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CONDITION
OF THE
AMERICAN COLORED POPULATION,
AND OF THE
COLONY AT LIBERIA.
Boston:
PUBLISHED BY PEIRCE & PARKER.
1833.
STATEMENT OF FACTS.
The statements in the pamphlet published by this Society during
the last year, had reference principally, to the establishment and
prosperity of the Colony at Liberia. It is proposed to exhibit in the
following pages some facts relative to the present condition of the
colored population in the United States, and to offer some remarks on
the different measures recommended for their relief.
The facts to be presented, have all been derived from official
documents, or from special correspondence with intelligent and
responsible gentlemen in various parts of the country, and may be
relied upon as substantially correct.
SLAVES.
The first presentation of facts is designed to show the condition
of the _slaves_ in the United States, and will have respect to the
following topics. (1.) Their population and increase. (2.) Their civil
disabilities. (3.) Their intellectual and moral condition.
I. _Population and Increase of the Slaves in the United States._
The following table is designed to show the population and increase
of the Slaves in the United States since 1820. The first column gives
the name of the state; the second, the census of 1820; the third, the
census of 1830; the fourth, the increase of the slaves during the
intervening ten years; the fifth, the rate per cent. of slave increase;
and the sixth, the rate per cent. increase of the whites.
----------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+----------------+--------------
| | | Increase | Rate per Cent. | Rate per
| Census | Census | from 1820 | of Slave | Cent. of the
| of 1820. | of 1830. | to 1830. | Increase. | Whites.
----------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+----------------+--------------
Connecticut, | 97 | 23 | | |
Rhode Island, | 48 | 14 | | |
New York, | 10,088 | 46 | | |
New Jersey, | 7,557 | 2,246 | | |
Pennsylvania, | 211 | 386 | 175 | |
Delaware, | 4,509 | 3,305 | | |
Maryland, | 107,398 | 102,878 | | |
Virginia, | 425,153 | 469,724 | 44,571 | 10½ | 15
North Carolina, | 205,017 | 246,462 | 41,445 | 20 | 10½
South Carolina, | 251,783 | 315,668 | 63,882 | 25 | 8½
Georgia, | 149,656 | 217,407 | 67,761 | 45 | 56½
Alabama, | 41,879 | 117,494 | 75,618 | 180 | 122½
Mississippi, | 32,814 | 65,659 | 32,845 | 100 | 67⅓
Louisiana, | 69,064 | 109,631 | 40,567 | 58⅔ | 21¾
Tennessee, | 80,107 | 142,379 | 62,272 | 77 | 58⅓
Kentucky, | 126,732 | 165,350 | 28,618 | 30½ | 19⅓
Indiana, | 190 | | | |
Illinois, | 917 | 746 | | |
Missouri, | 10,232 | 24,986 | 14,754 | 144 | 104½
Arkansas, | 1,616 | 4,578 | 2,962 | 270⅔ | 104½
Michigan, | 27 | | | |
Florida, | 15,500 | | | |
D. Columbia, | 6,377 | 6,060 | | |
+-----------+-----------+-----------+ |
Amount, | 1,531,436 | 2,010,562 | 479,136 | |
----------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+----------------+--------------
The above table was compiled from Niles’ Register for January 26th,
1822, page 345, and for October 29th, 1831, page 176. The blanks in the
fourth column show that instead of an increase, there was an actual
diminution of slaves during the ten years comprised in the table. The
diminution in Maryland was 4,520, and in the District of Columbia 313.
In some others they have nearly disappeared. It appears however from
the table, that in the Southern States, particularly those south of
Virginia, there has been an astonishing increase of slaves. In some of
the States it has surpassed the increase of the whites by forty, fifty,
and even an hundred and fifty per cent. In Arkansas the increase of the
slave population has surpassed the white by 166 per cent.
The following table shows the relative strength of the white and black
population in the slave holding states, at the close of each successive
10 years, to the end of the present century, supposing the rate of
increase to continue as it has been during the last ten. The table is
taken from calculations made during the year by the Hon. Daniel Mayes,
of Kentucky.
1840, Whites, 4,523,248 Blacks, 3,041,456
1850, “ 5,789,737 “ 4,136,380
1860, “ 7,131,863 “ 6,625,476
1870, “ 9,129,770 “ 9,010,647
1880, “ 11,696,110 “ 12,434,451
1890, “ 14,967,420 “ 16,910,853
1900, “ 18,158,297 “ 22,898,700
From the above table it appears that in 1900, should nothing take place
to diminish the increase of blacks in the slave-holding states, they
will exceed the whites by 4,741,166--being an amount greater than the
population of all the United States under Washington’s administration.
II. _Civil Disabilities of the Slaves._
The following statements have been taken principally from STROUD’S
SKETCH of the Laws relative to slavery in the United States. They
may be regarded as corollaries from the _general law_ concerning the
slaves, and also as matters of express legislation.
1. Slaves have no legal rights of property in things real or personal;
but whatever they may acquire, belongs in _point of law_ to their
masters. (The bearing of this on the purchase of freedom is obvious.)
2. The slave, being a _personal chattel_, is at all times liable to be
sold absolutely, or mortgaged or leased at the will of his master.
3. He may also be sold by process of law, for the satisfaction of the
debts of a living, or the bequests of a deceased master, at the suit of
creditors or legatees.
4. A slave cannot be a party, before a judicial tribunal, in any
species of action, against his master, whatever may have been the
injury received from him.
5. Slaves cannot redeem themselves, nor obtain a change of masters.
6. Slaves being objects of _property_ if injured by third persons,
their owners may bring suit, and recover damages, for the injury.
7. Slaves can make no contract.
8. Slavery is hereditary and perpetual.
It may also be further stated concerning the disabilities of the slave,
1. That he cannot be a witness against a white person, either in a
civil or criminal cause.
2. He cannot be a party to a civil suit.
3. Submission is required of the slave, not to the will of his master
only, but to that of all other white persons.
4. The penal codes of the slave holding states bear much more severely
upon the slaves than upon the white persons,--taking the life of the
slave, where a slight punishment only is inflicted upon the whites.
5. Slaves are prosecuted and tried upon criminal accusations, in many
of the states, without a jury.
The condition of the slave, as regards emancipation, is peculiarly
distressing.
The state of society in the slave holding states, and legislative
enactments, have rendered it nearly impossible for any master to
emancipate his slave.
In Virginia and Mississippi, an emancipated slave may be taken in
execution to satisfy any debt, contracted by the person emancipating
him, previous to such emancipation.
In Kentucky, the Act which authorises emancipation, contains a
reservation of the rights of creditors.
In Louisiana, any enfranchisement made in _fraud of creditors_, &c. is
null and void.
In South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, it is only
by authority of the Legislature, specially granted, that a valid
emancipation can be made.
In North Carolina it was enacted in 1777, that no negro or mulatto
slave shall be hereafter set free, except for _meritorious service to
be adjudged of and allowed by the County Court_, and license first had
and obtained thereupon.
The laws of Kentucky, Missouri, Virginia and Maryland, afford greater
facility to emancipation than the other slave holding states. In
Virginia, however, there is a provision by which every emancipated
negro, over twenty one years of age, who shall continue within the
state more than twelve months after his right to freedom shall have
accrued, may be again reduced to slavery.
In order to secure the slave holding states in the use and possession
of their property in the persons of slaves, and to prevent all escape
of slaves from their masters, the constitution of the United States
provides, “That no person held to service or labor in one state, under
the laws thereof, _escaping_ into another, shall, in consequence of any
law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor,
but shall be delivered up, on claim of the party to whom such service
or labor may be due.”
III. _Intellectual and Moral Condition of the Slaves._
The benefits of education are withheld from the slave.
No provisions are made in any of the slave states for the education of
the slaves, and in many they have absolutely prohibited instruction of
any kind.
So long ago as 1740, South Carolina enacted, “That all, and every
person and persons whatever, who shall hereafter teach, or cause any
slave or slaves to be taught, to write, or shall use or employ any
slave as a scribe in any manner of writing whatsoever hereafter taught,
to write, every such person or persons, shall, for every such offence
forfeit the sum of one hundred pounds current money.” This prohibition
has since been extended to all kinds of knowledge, and enforced by
pains and penalties much more severe. The same is true in Georgia,
Alabama and Louisiana. Virginia and North Carolina, also, have laws
which amount to a prohibition of instruction.
No provision is made for the moral and religious instruction of the
slave. Public sentiment is generally unfavorable, although believed
to be becoming more favorable to the spiritual interests of the
slave. Many regard the slaves as incapable of religious exercises,
and therefore consider all efforts to give them religious instruction
unnecessary. Since they may not be taught to read, they cannot become
acquainted with the Scriptures, except as auditors; their opportunities
for hearing are so few and unfavorable, that they can never be expected
to profit by them. In many of the slave states, they are forbidden
to assemble by themselves for the purpose of religious worship. In
Virginia, “All meetings of slaves, &c. at any _meeting house_ in the
night, under any pretext whatsoever, are declared to be unlawful
assemblies. Mississippi has adopted the law of Virginia in this
respect. In Alabama they are not permitted to assemble by themselves
for worship at all, nor to have a white minister preach to them unless
three slave holders are present. Similar laws exist in several other
states.
CONDITION OF THE FREE BLACKS.
The following statements have respect to the present condition of the
free blacks in the United States. They are all derived from authentic
sources, and may be relied upon as substantially correct.
I. _Population and Increase of the Free Blacks._
In the following tabular view, which is taken from the census of 1830,
and that of 1820, the first column gives the name of the State; the
second, the aggregate of the free colored population; and the third,
the increase of the same, during the ten years which intervened between
1820 and 1830.
-------------------+---------------+-----------
| Free colored | Increase
| Pop. in 1830. | 1820-1830.
+---------------+-----------
Maine, | 1,190 | 261
New Hampshire, | 604 |
Vermont, | 881 |
Massachusetts, | 7,048 | 308
Rhode Island, | 3,561 | 7
Connecticut, | 8,047 | 177
New York, | 44,870 | 15,591
New Jersey, | 18,303 | 5,843
Pennsylvania, | 37,950 | 7,828
Delaware, | 15,855 | 2,627
Maryland, | 52,938 | 13,208
Virginia, | 47,348 | 10,459
North Carolina, | 19,543 | 4,931
South Carolina, | 7,921 | 1,207
Georgia, | 2,486 | 723
Alabama, | 1,572 | 1,001
Mississippi, | 519 | 61
Louisiana, | 16,710 | 6,234
Tennessee, | 4,555 | 2,008
Kentucky, | 4,917 | 1,158
Ohio, | 9,568 | 4,745
Indiana, | 3,729 | 2,399
Illinois, | 1,637 | 1,180
Missouri, | 569 | 222
Michigan Ter. | 261 | 87
Arkansas Ter. | 141 | 82
Florida Territory, | 844 |
Dist. of Columbia, | 6,152 | 2,124
-------------------+---------------+-----------
By this table it appears that the total number of free blacks in 1830,
was 319,599. The number in 1820 was, according to Niles’s Register,
233,398, yielding an increase during the intervening ten years, of
86,201. This last statement will be found to vary a little from the
sum total of the third column above, owing to discrepancies in the
published documents. Blanks are left in the third column opposite to
New Hampshire and Vermont, as in those states the numbers, instead of
increasing, actually _diminished_. In the latter state they diminished
37, and in the former, 182. Some tables make the diminution in New
Hampshire amount to 321. It is worthy of particular inquiry to
ascertain the causes of this rapid diminution. It will be perceived
that the progress of this population in the middle and some of the
southern states, is very rapid, compared with its increase in New
England. This is to be attributed to the progress of emancipation.
For instance, in New York there were more than 10,000 slaves in 1820,
which number was reduced in 1830 to 75. The increase of free blacks in
Maryland, and Virginia, is to be attributed partly to the same cause.
Their very small increase in the New England States, while the whites
are gaining very rapidly, forcibly illustrates the misery of their
condition.
II. _Civil Disabilities._
Under this head are to be comprised all those disabilities which attach
to free colored persons by the laws of the several states.
1. The most extensive and universal disability (by many, however,
considered a privilege) regards the militia. The laws of the several
states relating to the militia, being founded upon the militia system
adopted by the United States, provide for the exemption of colored
persons from that service. With this exception the laws of many of the
states recognise no distinctions of color.
2. The right of suffrage is confined to whites in Rhode Island,
Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina,
Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, and
Missouri. In these states express provisions of their constitutions
confine the right of suffrage to the whites. In the ten remaining
states no constitutional restrictions of the kind appear to have been
imposed upon free colored persons. Yet, it is believed, that the
statute laws of North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, impose similar
restrictions. In most of the remaining states, it is probable that
the right of suffrage is rarely, if ever, exercised by this class
of citizens, although no law may exist which disfranchises them.
The burdens of taxation are, so far as known, imposed without the
discrimination which prevails in regard to the right of suffrage. In
Philadelphia, and perhaps in other places in Pennsylvania, no personal
tax is imposed, the payment of such a tax being necessary to qualify
for the right of suffrage.
3. In many of the States free colored persons are excluded by law from
the privilege of holding office; and where this is not the case, the
presumption is that in those states where they are not allowed to vote,
they would not be allowed to govern. It is not known that any such
person has ever been elected to office, even in those states where the
right of suffrage is extended to them.
4. In a few of the states only, are there any laws expressly forbidding
intermarriage between the blacks and the whites.
5. Free persons of color are, in most of the states, allowed to
purchase and hold property, real and personal, and mixed, and are
entitled to the same protection in its enjoyment, and the same redress
for injuries to it or to their persons, as the white citizens. In some
states, however, the tenure of their property is very insecure without
a white guardian, as they are not allowed to testify against the
whites, or in cases where a white man is party.
6. As to privileges in courts of justice, in Missouri, free colored
persons can testify only in suits between free blacks, and on trials
of free blacks for crime. The laws of Alabama are of similar import.
In Delaware they cannot give evidence against a white person, except
in criminal prosecutions, upon its appearing that no white person,
competent to give testimony, was present at the commission of the
act charged, or that such person, if so present, has since died, or
is absent from the state so that he cannot be produced as a witness.
In Maryland, they may be witnesses only for and against their own
color. Such is the case in Ohio, Georgia, and probably in most of the
slave-holding states. In most of the free states it is presumed that
the testimony of blacks is received on an equal footing with that of
the whites.
In many of the states the laws expressly exclude them from being
impanelled as jurors; and, so far as known, they have never served in
that capacity in any of the states.
7. In the New England and Middle States, the blacks enjoy the same
rights of residence, and of emigration from one state to another, which
belong to the whites. In Connecticut a law is in force which empowers
the proper authorities to prevent _foreigners_, (citizens from other
states or of other countries) from residing in that state, but it is
not discriminating in its application to any particular color. The
black is not permitted to settle in Ohio, except he give bonds, to
secure the state against any expense which he may incur by becoming a
pauper; nor is any one permitted to employ such an emigrant without
giving similar bonds. Laws are in force in Maryland forbidding those
who shall leave the state from returning to it. Similar laws exist in
South Carolina. No free blacks are allowed to go into Georgia, and none
to reside in it except those who have long been resident. In Delaware,
none are allowed to enter the state, but the law is very rarely
enforced. They are allowed to reside in Alabama by paying a tax of five
dollars. They are not permitted to go into the state from other states
on any condition; nor, having left the state, can they return. Laws of
similar character are in force in Louisiana, Tennessee, and probably
some other states.
8. In New England and the Middle States, (a late law in Connecticut
excepted) there appears to be no distinction made by law, with
reference to the privileges of education or religious worship, between
the blacks and the whites. In all these states, and in Missouri,
Maryland, Delaware and Ohio, they are allowed by law, not only to
send their children to the public schools, but to establish schools
for themselves exclusively. Many such schools are patronized by the
benevolent friends of the race among the whites. By a late law of
Ohio, they cannot receive any benefit from the public school funds.
In Alabama, they may not attend schools or have instruction among
themselves. A prohibitory law, passed in Georgia, about eighteen
months since, debars them from all the privileges of school education
in that state. They may however be taught the catechism, or such moral
lessons and portions of Scripture as they can commit to memory. With
respect to other states no definite information has been received. In
Connecticut a law has recently been passed forbidding the establishment
of schools for the education of colored children from other states.
III. _Intellectual and Moral Condition of the Free Blacks._
It is to be feared that the statements now to be made will meet with
an ungracious reception among a certain portion of the community.
As a powerful means of enlisting public sympathy in behalf of the
African race, the advocates of the Society have sometimes entered into
an exposition of such facts as would most accurately unfold their
intellectual and moral condition. Accordingly, those who oppose the
Society have attempted to show that it is the “disparager of the free
blacks.”
It were, however, wholly impracticable to arouse public sympathy,
either where no suffering or degradation exists, or where their
existence is unknown. All benevolent operations must proceed upon the
supposition that there is want to be alleviated, or ignorance to be
enlightened, or degradation to be pitied; and the vigor with which such
operations are sustained by the benevolent will be proportioned, not
so much to the degree of this want, ignorance and degradation, as to
their thorough and perfect exposure. The Colonization Society is not
singular in its proceedings. In whatsoever sense this society is the
“disparager of the free blacks,” in the same sense are the Bible and
Tract Societies the “disparagers” of those to whom they extend their
benevolence. In the same sense also, and to a higher degree, is the
Foreign Missionary Board the “disparager” of the Heathen. Were that
society to deny or to conceal the deep degradation and licentiousness
of the American Indians, and of the Pagan world generally, it is
difficult to conceive with what arguments they could successfully
approach the sympathies of their patrons.
Thus, in the case under consideration, it is equally true, that
all attempts to provide for the relief of the free black and slave
population of the country, must prove abortive if unattended by
facts and statements relative to their actual condition. It would
not be difficult to show that the same society, from whose advocates
the complaint in question is heard, in its statements and arguments
touching the situation of the slaves, is as truly _their_ disparager as
is the Colonization Society the “disparager of the free blacks.”
The statements which follow are called for by the necessity of the
case. They are not made in a spirit of taunt, or reproach, or boasted
superiority, but with the hope that they may serve to call forth that
commiseration which the cause of the deeply-injured African, when truly
stated, challenges for itself.
1. _Intellectual Condition of the Free Blacks._ Notwithstanding
the privileges of education are nominally extended to them in the
New-England, Middle, and some of the Southern and Western States, yet
the prejudice which exists against their color serves to defeat, to
a lamentable extent, the benevolent provisions of the law. In some
cities and large towns, schools are maintained expressly for them.
In Philadelphia, particularly, there are many distinct schools for
colored children, some of which have at different times been taught by
colored tutors, and much to their credit. “In these schools,” says a
gentleman of that city, “where they have been under the superintendence
of qualified instructers, forty years’ experience has proved, that they
are no way inferior to the whites in the acquirement of learning.” In
the country towns of the states above referred to, the children of the
blacks are not unfrequently found in common schools with the whites.
But their situation is frequently made so uncomfortable that most of
the benefits of such attendance are lost. Still more unfrequently are
they to be found at Academies or high schools even in New-England--and
still more rarely do they find their way into Colleges. Mr. Russwurm,
now in Liberia, is a graduate of Bowdoin College. Attempts were
made some time since to establish a college exclusively for them
in New-Haven, Conn. The plan, meeting with decided opposition from
the inhabitants of that town, was finally abandoned. An attempt has
been recently made to establish a high school for colored females
in Canterbury, Conn. Vigorous and determined opposition has been
manifested towards it by the inhabitants, so that its success is still
doubtful. In many of the slave states, free blacks are not allowed to
attend school, or to learn to read or write. Many of them, however,
enjoy the benefits of sabbath school instruction, and commit to memory
considerable portions of Scripture, &c. Yet a great majority are no
doubt lamentably and grossly ignorant.
2. _Religious Privileges._ Except in large cities, where they are found
in sufficient numbers to compose congregations by themselves, they
attend public worship with the whites. But the unenviable distinctions
which prevail even there, have a powerful influence in discouraging
their attendance. In some parts of the country they enjoy the
ministrations of preachers of their own color, and large numbers are
said to be in communion with various churches.
3. _Moral Condition._ The following is an extract of a letter from a
gentleman of extensive information and philanthropy in the state of
New York. “The fact, that out of 40,000 blacks in this state in 1825,
but nine hundred and thirty-one were taxed, and but two hundred and
ninety-eight were qualified to vote; and the further fact, that this
population, according to its amount, furnishes ten-fold more of the
inmates of our prisons and alms-houses, than our white population
does, testify conclusively to the general improvidence, indolence,
and abounding viciousness and misery of this unhappy portion of our
fellow-men.”
The following tabular views, taken from the Report of the Prison
Discipline Society, for 1827, exhibit, in regard to several states, the
whole population at that time, the colored population, the whole number
of convicts, the number of colored convicts, proportion of colored
people to the whole population, and proportion of colored convicts.
-------------+----------+----------+--------+--------+---------+--------
| | | Whole | No. of | Pro. of |Pro. of
| White | Colored | No. of | Col. | Col. | Col.
|Population|Population|Convicts|Convicts| People |Convicts
+----------+----------+--------+--------+---------+--------
Massachusetts| 523,000| 7,000 | 314 | 50 | 1 to 74 | 1 to 6
Connecticut | 275,000| 8,000 | 117 | 39 | 1 to 34 | 1 to 3
New-York | 1,372,000| 39,000 | 637 | 154 | 1 to 35 | 1 to 4
New-Jersey | 277,000| 20,000 | 74 | 24 | 1 to 13 | 1 to 3
Pennsylvania | 1,049,000| 30,000 | 474 | 165 | 1 to 34 | 1 to 3
-------------+----------+----------+--------+--------+---------+--------
Or,
Proportion of the Proportion of the
Population Colored Population
sent to Prison. sent to Prison.
In Massachusetts 1 out of 1665 1 out of 140
In Connecticut 1 out of 2350 1 out of 205
In New York 1 out of 2153 1 out of 253
In New Jersey 1 out of 3743 1 out of 833
In Pennsylvania 1 out of 2191 1 out of 181
The report further states, that “the returns from several prisons
show that the white convicts are remaining nearly the same, or are
diminishing, while the colored convicts are increasing; at the same
time the white population is increasing in the northern states, much
faster than the colored population.”
In the eloquent language of Gerrit Smith, Esq., “having these
statistics before us, and seeing that the policy of our laws concurs
with our prejudices to debase this people, to deprive them of
indispensable inducements to well doing, and virtually to close against
them all avenues to honor and respectability,--how unphilosophical
and ungenerous it is, to look away from these sufficient causes of
their vile condition to fanciful and heartless speculations, about the
inferiority of their natural endowments. It will be time enough for
white men to accuse God of having given an inferior moral constitution
to the negro, when they shall have spent as many centuries in
enlightening, as they have in debasing him--when they shall have done
as much to make him a man, as they have done to make him a brute.”
Having now considered, to some extent, the condition of the colored
population in the United States, we come in the next place to inquire
what can be done for them.
The object of the COLONIZATION SOCIETY, as expressed in
its constitution, is “exclusively to promote and execute a plan of
colonizing, (with their own consent) the free people of color residing
in our country, in Africa, or such other place as Congress shall deem
expedient.” It has, by profession and principle, nothing to do with
the rights of slave-holders. It wishes for no interference with the
tenure of slaves. The society regards these things solely as matters
of legislation, and to be affected only in a legal way. They wish, in
their organized capacity, only to remove the blacks, which are now
free, and shall from time to time be made free by their masters. In
doing this, and by other exertions, they hope, however, so to affect
the interests and feelings of the slave-holders, that they will enlist
in the enterprize, and rejoice to free themselves from all property in
human flesh.
That the colonization scheme is tending to this result, and, if
properly managed, is adequate to its accomplishment, is certain from
many considerations. It cannot, indeed, accomplish the object at once.
It would be unreasonable to expect that this, or any other society or
system could, in the space of a few years, remove an evil which has
been increasing for two centuries. But if colonization can do that in
less than one half the time in which the evil has been growing to its
present size, it ought not to be accounted visionary, or unworthy of
confidence.
“Now,” says the Rev. John C. Young, President of Centre College,
Kentucky, “the systematic and efficient operation of this society could
in less than seventy years settle the whole of our colored population
in Africa; and this great work could be accomplished without the
necessity of imposing on any one a single cent of additional tax.
The plan of operations by which this could be effected is simple and
feasible. Let the emigration be every year enlarged by one thousand
persons, until the number annually exported amounts to 50,000. Continue
the annual exportation of this number for twenty years longer, and the
whole race will have disappeared from the land. The effect of this
process, (supposing it to be actually entered upon) is not a matter
of guess-work, but of calculation.” [See note in Young’s Address.]
It _can_ certainly be done; and if the operations of the society are
permitted to go onward, and increase, as they have done, unobstructed
by national calamities, and the wildness of fanatics, it _will_ be done.
But supposing all this cannot be effected through the influence of the
Colonization Society, or that it were not desirable, as many think, to
be done, yet we maintain that so much _can_ be done towards meliorating
the condition of the colored population, both slaves and free, as to
merit the hearty co-operation of every Christian and philanthropist.
The present actual tendencies of the colonization scheme, so far as
abolition and the general interests of the blacks are concerned,
receive a favorable character from the following considerations, which
are presented as briefly as possible.
1. The colonization scheme exerts, and has exerted, a happy influence
toward abolition, by directing the minds of people of all classes,
including slave-owners, to the condition of the blacks. Before the plan
of colonization was agitated, nothing, comparatively, had been done to
meliorate the condition of this class, and no interest had been felt
in their behalf. But when the plan which we speak of suggested itself
to a few benevolent minds, an ardent feeling began to be roused in
behalf of the negro. Inquiries were instituted; discussion commenced;
and the public mind was excited to the calm but earnest consideration
of the momentous subject in all its bearings. But for this Institution,
the 3,000 free blacks, who are now rejoicing in the land of their
fathers, under a government and laws chiefly of their own, would still
be enduring poverty and wretchedness; and the slaves who have been
emancipated would be still suffering in bondage.
Says the Hon. Gerrit Smith, in a recent letter on this subject, “The
late demonstrations, in Virginia and Maryland, of patriotic and
Christian interest in our colored population, are commonly ascribed
to the Southampton insurrection. That insurrection may have been, and
probably was, a proximate cause of them; but, in my judgment, Virginia
and Maryland are vastly more indebted for the steps they have taken in
the cause of universal freedom to the moral influence of the American
Colonization Society than to all other causes. And, may not most of
those, who now rail at the Society, be likewise indebted to the same
influence for their fresh and augmented interest in the welfare of the
black man? The tenacious slave-holder at the south lays all the blame
of these things at the door of the Colonization Society, and this too,
notwithstanding some abolitionists charge the Society with playing
designedly into the hands of such slave-holders. And if such (he goes
on to say) be the power of those moral influences now, when Liberia
has a population of 3,000, what will it be when 50,000 of our blacks
shall be gathered into that asylum? Whether or not this shall be the
result of colonization, remains to be seen; but meanwhile it is certain
that whatever of influence is _now_ exerted for the ultimate good of
the blacks has been brought into exercise by the operations of our
Institution.
2. The Colonization Society exerts a happy influence on the interests
of the black population, by weakening the prejudice of the whites
against them. Some of the doctrines and measures advanced and pursued
in different parts of the country are, in our opinion, calculated to
strengthen this prejudice.
That the Colonization Society in its operations has a contrary effect,
appears from the circumstance that before this scheme commenced, little
or no interest was felt for the blacks, except by a few individuals.
Prejudice ground them in the dust; and, had their condition remained
unaltered, would have continued to oppress them to the end of time.
No sympathy was felt for them in their suffering and wretchedness.
Indeed, it did apparently no good to sympathize. It was like weeping
for the souls of the lost. Men will not feel when feeling is without
effect. At any rate, this was true in the case of the blacks. They were
despised, not because they were degraded merely; but because respect
could do them no good. But when the plan of colonizing them presented
itself, the case immediately altered--a way was open by which the black
could be benefited, and the hearts of all who understood the plan
prompted them to action. As soon as people saw that something could
be done to ameliorate the condition of this wretched race, they were
ready and willing to do it; and this feeling has gained strength with
the increase of light, and with the success of the enterprize--and may
we not expect that it will continue to gain strength as the colony
on the coast of Africa increases in magnitude and importance, and as
the practicability of the scheme of benevolence in question is with
every successive day made more and more certain? It must increase.
But some may say, and they have said, that this interest in behalf
of the blacks, so far from being an evidence that the prejudice is
diminishing, results directly from prejudice; and that if men would
show respect for the blacks, or any interest in their behalf, they
must treat them as they do themselves. Now this objection supposes two
things. First, that the plan of colonization is one of positive evil to
the blacks, not only in tendency but design. This assertion requires no
argument. Finley, and Mills, and Ashmun, did not lay down their lives
to sustain an Institution, which they thought would either directly or
indirectly prove an injury to the blacks. Christians do not now pray
for the success of this Institution because they hate the blacks, and
wish in this way to do them evil. Heaven forbid that any one should
charge them with such a crime! What, Christians pray and contribute for
the support of the Colonization Society because they hate the blacks!
Charity that endureth all things alone can endure this.
But again, the objection supposes that for us to respect our fellow,
and do unto him as we would have him do unto us, we should consider his
circumstances in every respect the same as our own. It supposes that
our duty to the blacks requires us, in order to do him the greatest
possible good, to treat him in all particulars, as we ourselves need
to be treated--that we are not to consider age, character, color,
constitution, nor any other circumstance or condition of life as making
any difference, but that we must regard him, without qualification,
just as _we_ are. Now this could not be true of any two white men in
the country, much less of the whites and blacks, whose condition, in
every respect differs most widely. Nor do the Sacred Scriptures require
this. They suppose that we are to regard the difference of condition
between ourselves and others. We are to do to others as we would
that they should do to us in like circumstances, it being remembered
that the circumstances of no two persons in the world are alike. If,
therefore, we treat the negro in a manner which we suppose will promote
his highest temporal and eternal good, we are not to be charged with
acting under the influence of prejudice, because we do not treat a
white man in the same manner. The circumstances of the two are so wide
apart, that what would be a blessing to the one, would be ruinous to
the other. We think it would be better to carry the negro to Africa
and colonize him _there_, (with his own free will, of course) under a
climate suited to his constitution, and under laws and institutions
calculated to make him wise and happy, than to keep him here under the
withering influences which are operating against him. Are we therefore
under the influence of prejudice? If we are, it is a prejudice which
duty prompts us exercise. But we have bestowed more attention to
this objection than it deserves. Nothing can be plainer than that
the colonization scheme has had a great influence in weakening this
prejudice against the blacks, and creating an interest in their behalf,
which must, in the nature of things, continue to increase until the
whole race shall be restored to an equality with the whites.
3. Colonization exerts a favorable influence on the interests of the
blacks, by improving their character and elevating their condition, so
as to remove objections from the minds of those who oppose them.
Before the Society commenced operations the character of the negro was
degraded to a level with the brutes. They were even called brutes,
and books were written to show that they were not human. But since
the days of colonization such thoughts and feelings have been laid
aside. Men have begun to recognize the negro as a man, and treat him
as such; and he himself has become conscious of his power. Says a
writer in the Christian Spectator, “Not Hayti has done more to make
the negro character respected by mankind and to afford the means of
making the _negro_ conscious of his manhood, than Liberia has already
accomplished. The name of Lott Carey is worth more than the name of
Boyer or Petion. It has done, it is doing more to rescue the African
character from degradation, than could be done by a thousand volumes
against prejudice.” And thus the writer goes on to say, “it has done,
and is doing more to accelerate the abolition of slavery than could
be done by a ship-load of such pamphlets and speeches as some that we
might mention. Elevate the character of the free people of color--let
it be seen that they are men indeed--let the degrading associations
that follow them be broken up by the actual improvement of their
character, as a people, and negro slavery must rapidly wither and die.
4. Colonization exerts a favorable influence on the general interest
of the blacks, especially by directing the thoughts of slave-holders
to the subject of emancipation, as well as actually securing, in many
cases, the emancipation of slaves. Of this we have abundant evidence.
Almost every week we hear of some slave, or a number of slaves, who
have been emancipated. We hear also of many persons who are willing
to give freedom to their slaves, providing they can be removed from
the soil. There are multitudes of this description in Kentucky; and
in Missouri a large proportion of the slave-holders are willing and
desirous of doing this. A letter from a gentleman in St. Louis,
says, “A great change has taken place here within ten years on the
subject of slavery. The advocates of perpetual bondage are very few.
The slaves are, in many instances, an expense to their owners; and
the Colonization Society is looked to as the only hope of ridding the
land of the burden.” The same may be said of numbers in the other
slave-holding states. On this subject, the writer above alluded to
remarks, “This is not conjecture. The friends of colonization in their
arguments can read off a catalogue of instances in which emancipation
has already resulted from the progress of this work. We know that
on the other hand it is said that the arguments and statements of
colonizationists prevent emancipation. But the proper proof of this
assertion would be to bring forward the particular facts. Tell us
of the individuals who have in fact been effectually hindered from
setting their slaves at large by what they have read in the African
Repository, or by what they have heard from the agents of the Society.
We say, then, that colonization is bringing the power of example to
bear on public sentiment at the south in regard to slavery. Each single
instance of emancipation is indeed a small matter, when compared
with the continued slavery of two millions; but every such instance,
occurring in the midst of a slave-holding community, is a strong appeal
to the natural sentiments of benevolence and justice in all who witness
it.” It must be felt, it _is_ felt, by all who hold their fellow-men in
bondage.
5. African colonization will exert a most happy influence on the
general interest of the negro, particularly in reference to the
abolition of slaves, by bringing free labor into competition with
that of slaves. Many people in this country begin already to feel
that slave labor is unprofitable; and if their circumstances were
such that they could employ free labor, they would certainly do it.
Self-interest alone would prompt nearly all the slave-holders in
Missouri and Kentucky, and multitudes in Virginia and Maryland, to do
this if they could. And not a few in the more determined slave-states
are ready to acknowledge the comparative worthlessness of slave-labor,
(for self-interest must be brought to bear upon the interest of
emancipation) and they will be ready to release their slaves. Slavery
will cease as soon as men shall be persuaded that it is unprofitable.
Now this will be the tendency of colonization. It will multiply the
products of tropical regions, above what can be done in slave-holding
countries, and show to the latter, by actual demonstration, the
unprofitableness of the system. On this subject the writer in the
Spectator says, “We are confident that the most rapid and most
effectual method to bring free labor into competition with slave labor,
and thus to drive the products of the latter out of every market, is
to establish on the soil of Africa a free and civilized commonwealth,
whose institutions shall all be fashioned after American models, and
whose population shall be pervaded and impelled by the spirit of
American enterprize. This is the work which the American Colonization
Society is prosecuting with all its resources. The friends of slavery
may dream that this work is to secure and perpetuate that miserable
system; but if any of them do thus imagine, they err as widely in
that as they do in supposing that the repeal of the protective tariff
will relieve them of their embarrassments. The free-trade principles,
for which they are now contending, are the principles which will,
by and by, bring all slave-holders to the alternative of universal
emancipation, or universal bankruptcy.”
6. The prosecution of this work has a happy influence on the general
interests of the blacks, by introducing into the slave-holding states
inquiry and discussion respecting the evils of slavery, and the
possibility of its abolition. Says the above writer in the Christian
Spectator, “The great body of the friends of the Colonization Society,
at the South no less than at the North, regard the scheme of that
institution as something, which will ultimately, in some way, deliver
the land of the curse of Slavery. All who oppose the Society there,
oppose it on the same ground. They look upon it as being, in its
tendency, and in the hopes of its supporters, an Anti-Slavery project.
Thus, in those very regions, in which the system of Slavery sheds all
its blasting influences, there is constituted a party, the members of
which are recognized by their opposers, and more or less distinctly
themselves, as hostile to Slavery, and as looking for an opportunity
to move for an abolition. In this way it was, that when an occasion
presented itself, a few months ago, the legislature of Virginia became
a scene of earnest and public discussion on this long interdicted
theme, and to the astonishment of the nation it appeared that the party
opposed to slavery was only not a majority. Had Colonization never
been thought of, had the scheme of the American Colonization Society
never been undertaken, who believes that projects for the abolition of
slavery would have been so soon if ever discussed in the legislature
of Virginia? Without that preparation of the public mind, which the
Colonization Society in the calm and peaceful prosecution of its labors
has indirectly accomplished, insurrection and massacre, with all the
fear and horrors which they occasion, would have led only to cruelties
of legislation and of practice. There is no oppression so unrelenting
and desperate as when the oppressor fears his subjects; and the
unanimous feeling of Virginia would have been (erroneous indeed, but
not on that account the less irresistible and inflexible,) a feeling
like that of him who holds a wolf by the ears: it is dangerous to keep
him, but more dangerous to let him loose; and therefore, the more
furious the struggles of the prisoner, the fiercer and closer will be
the despairing grasp that holds him.”
We entertain no doubt that the discussions, thus commenced, will
gradually become more free and thorough: will appeal more directly to
the great law that acknowledges the inalienable and universal rights
of man; and will, at the same time, find its way still farther South,
till it pervades and awakens every state from the Potomac to the Gulf
of Mexico. This is inevitable: the discussion of such a subject,
involving such hopes, and fears, and interests, when once it has been
opened, can never be suppressed. Nor is this all: such a system as
slavery cannot long withstand the power of free and full discussion.
The hour in which the debate on slavery commenced in the capital at
Richmond, may be considered as having sealed the death-warrant of the
system, not only for Virginia, but for the nation. And now it may be
said, that whatever is to be hereafter the success of the Colonization
Society, in the prosecution of its own appropriate enterprize, this
great result is ultimately sure. Not that it has nothing more to do
by its indirect influence in accelerating this result: certainly the
greater the success of the Colonization of Africa, the greater will be
the progress of public opinion towards this consummation. But let the
Society be dissolved, let the pirates of the African seas wreak their
cherished wrath on Liberia--let Montserrado be made again the mart for
the slave-trade--let the spot now adorned with Christian churches
become again the seat of devil-worship; let the smiling villages on the
St. Paul’s be made desolate, and the now cultivated soil be overspread
with the vegetation of the wilderness; still it will be true that the
indirect influence of the American Colonization Society has secured the
abolition of Slavery.”