayed. The leader then gave up hope of an immediate renewal of the
attack and on Thursday, after supplying himself with provisions from
the old plantation, he scratched a hole under a pile of fence rails in
a field and concealed himself for nearly six weeks, never leaving his
hiding place except for a few minutes in the quiet of night to obtain
water.
A reign of terror followed in Virginia.[5] Labor was paralyzed,
plantations abandoned, women and children were driven from home and
crowded into nooks and corners. The sufferings of many of these
refugees who spent night after night in the woods were intense.
Retaliation began. In a little more than one day 120 Negroes were
killed. The newspapers of the times contained from day to day
indignant protests against the cruelties perpetrated. One individual
boasted that he himself had killed between ten and fifteen Negroes.
Volunteer whites rode in all directions visiting plantations. Negroes
were tortured to death, burned, maimed and subjected to nameless
atrocities. Slaves who were distrusted were pointed out and if they
endeavored to escape, they were ruthlessly shot down.[6]
A few individual instances will show the nature and extent of this
vengeance. "A party of horsemen started from Richmond with the
intention of killing every colored person they saw in Southampton
County. They stopped opposite the cabin of a free colored man who was
hoeing in his little field. They called out, 'Is this Southampton
County?' He replied, 'Yes Sir, you have just crossed the line, by
yonder tree.' They shot him dead and rode on."[7] A slaveholder went
to the woods accompanied by a faithful slave, who had been the means
of saving his master's life during the insurrection. When they reached
a retired place in the forest, the man handed his gun to his master,
informing him that he could not live a slave any longer, and requested
either to free him or shoot him on the spot. The master took the gun,
in some trepidation, levelled it at the faithful Negro and shot him
through the heart.[8]
But these outrages were not limited to the Negro population. There
occurred other instances which strikingly remind one of scenes before
the Civil War and during reconstruction. An Englishman, named
Robinson, was engaged in selling books at Petersburg. An alarm being
given one night that five hundred blacks were marching against the
town, he stood guard with others at the bridge. After the panic had a
little subsided he happened to make the remark that the blacks as men
were entitled to their freedom and ought to be emancipated. This led
to great excitement and the man was warned to leave the town. He took
passage in the stage coach, but the vehicle was intercepted. He then
fled to a friend's home but the house was broken open and he was
dragged forth. The civil authorities informed of the affair refused to
interfere. The mob stripped him, gave him a considerable number of
lashes and sent him on foot naked under a hot sun to Richmond, whence
he with difficulty found passage to New York.[9]
Believing that Nat Turner's insurrection was a general conspiracy, the
people throughout the State were highly excited. The Governor of the
commonwealth quickly called into service whatever forces were at his
command. The lack of adequate munitions of war being apparent,
Commodore Warrington, in command of the Navy Yard in Gosport, was
induced to distribute a portion of the public arms under his control.
For this purpose the government ordered detachments of the Light
Infantry from the seventh and fifty-fourth Regiments and from the
fourth Regiment of cavalry and also from the fourth Light Artillery to
take the field under Brigadier General Eppes. Two regiments in
Brunswick and Greenville were also called into service under General
William H. Brodnax and continued in the field until the danger had
passed. Further aid was afforded by Commodore Eliott of the United
States Navy by order of whom a detachment of sailors from the
_Natchez_ was secured and assistance also from Colonel House, the
commanding officer at Fortress Monroe, who promptly detached a part of
his force to take the field under Lieutenant Colonel Worth.[10] The
revolt was subdued, however, before these troops could be placed in
action and about all they accomplished thereafter was the terrifying
of Negroes who had taken no part in the insurrection and the
immolation of others who were suspected.
Sixty-one white persons were killed. Not a Negro was slain in any of
the encounters led by Turner. Fifty-three Negroes were apprehended and
arraigned. Seventeen of the insurrectionists were convicted, and
executed, twelve convicted and transported, ten acquitted, seven
discharged and four sent on to the Superior Court. Four of those
convicted and transported were boys. There were brought to trial only
four free Negroes, one of whom was discharged and three held for
subsequent trial were finally executed. It is said that they were
given decent burial.[11]
The news of the Southampton insurrection thrilled the whole country,
North as well as South. The newspapers teemed with the accounts of
it.[12] Rumors of similar outbreaks prevailed all over the State of
Virginia and throughout the South. There were rumors to the effect
that Nat Turner was everywhere at the same time. People returned home
before twilight, barricaded themselves in their homes, kept watch
during the night, or abandoned their homes for centers where armed
force was adequate to their protection. There were many such false
reports as the one that two maid servants in Dinwiddie County had
murdered an old lady and two children. Negroes throughout the State
were suspected, arrested and prosecuted on the least pretext and in
some cases murdered without any cause. Almost any Negro having some of
the much advertised characteristics of Nat Turner was in danger of
being run down and torn to pieces for Nat Turner himself.
There came an unusual rumor from North Carolina. It was said that
Negro insurgents there had burnt Wilmington, massacred its
inhabitants, and that 2,000 were then marching on Raleigh. This was
not true but there was a plot worked out by twenty-four Negroes who
had extended their operations into Duplin, Sampson, Wayne, New
Hanover, and Lenoir Counties. The plot having been revealed by a free
Negro, the militia was called out in time to prevent the carrying out
of these well-laid plans. Raleigh and Fayetteville were put under
military defence. Many arrests were made, several whipped and released
and three of the leaders executed. One of these, a very intelligent
Negro preacher named David, was convicted on the testimony of another
Negro.[13]
The excitement in other States was not much less than in Virginia and
North Carolina. In South Carolina Governor Hayne issued a proclamation
to quiet rumors of similar uprisings. In Macon, Georgia, the entire
population rose at midnight, roused from their beds by rumors of an
impending onslaught. Slaves were arrested and tied to trees in
different parts of the State, while captains of the militia delighted
in hacking at them with swords. In Alabama, rumors of a joint
conspiracy of Indians and Negroes found ready credence. At New Orleans
the excitement was at such a height that a report that 1,200 stands of
arms were found in a black man's house, was readily believed.[14]
But the people were not satisfied with this flow of blood and passions
were not subdued with these public wreakings. Nat Turner was still at
large. He had eluded their constant vigilance ever since the day of
the raid in August. That he was finally captured was more the result
of accident than of design. A dog belonging to some of Nat Turner's
acquaintances scented some meat in the cave and stole it one night
while Turner was out. Shortly after, two Negroes, one the owner of the
dog, were hunting with the same animal. The dog barked at Turner who
had just gone out to walk. Thinking himself discovered, Turner begged
these men to conceal his whereabouts, but they, on finding out who it
was, precipitately fled. Concluding from this that they would betray
him, Turner left his hiding place, but he was pursued almost
incessantly. At one time he was shot at by one Francis near a fodder
stack in a field, but happening to fall at the moment of the
discharge, the contents of the pistol passed through the crown of his
hat. The lines, however, were closing upon Turner. His escape from
Francis added new enthusiasm to the pursuit and Turner's resources as
fertile as ever contrived a new hiding place in a sort of den in the
lap of a fallen tree over which he placed fine brush. He protruded his
head as if to reconnoiter about noon, Sunday, October 30, when a
Benjamin Phipps, who had that morning for the first time turned out in
pursuit, came suddenly upon him. Phipps not knowing him, demanded:
"Who are you?" He was answered, "I am Nat Turner." Phipps then ordered
him to extend his arms and Turner obeyed, delivering up a sword which
was the only weapon he then had.[15]
This was ten weeks after that Sunday in August when they had feasted
in the woods and arranged their plan of attack. At the time of the
capture there were at least fifty men out in search of him, none of
whom could have been two miles from the hiding place. The _Richmond
Enquirer_ in giving the first public announcement, said: "Nat
displayed no sort of enterprise in his attempt to escape nor any
degree of courage in resisting his captor;" but this journal does not
give him credit for having eluded his pursuers for more than two
months or for knowing that discretion is the better part of valor.
Several companies of the State militia and a battalion of United
States marines had joined in the search and failed, yet Nat displayed
no enterprise.[16]
His arrest caused much relief. He was taken the next day to Jerusalem,
the county seat, and tried on the fifth of November before a board of
magistrates. The indictment against him was for making insurrection
and plotting to take away the lives of divers free white persons on
the twenty-second of August, 1831. On his arraignment Turner pleaded
"Not Guilty." The Commonwealth submitted its case, not on the
testimony of any eye witnesses but on the depositions of one Levi
Waller who read Turner's _Confession_[17] and Colonel Trezevant the
committing magistrate corroborated it by referring to the same
confession. Turner introduced no testimony in defense and his counsel
made no argument in his behalf. He was promptly found guilty and
sentenced to be hanged Friday, November 11, 1831, twelve days after
his capture. During the examination Nat evinced great intelligence and
much shrewdness of intellect, answering every question clearly and
distinctly and without confusion or prevarication.
An immense throng gathered on the day of execution though few were
permitted to see the ceremony. He exhibited the utmost composure and
calm resignation. Although assured if he felt it proper he might
address the immense crowd, he declined to avail himself of the
privilege, but told the sheriff in a firm voice that he was ready. Not
a limb nor a muscle was observed to move. His body was given over to
the surgeons for dissection. He was skinned to supply such souvenirs
as purses, his flesh made into grease, and his bones divided as
trophies to be handed down as heirlooms. It is said that there still
lives a Virginian who has a piece of his skin which was tanned, that
another Virginian possesses one of his ears and that the skull graces
the collection of a physician in the city of Norfolk.
Considering the situation unusually serious, Governor John Floyd made
this the dominant thought of his message to the legislature that year.
More space was devoted to a discussion of this uprising than to any
other single fact mentioned in the message. He was of the opinion that
the spirit of insurrection was not confined to Southampton. The
Governor believed that there were well-drawn plans of treason,
insurrection and murder, "designed and matured by unrestrained
fanatics in some of the neighboring States, who found facilities in
distributing their views and plans amongst our population either
through the post office or by agents sent for that purpose throughout
our territory." He, therefore, corresponded with the governors of
commonwealths to preserve as far as possible "the good understanding
which existed and which ought to be cherished between the different
members of this Union."
The Governor believed that the persons most active in stirring up the
revolt were Negro preachers. "They had acquired," said he, "great
ascendency over the minds of their fellows, and infused all their
opinions which had prepared them for the development of the final
design. There was also some reason to believe," thought he, "those
preachers have a perfect understanding in relation to these plans
throughout the eastern counties; and have been the channels through
which the inflammatory papers and pamphlets, brought here by the
agents and emissaries from other States, have been circulated amongst
our slaves." He considered it a weakness in the laws of the State that
facilities for assembly, to plot, treason, and conspiracy, to revolt
and make insurrection, had been afforded by the lack of legislation to
the contrary to prevent such freedom of movement among the Negroes. He
believed, therefore, the public good required that the Negro preachers
be silenced, "because, full of ignorance, they were incapable of
inculcating anything but notions of the wildest superstition, thus
preparing fit instruments in the hands of crafty agitators, to destroy
the public tranquility."[18]
He, therefore, recommended as a means against the possible repetition
of such sanguinary scenes the revision of the laws to preserve in due
subordination the Negroes of the State. He believed, moreover, that
although this insurrection had been due to the work of slaves, that
the free people of color furnished a much more promising field for the
operations of the abolition element of the North, inasmuch as they had
opened to them more enlarged views and urged the achievement of a
higher destiny by means, "for the present less violent, but not
differing in the end from those presented to the slaves." He referred
to the free Negroes as "that class of the community, which our laws
have hitherto treated with indulgent kindness," and for whom many
instances of solicitude for their welfare have marked the progress of
legislation. If, however, thought he, the slave who is confined by law
to the estate of his master can work such destruction, how much more
easy it would be for the free Negro to afflict the community with a
still greater calamity. The Governor, moreover, referred to the fact
that the free people of color had placed themselves in hostile array
against every measure designed to remove them from the State and
raised the question as to whether the last benefit which the State
might confer upon them might not be to appropriate annually a sum of
money to aid their removal to other soil.[19]
To show how general the excitement was throughout the State one needs
but read in the journal of the legislature the number of petitions
praying that some action be taken to provide for the safety of the
people in the commonwealth.[20] In the Valley and in the extreme
western portion of the State where few slaves were found and where
there were still persons who did not welcome the institution, there
were held a number of meetings in which the abolition of slavery was
openly discussed and urged. Such memorials, however, did not
constitute the majority of the petitions requiring action with
reference to slavery. More meetings were held in the eastern counties
but opinion there differed so widely that they availed little in
working out a constructive plan. The larger number of these took the
form of such an improvement and change in the black code as to
preserve the institution and at the same time secure the safety of the
citizens.[21]
Believing that the free people of color had been or would be the most
effective means in the attack on the institution of slavery, there
were more memorials for the removal of this class of the population
than any other petitions bearing on slavery. Among the counties
praying for the removal of the free Negroes, were Amelia, Isle of
Wight, York, Nansemond, Frederick, Powhatan, Fairfax, and
Northumberland. Others asked for the removal of the free Negroes[22]
and furthermore the purchase of slaves to be deported. Among the
counties praying for such a measure were Fauquier, Hanover,
Washington, Nelson, Loudoun, Prince William, and King William. From
Charles City, Rockbridge, and Caroline Counties came the additional
request for a legislation providing for gradual emancipation. Page,
Augusta, Fauquier, and Botetourt, sent memorials praying that steps be
taken to procure an amendment to the Constitution of the United
States, investing Congress with the power to appropriate money for
sending beyond the limits of the United States the free people of
color and such of the slaves as might be purchased for the same
purpose. This was almost in keeping with the request from the Henrico
and Frederick Colonization Societies asking the Government to deport
the Negroes to Africa. Buckingham County requested that the colored
population be removed from the county and colonized according to the
plans set forth by Thomas Jefferson. The request of the Society of
Friends in the county of Charles City for gradual emancipation,
however, caused resentment.[23]
Thinking that it might not be possible to transport all the Negroes of
the country very easily, requests for dealing with the situation as it
was, were also in order. As a number of the farmers had suffered from
a loss of sheep by the numerous dogs maintained by slaves and free
persons of color, there came requests praying that the keeping of dogs
and hogs by Negroes be made illegal. Some of these petitions, too, had
an economic phase. There came from Culpepper a petition praying for a
passage of the law for the encouragement of white mechanics by
prohibiting any slave, free Negro or mulatto from being bound as an
apprentice to learn any trade or art. Charles City and New Kent
complained against the practice of employing slaves and Negroes as
millers and asked that a law penalizing such action be enacted.[24]
The question as to what should be done with the blacks turned out to
be the most important matter brought before the legislature.
Three-fourths of the session was devoted to the discussion of such
questions as the removal of the free Negroes and the colonization of
such slaves as masters could be induced to give up. The legislature
met on the 5th of December and after going through the preliminaries
of organization listened to the message of the Governor which had the
insurrection as its most prominent feature. When the petitions from
the various counties began to come in, there soon prevailed a motion
that so much of the Governor's message as related to the insurrection
of slaves and the removal of the free Negroes be referred to a select
committee, which after prolonged deliberation found it difficult to
agree upon a report.
Desiring to protect the interests of slavery, William O. Goode, of
Mecklenburg County, moved on the eleventh of January that the select
committee appointed to consider the memorials bearing on slaves free
Negroes and the Southampton massacre be discharged from the
consideration of all petitions, memorials and resolutions, which had
for their object the manumission of slaves. The resolution further
declared that it was not expedient to legislate on slavery.[25]
Whereupon Thomas Jefferson Randolph, of Albemarle County, moved to
amend this resolution so as to instruct the committee to inquire into
the expediency and to report a bill to submit to the voters of the
State the propriety of providing by law that the children of all
female slaves who might be born in that State on or after the fourth
day of July, 1840, should become the property of the commonwealth, the
males at the age of twenty-one years and females at the age of
eighteen, if detained by their owners within the limits of the
commonwealth, until they should respectively arrive at the ages
aforesaid. They would then be hired out until the net sum arising
therefrom should be sufficient to defray the expenses of their removal
beyond the limits of the United States.[26]
After several days of heated but fruitless discussion marked by
adjournment to calm the troubled waters, the question assumed a new
phase when William H. Brodnax, the chairman of the select committee,
reported the resolution: _That it is inexpedient for the present to
make any legislative enactments for the abolition of slavery._
Whereupon Mr. William A. Patterson of Chesterfield County moved to
amend this resolution so as to read: _That it was expedient to adopt
some legislative enactments for the abolition of slavery._[27] Around
Goode's motion, Randolph's substitute and Preston's amendments
centered an exciting debate showing such a wide difference of opinion
that the publicity caused about as much excitement as Nat Turner's
insurrection itself. Many citizens protested against such an open
discussion, knowing that slaves able to read might thereby be induced
to rise again.[28] This fear, however, did not serve very well as a
restraining factor.
The warning sounded by some of these people is significant. _The
Richmond Enquirer_ the chief organ of thought in the State expressed
in a strong editorial that the evils of slavery were alarming and
urged that some definite action be taken immediately since the policy
of deferring the solution of the problem for future generations had
brought the commonwealth to grief.[29] Certain ladies from Fluvanna
County said in their memorial: "We cannot conceal from ourselves that
an evil is among us, which threatens to outgrow the growth and eclipse
the brightness of our national blessings."[30] Brodnax deplored the
fact that the time had come in Virginia "When men were found to lock
their doors and open them in the morning to receive their servants to
light their fires, with pistols in their hands."[31]
A summary of this debate shows that a few members of the legislature
desired instant abolition, a much larger number, probably a majority
of the body, wanted to work out some scheme for gradual emancipation,
and others feeling that the slaves could be controlled by severe laws,
endeavored to restrict the effort to the removal of the free people of
color. Certain citizens of Hanover desired to lay a tax on slaves and
free Negroes to raise funds to deport them all.[32] The unfortunate
development, however, was that no one knew exactly what he wanted, no
one came to the legislature with a well-matured plan to remedy the
evils, and every man seemed to be governed in his action by his local
interests rather than those of the commonwealth.
The Preston amendment was, after an exciting discussion, finally
defeated on the 25th of January by a vote of 58 to 73. Thereupon on
motion of Mr. Archibald Bryce, of Goochland County, the legislature
amended the report of the select committee by inserting the following:
"Profoundly sensible of the great evils arising from the condition of
the colored population of this commonwealth induced by humanity, as
well as by policy to an immediate effort for the removal in the first
place, as well of those who are now free, as of such as may hereafter
become free: believing that this effort, while it is in just
accordance with the sentiment of the community on the subject, will
absorb all our present means, and that a further action for the
removal of the slaves should await a more definite development of
public opinion.[33]
This resolution aptly describes the situation resulting after the
prolonged discussion. A majority of the members believed that slavery
was an evil, but no one was willing to pay the cost of exterminating
it. It was easily shown that because of unprofitable slave labor the
commonwealth was lagging behind the free States and that the free
labor essential to the rebuilding of the waste places in the State
would never come to the commonwealth as long as there would be
competition with slave labor. It was soon apparent, however, that a
State with such a diversity of interests, one-half slave and one-half
free could not legislate on slavery. This compromising resolution of
procrastination, therefore, was adopted as the best Virginia could
under the circumstances be induced to do for the extermination[34] of
its worst evil.
The debate proved to be valuable to the abolitionists. In the course
of his remarks Mr. Brodnax declared that the confidence of the people
seemed to be gone. "Under such circumstances life becomes a burthen
and it is better to seek a home in some distant realm and leave the
graves of our fathers than endure so precarious a condition." It was
evident, he thought, that something must be done; and although
measures for the removal of this evil might not, perhaps be arrived
at immediately yet some plan for its gradual eradication would
probably be hit upon. A system might be concocted by degrees to
embrace the whole subject and it was therefore necessary to consider
it in all its bearings.[35]
Mr. Chandler said that he in common with his constituents looked
forward to the passage of a law for the removal of the free blacks. He
was also in favor of the consideration of any plan which might remove
entirely at some future time, the greatest curse that had ever been
inflicted upon this State. He would look upon the day on which the
deliverance of the commonwealth from the burden of slavery should be
accomplished as the most glorious in the annals of Virginia since the
fourth of July, 1776.[36] Mr. Moore did not wish to entangle the
committee on the subject of getting rid of the free black population
of this State. That population, he knew, was a nuisance which the
interests of the people required to remove, but there was another and
a greater nuisance, slavery itself. He wished that it should be
considered and if it were possible to devise any plan for the ultimate
extinction of slavery, he would rejoice.[37]
Mr. Bolling rose in his remarks to a height of moral sublimity. "We
talk of freedom," said he, "while slavery exists in this land; and
speak with horror of the tyranny of the Turk. We foster an evil which
the highest interests of the community require should be removed,
which was denounced as the bans of our happiness by the Father of the
Commonwealth and to which we trace the cause of the lamentable
depression of Eastern Virginia. Every intelligent individual admits
that slavery is the most pernicious evil with which a body politic can
be afflicted."[38]
Mr. Randolph, the grandson of Thomas Jefferson, said that it was the
dark, the appalling, the despairing future that had awakened the
public mind rather than the Southampton Insurrection. He asked whether
silence would restore the death-like apathy of the Negro's mind. It
might be wise to let it sleep in its torpor; "but has not," he asked,
"its dark chaos been illumined? Does it not move, and feel and think?
The hour of the eradication of the evil is advancing, it must come.
Whether it is affected by the energy of our minds or by the bloody
scenes of Southampton and San Domingo is a tale for future
history."[39] Mr. Faulkner addressed the House in favor of the gradual
extinction of slavery, concluding with these words: "Tax our lands,
vilify our country, carry the sword of extermination through our
defenceless villages but spare us the curse of slavery, that bitterest
drop from the chalice of the destroying angel."[40]
Mr. MacDowell, referring to the insurrection, thus described its
terror and its awful lesson: "It drove families from their homes,
assembled women and children in crowds in every condition of weakness
and infirmity, and every suffering that want and terror could inflict,
to escape the terrible dread of domestic assassination. It erected a
peaceful and confiding State into a military camp which outlawed from
pity the unfortunate beings whose brothers had offended; which barred
every door, penetrated every bosom with fear or suspicion, which so
banished every sense of security from every man's dwelling; that, let
but a hoof or horn break upon the silence of the night, and an aching
throb would be driven to the heart. The husband would look to his
weapon and the mother would shudder and weep upon her cradle. Was it
the fear of Nat Turner and his deluded drunken handful of followers,
which produced such effects? Was it this that induced distant counties
where the very name of Southampton was strange to arm and equip for a
struggle? No sir, it was the suspicion eternally attached to the slave
himself, a suspicion that a Nat Turner might be in every family, that
the same bloody deed might be acted over at any time and in any
place, that the materials for it were spread through the land and were
always ready for a like explosion."[41]
Although no agreement on the extinction of slavery could be reached,
the question of removing the free people of color was decidedly
another matter. Many who were unwilling to legislate with reference to
slavery did not object to the proposal to remove the free Negroes from
the State. Yet there were others who looked upon this as a political
by-play. The Southampton Insurrection was not the work of free Negroes
but that of slaves. Only two of the many free Negroes in Southampton
county took a part in the insurrection and these two had slave wives.
The North Carolina plot, moreover, was revealed by a free Negro. Many
citizens agreed too with a _Richmond Enquirer_ correspondent of
Hanover, who in speaking for the free people of color pointed out the
good they had been to the community,[42] and the Governor who in his
annual message raised the question as to propriety of removing them,
said that the laws of the State had theretofore treated the free
people of color with "indulgent kindness" and that "many instances of
solicitude for their welfare" had "marked the progress of
legislation."[43]
A bill for removal, however, was promptly offered on the
twenty-seventh of January.[44] On the first of February there was
presented an additional report deeming it expedient to set apart for
the removal of the free colored population so much of the claims of
Virginia on the General Government as may come into and belong to the
treasury of the State.[45] A few days later Mr. Moore submitted a
resolution covering the same ground and calling upon the Senators and
Representatives of Virginia in Congress to use their best efforts to
promote this project.[46] The Matter was tabled but on the 6th of
February the House resolved itself into a committee of the whole to
take this bill into consideration. After prolonged discussion the
matter was again tabled with a view to future consideration. The
feeling of the majority seemed to be that, if the Negroes were
removed, no coercion should be employed except in the case of those
who remained in the State contrary to the law of 1806.[47] $35,000 for
1832 and $90,000 for 1833 was to be appropriated for transportation. A
central board consisting of the governor, treasurer, and members of
the Council of State was to decide the place to which these Negroes
were to be expatriated and the agents to carry out the law would also
be named by the same board.[48] The bill for the removal of free
Negroes was indefinitely postponed in the Senate by a vote of 18 to 14
and therefore was never taken up.
The next effort of the legislature in dealing with the Negroes was to
strengthen the black code as it then existed so as to provide for a
more adequate supervision and rigid control of the slaves and free
people of color. There was offered thereafter a bill to amend an act
entitled "an act to revise under one the several acts concerning
slaves, free Negroes and mulattoes." The important provisions of the
bill were that slaves and free Negroes should not conduct religious
exercises nor attend meetings held at night by white preachers unless
granted written permission by their masters or overseers. Thereafter
no free Negro should be capable of purchase or otherwise acquiring
permanent ownership, except by descent, of any slave, other than his
or her husband, wife or children. Further penalties, moreover, were
provided for persons writing or printing anything intended to incite
the Negroes to insurrection. The State had already enacted a law
prohibiting the teaching of slaves, free Negroes and mulattoes.[49]
The other petitions requiring that Negroes be restricted in the higher
pursuits of labor and in the ownership of hogs and dogs were, because
of the spirit which existed after the excitement had subsided,
rejected as unnecessary. The law providing for burning in the hand was
repealed. The immigration of free Negroes into the State, however, was
prohibited in 1834.[50]
The effect of this insurrection and this debate extended far beyond
the borders of Virginia and the South. Governor McArthur of Ohio in a
message to his legislature called special attention to the outbreak
and the necessity for prohibitive legislation against the influx
within that commonwealth of the free people of color who naturally
sought an asylum in the free States. The effect in Southern States was
far more significant. Many of them already had sufficient regulations
to meet such emergencies as that of an insurrection but others found
it necessary to revise their black codes.
Maryland passed, at the session of its legislature in 1831-1832, a law
providing a board of managers to use a fund appropriated for the
purpose of removing the free people of color to Liberia in connection
with the State colonization society.[51] Another act forbade the
introduction of slaves either for sale or resident and the immigration
of free Negroes. It imposed many disabilities on the resident free
people of color so as to force them to emigrate.[52] Delaware, which
had by its constitution of 1831, restricted the right of franchise to
whites[53] enacted in 1832 an act preventing the use of firearms by
free Negroes and provided also for the enforcement of the law of 1811
against the immigration of free Negroes and mulattoes, prohibited
meetings of blacks after ten o'clock and forbade non-resident blacks
to preach.[54]
In 1831 Tennessee forbade free persons of color to immigrate into that
State under the penalty of fine for remaining and imprisonment in
default of payment. Persons emancipating slaves had to give bond for
their removal to some point outside of the State[55] and additional
penalties were provided for slaves found assembling or engaged in
conspiracy. Georgia enacted a measure to the effect that none might
give credit to free persons of color without order from their guardian
required by law and, if insolvent, they might be bound out. It further
provided that neither free Negroes nor slaves might preach or exhort
an assembly of more than seven unless licensed by justices on
certificate of three ordained ministers. They were also forbidden to
carry firearms.[56] North Carolina, in which Negroes voted until 1834,
enacted in 1831 a special law prohibiting free Negroes from preaching
and slaves from keeping house or going at large as free men. To
collect fines of free Negroes the law authorized that they might be
sold.[57] The new constitution of the State in 1835 restricted the
right of suffrage to white men. South Carolina passed in 1836 a law
prohibiting the teaching of slaves to read and write under penalties,
forbidding too the employment of a person of color as salesman in any
house, store or shop used for trading. Mississippi had already met
most of these requirements in the slave code in the year 1830.[58]
In Louisiana it was deemed necessary to strengthen the slave code. An
act relative to the introduction of slaves provided that slaves should
not be introduced except by persons immigrating to reside and citizens
who might become owners.[59] Previous legislation had already provided
severe penalties for persons teaching Negroes to read and write and
also had made provision for compelling free colored persons to leave
the State.[60] In 1832 the State of Alabama enacted a law making it
unlawful for any free person of color to settle within that
commonwealth. Slaves or free persons of color should not be taught to
spell, read or write. It provided penalties for Negroes writing passes
and for free blacks associating or trading with slaves. More than five
male slaves were declared an unlawful assembly but slaves could attend
worship conducted by whites yet neither slaves nor free Negroes were
permitted to preach unless before five respectable slaveholders and
the Negroes so preaching were to be licensed by some neighboring
religious society. It was provided, however, that these sections of
the article did not apply to or affect any free person of color who,
by the treaty between the United States and Spain, became citizens of
the United States.[61]
So many ills of the Negro followed, therefore, that one is inclined to
question the wisdom of the insurgent leader. Whether Nat Turner
hastened or postponed the day of the abolition of slavery, however, is
a question that admits of little or much discussion in accordance with
opinions concerning the law of necessity and free will in national
life. Considered in the light of its immediate effect upon its
participants, it was a failure, an egregious failure, a wanton crime.
Considered in its necessary relation to slavery and as contributory to
making it a national issue by the deepening and stirring of the then
weak local forces, that finally led to the Emancipation Proclamation
and the Thirteenth Amendment, the insurrection was a moral success and
Nat Turner deserves to be ranked with the greatest reformers of his
day.
This insurrection may be considered an effort of the Negro to help
himself rather than depend on other human agencies for the protection
which could come through his own strong arm; for the spirit of Nat
Turner never was completely quelled. He struck ruthlessly,
mercilessly, it may be said, in cold blood, innocent women and
children; but the system of which he was the victim had less mercy in
subjecting his race to the horrors of the "middle passages" and the
endless crimes against justice, humanity and virtue, then perpetrated
throughout America. The brutality of his onslaught was a reflex of
slavery, the object lesson which he gave brought the question home to
every fireside until public conscience, once callous, became quickened
and slavery was doomed.
JOHN W. CROMWELL
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Nat Turner was a familiar name in the household in which the
author was reared, as his home was within fifty miles of the place of
Turner's exploits. In 1871, the last term of the author's service as a
teacher in the public schools of Virginia, was spent in this same
county, with a people, many of whom personally knew Nat Turner and his
comrades.
Nat Turner was born October 2, 1800, the slave of Benjamin Turner. His
father, a native of Africa, escaped from slavery and finally emigrated
to Liberia, where, it is said, his grave is quite as well known as
that of Franklin's, Jefferson's or Adams's is to the patriotic
American. There is now living in the city of Baltimore a man who on
good authority claims to be the grandson of Nat Turner and a son of
his was said to be still living in Southampton County, Virginia, in
1896.
In his early years Turner had a presentiment which largely influenced
his subsequent life and confirmed him in the belief that he was
destined to play an unusual role in history. That prenatal influence
gave him a marked individuality is readily believed when the date of
his birth is recalled, the period when the excitement over the
discovery of Gabriel Prosser's plot was at its height. Nat's mind was
very restless and active, inquisitive and observant. He learned to
read and write with no apparent difficulty. This ability gave him
opportunity to confirm impressions as to knowledge of subjects in
which he had received no instruction. When not working for his master,
he was engaged in prayer or in making sundry experiments. By intuition
he, in a rude way, manufactured paper, gunpowder, pottery and other
articles in common use. This knowledge which he claimed to possess was
tested by actual demonstration during the trial for his life. His
superior skill in planning was universally admitted by his fellow
workmen. He did not, however, attribute this superior influence to
sorcery, conjuration or such like agencies, for he had the utmost
contempt for these delusions.
"To this day," says T. W. Higginson, "There are the Virginia slave
traditions of the keen devices of Prophet Nat. If he were caught with
lime and lampblack in hand conning over a half-finished county map on
the barn door, he was always planning what he would do if he were
blind. When he had called a meeting of slaves and some poor whites
came eavesdropping, the poor whites at once became the topic of
discussion; he incidentally mentioned that the master had been heard
threatening to drive them away; one slave had been ordered to shoot
Mr. Jones' pigs, another to tear down Mr. Johnson's fences. The poor
whites, Johnson and Jones, ran home at once to see to their homesteads
and were better friends than ever to poor Nat."--T. W. Higginson's
_Travellers and Outlaws_, pp. 282-283.
[2] T. W. Higginson's _Travellers and Outlaws_, p. 284.
[3] Nat Turner's _Confessions_.
[4] Drewry, _The Southampton Insurrection_, pp. 35-74.
[5] _The Richmond Enquirer_, Aug. 30, Sept. 4, 6 and 20, 1831.
[6] Based on statements made to the author by contemporaries of Nat
Turner.
[7] Higginson, _Travellers and Outlaws_, p. 300.
[8] The statement of Rev. M.B. Cox, a Liberian Missionary, then in
Virginia.
[9] Higginson, _Travellers and Outlaws_, 302-303.
[10] _Journal of the House of Delegates_, 1831, p. 9.
[11] Drewry, _The Southampton Insurrection_, 102.
[12] _The Richmond Enquirer_, August 30 and September and October,
1831.
[13] _The Richmond Enquirer_, Sept. 4, 1831.
[14] Higginson, _Travellers and Outlaws_, 303.
[15] _The Richmond Enquirer_, Nov. 4 and 8, 1831.
[16] _The Richmond Enquirer_, Nov. 4, 1831.
[17] The trial and execution over, the _Confessions_ of Nat were
published in pamphlet form and had a wide sale. An accurate likeness
by John Crawley, a former artist of Norfolk at that time, lithographed
by Endicott and Sweet of Baltimore, accompanied the edition which was
printed for T. R. Gray, Turner's attorney. Fully 50,000 copies of this
pamphlet are said to have been sold within a few weeks of its
publication, yet today they are exceedingly rare, not a copy being
found either in the State Library at Richmond, the Public Library at
Boston nor the Congressional Library at Washington. These
_Confessions_ purport to give from Turner's own lips circumstances of
his life. "Portions of it," says _The Richmond Enquirer_, "are
eloquent and even classically expressed; but," continues the critic,
more than sixty miles away, "the language is far superior to what Nat
Turner could have employed, thereby giving him a character for
intelligence which he does not deserve and should not receive." On the
contrary, however, Mr. Gray, his attorney and confessor who did not
write from long range, said: "As to his ignorance, he certainly had
not the advantages of education, but he can read and write and for
natural intelligence and quickness of apprehension is surpassed by few
men I have ever seen. Further the calm, deliberate composure with
which he spoke of his late deeds and intentions, the expression of his
fiend-like face when excited by enthusiasm; still bearing the stains
of the blood of helpless innocence about him; clothed with rags and
covered with chains, yet daring to raise his manacled hands to heaven;
with a spirit soaring above the attributes of man, I looked on him and
my blood curdled in my veins."--_The Confessions of Nat Turner._
[18] _The Journal of the House of Delegates_, 1831, pp. 9 and 10.
[19] _The Journal of the House of Delegates_, 1831, p. 10.
[20] In Fluvanna this memorial of certain ladies was agreed upon and
sent to the legislature: "We cannot conceal from ourselves that an
evil is among us, which threatens to outgrow the growth and eclipse
the brightness of our national blessings. Our daughters and their
daughters are destined to become, in their turn, the tender fosterers
of helpless infancy, the directors of developing childhood, and the
companions of those citizens, who will occupy the legislative and
executive offices of their country. Can we calmly anticipate the
condition of the Southern States at that period, should no remedy be
devised to arrest the progressive miseries attendant on slavery? Will
the absent father's heart be at peace, when, amid the hurry of public
affairs, his truant thoughts return to the home of his affection,
surrounded by doubtful, if not dangerous, subjects to precarious
authority? Perhaps when deeply engaged in his legislative duties his
heart may quail and his tongue falter with irresistible apprehension
for the peace and safety of objects dearer than life.
"We can only aid the mighty task by ardent outpourings of the spirit
of supplication at the Throne of Grace. We will call upon the God, in
whom we trust, to direct your counsels by His unerring wisdom, guide
you with His effectual spirit. We now conjure you by the sacred
charities of kindred, by the solemn obligations of justice, by every
consideration of domestic affection and patriotic duty, to nerve every
faculty of your minds to the investigation of this important subject,
and let not the united voices of your mothers, wives, daughters and
kindred have sounded in vain in your ears."--Drewry, _The Southampton
Insurrection_, p. 165.
[21] Drewry, _The Southampton Insurrection_, pp. 1-100.
[22] October 18. This memorial circulated in Petersburg and in
adjoining towns and counties is typical:
"The undersigned good citizens of the County of ........ invite the
attention of your honorable body to a subject deemed by them of
primary importance to their present welfare and future security.
"The mistaken humanity of the people of Virginia, and of our
predecessors, has permitted to remain in this Commonwealth a class of
people who are neither freemen nor slaves. The mark set on them by
nature precludes their enjoyment in this country, of the privileges of
the former; and the laws of the land do not allow them to be reduced
to the condition of the latter. Hence they are of necessity degraded,
profligate, vicious, turbulent and discontented.
"More frequent than whites (probably in tenfold proportion) sustained
by the charitable provisions of our laws, they are altogether a burden
on the community. Pursuing no course of regular business, and
negligent of everything like economy and husbandry, they are as a part
of the community, supported by the productive industry of others.
"But their residence among us is yet more objectionable on other
accounts. It is incompatible with the tranquility of society; their
apparent exemption from want and care and servitude to business,
excites impracticable hopes in the minds of those who are even more
ignorant and unreflecting--and their locomotive habits fit them for a
dangerous agency in schemes, wild and visionary, but disgusting and
annoying.
"We would not be cruel and unchristian--but we must take care of the
interests and morals of society, and of the peace of mind of the
helpless in our families. It is indispensable to the happiness of the
latter, that this cause of apprehension be removed. And efforts to
this end are, we firmly believe, sanctioned by enlightened humanity
toward the ill-fated class to whom we allude. They can never have the
respect and intercourse here which are essential to rational
happiness, and social enjoyment and improvement. But in other lands
they may become an orderly, sober, industrious, moral, enlightened and
christian community; and be the happy instruments of planting and
diffusing those blessings over a barbarous and benighted continent.
"Your petitioners will not designate a plan of legislative
operation--they leave to the wisdom and provident forecast of the
General Assembly, the conception and the prosecution of the best
practicable scheme--but they would respectfully and earnestly ask that
the action of the laws passed to this effect be decisive, and the
means energetic--such as shall, with as much speed as may be, free our
country from this bane of its prosperity, morality and peace."--_The
Richmond Enquirer_, Oct. 21, 1831.
[23] _The Journal of the House of Delegates_, 1831, pp. 1-123.
[24] _The Journal of the House of Delegates_, 1831, pp. 41, 56, 119.
[25] _Ibid._, 1831, p. 93.
[26] _The Journal of the House of Delegates_, 1831, p. 93.
[27] _Ibid._, p. 93.
[28] _Ibid._, p. 125.
[29] _The Richmond Enquirer_, Jan. 7, 1832.
[30] Drewry, _The Southampton Insurrection_, p. 165.
[31] _The Richmond Enquirer_, Dec. 17, 1831.
[32] _Ibid._, Nov. 18, 1831.
[33] _The Journal of the House of Delegates_, 1831, p. 110.
[34] Before the insurrection free men of color voted in North Carolina
and at least one well-authenticated case exists of a colored voter in
Virginia prior to 1830. A native of Virginia long a resident of
Massachusetts is an authority for the statement that the facilities
for higher education of the Negro were quite as good in Richmond as in
Boston at that time. There was published in a paper of the time an
account of the celebration of the anniversary of the Declaration of
Independence, July 4, 1827, by the free people of color of the city of
Fredericksburg, Virginia. The orator of the day was Isaac N. Carey.
In North Carolina John Chavis, a Negro, rose to such excellence as a
teacher of white youth that he is pronounced in a biographical sketch,
contained in a history of education in that State, published by the
United States Bureau of Education, as one of the most eminent men
produced by that State. Though an unmistakable Negro, as a preacher he
acceptably filled many a white pulpit and was welcomed as a social
guest at many a fireside. Such was the bitterness against the race
growing out of Nat Turner's Insurrection, however, that even such a
man fell under the ban of proscription.
One of the preachers to whom Governor Floyd had reference quietly
ignored the suggestion in the message of his Excellency and kept up
his work. He was a Baptist preacher, William Carney, the grandfather
of the famous Sergeant William H. Carney, of the 54th Massachusetts
Regiment. At the same time a daughter of his and a Methodist in a
neighboring town "bearded the lion in his den" by actually collaring
and driving out the leader of a party of white men who broke into a
Negro religious meeting.
[35] _The Richmond Enquirer_, Jan. 11, 1839.
[36] _Ibid._, Jan. 11, 1839.
[37] _Ibid._, Jan. 19, 1832.
[38] _Ibid._, Jan. 24, 1832.
[39] _The Richmond Enquirer_, Jan. 25, 1832.
[40] _Ibid._, Jan. 26, 1832.
[41] _The Richmond Enquirer_, Jan. 27, 1832.
[42] _Ibid._, Nov. 18, 1831.
[43] _The Journal of the House of Delegates_, 1831, p. 10.
[44] _Ibid._, p. 112.
[45] _Ibid._, 1831, p. 125.
[46] _Ibid._, 1831, p. 131.
[47] _The Richmond Enquirer_, Jan. and Feb., 1832.
[48] _The Journal of the House of Delegates_, 1831, Appendix, Bill No.
7.
[49] _Ibid._, Bill No. 13.
[50] Hurd, _Law of Freedom and Bondage_, II, 9.
[51] _The Laws of Maryland_, 1831-32, c. 281.
[52] _Ibid._, c. 328.
[53] See Article IV, Sec. 1.
[54] Revised Code of Maryland, Chap. 52 and 237.7
[55] _The Laws of Tenn._, 1831, Chaps. 102 and 103.
[56] Cobb's _Digest of the Laws of Georgia_, 1005.
[57] _Revised Statutes of North Carolina_, c. 109 and 111.
[58] Hurd, _Law of Freedom and Bondage_, II, 146.
[59] _Ibid._, II, 162.
[60] _Laws of Louisiana_, 1830, p. 90, Sec. 1.
[61] _Annual Laws of Alabama_, 1832, p. 12.
DOCUMENTS
The publication of the list of names of Negroes who served in some of
the Reconstruction conventions and legislatures elicited a number of
comments which furnish desirable information. It is earnestly hoped
that any one in a position to supply other missing information will
follow the example of our friends whose correspondence we give below.
February 24th, 1920.
MR. CARTER G. WOODSON,
1216 You St., N.W.,
Washington, D.C.
_Sir_:
In the _Journal of Negro History_ for Jan., 1920, in giving the
names of Negroes who were members of the reconstruction
convention to frame a constitution for North Carolina in 1867-68,
you omit Cumberland county. Permit me to say that the late Bishop
James W. Hood represented that county and played a most prominent
part and afterward became Ass't Superintendent of Public
Instruction of the State. I was a boy at the time but I remember
it. That you may know that I am not an adventurer, I enclose you
a sketch of myself which was prepared by request for other
purposes and show that I speak somewhat from authority. You will
kindly return the same. At the same time you are at liberty to
use any part of it that may suit your purpose should you so
desire.
With very great respect, I am
Respectfully,
(Signed) GEO. C. SCURLOCK
The sketch of this participant in the Reconstruction follows:
Mr. George C. Scurlock, from the year 1874 was a prominent figure
in the Republican party in North Carolina. In the year above
stated, when he had barely reached his majority, he was nominated
for member of the Board of Education, at a time when all the
schools, white and colored, were under the same board. His
opponent was one of the most prominent Democrats in the city and
a majority of the electorate was white. So popular was Mr.
Scurlock that he defeated his Democratic opponent at the polls by
a handsome majority and served out his term to the satisfaction
of his constituents.
In 1876 he was a delegate to the State Convention that nominated
the late Judge Settle for Governor and canvassed the State for
him. He was again a delegate to the State Convention in each
succeeding four years up to and including the year 1896. In the
latter year he headed the delegation. In the campaign of that
year, at the request of the State Executive Committee, he
canvassed 21 counties in the State for McKinley and Hobart, all
of which were carried for the Republican ticket. So pleased was
the Committee with the canvass he was making, he was highly
commended in letters from the Chairman while still canvassing.
In 1890 he was urged by leading Republicans of his district,
including such men as ex-Governor Brogden, to become the
Republican candidate for Congress. Long before the convention
convened it was evident that he was the strongest man in the
field. When the convention met and was organized, ex-Governor
Brogden took the platform and in a ringing speech paying a high
tribute to the subject of this sketch, placed him in nomination.
Before the end of the roll call of counties his nomination was
made unanimous. In his canvass for election he had the hearty
support of the State organization and many of the leading colored
and white Republicans in and without his district and State. In
1892 he was unanimously chosen as a delegate to the Republican
National Convention, which met in Minneapolis.
As far back as 1883 he was appointed a clerk in one of the
Departments at Washington by Secretary Teller. He held this
position until under a Democratic administration he was for
partisan reasons asked to resign. President Harrison, recognizing
his ability, appointed him Postmaster of his city, Fayetteville.
For more than 20 years he was a leader in the party and so
recognized by the late Judge Buxton and such men as the late
ex-Congressman O. H. Dockery, and Judges Boyd and Pritchard, now
on the bench. Outside his State his ability as an organizer and
canvasser was recognized by Hon. J.S. Clarkson and the late
William E. Chandler and M.S. Quay.
In a letter of April 8, 1919, Bishop N.H. Heard says:
I was born and raised in Elbert County, Georgia (born a slave),
June 25th, 1850. I taught school in '69, 70, '71, and '72. Was a
candidate for the Legislature of Georgia in 1872. Attorney
General Amos J. Ackerman, of Grant's Cabinet, was in the
convention that nominated me, and he canvassed and voted for me.
In 1873 I went to Abbeville County, S.C., and taught '73, '74,
and '75. Was Deputy U.S. Marshall in 1876 and elected to the
South Carolina Legislature.
Mr. M.N. Work has discovered the following:
In the ten years 1876-1886, Negroes were elected to the South
Carolina Legislature as Democrats. The Columbia (South Carolina)
State in its issue of December 24, 1918, advised that an effort
be made to have Negroes enroll in Democratic precinct clubs and
participate in the primaries of the State along with white men.
As a precedent for this, it was pointed out that: "In 1876 when
the Democrats redeemed the State from misrule, they appealed to
the Negroes to join their party, and a minority of Negroes, more
numerous, perhaps than is generally supposed, wore the 'red
shirt.' Many of them did valuable service in behalf of
respectable government. During the ten years following that time,
until the primary election took the place of the convention
system in all but two or three of the counties, the Democratic
Negroes were given political recognition. From Barnwell,
Colleton, Orangeburg, and Charleston Negro Democrats were elected
to the legislature and in a number of counties other Negroes were
elected to such offices as coroner and county commissioner.
"With the extension of the primary system a racial line came to
be drawn in the Democratic organization and it was made very
nearly impossible for a Negro to participate in it. An exception
in the party law provided that Negroes who voted for General
Hampton in 1876 and who continued to vote the Democratic ticket
in succeeding years be allowed to vote in the primaries, but the
rules applying to these cases were in a form so rigid that they
reduced the Negro Democratic vote."[1]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Columbia State, December 24, 1918.
A SUMMARY OF NEGRO MEMBERS OF SOME RECONSTRUCTION LEGISLATURES
[Transcriber's Note: The following two tables were published as
one large, wide table. They have been split into two tables, with
the first column repeated, for clearer presentation in this
e-book.]
=============+==============+==============+==============+
| 1868-69 | 1870-71 | 1871-72 |
+--------------+--------------+--------------+
|Whites|Negroes|Whites|Negroes|Whites|Negroes|
-------------+------+-------+------+-------+------+-------+
Alabama | | | | | | |
Senate | 32 | 1 | 29 | 4 | 29 | 4 |
House | 74 | 26 | 73 | 27 | 86 | 14 |
Arkansas | | | | | | |
Senate | 23 | 1 | 22 | 2 | .. | .. |
House | 73 | 7 | 71 | 9 | .. | .. |
Georgia | | | | | | |
Senate | 41 | 3 | 42 | 2 | .. | .. |
House | 145 | 30 | 149 | 26 | .. | .. |
Mississippi | | | | | | |
Senate | .. | .. | 29 | 4 | .. | .. |
House | .. | .. | 77 | 30 | 76 | 39 |
N. Carolina | | | | | | |
Senate | 47 | 3 | 47 | 9 | 45 | 5 |
House | 102 | 18 | 101 | 1 | 108 | 12 |
S. Carolina | | | | | | |
Senate | 24 | 9 | 22 | 11 | .. | .. |
House | 48 | 76 | 49 | 75 | .. | .. |
Texas | | | | | | |
Senate | .. | .. | 28 | 2 | .. | .. |
House | .. | .. | 82 | 8 | .. | .. |
Virginia | | | | | | |
Senate | .. | .. | .. | | .. | .. |
House | 119 | 18 | 116 | 21 | .. | .. |
-------------+------+-------+------+-------+------+-------+
=============+==============+==============+==============+
| 1873-74 | 1874-75 | 1876 |
+--------------+--------------+--------------+
|Whites|Negroes|Whites|Negroes|Whites|Negroes|
-------------+------+-------+------+-------+------+-------+
Alabama | | | | | | |
Senate | 29 | 4 | 27 | 6 | 27 | 6 |
House | 73 | 27 | 71 | 29 | 77 | 23 |
Arkansas | | | | | | |
Senate | 22 | 2 | .. | .. | .. | .. |
House | 71 | 9 | .. | .. | .. | .. |
Georgia | | | | | | |
Senate | .. | .. | .. | .. | | .. |
House | .. | .. | .. | .. | | .. |
Mississippi | | | | | | |
Senate | 28 | 9 | .. | .. | 32 | 5 |
House | 60 | 55 | .. | .. | 100 | 16 |
N. Carolina | | | | | | |
Senate | 46 | 4 | 46 | 4 | .. | |
House | 107 | 13 | 107 | 13 | 113 | 7 |
S. Carolina | | | | | | |
Senate | .. | .. | .. | .. | | .. |
House | .. | .. | .. | .. | 70 | 54 |
Texas | | | | | | |
Senate | .. | .. | .. | .. | | .. |
House | .. | .. | .. | .. | | .. |
Virginia | | | | | | |
Senate | 37 | 3 | 37 | 3 | 37 | 3 |
House | 115 | 17 | 112 | 17 | 112 | 13 |
-------------+------+-------+------+-------+------+-------+
There were Negro members of the North Carolina legislature to 1899 and
of the Virginia legislature to 1891 as follows:
_North Carolina_ _Virginia_
Senators Representatives Senator Representatives
1879 2 6 1876-77 3 12
1881 1 4 1877-78 3 4
1883 3 5 1878-79 3 4
1885 2 2 1883-84 3 8
1887 3 3 1884-85 1 7
1889 2 1885-86 1 1
1891 1 1886-87 1 1
1893 1 1887-88 1 7
1895 1 1888-89 1 7
1897 1 1889-90 1 4
1899 1 1 1890-91 1 3
SPEECH OF WILLIAM H. GRAY BEFORE THE ARKANSAS CONSTITUTIONAL
CONVENTION, 1868[1]
William H. Gray, a Negro, and delegate to the convention from Phillips
County, rose and spoke as follows:
"It appears to me, the gentleman has read the history of his
country to little purpose. When the Constitution was framed, in
every State but South Carolina free Negroes were allowed to vote.
Under British rule this class was free, and he interpreted that
'we the people' in the preamble of the Constitution, meant all
the people of every color. The mistake of that period was that
these free Negroes were not represented _in propria persona_ in
that constitutional convention, but by the Anglo-Saxon. Congress
is now correcting that mistake. The right of franchise is due the
Negroes bought by the blood of forty thousand of their race shed
in three wars. The troubles now on the country are the result of
the bad exercise of the elective franchise by unintelligent
whites, the 'poor whites' of the South. I could duplicate every
Negro who cannot read and write, whose name is on the list of
registered voters, with a white man equally ignorant. The
gentleman can claim to be a friend of the Negro, but I do not
desire to be looked upon in the light of a client. The Government
has made a solemn covenant with the Negro to vest him with the
right of franchise if he would throw his weight in the balance in
favor of the Union and bare his breast to the storm of bullets;
and I am convinced that it would not go back on itself. There are
thirty-two million whites to four million blacks in the country,
and there need be no fear of Negro domination. The State laws do
not protect the Negro in his rights, as they forbade their
entrance into the State. (Action of loyal convention of '64). I
am not willing to trust the rights of my people with the white
men, as they have not preserved those of their own race, in
neglecting to provide them with the means of education. The
Declaration of Independence declared all men born free and equal,
and I demand the enforcement of that guarantee made to my
forefathers, to every one of each race, who had fought for it.
The constitution which this ordinance would reenact it not
satisfactory, as it is blurred all over with the word 'white.'
Under it one hundred and eleven thousand beings who live in the
State have no rights which white men are bound to respect. My
people might be ignorant, but I believe, with Jefferson, that
ignorance is no measure of a man's rights. Slavery has been
abolished, but it left my people in a condition of peonage or
caste worse than slavery, which had its humane masters. White
people should look to their own ancestry; they should recollect
that women were disposed of on the James River, in the early
settlement of the country, as wives, at the price of two hundred
pounds of tobacco. When we have had eight hundred years as the
whites to enlighten ourselves, it will be time enough to
pronounce them incapable of civilization and enlightenment. The
last election showed that they were intelligent enough to vote in
a solid mass with the party that would give them their rights,
and that too in face of the influence of the intelligence and
wealth of the State, and in face of threats to take the bread
from their very mouths. I have no antipathy toward the whites; I
would drop the curtain of oblivion on the sod which contains the
bones of my oppressed and wronged ancestors for two hundred and
fifty years. Give us the franchise, and if we do not exercise it
properly, you have the numbers to take it away from us. It would
be impossible for the Negro to get justice in a State whereof he
was not a full citizen. The prejudice of the entire court would
be against him. I do not expect the Negro to take possession of
the government; I want the franchise given him as an incentive to
work to educate his children. I do not desire to discuss the
question of the inferiority of races. Unpleasant truths must then
be told; history tells us of your white ancestors who lived on
the acorns which dropped from the oaks of Didona, and then
worshipped the tree as a God. I call upon all men who would see
justice done, to meet this question fairly, and fear not to
record their votes."
In the session of January 29th, he said:
"Negroes vote in Ohio and Massachusetts, and in the latter State
are elected to high office by rich men. He had found more
prejudice against his race among the Yankees; and if they did him
a kind act, they did not seem to do it with the generous spirit
of Southern men. He could get nearer the latter; he had been
raised with them. He was the sorrier on this account that they
had refused him the rights which would make him a man, as the
former were willing to do. He wanted this a white man's
government, and wanted them to do the legislating as they had the
intelligence and wealth; but he wanted the power to protect
himself against unfriendly legislation. Justice should be like
the Egyptian statue, blind and recognizing no color."
Concerning intermarriage between whites and Negroes, Mr. Bradley, a
delegate to the convention, having offered to insert in the
constitution, a clause "forbidding matrimony between a white person
and a person of African descent," on which point nearly all of the
members spoke pro and con in that and the following days, Mr. Gray
said:
"It was seldom such outrages were committed at the North, where
there are no constitutional provisions of the kind proposed. He
saw no necessity of inserting any in the present constitution. As
for his people, their condition now would not permit any such
marriages. If it was proposed to insert a provision of the kind,
he would move to amend by making it an offence punishable with
death for a white man to cohabit with a Negro woman." At another
time he observed on the same subject, that "there was no danger
of intermarriage, as the greatest minds had pronounced it
abhorrent to nature. The provision would not cover the case, as
the laws must subsequently define who is a Negro; and he referred
to the law of North Carolina, declaring persons Negroes who have
only one-sixteenth of Negro blood. White men had created the
difficulty, and it would not be impossible to draw the line which
the gentleman desired established."
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Annual Cyclopedia, 1868, pp. 34-35.
Mr. Monroe N. Work, who compiled the records of the Negro in politics
during the Reconstruction period, has received the following
interesting letters containing some valuable facts:
1425 MCCULLOH ST., BALTIMORE, MD., Feb. 9, 1920.
_My dear Mr. Work_:
Referring to the "Journal of Negro History" for Jan., 1920, in
the letter of the State Librarian of Virginia, page 119, occur
these words: "_For the 1881-2 session the almanac has no list of
members._"
It so happens that the writer was present, and was an employee of
that particular session of the Virginia Legislature, and
therefore takes pleasure in supplying the necessary information.
The speaker of the House of Representatives was the Hon. I.C.
Fowler, and the President protem (the Lieutenant Governor, John
F. Lewis, being President) of the Senate was the Hon. H.C. Wood.
The Governor of the State at that time was the Hon. William E.
Cameron, from my home town, Petersburg. It was quite a memorable
session, and I could almost write a book, with respect to matters
as they pertained to the Negro. The Hon. William Mahone was
United States Senator, and although a boy, I was much trusted by
Senator Mahone; and in many important conferences held in the old
"Whig" building, I was quite active in helping to prevent none
but "the faithful" from entering.
Upon the assembling of the Legislature, I was appointed one of
the six pages in the House. The other five were white boys. Very
soon afterwards, I was promoted to the postmastership of the
House. On the Senate side, there were two colored boys as pages,
a son of ex-Senator Moseley of Goochland Co., and a son of the
late R.G.L. Paige, representative from Norfolk county.
There were three colored men in the Senate Chamber, and two of
them were really able and scholarly men, and were among the
leading debaters in that chamber. One was Dr. Dan Norton, from
the Yorktown District, another was Senator William N. Stevens,
representing the senatorial district of Sussex and Greensville
counties. Senator Stevens was a speaker of much elegance and
grace, and was always listened to with respect and admiration.
Then there was Senator J. Richard Jones, representing Charlotte
and Mecklenburg counties.
In the Lower House, there were thirteen colored representatives;
the names of two I can not just recall, but the others I will
mention.
Norfolk county, R.G.L. Paige.
Princess Anne county, Littleton Owens.
York county, Robert Norton.
City of Petersburg, Armstead Green.
Dinwiddie county, Alfred W. Harris.
Powhatan county, Neverson Lewis.
Brunswick county, Guy Powell.
Cumberland county, Shed Dungee.
Prince Edward county, Batt Greggs.
Amelia and Nottoway, Archie Scott.
Mecklenburg county, Ross Hamilton.
Paige and Harris were thoroughly educated men, while Ross
Hamilton possessing only limited literary qualifications, was a
most remarkable man, and one of the parliamentary authorities of
that body. In the preceding session, of which Hamilton was a
member, he got to himself great fame by the introduction of the
measure known and referred to as the "Ross Hamilton bill." It
had to do with the settlement of the Virginia debt, the great
issue on which Mahone rode into power.
Paige and Harris were among the principal leaders of the House,
and certainly, few were the men in that house whether democrats
or republicans, who could outrank them in oratory or public
debate.
Mr. Harris introduced the measure which provided for the present
state Normal school, at Petersburg, carrying with it an
appropriation of one hundred thousand dollars. I had the great
pleasure of bearing the bill to the Speaker's desk.
During the session of this Legislature two colored men were given
clerkships at the capitol: young Bob Norton, whose father
represented York, in that body, was given a place in the General
Land Office, while Richard De Baptist, of Mecklenburg county, was
given a desk in the 2nd Auditor's office. A white physician, Dr.
David F. May, of Petersburg, was made Superintendent of the
Central Lunatic Asylum, for colored people, his two assistants
being colored physicians, Dr. J.C. Ferguson, of Richmond, and Dr.
R.F. Tancil, of Alexandria. A number of colored men were put on
as guards at the State Penitentiary. Capt. R.A. Paul, of
Richmond, was made private messenger to the Governor. So numerous
were the places filled by colored men, that that particular
period, and the one that followed, have been indicated in the
phrase, having a political bearing: "When they lived, they lived
in clover: but, when they died, they died all over."
Those were thrilling times. I remember, a year or two later, when
I had just become of age, I was elected a delegate to the State
Convention, which was held in the old Richmond Theater on Broad
St. There were over thirteen hundred delegates, only about a
fifth being colored. The writer was elected the first assistant
secretary of that gathering. That convention marked the passing
of the "re-adjuster" party into the Republican, and, under the
dominance of Senator Mahone, the slogan of the Convention was,
"We are for Arthur, because Arthur is for us." I hope that what I
have thus very hurriedly written may prove of some value to you
in the preservation of the annals of Virginia as respects the
black man.
Respectfully yours,
(Signed) GEORGE FREEMAN BRAGG, JR.
P.S. I want to correct a statement. There were two of us in the
Lower House. Clinton Paige, and myself, were in the lower
chamber, and Moseley on the Senate side. I began my first work of
the ministry in Norfolk in 1887, and about that time the Hon.
R.G.L. Paige was appointed Postmaster of Norfolk City. He really
ran the office. I have spent many a pleasant moment with him in
his office there. It will be interesting to state just here, that
"Dick" Paige made his escape from Norfolk by way of the Under
Ground Railroad, only a little fellow of nine or ten years of
age, secreting himself in a vessel leaving that port. He was
educated in Boston. After the civil war he returned to Norfolk.
Round about the same time that I took charge in Norfolk, John C.
Asbury, now of Philadelphia, was practising law in Norfolk Co.
and city. Norfolk county is one of the largest and richest
counties in the State. Asbury was elected by the voters of that
county Prosecuting Attorney, and to my own knowledge, he most
acceptably filled the office during the term of four years, I
think, for which he was elected. He was recognized as one of the
able political leaders of that section. Captain Fields was
elected and served as Commonwealth's Attorney of Newport News and
Warwick county. Rev. J. M. Dawson was the county treasurer where
the ancient capital Williamsburg is situated, while a Mr.
Mitchell, for a number of years was the Collector of Customs for
the historic port of Yorktown.
(Signed) G. F. B., Jr.
Phone 4512
E.W. SHERMAN, _Vice President_
Guaranty Mutual Life & Health Insurance Co.
774 E. Waldburg St., Savannah, Ga.
Feb. 8th, 1920.
PROF. MONROE N. WORK,
Tuskegee, Ala.
_My dear Mr. Work_:
I have perused with considerable interest your review of the
political history of the Reconstruction period. I have gotten
from the review quite a bit of useful information. In my opinion,
this particular part of your research work should be in the hands
of every Negro in America that every Negro child might know
something of the early exploits of colored men.
As a pointer for further work I want to state that succeeding
Phil. Joiner of Dougherty County, Georgia, Ishmael London
represented that county. J.H. Watson of Albany could furnish
detail information. Jack Horne of Pulaski County was Clerk of the
Court of Pulaski County and Richard White was Clerk of Chatham
County Court during the period under discussion. Mrs. Hannah
Benefield or Mr. Edward Cary of Hawkinsville will give authentic
information regarding the former and P.A. Denegall will furnish
information regarding "Dick" White.
We are pleased to follow you in your statistical ramblings
because we love to connect you with us here and to recall your
presence among us. We cherish very deeply your memory and applaud
your efforts for racial uplift.
The madam joins me in wishing for you a long and useful career--a
happy and prosperous one.
Respectfully,
(Signed) E. W. SHERMAN.
February 14, 1920.
MR. J. H. WATSON,
Albany, Georgia.
_Dear Sir_:
As you may already know, I have been for a considerable time
collecting information about the colored persons who were members
of State Legislatures during the reconstruction period. A list of
these members as far as I have been able to collect them was
published in the January number of the "Journal of Negro
History."
Mr. E.W. Sherman of Savannah, Georgia, after reading my article,
wrote to me that Phil Joiner, Dougherty County, was succeeded by
Ishmael London. He stated that you could give me further
information concerning this. Will you not, as Mr. Sherman
suggests, send to me the names of all of the colored men whom you
know to have represented Dougherty County in the Georgia
Legislature and as near as you can, the date that they were
members of the Legislature.
Thanking you in advance for your courtesy and appreciating an
early reply, I am
Yours very truly,
M. N. WORK,
_Editor Negro Year Book._
ALBANY, GEORGIA.
February 21, 1920.
PROF. MONROE WORK,
Tuskegee Inst.,
Tuskegee, Ala.
_Dear Sir:_--
Replying to your letter of the 14th inst., I beg to state that I
cannot give you the dates as I was quite a boy and do not
remember, but Phil Joiner served one term, was followed by Israel
London, who served two terms, and who was followed by Howard
Bunts, who served one term. In Thomas County, Rev. Jack Carter
was a member, but I do not remember the dates.
Yours very truly,
Signed--
J.H. WATSON.
CARNEGIE PUBLIC LIBRARY
P. A. Denegall, Librarian
Savannah, Georgia.
February 24, 1920.
PROF. MONROE WORK,
Tuskegee, Alabama.
_Dear Sir:_
I am in receipt of yours of 14th inst., seeking information
relative to the occupancy of the clerkship of Chatham Superior
Court, by the late Richard W. White, during reconstruction
period.
In reply I beg to say, that at the period, about which you desire
information, I was too young a boy to have any adequate or
understanding knowledge of the political affairs or status of
that period, so that I have no first hand knowledge of the matter
upon which you desire information. All I know about the late Mr.
White's clerkship is only what I gleaned in conversation with my
father, and as he paid no special attention to dates, simply
telling me of things taking place during reconstruction, I have
only by that means, knowledge of some things without the dates of
their occurance.
I am very sorry I cannot give you the information you desire, I
should be glad to do so if I could.
May I add that I have read your article in the January "_Journal
of Negro History_" on "Some Negro members of reconstruction
conventions and legislatures." I note that the name of the late
Prof. John McIntosh, late principal of Mape St. School of this
city is omitted from the list of colored members of Georgia
legislature. He was a member of the Georgia House of
Representatives, representing Liberty County in the "80's" a few
years after his graduation from Atlanta University. As far as I
know he was the most thoroughly educated colored man to have had
the privilege of being a member of the Georgia Legislature. I
knew him intimately. We were pupils at Beach Institute, this city
at the same time, later fellow students at Atlanta University.
Again regretting that I am not able to give the desired
information, I am
Very truly yours,
Signed--
P. A. DENEGALL.
SAYBROOK, CONN.
February 14, 1920.
MR. MONROE N. WORK,
Tuskegee Institute
Alabama.
_My dear Sir_:
I have read with keen interest the facts presented by you in the
Journal of Negro History for January 1920 on "Some Negro Members
of Reconstruction Conventions etc."
I have known intimately Gen. Samuel Smalls and his family in
Beaufort, S.C. and Miss Olive Rainey and her mother, daughter and
wife of Joseph H. Rainey; Miss Mamie Hayne of S.C. daughter of
Henry E. Hayne.
One daughter of Gen. Smalls still lives in the paternal home in
Beaufort, where are the books and personal possessions of her
distinguished father. She was companion and house-keeper for him
in his late years; she is doubtless able to furnish much valuable
information.
Brothers of Henry E. Hayne still live, though they do not
identify themselves with the Negro race. The daughter does,
however, and has friends of her father's generation who could
help in building up a Hayne's history.
Among the relatives is the mother of my husband and a large
family of relatives, the older ones of whom lived thro'
Reconstruction Days in South Carolina.
Miss Rainey and her mother live in Springfield, Massachusetts.
My own family on the maternal side is descended from George
Houston, member of the Alabama Legislature 1868-70.
I have long felt that the last opportunity to collect data
concerning this interesting period in our history, is while this
present generation lives; the next generation will have no
interest in it.
If I can assist you in collecting facts from these people who
knew intimately the men of whom you write, I should be glad to do
so.
I feel that the best way to do this would be for you to send me a
set of questionnaires which I might send to these friends with
letters.
I am trying thro' the Department of Archives and History of
Alabama and the Congressional Library to locate material which
will illuminate the life of George Houston.
If what I have written is of interest to you, then I am glad that
I have written. And can I be of assistance, I shall be glad to
make further contribution if possible.
Sincerely,
(Signed) HELEN JAMES CHISHOLM,
MRS. FRANK P. CHISHOLM.
CORRESPONDENCE
The following letter written primarily to correct certain errors has
been productive of much good in bringing to light a number of facts
which the public should know:
140 COTTAGE STREET, NEW HAVEN, CONN., February 23, 1920.
DR. CARTER G. WOODSON,
1216 You Street, Washington.
_My dear Dr. Woodson:_
I find the latest number of your _Journal_ most interesting and
permanently valuable, like those that have preceded. I think that
the publication is gaining a position in its particular field
which promises to make it an accepted authority on historical
questions. This makes it the more essential for manifest errors
to be carefully guarded against and eliminated from contributed
articles.
I observe on page 5 the designation "Tillston College" of The
American Missionary Association; the correct name is Tillotson
College, for the institution at Austin, Texas. The footnote gives
_Brawley_ as authority. I do not have this book at hand but have
a suspicion that the erroneous spelling is found there also.
Another statement in the same article which seems to me erroneous
in a more serious matter is found at the bottom of page 4, where
it is assumed that in 1863 "only 5 per cent of the Negro
population was literate." In your book on _The Education of the
Negro Prior to 1861_ you have stated very solid reasons for
believing 10 per cent to be about the right estimate. This
accords also with the U.S. Census figures of 1870, set forth in a
table of which I sent you a copy. Is it not a matter of vital
significance to our American history which of these statements is
to be accepted? Yesterday I saw posted on the wall of a New Haven
church the statement of _5 per cent_. It used to be considered
allowable to make wild statements on this subject when presenting
the claims of Southern education. Indeed I have known the
statement to be made in such a connection, that _none_ of the
Negroes could read or write before the war. I yield to no one in
my estimate of the importance of the work of Northern teachers
and Northern schools in the education of the colored people. But
their value is not magnified by such exaggerated and reckless
over-statement. Rather is it brought under serious question and
damaging suspicion.
You have done and are still doing most valuable work in the
interest of historical accuracy, and to clear away the fogs of
misconstruction and misapprehension concerning the Negro people
which have prevailed for at least a hundred years. I could wish
that you might see your way as an editor to insist on alteration
in a manuscript containing such a misstatement, or at least add
an editorial comment on the point.
Wishing for your _Journal_ continued and increasing circulation
and popular support, I remain,
Faithfully, yours,
G. S. DICKERMAN.
The editor made the following reply:
February 28 1920.
DR. G. S. DICKERMAN,
140 Cottage Street,
New Haven, Conn.
_My dear Dr. Dickerman:_
I have your interesting letter in which you make a strong plea
for accuracy in the writing of history that the Negro may receive
justice at the hands of those represented as treating the records
of the race scientifically. You insist that, prior to the
emancipation of the race, more than five per cent of the Negro
population was literate, and refer to my _Education of the Negro
Prior to 1861_ to support you in that statement. You must
observe, however, that I maintain that ten per cent of the adult
Negroes had the rudiments of education. It might, therefore, be
possible for some one to prove that less than ten per cent of the
whole Negro population was at that time able to read and write.
Thanking you for your interest in this work, I am
Yours very truly,
C. G. WOODSON,
_Director_.
The tables to which Dr. Dickerman refers were sent to the editor with
a letter, both of which follow:
140 COTTAGE STREET, NEW HAVEN, CONN., July 14, 1917.
DR. CARTER G. WOODSON,
1216 You Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C.
_Dear Dr. Woodson:_
In preparing a chapter on The History of Negro Education for Dr.
Jones, of the Phelps Stokes Foundation, I made a study of the
Ninth Census and prepared a table of figures which I suggested
for publication in a foot note. But my manuscript was so long
that it was thought best to eliminate about a third of it and
this table with much besides.
I have therefore thrown this Census study into form for
publication in an article by itself. If you like you may have it
for _Journal of Negro History_. Of course the Census is not
infallible and the Ninth Census has been especially charged with
inaccuracy. But it certainly has some meaning, and I think the
confirmation of your conclusions is worth noticing.
If you do not wish to use the article please return it to the
above address.
Very truly yours,
G. S. DICKERMAN.
THE NINTH CENSUS ON NEGRO ILLITERACY
The treatise of Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson on _The Education of the
Negro Prior to 1861_ offers an impressive array of evidence to
show that there were many more Negroes than have usually been
supposed who had some literary knowledge while still under
slavery. Other evidence bearing on a subject of so great
importance cannot but have interest for historians of that period.
Some of the statistics in the United States Census of 1870 are in
point: Figures are there given for the colored men of voting age,
that is for those over 21, who were unable to read and write.
There are also given the total numbers of colored men of voting
age in the several States. Subtracting the former from the latter
will then give the number of those able to read and write. The
results appear in the table presented below:
COLORED MALES 21 YEARS OF AGE AND UPWARD IN 1870; WITH REFERENCE
TO THEIR ABILITY TO WRITE
=====================+===========+===========+=========+==========
| | Unable to | Able to | Per Cent
| Total | Write | Write | Able
---------------------+-----------+-----------+---------+----------
United States | 1,032,475 | 862,243 | 170,232 | 16.5
Southern States | 932,612 | 820,670 | 111,942 | 12.0
All other states | 99,863 | 41,573 | 58,290 | 58.4
---------------------+-----------+-----------+---------+----------
Alabama | 97,823 | 91,017 | 6,806 | 6.9
Arkansas | 26,789 | 23,681 | 3,108 | 11.6
District of Columbia | 10,143 | 7,599 | 2,544 | 25.1
Florida | 18,842 | 16,806 | 2,036 | 10.8
Georgia | 107,962 | 100,551 | 7,411 | 6.9
Kentucky | 44,322 | 37,889 | 6,432 | 14.5
Louisiana | 86,911 | 76,612 | 10,301 | 11.7
Maryland | 39,123 | 27,123 | 11,997 | 30.6
Mississippi | 89,920 | 80,810 | 9,116 | 10.1
Missouri | 23,886 | 18,002 | 5,880 | 24.6
North Carolina | 78,012 | 68,669 | 9,350 | 12.0
South Carolina | 85,475 | 70,830 | 14,645 | 17.1
Tennessee | 64,131 | 55,938 | 8,193 | 12.8
Texas | 51,575 | 47,235 | 4,340 | 8.4
Virginia | 107,691 | 97,908 | 9,783 | 9.1
---------------------+-----------+-----------+---------+----------
This Census gives the figures for women of color over 21 years of
age who were unable to write; but not the whole number of women of
color over 21. If however we assume the proportion of all Negro
males to all Negro females to hold the same for those over 21 we
arrive at the conclusion that the whole number of women of color
over 21 was 1,072,847 for the United States; of whom 946,332 were
unable to write and 126,515 were able. That is, in 1870, there
were approximately 126,515 women of color of 21 years of age and
upward who were able to read and write. This number added to the
170,232, found for the number of literate men, gives a total of
296,747 Negroes of 21 years of age and upward who were able to
read and write; which is 14 per cent of the whole number. There
must have been a considerable increase between 1863 and 1870, but
one can hardly suppose it to have been over 4 per cent, or 84,212,
which substantiates the estimate of about 10 per cent of the
Negroes as able to read and write at the date of emancipation. We
may suppose that the number of those who were able to read, but
did not add to this the accomplishment of writing, must have been
much larger.
The existence of so large a body of Negroes who already had the
rudiments of an education goes far to account for the rapid growth
of schools as soon as the Negroes were made free, and especially
for that eagerness that was shown for advanced learning which
made an almost immediate demand for secondary schools and colleges
at the more important centers of population throughout the South.
The people had received, in some way or other, a love of education
and a start in obtaining it under the old slave system, so that
when the new chance came they were ready to make a good use of it.
G. S. DICKERMAN.
BOOK REVIEWS
_The Centennial History of Illinois, Volume III. The Era of the
Civil War 1848-1870._ By ARTHUR CHARLES COLE. The Illinois
Centennial Commission, Springfield, Illinois, 1919.
This volume of this work deals with the period of the most dramatic
history of the State. After discussing the frontier and the rise of
railroads, the author directs his attention to the agitation and
compromise of 1850, the origin of the Republican party, the
Lincoln-Douglass Debates, the election of 1860, the appeal to arms,
the war in Illinois, new abolitionists and copperheads, and the war in
its relation to agriculture and the industrial revolution. The book is
illustrated with such portraits as those of Abraham Lincoln, Stephen
A. Douglass, Lyman Trumbull and Richard Yates. There are maps showing
the foreign-born population in 1860, the presidential election in
1848, the vote for treasurer in 1854, the vote for congressmen in
1858, the vote on the constitution in 1862, the vote for
congressmen-at-large in 1860, and the presidential election in 1868.
The volume closes with an adequate bibliography and a useful index.
As a book on the Civil War is not uncommon, one does not ordinarily
expect many things new from such a volume inasmuch as most of them
cover familiar ground. In connecting the history of Illinois with the
national drama of Civil War, however, the author has brought forward
facts which, although belonging to local history, have a national
significance and historians will make use of them, although they will
not agree with him in all of his views. The scientific use which he
has made of the newspaper material of that day is especially
commendable. He has, moreover, shown that this history was as economic
as political. Good farms and roads figured as conspicuously as
efficient generals and wise statesmen.
There is some mention of the Negro as a human element. Sympathy for
the race, "whether the southern slave or the northern victim of the
black laws, was aroused by _Uncle Tom's Cabin in 1852_." Thereafter
came the effort to secure for the blacks equal rights before the law
but because of opposition to them in southern Illinois the black code
could not be easily repealed, for race hatred often broke out in
southern towns as in the case of Mound City, which in 1857 undertook
to drive out all Negroes. The author mentions also such strivings of
the Negroes as the efforts of the members of the race in Chicago to
defend their rights by protesting against the oppression through local
indignation meetings and the Colored National Convention in Cleveland
in 1848. Their Chicago Literary Society condemned the Fugitive Slave
Law, they organized to resist colonizationists and kidnappers, and at
the outbreak of the war organized a military force to fight for their
own freedom.
* * * * *
_The National Encyclopedia of the Colored Race._ Volume I. By
CLEMENT RICHARDSON, Editor-in-Chief. The National Publishing
Company, Montgomery, Alabama, 1919.
This is a fair effort at local and national biography with no pretense
to scientific treatment. Some attention is given also to religious and
educational institutions. Apparently almost any one financially able
to aid the enterprise or sufficiently influential to have his sketch
incorporated into the work appears in this volume. One man's
achievements seemed to count for about as much as those of another and
the law of proportion was disregarded. There are farmers, business
men, ministers, physicians, dentists, lawyers and the like, many of
whom are well known and others who have made no impression upon the
world except to complete a course in an institution of learning and to
use the knowledge thus acquired in making a living. The world has
never heard of some of them and they will, of course, thank the editor
for this publicity.
The aim of this work, according to the editor, is to inform and
inspire. He complains that the ordinary work of this kind has merely
had information for its purpose. As the only sure hope the black
American can entertain for immediate notice comes through committing
crime, the editor here endeavors to treat the records of a large
number of Negroes who, because of their color, would never have a
hearing. The aim of the book too is not only to inform the white race
but it is to introduce Negroes to one another. To be properly inspired
they need to be better informed as to what the ambitious members of
the race are doing in their various fields of endeavor. An effort is
made to get away from former biographical works largely given to
eulogy of individuals unduly advertised. The aim seems rather to
idealize the life of obscure men, who have achieved merit in applying
themselves to the ordinary duties of life. Referring to the failure
to treat more extensively the biographical material of the whole race
the editor states that such accounts cannot be secured in many
instances for the reason that, some are indifferent to fame,
experience a shrinking from publicity, or are too busy to give
attention to matters of this kind. The defects of this book, however,
cannot be excused on this ground.
On the whole, the book has a value. It is fairly well printed, is
adequately illustrated, and is readable. Although much of the
information given is not now uninteresting it will in the course of
time serve as a valuable source book.
* * * * *
_The Man Next Door._ By A. B. JACKSON, M.D. Neaula Publishing
Company, Philadelphia, Pa., 1919. Pp. 253.
This is another work on the much mooted question, the Negro problem.
There was in the mind of the author some doubt as to whether or not he
should make an apology for adding another such work to the many
volumes written in this field. Observing, however, that the
discussions of the race problem have in the past done some good as
well as harm, he here endeavors to present an up-to-date discussion
from a new point of view in order to conform with the exigencies of
the day. The aim is to direct special attention to the failure to
recognize the Negro as a human asset with untold economic
possibilities. He believes that the matter of race values and
interdependency of all races must find "a definite and assuredly
positive place in the various policies of any nation which is made up
of several race groups." In one sense the author believes that "racial
conflict, strife and differences inspiring as they do, struggle,
jealousy, and ambition, are essential to the progress of the whole
group of mankind." He insists, however, that struggle should be a
friendly rivalry out of which shall be woven a strong and everlasting
national fabric consistent with impressing and assuring the
perpetuation of the various policies which guarantee national honor
and uplift.
The author believes that the one great hope for the Negro is to make
himself an economic asset to his country. When this is accomplished,
there will be little doubt as to the possibility of his securing full
recognition as a citizen. He does not deplore the presence of
obstacles but rather thinks that the salvation of the race will be in
developing in the midst of this struggle the power to overcome these
obstacles. It is suggested that the discussion of these matters
should be dispassionate and efforts for adjustment should be based
upon reason rather than upon sentiment. To show exactly how this can
be done the author has directed his attention to such questions as
citizenship, and patriotism, the producer and the consumer, the Negro
and his church, and educational assets. The question is further
treated under such captions as race consciousness, health and
economics, tuberculosis a great waste, rent and ownership, and
business development. The book closes with observations on racial
grouping, political status, and the follies of prejudice.
* * * * *
_Darkwater._ By W. E. B. DUBOIS. Harcourt, Brace and Howe, New
York, 1920. Pp. 276.
This work is a collection of essays by the well-known author of _Souls
of Black Folk_, _The Philadelphia Negro_, _The Suppression of the
African Slave Trade_, and _The Negro_. The aim of the work is to show
that the Negro problem is essentially connected with the problem of
work or wages or education and government which, when solved, will
mean also the solution of the race problem. To give his point of view,
the author, therefore, describes his childhood, training, and outlook
on the world as a Negro. To show the "vast emotional content of the
social problem, he has inserted between the chapters, bits of poetry
and fancy which interpret the bewilderment, the disappointment, the
longing and the faith of millions of men. The work ends with a brief
philosophy of duty and death and a story and a hymn looking toward
human unity.
This book, therefore, follows the trend of thought characteristic of
Dr. DuBois. As in the beautifully written essays entitled _Souls of
Black Folk_ he has here put himself forward as a person representative
of millions of black men seriously suffering from social proscription.
Although his contention that the race problem is interwoven with the
economic problems of the country is presented as the reason for
directing more attention to this problem, the author does not treat
the race question from an economic point of view. This has been the
defect of the historical works which Dr. DuBois has written. He is at
best a popular essayist with a bit of poetic genius. In all of his
discussions of the race problem his mind has not as yet been adequate
to the task of scientific treatment of the question. _The Suppression
of the African Slave Trade_ is a literary compilation or digest of
State and national legislation to curb an evil, but it does not
exhibit any relief or a unifying influence. _The Philadelphia Negro_
is an ordinary report on social conditions which a local secretary of
the Urban League could now compile in almost any large city in about
three or six months and his _The Negro_ is merely a summary of a
number of popular works setting forth such history of Africa as a few
travellers have been able to learn from the outside. It is hoped,
therefore, that Dr. DuBois will take his task more seriously that he
may finally write a scholarly economic treatise in this long neglected
field.
NOTES
The next annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Negro Life
and History will convene in Washington, D. C., next November. All
institutions interested in the teaching of Negro life and history will
be invited to send representatives to this meeting to confer as to the
best methods of prosecuting studies in this neglected field. The
session will cover two days to be devoted to addresses by the best
thinkers of the country. The official program will appear within a few
weeks.
* * * * *
The illustrated textbook in Negro history by Dr. C. G. Woodson has
been further delayed by disturbances among the printers. It is hoped
that it will appear before the end of the year.
A. B. Caldwell, of Atlanta, has published Volume III (South Carolina
edition) of what he calls the _History of the American Negro_.
THE JOURNAL
OF
NEGRO HISTORY
VOL. V--JULY, 1920--NO. 3
THE SLAVE IN CANADA
PREFACE
When engaged in a certain historical inquiry, I found occasion to
examine the magnificent collection of the Canadian Archives at Ottawa,
a collection which ought not to be left unexamined by anyone writing
on Canada. In that inquiry I discovered the proceedings in the case of
Chloe Cooley set out in Chapter V of the text. This induced me to make
further researches on the subject of slavery in Upper Canada. The
result was incorporated in a paper, _The Slave in Upper Canada_, read
before the Royal Society of Canada in May 1919, and subsequently
published in the JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY for October, 1919. Some of
the Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada and the editor of the
JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY have asked me to expand the paper. The
present work is the result.
I have spent many happy hours in the Canadian Archives and have read
all and copied most of the documents referred to in this book; but I
cannot omit to thank the officers at Ottawa for their courtesy in
forwarding my labor of love, in furnishing me with copies,
photographic and otherwise, and in unearthing interesting facts. It
will not be considered invidious if I mention William Smith, Esq.,
I.S.O. and Miss Smillie, M.A., as specially helpful. My thanks are
also due to Messrs. Herrington, K.C., of Napanee, F. Landon, M.A., of
London, Mrs. Hallam and Mrs. Seymour Corley of Toronto, General
Cruikshank of Ottawa, the Very Reverend Dean Raymond of Victoria, as
well as to many others of whose labors I have taken advantage. This
general acknowledgment will, I trust, be accepted in lieu of special
and particular acknowledgment from time to time.
The chapter on the Maritime Provinces is almost wholly taken from the
Reverend Dr. T. Watson Smith's paper on _Slavery in Canada_ in the
_Nova Scotia Historical Society's Collections_, Vol. X, Halifax,
1899.
CHAPTER I
BEFORE THE CONQUEST
That slavery existed in Canada before its conquest by Britain in
1759-60, there can be no doubt, although curiously enough it has been
denied by some historians and essayists.[1] The first Negro slave of
which any account is given was brought to Quebec by the English in
1628. He was a young man from Madagascar and was sold in Quebec for 50
half crowns.[2] Sixty years thereafter in 1688, Denonville, the
Governor and DeChampigny, the Intendant of New France, wrote to the
French Secretary of State, complaining of the dearness and scarcity of
labor, agricultural and domestic, and suggesting that the best remedy
would be to have Negro slaves. If His Majesty would agree to that
course, some of the principal inhabitants would have some bought in
the West Indies on the arrival of the Guinea ships. The minister
replied in 1689 in a note giving the King's consent but drawing
attention to the danger of the slaves coming from so different a
climate dying in Canada and thereby rendering the experiment of no
avail.[3]
The Indians were accustomed to make use of slaves, generally if not
universally of those belonging to other tribes: and the French
Canadians frequently bought Indian slaves from the aborigines. These
were called "Panis."[4] It would seem that a very few Indians were
directly enslaved by the inhabitants: but the chief means of acquiring
Panis was purchase from _les sauvages_.
The property in slaves was well recognized in International Law. We
find that in the Treaty of Peace and Neutrality in America signed at
London, November 16, 1686,[5] between the Kings of France and England,
which James II had arranged shortly after attaining the throne,
Article 10 provides that the subjects of neither nation should take
away the savage inhabitants, or their slaves or the goods which the
savages had taken belonging to the subjects of either nation, and that
they should give no assistance or protection to such raids and
pillage. In 1705 it was decided that Negroes in America were
"moveables," meubles, corresponding in substance to what is called
"personal property" in the English law.[6] This decision was on the
_Coutume de Paris_, the law of New France.
The Panis and Negro slaves were not always obedient. Jacques Raudot,
the Intendant, April 13, 1709, made an ordinance on "the Subject of
Negroes and Savages called Panis." In this he recited the advantage
the colony would acquire by certainty of ownership of the savages
called Panis "whose nation is far removed from this country" and that
certainty could only be brought about through the Indians who capture
them in their homes and deal for the most part with the English of
Carolina, but who sometimes in fact sell them to the Canadians who are
often defrauded of considerable sums through an idea of liberty
inspired in the Panis by those who do not buy,[7] so that almost daily
they leave their masters under the pretext that there are no slaves in
France--that is not wholly true since in the islands of this Continent
all the Negroes bought as such are regarded as slaves."
The further recital says that all the colonies should be on the same
footing, and that the Panis were as necessary for the Canadians for
the cultivation of the land and other work as the Negroes were for the
islands, that it was necessary to assure the property in their
purchases those who have bought and those who should buy in the
future. Then comes the enactment "Nous sous le bon plaisir de Sa
Majeste ordonnons, que tous les Panis et Negres qui ont ete achetes et
qui le seront dans la suite, appartiendront en pleine propriete a ceux
qui les ont achetes comme etant leurs esclaves." "We with the consent
of His Majesty enact that all the Panis and Negroes who heretofore
have been or who hereafter shall be bought shall be the absolute
property as their slaves of those who bought them."[8]
This ordinance was not a dead letter. On February 8, 1734, Gilles
Hocquart, the Intendant at Quebec issued an ordinance in which he
recited that in 1732 Captain Joanne of the Navy brought a Carib slave
of his to Canada and employed him as a sailor; that he had deserted
when Captain Joanne was ready to embark for the West Indies; and that
the master had seen and recognized him a short time theretofore in the
Parish of St. Augustine but on reclaiming him certain evil-disposed
persons had facilitated his escape. The ordinance directed all
captains and officers of the militia to give their assistance to the
master in recovering the Carib slave and forbade all persons to
conceal him or facilitate his escape on pain of fine or worse.[9]
Slavery thereafter tended to expand. The Edict of October 1727
concerning the American islands and colonies and therefore including
Canada in the preamble spoke of the islands and colonies being in a
condition to support a considerable navigation and commerce by the
consumption and trade of Negroes, goods and merchandise, and the
measures taken to furnish the necessary Negroes, goods and
merchandise. It was decreed that only such Negroes, goods, and
merchandise should be received by the islands and colonies as should
be brought in French bottoms. Very explicit and rigid regulations were
made to that end.
Some of these slaves were too vindictive to be good servants. There is
given by Abbe Gosselin in a paper in the _Transactions, Royal Society
of Canada for 1900_, an account of a mutiny of part of the garrison at
Niagara incited by a Panis probably in the service of an officer at
the post. Some of the mutineers were sentenced to death but made their
escape while the Panis, Charles, was sent to Martinique with a request
to the authorities to make him a slave and to take every precaution
that he should not escape to Canada or even to the English colonies. A
female slave of color belonging to Mme. de Francheville who had been
bought in the English Colonies set fire to her mistress' home the
night of the 10-11 April 1734, thus causing a conflagration which
destroyed a part of the city of Montreal. The unfortunate slave was
apprehended and tried for the crime then and for long after a capital
felony. Being found guilty, she was hanged June, 1734.
The increase in the number of slaves made necessary some regulation
concerning their liberation. September 1, 1736, Gilles Hocquart, the
Intendant already mentioned, made an ordinance concerning the
formalities requisite in the enfranchisement of slaves. Reciting that
he had been informed that certain persons in Canada had freed their
slaves without any other formality than verbally giving them their
liberty, and the necessity of fixing in an invariable manner the
status of slaves who should be enfranchised, he ordered that for the
future all enfranchisements should be by notarial act and that all
other attempted enfranchisements should be null and void.
Slaves unable to secure their freedom by legal means, however,
undertook sometimes to effect the same by flight. A royal decree of
July 23, 1745, recited the escape of three male and one female Negro
slaves from the English West India Island of Antigua to the French
Island of Guadeloupe and there sold. There followed a decision of the
Superior Council of Guadeloupe that the proceeds of the sale belonged
to the King of France and Negro slaves belonging to the enemy when
they came into a French colony became at once the property of His
Majesty. To make clear the course to pursue for the future, the decree
declared that Negro slaves who escape from enemy colonies into French
colonies and all they bring with them belong to His Majesty alone in
the same way as enemy ships and goods wrecked on his coasts.
With all of this security the ownership of slaves became common. In
the Registers of the Parish of La Longue Pointe is found the
certificate of the burial, March 13, 1755, of the body of Louise, a
female Negro slave, aged 27 days, the property of M. Deschambault. In
the same Parish is found the certificate of baptism of Marie Judith, a
Panis, about 12 years of age belonging to Sieur Preville of the same
Parish, November 4, 1756. On January 22, 1757, one Constant a Panis
slave of Sieur de Saint Blain, officer of Infantry, is sentenced by de
Monrepos, Lieutenant-Governor civil and criminal in the Jurisdiction
of Montreal,[10] to the pillory in a public place on a market day and
then to perpetual banishment from the jurisdiction.
The conquest of Canada begun at Quebec in 1759 and completed by the
surrender to Amherst of Montreal by de Vaudreuil in 1760 had some
bearing on slavery. One of the Articles of Capitulation, the 47th,
provided that "the Negroes and Panis of both Sexes shall remain in the
possession of the French and Canadians to whom they belong; they shall
be at liberty to keep them in their service in the Colony or to sell
them: and they may also continue to bring them up in the Roman
religion."[11]
Having now reached the end of the French period, it will be well to
say a word as to the rights of the slaves. There is nowhere any
intimation that there was any difference in that regard between the
Negro and the Panis. The treatment of the latter by their fellow
Indians depended upon the individual master. The Panis had no rights
which his Indian master was bound to respect. Remembering the
persistence of customs among uncivilized peoples, one may conclude
that the description given of slavery among the Chinook Indians about
a century later will probably not be far from the mark concerning the
Indians of the earlier time and their slaves.
Paul Kane, the celebrated explorer and artist,[12] in a paper read
before the Canadian Institute[13] in 1857 said: "Slavery is carried on
to a great extent along the North-West Coast and in Vancouver Island
and the Chinooks.... The inhabitants still retain a large number of
slaves. These are usually procured from the Chastay Tribe who live
near the Umqua, a river south of the Columbia emptying into the
Pacific. They are sometimes seized by war-parties but are often bought
from their own people.... Their slavery is of the most abject
description: the Chinook men and women treat them with great severity
and exercise the power of life and death at pleasure."
Kane gives shocking instances of this. He tells of a chief who
sacrificed five slaves to a colossal wooden idol he had set up and
says that the unfortunate slaves were not considered entitled even to
burial but their bodies were cast out to the crows and vultures.
Amongst the French such an extreme of barbarity did not obtain. Their
law was based upon the civil law, that is, the law of Rome, which in
its developed form recognized the slave as a human being. The Roman
world was full of slaves. Not only were there slaves born but debtors
sometimes sold themselves[14] or their children. The criminal might be
enslaved. In early pagan times the slave had no rights. He was a
chattel disposable according to the will of his master who had _jus
vitae necisque_, who could slay, mutilate, scourge at pleasure.[15] In
the course of time this extreme power was restrained. Hadrian forbade
the killing of slaves, Marius allowed the slave to lay an information
against his master. The prefect at Rome and the presidents of the
provinces took cognizance of crimes against the slave; and Constantine
allowed a master to go free on killing his slave in chastisement only
if he used rods or whips, but not if he used sticks, stones or
javelins or tortured him to death.[16] Hard as was his lot, the
unhappy slave had at least some rights in the later civil law, few
and slight as they were, and these he had under the Coutume de Paris,
the law of French Canada.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] For example in Garneau's _Histoire du Canada_ (1st Edit) Vol. 2,
p. 447 after speaking of correspondence of 1688-9 referred to in the
text he says of the answer of the authorities in Paris:
"C'etait assez pour faire echouer une enterprise, qui aurait greffe
sur notre societe la grande et terrible plaie qui paralyse la force
d'une portion si considerable de l'Union Americaine, l'_esclavage_,
cette plaie inconnue sous notre ciel du Nord"--"That was effective to
strand a scheme which would have engrafted upon our society that great
and terrible plague which paralyses the energies of so considerable a
part of the American Union, Slavery, that plague unknown under our
northern sky."
[2] He was sold by David Kertk or Kirke the first English Conqueror of
Quebec. England held her conquest only from 1629 to 1632, if it be
permissible to call Kirke's possession that of England when he was
repudiated by his country.
_Relations des Jesuites_, 1632, p. 12: do. do. 1633, p. 25. Much of
the information which follows concerning slavery in Quebec is taken
from a paper in the _Memoirs of the Historical Society of Montreal_,
1859, _De L'esclavage en Canada_, written by M. Jacques Viger and Sir
L.H. Lafontaine. I have made an independent investigation and am
satisfied that the facts are truly stated. This general acknowledgment
will prevent the necessity of particular reference.
In a local history of Montreal _Memoirs de la Societe Historique de
Montreal_ 1869, p. 200, there is a reference to Panis slaves in
Montreal in 1670.
[3] "Mais il est bon de leur faire remarquer qu'il est a craindre que
ces negres, venant d'un climat si different, no perissent en Canada et
le projet serait alors inutile." "Il est a craindre" that the prospect
of "le projet" being "inutile" was more alarming than that of "ces
negres" perishing in frozen Canada.
[4] The name Pani or Panis, Anglicized into Pawnee, was used generally
in Canada as synonymous with "Indian Slave" because these slaves were
usually taken from the Pawnee tribe. It is held by some that the Panis
were a tribe wholly distinct from the tribe known among the English as
Pawnees--_e.g._, Drake's _History of the Indians of North America_.
Those who would further pursue this matter will find material in the
_Wisconsin Historical Collections_, Vol. XVIII, p. 103 (note); Vigor
and Lafontaine, _L'Esclavage en Canada_ cited above n. 2; _Michigan
Pioneer and Historical Collections_, Vol. XXVII, p. 613 (n); Vol. XXX,
pp. 402, 596; Vol. XXXV, p. 548; Vol. XXXVII, p. 541. From Vol XXX, p.
546, we learn that Dr. Anthon, father of Prof. Anthon of Classical
Text-book fame, had a "Panie Wench" who, when the family had the
smallpox "had them very severe" along with Dr. Anthon's little girl
and his "aeltest boy"--"however they got all safe over it and are not
disfigured." Thwaites, an exceedingly careful writer, in his edition
of _Long's Travels_, Cleveland, 1904, says in a note on page 117;
"Indian Slavery among the French was first practised in the Illinois
Country." He gives no authority and I know of none.
[5] Referred to in Chalmers' _Collection of Treaties between Great
Britain and Other Powers_, London, 1790, p. 328: Pap. Off. B. 25.
[6] We shall see later in this work that by the English law, the
"villein" was real property and in the same case as land: also that
when Parliament came to legislate so as to make lands in the American
Colonies liable for debts, "Negroes" were included in "hereditaments"
and therefore "real estate."
[7] Thus early do we find the Abolitionist getting in his fiendish
work--the enemy of society, of God and man!
[8] This ordinance is quoted (_Mich. Hist. Coll._, XII, p. 511, 517)
and its language ascribed to a (non-existent) "wise and humane statute
of Upper Canada of May 31, 1798"--a curious mistake, perhaps in
copying or printing.
In Kingsford's _History of Canada_, Vol. 2, p. 507, we are told: "In
1718, several young men were prosecuted on account of their relations
with Albany carried on through Lake Champlain. One of them, M. de la
Decouverte, had made himself remarkable by bringing back a Negro slave
and some silver ware. One of the New York Livingstones resided in
Montreal and was generally the intermediary in these transactions. The
author adds in a note: "This negro must have been among the first
brought to Canada."
[9] "A peine d'amende arbitraire et de plus grande peine si le cas y
escheoit."
[10] Canada was at this time divided into three Jurisdictions or
Districts--those of Quebec, Trois Rivieres and Montreal.
[11] There are trifling variations in the English text in the several
versions in the _Capitulations and Extracts of Treaties relating to
Canada_, 1797; _Knox's Journal_, Vol. 2, p. 423: _Documents relative
to the Colonial History of the State of New York_, Vol. 10, p. 1107.
That in the text is from Shortt & Doughty's _Constitutional Documents
1759-1791, Canadian Archives Publication_, Ottawa, 1907. There is no
substantial difference in terminology and none at all in meaning. I
give the French version, as to which there is no dispute: "Les Negres
et panis des deux Sexes resteront En leur qualite d'Esclaves, en la
possession des francois et Canadiens a qui Ils apartiement; Il leur
Sera libre de les garder a leur Service dans la Colonie od de les
vendre, Et Ils pourront aussi Continuer a les faire Elever dans la
Religion Romaine."
[12] The Province of Ontario is the proud possessor of many of Paul
Kane's sketches.
[13] Now the Royal Canadian Institute. The paper appears in Series II
of the _Transactions_, Vol. 2, p. 20 (1857).
The use by the Indians of Slaves is noted very early: for example in
Galinee's _Narrative_ of the extraordinary voyage of LaSalle and
others in 1669-70 the travellers are shown to have obtained from the
Indians, slaves as guides. See pp. 21, 27, 43 of Coyne's edition, 4
_Ont. Hist. Soc. Papers_ (1903). These Indians were accustomed to take
their slaves to the Dutch. _Ibid._, p. 27.
Still there is not very much in the old authors about slavery among
the Indians: the references are incidental and fragmentary and the
institution is taken for granted. Thus in Lescarbot's _History of New
France_, published in 1609, the only reference which I recall is on
pp. 270, 449 of The Champlain Society's edition, Toronto, 1914;
speaking of the Micmacs the author says: " ... the conquerors keep the
women and children prisoners ... herein they retain more humanity than
is sometimes shown by Christians. For in any case, one should be
satisfied to make them slaves as do our savages or to make them
purchase their liberty."
[14] It will be remembered that the ancient law of Rome, the Twelve
Tables, authorized creditors to take an insolvent debtor, kill him and
divide his body amongst them, a real execution against the person more
trenchant if not more effective than the _capias ad satisfaciendum_
dear to the English lawyer.
[15] Everyone has shuddered at the awful picture drawn by Juvenal in
his Sixth Satire of the fashionable Roman dame who had eight husbands
in five years and who ordered her slave to immediate crucifixion. When
her husband mildly ventured to suggest that there should at least be
some evidence of guilt and that no time should be considered long
where the life of a man is in question he was snubbed, just as the
Roman lady who was expostulated with for taking her bath in the
presence of man slaves asked "_An servus homo?_" The horrible but
pithy dialogue reads:
"Pone crucem servo." "Meruit quo crimine servus
Supplicium? Quis testis adest? Quis detulit? Audi
Nulla umquam de morte hominis cunctatio longa est"
"O demens, ita servus homo est? Nil fecerit, esto
Hoc volo, sic jubeo, sit pro ratione voluntas."
--_Juvenal, Sat._, VI, ll. 219-223.
"The cross for the slave!" "What is the charge? What is the evidence?
Who laid the information? Hear what he has to say--No delay is ever
great where the death of a man is in question." "You driveller! So a
slave is a man! Have it your own way--he did nothing. I wish it, that
is my order, my wish is a good enough reason."
The natural death for a Roman slave was on the cross or under the
scourge.
[16] Constantine also by his Constitution No. 319 provided for slaves
becoming free: the Constitution referred to in the text is No. 326.
The best short account of slave legislation in Rome which I have seen
is in a paper read by the late Vice Chancellor Proudfoot of the
Ontario Court of Chancery, February 7, 1891, before the Canadian
Institute. _Trans. Can. Ins._, Series IV, Vol. 2, p. 173. Many of the
judgments of Vice Chancellor Proudfoot (venerabile nomen) show a
profound knowledge and appreciation of the Civil Law.
The following is taken from Prof. Sherman's great work _Roman Law in
the Modern World_, Boston, 1917. The learned author has laid
philosophical lawyers of all countries under heavy obligations by this
splendid book, as noted for its lucidity as for its learning.
Vol. I, 69. "To inflict unnatural cruelty upon--and finally to kill--a
slave was prohibited by Augustus Claudius and Antoninus Pius.
Moreover, because by natural law all men were born free and equal (see
Digest, 50, 17, 32) the Emperor often restored to slaves the status of
a freeborn person."
I, 146. "Constantine ... abolished crucifixion as a punishment;
encouraged the emancipation of slaves...."
I, 150. " ... It is regrettable that Christianity did not change other
parts of the Roman law of persons which ought to have been reformed.
The chief example of this failure is slavery, which the law of
Justinian fully recognized. The inertia of past centuries as to
slavery was too great to be overcome. St. Paul's attitude towards
slavery was to recognize the _status quo_, and he did not counsel
wholesale emancipation. But Christianity continued the progress of the
pagan law along the lines of mercy and kindness, _e.g._, to poison a
slave or brand him was treated in later Imperial Roman law as
homicide, and manumission was made easier; but the Church did not
recognize the marriage of slaves until over 300 years after
Justinian's death."
II, 434, "In Roman law ... the slave was a thing or chattel--nothing
more legally. Slaves could no hold property--slaves could not marry,
their actual unions were never legally recognized."
II, 436, "With the advent of Greek culture and Christianity the harsh
manners of ancient Rome became greatly altered."
II, 828, "One feature of the Lex Aquilia is ... that it granted an
action in damages for the unlawful killing of ... the slave of another
man." _Inst._, 413, pr; Gaius 3, 210.
II. 829, " ... the owner had his option either of suing the culprit
for damages under the lex Aquilia or of causing him to be criminally
prosecuted." _Inst._, 4, 3, 11 Gaius 3, 213.
II, 935, "A free person called as a witness could not be subjected to
torture, but a slave could be tortured."