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THE JOURNAL
OF
NEGRO HISTORY
Volume III
1918
Table of Contents
Vol. III--January, 1918--No. 1
The Story of Josiah Henson W. B. HARTGROVE
Elizabeth Barrett Browning and the Negro BENJAMIN BRAWLEY
Palmares: The Negro Numantia CHARLES E. CHAPMAN
Slavery in California DELILAH L. BEASLEY
Documents
California Freedom Papers
Thomas Jefferson's Thoughts on the Negro
Some Undistinguished Negroes
Book Reviews
Notes
Vol. III--April, 1918--No. 2
Benjamin Banneker HENRY E. BAKER
George Liele and Andrew Bryan JOHN W. DAVIS
Fifty Years of Howard University - Part I DWIGHT O. W. HOLMES
Historical Errors of James Ford Rhodes JOHN R. LYNCH
Documents
Letters of Governor Edward Coles
Some Undistinguished Negroes
Book Reviews
Notes
Vol. III--July, 1918--No. 3
Slavery in Kentucky IVAN E. MCDOUGLE
Book Reviews
Notes
Vol. III--October, 1918--No. 4
Beginnings of Miscegenation of Whites and Blacks CARTER G. WOODSON
Gerrit Smith's Effort in Behalf of Negroes ZITA DYSON
The Buxton Settlement in Canada FRED LANDON
Fifty Years of Howard University - Part II DWIGHT O. W. HOLMES
Documents
What the Framers of the Federal Constitution
Thought of the Negro
Some Undistinguished Negroes
Book Reviews
Notes
THE JOURNAL
OF
NEGRO HISTORY
VOL. III--JANUARY, 1918--No. 1
THE STORY OF JOSIAH HENSON[1]
No one ever uttered a more forceful truth than Frederika Bremer when
she said in speaking to Americans: "The fate of the Negro is the
romance of your history." The sketches of heroes showing the life of
those once exploited by Christian men must ever be interesting to
those who would know the origin and the development of a civilization
distinctly American. In no case is this more striking than in that of
Josiah Henson, the man who probably was present to Harriet Beecher
Stowe's mind when she graphically portrayed slavery in writing "Uncle
Tom's Cabin."
Josiah Henson was born June 15, 1789, on a farm in Charles County,
Maryland, where his mother was hired out. His parents had six
children. The only recollection he had of his father was that of
seeing his right ear cut off, his head gashed and his back lacerated,
as a result of the cruel punishment inflicted upon him because he had
dared to beat the overseer of the plantation for brutally assaulting
the slave's wife. Because of becoming morose, disobedient and
intractable thereafter, Henson's father was sold to a planter in
Alabama and his relatives never heard of him again. His mother was
then brought back to the estate of her owner, a Doctor McPherson, who
was much kinder to his slaves. Dr. McPherson gave the youth his own
name, Josiah, and the family name Henson after Dr. McPherson's uncle,
who served in the Revolutionary War. Josiah showed signs of mental and
religious development under the pious care of his Christian mother and
for that reason became his master's favorite.
Upon the death of Doctor McPherson, however, it became necessary to
sell the estate and slaves to divide his property among his heirs. The
Henson family was then scattered throughout the country and worst of
all Josiah was separated from his mother, notwithstanding his mother's
earnest entreaty that her new master, Isaac Riley, should also
purchase her baby. Instead of listening to the appeal of this
afflicted woman clinging to his hands, he disengaged himself from her
with violent blows. She was then taken to Riley's farm in Montgomery
County. Josiah was purchased by a man named Robb, a tavern keeper
living near Montgomery Court-House. Both masters were unusually cruel,
in keeping with the tyrannical methods employed by planters of that
time. Because of ill health resulting from the lack of proper care,
Josiah became very sickly. He was then providentially restored to his
mother, having been offered to her owner by Robb for a small sum, for
the reason that it was thought that he would die.
His third master was "vulgar in his habits, unprincipled and cruel in
his general deportment and especially addicted to the vice of
licentiousness."[2] On his plantation Henson served as water-boy,
butler and finally as a field hand, experiencing the usual hardship of
the slave. He ate twice a day of cornmeal and salt herring, with a
little buttermilk and a few vegetables occasionally. His dress was
first a single garment, something like a long shirt reaching to the
ankles, later a pair of trousers and a shirt with the addition of a
woolen hat once in two or three years and a round jacket or overcoat
in the winter time. He slept with ten or a dozen persons in a log hut
of a single small room, with no other floor than the trodden earth,
and without beds or furniture. In spite of this, however, Henson grew
to be a robust lad, who at the age of fifteen could do a man's work.
Having too more mental capacity than most slaves, he was regarded as a
smart fellow. Hearing remarks like this about himself, Henson became
filled with ambition and pride, and aspired to a position of influence
among his fellows.
At times Henson would toil and induce his fellow slaves to work much
harder and longer than required to obtain from their master a kind
word or act, but these efforts usually produced no more from their
owner than a cold calculation of the value of Josiah to him. When,
however, the white overseer of this plantation was discharged for
stealing from his employer, Josiah had shown himself so capable that
he was made manager of the plantation. In this position his honest
management of the estate made him indispensable to his master also as
a salesman of produce in the markets of Georgetown and Washington. He
had during these years come under the influence of an anti-slavery
white man of Georgetown and had become a devout Christian with
considerable influence as a preacher among the slaves.
About this time, Josiah was serving his master in another capacity,
which brought upon him one of the greatest misfortunes of his life.
This was accompanying his master to town for protection and
deliverance when the owners of his order indulged in excessive
drinking and brawls in taverns. Sometimes in removing his master from
the midst of a fracas, he would have to handle his owner's opponent
rather roughly. On one occasion when Riley became involved in a
quarrel with his brother's overseer, Henson pushed the overseer down;
and falling while intoxicated the overseer suffered some injury. The
overseer decided to wreak vengeance on Henson for this. Finding
Henson on the way home one day the overseer assisted by three Negroes
attacked him, beating him unmercifully and left him on the ground
almost senseless with his head badly bruised and cut and with his
right arm and both shoulder blades broken. Being on a farm where no
physician or surgeon was usually called, Henson recovered with
difficulty under the kind treatment of his master's sister; but was
never able thereafter to raise his hands to his head. The culprit did
not suffer for this offense, as the court acquitted him on the grounds
of self-defense.
In the course of time Henson's master, Isaac Riley, lived so
extravagantly that he became involved in debt and lawsuits which
heralded his ruin. Seeing his estate would be seized, he intrusted to
Henson in 1825 the tremendous task of taking his 18 slaves to his
brother, Amos Riley, in Kentucky. Henson bought a one-horse wagon to
carry provisions and to relieve the women and children from time to
time. The men were compelled to walk altogether. Traveling through
Alexandria, Culpepper, Fauquier, Harper's Ferry and Cumberland, they
met on the way droves of Negroes passing in chains under the system of
the internal slave trade, while those whom Henson was conducting were
moving freely without restriction. On arriving at Wheeling, he sold
the horse and wagon and bought a boat of sufficient size to take the
whole party down the river. At Cincinnati some free Negroes came out
to greet them and urged them to avail themselves of the opportunity to
become free. Few of the slaves except Henson could appreciate this
boon offered them, but he had thought of obtaining it only by
purchase. Henson said: "Under the influence of these impressions, and
seeing that the allurements of the crowd were producing a manifest
effect, I sternly assumed the captain, and ordered the boat to be
pushed off into the stream. A shower of curses followed me from the
shore; but the Negroes under me, accustomed to obey, and, alas! too
degraded and ignorant of the advantages of liberty to know what they
were forfeiting, offered no resistance to my command." "Often since
that day," says he, "has my soul been pierced with bitter anguish at
the thought of having been thus instrumental in consigning to the
infernal bondage of slavery so many of my fellow-beings. I have
wrestled in prayer with God for forgiveness. Having experienced myself
the sweetness of liberty, and knowing too well the after misery of a
great majority of them, my infatuation has seemed to me an
unpardonable sin. But I console myself with the thought that I acted
according to my best light, though the light that was in me was
darkness."[3]
Henson finally arrived with these slaves at the farm of his master's
brother, five miles south of the Ohio and fifteen miles above the
Yellow Banks, on the Big Blackfords' Creek in Davies County, Kentucky,
April, 1825. Here the situation as to food, shelter and general
comforts was a little better than in Maryland. He served on this
plantation as superintendent and having here among more liberal white
people the opportunity for religious instruction, he developed into a
successful preacher, recognized by the Conference of the Methodist
Episcopal Church.
There he remained waiting for his master three years. Unable to
persuade his wife to move to Kentucky, however, his master decided to
abandon the idea and sent an agent to bring upon those slaves another
heartrending scene of the auction block, though Henson himself was
exempted. Henson saw with deepest grief the agony which he recollected
in his own mother and which he now unfortunately said in the persons
with whom he had long been associated. He could not, therefore,
refrain from experiencing the bitterest feeling of hatred of the
system and its promoters. He furthermore lamented as never before his
agency in bringing the poor creatures hither, if such had to be the
end of the expedition. Freedom then became the all-absorbing purpose
that filled his soul. He said that he stood ready to pray, toil,
dissemble, plot like a fox and fight like a tiger.
A new light dawned upon the dark pathway of Josiah Henson, however, in
1828. A Methodist preacher, an anti-slavery white man, talked with
Henson one day confidentially about securing freedom. He thereupon
suggested to Henson to obtain his employer's consent to visit his old
master in Maryland that he might connect with friends in Ohio along
the way and obtain the sum necessary to purchase himself. His employer
readily consented and with the required pass and a letter of
recommendation from his Methodist friend to a preacher in Cincinnati,
Henson obtained contributions to the amount of one hundred and sixty
dollars on arriving in that city, where he preached to several
congregations. He then proceeded to Chillicothe where the annual
Methodist Conference was in session, his kind friend accompanying him.
With the aid of the influence and exertions of his coworker Henson was
again successful. He then purchased a suit of comfortable clothes and
an excellent horse, with which he traveled leisurely from town to
town, preaching and soliciting as he went. He succeeded so well that
when he arrived at his old home in Maryland, he was much better
equipped than his master. This striking difference and the delay of
Henson along the way from September to Christmas caused his master to
be somewhat angry. Moreover, as his master had lost most of his slaves
and other property in Maryland, he was anxious to have Henson as a
faithful worker to retrieve his losses; but this changed man would
hardly subserve such a purpose.
The conditions which he observed around him were so much worse than
what he had for some time been accustomed to and so changed was the
environment because of the departure or death of friends and relatives
during his absence that Henson resolved to become free. He then
consulted the brother of his master's wife, then a business man in
Washington, whom he had often befriended years before and who was
angry with Henson's master because the latter had defrauded him out of
certain property. This friend, therefore, gladly took up with Henson's
master the question of giving the slave an opportunity to purchase
himself. He carefully explained to the master that Henson had some
money and could purchase himself and that if, in consideration of the
valuable services he had rendered, the master refused to do so, Henson
would become free by escaping to Canada. The master agreed then to
give him his manumission papers for four hundred and fifty dollars, of
which three hundred and fifty dollars was to be in cash and the
remainder in Henson's note. Henson's money and horse enabled him to
pay the cash at once. But his master was to work a trick on him. He
did not receive his manumission papers until March 3, 1827, and when
Henson started for Kentucky his master induced him to let him send his
manumission papers to his brother in Kentucky where Henson was
returning, telling him that some ruffian might take the document from
him on the way. In returning to Kentucky Henson was arrested several
times as a fugitive, but upon always insisting on being carried before
a magistrate he was released. He had no trouble after reaching
Wheeling, from which he proceeded on a boat to Davies County,
Kentucky.
Arriving at the Kentucky home, he was informed that the master had
misrepresented the facts as to his purchase. He had written his
brother that Henson had agreed to pay one thousand dollars for
himself, the balance-of the six hundred and fifty dollars to be paid
in Kentucky. As the only evidence he had, had been sent to his
master's brother, it was impossible for him to make a case against him
in court. Things went on in uncertainty for about a year. Then came a
complaint from his master in Maryland, saying that he wanted money and
expressing the hope that Henson would soon pay the next installment.
Soon thereafter Henson received orders to go with Amos Riley carrying
a cargo to New Orleans. This suggestion was enough. He contrived to
have his manumission papers sewed up in his clothing prior to his
departure on the flat boat for New Orleans. He knew what awaited him
and his mind rapidly developed into a sort of smoldering volcano of
pent-up feeling which at one time all but impelled him to murder his
white betrayers. Blinded by passion and stung by madness, Henson
resolved to kill his four companions, to take what money they had,
then to scuttle the craft and escape to the North. One dark night
within a few days' sail of New Orleans it seemed that the opportune
hour had come. Henson was alone on the deck and Riley and the hands
were asleep. He crept down noiselessly, secured an ax, entered the
cabin, and looking by aid of the dim light, his eye fell first on
Riley. Henson felt the blade of the ax and raised it to strike the
first blow when suddenly the thought came to him, "What! Commit
murder, and you a Christian?" His religious feeling and belief in the
wonderful providence of God prevented him.
Riley talked later of getting him a good master and the like but did
not disguise the effort to sell him. Fortunately, however, Amos Riley
was suddenly taken sick and becoming more dependent on Henson then,
than Henson had been on him, he immediately ordered Henson to sell the
flat boat and find passage for him home in a sick cabin at once.
Henson did this and succeeded by careful nursing to get Amos back to
his home in Kentucky alive. Although he confessed that, if he had sold
Henson, he would have died, the family showed only a realization of an
increased value in Henson rather than an appreciation of his valuable
services. He, therefore, decided to escape to Canada.
His wife, fearing the dangers, would not at first agree to go, but
upon being told that he would take all of the children but the
youngest, she finally agreed to set out with him. Knowing of the
hardships that they must have to experience, Henson practised
beforehand the carrying of the children on his back. They crossed the
river into Indiana and proceeded toward Cincinnati, finding it
difficult to purchase food in that State, so intensely did the people
hate the Negro there. After two weeks of hardship, exhausted they
reached Cincinnati. There they were refreshed and carried 30 miles on
the way in a wagon. They directed themselves then toward the Scioto,
where they were told they would strike the military road of General
Hull, opened when he was operating against Detroit.
They set out, not knowing that the way lay through a wilderness of
howling wolves and, not taking sufficient food, they did not pass
homes from which they could purchase supplies on the way. They did not
go far before his wife fainted, but she was soon resuscitated.
Finally, they saw in the distance persons whose presence seemed to be
the dark foreboding of disaster, but the fugitives pressed on. They
proved to be Indians, who, when they saw the blacks, ran away yelping.
This excited the fugitives, as they thought the Indians were yelling
to secure the cooperation of a larger number to massacre them. Farther
on they saw other Indians standing behind trees hiding. After passing
through such trials as these for some time they came to an Indian
village, the dwellers of which, after some fear and hesitation,
welcomed them, supplied their wants and gave them a comfortable wigwam
for the night. They were then informed that they were about
twenty-five miles from the lakes. After experiencing some difficulty
in fording a dangerous stream and spending another night in the woods
they saw the houses on the outskirts; of Sandusky.
Using good judgment, however, Henson did not go into the village at
once. When about a mile from the lake, He hid his family in the woods
and then proceeded to approach the town. Soon he observed on the left
side of the town a house from which a number of men were taking
something to a vessel. Approaching them immediately he was asked
whether or not he desired to work. He promptly replied in the
affirmative and it was not long before he was assisting them in
loading corn. He soon contrived to get in line next to the only Negro
there engaged and communicated to him his plans.[4]
He told the captain, who called Henson aside and agreed to assist him
in getting to Buffalo, the boat's destination, where the fugitives
would find friends. It was agreed that the vessel should leave the
landing and that a small boat should take the fugitives aboard at
night, as there were Kentucky spies in Sandusky that might apprehend
them. Henson said he watched the vessel leave the landing and then
lower a boat for the shore and in a few minutes his black friend and
two sailors landed and went with him to get his family. Thinking that
he had been captured his wife had grown despondent and had moved from
the spot where he left her. With a little difficulty, he found her,
but when she saw him approaching with those men, she was still more
frightened. She was reassured, however, and soon they were received on
board in the midst of hearty cheers. They arrived at Buffalo the next
evening too late to cross the river. The following morning they were
brought to Burnham and went on the ferry boat to Waterloo. The good
Captain Burnham paid the passage money and gave Henson a dollar
beside. They arrived in Canada on the 28th day of October, 1830.
Describing his exultation Henson said: "I threw myself on the ground,
rolled in the sand, seized handfuls of it and kissed them, and danced
round till, in the eyes of several who were present, I passed for a
madman. 'He's some crazy fellow,' said a Colonel Warren, who happened
to be there. 'O, no, master! don't you know? I'm free!' He burst into
a shout of laughter. 'Well I never knew freedom make a man roll in the
sand in such a fashion,' Still I could not control myself. I hugged
and kissed my wife and children, and, until the first exuberant burst
of feeling was over, went on as before."
He soon found employment there with one Mr. Hibbard, whom he served
three years and was lodged in a cabin better than that in Kentucky.
His family, however, had been so exposed that during the first winter
they almost died of sickness, but his employer was kind to him. Mr.
Hibbard taught Henson's son Tom, then twelve years of age. Tom's
achievements were soon such that instead of reading the Bible to his
father to assist him in preaching he taught his father to read.
Henson then entered the service of one Mr. Risely, who had experienced
more elevation of mind than Mr. Hibbard. With this advantage Henson
not only realized more fully than ever the ignorance in which he
lived, but became interested in the elevation of his people there, who
had been content with the mere making a livelihood rather than solving
the economic problems of freedom. A good many, thereafter, agreed to
invest their savings in land. In this they had the cooperation of Mr.
Risely. Henson set out, therefore, in 1834 to explore the country and
finally selected a place for a settlement to the east of Lake St.
Clair and Detroit river later called Colchester.
Henson thereafter directed his attention to those whom he had left in
bondage. If he felt any compunction of conscience for having conducted
the party of Maryland slaves through a free State without making an
effort to free them, he made up for that in later years. Addressing an
audience of Negroes some years later at Fort Erie, Pennsylvania, he
took occasion to remind them of their duty to assist in the
emancipation of their fellowmen in the South. In the audience was a
young man named James Lightfoot, who had fled from a plantation near
Maysville, Kentucky. Seeing his duty as never before, he approached
Father Henson to arrange for the rescue of his enslaved kinsmen.
Knowing the agony in which he was, Henson undertook the perilous task
of bringing them to Canada. Leaving his family alone he traveled on
foot through New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio into Kentucky. He had
little difficulty in finding the Lightfoots. On presenting them a
small token of the loved one, who, they were told, had gone to the
land of freedom, they exhibited no little excitement. Unfortunately,
however, Lightfoot's parents were so far advanced in years and his
sisters had so many children that they could not travel. As the young
men, who could have gone, were not anxious to be separated from their
loved ones, all declined the invitation to make this effort for
freedom at that time, promising to undertake it a year thereafter, if
Henson returned for them.
Henson agreed to do so and in the meantime went forty or fifty miles
into Bourbon County in the interior of Kentucky in quest of a large
party of Negroes who were said to be ready to escape. After a search
for about a week he discovered that there were about thirty fugitives
collected from various States. With them he started on the return trip
to Canada, traveling by night and resting by day. They contrived to
cross the Ohio river and reached Cincinnati in three days. There they
were assisted and directed to Richmond, Indiana, a settlement of
Quakers, who helped them on their way. After a difficult journey of
two weeks they reached Toledo and took passage for Canada, which they
reached in safety.
Henson then remained on his farm in Canada some months, but when the
appointed time for the delivery of the enslaved kinsmen of James
Lightfoot arrived, he set out again for Kentucky. He passed through
Lancaster, Ohio, where the people were very much excited over a
meteoric shower, thinking that the day of judgment had come. Henson
thought so too, but believing that he was promoting a righteous cause,
he kept on. On arriving at Portsmouth on the Ohio, he narrowly escaped
being detected by Kentuckians in the town. He resorted to the
stratagem of binding his head with dried leaves in a cloth and
pretended to be so seriously afflicted that he could not speak.
Arriving at Maysville, he had little difficulty in finding the slaves
whom he was seeking. The second person whom he met was Jefferson
Lightfoot, the brother of James Lightfoot for whom Henson was making
this trip. Saturday night, as usual, was set as the time for the
execution of this affair, for the reason that they would not be missed
until Monday and would, therefore, have a day ahead. They started from
Maysville in a boat, hoping to reach Cincinnati before daylight, but
the boat sprang a leak and the party narrowly escaped being drowned.
They procured another boat, however, and got within ten miles of
Cincinnati before daylight. To avoid being detected, they abandoned
the boat and proceeded to walk to Cincinnati, but faced another
difficulty when they reached the Miami, which at that point was too
deep to be forded. But in going up the river seeking a shallow place
they were seemingly led providentially by a cow that waded across
before them. As the weather was cold and they were in a state of
perspiration on wading through, the youngest Lightfoot was seized with
serious contractions, but recovered after receiving such ministrations
as could be given on the way. They were assisted in Cincinnati and the
next day started on their journey to Canada. They had not gone far
before the young Lightfoot became so seriously ill that he had to be
carried on a litter, and this became so irksome that he himself begged
to be left in the wilderness to die alone rather than handicap the
whole party with such good prospects for freedom. With considerable
reluctance, they acceded to his request, and sad indeed was the
parting. But before they had gone more than two miles on their journey
one of the brothers of the sick man suddenly decided to return, as he
could not suffer to have his brother die thus in the wilderness, and
be devoured by wolves. They returned and found the young man seemingly
in a dying condition. They at once decided to resume their journey and
had not gone far before they saw a Quaker whose _thee_ and _thou_ led
them to believe that he was their friend. They then told him their
story, which was sufficient. He immediately returned home, taking them
with him. The fugitives remained there for the night and arranged for
the boy to remain with the Quaker until he should recover. They were
then provided with a sack of biscuit and a supply of meat, with which
they set out again for Canada. After proceeding a little further they
met a white man, who became helpful to them in escaping the slave
hunters who were then on their trail. This man while working for an
employer who undertook to punish him had used violence and had to run
off. The party, knowing the increasing danger of capture, walked all
night, trying to cover the distance of forty miles. At daybreak they
reached a wayside tavern near Lake Erie and ordered breakfast. While
the meal was in preparation they quickly fell asleep. Just as the
breakfast was ready, however, Henson had the peculiar presentiment
that some danger was near and that he should at once leave the house.
After experiencing some difficulty in persuading the fugitives to
leave the tavern quickly they agreed to follow his orders. They had
hardly left the tavern when they heard the tramping of the horses of
the slave hunters. They hid themselves in some bushes nearby which
overlooked the road. The Lightfoots quickly recognized the slave
hunters and whispered their names to Henson as they passed by. This
was the critical moment of their lives. Had they remained in the house
a few minutes longer they would have been apprehended. Their white
friend proceeded to the door in advance of the landlord and when asked
as to whether he had seen any slaves said that he had, that there were
six of them and that they had gone toward Detroit. The slave-hunters
at once set out in that direction. The fugitives returned to the
house, devoured their breakfast immediately and secured the assistance
of the landlord, who hearing their piteous story agreed to take them
in his boat to Canada. In the language of Henson, "Their bosoms were
swelling with inexpressible joy as they mounted the seats of the boat,
ready, eager, to spring forward, that they might touch the soil of the
freeman. And when they reached the shore, they danced and wept for joy
and kissed the earth on which they first stepped, no longer _slaves_
but _freemen_."[5]
Within a short time thereafter the boy whom they had left in dying
condition on the way reached them on the free soil of Canada in good
health. And Frank Taylor, the master of these fugitives, on recovering
from an attack of insanity which apparently resulted from the loss of
these slaves was persuaded by his friends to free the remaining
members of the Lightfoot family, an act which he finally performed,
enabling them after a few years to join their loved ones beyond the
borders of the land of the slave. In this way Henson became
instrumental in effecting the escape of as many as one hundred and
eighteen slaves.[6]
The next important work was the establishment of the British American
Manual Labor Institute in connection with Reverend Hiram Wilson. After
working out a tentative plan, Wilson wrote James O. Fuller, residing
in the State of New York, and interested him in the free Negroes of
Canada West. On a trip to England Mr. Fuller raised $1,500 for this
purpose. A convention of the leading refugees in Canada West was then
called to decide exactly how this money should be spent. Henson urged
that it be appropriated to the establishment of a manual labor school,
where children could be taught the elements of knowledge which are
usually the courses of a grammar school; and where the boys could be
given, in addition, the practice of some mechanic art and the girls
could be instructed in those domestic arts which are the proper
occupations of their sex. Such a school he though would so equip the
Negro youth as to enable him to take over much of the work then being
done by white teachers. This was then necessary, owing to the
prejudice arising against the coeducation of the whites and blacks and
the stigma attached to teachers of Negroes. For this purpose two
hundred acres of land were bought on the river Sydenham. In 1842 the
school was established at Dawn, to which Henson moved with his family.
Henson traveled in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine in
the interest of the institution and obtained many gifts, especially
from Boston, the liberal people of which gave him sufficient funds to
maintain it some time.
In connection with this school there was established a saw-mill, the
building and the equipment of which was secured by Henson also from
philanthropists in Boston. These gentlemen were Rev. Ephraim Peabody,
Amos Lawrence, H. Ingersoll Bowditch, and Samuel Elliot. Henson then
proceeded to have walnut sawed in Canada and shipped to Boston. He
sold his first eighty thousand feet to Jonas Chickering, at forty-five
dollars a thousand. The second cargo was shipped to Boston via the St.
Lawrence and brought Henson a handsome profit. This business not only
became profitable to the persons directly interested in it but proved
to be an asset of the whole section.
In the course of time, however, the institution became heavily
indebted and some means of relief had to be found. At a meeting of the
trustees it was decided to separate the management of the mill from
that of the school. It was easy to find some one to take over the
school, but few dared to think of assuming the management of the mill,
which was indebted to the amount of seven thousand five hundred
dollars. Henson accepted the management of the latter on the condition
that Peter B. Smith would assume an equal share of the responsibility.
Henson then proceeded to England to raise funds to pay the debts of
the mill. Well supplied with letters of recommendation from some of
the most prominent men in the United States, he easily connected with
men of the same class in England. But before he could raise more than
seventeen hundred dollars, an enemy, jealous of his success,
circulated through the press the report that he was an imposter and
was not authorized to solicit funds for any such purpose.[7] This, of
course, frustrated his plans, but the English people were kind to him.
They sent an agent, John Scobell, to Canada to inquire into the
matter, Henson accompanying him. A thorough investigation of the
affairs of the institution was made and the charges were repudiated.
The person who circulated them even denied that he had done so. Upon
returning to England Mr. Scobell informed Henson that should he ever
desire to return to England, he would find in the hands of Amos
Lawrence, of Boston, a draft to cover his expenses. Henson did return
in 1851 and raised sufficient money to cancel the entire indebtedness
of the institution. He was compelled to return to Canada soon after
his arrival, however, on account of the fatal illness of his wife, who
passed away in 1852.
How Father Henson claimed to be the original Uncle Tom of Mrs. Stowe's
immortal story is more than interesting. Laboring in the anti-slavery
cause, Henson traveled in Canada and New England, where he was
welcomed to the pulpits of ministers of all denominations. Once when
he was in the vicinity of Andover, Massachusetts, Mrs. Stowe sent for
him and his traveling companion, Mr. George Clarke, a white gentleman
promoting the abolition of slavery by singing at anti-slavery
meetings. Mrs. Stowe became deeply interested in Henson's story and
had him narrate in detail the many varied experiences of his eventful
life. He told her, moreover, about the life of the slave in several
sections and the peculiarities of many slaveholders. Soon thereafter
appeared "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Henson said that the white slaves,
George and Eliza Harris, were his particular friends. Harris's real
name was Lewis Clark, who traveled and lectured with Henson in New
England. Clark and his wife lived in Canada and finally moved to
Oberlin to educate their children. Furthermore, Henson says there was
on his plantation a clear-minded, sharp Negro girl, Dinah, who was
almost like Mrs. Stowe's Topsy and that a gentleman Mr. St. Clair
lived in his neighborhood. Bryce Litton, who broke Henson's arms and
so maimed him for life that he could never thereafter touch the top of
his head, he thought, would well represent Mrs. Stowe's cruel Legree.
It has been denied that he was this hero.
When Henson was in England he had the good fortune to exhibit at the
World's Fair there some of his beautifully polished walnut lumber,
which Mr. Jonas Chickering sent over for him. The only exhibitor of
color, he attracted attention from many, among whom was Queen
Victoria, who in passing by was saluted by Henson, which salutation
was returned. She inquired as to whether the exhibit he had charge of
was his work. At the close of the exhibition Henson received a large
quarto bound volume describing the exhibits and listing the
exhibitors, among whom was found Josiah Henson. In addition he was
awarded a bronze medal, a beautiful picture of the Queen and royal
family of life size and several other objects of interest.
While in England Henson had the privilege of meeting some of its most
distinguished citizens. He introduced himself to the thinkers of the
country when, upon hearing an eminent man from Pennsylvania tell the
Sabbath-School Union that all classes in the United States
indiscriminately enjoyed religious instruction. Henson demanded a
hearing and successfully refuted the misrepresentation. Having a
standing invitation, he dined alternately with Samuel Morley and
George Hitchcock, Esq., of St. Paul's Church Yard. Upon meeting Lord
Grey, Henson was asked by the gentleman to go to India to introduce
the culture of cotton, promising him an appointment to an office
paying a handsome salary. Through Samuel Guerney, Henson had a long
interview with the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was so impressed with
Henson's bearing and culture that he inquired as to the university
from which he was graduated. Henson replied, _The University of
Adversity_. After listening to Henson's experiences for more than an
hour he followed him to the door and begged him to come to see him
again. He then attended a large picnic of Sabbath-School teachers on
the grounds of Lord John Russell, then Prime Minister of England.
Sitting down to dinner, Henson was given the seat of honor at the head
of the table with such guests as Reverend William Brock, Honorable
Samuel M. Peto and Mr. Bess.
Near the end of his career Henson had many things to trouble him. The
divided management of the British American Manual Labor Institute and
the saw-mill proved a failure. The trustees who got control of it
promised to make something new of it but did not administer the
affairs successfully and they were involved in law suits there with
the Negroes, who endeavored to obtain control of it. It finally
failed, despite the fact that the court of chancery appointed a new
board of trustees and granted a bill to incorporate the institution as
Wilberforce University, which existed a few years.
Henson showed his patriotism in serving as captain to the second Essex
company of colored volunteers in the Canadian Rebellion, going to the
aid of the government which gave them asylum from slavery. His company
held Fort Maiden from Christmas until the following May and also took
the schooner _Ann_ with three hundred arms and two cannons, musketry
and provisions for the rebel troops. They held the fort until they
were relieved by the colonel of the 44th regiment from England. Then
came the Civil War. Henson was too old to go, but his relatives
enlisted. He was charged with having violated the foreign enlistment
act and was arrested and acquitted after some harrowing experiences.
Henson made a third trip to England near the close of his career. Many
of his friends had passed away, but he met his old supporter, Samuel
Morley. He made the acquaintance also of Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton
Hart, R. C. L. Bevan, and Professor Fowler. But he was then the hero
of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." The English people had read of him. They then
wanted to see him. He spoke at the Victoria Park Tabernacle and held
in London a farewell meeting in Spurgeon's Tabernacle. The buildings
were thronged to their utmost capacity and eager crowds on the outside
made desperate efforts to see him. He was then called to Scotland that
the people farther north might also see this hero. Just as Henson
reached Edinburgh the crowning honor of his life was to come. He
received a telegram from Queen Victoria inviting him to visit her the
following day. After addressing an unusually large audience, Henson
proceeded immediately to London. The next day he and his wife were
dined by a group of distinguished gentlemen and were then taken to
Windsor Castle, where they were presented to Queen Victoria. Her
majesty informed him that he had known of him ever since she was a
little girl. She expressed her surprise at seeing him look so
different from what she had imagined he would. She briefly discussed
with him the state of affairs in Canada, and in bidding him and his
wife farewell expressed her wish for his continued prosperity, gave
him a token of her respect and esteem, consisting of a full length
cabinet photograph of herself in an elegant easel frame of gold.
On his return to the United States Henson visited the old plantation
in Montgomery County near Rockville, Maryland, finding his old
master's wife still living. He then proceeded to Washington to see
again the old haunts which he frequented when serving as the market
man of his plantation. While in the National Capital he went to the
White House to call on his Excellency President Hayes, who chatted
with him about his trip across the sea while Mrs. Hayes showed
Henson's wife through the executive mansion. When he left the
President extended him a cordial invitation to call to see him again.
This was the last thing of note in his life. He returned to his home
in Canada and resumed the best he could the work he was prosecuting,
but old age and sickness overtook him and he passed away in 1881 in
the ninety-second year of his life.
W. B. HARTGROVE
FOOTNOTES:
[1] On account of ill health Mr. W. B. Hartgrove, who was preparing
this article, had to turn over his unfinished manuscript to the
editor, who completed it. The story is based on the "_Life of Josiah
Henson_," "_Father Henson's Story of His Own Life_" and "_Uncle Tom's
Story of His Life_."--THE EDITOR.
[2] Henson, "_Uncle Tom's Story of his Life_," p. 15.
[3] Henson, "_Uncle Tom's own Story of his Life_," p. 53.
[4] Henson gives this interesting conversation:
"How far is it to Canada?" He gave me a peculiar look, and in a minute
I saw he knew all. "Want to go to Canada? Come along with us, then.
Our captain's a fine fellow. We're going to Buffalo." "Buffalo; how
far is that from Canada?" "Don't you know, man? Just across the
river." I now opened my mind frankly to him, and told him about my
wife and children. "I'll speak to the captain," said he. He did so,
and in a moment the captain took me aside, and said, "The Doctor says
you want to go to Buffalo with your family." "Yes, sir." "Well why not
go with me?" was his frank reply. "Doctor says you've got a family."
"Yes, sir." "Where do you stop?" "About a mile back." "How long have
you been here." "No time," I answered, after a moment's hesitation.
"Come, my good fellow, tell us all about it. You're running away,
ain't you?" Henson saw that he was a friend, and opened his heart to
him. "How long will it take you to get ready?" "Be here in half an
hour, sir." "Well go along and get them." Off I started; but, before I
had run fifty feet, he called me back. "Stop," said he; "you go on
getting the grain in. When we get off, I'll lay to over opposite that
island, and send a boat back. There's a lot of regular nigger-catchers
in the town below, and they might suspect if you brought your party
out of the bush by daylight." I worked away with a will. Soon the two
or three hundred bushels of corn were aboard, the hatches fastened
down, the anchor raised, and the sails hoisted. I watched the vessel
with intense interest as she left her moorings. Away she went before
the free breeze. Already she seemed beyond the spot at which the
captain agreed to lay to, and still she flew along. My heart sank
within me; so near deliverance, and again to have my hopes blasted,
again to be cast on my own resources. I felt that they had been making
a mock of my misery. The sun had sunk to rest, and the purple and gold
of the west were fading away into gray. Suddenly, however, as I gazed
with weary heart the vessel swung round into the wind, the sails
flapped, and she stood motionless. A moment more, and a boat was
lowered from her stern, and with steady stroke made for the point at
which I stood. I felt that my hour of release had come. On she came,
and in ten minutes she rode up handsomely on the beach. My black
friend and two sailors jumped out, and we started on at once for my
wife and children. To my horror, they were gone from the place where I
left them. Overpowered with fear, I supposed they had been found and
carried off. There was no time to lose, and the men told me I would
have to go alone. Just at the point of despair, however, I stumbled on
one of the children. My wife it seemed, alarmed at my long absence,
had given up all for lost, and supposed I had fallen into the hands of
the enemy. When she heard my voice, mingled with those of the others,
she thought my captors were leading me back to make me discover my
family, and in the extremity of her terror she had tried to hide
herself. I had hard work to satisfy her. Our long habits of
concealment and anxiety had rendered her suspicious of every one; and
her agitation was so great that for a time she was incapable of
understanding what I said, and went on in a sort of paroxysm of
distress and fear. This, however, was soon over, and the kindness of
my companions did much to facilitate the matter."--Father Henson's
Story of his own Life, p. 121.
[5] Henson, "_Uncle Tom's Story of his Life_," p. 162.
[6] Years thereafter when taking dinner with a distinguished gentleman
in London the thought of enjoying such privileges while his only
brother was in slavery dawned suddenly and impressed itself so
forcefully upon him that he immediately arose from the table, unable
to eat. He soon returned to America and at once proceeded to devise
means to free his brother. Mr. William Chaplain, of New York, had
repeatedly urged him to flee by way of the underground railroad, but
he was so demoralized and stultified by slavery that he would not make
an effort. Mr. Chaplain made a second effort to induce him to escape
but he still refused. Henson finally arranged to sell the narrative of
his life to secure funds for his liberation. The book sold well in New
England and the requisite four hundred dollars being raised his
brother was freed and enabled to join him in Canada.--Father Henson's
_Story of his own Life_, pp. 209-212.
[7] _Liberator_, April 11, 1851.
ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING AND THE NEGRO
Elizabeth Barrett Browning was a poetic artist who was intensely
concerned with the large human movements of the world and the age into
which she was thrown. Her whole life was one great heart-throb. While
the condition of her health and the nature of her early training were
such as to cultivate her rather bookish and romantic temperament, she
followed with eagerness the great social reforms in England in the
reign of William IV and the early years of Victoria; and _The Cry of
the Children_ and _The Cry of the Human_ indicated what was to be one
of her chief lines of interest. In her later years she threw herself
heart and soul into the cause of Italian independence and unity,
welcoming Napoleon III as a benefactor. Her political judgment was not
always sound: her distinguished husband could not possibly follow her
in her admiration for Napoleon, whom he regarded as to some extent at
least a charlatan, and Cavour simply represented his countrymen in his
amazement and chagrin at the terms of the Peace of Villafranca;
nevertheless the great heart of Elizabeth Barrett Browning was ever
moved by the demands of liberty, whether the immediate impulse was a
child in the sweatshops of England, an Italian wishing to be free of
Austria, or the exiled Victor Hugo, and there was no exaggeration in
the tribute placed on the wall of Casa Guidi after her death:
Qui scrisse e mori
Elizabetta Barrett Browning
che in cuore di donna conciliava
scienza di dotto e spirito di poeta
e fece del suo verso aureo anello
fra Italia e Inghilterra
pone questa lapide
Firenze grata
1861[8]
To such a woman the Negro, held in slavery in a great free republic,
made a ready appeal. The first concrete connection, however, was one
directly affecting the fortunes of the Barrett family. For some years
Mr. Barrett had made his home at a beautiful estate in Herefordshire
known as Hope End. He had inherited from his maternal grandfather a
large estate in Jamaica, where the families of both his parents had
been established for two or three generations. The abolition of
slavery in the British colonies in 1833 inflicted great financial
embarrassment upon him, as a result of which he was forced to sell
Hope End and to remove his family, first to Sidmouth in Devonshire,
and subsequently to London. Elizabeth Barrett foreshadowed this change
of fortunes in a letter to her friend Mrs. Martin dated Sidmouth, May
27, 1833:
The West Indians are irreparably ruined if the Bill passes. Papa
says that in the case of its passing, nobody in his senses would
think of even attempting the culture of sugar, and that they had
better hang weights to the sides of the island of Jamaica and
sink it at once.[9]
In September of the same year she wrote from Sidmouth to the same
friend as follows:
Of course you know that the late Bill has ruined the West
Indians. That is settled. The consternation here is very great.
Nevertheless I am glad, and always shall be, that the Negroes
are--virtually--free.[10]
It is some years before we find another reference so definite. Miss
Barrett in the meantime became Mrs. Browning and under the inspiration
of love and Italy gave herself anew to her work. The feeling for
liberty was constantly with her, as was to be seen from _Casa Guidi
Windows_ and _Poems before Congress_. About 1855, when she was on a
visit to England, through the work of Daniel D. Home, a notorious
American exponent of spiritualism, Mrs. Browning became interested in
the current fad, and gave to it vastly more serious attention than
most other initiates. Browning himself, while patient, was intolerably
irritated with those whom he regarded as imposing on his wife's
credulity, and delivered himself on the subject in _Mr. Sludge, 'the
Medium_.' Spiritualism, however, was a topic of never-failing interest
between Mrs. Browning and her American friend, Harriet Beecher Stowe,
whom she entertained in Italy. _Uncle Tom's Cabin_ made a profound
impression upon her. In 1853 this book was still in the great flush of
its first success. On April 12, 1853, Mrs. Browning wrote from
Florence to Mrs. Jameson as follows:
Not read Mrs. Stowe's book! _But you must_. Her book is quite a
sign of the times, and has otherwise and intrinsically
considerable power. For myself, I rejoice in the success, both as
a woman and a human being. Oh, and is it possible that you think
a woman has no business with questions like the question of
slavery? Then she had better use a pen no more. She had better
subside into slavery and concubinage herself, I think, as in the
times of old, shut herself up with the Penelopes in the "women's
apartment," and take no rank among thinkers and speakers.
Certainly you are not in earnest in these things. A difficult
question--yes! All virtue is difficult. England found it
difficult. France found it difficult. But we did not make
ourselves an armchair of our sins. As for America, I honor
America in much; but I would not be an American for the world
while she wears that shameful scar upon her brow. The address of
the new president[11] exasperates me. Observe, I am an
abolitionist, not to the fanatical degree, because I hold that
compensation should be given by the North to the South, as in
England. The states should unite in buying off this national
disgrace.[12]
Under date Florence, December 11, 1854, Mrs. Browning wrote to Miss
Mitford as follows:
I am reading now Mrs. Stowe's _Sunny Memories_, and like the
naturalness and simplicity of the book much, in spite of the
provincialism of the tone of mind and education, and the really
wretched writing. It's quite wonderful that a woman who has
written a book to make the world ring should write so
abominably.[13]
More and more as the Civil War approached was Mrs. Browning depressed
by the thought of the impending conflict. Between June 7, 1860, and
July 25, 1861, she contributed to the recently established
_Independent_ eleven poems, chiefly on subjects of Italian liberty.
Sometimes, however, especially in the letters accompanying her poems,
she touched on themes somewhat closer to the American people. For the
issue of March 21, 1861, she wrote to the editor as follows:
My partiality for frenzies is not so absorbing, believe me, as to
exclude very painful consideration on the dissolution of your
great Union. But my serious fear has been, and is, not for the
dissolution of the body but the death of the soul--not of a
rupture of states and civil war, but at reconciliation and peace
at the expense of a deadly compromise of principle. Nothing will
destroy the Republic but what corrupts its conscience and
disturbs its fame--for the stain upon the honor must come off
upon the flag. _If, on the other hand, the North stands fast on
the moral ground, no glory will be like your glory_.... What
surprises me is that the slaves don't rise.
On this great subject Mrs. Browning found her husband in full sympathy
with her. Browning himself declared in a letter to an American,
September 11, 1861:
I have lost the explanation of American affairs, but I assure you
of my belief in the justice and my confidence in the triumph of
the great cause. For the righteousness of the principle I want no
information. God prosper it and its defenders.[14]
Two poems by Mrs. Browning at least have to do directly with the Negro
and American affairs. One was _A Curse for a Nation_ contributed to
the _Poems before Congress_ volume. The poet begins somewhat
self-consciously:
I heard an angel speak last night,
And he said "Write!
Write a Nation's curse for me,
And send it over the Western Sea."
She protests her unwillingness to execute such a commission, for, she
says,
I am bound by gratitude
By love and blood,
To brothers of mine across the sea,
Who stretch out kindly hands to me.
The angel, however, beats down this unwillingness and the curse
follows, the second stanza reading:
Because yourselves are standing straight
In the state
Of Freedom's foremost acolyte,
Yet keep calm footing all the time
On writhing bond-slaves,--for this crime
This is the curse. Write.
At best, however, _A Curse for a Nation_ can hardly help impressing
one as a little forced. In rather higher poetic vein is the other
poem, _The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim's Point_. This was contributed to
_The Liberty Bell_, a publication issued by the Boston Anti-Slavery
Bazar in 1848. Mrs. Browning feared that the poem might be "too
ferocious for the Americans to publish." The composition is
undoubtedly a strong one. It undertakes to give the story of a young
Negro woman who was bound in slavery, whose lover was crushed before
her face, who was forced to submit to personal violation, who killed
her child that so much reminded her of her white master's face, and
who at last at Pilgrim's Point defied her pursuers. With unusual
earnestness the poet has entered sympathetically into the subject. The
following stanzas are typical:
But _we_ who are dark, we are dark
Ah God, we have no stars!
About our souls in care and cark
Our blackness shuts like prison-bars;
The poor souls crouch so far behind
That never a comfort can they find
By reaching through the prison-bars.
* * * * *
Why, in that single glance I had
Of my child's face, ... I tell you all,
I saw a look that made me mad
The _master's_ look, that used to fall
On my soul like his lash ... or worse
And so, to save it from my curse,
I twisted it round in my shawl.
* * * * *
From the white man's house, and the black man's hut,
I carried the little body on;
The forest's arm did round us shut,
And silence through the trees did run:
They asked no question as I went,
They stood too high for astonishment,
They could see God sit on his throne.
* * * * *
(Man, drop that stone you dared to lift!--)
I wish you who stand there five abreast,
Each, for his own wife's joy and gift,
A little corpse as safely at rest
As mine in the mangoes: Yes, but _she_
My keep live babies on her knee,
And sing the song she likes the best.
In such a review as this of the connections between Mrs. Browning and
the Negro one can not help coming face to face with the question
whether her famous husband was not himself connected by blood with the
Negro race. The strain is hardly so pronounced as in men like
Alexandre Dumas or Leigh Hunt, and as in the case of Alexander
Hamilton, the point still seems to be waiting for final proof. The
assertion is persistent, however, and there can be little doubt that
such is the case. The standard life of Browning,[15] after wrestling
in vain with the problem, dismisses it as follows:
Dr. Furnivall has originated a theory, and maintains it as a
conviction, that Mr. Browning's grandmother was more than a
Creole in the strict sense of the term, that of a person born of
white parents in the West Indies, and that an unmistakable dash
of dark blood passed from her to her son and grandson. Such an
occurrence was, on the face of it, not impossible, and would be
absolutely unimportant to my mind, and, I think I may add, to
that of Mr. Browning's sister and son. The poet and his father
were what we know them, and if Negro blood had any part in their
composition, it was no worse for them, and so much the better for
the Negro.
Aside from this last point, from the evidence that has been given,
while this of course has its limitations, we may safely assert that
with her large humanity and her enthusiasm for liberty, Elizabeth
Barrett Browning was one of the sturdiest defenders in England of the
cause of the American Negro at the time of the beginning of the Civil
War. It is to be regretted that she did not live to read the
Emancipation Proclamation and to see the Negro started on an era of
self-reliance and progress.
BENJAMIN BRAWLEY
FOOTNOTES:
[8] For the inscription we are indebted to the Cambridge edition of
the poems of Mrs. Browning, edited by Harriet Waters Preston, Houghton
Mifflin, Boston, p. xii. Translation: Here wrote and died Elizabeth
Barrett Browning, who united to a woman's heart the learning of a
savant and the inspiration of a poet, and made her verse a golden link
between Italy and England. This tablet was set by grateful Florence in
1861.
[9] _The Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning_, edited by Frederic G.
Kenton, 2 vols., Macmillan, New York and London, 1898. Vol. I, p. 21.
[10] _Letters_, I, 23.
[11] _I. e._, Franklin Pierce.
[12] _Letters_, II, 110.
[13] _Letters_, II, 183.
[14] Quoted from _Browning Society Papers_, Part XII, by Elizabeth
Porter Gould in _The Brownings and America_, p. 55.
[15] Mrs. Sutherland Orr, _Life and Letters of Robert Browning_. 2
vols. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1891. Vol. I, p. 8.
PALMARES: THE NEGRO NUMANTIA
One of the most glorious achievements in the history of the Iberian
Peninsula was the long and desperate defence of Numantia against the
Roman legionaries sent to effect the destruction of the city. When the
beleaguered inhabitants could no longer maintain themselves, owing to
the shortage of food supplies, they burned the city, and those who
were not killed in battle with the Romans committed suicide. Scipio
Æmilianus, the Roman leader, entered Numantia to find nothing but
burning embers and piles of corpses.
This incident has an almost exact parallel in the history of
Brazil--only this time the heroes were Negroes, defending the capital
of one of the earliest and one of the strangest Negro republics in the
history of the world. The Portuguese, who were the first to introduce
Negro slavery into Europe, did not long delay in carrying the
institution to their colony of Brazil. It was in 1574 that the first
slave ship reached there. Thereafter, great numbers of Negroes were
brought, especially to northern Brazil, in the equatorial belt, to
work in the profitable sugar fields. No region of the Americas was so
accessible to the slave trade, for the Brazilian coast juts out into
the Atlantic Ocean directly opposite the Gulf of Guinea in Africa,
whence most of the slaves were procured. It is profitless here to go
into the question of the treatment of the slaves by their Portuguese
masters. Some were badly treated, and took the chance of flight to the
interior forest lands, rather than submit any longer. Various causes
prompted yet others to escape from the colonial plantations. Thus many
a _quilombo_, or Negro village of the forest, was formed. By far the
most famous of these was the _quilombo_ of Palmares, whose history is
the subject of this article.
In 1650, forty determined Negroes of the province of Pernambuco, all
of them natives of Guinea, rose against their masters, taking as much
as they could in the way of arms and provisions, and fled to the
neighboring forest. There they founded a _quilombo_ on the site of a
well-known Negro village of earlier days, which the Dutch had
destroyed. The tale of their escape was told throughout the province,
with the result that it was not long before the population of the new
_quilombo_ was greatly increased. Slaves and freemen were eager to
join their brethren in the forest. It seemed prudent, however, to go
farther away from the white settlements, lest the very strength of the
Negro town should invite annihilation or re-enslavement by the
planters. Thus it was that the inland site of Palmares, not far from
present-day Anadia, was chosen. A town was founded, and all seemed
well except for one thing--an essential to permanence was lacking, for
there were no women. A detachment of Negroes was sent on the romantic
mission of procuring wives for the colony. This party marched to the
nearest plantations, and, without stopping to discriminate, took all
the women it could find, black, mulatto, and white. Palmares was now
on a secure footing indeed.
At first, the inhabitants lived by a species of banditry, robbing the
whites whenever they could. Gradually, a more settled type of life
developed. The Negroes began to engage in agriculture, and at length
entered into something approximating peaceful relations with the
Portuguese settlements. Trade took the place of warfare, although fear
of the overgrown _quilombo_ was perhaps as much the motive on the part
of the whites as the desire for profits. A rustic republic of an
admirable type was formed for the maintenance of internal order and
external safety. Combining republican and monarchical features, they
elected a chief, or king, called the _Zombe_, who ruled with absolute
authority during the term of his life. The right of candidacy was
restricted to a group recognized as composing the bravest men of the
community. Any man in the state might aspire to this dignity, provided
he had Negro blood in his veins. There were other officials, both of a
military and of a civil character. In the interests of good order,
the _Zombes_ made laws imposing the death penalty for murder,
adultery, and robbery. Slavery existed, and in this respect there was
a curious custom. Every Negro who had won his freedom from the white
man, by whatever method, as for example by a successful flight to
Palmares, remained a free man. Those who were captured while in a
state of slavery, however, became slaves in Palmares. Thus the reward
of freedom was offered to those who should escape from the planters,
and a punishment was held out to those who would not, or could not, do
so. In course of time, the Negro republic expanded until it included a
number of towns. Palmares alone is said to have had a population of
20,000, and the number of fighting men in the whole republic was some
10,000. The capital city, Palmares, was surrounded by wooden walls,
made of the trunks of large trees. The city was entered by means of
three huge gates, on the tops of which were great platforms, always
well guarded.
For nearly half a century the little republic prospered. It was
perhaps only natural that the Portuguese settlers should wish to
destroy it, for it represented an alien force and an ever present
danger, certainly so far as their profits from the use of slave labor
went. At any rate, in the year 1696, Governor Caetano de Mello of
Pernambuco decided upon an expedition against Palmares. A strong force
was sent, but it was met by the Negroes and totally defeated. A
veritable army of some 7,000 men was now gathered, and placed under
the command of a competent soldier named Bernardo Vieira. This time,
the Portuguese troops were well provided with artillery, with which
the Negro republic could not be expected to cope. Palmares was
reached, but it was in no mood for surrender, and it was necessary to
begin a regular siege of the city. The defence was desperate. After
the Portuguese artillery had breached the walls in three places, their
infantry attacked in force. They entered the city, but had to take it,
foot by foot. At last, the defenders came to the center of Palmares,
where a high cliff impeded further retreat. Death or surrender were
now the only alternatives. Seeing that his cause was lost beyond
repair, the _Zombe_ hurled himself over the cliff, and his action was
followed by the most distinguished of his fighting men. Some prisoners
were indeed taken, but it is perhaps a tribute to Palmares, though a
gruesome one, that they were all put to death; it was not safe to
enslave these men, despite the value of their labor. Thus passed
Palmares, the Negro Numantia, most famous and greatest of the
Brazilian _qui-lombos_.
CHARLES E. CHAPMAN
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.
SLAVERY IN CALIFORNIA
Slavery in California prior to the Mexican War was slavery in the
Spanish possessions. The Spaniards began with the enslavement of
Indians and later at the advice of De las Casas changed to that of
Negroes.[16] This system was first used in the West Indies and later
extended to other colonies. It is said that about the year 1537,
Cortes fitted out at the port of Tehuantepec, several small vessels,
provided with everything required for planting a colony and sailed
north to the head of the Gulf of California, transporting four hundred
Spaniards and three hundred Negro slaves, that he had assembled for
that purpose.[17] This is the first mention of Negro slavery in
California. After the founding of the Mission of San Carlos by the
president, Father Junipero Serra, with a community of twenty-three
friars, we read that the first interment in the cemetery was that of
Ignacio Ramirez, a former mulatto slave from San Antonio, who had
money to purchase his freedom.[18] There were too a number of Negro
slaves brought to California between these periods. They came on
trading ships and with various expeditions, which they usually
deserted after reaching the State. Hittell is wrong, therefore, in
saying that the first slave in California was brought there in 1825
when the wife of Antonio José de Cot, a Spaniard, brought with her a
slave girl named Juana, fourteen years of age, from Lima to San
Francisco. He doubted even that this was the first slave in California
for the lady expressed her intention to avail herself of the first
opportunity to leave.[19]
Spain did not especially bother about Negro slavery in her Pacific
coast territory for nearly two hundred years before the coming of the
Americans. She promised by the treaty of September 30, 1817, to
abolish the slave trade October 31, 1820, in all Spanish territory. In
1821, however, certain of the northern colonies of Spain in America
established their independence as the United States of Mexico.[5]
Three years later the importation of slaves from foreign countries was
prohibited and children of slave parents were declared free.
Notwithstanding this there set in considerable emigration from the
Southern States followed by an agitation for the acquisition of Texas.
In 1827, therefore, Coahuila and Texas were organized as a State with
a law prohibiting slavery. As this, however, did not check the
immigration, President Guerro issued a decree[20] in 1829 abolishing
slavery in Mexico on the occasion of the celebration of the
independence of Mexico and in 1830 ordered a military occupation of
the State to enforce the anti-slavery measure.[4] But the aggressive
southerner ever endeavoring to extend the territory of slavery had all
but won the day in Texas. In 1836 Texas declared itself a republic
with a constitution permitting the introduction of slavery and
forbidding the residence of free Negroes without the consent of its
Congress. Then came the Mexican War resulting in the defeat of Mexico
and the cession to the United States of a vast territory of which
California was the most valuable part.
It is clear, therefore, that at the time the United States government
acquired the territory of California from Mexico, slavery had been
abolished there nearly twenty years. The pro-slavery party, however,
did not consider this action of Mexico a finality in the settlement of
the slavery question in the new possessions. When a bill providing for
the purchase of this territory was laid before the house, David
Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, after consultation with other northern
democrats, offered the following amendment:
"Provided that an express and fundamental condition to the
acquisition of any territory from the republic of Mexico by the
United States, by virtue of any treaty which may be negotiated
between them, and to the use by the executive of the moneys
herein appropriated, neither slavery nor involuntary servitude
shall ever exist in any part of said territory, except for crime
whereof the party shall first be duly convicted."[21]
This proviso was adopted by a vote of 83 to 64. The bill carrying this
proviso was then reported to the Senate where followed a heated debate
which lasted until adjournment, the proviso being killed in the midst
of stormy scenes in Congress.[22] This discussion showed that few
statesmen believed that slavery would be profitable in California.
They were not unlike Daniel Webster who, while speaking on the
admission of the State of Texas, said that slavery was effectually
excluded from California and New Mexico by a law even superior to that
which admits and sanctions it in Texas. He meant the law of nature.
The physiographic conditions of the country would forever exclude
African slavery there; and it needed not the application of a proviso.
If the question was then before the Senate he would not vote "to add a
prohibition--to reaffirm an ordinance of nature, nor reenact the will
of God."[23]
The coming and going of the Negro in California did not especially
interest any one until the beginning of the immigration of the
forties. The subject of slavery in California was officially called to
the attention of the inhabitants through the issuance of a
proclamation by the Commander in Chief of the District in regard to
the unlawful enslaving of the Indians. He was endeavoring to protect
them, but they were enslaved[24] in spite of his efforts. The
legislature undertook to perpetuate this system by enacting a law
permitting the enslavement of Indians, the only condition upon the
master being a bond of a small sum, that he would not abuse or cruelly
treat the slaves. Under the provision of the same law, Indians could
be arrested as vagrants and sold to the highest bidder within
twenty-four hours after the arrest, and the buyer had the privilege of
the labor for a period not exceeding four months.[25] An Indian
arrested for a violation of a law could demand a jury trial, but could
not testify in his own behalf against a white person. If found guilty
of any crime, he could either be imprisoned or whipped, the whipping
not to exceed twenty-four lashes.[26]
Later there was a steady influx of southerners and their Negro slaves
into the territory of California, after the country was taken over by
the United States. Then came the question as to the enslavement of the
Negro. The situation became serious after the Congress of the United
States appropriated three millions of dollars for the purchase of the
new territory, and still more so after gold was discovered there.
Mexican rule ended with the cession of the territory to the United
States; and yet session after session of Congress adjourned without
giving California a territorial form of government. The question of
slavery in the newly acquired territory divided Congress so that they
could not decide the issue. Southern newspapers were advertising for
slave-owners to send names and the number of slaves they were taking
to California to found a _New Colony_.[27]
The settlers were divided. Some came because they either disliked
slavery, or were too poor to own slaves. They recognized the
possibilities for making California a free State and did not care to
be designated _Poor White Trash_ by masters who were being allowed to
fill the State with Negro slaves to constitute the basis of an
aristocracy like that in the South. There were other inhabitants in
California at the time who, being slave-owners, were southern
sympathizers. They were determined either to have slavery in
California or make a desperate effort before seeing the territory
given up as a free State.[28] It did not require very much
investigation, however, to show that the pro-slavery party was in the
minority. The editor of the _Californian_ said in May, 1848, that he
voiced the sentiments of the people in California in saying that
slavery was neither needed nor desired there. A correspondent of this
paper hoping to hold that section for free labor said: "If white labor
is too high for agriculture, laborers on contract may be brought from
China." Referring to the proposal to make the commonwealth a slave
State Buckelew said: "We have not heard one of our acquaintance in
this country advocate this measure and we are almost certain that
97-100 of the present population are opposed to it." Again it is
remarked in this paper: "We left the slave states because we did not
like to bring up a family in a miserable, can't-help-one's-self
condition," and dearly as he loved the union, he would prefer
California independent to seeing her a slave State.[29]
The lack of law and order and fear of the southern slave-owners with
their herds of Negro slaves finally led to the call of the
Constitutional Convention. The question of slavery there was not so
much debated in that body as was expected. Some excited pro-slavery
leaders were talking of an independent _Pacific Republic_. The
southern faction in the convention was led by a Mr. Gwyn, who
afterwards became a United States Senator from California, and the
northern element was ably represented by a Mr. Broderick, who later
was chosen State Senator.[30] The convention finally drafted their
constitution with a section which provided that "neither slavery nor
involuntary servitude unless for the punishment of crime shall ever be
tolerated in this state."
The pro-slavery faction in the convention was determined to have
slavery somewhere and had managed to have the eastern boundary of
California so designated that it extended as far as the Rocky
Mountains. This would have resulted in rejection by Congress, or a
division of the territory into a Northern and a Southern California,
giving the pro-slavery element a new State. The unwieldy boundary,
however, was discovered in time to have it changed, but not until
after much debate, which almost wrecked the constitution. The
California representatives elected by the convention left for
Washington, where they presented to Congress the constitution and the
petition of the California settlers asking for admission as a State.
There had never been a precedent for their act. Yet the settlers in
California felt perfectly justified, since it was their only safeguard
against the pro-slavery leaders who were bringing their slaves into
the territory.
Leaders at the national capital naturally hesitated, not knowing
whether or not the admission of California under the conditions thus
obtaining would aggravate or improve the national situation.
California, however, cared little about the national situation, as is
attested by the resolutions of 1850 to the effect: "That any attempts
by congress to interfere with the institution of slavery in any of the
territories of the United States would create just grounds of alarm
in many of the States of the union; and that such interference is
unnecessary, inexpedient, and in violation of good faith; since, when
any such territory applies for admission into the union as a state,
the people thereof alone have the right, and should be left free and
unrestrained, to decide such question for themselves." Broderick moved
the insertion of the following: "That opposition to the admission of a
state into the union with a constitution prohibiting slavery, on
account of such prohibition, is a policy wholly unjustifiable and
unstatesmanlike, and in violation of that spirit of concession and
compromise by which alone the federal constitution was adopted, and by
which alone it can be perpetuated." This amendment was adopted.[31]
After a debate of four months Congress admitted California as a free
State as one of five compromises. Jefferson Davis, however, repudiated
the idea of advantage to his section. He said: "Where is the
concession to the South? Is it in the admission, as a state, of
California, from which we have been excluded by congressional
agitation? Is it in the announcement that slavery does not and is not
to exist in the remaining territories of New Mexico and California? Is
it in denying the title of Texas to one half of her territory?" He
held that gold washing and mining was particularly adapted to slave
labor, as was agriculture that depended on irrigation.[32] The day
after the admission certain southern senators sent to that body a
_Protest_ against the injustice of the act of Congress, admitting
California as a free State. The Senate refused the clerk permission
either to read or record it. Whereupon the newspapers began publishing
articles of severe criticism and talked of dividing the Union.
Jefferson Davis went before the United States Senate and, addressing
it, called attention to these comments, adding that so much outside
criticism was doing more to divide the Union than the _Protest_ would
possibly do. Congress finally voted that the _Protest_ be
recorded.[33]
Was this to be a free State in every sense of the word? This was
the day when the slave power "was covertly grasping at the
Spanish-speaking countries beyond the Rio Grande, as it had at the
lands beyond the Sabine."[34] At first, it was not, for a good many
slaves were brought into the State. On April 1, 1850, an advertisement
appeared in the _Jackson Mississippian_ referring to _California, the
Southern Slave Colony_ and inviting citizens of slave-holding States,
wishing to go to California, to send their names, number of slaves,
time of contemplated departure, etc., to the _Southern Slave Colony_,
of Jackson, Mississippi. The design was to settle in the richest parts
of the State and to secure an uninterrupted enjoyment of slave
property. The colony was to comprise about 5,000 white persons and
10,000 slaves.
Another effort to extend slavery in this section came in the
unsuccessful filibustering expedition of the Tennessee lawyer, William
Walker, who undertook to establish to the south in Sonora, a State
with a constitution like that of Louisiana, basing his advocacy of
slavery on the lofty grounds of civilizing the blacks and liberating
the whites from manual labor. To explain the meaning of this
expedition Bancroft considers it sufficient to point out that
Jefferson Davis was Secretary of War at that time and that the Gadsden
purchase was then under consideration.[35] In 1852 Peachy of San
Joaquin introduced a resolution to allow fifty southern families to
immigrate into California with their slaves. Some of them came without
permission but on finding that they could not legally hold their
slaves, they sent a part of them back while others became free.
In 1852 the Legislature passed a rigid Fugitive Slave Law intending to
bar slavery from the State. The mischievous clause of this measure was
that all slaves who had escaped into or were brought to California
previous to the admission of the State to the Union were held to be
fugitives, and were liable to arrest under the law, although many of
them had been in the State several years, during which they had
accumulated considerable property. The pro-slavery element not only
profited by this, but the interpretation of this law by many of the
Judges enabled them to bring their slaves into the State, work them in
the mines, and return to the south and back to slavery with their
Negroes.[36]
If they did not wish the trouble of their return passage they
auctioned them off to the highest bidder. It also enabled them to
make fortunes by selling to the slaves their freedom, charging them
twice and often thrice the price he could have possibly brought on the
other side of the Rocky Mountains.[37] In certain southern counties of
the State it was unpopular to speak in behalf of the slaves. In 1855
Chase and Day, two Abolitionists of Alameda County, were ridden on a
rail, ducked and otherwise maltreated.[38] That same year expired the
Fugitive Slave Law which had been renewed from year to year to enable
slave-owners to reclaim fugitives who had sought refuge in that State
prior to its admission to the Union. Fearing that this might be
followed by other legislation hostile to their class, the Negroes held
a convention in San Francisco that year to discuss their rights, their
treatment by the white people, politics, principles and necessity of
education. The Fugitive Slave Law was not reenacted.
Many slaves, however, asserted their rights. Such was the case of
Archy, a slave brought by one Charles A. Stoval from Mississippi to
California in 1857. After hiring Archy out for some time Stoval
undertook to return him to Mississippi. Archy escaped and was arrested
as a fugitive. Stoval sued out a writ of habeas corpus for his
possession and the case came before the Supreme Court for
adjudication. Peter Burnett, formerly Governor, who had been appointed
justice of that court by Governor Johnson in 1857 and filled the
office until 1858, presided. As Burnett was a southern man, his
decision was foreshadowed. He decided that although Stoval could not
sustain the character of either a transient traveler or a visitor and
under the general law was not entitled to Archy, but he yet held that
there were circumstances connected with the particular case that might
exempt him from the operation of the rules laid down. One of the
circumstances was that Stoval was traveling for his health; another,
that he was short of means upon arrival in California; and still
another, that this was the first case of the kind. He, therefore,
ordered Archy to be turned over to Stoval. Joseph G. Baldwin, who
succeeded Burnett, characterized the decision as "giving the law to
the North and the Negro to the South."[39] After being delivered to
Stoval, Archy was taken to San Francisco, but his friends there sued
out a writ of habeas corpus for his liberation before Judge Thomas W.
Freelon, of the County of San Francisco. While this case was pending,
however, Stoval swore to a new affidavit that Archy escaped from him
in Mississippi and procured a warrant from George Pen Johnston, United
States Commissioner, for his arrest as a fugitive slave from
Mississippi. Archy was then discharged by Judge Freelon. He was
immediately rearrested and taken before George Pen Johnston, who
decided that Archy was in no sense a fugitive from Mississippi and
discharged him.[40]
The tendency to free the Negroes brought there checked the importation
of that class. The rights of the master to his slave, however, were
not easily relinquished and the institution of slavery in California
did not come to an end until 1872. Freedom, however, had to win and
the pro-slavery element had to change its policy. In 1856 and 1857
efforts were made to call a convention to change the constitution so
as to permit the importation of slaves, for with the expiration of the
Fugitive Slave Law in 1855, slave-owners who held minors had to return
them to slave States or let them go free. Since the Negroes brought
into the State could in most cases become free the pro-slavery party
then sought to get rid of the free Negro.
In his message to the legislature in 1850, Governor Burnett
recommended the exclusion of free Negroes. This was always Burnett's
hobby. He incorporated this into the laws of Oregon when he revised
them in 1844. Burnett had been brought up in the South and although he
had ceased to be a slaveholder, he could not think of living with
Negroes as freemen. The exclusion of the blacks too had a sort of
popular appeal in it. The legislature, however, was divided on the
question as to what should be done with the free Negro. A bill in
compliance with the wishes of the Governor was introduced but
defeated. Undaunted by this, however, the enemy of the free Negroes
won a victory in another quarter in enacting a law that no black or
mulatto person or Indian should be permitted to give evidence in any
action to which a white person was a party. The leaders of the Negroes
held another convention in 1856 to protest against this law. Another
bill providing for the prohibition of the immigration of free persons
of color into the State was introduced in 1858 and after much debate
put through both houses, but it never became a law. The black code, of
course, was abrogated after the Civil War.
DELILAH L. BEASLEY
FOOTNOTES:
[16] Bourne, "_Spain in America_," 271.
[17] _California Miscellany_, I, 9.
[18] Bancroft, "_History of California_," I, 175; _Place Notices_, I,
151.
[19] Hittell, "_History of California_," II, 115.
[20] Garrison, "_Westward Extension_," 26.
[21] _Cong. Globe_, 29 Cong., 2 Sess., 509.
[22] Garrison, "_Westward Extension_," 254-268, 284-314. _Cong.
Globe_, 29 Cong., 2d Sess., 178, 453, 455; 30 Cong., 1st Sess., 875,
989, 910, 1002-1005, 1062, 1081; 2d Sess., 216, 381.
[23] Tuthill, "_Hist. of California_," 312, 316.
[24] PROCLAMATION TO THE INHABITANTS OF CALIFORNIA.
It having come to the knowledge of the Commander in Chief of the
District that certain persons have been and still are imprisoning and
holding to service Indians against their will and without any legal
contract for service. It is thereby ordered that all persons so
holding or detaining Indians shall release them, and permit them to
return to their own homes. Unless they can make a contract with them
which shall be binding upon both parties. The Indian population must
not be regarded in the light of slaves, but it is deemed necessary
that the Indians within the settlement shall have employment, with the
right of choosing their own master and employment. Having made such a
choice they must abide by it, unless they can obtain permission in
writing to leave, or the Justice in their complaint shall consider
they have just cause to annull the contract and permit them to obtain
another employee. All Indians must be required to obtain service and
not be permitted to wander about the country in idleness in a
dissolute manner. If found doing so they will be liable to arrest and
punishment by labor on the public works at the direction of the
Magistrate. All officers, Civil or Military under my command are
required to execute the terms of this order and take notice of every
violation thereof.--Given at headquarters in Yerba Buena.--Signed,
John Montgomery. Sept. 15, 1846. Published for the Government of all
concerned. Washington A. Bartlett, Magistrate of San Francisco, Sept.
15, 1846.--_California Star_, Sept. 15, 1846.
[25] California Laws, 1849-50, p. 408.
[26] _Ibid._, p. 408.
[27] Bancroft, "_History of California_," VI, p. 313.
[28] _Ibid._, p. 313.
[29] _The Californian_, March 16 and Nov. 4, 1848.
[30] Bancroft, "_History of California_," p. 287.
[31] _Jour. Cal. Leg._, 1850, 372-373.
[32] _Cong. Globe_, 1849-50, App., pt. I, 149-157.
[33] Tuthill, "_History of California_," p. 320.
[34] Bancroft, "_History of California_," VI, pp. 252-253.
[35] _Ibid._, p. 595.
[36] Many Negroes were returned to slavery by the Courts. An owner of
slaves in Mississippi brought them voluntarily into California before
the adoption of the Constitution by the State. The slaves asserted
their freedom and for some months were engaged in business for
themselves. The owner under the provision of the Fugitive Slave Act of
1852 brought them before the Justice of Peace, who allowed the claim
of the owners and ordered them into his custody. The slaves then
petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus which came before the Supreme.
Court and after hearing the case the Court ordered that the writ be
dismissed and the slaves remanded to their owners.--_California
Reports_, II, 424-426.
The case of Alvin Coffey is equally as interesting. This account was
given by a lifelong friend of the subject.
Alvin Coffey was born in 1822, in Saint Louis, Missouri. He came to
California with his sick master, a Mr. Duvall, who landed in San
Francisco, September 1, 1849. They went to Sacramento, October 13,
1849. During the next eight months the slave earned for his master
$5,000, working in the mines, and by washing for the miners and mining
for himself after night, he earned $700 of his own. As the master
continued in poor health he decided to return with Alvin to Missouri
at the expiration of two years. When they reached Kansas City,
Missouri, the master sold Alvin to Nelson Tindle, first taking from
him the $5,000, earned for the master, and also the $700 earned for
himself.
Nelson Tindle took a great liking to Alvin and in a short time made
him overseer over a number of slaves. Alvin, however, longed to return
to California and, in order to earn his freedom, bought his time from
his master and took contracts to build railroads. One day Nelson
Tindle said to Alvin that he was too smart a man to be a slave and
ought to try and purchase his freedom. Whereupon Alvin told him if he
would let him return to California, he could easily earn enough money
to effect the purchase. Alvin was permitted to return to California,
and in a short time sent his master the $1,500 to pay for his freedom.
Alvin then undertook to earn the money to pay for the freedom of his
wife and daughters, who were slaves of Doctor Bassett, of Missouri. He
earned the required sum and returned for his family. After paying for
their freedom, he went with them to Canada, where he left his
daughters to be educated. He and his wife Mahalia came to California.
It cost him for the freedom of himself and family together with the
trips to and from California about $7000. See Bancroft, "_History of
California_," VI, p. 382.
[37] Some of these cases are more than interesting. Daniel Rodgers
came across the plains with his master from Little Rock, Arkansas,
worked in the mines in Sonora, California, during the day for his
master and at night for himself, earning and paying his master $1,100
for his freedom. Soon afterward the master returned with him to Little
Rock and sold him. A number of the leading white gentlemen of Little
Rock raised a sum of money, paid for his freedom and set him free.
William Pollock and wife from North Carolina came to California with
their master who located at Cold Springs, Coloma, California. He paid
$1,000 for himself and $800 for his wife. The money was earned by
washing for the miners at night and making doughnuts. They removed to
Placerville, California, and afterward earned their living as
caterers. In 1849, a slaveholder brought his slave to California. Not
wishing to take the Negro back to his native State, Alabama, he
concluded to sell him by auction. An advertisement was put in the
papers, the boy was purchased for $1,000, by Caleb T. Fay, a strong
abolitionist, who gave the boy his freedom.
A Mississippi slaveholder brought several slaves from that State and
promised to give them their freedom in two years. They all ran away
save one, Charles Bates, when they learned that they were already
free. The owner, finding mining did not pay, started east, taking
Charles with him. On the Isthmus of Panama, Charles was persuaded to
leave his master. He returned to California and to Stockton with his
true friend. On the street one day he was recognized by a party who
had lent money to Charles's master. The debtor got out an attachment
for the former slave as chattel property, and according to the State
law, the Negro was put up and sold at auction. A number of
anti-slavery men bought the boy for $750 and gave him his
freedom.--_California Reports_, I, 424-426.
[38] Bancroft, "_History of California_," VI, p. 716.
[39] Bancroft, "_History of California_," VI, p. 716.
[40] _Ibid._, VI, p. 716.
DOCUMENTS
CALIFORNIA FREEDOM PAPERS[41]
To determine the sources of the Negroes first brought into California
their treatment by the whites and the methods employed to obtain their
freedom no documents are more valuable than the manumission papers
found in the archives of that State. These throw much light also on
the personal history of Negroes, many of whom later became useful
citizens of that State.
E. H. TAYLOR
to
DENNIS AVIERY SLAVE RELEASE
TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN; This is to certify that Dennis Aviery
has been my Slave in the State of Georgia for about the term of
eight years but by virtue of money to me in hand paid he is free
and Liberated from all allegiance to my authority. Coloma
Eldorado county California Feb. 8, 1851
Witness GEORGE SOALL
STATE OF CALIFORNIA S.S.
ELDORADO CO.
On this eight day of February, A.D. 1851 personally appeared
before me the recorder of said County. E. H. Taylor, satisfactory
proved to me to be the person discribed in and who executed the
foregoing instrument of liberating his negro slave by the oath of
George Scall, a competent witness for that purpose by me duly
sworn and the said E. H. Taylor acknowledged that he executed the
same freely and voluntarily for the use and purposes therein
mentioned. In testimony the thereof, I, John A. Reichart;
Recorder for the said county have hereunto signed my name, and
affixed the seal of said office at Coloma this day of year first
above written
JOHN A. REICHART _Recorder of Eldorado county_
Filed for Recording February, 8, 1851 at 9, oclock A.M.
J. A. REICHART Recorder's office Record Book[42]
DEED OF MANUMISSION
SAMUEL GRANTHAN
to
ALECK LONG
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
ELDORADO COUNTY
Know all men by these presents that I Samuel Grantham of the
county and state aforesaid, acting by power of Attorney vested in
me by S. Oliver Grantham of St Louis, State of Missouri, acting
for and in behalf of said S. Oliver Granthan, and in
consideration of the sum of four hundred dollars to me in hand
paid the same to receive to the benefit of the said Oliver
Grantham have this day liberated, set free and fully and
effectually manumitted, Aleck Long. Heretofore a slave for
life--the lawful property of the said Thomas Granthan. The
description of said Aleck Long, being as follows to wit: about
fifty-seven years old; five feet, ten inches in height, gray hair
dark complexion with a scar on the inside of the left leg above
the ankle.--The said Aleck Long to enjoy and possess now and from
hence forth the full exercise of all rights, benefits and
privileges of a free man of color free of all or any claim to
servitude, slavery or service of the said S. A. Granthan, his
heirs, Executors, and assigns and all other persons claiming or
to claim forever.
In Testimony of this seal of Manumission, I have this day signed
my name and affixed my seal this 2nd day of March 1852.
SAMUEL A. GRANTHAN
_Attorney for State of California_
COUNTY OF ELDORADO.
Personally appeared before me William Palmer who makes oath and
says that Samuel Granthan, whose name appears in the accompanying
Seal of Manumission as a party thereto did freely voluntarily
and of his own will execute to and subscribe the same for the
uses and purpose therein contained.
Witness my hand and seal this day of March, 1852. A.D. at 4. P.M.
J. A. REICHART
_Recorder of Eldorado County California_
GAVEN D. HALL (S.S.)
_Judge of Eldorado county_
Eldorado county Recorder's office, Record Book.[43]
A. J. HOUSTIS
_County Judge of Humboldt County_[44]
FREE PAPERS OF THE SLAVE
WASHINGTON,-->from FRANKLIN STEWART
STATE OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF BUTTE--
Know all men by these presents that Franklin Stewart of the
County and State aforesaid do, for and in consideration of
seventeen years of faithful service of my slave Washington,
rendered by him in the State of Arkansas and Missouri, hereby set
free and emancipate him the said slave, his age about
thirty-three years, color slight copper and relinquish all rights
in the said slave Washington which I might be entitled to in law
or equity.
Given under my hand and seal this day 4th of May A.D. 1852
Eldorado county Recorder's office
Record Book, "A"
EMANCIPATION
TAYLOR BARTON
to
NEGRO BOB
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
ELDORADO COUNTY S.S.
Know all men to whom these presents shall come; That I, Taylor
Barton lately a citizen of the State of Missouri and owner of
slaves, do here by this instrument under my hand and seal given
this ninth day of October, in the year of our Lord eighteen
hundred and fifty one set free from bondage to me and all men my
slave Bob, and do declare him forever hereafter his own man
wherever he may go. Nevertheless I make this condition that the
said Bob shall remain with me as my slave faithful and obedient
unto me until the twenty-fifth day of December next, commonly
known as Christmas.
Witness my hand and seal on the day and date aforesaid this date.
TAYLOR BARTON (S.S.)
WILLIAM F. EMERSON December, 25th 1851
I do hereby, declare My Slave Bob, to be forever free from and
after this date. TAYLOR BARTON (S.S.)
In the presence of I. G. Canfield, _Justice of the Peace_.
Filed for Record
January 5th 1852, at 4.p.m.
JOHN A. REICHART, _Recorder of Eldorado County California_.[45]
ELDORADO
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
COUNTY OF MARIPOSA.
Know all men to whom these presents shall come that, I Thomas
Thorn of the State and County aforesaid being the rightful owner
of the Negro man Peter Green and entitled to his service as a
slave during his life have this day released and do by these
presents release him from any further service as a slave. And I
do by these presents from myself, my heirs, Executors and
Administrators declare him, the said Peter Green to be free to
act for himself and no longer under bonds as a slave. Provided
however that the said Peter Green, shall pay to me the sum of one
thousand dollars, good lawful money or work for and serve me from
the present time until one year from and after the first day of
April next being until the first day of April A.D. 1854
In Testimony whereof, I have here unto affixed my hand and Scroll
for Seal at Quartzburge this day 5th of February A.D. one
thousand eight hundred and fifty three.
THOMAS THORN (Seal)
In the presence of Benjamine F. Ropp. P. Cadell, jr. Joseph A.
Tiry I hereby notify that the above obligation has been complied
with and that Peter Green was legally discharged.
Given under my hand at Quarzburge this 7th day of August, A.D.
1855.
JAMES GIVENS
_Justice of the Peace._[46]
This indenture made and entered into this 14th day August, A.D.
1860 between A. J. Houstis as county Judge of Humboldt County for
and in behalf of a certain Indian boy called and known by the
name of "Smoky" of the first part and Austin Wiley, of the said
county of the second part. That Whereas the said Austin Wiley had
in his possession and under his control a certain Indian boy
named "Smoky" And whereas the said Austin Wiley avers that he
with the assistance of James Frint obtained said Indian of their
parents in Mattole valley of this county, by and with their
consent. And whereas the said Austin Wiley does now apply to me
as County Judge to bond and apprentice the said boy "Smoky" to
him according to law to learn the art of household duties about
his premises and in this respect to hold the relation of an
apprentice until he shall arrive at the lawful majority, the age
of twenty-five years, or for the term of seventeen years next
following this indenture, the boy being now considered eight
years of age. And whereas it appears to me that the second party
in this agreement has obtained this boy in a lawful manner
without fraud or oppression and that the boy "Smoky" therefore
comes justly under the first provision of the law providing for
apprenticeship approved April, 8th A.D. 1860.
Now therefore I, A. J. Houstis, County Judge Aforesaid, in
consideration of the premises and acting for and on behalf of the
said Indian boy "Smoky" do by these presents bind and apprentice
as above stated the said boy "Smoky" to Austin Wiley for and
during the term of seventeen years next following this indenture
entitling him according to law to have the care custody, control
and earnings of said boy during said period and all other
advantages and responsibilities growing out of this indenture and
apprenticeship, that the law contemplates. And the said Austin
Wiley, the second part in his agreement doth hereby agree,
obligate and bind himself that he will truly and faithfully
discharge all obligations on his part growing out of this
indenture according to law. That he will suitably clothe and
provide the necessaries of life for the said boy during his term
of indenture. That he will in all respects treat him in a human
manner. That he will not take him out of this state nor transfer
him to any party not known in this agreement without the consent
of legal authorities endorsed thereon and that in all respects
she will carry out every provision of law that contemplates the
safety, protection and well being of said boy.
In witness whereof the parties of this indenture hereunto set
their hand and seal this date first above written.
A.J.HOUSTIS
_County Judge_
First party
AUSTIN WILEY,
Second party
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
HUMBOLDT COUNTY
And now comes Austin Wiley and deposes as follows:
The statement made by me in the preamble to this indenture
refering to the age of the Indian boy "Smoky" and the manner in
which I obtained him are true to the best of my knowledge and
belief
AUSTIN WILEY
Sworn to and subscribed before me on this 14th day of August A.D.
1860
A. J. HOUSTIS
_County Judge of Humboldt County_.
STATE OF CALIFORNIA, } ss.
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES. }
Before the Hon. Benjamin Hayes,
Judge of the District Court of
the 1st Judicial District, State
of California, County of Los Angeles.[47]
In the matter of Hannah and her children, Ann (and Mary, child of
Ann), Lawrence, Nathaniel, Jane, Charles, Marion, Martha and an
infant boy two weeks old, and of Biddy and her children Ellen,
Ann and Harriet, on petition for Habeas Corpus.
Now on this nineteenth day of January in the year of our Lord,
one thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, the said persons above
named are brought before me, in the custody of the Sheriff of
said County, all except the said Hannah and infant boy two weeks
old, (who are satisfactorily shown to be too infirm to be brought
before me,) and except Lawrence (who is necessarily occupied in
waiting on his said Mother, Hannah) and Charles (who is absent in
San Bernardino County, but within the said Judicial District:)
and said Robert Smith, Claimant also appears with his Attorney,
Alonzo Thomas, Esq. And after hearing and duly considering the
said petition for Habeas Corpus and the return of said Claimant
thereto and all the proofs and allegations of the said parties
and all the proceedings previously had herein, it appearing
satisfactorily to the judge here, that all the said persons so
suing in this case, to-wit: Hannah and her said children and
Biddy and her said Children are persons of color, and that
Charles, aged now six years, was born in the Territory of Utah of
the United States, and Marion (aged four years,) Martha (aged two
years) Mary, daughter of the said Ann and aged two years and the
said infant boy aged two weeks, were born in the State of
California and that the said Hannah, Ann, Lawrence, Nathaniel,
Jane and Charles, as well as the said Biddy, Ellen, Ann and
Harriet, have resided with the said Robert Smith for more than
four years and since some time in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, in the State of California;
and it further appearing that the said Robert Smith left and
removed from the State of Mississippi more than eight years ago
with the intention of not returning thereto, but of establishing
himself as a resident in Utah Territory, and more than four years
ago left and removed from said Utah Territory, with the intention
of residing and establishing himself in the State of California
and has so resided in said last mentioned State since some time
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.
And it further appearing by satisfactory proof to the Judge here,
that all the said persons of color are entitled to their freedom
and are free and cannot be held in slavery or involuntary
servitude, it is therefore adjudged that they are entitled to
their freedom, and are free forever. And it further appearing to
the satisfaction of the Judge here that the said Robert Smith
intends and is about to remove from the state of California,
where slavery does not exist, to the state of Texas, where
slavery of Negroes and persons of color does exist and is
established by the municipal laws, and intends to remove said
before mentioned persons of color to his own use, without the
free will and consent of all or any of the said persons of color,
whereby their liberty will be greatly jeopardized, and there is
good reason to apprehend and believe that they may be sold into
slavery or involuntary servitude, and the said Robert Smith is
persuading and enticing and seducing, said persons of color to go
out of the State of California and to be taken and removed
therefrom with the false promise held out to them that they will
be as free in the State of Texas as in the State of California.
And it further appearing that none of said persons of color can
read and write, and are almost entirely ignorant of the laws of
the State of California, as well as those of the State of Texas,
and of their rights, and that the said Robert Smith from his past
relations to them as members of his family, possesses and
exercises over them an undue influence in respect to the matter
of their said removal insomuch that they have been in duress and
not in possession and exercise of their free will so as to give a
binding consent to any engagement or arrangement with him. And it
further appearing that the said Hannah, is aged thirty-four
years, and her daughter, Ann, seventeen years, and all her other
children, to-wit: Lawrence, (aged from twelve to thirteen years)
Nathaniel (aged from ten to eleven years), Jane, (aged eight
years) Charles (aged six years) Marion (aged four years) Martha,
(aged two years) and said infant boy of Hannah aged two weeks, as
well as Mary (aged two years), daughter of said Ann, are under
the age of fourteen years and so under the laws of the State of
California are not competent to choose a Guardian for themselves;
and it further appearing that the said Biddy is aged thirty-eight
years, and the said Ellen is aged seventeen years, and the other
children of said Biddy, to-wit: Ann (aged from twelve to
thirteen) and Harriet (aged eight years) are under the age of
fourteen years, and so by the laws of the State of California are
not competent to choose a Guardian for themselves. It further
appearing that the said infant boy two weeks of age of Hannah is
of tender age and must be kept with his said mother Hannah, the
same is accordingly ordered, and said infant boy is entrusted to
his said mother hereby, and is ordered to appear with him before
the Judge here at the Court House in the City of Los Angeles on
next Monday January 1, 1856 at 10 o'clock A.M. of said day if
her health shall so permit and if not, as soon thereafter as may
be practicable of which the Sheriff of Los Angeles is hereby
notified to notify her the said Hannah and whereof the said
Robert Smith, being now in the Court has notice, it appearing
that she resides in his house and is under his control. And the
said Mary, child of Ann appearing to be of tender age, is
entrusted to the said Ann to be brought before the Judge here at
the time and place aforesaid to be dealt with according to law of
which the said Ann and the said Robert Smith have notice here,
and the said Martha being of tender years is entrusted to the
said Ann, her sister, to be brought before the Judge here at the
time and place aforesaid to be dealt with according to law of
which the said Ann and the said Robert Smith here have notice and
the said Hannah and Ann are appointed Special Guardians
respectively of the children so hereby entrusted to them, and
notified that it is their duty to obey all lawful orders of the
Judge here or of some competent Court touching the premises. And
the further hearing of this case as to the said Hannah and infant
boy and her child, Lawrence and her children Charles and Mary and
Martha is adjourned until said last mentioned time at the Court
House of the City of Los Angeles, and it is further ordered that
the said Nathaniel (aged from ten to twelve years) Jane (aged
eight years) Marion (aged four years) all children of said
Hannah, and said child Ann (aged from twelve to thirteen years)
and Harriet (aged eight years) are committed to the custody of
the Sheriff of Los Angeles County, David W. Alexander, Esq., as
especial Guardian until the further order of the Judge here or of
other Judge or Court of competent Jurisdiction to appoint General
Guardians of aforesaid Children last mentioned, and the said
Sheriff will leave in full liberty and discharge the said Biddy
and her child Ellen (aged Seventeen years) and the said Ann only
being required to obey the said order herinbefore made to appear
before the Judge here in manner and form as aforesaid. And it
further appearing that the said Charles is absent in San
Bernardino County, within said Judicial District. It is ordered
that Robert Clift, Esq. Sheriff of said County be and he is
hereby appointed Special Guardian of said Charles and as such
duly authorized and required to take said Charles in his custody
and him safely keep in such manner that said Charles shall not be
removed out of the State of California, but shall abide the
further order of the Judge here or other Judge or Court of
competent Jurisdiction touching his Guardianship. And it is
further ordered and adjudged that all the costs accrued in the
case up to the present date and in executing the present order of
the Judge here as to the production of the said Hannah and her
said infant two weeks old and said Lawrence, Martha and Mary
before the Judge here as aforesaid shall be paid by the Said
Robert Smith.
Given under my hand as Judge of the first Judicial District of
the State of California on this 19th day of January, A. D. 1856,
at the City of Los Angeles.
BENJAMIN HAYES,
_District Judge_.
On this 19th day of January appears the said Robert Smith by his
attorney, Alonzo Thomas, Esq., and moves the Judge hereto the
costs in this case which is taken under advisement until Monday
next at 10 o'clock, A.M.
BENJAMIN HAYES,
_District Judge_.
On this Monday, January 21st, 1856 the said Smith and the said
parties so ordered to appear as aforesaid do not appear and this
cause is continued until tomorrow at 10 o'clock, A.M.
BENJAMIN HAYES,
_District Judge_.
FOOTNOTES:
[41] These Documents were collected by Miss D. L. Beasley and M. N.
Work.
[42] _Miscellany_, p. 35.
[43] _Miscellany_, p. 545.
[44] This paper is from the collection of 105 in the Court House at
Eureka. Austin Wiley, whose name appears in the document, was later
appointed Superintendent of Indian Affairs for California; and during
his term of office did much to bring to a satisfactory termination the
trouble then existing between the settlers and the natives.
[45] _Miscellany_, p. 541.
[46] These are freedom papers as recorded in the California County
Court records, and as they have been found by the California
Archivist, Mr. Owen Coy.
[47] This court record was obtained by Mr. W. N. Work.
THOMAS JEFFERSON'S THOUGHTS ON THE NEGRO
I
Jefferson, like a number of liberal-minded men of his time, execrated
the slave trade and as the following extracts will show held it as a
grievance against the British.
During the regal government we had, at one time, obtained a law
which imposed such a duty on the importation of slaves as
amounted nearly in a prohibition, when one inconsiderate
assembly, placed under a peculiarity of circumstance, repealed
the law. This repeal met a joyful sanction from the then reigning
sovereign, and no devices, no expedients which could ever be
attempted by subsequent assemblies (and they seldom met without
attempting them) could succeed in getting the royal assent to a
renewal of the duty. In the very first session held under the
republican government, the assembly passed a law for the
perpetual prohibition of the importation of slaves. This will, in
some measure, stop the increase of this great political and moral
evil, while the minds of our citizens may be ripening for a
complete emancipation of human nature.[48]
The abolition of domestic slavery is the great object of desire
in those Colonies, where it was, unhappily, introduced in their
infant state. But previous to the enfranchisement of the slaves
we have, it is necessary to exclude all further importations from
Africa. Yet our repeated attempts to effect this by prohibitions,
and by imposing duties which might amount to a prohibition, have
been hitherto defeated by his Majesty's negative: Thus preferring
the immediate advantages of a few British corsairs to the lasting
interests of the American States, and to the rights of human
nature, deeply wounded by this infamous practice.[49]
With the same thought as that of the views expressed above Jefferson
incorporated into the original Declaration of Independence an
indictment of George III as promoting the ruin of the colonies in
encouraging the slave trade. He said:
He (George III) has waged cruel war against human nature itself,
violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the
persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating
and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur
miserable death in their transportation thither. This piratical
warfare, the opprobrium of INFIDEL powers, is the warfare of the
CHRISTIAN KING of Great Britain. Determined to keep open a market
where MEN should be bought and sold, he has prostituted his
negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or
to restrain this execrable commerce. And that this assemblage of
horrors might want no fact of distinguished dye, he is now
exciting those very people to rise in arms among us, and to
purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them, by murdering
the people upon whom he has obtruded them; thus paying off former
crimes committed against the LIBERTIES of one people, with crimes
which he urges them to commit against the lives of another.[50]
II
Influenced by the struggle for the rights of man, Jefferson seriously
advocated freeing the Negroes, that they too might work out their own
destiny on foreign soil. He did not think that it would be wise to
leave the freedmen in this country controlled by white men by whom he
believed they should not be assimilated.[51] The first time he had an
opportunity, therefore, he made an effort in this direction. This was
the case of his work in connection with the committee appointed to
revise the laws of Virginia, the report of which he prepared.
Jefferson said:
The bill reported by the revisers of the whole (Virginia) code
does not itself contain the proposition to emancipate all slaves
born after the passing the act; but an amendment containing it
was prepared, to be offered to the Legislature whenever the bill
should be taken up, and further directing, that they should
continue with their parents to a certain age, then to be brought
up, at the public expense, to tillage, arts or sciences,
according to their geniuses, till the females should be eighteen,
and the males twenty-one years of age, when they should be
colonized to such place as the circumstances of the time should
render most proper, sending them out with arms, implements of
household and of the handicraft arts; seeds, pairs of the useful
domestic animals, &c., to declare them a free and independent
people, and extend to them our alliance and protection, till they
shall have acquired strength; and to send vessels at the same
time to other parts of the world for an equal number of white
inhabitants; to induce them to migrate hither, proper
encouragements were to be proposed.[52]
Discussing the serious difficulties of the problem, he compared that
of the Romans with the situation in the colonies:
This unfortunate difference of color, and perhaps of faculty, is
a powerful obstacle to the emancipation of these people. Many of
their advocates, while they wish to vindicate the liberty of
human nature, are anxious also to preserve its dignity and
beauty. Some of these, embarrassed by the question; "What further
is to be done with them?" join themselves in opposition with
those who are actuated by sordid avarice only. Among the Romans
emancipation required but one effort. The slave, when made free,
might mix with, without straining the blood of his master. But
with us a second is necessary, unknown to history. When freed, he
is to be removed beyond the reach of mixture.[53]
Writing to John Lynch in 1811, Jeff arson gave his ideas as to the
possibility of successful African colonization.
You ask my opinion on the proposition of Mrs. Mifflin, to take
measures for procuring, on the coast of Africa, an establishment
to which the people of color of these States might, from time to
time be colonized, under the auspices of different governments.
Having long ago made up my mind on this subject, I have no
hesitation in saying that I have ever thought it the most
desirable measure which could be adopted, for gradually drawing
off this part of our population, most advantageously for
themselves as well as for us. Going from a country possessing all
the useful arts, they might be the means of transplanting them
among the inhabitants of Africa, and would thus carry back to the
country of their origin, the seeds of civilization which might
render their sojournment and sufferings here a blessing in the
end to that country.[54]
Nothing is more to be wished than that the United States would
themselves undertake to make such an establishment on the coast
of Africa. Exclusive of motives of humanity, the commercial
advantages to be derived from it might repay all its expenses.
But for this, the national mind is not yet prepared. It may
perhaps be doubted whether many of these people would voluntarily
consent to such an exchange of situation, and very certain that
few of those advanced to a certain age in habits of slavery,
would be capable of self-government. This should not, however,
discourage the experiment, not the early trial of it.[55]
I received in the first year of my coming into the administration
of the General Government, a letter from the Governor of Virginia
(Colonel Monroe), consulting me, at the request of the
Legislature of the State, on the means of procuring some such
asylum, to which these people might be occasionally sent. I
proposed to him the establishment of Sierra Leone, in which a
private company in England had already colonized a number of
negroes and particularly the fugitives from these States during
the Revolutionary War; and at the same time suggested, if this
could be obtained, some of the Portuguese possessions in South
America, as next most desirable. The subsequent Legislature
approving these ideas, I wrote, the ensuing year, 1802, to Mr.
King, our Minister in London, to endeavor to negotiate with the
Sierra Leone company a reception of such of these people as might
be colonized thither. He opened a correspondence with Mr.
Wedderbourne and Mr. Thornton, secretaries of the company, on the
subject, and, in 1803, I received through Mr. King the result,
which was that the colony was going on, but in a languishing
condition; that the funds of the company were likely to fail, as
they received no returns of profit to keep them up; that they
were, therefore, in treaty with their government to take the
establishment off their hands; but that in no event should they
be willing to receive more of these people from the United
States, as it was exactly that portion of their settlers which
had gone from hence, which, by their idleness and turbulence, had
kept the settlement in constant danger of dissolution, which
could not have been prevented but for the aid of the maroon
negroes from the West Indies, who were more industrious and
orderly than the others, and supported the authority of the
government and its laws ... The effort which I made with
Portugal, to obtain an establishment for them within their claims
in South America, proved also abortive.[56]
In this extract Jefferson goes a step further in presenting a scheme
for financing the project, giving even the exact amount which he
thought would suffice.
In the disposition of these unfortunate people, there are two
rational objects to be distinctly kept in view. First. The
establishment of a colony on the coast of Africa, which may
introduce among the aborigines the arts of cultivated life and
the blessings of civilization and science. By doing this, we may
make to them some retribution for the long course of injuries we
have been committing on their population. And considering that
these blessings will descend to the _nati natorum et qui
nascentur ab illis_, we shall in the long run have rendered them
perhaps more good than evil. To fulfil this object, the colony of
Sierra Leone promises well, and that of Mesurado adds to our
prospect of success. Under this view the Colonization Society is
to be considered as a missionary society, having in view,
however, objects more humane, more justifiable, and less
aggressive on the peace of other nations than the others of that
appelation. The second object, and the most interesting to us, as
coming home to our physical and moral characters, to our
happiness and safety, is to provide an asylum to which we can, by
degrees, send the whole of that population from among us, and
establish them under our patronage and protection, as a separate,
free and independent people, in some country and climate friendly
to human life and happiness. That any place on the coast of
Africa should answer the latter purpose, I have ever deemed
entirely impossible. And without repeating the other arguments
which have been urged by others, I will appeal to figures only,
which admit no controversy.[57]
There is, I think, a way in which (the removal of the slaves to
another country) can be done; that is by emancipating the
after-born, leaving them, on due compensation, with their
mothers, until their services are worth their maintenance, and
then putting them to industrious occupations until a proper age
for deportation. This was the result of my reflections on the
subject five and forty years ago, and I have never yet been able
to conceive any other practicable plan. It was sketched in the
_Notes of Virginia_. The estimated value of the new-born infant
is so low (say twelve dollars and fifty cents) that it would
probably be yielded by the owner gratis, and would thus reduce
the six hundred millions of dollars, the first head of expense,
to thirty-seven millions and a half; leaving only the expenses of
nourishment while with the mother, and of transportation.[58]
From what fund are these expenses to be furnished? Why not from
that of the lands which have been ceded by the very States now
needing this relief? And ceded on no consideration, for the most
part, but that of the general good of the whole. These cessions
already constitute one-fourth of the States of the Union. It may
be said that these lands have been sold; are not the property of
the citizens composing these States; and the money long ago
received and expended. But an equivalent of lands in the
territories since acquired may be appropriated to that object, or
so much, at least, as may be sufficient; and the object, although
more important to the slave States, is highly so to the others
also, if they were serious in their arguments on the Missouri
question. The slave States, too, if more interested, would also
contribute more by their gratutious liberation, thus taking on
themselves alone the first and heaviest item of expense.[59]
As the proper place for the colonization of emancipated blacks seemed
quite a problem, almost any seemingly desirable place was recommended.
Santo Domingo proved to be attractive after the bloody scenes of the
revolution had passed away.
In the plan sketched in the _Notes on Virginia_, no particular
place of asylum was specified; because it was thought possible
that in the revolutionary state of America, then commenced,
events might open to us some one within practicable distance.
This has now happened. Santo Domingo has become independent, and
with a population of that color only; and if the public papers
are to be credited, their Chief offers to pay their passage, to
receive them as free citizens, and to provide them employment.
This leaves, then, for the general confederacy, no expense but
that of nurture with the mother for a few years, and would call,
of course, for a very moderate appropriation of the vacant
lands.... In this way no violation of private right is
proposed.[60]
III.
In his _Notes on Virginia_ Jefferson discusses all of the phases of
slavery as they appeared to him at that time. He took up the
justification of the institution of slavery among the Romans, the
enslavement of the Indian and the Negroes, the cause of the increase
in slaves, and the effects of the same on both the masters and the
enslaved.[61]
An inhuman practice once prevailed in this country, of making
slaves of the Indians. This practice commenced with the Spaniards
with the first discovery of America.[62]
Under the mild treatment our slaves experience, and their
wholesome, though coarse food, this blot in our country increase
as fast, or faster than the whites.[63]
We know that among the Romans, about the Augustan age especially,
the condition of their slaves was much more deplorable than that
of the blacks on the continent of America. The two sexes were
confined in separate apartments, because to raise a child cost
the master more than to buy one. Cato, for a very restricted
indulgence to his slaves in this particular, took from them a
certain price. But in this country the slaves multiply as fast as
the free inhabitants.... The same Cato, on a principle of
economy, always sold his sick and superannuated slaves. He gives
it as a standing precept to a master visiting his farm, to sell
his old oxen, old wagons, old tools, old and diseased servants,
and everything else become useless.... The American slaves cannot
enumerate this among the injuries and insults they receive. It
was the common practice to expose in the island Æsculapius, in
the Tiber, diseased slaves whose cure was likely to become
tedious. The Emperor Claudius, by an edict, gave freedom to such
of them as should recover, and first declared that if any person
chose to kill rather than expose them, it should be deemed
homicide. The exposing them is a crime of which no instance has
existed with us; and were it to be followed by death, it would be
punished capitally. We are told of a certain Vedius Pollio, who,
in the presence of Augustus, would have given a slave as food to
his fish for having broken a glass. With the Romans, the regular
method of taking the evidence of their slaves was under torture.
Here it has been thought better never to resort to their
evidence. When a master was murdered, all his slaves, in the same
house, or within hearing, were condemned to death. Here
punishment falls on the guilty only, and as precise proof is
required against his as against a freeman. Yet notwithstanding
these and other discouraging circumstances among the Romans,
their slaves were often their rarest artists. They excelled, too,
in science, insomuch as to be usually employed as tutors to their
master's children. Epictetus, Terence, and Phoedrus, were slaves.
But they were of the race of whites. It is not their condition
then, but nature which has produced the distinction. Whether
further observation will or will not verify the conjecture, that
nature has been less bountiful to them in the endowments of the
head, I believe that in those of the heart she will be found to
have done them justice.[64]
That disposition to theft with which they have been branded, must
be ascribed to their situation, and not to any depravity of the
moral sense. The man in whose favor no laws of property exist,
probably feels himself less bound to respect those made in favor
of others. When arguing for ourselves, we lay it down as a
fundamental, that laws, to be just, must give a reciprocation of
right; that, without this, they are mere arbitrary rules of
conduct, founded in force, and not in conscience; and it is a
problem which I give to the master to solve, whether the
religious precepts against the violation of property were not
framed for him as well as his slave? And whether the slave may
not as justifiably take a little from one who has taken all from
him, as he may slay one who would slay him? That a change in the
relations in which a man is placed should change his ideas of
moral right or wrong, is neither new, nor peculiar to the color
of the blacks. Homer tells us it was so two thousand six hundred
years ago.[65]
The whole commerce between master and slave is a perpetual
exercise of the most boisterous passions, the most unremitting
despotism on the one part, and degrading submissions on the
other. Our children see this, and learn to imitate it; for man is
an imitative animal. This quality is the germ of all education in
him. From his cradle to his grave he is learning to do what he
sees others do. If a parent could find no motive either in his
philanthropy or his self-love, for restraining the intemperance
of passion towards his slave, it should always be a sufficient
one that his child is present. But, generally, it is not
sufficient. The parent storms, the child looks on, catches the
lineaments of wrath, puts on the same airs in the circle of
smaller slaves, gives a loose to the worst of passions, and thus
nursed, educated, and daily exercised in tyranny, cannot but be
stamped by it with odious peculiarities. The man must be a
prodigy who can retain his manners and morals undepraved by such
circumstances. And with what execrations should the statesman be
loaded, who, permitting one-half the citizens thus to trample on
the rights of the other, transforms those into despots, and these
into enemies, destroys the morals of the one part, and the _amor
patriae_ of the other. For if a slave can have a country in this
world, it must be any other in preference to that in which he is
born to live and labor for another; in which he must lock up the
faculties of his nature, contribute as far as depends on his
inhuman race, or entail his own miserable condition on the
endless generations proceeding from him.[66]
Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have
removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the
people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they
are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed, I tremble for
my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice
cannot sleep forever; that considering numbers, nature and
natural means only, a revolution of the wheel of fortune, an
exchange of situation is among possible events; that it may
become probable by supernatural interference! The Almighty has no
attribute which can take side with us in such a contest.[67]
With the morals of the people, their industry also is destroyed.
For in a warm climate, no man will labor for himself who can make
another labor for him. This is so true that of the proprietors of
slaves a very small proportion indeed are ever seen to labor.[68]
It is impossible to be temperate and to pursue this subject
through the various considerations of policy, or morals, of
history, natural and civil. We must be contented to hope they
will force their way into every one's mind.... The way, I hope,
is preparing, under the auspices of heaven, for a total
emancipation, and that this is disposed, in the order of events,
to be with the consent of the masters, rather than by their
extirpation.[69]
IV
During the early part of Jefferson's public career he did not have a
good opinion of the Negro and his possibilities. This is his attitude
as expressed in his _Notes on Virginia_ in 1782, whenever he referred
to the Negro. Ignorant of the fact that science shows that no race is
superior to another, Jefferson considered the blacks inferior to the
Indians, believed that they lacked literary ability, the finer senses
of other races and although exhibiting a little aptitude in music were
both physically and mentally inferior to the whites.
It will probably be asked, why not retain and incorporate the
blacks into the State, and thus save the expense of supplying by
importation of white settlers, the vacancies they will leave?
Deep-rooted prejudices entertained by the whites; ten thousand
recollections, by the blacks, of the injuries they have
sustained; new provocations; the real distinctions which nature
has made; and many other circumstances will divide us into
parties, and produce convulsions, which will probably never end
but in the extermination of the one or the other race.[70]
To these objections, which are political may be added others,
which are physical and moral. Whether the black of the negro
resides in the reticular membrane between the skin and
scarf-skin, or in the scarf-skin itself; whether it proceeds from
the color of the blood, the color of the bile, or from that of
some other secretion, the difference is fixed in nature, and is
as real as if its seat and cause were better known to us. And is
this difference of no importance? Is it not the foundation of a
greater or less suffusions of color in the one, preferable to
that eternal monotony, which reign in the countenances, that
immovable veil of black which covers all the emotions of the
other race? Add to these, flowing hair, a more elegant symmetry
of form, their own judgment in favor of the whites, declared by
their preference of them, as uniformly as is the preference of
the Oranootan for the black woman over those of his own species.
The circumstance of superior beauty, is thought worthy attention
in the propagation of our horses, dogs, and other domestic
animals; why not in that of man? Besides those of color, figure,
and hair, there are other physical distinctions proving a
difference of race. They have less hair on the face and body.
They secrete less by the kidneys, and more by the glands of the
skin, which gives them a very strong and disagreeable odor. This
greater degree of transpiration renders them more tolerant of
heat, and less of cold than the whites. Perhaps, too, a
difference of structure in the pulmonary apparatus, which a late
ingenious experimentalist (Crawford) has discovered to be the
principal regulator of animal heat, may have disabled them from
extricating, in the act of inspiration, so much of that fluid
from the outer air, or obliged them in expiration, to part with
more of it.[71]
They seem to require less sleep. A black, after hard labor
through the day, will be induced by the slightest amusements to
sit up till midnight, or later, though knowing he must be out
with the first dawn of the morning.[72]
In general, their existence appears to participate more sensation
than reflection. To this must be ascribed their disposition to
sleep when abstracted from their diversions, and unemployed in
labor. An animal whose body is at rest, and who does not reflect,
must be disposed to sleep of course.[73]
Their griefs are transient. Those numberless afflictions, which
render it doubtful whether Heaven has given life to us in mercy
or in wrath, are less felt, and sooner forgotten with them.[74]
Comparing them by their faculties of memory, reason, and
imagination, it appears to me that in memory they are equal to
the whites; in reason much inferior, as I think one could
scarcely be found capable of tracing and comprehending the
investigations of Euclid; and that in imagination they are dull,
tasteless, and anomalous. It would be unfair to follow them to
Africa for this investigation. We will consider them here, on the
same stage with the whites, and where the facts are not
apocryphal on which a judgment is to be formed. It will be right
to make great allowances for the difference of condition, of
education, of conversation, of the sphere in which they move.
Many millions of them have been brought to, and born in America.
Most of them, indeed, have been confined to tillage, to their own
homes, and their own society; yet many of them have been so
situated that they might have availed themselves of the
conversation of their masters; many of them have been brought up
to the handicraft arts, and from that circumstance have always
been associated with the whites. Some have been liberally
educated, and all have lived in countries where the arts and
sciences are cultivated to a considerable degree, and have had
before their eyes samples of the best works from abroad. The
Indians, with no advantages of this kind, will often carve
figures on their pipes not destitute of design and merit. They
will crayon out an animal, a plant, or a country, so as to prove
the existence of a germ in their minds which only wants
cultivation. They astonish you with strokes of the most sublime
oratory; such as prove their reason and sentiment strong, their
imagination glowing and elevated. But never yet could I find that
a black had uttered a thought above the level of plain narration;
never saw ever an elementary trait of painting or sculpture.[75]
In music they are more generally gifted than the whites, with
accurate ears for tune and time, and they have been found capable
of imagining a small catch. Whether they will be equal to the
composition of a more extensive run of melody, or of complicated
harmony, is yet to be proved.[76]
Misery is often the parent of the most affecting touches in
poetry. Among the blacks is misery enough, God knows, but no
poetry. Their love is ardent, but it kindles the senses only, not
the imagination. Religion, indeed, has produced a Phyllis
Wheatley; but it could not produce a poet. The compositions
published under her name are below the dignity of criticism. The
heroes of the Dunciad are to her, as Hercules to the author of
that poem.[77]
Ignatius Sancho has approached nearer to merit in composition
(than Phyllis Wheatley); yet his letters do more honor to the
heart than the head. They breathe the purest effusions of
friendship and general philanthropy, and show how great a degree
of the latter may be compounded with strong religious zeal. He is
often happy in the turn of his compliments, and his style is easy
and familiar, except when he affects a Shandean fabrication of
words. But his imagination is wild and extravagant, escapes
incessantly from every restraint of reason and taste, and, in the
course of its vagaries, leaves a tract of thought as incoherent
and eccentric, as is the course of a meteor through the sky. His
subjects should often have led him to a process of sober
reasoning; yet we find him always substituting sentiment for
demonstration. Upon the whole, though we admit him to the first
place among those of his own color who have presented themselves
to the public judgment, yet when compare him with the writers of
the race among whom he lived and particularly with the epistolary
class in which he has taken his own stand, we are compelled to
enroll him at the bottom of the column. This criticism supposes
the letters published under the name to be genuine, and to have
received amendment from no other hand; points which would not be
of easy investigation.[78]
The improvement of the blacks in body and mind, in the first
instance of their mixture with the whites, has been observed by
every one, and proves that their inferiority is not the effect
merely of their condition in life.[79]
The opinion that they are inferior in the faculties of reason and
imagination, must be hazarded with great diffidence. To justify a
general conclusion, requires many observations, even where the
subject may be submitted to the anatomical knife, to optical
glasses, to analysis by fire or by solvents. How much more then
where it is a faculty, not a substance, we are examining; where
it eludes the research of all the senses; where the conditions of
its existence are various and variously combined; where the
effects of those which are present or absent bid defiance to
calculation; let me all too, as a circumstance of great
tenderness, where our conclusion would degrade a whole race of
men from the rank in the scale of beings which their Creator may
perhaps have given them. To our reproach it must be said, that
though for a century and a half we have had under our eyes the
races of black and or red men, they have never yet been viewed by
us as subjects of natural history. I advance it, therefore, as a
suspicion only, that the blacks, whether originally a distinct
race, or made distinct by time and circumstances, are inferior to
the whites in the endowments both of body and mind. It is not
against experience to suppose that different species of the same
genus, or varieties of the same species, may possess different
qualifications. Will not a lover of natural history, then, one
who views the gradations in all the races of animals with the eye
of philosophy, excuse an effort to keep those in the department
of man as distinct as nature has formed them?[80]
He was impressed, however, with the integrity of the Negroes and paid
them the following tribute:
Notwithstanding these considerations which must weaken their
respect for the laws of property, we find among them numerous
instances of the most rigid integrity, and as many as among their
better instructed masters, of benevolence, gratitude, and
unshaken fidelity.[81]
V
In later years it seems that Jefferson changed from his position of
certainty as to the inferiority of the Negro to that of doubt. At one
time he believed in the possibilities of the Negro and then again he
receded from that position to take up the argument that the blacks
lack the capacity with which the whites are endowed. Jefferson shows
that he was either ill-informed or insincere. Writing to General
Chastellux in 1785 concerning the future of the Negro Jefferson
remarked:
I have supposed the black man, in his present state might not be
in body and mind equal to the white man; but it would be
hazardous to affirm, that, equally cultivated for a few
generations, he would not become so.[82]
To Benjamin Banneker, the surveyor and astronomer, who was regarded by
some as his friend, he addressed the following in 1791:
Nobody wishes more than I do to see such proofs as you exhibit,
that nature has given to our black brethren talents equal to
those of the other colors of men, and that the appearance of a
want of them is owing merely to the degraded condition of their
existence, both in Africa and America.... I have taken the
liberty of sending your Almanac to Monsieur de Condorcet,
Secretary of the Academy of Sciences at Paris, and member of the
Philanthropic Society, because I considered it as a document to
which your color had a right for their justification against the
doubts which have been entertained of them[83]
Jefferson's letter to the Marquis de Condorcet presented Banneker's
attainments as evidence of the mental capacity of Negroes. He said:
We have now in the United States a Negro, the son of a black man
born in Africa and a black woman born in the United States, who
is a very respectable mathematician. I procured him to be
employed under one of our chief directors in laying out the new
Federal City on the Potomac and in the intervals of his leisure,
while on that work, he made an almanac for the next year, which
he sent me in his own handwriting, and which I enclose to you. I
have seen very elegant solutions of geometrical problems by him.
Add to this that he is a very worthy and respectable member of
society. He is a free man. I shall be delighted to see these
instances of moral eminence so multiplied as to prove that the
want of talents observed in them, is merely the effect of their
degraded condition, and not proceeding from any difference in the
structure of the parts on which intellect depends[84]
In a letter to Banneker himself concerning the achievements of this
astronomer and mathematician, Jefferson said:
Nobody wishes more ardently than I do to see a good system
commenced for raising the condition both of their body and mind
to what it ought to be, as fast as the imbecility of their
present existence, and other circumstances which cannot be
neglected, will admit.[85]
A generation later he had, as this letter indicates, retained the
opinion that the possibilities of the Negroes were not necessarily
limited. To Henri Grégoire who had sent Jefferson a copy of his
_Litterature des Nègres_, he wrote:
Be assured that no person living wishes more sincerely than I do
to see a complete refutation of the doubts I have myself
entertained and expressed on the grade of understanding allotted
to the negroes by nature, and to find that in this respect they
are on a par with ourselves. My doubts were the result of
personal observation on the limited sphere of my own State, where
the opportunities for the development of their genius were not
favorable, and those of exercising it still less so. I expressed
them, therefore, with great hesitation; but whatever be their
degree of talent it is no measure of their rights. Because Sir
Isaac Newton was superior to others in understanding, he was not
therefore lord of the person or property of others. On this
subject they are gaining daily in the opinions of nations, and
hopeful advances are making towards their reestablishment on an
equal footing with the other colors of the human family. I pray
you, therefore, to accept my thanks for the many instances you
have enabled me to observe of respectable intelligence in that
race of men, which cannot fail to have effect in hastening the
day of their relief.[86]
Writing to Joel Barlow about the same time Jefferson showed a
different attitude. He said:
Bishop Grégoire wrote to me on the doubts I had expressed five or
six and twenty years ago, in the _Notes on Virginia_, as to the
grade of understanding of the negroes. His credulity has made him
gather up every story he could find of men of color (without
distinguishing whether black, or of what degree of mixture),
however slight the mention, or light the authority on which they
are quoted. The whole do not amount, in point of evidence, to
what we know ourselves of Banneker. We know he had spherical
trigonometry enough to make almanacs, but not without the
suspicion of aid from Ellicot, who was his neighbor and friend,
and never missed an opportunity of puffing him. I have a long
letter from Banneker, which shows him to have had a mind of very
common stature indeed. As to Bishop Grégoire, I wrote him a very
soft answer. It was impossible for doubt to have been more
tenderly or hesitantingly expressed than that was in the _Notes
on Virginia_, and nothing was or is further from my intentions,
than to enlist myself as the champion of a fixed opinion, where I
have only expressed a doubt. St. Domingo will, in time, throw
light on the question.[87]
He did believe, however, in the industry of the Negroes and thought
that this virtue of theirs would make their colonization possible.
Concerning such a project he wrote Miss Fanny Wright in 1825:
An opinion is hazarded by some, but proved by none, that moral
urgencies are not sufficient to induce the negro to labor; that
nothing can do this but physical coercion. But this a problem
which the present age alone is prepared to solve by experiment.
It would be a solecism to suppose a race or animals created,
without sufficient foresight and energy to preserve their own
existence. It is disproved, too, by the fact that they exist, and
have existed through all the ages of history. We are not
sufficiently acquainted with all the nations of Africa, to say
that there may not be some in which habits of industry are
established, and the arts practiced which are necessary to render
life comfortable. The experiment now in progress in St. Domingo,
those of Sierra Leone and Cape Mesurado, are but beginning. Your
proposition has its aspects of promise also; and should it not
fully answer to calculations in figures, it may yet, in its
developments, lead to happy results.[88]
VI
Jefferson believed that the emancipation of the slaves could be
effected by legislation. To this end he made several noteworthy
efforts. In 1776 he submitted to the revolutionary convention in
Virginia a constitution in which was incorporated the clause
prohibiting slavery. He undertook also to induce the legislature of
Virginia to take this step in 1783, and as chairman of the committee
of the Congress of the Confederation appointed to draw up an ordinance
for the government of the Northwest Territory, he submitted a plan
providing that after the year 1800 neither slavery nor involuntary
servitude should exist there. These clauses and some comments thereon
follow:
No person hereafter coming into this country shall be held within
the same in slavery under any pretext whatever.--Proposed Va.
Constitution.[89]
The General Assembly (of Virginia) shall not have power to ...
permit the introduction of any more slaves to reside in this
State, or the continuance of slavery beyond the generation which
shall be living on the 31st day of December, 1800; all persons
born after that day being hereby declared free.[90]--Proposed
Constitution for Virginia.
After the year 1800 of the Christian era, there shall be neither
slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the said States,
otherwise than in punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall
have been duly convicted to have been personally
guilty.[91]--Proposed Ordinance of 1784.
"The clause respecting slavery," said he "was lost by an
individual vote only. Ten States were present. The four Eastern
States, New York and Pennsylvania, were for the clause. Jersey
would have been for it, but there were but two members, one of
whom was sick in his chambers. South Carolina, Maryland, and
Virginia! voted against it. North Carolina was divided, as would
have been Virginia, had not one of its delegates been sick in
bed."[92]
"I congratulate you" said he to a coworker, "on the law of your
state (South Carolina) for suspending the importation of slaves,
and for the glory you have justly acquired by endeavoring to
prevent it forever."[93]
VII
Jefferson seemed to get further from the idea of immediate
emancipation, looking upon it as a very serious problem. He tended, as
the following extracts will show, to advocate lightening the burden of
the slave, hoping that in the West Indies, where he thought the Negro
would eventually rule absolutely, the blacks might establish
governments to which freedmen gradually emancipated in the United
States might be sent to shape their own destiny.
Writing to Dr. Price concerning his anti-slavery pamphlet, Jefferson
said:
Southward of the Chesapeake, your pamphlet (against slavery) will
find but few readers concurring with it in sentiment on the
subject of slavery. From the mouth to the head of the Chesapeake,
the bulk of the people will approve it in theory, and it will
find a respectable minority ready to adopt it in practice; a
minority which for weight and worth of character preponderates
against the greater number, who have not the courage to divest
their families of a property which, however, keeps their
conscience unquiet. Northward of the Chesapeake, you may find
here and there an opponent to your doctrine, as you may find here
and there a robber and murderer; but in no greater number. In
that part of America, there being but few slaves, they can easily
disencumber themselves of them; and emancipation is put into such
a train that in a few years there will be no slaves northward of
Maryland. In Maryland, I do not find such a disposition to begin
the redress of this enormity as in Virginia. This is the next
State to which we may turn our eyes for the interesting spectacle
of justice in conflict with avarice and oppression; a conflict
wherein the sacred side is gaining daily recruits from the influx
into office of young men grown, and growing up. These have sucked
in the principles of liberty, as it were, with their mother's
milk; and it is to them I look with anxiety to turn the fate of
this question. Be not therefore discouraged. What you have
written will do a great deal of good.[94]
In his report to Congress of a conference with Count Vergennes,
Foreign Minister of France, on commerce, Jefferson wrote:
The British army, after ravaging the State of Virginia, had sent
off a very great number of slaves to New York. By the seventh
article of the treaty of peace, they stipulated not to carry away
any of these. Notwithstanding this, it was known, when they were
evacuating New York, that they were carrying away the slaves,
General Washington made an official demand of Sir Guy Carleton,
that he should cease to send them away. He answered, that these
people had come to them under promise of the King's protection,
and that that promise should be fulfilled in preference to the
stipulation in the treaty. The State of Virginia, to which nearly
the whole of these slaves belonged, passed a law to forbid the
recovery of debts due to British subjects. They declared, at the
same time, they would repeal the law, if Congress were of opinion
they ought to do it. But, desirous that their citizens should be
discharging their debts, they afterwards permitted British
creditors to prosecute their suits, and to receive their debts in
seven equal and annual payments for reimbursement.[95]
Jefferson's letter here to M. de Meunier on the passage of the
Ordinance of 1787 shows how he either shifted from his position of
regarding emancipation a serious problem to that of agitating against
slavery or that he varied his correspondence to suit the person
addressed.
There were ten States present; six voted unanimously for it,
three against it, and one was divided; and seven votes being
requisite to decide the proposition affirmatively, it was lost.
The voice of a single individual of the State which was divided,
or of one of those which were of the negative, would have
prevented this abominable crime from spreading itself over the
new country. Thus we see the fate of millions unborn hanging on
the tongue of one man, and heaven was silent in that awful
moment! But it is to be hoped it will not always be silent, and
that the friends to the rights of human nature will in the end
prevail.
What a stupendous, what an incomprehensible machine is man! who
can endure toil, famine, stripes, imprisonment, and death itself,
in vindication of his own liberty, and, the next moment, be deaf
to all those motives whose power supported him through his
trial, and inflict on his fellow men a bondage, one hour of which
is fraught with more misery than ages of that which he rose in
rebellion to oppose.[96]
He seemed to regard it later as a problem to be solved only by
miraculous methods.
We must await with patience the workings of an overruling
Providence, and hope that that is preparing the deliverance of
these, our suffering brethren. When the measure of their tears
shall be full, when their groans shall have involved heaven
itself in darkness, doubtless a God of justice will awaken to
their distress, and by diffusing light and liberality among their
oppressors, or, at length, by His exterminating thunder, manifest
His attention to the things of this world, and that they are not
left to the guidance of a blind fatality.[97]
Jefferson, however, seemed to have a kind feeling for the bondmen, as
these extracts will show.
I observe in your letter ... that the profits of the whole estate
(of Monticello) would be no more than the hire of the few negroes
hired out would amount to. Would it be better to hire more where
good masters could be got? Would it be better to hire plantations
and all, if proper assurance can be provided for the good usage,
of everything?[98]
I am miserable till I shall owe not a shilling. The moment that
shall be the case, I shall feel myself at liberty to do something
for the comfort of the slaves.[99]
The check on the tenants against abusing my slaves was, by the
former lease, that I might discontinue it on a reference to
arbitrators. Would it not be well to retain an optional right to
sue them for ill-usage of the slaves or to discontinue it by
arbitration, whichever you should choose at the time?[100]
As far as I can judge from the experiments which have been made
to give liberty to, or rather, to abandon persons whose habits
have been formed in slavery is like abandoning children.[101]
I am decided on my final return to America to try this
experiment. I shall endeavor to import as many Germans as I have
grown slaves. I will settle them and my slaves, on farms of fifty
acres each, intermingled, and place all on the footing of the
Metayers (Medietaini) of Europe. Their children shall be brought
up, as others are, in habits of property and foresight, and I
have no doubt but that they will be good citizens. Some of their
fathers will be so; others I suppose will need government. With
these all that can be done is to oblige them to labor as the
laboring poor of Europe do, and to apply to their comfortable
subsistence the produce of their labor, retaining such a moderate
portion of it as may be a just equivalent for the use of the
lands they labor, and the stocks and other necessary
advances.[102]
The inculcation (in your book) on the master of the moral duties
which he owes to the slave, in return for the benefits of his
service, that is to say, of food, clothing, care in sickness, and
maintenance under age and disability, so as to make him in fact
as comfortable and more secure than the laboring man in most
parts of the world, ... gives great merit to the work, and will,
I have no doubt, produce wholesome impressions.[103]
In the first or second session of the Legislature after I became
a member, I drew to this subject the attention of Colonel Bland,
one of the oldest, ablest, and most respected members, and he
undertook to move for certain moderate extensions of the
protection of the laws to these people. I seconded his motion
and, as a young member, was more spared in the debate; but he was
denounced as an enemy of his country, and was treated with the
grossest indecorum.[104]
My opinion has ever been that, until more can be done for them,
we should endeavor, with those whom fortune has thrown on our
hands, to feed and clothe them well, protect them from ill usage,
require such reasonable labor only as is performed voluntarily by
freemen, and be led by no repugnances to abdicate them, and our
duties to them. The laws do not permit us to turn them loose, if
that were for their good; and to commute them for other property
is to commit them to those whose usage of them we cannot
control.[105]
Jefferson was opposed to slavery, but he hesitated to take certain
steps against it because of public opinion.
I am very sensible of the honor you propose to me of becoming a
member of the society for the abolition of the slave trade. You
know that nobody wishes more ardently to see an abolition, not
only of the trade, but of the condition of slavery; and certainly
nobody will be more willing to encounter every sacrifice for that
object. But the influence and information of the friends to this
proposition in France will be far above the need of my
association. I am here as a public servant, and those whom I
serve, having never yet been able to give their voice against
this practice, it is decent for me to avoid too public a
demonstration of my wishes to see it abolished. Without serving
the cause here, it might render me less able to serve it beyond
the water. I trust you will be sensible of the prudence of those
motives, therefore, which govern my conduct on this
occasion.[106]
I have received a letter from Mr. Thomas Brannagan, ...
Philadelphia, asking my subscription to the work announced in the
enclosed paper.[107] The cause in which he embarks is so holy,
the sentiments he expresses in his letter so friendly, that it is
highly painful to me to hesitate on a compliance which appears so
small. But that is not its true character, and it would be
injurious even to his views, for me to commit myself on paper by
answering his letter. I have most carefully avoided every public
act of manifestation on that subject. Should an occasion ever
occur in which I can interpose with decisive effect, I shall
certainly know and do my duty with promptitude and zeal. But, in
the meantime, it would only be disarming myself of influence to
be taking small means. The subscription to a book on this subject
is one of those little irritating measures, which, without
advancing its end at all, would, by lessening the confidence and
good will of a description of friends composing a large body,
only lessen my powers of doing them good in the other great
relations in which I stand to the public. Yet, I cannot be easy
in not answering Mr. Brannagan's letter, unless he can be made
sensible that it is better I should not answer it; and I do not
know how to effect this, unless you would have the goodness ...
to enter into an explanation with him.[108]
We have received with great satisfaction notification of the
orders of his Catholic Majesty, not to permit that persons, held
in slavery within the United States, introduce themselves as free
persons into the Province of Florida.... As a consequence of the
same principles of justice and friendship, we trust that your
Excellency will permit, and aid the recovery of persons of the
same description, who have heretofore taken refuge within your
government.[109]
The governor of East Florida informs me that he has received the
King's orders, not to permit, under any pretext, that persons
held in slavery in the United States introduce themselves as
free, into the province of East Florida. I am happy that this
grievance, which had been a subject of great complaint from the
citizens of Georgia, is to be removed.[110]
Jefferson thought that the Negro republics of the West Indies would
become a safety valve for the United States.
I become daily more convinced that all the West India Islands
will remain in the hands of the people of color, and a total
expulsion of the whites sooner or later take place. It is high
time we should foresee the bloody scenes which our children
certainly, and possibly ourselves (south of the Potomac), have to
wade through and try to avert them.[111]
If something is not done, and soon done, we shall be the
murderers of our own children. The "_murmura venturos nautis
prudentia ventos_" has already reached us (from San Domingo); the
revolutionary storm, now sweeping the globe, will be upon us, and
happy if we make timely provision to give it an easy passage over
our land. From the present state of things in Europe and America,
the day which begins our combustion must be near at hand; and
only a single spark is wanting to make that day to-morrow. If we
had begun sooner, we might probably have been allowed a lengthier
operation to clear ourselves, but every day's delay lessens the
time we may take for emancipation. Some people derive hope from
the aid of the confederate States. But this is a delusion. There
is but one State in the Union which will aid us sincerely, if an
insurrection begins, and that one may, perhaps, have its own fire
to quench at the same time.[112]
As to the mode of emancipation, I am satisfied that that must be
a matter of compromise between the passions, the prejudices, and
the real difficulties which will each have its weight in that
operation. Perhaps the first chapter of this history, which has
begun in St. Domingo, and the next succeeding ones, will recount
how all the whites were driven from all the other islands, may
prepare our minds for a peaceable accommodation between justice,
policy and necessity; and furnish an answer to the difficult
question, whither shall the colored emigrants go? and the sooner
we put some plan under way, the greater hope there is that it may
be permitted to proceed peaceably to its ultimate effect.[113]
Jefferson finally despaired of seeing his emancipation scheme succeed.
I have long since given up the expectation of any early provision
for the extinguishment of slavery among us. There are many
virtuous men who would make any sacrifices to effect it, many
equally virtuous who persuade themselves either that the thing is
not wrong, or that it cannot be remedied, and very many with whom
interest is morality. The older we grow, the larger we are
disposed to believe the last party to be. But interest is really
going over to the side of morality. The value of the slave is
every day lessening; his burden on his master daily increasing.
Interest is, therefore, preparing the disposition to be just; and
this will be goaded from time to time by the insurrectionary
spirit of the slaves. This is easily quelled in its first
efforts; but from being local it will become general, and
whenever it does, it will rise more formidable after every
defeat, until we shall be forced, after dreadful scenes and
sufferings, to release them in their own way, which, without such
sufferings we might now model after our own convenience.[114]
VIII
Because of frequent insurrections in this country and the West Indies
there was much talk of establishing a penal colony to which the
leaders of such uprisings could be sent. With Gabriel's insurrection
in Virginia in 1800 in mind, James Monroe, then Governor of Virginia,
wrote Jefferson, asking him to support such a project, a resolution on
which had already passed the Virginia House of Delegates. Jefferson
wrote him the following:
Questions would arise whether the establishment of a (negro
penal) colony within our limits, and to become a part of our
Union, would be desirable to the State of Virginia itself, or to
other States--especially those who would be in its vicinity.
Could we procure lands beyond the limits of the United States to
form a receptacle for these people? On our northern boundary, the
country not occupied by British subjects, is the property of
Indian nations, whose title would have to be extinguished, with
the consent of Great Britain; and the new settlers would be
British subjects. It is hardly to be believed that either Great
Britain or the Indian proprietors have so disinterested a regard
for us, as to be willing to relieve us, by receiving such a
colony themselves.... On our western and southern frontiers,
Spain holds an immense country, the occupancy of which, however,
is in the Indian natives, except a few insulated spots possessed
by Spanish subjects. It is very questionable, indeed, whether the
Indians would sell? whether Spain would be willing to receive
these people? and nearly certain that she would not alienate the
sovereignty. The same question to ourselves would recur here
also, as did in the first case: should we be willing to have such
a colony in contact with us? However our present interests may
restrain us within our own limits, it is impossible not to look
forward to distant times, when our rapid multiplication will
expand itself beyond those limits, and cover the whole northern,
if not the southern continent, with a people speaking the same
language, governed in similar forms, and by similar laws; nor can
we contemplate with satisfaction either blot or mixture on that
surface. Spain, France, and Portugal hold possessions on the
southern continent, as to which I am not well enough informed to
say how far they might meet our views. But either there or in the
northern continent, should the constituted authorities ties of
Virginia fix their attention, of preference, I will have the
dispositions of those powers sounded in the first instance.[115]
Writing to Rufus King in 1802 Jefferson discussed in detail the
feasibility of the plan.
As the expense of so distant a transportation would be very
heavy, and might weigh unfavorably in deciding between the modes
of punishment, it is very desirable that it should be lessened as
much as is practicable. If the regulations of the place would
permit these emigrants to dispose of themselves, as the Germans
and others do who come to this country poor, by giving their
labor for a certain time to some one who will pay their passage;
and if the master of the vessel could be permitted to carry
articles of commerce from this country and take back others from
that, which might yield him a mercantile profit sufficient to
cover the expenses of the voyage, a serious difficulty would be
removed.[116]
The course of things in the ... West Indies appears to have given
a considerable impulse to the minds of the slaves in ... the
United States. A great disposition to insurgency has manifested
itself among them, which, in one instance, in the State of
Virginia, broke out into actual insurrection. This was easily
suppressed; but many of those concerned (between twenty and
thirty, I believe) fell victims to the law. So extensive an
execution could not but excite sensibility in the public mind,
and beget a regret that the laws had not provided for such cases,
some alternative, combining more mildness with equal efficiency.
The Legislature of the State ... took the subject into
consideration, and have communicated to me through the Governor
of the State, their wish that some place could be provided, out
of the limits of the United States, to which slaves guilty of
insurgency might be transported; and they have particularly
looked to Africa as offering the most desirable receptacle. We
might, for this purpose, enter into negotiations with the
natives, on some part of the coast, to obtain a settlement; and,
by establishing an African company, combine with it commercial
operations, which might not only reimburse expenses, but procure
profit also. But there being already such an establishment on
that coast by the English Sierra Leone Company, made for the
express purpose of colonizing civilized blacks to that country,
it would seem better, by incorporating our emigrants with
theirs, to make one strong, rather than two weak colonies. This
would be the more desirable because the blacks settled at Sierra
Leone, having chiefly gone from the States, would often receive
among those whom we should send, their acquaintances and
relatives. The object of this letter is to ask ... you to enter
into conference with such persons, private and public, as would
be necessary to give us permission to send thither the persons
under contemplation.... They are not felons, or common
malefactors, but persons guilty of what the safety of society,
under actual circumstances, obliges us to treat as a crime, but
which their feelings may represent in a far different shape. They
will be a valuable acquisition to the settlement, ... and well
calculated to cooperate in the plan of civilization.
... The consequences of permitting emancipation to become
extensive, unless a condition of emigration be annexed to them,
furnish matter of solicitude to the Legislature of Virginia.
Although provision for the settlement of emancipated negroes
might perhaps be obtained nearer home than Africa, yet it is
desirable that we should be free to expatriate this description
of people also to the colony of Sierra Leone, if considerations
respecting either themselves or us should render it more
expedient. I pray you, therefore, to get the same permission
extended to the reception of these as well as the (insurgents).
Nor will there be a selection of bad subjects; the emancipations,
for the most part, being either of the whole slaves of the
master, or of such individuals as have particularly deserved
well. The latter are most frequent.[117]
IX
He was firm to the end in his effort to abolish the slave trade.
Whatever may have been the circumstances which influenced our
forefathers to permit the introduction of personal bondage into
any part of these States, and to participate in the wrongs
committed on an unoffending quarter of the globe, we may rejoice
that such circumstances, and such a sense of them, exist no
longer. It is honorable to the nation at large that their
Legislature availed themselves of the first practicable moment
for arresting the progress of this great moral and political
error.[118]
I congratulate you (Congress) on the approach of the period at
which you may interpose your authority constitutionally, to
withdraw the citizens of the United States from all further
participation in those violations of human rights which have been
so long continued on the unoffending inhabitants of Africa, and
which the morality, the reputation, and the best interests of our
country, have long been eager to proscribe. Although no law you
may pass can take prohibitory effect till the first day of the
year one thousand eight hundred and eight, yet the intervening
period is not too long to prevent, by timely notice, expeditions
which cannot be completed before that day.[119]--Sixth Annual
Message.
X
In his old age Jefferson became decidedly less radical in his advocacy
of abolition, contenting himself with the utterances of the nature of
an academic deprecation of the evil, expressing the hope that in some
way it might be eradicated, but at the same time despairing of it.
Writing to Edward Coles, he said:
My sentiment on the subject of slavery of negroes have long since
been in possession of the public, and time has only served to
give them stronger root. The love of justice and the love of
country plead equally the cause of these people, and it is a
moral reproach to us that they should have pleaded it so long in
vain, and should have produced not a single effort, nay I fear
not much serious willingness to relieve them and ourselves from
our present condition of moral and political reprobation.... I
had always hoped that the younger generation receiving their
early impressions after the flame of liberty had been kindled in
every breast, and had become, as it were, the vital spirit of
every American, that the generous temperament of youth, analogous
to the motion of the blood, and above the suggestions of avarice,
would have sympathized with oppression wherever found, and proved
their love of liberty beyond their own share of it. But my
intercourse with them since my return (from Europe) has not been
sufficient to ascertain that they had made towards this point the
progress I had hoped.[120]
The hour of emancipation is advancing, in the march of time. It
will come; and whether brought on by the generous energy of our
own minds; or by the bloody process of St. Domingo, excited and
conducted by the power of our present enemy (England), if once
stationed permanently within our country, and offering asylum and
arms to the oppressed, is a leaf of our history not yet turned
over.[121]
From those of the former generation who were in the fulness of
age when I came into public life, which was while our controversy
with England was on paper only, I soon saw that nothing was to be
hoped. Nursed and educated in the daily habit of seeing the
degraded condition, both bodily and mental, of those unfortunate
beings, not reflecting that that degradation was very much the
work of themselves and their fathers, few minds have yet doubted
but that they were as legitimate subjects of property as their
horses and cattle. The quiet and monotonous course of colonial
life had been disturbed by no alarm, and little reflection on the
value of liberty. And when alarm was taken at an enterprise on
their own, it was not easy to carry them to the whole length of
the principles which they invoked for themselves.[122]
As to the method by which this difficult work is to be effected,
if permitted to be done by ourselves, I have seen no proposition
so expedient on the whole, as that of emancipation of those born
after a given day, and of their education and expatriation after
a given age.[123]
I hope you will reconcile yourself to your country and its
unfortunate condition; that you will not lessen its stock of
sound disposition by withdrawing your portion from the mass;
that, on the contrary, you will come forward in the public
councils, become the missionary of this doctrine truly Christian,
insinuate and inculcate it softly but steadily, through the
medium of writing and conversation; associate others in your
labors, and when the phalanx is formed, bring on the press the
proposition perseveringly until its accomplishment.[124]
Writing to David Barrow in 1815 about the preparation of slaves for
emancipation, Jefferson said:
Unhappily it is a case for which both parties require long and
difficult preparation. The mind of the master is to be apprized
by reflection, and strengthened by the energies of conscience,
against the obstacles of self interest to an acquiescence in the
rights of others; that of the slave is to be prepared by
instruction and habit for self-government, and for the honest
pursuits of industry and social duty. Both of these courses of
preparation require time, and the former must precede the latter.
Some progress is sensibly made in it; yet not so much as I had
hoped and expected. But it will yield in time to temperate and
steady pursuit, to the enlargement of the human mind, and its
advancement in science. We are not in a world ungoverned by the
laws and the power of a Superior Agent. Our efforts are in His
hand, and directed by it; and He will give them their effect in
his own time. Where the disease is most deeply seated, there it
will be slowest in eradication. In the Northern States it was
merely superficial, and easily corrected. In the Southern it is
incorporated with the whole system, and requires time, patience
and perseverance in the curative process. That it may finally be
effected, and its process hastened, will be my last and fondest
prayer.[125]
In a letter to Dr. Thomas Humphreys in 1817, Jefferson expressed fear
about the purchase of slaves by the United States.
The bare proposition of purchase (of the slaves) by the United
States generally would excite infinite indignation in all the
States north of Maryland. The sacrifice must fall on the States
alone which hold them; and the difficult question will be how to
lessen this so as to reconcile our fellow citizens to it.
Personally, I am ready and desirous to make any sacrifice which
shall ensure their gradual but complete retirement from the
State, and effectually, at the same time, establish them
elsewhere in freedom and safety.[126]
I concur entirely in your leading principles of gradual
emancipation, of establishment on the coast of Africa, and the
patronage of our nation until the emigrants shall be able to
protect themselves.[127]
Jefferson saw in the extension of slavery that which had given the
institution a new aspect in lessening the difficulty by dividing it.
I can say with conscious truth that there is not a man on earth
who would sacrifice more than I would to relieve us from this
heavy reproach in any _practicable_ way. The cession of that kind
of property, for so it is misnamed, is a bagatelle which would
not cost me a second thought, if, in that way, a general
emancipation and _expatriation_ could be effected; and,
gradually, and with due sacrifices, I think it might be. But, as
it is, we have the wolf by the ears, and we can neither hold him,
nor safely let him go. Justice is in the one scale and
self-preservation in the other.[128]
Of one thing I am certain, that as the passage of slaves from one
State to another, would not make a slave of a single human being
who would not be so without it, so their diffusion over a greater
surface would make them individually happier, and proportionally
facilitate the accomplishment of their emancipation, by dividing
the burden on a greater number of coadjutors. An abstinence, too,
from this act of power would remove the jealousy excited by the
undertaking of Congress to regulate the condition of the
different descriptions of men composing a State, which nothing in
the Constitution has taken from them and given to the General
Government. Could Congress, for example, say that the non-freemen
of Connecticut shall be freemen, or that they shall not emigrate
into any other State?[129]
During the closing years of his life he expressed little hope of
seeing his plan of gradual emancipation carried out.
It was found that the public mind would not bear the proposition
(gradual emancipation), nor will it bear it even at this day
(1821). Yet the day is not distant when it must bear and adopt
it, or worse will follow. Nothing is more certainly written in
the book of fate, than that these people are to be free; nor is
it less certain, that the two races, equally free, cannot live in
the same government. Nature, habit, opinion have drawn indelible
lines of distinction between them. It is still in our power to
direct the process of emancipation and deportation, peaceably,
and in such slow degree, as that the evil will wear off
insensible, and their place be, _pari passu_, filled up by free
white laborers. If, on the contrary, it is left to force itself
on, human nature must shudder at the prospect held up. We should
in vain look for an example in the Spanish deportation, or
deletion of the Moors. This precedent would fall far short of our
case.[130]
* * * * *
In 1769, I became a member of the legislature by the choice of
the country in which I live (Albemarle), and so continued until
it was closed by the Revolution. I made one effort in that body
for the permission of the emancipation of slaves, which was
rejected; and indeed, during the regal government, nothing
liberal could expect success. Our minds were circumscribed within
narrow limits, by an habitual belief that it was our duty to be
subordinate to the mother country in all matters of government,
to direct all our labors in subservience to her interests, and
even to observe a bigoted intolerance for all religions but hers.
The difficulties with our representatives were of habit and
despair, not of reflection and conviction. Experience soon proved
that they could bring their minds to rights on the first summons
of their attention. But the King's Council, which acted as
another house of legislature, held their places at will, and were
in most humble obedience to that will; the Governor, too, who had
a negative on our laws, held by the same tenure, and with still
greater devotedness to it; and, last of all, the royal negative
closed the last door to every hope of
ameloration.--Autobiography.[131]
The first establishment (of slavery) in Virginia which became
permanent, was made in 1607. I have found no mention of negroes
in the Colony until about 1650. The first brought here as slaves
were by a Dutch ship; after which the English commenced the
trade, and continued it until the Revolutionary war. That
suspended, _ipso facto_, their further importation for the
present, and the business of the war pressing constantly on the
legislature, this subject was not acted on finally until the year
'78, when I brought in a bill to prevent their further
importation. This passed without opposition, and stopped the
increase of the evil by importation, leaving to future efforts
its final eradication.--Autobiography.[132]
Our only blot is becoming less offensive by the great improvement
in the condition and civilization of that race, who can now more
advantageously compare their situation with that of the laborers
of Europe. Still it is a hideous blot, as well from the
heteromorph peculiarities of the race, as that, with them,
physical compulsion to action must be substituted for the moral
necessity which constrains the free laborers to work equally
hard. We feel and deplore it morally and politically, and we look
without entire despair to some redeeming means not yet
specifically foreseen. I am happy in believing that the
conviction of the necessity of removing this evil gains ground
with time. Their emigration to the westward lightens the
difficulty by dividing it, and renders it more practicable on the
whole. And the neighborhood of a government of their color
promises a more accessible asylum than that from whence they
came.[133]
Showing the difficulty of purchase in case of the adoption of the
policy, Jefferson wrote Jared Sparks in 1824:
Actual property has been lawfully vested in that form (negroes)
and who can lawfully take it from the possessors?[134]
Who would estimate its blessed effects? I leave this to those who
will live to see their accomplishment, and to enjoy a beatitude
forbidden to my age. But I leave it with this admonition,--to
rise and be doing. A million and a half are within our control;
but six millions (which a majority of those now living will see
them attain), and one million of these fighting men, will say,
"we will not go."[135]
The separation of infants from their mothers would produce some
scruples of humanity. But this would be straining at a gnat, and
swallowing a camel.[136]
Jefferson became interested in the schemes of Miss Fanny Wright, who
was endeavoring to promote gradual emancipation through an
Emancipating Labor Society. He wrote her in 1825:
The abolition of the evil is not impossible; it ought never,
therefore, to be despaired of. Every plan should be adopted,
every experiment tried, which may do something towards the
ultimate object. That which you propose is well worthy of trial.
It has succeeded with certain portions of our white brethren,
under the care of a Rapp and an Owen; and why may it not succeed
with the man of color?
At the age of eighty-two, with one foot in the grave and the
other uplifted to follow it, I do not permit myself to take part
in any new enterprises, even for bettering the condition of man,
not even in the great one which is the subject of your letter,
and which has been through life that of my greatest
anxieties.[137] The march of events has not been such as to
render its completion practicable within the limits of time
allotted to me; and I leave its accomplishment as the work of
another generation.[138]
Although Jefferson lost hope of seeing his plans carried out, this
letter to Edward Everett, written near the close of his career, shows
that he had not changed his attitude.
On the question of the lawfulness of slavery, that is of the
right of one man to appropriate to himself the faculties of
another without his consent, I certainly retain my early
opinions. On that, however, of third persons to interfere between
the parties, and the effect of conventional modifications of that
pretension, we are probably nearer together.[139]
FOOTNOTES:
[48] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, III, p. 102.
[49] "_Rights of British America_," Ford edition of _Jefferson's
Writings_, I, p. 440.
[50] "This clause," says Jefferson, in his Autobiography (I, p. 19),
"was struck out in complaisance to South Carolina and Georgia, who had
never attempted to restrain the importation of slaves, and who, on the
contrary, still wished to continue it. Our northern brethren, also, I
believe, felt a little tender under those censures; for though their
people had very few slaves themselves, yet they had been pretty
considerable carriers of them to others."
[51] "Their amalgamation with the other color," said he, "produces a
degradation to which no lover of excellence in the human character can
innocently consent."--Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, IX, p.
478.
[52] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, III, p. 243.
[53] _Ibid._, III, p. 250.
[54] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, IX, p. 303.
[55] _Ibid._, IX, p. 304.
[56] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, IX, p. 303.
[57] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, X, p. 290.
[58] {Transcriber's Note: Missing footnote text in original.}
[59] _Ibid._, X, p. 291.
[60] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, X, p. 292.
[61] To General Chastellux, who had proposed to publish in a French
scientific paper certain extracts from Jefferson's Notes on Virginia,
he wrote the following in 1785:
The strictures on slavery (in the Notes on Virginia) ... I do not wish
to have made public, at least till I know whether their publication
would do most harm or good. It is possible, that in my own country,
these strictures might produce an irritation, which would indispose
the people towards (one of) the two great objects I have in view; that
is, the emancipation of their slaves.--Ford edition of the Writings of
Jefferson, III, p. 71.
[62] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, III, p. 154.
[63] _Ibid._, III, p. 192.
[64] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, II, p. 247.
[65] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, II, p. 249.
[66] _Ibid._, III, p. 266.
[67] {Transcriber's Note: Missing footnote text in original.}
[68] {Transcriber's Note: Missing footnote text in original.}
[69] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, III, p. 267.
[70] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, III, p. 244.
[71] {Transcriber's Note: Missing footnote text in original.}
[72] {Transcriber's Note: Missing footnote text in original.}
[73] _Ibid._, III, p. 245.
[74] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, III, p. 245.
[75] _Ibid._, III, p. 245.
[76] _Ibid._, III, p. 246.
[77] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, III, p. 246.
[78] _Ibid._, III, p. 247.
[79] _Ibid._, III, p. 247.
[80] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, III, p. 249.
[81] _Ibid._, III, p. 249.
[82] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, III, p. 138.
[83] _Ibid._, V, p. 377.
[84] _Ibid._, V, p. 379.
[85] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, V, p. 377.
[86] _Ibid._, IX, p. 246.
[87] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, IX, p. 261.
[88] _Ibid._, X, p. 344.
[89] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, II, p. 26.
[90] _Ibid._, III, p. 325.
[91] _Ibid._, III, p. 409.
[92] _Ibid._, III, p. 471.
[93] _Ibid._, IV, p. 410
[94] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, IV, p. 82.
[95] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, IV, p. 127.
[96] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, IV, p. 185.
[97] _Ibid._, IV, pp. 181-185.
[98] _Ibid._, IV, p. 342.
[99] _Ibid._, IV, p. 343.
[100] _Ibid._, V, p. 31.
[101] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, V, p. 66.
[102] _Ibid._, V, p. 67.
[103] _Ibid._, IX, p. 329.
[104] _Ibid._, IX, p. 477.
[105] _Ibid._, IX, p. 479.
[106] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, V, p. 6.
[107] This refers to "Avenia; or, A Tragical Poem on the Oppression of
the Human Species," an antislavery work printed in Philadelphia in
1805.--Note in the Ford edition.
[108] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, VIII, p. 351.
[109] _Ibid._, V, p. 296.
[110] _Ibid._, V, p. 296.
[111] _Ibid._, VI, p. 349.
[112] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, VII, p. 168.
[113] _Ibid._, VII, p. 167.
[114] _Ibid._, VIII, p. 340.
[115] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, VIII, p. 104.
[116] _Ibid._, VIII, p. 162.
[117] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, VIII, pp. 161, 163.
[118] _Ibid._, VIII, p. 119.
[119] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, VIII, p. 492.
[120] _Ibid._, IX, p. 477.
[121] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, IX, p. 478.
[122] _Ibid._, IX, p. 477.
[123] _Ibid._, IX, p. 478.
[124] _Ibid._, IX, p. 479.
[125] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, IX, p. 515.
[126] _Ibid._, X, p. 76.
[127] _Ibid._, X, p. 76.
[128] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, X, p. 157.
[129] _Ibid._, X, p. 158.
[130] Jefferson MSS. Rayner, 164.
[131] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, I, p. 5.
[132] _Ibid._, I, p. 51.
[133] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, VII, p. 310.
[134] _Ibid._, X, p. 200.
[135] _Ibid._, X, p. 292.
[136] _Ibid._, X, p. 293.
[137] In 1817 Jefferson had written Thomas Humphreys:
I have not perceived the growth of this disposition (to emancipate
the slaves and settle them elsewhere) in the rising generation, of
which I once had sanguine hopes. No symptoms inform me that it
will take place in my day. I leave it, therefore, to time, and not
at all without hope that the day will come, equally desirable and
welcome to us as to them. Perhaps the proposition now on the
carpet at Washington to provide an establishment on the coast of
Africa for voluntary emigrations of people of color may be the
corner stone of this future edifice.--Ford edition of Jefferson's
Writings, X, p. 77.
[138] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, X, p. 344.
[139] _Ibid._, X, p. 385.
SOME UNDISTINGUISHED NEGROES
A LITTLE SLAVE BOY was intrusted with a card which he was to bear to a
person to whom it was directed and so charmed was he with the
beautiful inscription drawn upon it that he was seized with an
unconquerable desire to learn the mystery it contained. To this end he
persuaded a little boy of his master's to teach him the letters of the
alphabet. He was discovered in the act and whipped. His curiosity,
however, to learn the secret, which was locked up in those mysterious
characters, was only increased, and he was detected in another
attempt, and accordingly chastised. By this time he had so far
penetrated the secret that nothing could deter him from further
effort. A third time he was detected, and whipped almost to death.
Still he persevered; and then to keep the matter secret, if possible,
he crept into a hogshead, which lay in a rather retired place and
leaving just hole enough to let in a little light, he sat there on a
little straw, and thus prosecuted his object. He knew he must be
whipped for being absent; and he often had to lie to conceal the
cause; but such were the strivings of his noble nature, such his
irrepressible longings after the hidden treasures of knowledge, that
nothing could subdue them, and he accomplished his purpose.[140]
EDWARD MITCHELL, a colored man, was brought from the South by
President Brown of Dartmouth College. He soon indicated a desire for
mental culture on being brought within its influence at college. At
first there was some hesitation about admitting him as the children of
southerners sometimes attended Dartmouth and one of them had recently
instructed his son to withdraw should the institution admit a Negro to
his classes. Mitchell was prepared for entering the Freshman class,
was received as a regular student and was promoted through all other
classes to a full honorable graduation. He was uniformly treated with
respect by his fellow students throughout his collegiate career. Upon
graduating in 1828 he was settled as a pastor of a Baptist church in
the State of Vermont, where he rendered creditable service.[141]
LUKE MULBER came to Steubenville, Ohio, in 1802, hired himself to a
carpenter during the summer at ten dollars a month, and went to school
in the winter. This course he pursued for three years, at the
expiration of which he had learned to do rough carpenter work.
Industry and economy crowned his labors with success. In 1837 he was a
contractor hiring four or five journeymen, two of whom were his sons,
having calls for more work than they could do. He lived in a fine
brick house which he had built for himself on Fourth Street, valued at
two thousand five hundred dollars and owned other property in the
city. Persons who came into contact with Mulber found him a quiet,
humble, Christian man, possessing those characteristics expected of a
useful member of society.[142]
SAMUEL MARTIN, a man of color, and the oldest resident of Port Gibson,
Mississippi, emancipated six of his slaves in 1844, bringing them to
Cincinnati where he believed they would have a better opportunity to
start life anew. These were two mulatto women with their four quadroon
children, the color of whom well illustrated the moral condition of
that State, in that each child had a different father and they
retained few marks of their partial African descent. Mr. Martin was
himself a slave until 1829. He purchased his freedom for a large sum
most of which he earned by taking time from sleep for work. Thereafter
he acquired considerable property. He was not a slaveholder in the
southern sense of that word. His purpose was to purchase his fellowmen
in bondage that he might give them an opportunity to become
free.[143]
FOOTNOTES:
[140] _The Philanthropist_, July 28, 1837.
[141] _Ibid._
[142] _The Philanthropist_, June 2, 1837.
[143] _Cincinnati Morning Herald_, June 1, 1844.
BOOK REVIEWS
_Negro Education, A Study of Private and Higher Schools for Colored
People in the United States._ By THOMAS JESSE JONES. United States
Bureau of Education in Cooperation with the Phelps-Stokes Fund. Issued
as Bulletins, 1916, Nos. 38 and 39. Government Printing Office,
Washington, 1917. Vol. I, pp. 700. Vol. II, pp. 700.
This report is the result of a survey of Negro education made during
the past four years under the direction of Dr. Thomas Jesse Jones,
specialist in the education of racial groups, United States Bureau of
Education. This is the most comprehensive and authoritative report
relating to Negro education that has been made. The report covers all
Negro private schools above the elementary grades. The total number of
schools described is 748, of which 635 are private schools, 28 are
state institutions, 68 are public high schools, and 27 are county
training schools. Reports are also made on 43 special institutions
such as hospitals, orphanages and reformatories.
It appears that no form of education for Negroes is satisfactorily
equipped or supported. The striking facts in the study of the
financial support of Negro education are, first, the wide divergencies
in the per capita of public school expenditures for white and Negro
children: $10.06 for each white child and $2.89 for each Negro child,
and second, the extent to which schools for Negroes are dependent upon
private aid. It also appears that the private schools provide the
greater proportion of all educational opportunities above the
elementary grades. They also offer practically all the instruction in
agriculture, medicine and religion.
In the discussion of a program for educational development, it is
pointed out that the public school authorities are responsible for
elementary education and that so long as the elementary school
facilities are insufficient, every phase of education above the
elementary grades is seriously handicapped. With reference to
secondary schools and teacher training, it is suggested that their
chief effort should be to supply trained teachers for the public
elementary schools. More than fifty per cent. of the teachers now in
these schools have an education less than the equivalent of six
elementary grades.
In the discussion of the importance of industrial education, it is
pointed out that in spite of the striking progress made in the
accumulation of property, the Negroes are "still a poor people." The
large percentage of women and children who have to earn a living
indicates the need of elevating their economic status so that more
children may attend school, and the women have a better opportunity to
care for the morals and hygiene of the home. Because three fourths of
the Negroes live in rural districts, instruction along agricultural
lines is one of the most important phases of Negro education.
"Preparation for rural life," says the report, "is the greatest
problem of the white and colored people of the South."
The most radical recommendations made in the report are those relating
to higher education. These recommendations are along the line of
improving the facilities and raising the standards of Negro college
work. The schools teaching subjects of college grade, 33 in number,
are classified according to the amount of college work done, into
three groups: first, colleges; second, those doing secondary and
college work; and third, those schools in which some college work is
offered. "Only three institutions, Howard, Fisk, and Meharry Medical,
have a student body, a teaching force and equipment, and an income
sufficient to warrant the characterization of college. Nearly half of
the college students and practically all of the professional students
are in these three institutions." It is suggested that there should be
concentration on the development for Negroes of two institutions of
university grade. Howard and Fisk are suggested as these two
institutions. It is recommended that three institutions be developed
and maintained as first class colleges. One such institution would be
located at Richmond, Virginia; one at Atlanta, Georgia, and one at
Marshall, Texas. A number of other institutions would be developed
into junior colleges or schools doing two years of college work. In
these junior colleges, large provision would be made for the training
of teachers.
M. N. WORK
* * * * *
_Los Negros Esclavos, Estudio Sociologico Y de Derecho Publico._ By
FERNANDO ORTIZ, Professor in the University of Havana. Revista
Bimestere Cubana, Havana, 1916. Pp. 536.
This work, as its title signifies, is a monograph intended to show the
working out of the problems of enslaving the blacks in Cuba. The
study begins with a description of the life of Cuba as conducive to
the introduction of slavery and then that of the blacks themselves.
Although acknowledging the difficulty of making an ethnographic study
of the imported Africans, the author endeavors to trace the origin of
these slaves to their native regions in Africa to determine the traits
which entered into the formation of the character of the Cuban slaves.
He then connects the institution with the sugar industry, which
increased the demand for slaves, gave the institution an economic
aspect and made the slave trade an international concern of great
moment. The movement for the amelioration of the condition of the
slave and the early efforts at abolition are noted only to show that
these efforts proved to be insignificant when the traffic became
universal and the institution reached the economic stage in the sugar
colonies. The atrocities incident to the methods of the victors in the
tribal wars of Africa supplying the traders frequenting the coast are
duly treated. The author even gives in detail the procedure, prices
and numbers.
A considerable portion of the book is concerned with the real life of
the slave. Professor Ortiz believes that the punishments inflicted in
Cuba were not so severe as in some other countries. He discusses the
work done by the men, women and children, their habitations, food,
dress and diversions. The diseases of the slave arising in adjusting
themselves to the new world are also noted. Going further into the
details of the life of the slaves, the author describes the urban
Negroes and distinguishes this class of the bondmen from those of the
plantation. He then discusses the free Negroes, who even from an early
period constituted a considerable element of the black population and
explains why some of them returned to Africa. The rights of all of the
elements of the black population at law are mentioned so as to give
the reader an idea of the black code as enforced in that island. How
these classes thus kept down were moved from time to time to organize
insurrections to secure their freedom, constitutes one of the chapters
of the book.
On the whole it cannot be said that Professor Ortiz has shown that
slavery in Cuba differed widely from what it was in some other large
islands of the West Indies. He has, however, made a contribution to
scholarship in showing exactly how this institution affected the life
and the development of Cuba. The work is well illustrated and has an
appendix of valuable documents bearing on slavery in Cuba.
C. G. WOODSON.
* * * * *
_A Social History of the American Family, from Colonial Times to the
Present._ By ARTHUR W. CALHOUN, PH.D. Volume I, Colonial Period. The
Arthur H. Clark Company, Cleveland, U. S. A., 1917. Pp. 348.
This work is a study in genetic sociology to be completed in three
volumes. The purpose of it is to develop an understanding of the
forces that have been operative in the evolution of the family
institution in the United States. The author will endeavor to set
forth the influences that have shaped marriage, controlled fecundity,
determined the respective status of father, mother, child, attracted
relative and servant, influenced sexual morality and governed the
function of the family as an educational, economic, moral, and
spiritual institution as also its relation to state, industry, and
society in general in the matter of social control.
In this first volume of the series the effort is to show that the
American family is a product of European folkways, of the economic
transition to modern capitalism, and of the distinctive environment of
a virgin continent. How European customs brought to America underwent
modification in the new environment and how differences of population
in this country may be traced to geographical differences, constitute
an important part of this treatise. The reader is finally directed to
see the colonial family as a property institution dominated by middle
class standards and operating as an agency of social control in the
midst of the social order governed by the interests of a forceful
aristocracy, which shaped religion, education, politics, and all else
to its own profit.
On the whole this is a valuable work. When one has finished reading
this volume, however, he must get the impression that the life of the
slave attached to the colonial family has not been adequately treated.
Among the early colonists the African slave was connected with the
family after the manner of the bondmen of families in ancient
countries. The slaves, being few in number, maintained this relation
until the industrial revolution throughout the modern world changed
the institution from a patriarchal to an economic one. Prior to this
time the slaves were treated almost as well as the children of the
family. They lived under the same roof, worshipped at the same altar
and in some cases were taught in the same school. Care was taken so to
elevate the slave and keep him above corrupting influences as to make
him not merely a tool for exploitation but a decided asset in the
family economy of life. That the slave of this type had much to do
with the development of the colonial family no one will doubt.
In the chapter on servitude and sexuality in the South, the Negro
slave gets negative mention. The author says that the presence of
African slaves and Indians early gave rise to the problem of
miscegenation. He concedes that it took some time to develop in the
whites the attitude of race integrity and that the intercourse between
men and women of the inferior race was never eliminated. During this
period white women of the indentured servant class often yielded to
miscegenation with the African male slaves and, as the author states,
planters sometimes married white women servants to Negroes in order to
transform the women and their offspring into slaves. The author might
have added that this was especially true of Maryland.
* * * * *
_The Readjuster Movement in Virginia._ By CHARLES CHILTON PEARSON,
Ph.D., Professor of Political Science in Wake Forest College. Yale
University Press, New Haven, 1917. Pp. 191.
The author undertakes here to describe one of the developments in
Virginia politics during the period between the Civil War and the
first administration of Grover Cleveland. He considers the last fifty
years of the history of Virginia the _Dark Age_ during which there has
been a period of radicalism followed by reaction. The Readjuster
Movement was one of the independent waves of thought which
characterized the reactionary period. It centered around William
Mahone as the leader of an efficient machine endeavoring to readjust
the State debt by compelling its creditors to share in the loss caused
by the expensive internal improvement policy, the misfortunes of the
Civil War and the extravagance of the Reconstruction period. It was in
line with the general effort to readjust the economic and social
policies of the entire country. It appealed to the people for the
reason that unlike radicalism it was not obstructive of "democratic
advance" in that it did not alienate the western section of the state
through its attitude towards the Negro. Native in its origin, the
democracy of the party was primarily intended for the whites, though
the Negroes were accepted as desirable supporters. Such an independent
movement was impossible until the continued defeat of the Republican
party sufficiently removed the fears of the whites as to conduce to
development of independent thinking. Citizens were thereafter more
easily won to the cause of thus elevating the ruined and indebted
classes by transferring to the government their will that the burdens
of the State should be shifted to other shoulders. The author believes
that this party found ready support also for the reason that it was
not only a party but a social code and a state of mind which bound the
whites to united and temperate action. He does not take the position
that the work of the party was accomplished without conflict between
the aristocratic and democratic forces. It required a long time to
remove the differences between the aristocrats composed of the leaders
of the old regime and the "soldier cult" on one hand and, on the
other, the democratic element composed of the westerners and upstarts
whom the Civil War and Reconstruction brought to power in the east,
the poor whites and the freedmen.
It is interesting to note how he accounts for the fate of the Negro
voter. He says that the Negro rising with the tide of democracy was
about to be incorporated into the body politic, but that the habit of
implicit obedience to overseers and a boss proved too strong. "These
results," says he, "seemed to necessitate and to anticipate the
elimination of the Negro as a voter." The decline of the political
power of the Negro in Virginia is unfortunately considered by many as
due to this cause. The author is wrong to leave the reader to infer
that the Negro's incapacity to participate intelligently in the
affairs of the government actually led to his elimination. The demands
of race prejudice impelled all southern States to reduce the Negro to
a lower status just as soon as the North loosed its hold on the
South.
NOTES
The local club of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and
History is now making a serious study of Negro American History under
the direction of Dr. Carter G. Woodson. The work was begun in November
and will be completed in February. The phases of history to be
considered are: _The Negro in Africa_, _The Enslavement of the Negro_,
_Patriarchal Slavery in America_, _Slavery and the Rights of Man_,
_The Reaction against the Negro_, _Slavery as an Economic
Institution_, _The Free Negro in the United States_, _The Abolition
Movement_, _The Colonization Project_, _Slavery and the Constitution_,
_The Negro in the Civil War_, _The Reconstruction of the Southern
States_, _The Negro in Freedom_, _The Negro and Social Justice_.
Dodd, Mead and Company will soon publish for Professor Benjamin G.
Brawley a work entitled _The Genius of the Negro_. The aim of the book
will be to set forth what the Negro has done in literature, art and
the like.
Longmans, Green and Company have published _The Education of the
African Native_. This will throw light on the much mooted question as
to what the Europeans have done to promote the mental development of
the native of the dark continent.
In the seventh volume of the _Documentos para la Historia Argentina_
are found materials bearing on the _Comercio de Indias, Consualdo,
Comercio de Negros y Extranjeros_, 1791-1809.
The June number of the _Political Science Quarterly_ contained an
article _The Negro Vote in Old New York_ by D. E. Fox.
THE JOURNAL
OF
NEGRO HISTORY
VOL. III--APRIL, 1918--NO. 2
BENJAMIN BANNEKER, THE NEGRO MATHEMATICIAN AND ASTRONOMER
The city of Washington very recently celebrated the 125th anniversary
of the completion of the survey and laying out of the Federal
Territory constituting the District of Columbia. This was executed
under the supervision of the famous French civil engineer, Major
Pierre Charles L'Enfant, as the head of a commission appointed by
George Washington, then president of the United States. Serving as one
of the commissioners, sitting in conference with them and performing
an important part in the mathematical calculations involved in the
survey, was the Negro mathematician and astronomer, Benjamin Banneker.
As there did not appear to be during this celebration any disposition
to give proper recognition to the scientific work done by Banneker,
the writer has thought it opportune to present in this form a brief
review of Banneker's life so as to revive an interest in him and point
out some of this useful man's important achievements.
On a previous occasion the writer undertook to collect some data with
the same object in view, and at that time he addressed a letter to the
postmaster at Ellicott City, Maryland, asking to be put in touch with
some one of the Ellicott family, who might furnish reliable data on
the subject. In this way, correspondence was established with the
family of Mrs. Martha Ellicott Tyson, of Baltimore. One of her
descendants, Mrs. Tyson Manly, kindly came over from Baltimore, and,
calling on the writer at the United States Patent Office, presented
him with a copy of the life of Banneker, published in Philadelphia in
1884, and compiled from the papers of Martha Ellicott Tyson, who was
the daughter of George Ellicott, a member of the noted Maryland
family, who established the business that developed the town of
Ellicott City.
Between George Ellicott and Benjamin Banneker, Mrs. Tyson says, there
existed "a special sympathy,"[144] and she further refers to her
father as "the warmest friend of that extraordinary man."[145] Her
father had many of Banneker's manuscripts, from which he intended to
compile a biography of his friend, but his unusually busy commercial
life afforded him no leisure in which to carry out this much cherished
plan. Mrs. Tyson's account, therefore, can be relied upon as coming
directly from those who, personally knowing Banneker, and living in
the same community in frequent contact with him, had preserved
accurate data from which to publish the true record of his life.
On a farm located near the Patapsco Eiver, within about ten miles of
the city of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, on the 9th day of
November, 1731, Benjamin Banneker was born. Various accounts are given
of his ancestry. One of his biographers states that "there was not a
drop of white blood in his veins," another asserts with positiveness
that his parents and grandparents were all native Africans.[146] In
still another sketch of Banneker's life, read before the Maryland
Historical Society, on May 1, 1845, it is stated that "Banneker's
mother was the child of _natives_ of Africa so that to no admixture of
the blood of the white man was he indebted for his peculiar and
extraordinary abilities."[147] Thomas Jefferson said that Banneker was
the "son of a black man born in Africa and a black woman born in the
United States."[148]
According to Mrs. Tyson's account Banneker's mother and father were
Negroes, but his maternal grandmother was a white woman of English
birth, who had been legally married to a native African. The
antecedent circumstances of this marriage were so unusual as to
justify special mention. Mollie Welsh was an English woman of the
servant class, employed on a cattle farm in England where a part of
her daily duty was the milking of the cows. She was one day charged
with having stolen a pail of milk that had, in fact, been kicked over
by a cow. The charge seems to have been taken as proved, and in lieu
of a severer punishment she was sentenced to be shipped to America.
Being unable to pay for her passage she was sold, on her arrival in
America, to a tobacco planter on the Patapsco Eiver to serve a term of
seven years to pay the cost of her passage from England. At the end of
her period of service, this Mollie Welsh, who is described as "a
person of exceedingly fair complexion and moderate mental powers," was
able to buy a portion of the farm on which she had worked.[149] In
1692, she purchased two African slaves from a ship in the Chesapeake
Bay near Annapolis. One of these slaves named Bannaky, subsequently
Anglicized as Banneker, was the son of an African king, and was stolen
by slave dealers on the coast of Africa.[150] With these two slaves as
her assistants, Mollie Welsh industriously cultivated her farm for a
number of years with such gratifying success that she felt impelled
afterwards to release her two slaves from bondage. The slave Banneker
had gained such favor in the eyes of his owner that she married him
directly after releasing him from bondage, notwithstanding the fact
that his record for sustained industry had not equalled that of his
fellow slave, while serving their owner on her farm--a fact that was
perhaps due to Banneker's natural inclination to indulge his royal
prerogatives. This Banneker is described as "a man of much
intelligence and fine temper, with a very agreeable presence,
dignified manner and contemplative habits."[151]
There were born of this marriage four children of whom the eldest
daughter, Mary, married a native African who had been purchased from a
slave ship by another planter in her neighborhood. This slave was of a
devout nature, and early became a member of the Church of England,
receiving at his baptism the name of Robert. After baptism, Robert's
master set him free. It was, therefore, as a free man that he became
the husband of Mary Banneker, whose surname he adopted for his own.
Four children were born to Robert and Mary Banneker, one boy and three
girls, the eldest being Benjamin, the subject of this sketch.
Robert Banneker had evidently formed some of the habits of thrift
evinced by his mother-in-law, Mollie Welsh, for it is on record that
in 1737 within a few years after receiving his freedom he purchased a
farm of 120 acres from Richard Gist, paying for it 17,000[152] pounds
of tobacco, which in those days served as a legal medium of exchange.
This farm, located on the Patapsco Eiver, within about ten miles of
the town of Baltimore, thus became the Banneker homestead. Here it was
that young Benjamin spent his early years and grew to manhood,
assisting his father with the general work of the farm.
Banneker very early showed signs of precocity, which made him the
special favorite of his maternal grandmother who took delight in
teaching him to the extent of her own limited mental endowment. She
taught him to study the Bible, and had him read it to her at regular
intervals for the purpose of training him along religious lines of
thought. He attended a small school in his neighborhood where a few
white and colored children were taught by the same white schoolmaster.
Until the cotton gin and other mechanical appliances made Negroes too
valuable as tools of exploitation to be allowed anything so dangerous
as education, there were to be found here and there in the South
pioneer educators at the feet of whom even Negroes might sit and
learn.[153]
As a boy at school young Banneker is said to have spent very little,
if any, of his time in the games and frolics that constitute so large
a part of the school life of the average youth. He was unusually fond
of study, devoting by far the larger part of his time to reading, so
that it was said of him that "all his delight was to dive into his
books." His reading, however, did not take a wide range. His limited
resources did not permit him to purchase the many works he desired.
What Banneker lost through the lack of a variety of books, however, he
tried to make up for in being a close observer of everything around
him. He turned everything that he could into a channel of information
and drew upon all possible sources to keep himself posted on the
general activities of his community and beyond. In this way, "he
became gradually possessed of a fund of general knowledge which it was
difficult to find even among those who were far more favored by
opportunity than he was."[154]
Although Banneker had by this time begun to ingratiate himself into
the favor of the very best element in his community solely through his
demonstration of mental superiority, he did not permit his unusual
popularity and his love of study to render him any less helpful to his
father in the cultivation of the farm. He proved himself to be just as
industrious in farming as he was diligent in studying. When his father
died in 1759, leaving to Benjamin and his mother, as joint heirs, the
dwelling in which they lived, together with 72 acres of land,[155]
Benjamin was fully prepared to assume control of affairs on the
estate, and make it yield a comfortable living for him and his mother.
His father had divided the remaining 28 acres of the original farm
among the three daughters who also survived him. His farm was said to
be one of the best kept farms in his neighborhood. It was well
stocked, containing a select assortment of fruit trees, a fine lot of
cattle, and a specially successful apiary.
Young Banneker's diligent reading of the books at his command served
to develop his mental powers rapidly, giving him a retentive memory,
correct forms of speech and a keen power of analysis. This faculty
grew largely out of his special fondness for the study of mathematics,
by which he acquired unusual facility in solving difficult problems.
He early won the reputation of being the smartest mathematician not
only in his immediate neighborhood but for miles around. He was often
seen in the midst of a group of neighbors whom he constantly astounded
by the rapidity and accuracy with which he would solve the
mathematical puzzles put to him. This caused such widespread comment
that he frequently received from scholars in different parts of the
country, desiring to test his capacity, mathematical questions, to
all of which, it is said, he responded promptly and correctly.[156]
His close attention to the study of mathematics led him easily into
the quest of some practical form by which to give tangible expression
to his thought. It is highly probable that this fact can explain the
facility with which he planned and completed at the age of thirty a
clock which stands as one of the wonders of his day.[157] "It is
probable," says one, "that this was the first clock of which every
portion was made in America; it is certain that it was as purely his
own invention as if none had ever been before. He had seen a watch,
but never a clock, such an article not being within fifty miles of
him."[158] He completed this clock with no other tools than a pocket
knife, and using only wood as his material. It stood as a perfect
piece of machinery, and struck the hours with faultless precision for
a period of 20 years.
The successful completion of this clock attracted to Banneker the
attention of his entire community, serving as the starting point of a
more brilliant career. It was this display of mechanical genius which
engaged the attention of the Ellicotts, who had lately moved into his
neighborhood from Pennsylvania. They had already heard of the unusual
accomplishments of this gifted Negro and lost no time in getting in
touch with him, especially since one of the Ellicotts was himself a
mathematician and astronomer of marked ability.[159]
The meeting with the Ellicotts was of signal advantage to Banneker,
and ultimately proved the turning point in his career. They were of
Quaker origin and had gone down to Maryland in 1772 in search of a
desirable location for the establishment of flour mills. They were
evidently persons of foresight. Being progressive, open-minded and
comparatively free from the prejudices that were then mostly native to
the section into which they had moved, they cordially received
Banneker and frankly proclaimed his talents.[160] They did not seem to
permit the differences of race to erect a single barrier between
Banneker and themselves in the ordinary run of their frequent business
intercourse. When the Ellicotts were erecting their mills, the
foundation of Ellicott City, they purchased from Banneker's farm a
large portion of the provisions needed for the workmen. His mother,
Mary Banneker, attended to the marketing, bringing poultry,
vegetables, fruit and honey to the Ellicott workmen.[161]
Banneker's mechanical inclination led him to take unusual interest in
the building of the Ellicott Mills, and to make frequent visits there
to watch the operation of the machinery. In the course of time a store
was built near the mills, and it became the meeting place of nearly
all the wide-awake and worth while people in the community, who would
linger together to talk of the news of the day. This was the ordinary
means of news exchanging in those days when there were no dailies nor
bulletins nor hourly extras. Banneker was always a welcome participant
in these gatherings although he was a man of modest demeanor, never
injecting himself into the conversation in an unseemly manner. When,
however, he permitted himself to be drawn into discussions, he always
expressed his views with such clearness and intelligence that he won
the respect of his hearers.[162]
The friendship between George Ellicott and Banneker grew stronger as
the years went by, and their common interests in mathematics and
natural science led to a fellowship which often brought them together.
This interest led George Ellicott to lend Banneker a number of
mathematical books and instruments. Among these books were Mayer's
_Tables_, Ferguson's _Astronomy_ and Leadbetter's _Lunar Tables_. When
these books and instruments were handed to Banneker it was Ellicott's
intention to remain there a while to give Banneker some personal
instruction in the use of them, but he was prevented by lack of time
from carrying out this intention. On calling again on Banneker shortly
afterward, to offer him this instruction, Ellicott was surprised to
find that Banneker had already discovered for himself the key to the
use of both and was "already absorbed in the contemplation of the new
world which was thus opened to his view."[163] They had literally made
him fix his gaze on the stars, for the study of astronomy thus became
his one absorbing passion.
He had now nearly covered his three score years, and it was no little
tribute to his mental vigor that he should have determined at that age
to master so abstruse a science as astronomy. But by degrees he gave
himself up to its study with unusual zeal. His favorite method of
studying this science was to lie out on the ground at night, gazing up
at the heavens till the early hours of the morning. He then tried to
restore his tired mind and body by sleeping nearly all the next day.
This habit nearly caused him to fall into disrepute among his
neighbors, who, ignorant of his plans, accused him of becoming lazy in
his old days.
In 1789 he had advanced so far with his plan as to project a solar
eclipse, the calculation of which he submitted to his friend George
Ellicott. In the study of these books Banneker detected several errors
of calculation, and, writing to his friend Ellicott, he made mention
of two of them. On one occasion he wrote:
"It appears to me that the wisest men may at times be in error;
for instance, Dr. Ferguson informs us that, when the sun is
within 12° of either node at the time of full, the moon will be
eclipsed; but I find that, according to his method of projecting
a lunar eclipse, there will be none by the above elements, and
yet the sun is within 11° 46' 11" of the moon's ascending node.
But the moon, being in her apogee, prevents the appearance of
this eclipse."
And again he wrote Ellicott:
"Errors that ought to be corrected in my astronomical tables are
these: 2d vol. Leadbetter, p. 204, when anomaly is 4s 30° the
equation 3° 30' 4" ought to have been 3° 28' 41". In [Symbol:
Mars] equation, p. 155, the logarithm of his distance from
[Symbol: Sun] ought to have been 6 in the second place from the
index, instead of 7, that is, from the time that its anomaly is
3s 24° until it is 4s O°."
[Transcriber's Note: In above paragraph the actual astronomical
symbols for Mars and the Sun appear. Also, 4s appears as 4
superscript s, and 3s appears as 3 superscript s.]
Acting upon the suggestion of one of his educated friends, Banneker
now undertook to extend his calculations so as to make an Almanac,
then the most comprehensive medium of scientific information. Banneker
continued the work required to complete his almanac, and finished the
first one to cover the year 1792, when he was sixty-one years old.
This attracted to him a number of prominent men, among whom was Mr.
James McHenry, of Baltimore, a member of John Adams's cabinet. This
gentleman, through his high regard for Banneker's achievements, had
his almanac published by the firm of Goddard and Angell of Baltimore.
In his letter to this firm McHenry paid a fine tribute to the
character of the author, although some of his statements as to
Banneker's parentage do not harmonize with what appears to the writer
as more reliable information from another source. McHenry laid special
stress upon the fact that Banneker's work, in the preparation of his
almanac, "was begun and finished without the least information or
assistance from any person, or from any other books," than those he
had obtained from Mr. Ellicott, "so that whatever merit is attached to
his present performance is exclusively and peculiarly his own."[164]
That Mr. McHenry attached a wider significance to Banneker's
attainments than is implied in a merely personal achievement is shown
in his statement that he considered "this negro as a fresh proof that
the powers of the mind are disconnected with the color of the skin,
or, in other words, a striking contradiction to Mr. Hume's doctrine,
that the negroes are naturally inferior to the whites, and
unsusceptible of attainments in arts and sciences?" "In every
civilized country," said he, "we shall find thousands of whites,
liberally educated and who have enjoyed greater opportunities for
instruction than this negro, (who are) his inferiors in those
intellectual acquirements and capacities that form the most
characteristic features in the human race.[165] But the system that
would assign to these degraded blacks _an origin different from the
whites_, if it is not ready to be deserted by philosophers, must be
relinquished as similar instances multiply; and that such must
frequently happen, cannot be doubted, _should no check impede the
progress of_ _humanity_, which, ameliorating the conditions of
slavery, necessarily leads to its final extinction."[166]
Referring to their attitude, the publishers said in their editorial
notice that "they felt gratified in the opportunity of presenting to
the public, through their press, an accurate Ephemeris for the year
1792, calculated by a sable descendant of Africa." They flatter
themselves "that a philanthropic public, in this enlightened era, will
be induced to give their patronage and support to this work, not only
on account of its intrinsic merit (it having met the approbation of
several of the most distinguished astronomers of America, particularly
the celebrated Mr. Rittenhouse), but from similar motives to those
which induced the editors to give this calculation the preference, the
ardent desire of _drawing modest merit from obscurity_ and
controverting the long established illiberal prejudice against the
blacks."[167]
Banneker had himself not lost sight of the probable effect of his work
in reshaping to some extent the public estimate concerning the
intellectual capacity of his race. And this was the thought that
prompted him to send a manuscript copy of his first almanac to Thomas
Jefferson, then Secretary of State in Washington's cabinet. In his
letter to Jefferson, dated August 19, 1791, Banneker made, with
characteristic modesty, a polite apology for the "liberty" he took in
addressing one of such "distinguished and dignified station," and then
proceeded to make a strong appeal for the exercise of a more liberal
attitude towards his downtrodden race, using his own achievements as a
proof that the "train of absurd and false ideas and opinions which so
generally prevails with respect to the Negro should now be
eradicated."[168]
Thomas Jefferson took note of the moral courage and the loyalty to
race evident throughout the whole of Banneker's remarkable letter and
he honored it with the most courteous reply, under date of August 30,
1791. After thanking Banneker for the letter and the almanac
accompanying it, Jefferson expressed the pleasure it afforded him to
see such proofs "that nature has given to our black brethren talents
equal to those of the other colors of men, and that the appearance of
a want of them is owing only to the degraded condition of their
existence both in Africa and America." He also added that he desired
"ardently to see a good system commenced for raising the condition
both of their body and mind to what it ought to be." The copy sent to
Jefferson was formally transmitted to M. de Condorcet, secretary of
the Academy of Sciences at Paris, and member of the Philanthropic
Society because, as he said, he "considered it a document to which
your whole race had a right for its justification against the doubts
which have been entertained of them." This recognition of Banneker's
merit very naturally added greatly to his rapidly growing reputation
at home, and brought to him hundreds of letters of congratulation from
scholarly men throughout the civilized world.
The most distinguished honor that came to him from his own countrymen
was the invitation to serve with the commission appointed by President
Washington to define the boundary line and lay out the streets of the
Federal Territory, later called the District of Columbia. This
commission, was appointed by Washington, in 1789, and was composed of
David Stuart, Daniel Carroll, Thomas Johnson, Andrew Ellicott and
Major Pierre Charles L'Enfant, a famous French engineer. This
personnel was given in the article on Benjamin Banneker by John R.
Slattery in the _Catholic World_ in 1883,[169] but in the _Washington
Evening Star_ of October 15, 1916, reporting an address by Fred
Woodward, the commission was said to consist of "Major L'Enfant,
Andrew Ellicott, Count de Graff, Isaac Roberdeau, William King,
Nicholas King, and Benjamin Banneker, a free Negro."[170] It is on
record that it was at the suggestion of his friend, Major Andrew
Ellicott, who so thoroughly appreciated the value of his scientific
attainments, that Thomas Jefferson nominated Banneker and Washington
appointed him a member of the commission. In the Georgetown _Weekly
Ledger_, of March 12, 1791, reference is made to the arrival at that
port of Ellicott and L'Enfant, who were accompanied by "Benjamin
Banneker, an Ethiopian whose abilities as surveyor and astronomer
already prove that Mr. Jefferson's concluding that that race of men
were void of mental endowment was without foundation."[171]
Speaking afterwards of his work with this commission, Banneker
referred to the unfailing kindness and courtesy of the distinguished
company in which he found himself. One of his biographers says that
the deportment of the mathematician during this engagement was such as
to secure for him the respect and admiration of the commissioners. His
striking superiority over all other men of his race whom they had met
led them to disregard all prejudices of caste.[172] During the stay of
the commissioners at their official quarters, Banneker was invited, of
course, to eat at the same table with them just as he sat with them
during the conferences. This invitation, however, he declined, and
provision was then, at his request, made for serving his meals at a
separate table but in the same dining room and at the same hour as the
others were served.
The reasons for Banneker's refusal to accept this invitation, however,
are not so clear. Various of his biographers have attributed his
action on this occasion to what they seemed pleased to term his
"native modesty." Judging it at this distance from the time of its
occurrence, it is perhaps difficult to understand fully his motive.
But if we view it in the light of the consistent wisdom and
high-mindedness that seemed to guide his whole life we can hope that
his reasons for the self-imposed coventry on that occasion were
sufficient unto himself, and that they fully excluded every element of
servility.
Banneker's work with this commission was undertaken while he was still
engaged in astronomical investigation, and after his services in
Washington were concluded he returned to his home and resumed his work
on his almanacs, which regularly appeared until 1802. He was now
living alone in the home left him by his parents, and performed for
himself nearly all the domestic services required for his health and
comfort. Still obliged to rely mainly upon his farm for his
livelihood, he tried various expedients with different tenants to rid
himself of the necessity for giving so much of his time to the farm.
In these efforts he was wholly unsuccessful. He finally decided,
therefore, to enter into such an arrangement in the disposition of his
effects as would provide him an annuity, relieving himself of all
anxiety for his maintenance and at the same time affording him the
leisure he wanted for study. This he was enabled to do through a
contract with one of the Ellicotts, by the terms of which his friend
was to take the title to Banneker's property, making the latter an
annual allowance of 12 pounds for a given period of time calculated by
Banneker to be the span of years he could reasonably be expected to
live. Banneker was to continue to occupy and use the property during
his life, after which the possession was to go to Ellicott.[173]
Banneker lived, however, eight years longer than he thought he would,
but Ellicott faithfully lived up to this contract. This miscalculation
is said to have been the only mistake in mathematics Banneker ever
made. With his domestic affairs settled to his satisfaction, and
having now the desired leisure to continue his studies, he gave
himself up wholly to that object.
His active mind now found time also for occasional diversion to other
lines than mathematics. It was about this time that he made the
calculations showing that the locust plague was recurrent in cycles of
17 years each. He also wrote a dissertation on bees which has been
favorably compared with a similar contribution by Pliny on the same
subject written nearly 1800 years earlier. Banneker's nature seemed
tuned also to the softer notes in the song of life. He loved music,
and often, as a relaxation, he would sit beneath a huge chestnut tree
near his house and beguile the hours by playing on his flute or
violin.[174]
The disastrous war waged in 1793 so disturbed Banneker that he devoted
much time to the study of the best methods to promote peace. To this
end he suggested that the United States Government establish a
department in the President's cabinet to be in charge of a Secretary
of Peace. He then made a strong appeal to the authorities of his
government to take a broad stand based on humanity and justice and in
that spirit to formulate a comprehensive plan by which _A Lasting
Peace_[175] might be substituted for the wars that were then
disturbing the world.
During these years his home was frequently visited by people who
sought him because of his intellectual gifts, and who were in no wise
abashed by the fact of his racial connection. To them he was merely an
honored citizen in the field of achievement.[176] "During the whole of
his long life," says Benjamin Ellicott, "he lived respectably and much
esteemed by all who became acquainted with him, but more especially by
those who could fully appreciate his genius and the extent of his
acquirements. Although his mode of life was regular and extremely
retired,--living alone, having never married, cooking his own victuals
and washing his own clothes, and scarcely ever being absent from
home,--yet there was nothing misanthropic in his character; for a
gentleman who knew him thus speaks of him: 'I recollect him well. He
was a brave-looking pleasant man, with something very noble in his
appearance.' His mind was evidently much engrossed in his
calculations; but he was glad to receive the visits which we often
paid him."
Another writes: "When I was a boy I became very much interested in
him, as his manners were those of a perfect gentleman: kind, generous,
hospitable, humane, dignified, and pleasing, abounding in information
on all the various subjects and incidents of the day, very modest and
unassuming, and delighting in society at his own house. I have seen
him frequently. His head was covered with a thick suit of white hair,
which gave him a very dignified and venerable appearance. His dress
was uniformly of superfine broadcloth, made in the old style of a
plain coat, with straight collar and long waistcoat, and a
broad-brimmed hat. His color was not jet-black, but decidedly negro.
In size and personal appearance, the statue of Franklin at the Library
of Philadelphia, as seen from the street, is a perfect likeness of
him. Go to his house when you would, either by day or night, there was
constantly standing in the middle of the floor a large table covered
with books and papers. As he was an eminent mathematician, he was
constantly in correspondence with other mathematicians in this
country, with whom there was an interchange of questions of difficult
solution."[177]
Mrs. Tyson describes the courtliness of his manner when receiving
friendly visits from the ladies of his community, who delighted to
call on him in his neat cottage, to have the pleasure of his rare
conversation. On these occasions he would sometimes allude to his love
of the study of astronomy as quite unsuited to a man of his
class.[178]
In the earlier years of his life Banneker is said to have formed the
"social drink" habit, which we can imagine was all the easier for a
man of his agreeable manners, in an environment where hospitality was
general, and in a day when cordiality usually expressed itself in that
way. But to the credit of his strength of mind and will, it is also
said that he actually overcame that habit by the mere determination
that he would do it, and that on his return from his stay with the
commission at Washington he is said to have declared rather proudly
that he never partook once of the wines that were so freely offered
him.[179]
Banneker was not a professing Christian and not an adherent of any
church, but "he loved the doctrines and mode of worship of the Society
of Friends, and was frequently at their meetings." A contemporary
says: "We have seen Banneker in Elkridge meeting house, where he
always sat on the form nearest the door, his head uncovered. His ample
forehead, white hair and reverent deportment gave him a very venerable
appearance, as he leaned on the long staff (which he always carried
with him) in quiet contemplation."[180]
There was no blemish in the entire record of his singularly active and
useful life. His whole span of years appears to have been spent with a
conscience void of offense, and he approached the end with a
sereneness of mind well befitting the high ideals set before him.
Although his body never wandered far from the place of his birth, his
mind was permitted to soar through all space and to dwell in the
regions of the stars and the planets. We can never know how sorely his
finer spirit grieved over the tribulations that beset his blood
kinsmen in the days of their bondage in this land of their birth, but
we can well believe that in the loftiness of his soul he dreamed the
dream of their ultimate release.
As the shadows gathered about him towards the evening of his life he
abandoned those pursuits that had brought him merited distinction, and
had gained for him the admiration of a host of friends chiefly among
people that the world called superior. One beautiful Sabbath
afternoon, in the month of October, 1806,[181] while quietly resting
in the shade of a tree beside his cottage on the brow of a hill that
overlooked the Patapsco Valley he seemed to hear the voices that
beckoned him to the other world. And as if stirred by some sudden
impulse he rose and made an effort to walk once more along the paths
that had so often been his quiet retreat in the moments of his deep
reflections. He had not gone far, when his strength gave way, and he
sank helpless to the ground. He was assisted back to his home by a
friendly neighbor, but the noon of his day having fully merged into
the evening, the dark shadows of Eternal Night settled over him.
Directly after Banneker's death, in fact, on that very day, his
sisters, Minta Black and Mollie Morton, undertook to carry out his
wishes with respect to the disposition to be made of his personal
effects. Banneker had, a few years before, directed that "all the
articles which had been presented to him by George Ellicott,
consisting of his books and mathematical instruments, and the table on
which he made his calculations should be returned as soon as he should
die."[182] He also requested that "as an acknowledgment of a debt of
gratitude for Ellicott's long-continued kindness he should be given a
volume of the manuscripts containing all his almanacs, his
observations on various subjects, his letter to Thomas Jefferson, and
the reply of that statesman." All the rest that he possessed was left
to the two sisters. It was due to the faithful execution of his wishes
on the very day of his death that his valuable manuscripts were
preserved at all. They were all carried to George Ellicott, and this
circumstance was the first notice that Ellicott received of the
passing away of his friend. "Banneker's funeral took place two days
afterward, and while the ceremonies were in progress at his grave, his
home took fire and burned so rapidly that nothing could be
saved."[183]
Some time before his death Banneker gave to one of his sisters the
feather bed on which he usually slept, and this she preserved as her
only keepsake of him. Years after wards she had occasion to open the
bed and, feeling something hard among the feathers, she discovered
that it was a purse of money. This circumstance shows that Banneker
was not "in the evening of his life overshadowed by extreme
poverty."[184]
In an excellent paper read on April 18, 1916, before the Columbia
Historical Society of Washington, by Mr. P. Lee Phillips, of the
Library of Congress, _Banneker's Almanac_ was compared with Benjamin
Franklin's _Poor Richard's_ Almanac. Mr. Phillips also referred to his
efforts in behalf of peace and to the friendship that existed between
Banneker and such distinguished men of his time as Washington and
Jefferson. He closed his article on Banneker with the broad-minded
declaration that "Maryland should in some manner honor the memory of
this distinguished citizen, who, notwithstanding the race prejudice of
the time, rose to eminence in scientific attainments, the study of
which at that early date was almost unknown."[185] The recognition of
Douglass in Rochester and Boston, Pushkin in Petrograd and Moscow and
Dumas in Paris, affords splendid suggestions of what we hope to see of
Banneker in Baltimore. It is a sad reflection on the people of this
country that practically nothing has been done to honor this
distinguished man.
HENRY E. BAKER
ASSISTANT EXAMINER, UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.
FOOTNOTES:
[144] _The Leisure Hour_, 1853, II, p. 54.
[145] Tyson, _Banneker, The Afric-American Astronomer_, p. 10.
[146] _The Atlantic Monthly_, XI, p. 80
[147] In another particular this same sketch differs from several
others, namely, in locating young Banneker at "an obscure and distant
country school" with no mention of the oft-repeated assertion that the
school was one attended by both white and colored children. The author
of the last-mentioned sketch was evidently not sure of these two
statements, and therefore did not include them. In fact, he appears
not to have been quite sure of the propriety of submitting any sketch
at all of this "free man of color" to the distinguished body
constituting the Maryland Historical Society, for there was a clear
note of apology in his opening declaration that "A few words may be
necessary to explain why a memoir of a free man of color, formerly a
resident of Maryland, is deemed of sufficient interest to be presented
to the Historical Society." But he justified his effort on the grounds
that "no questions relating to our country (are) of more interest than
those connected with her colored population"; that that interest had
"acquired an absorbing character"; that the presence of the colored
population in States where slavery existed "modified their
institutions in important particulars," and effected "in a greater or
less degree the character of the dominant race"; and "for this reason
alone," he said, "the memoir of a colored man, who had distinguished
himself in an abstruse science, by birth a Marylander, claims
consideration from those who have associated to collect and preserve
facts and records relating to the men and deeds of the past."--J. H.
B. Latrobe in _Maryland Historical Society Publications_, I, p. 8.
[148] Ford edition of _Jefferson's Writings_, V, p. 379.
[149] In the memoir of Banneker, above mentioned, read before the
Maryland Historical Society in 1845, and in another memoir of
Banneker, read before the same Society by Mr. J. Saurin Norris, in
1854, the estate purchased by Mollie Welsh is referred to as "a small
farm near the present site of Baltimore," and "purchased at a merely
nominal price." See Norris's _Memoir_, p. 3.
[150] Norris _Memoir_, p. 4; Williams's _History of the Negro Race_,
p. 386.
[151] Tyson, _Banneker_, p. 10.
[152] It is elsewhere given as 7,000, but the earlier record seems to
be the correct one.
[153] _Atlantic Monthly_, XI, p. 81.
[154] Latrobe, _Memoir, Maryland Historical Society Publications_, I,
p. 7.
[155] _Ibid._, I, p. 7.
[156] Banneker would frequently, in answering questions submitted to
him, accompany the answers with questions of his own in rhyme. The
following is an example of such a question submitted by him to another
noted mathematician, his friend and neighbor, Mr. George Ellicott:
A cooper and Vintner sat down for a talk,
Both being so groggy, that neither could walk,
Says Cooper to Vintner, "I'm the first of my trade,
There's no kind of vessel, but what I have made,
And of any shape, Sir,--just what you will,--
And of any size, Sir,--from a ton to a gill!"
"Then," says the Vintner, "you're the man for me,--
Make me a vessel, if we can agree.
The top and the bottom diameter define,
To bear that proportion as fifteen to nine,
Thirty-five inches are just what I crave,
No more and no less, in the depth, will I have;
Just thirty-nine gallons this vessel must hold,--
Then I will reward you with silver or gold,--
Give me your promise, my honest old friend?"
"I'll make it tomorrow, that you may depend!"
So the next day the Cooper his work to discharge,
Soon made the new vessel, but made it too large;--
He took out some staves, which made it too small,
And then cursed the vessel, the Vintner and all.
He beat on his breast, "By the Powers!"--he swore,
He never would work at his trade any more.
Now my worthy friend, find out, if you can,
The vessel's dimensions and comfort the man!
BENJAMIN BANNEKER.
We are indebted to Benjamin Hallowell, of Alexandria, for the solution
of this problem. The greater diameter of Banneker's tub must be 24.745
inches; the less diameter 14.8476 inches. See _Maryland Historical
Society Publications_, I, p. 20.
[157] _The Atlantic Monthly_, XI, p. 81.
[158] _The Atlantic Monthly_, XI, p. 81.
[159] _Atlantic Monthly_, XI, p. 82.
[160] _Southern Literary Messenger_, XXIII, p. 65.
[161] Tyson's _Banneker_, p. 24.
[162] Tyson, _Banneker_, p. 26.
[163] J. H. B. Latrobe's _Memoir, Maryland Historical Society
Publications_, I, p. 8.
[164] _Atlantic Monthly_, XI, p. 82.
[165] Tyson, _Banneker_, p. 51.
[166] Mr. McHenry was not only one of the most prominent men of
Baltimore, but was several times honored with positions of trust. He
was Senator from Maryland in 1781; and as one of the Commissioners to
frame the Constitution of the United States, he signed that instrument
in 1787. He was also a member of the cabinet of President John Adams
as Secretary of War in 1797.--Tyson, _Banneker_, pp. 50, 51, 52.
[167] _Maryland Historical Society Publications_, I, 1844-48, I, p.
79.
[168] A copy of Banneker's letter to Thomas Jefferson and the
statesman's reply were published in the JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY, III,
p. 69.
[169] _Catholic World_, XXXVIII, December, 1883.
[170] _Washington Star_, October 15, 1916.
[171] _Georgetown Weekly Ledger_, March 12, 1791.
[172] Tyson, _Banneker_, p. 37.
[173] Tyson, _Banneker_, pp. 70-71.
[174] Tyson, _Banneker_, pp. 35-60.
[175] _Records of the Columbia Historical Society_, XX, pp. 117-119.
[176] _The Atlantic Monthly_, XI, p. 84.
[177] Tyson, _Banneker_, p. 31.
[178] _Ibid._, p. 31.
[179] _Catholic World_, XVIII, p. 354.
[180] Norris's _Memoir, Maryland Historical Society Publications_, II,
p. 75.
[181] _Federal Gazette and Baltimore Daily Advertiser_, October 28,
1806.
[182] Norris's _Memoir, Maryland Historical Society Publications_, II,
p. 64.
[183] _Ibid._, II, p. 73.
[184] Tyson, _Banneker_, p. 72.
[185] _Records of the Columbia Historical Society_, XX, pp. 119-120.
GEORGE LIELE AND ANDREW BRYAN, PIONEER NEGRO BAPTIST PREACHERS
Without any consideration of the merits or demerits of what is called
the exceptional man theory, perhaps no two men stand out more
prominently in the early history of the Negro church than George Liele
and Andrew Bryan. In the days of darkest forebodings and of the
greatest human sufferings these two pioneers of religion went forth to
disseminate ideas and mold sentiments which were to shape the inner
springs of conduct of their fellow-slaves. Sketches of these heroes
must claim the attention of seekers for the truth as to this important
phase of our history.
A letter dated September 15, 1790, from the late Reverend Mr. Joseph
Cook of Euhaw, upper Indian Land, South Carolina, says: "A poor Negro,
commonly called, among his friends, Brother George,[186] has been so
highly favored of God, as to plant the first Baptist Church in
Savannah, and another in Jamaica." This man was George Liele. He was
born in Virginia about 1751. He knew very little of his mother, Nancy,
but was informed by white and black that his father was a very devout
man. The family moved much during the youth of George, but finally
settled in Georgia.
As a youth George Liele had a natural fear of God, holding constantly
in mind His condemnation of sin. Liele was converted through the
preaching of the Reverend Matthew Moore,[188] who later baptized him.
Desiring then to prove the sense of his obligations to God, Liele
began to instruct his own people. Crude but firm in purpose, he soon
showed ministerial gifts and after a trial sermon before a quarterly
meeting of white ministers was licensed as a local preacher. He
practiced preaching on different plantations, and in the church to
which he belonged, on evenings when there was no regular service.
After a short period he began his regular ministerial work, serving
about three years at Brunton Land, and at Yamacraw, where developed a
number of useful communicants.[189]
Among these early members of the Yamacraw church were Reverend David
George, who later labored, with permission from the Governor, in the
ministry at Nova Scotia, with sixty communicants, white and black;
Reverend Amos, who preached with good results at New Providence, one
of the Bahama Islands, to about three hundred members; and Reverend
Jesse Gaulsing, who preached near Augusta, in South Carolina to sixty
members. Preaching later from Chapter III Saint John, and the clause
of verse 7, "Ye must be born again," George Liele moved to repentance
a more useful man, Andrew Bryan, and a noted woman named Hagar.[190]
After Liele organized this influential church at Yamacraw, then a
suburb of Savannah, Mr. Henry Sharp, his master, encouraged this
pioneer by giving him his freedom.
Mr. Sharp was an officer in the war and died from wounds received in
the King's service.[191] Soon after the death of Mr. Sharp there arose
those who were dissatisfied with George's liberation. He was taken and
thrown into prison, but by producing his manumission papers was
released. To extricate himself from this unpleasant situation Liele
became obligated to a Colonel Kirkland. At the evacuation of Savannah
by the British he was partly obliged to come to Jamaica, as an
indentured servant for money he owed Colonel Kirkland, who promised to
be his friend in that country. Upon landing at Kingston he was upon
the recommendation of the Colonel to General Campbell, the Governor
of Jamaica, employed by him two years, and, on leaving the island, the
governor gave Liele a certificate of his good behavior. As soon as
Liele had paid his debt to Colonel Kirkland, he obtained for himself
and family a certificate of freedom from the vestry and governor,
according to the law of this Island.[192] Thus by force of
circumstances George Liele was compelled to leave those among whom he
had labored so effectively and thrown into another field where he had
opportunity for further service.
Liele's work in Jamaica began in September, 1784. He started in
Kingston by preaching in a private house to a small congregation.
Next, he organized a church with four other men who had come from
America. His message had a telling effect especially on the slaves.
The effectiveness of his work is also seen from the fact that
persecutions at baptisms and meetings which were, at first, frequent,
later became a less serious hindrance. Upon frequent petitions,
however, the Jamaica Assembly finally granted free worship of God to
all those desiring it. So successfully did Liele work that in a short
while he had in the country together with well wishers and followers
about fifteen hundred communicants, to whom he preached twice on each
Sunday, in the morning and afternoon, and twice in the week.[193]
The work of the church was extended by a few deacons and elders, and
by teachers of small congregations in the town and country. Thomas
Nichols Swigle became Liele's chief assistant. His particular work was
to regulate church matters, serve as deacon, and also to teach a free
school opened for the instruction of free and slave children. The work
continued to spread through Swigle, who became a minister after the
order of Liele. He said: "About two months ago, I paid my first visit
to a part of our church held at Clinton Mount, Coffee Plantation, in
the Parish of Saint Andrew, about sixteen miles distance from
Kingston, in the High mountains, where we have a chapel and 254
brethren." About his work in general he said: "I preach, baptize,
marry, attend funerals, and go through every work of the ministry
without fee or reward."[194]
It was soon evident that there must be some definite place of worship.
To this end a piece of land about three acres at the east end of
Kingston was purchased for the sum of about 155 pounds and on it a
church building fifty-seven by thirty-seven feet was begun. Because
the congregation was poor and gifts were small, Liele had a struggle
to complete his building. He interested in his cause several gentlemen
of influence, among whom was a Mr. Stephen Cooke, a member of the
Assembly, who in turn asked help of friends in England. By January 12,
1793, he was able to say that not only was the Kingston church
completed but that in Spanish Town also he had purchased land for a
cemetery with a house on it which served as a church building. The
Kingston church, the first of its kind in Jamaica, under the
leadership of Liele had twelve trustees, all of whom were members of
the congregation, whose names were specified in the title recorded in
the office of the secretary of the island.[195]
While establishing the churches at Savannah and at Jamaica, Liele
received nothing for his services. He was on a mission and without
charge preached, baptized, administered the Lord's Supper, and
travelled from one place to another to settle church affairs. He did
this so as not to be misunderstood and not to hinder the progress of
the church of Christ. Mr. Stephen Cooke, in giving his opinion of
Liele, said that he was "a very industrious man, decent and humble in
his manners, and, I think, a good man." His family life was pleasant.
He had a wife and four children, three boys and a girl. Liele followed
farming for a regular occupation, but because of the uncertain seasons
in Jamaica, kept horses and wagons for employment in local
transportation for the government by contract. He was business-like
and kept the good will of the public. Although busy, Liele found time
to read some of the good books which he had in his meager collection
and also to write letters explaining the growth of his work in Jamaica
and inquiring after the progress of the church at Savannah, then
pastored by Andrew Bryan.[196]
In building up the membership of his churches Liele showed great tact.
Unlike the Methodists who were rapidly coming forward at this time, he
would not receive any slaves who had not permission of their owners.
This not only increased the membership of the church but it made
friends for their cause among the masters and overseers. So careful
was Liele to get the confidence of the masters and overseers that he
ordered a bell for his church just a mile and a half out of Spanish
Town in Jamaica, not particularly to give warning to the slaves about
the time of meeting, but to the owners of slaves that they might know
the time when their slaves should return to the plantations. The
church covenant, a collection of certain passages of Scripture, which
was used once a month, was shown to members of the legislature, the
magistrates and justices to secure their approval that they might give
their slaves permission to become members of the congregation.[197]
The effect of the work of Liele is well narrated in a statement of an
overseer who sat at breakfast with Swigle at Clinton Mount, sixteen
miles from Kingston. He said that he did not need an assistant nor did
he make use of the whip, for whether he was at home or away,
everything was conducted as it should have been. The slaves were
industrious, with a plenty of provision in their ground and a plenty
of live stock in their barns; and they, one and all, lived together in
unity, brotherly love and peace. With a mission to serve, this man
then made his way into the hearts of his fellows.
Andrew Bryan, the other pioneer, was born in 1737 at Goose Creek,
South Carolina, about sixteen miles from Charleston. His mother was a
slave and died in the service of her master. His father, also a
slave, became infirm with years, dying at the age of one hundred and
five. Andrew became converted under the preaching of George Liele when
the latter served the church in Savannah. Bryan married a woman named
Hannah about nine years after his conversion. His wife remained a
slave in the service of Jonathan Bryan for a long time after her
marriage, but was finally purchased by her husband.[198]
Andrew Bryan began to preach to congregations of black and a few white
people at Savannah just eight or nine months after Liele's departure
for Jamaica. Edward Davis encouraged Bryan and his followers to erect
a building on his land in Yamacraw for a place of worship, of which
they were later artfully dispossessed. In the beginning of their
worship, frequent interruptions came from the whites. It was at a time
when many Negro slaves had absconded, and some had been taken away by
the British. This was an excuse for the wickedness of the whites, who
then became more cruel in whipping and imprisoning the worshipers,
undertaking to justify their action before the magistrates. When
George Liele was preaching in and near Savannah, he did not suffer
from such molestation, because the British then ruled the country, but
Andrew Bryan began his work under different conditions about the time
when Georgia became independent.
For refusing to discontinue his work Andrew Bryan was twice
imprisoned. Sampson, his brother, who was converted about one year
after Andrew was, remained with him, however, in all of his hard
trials. On one occasion about fifty slaves were severely whipped.
Among these was Andrew, who was cut and bled abundantly. While he was
yet under their lashes, Hambleton says he rejoiced, not only to be
scourged but would freely suffer death for the cause of Jesus Christ.
Jonathan Bryan, their kind master, was much affected and grieved over
their punishment and interceded for them. George Walton said "that
such treatment would be condemned even among barbarians."
They were brought before chief justices Henry Osborne, James Habersham
and David Montague, who released them. Chief Justice Osborne then gave
them liberty to continue their worship "between sunrising and sun
set."[200] Their master told the magistrate that he would give them
the liberty of his own house or barn, at a place called Brampton,
about three miles from town, and that they should not be interrupted
in their worship. They accepted the offer of Jonathan Bryan and
worshipped with little or no interruption at Brampton for about two
years. Many slaves thereafter attended the services held in the barn
at Brampton.
White preachers often visited his congregation. Lorenzo Dow, perhaps
the foremost white itinerant preacher of his time, on one occasion
preached to Bryan's congregation, while he was imprisoned, feeling
that in their hour of trial these Negroes especially needed his
encouragement. The whites to whom Dow preached offered him money, but
he did not take it as he did not wish the wrong construction put upon
his efforts nor to be deemed an impostor. As he was once leaving
Savannah, however, after he had been entertained largely by Negroes,
Andrew Bryan met him and, on shaking hands, gave him eleven and a half
dollars which the Negroes presented him as a donation. By these visits
of Dow and other preachers, Bryan and his followers were greatly
helped.[201] Among others who visited Bryan's church were Abraham
Marshall and Thomas Burton who examined and baptized about sixty in
this connection.
Reverend Mr. Marshall gave this congregation over his signature two
important certificates which follow:
This is to certify that upon examination into the experiences and
characters of a number of Ethiopians, and adjacent to Savannah,
it appears that God has brought them out of darkness into the
light of the Gospel, and given them fellowship one with the
other; believing it is the will of Christ, we have constituted
them a church of Jesus Christ.
On January 19, 1788, he sent Bryan the following:
This is to certify, that the Ethiopian church of Jesus Christ at
Savannah, have-called their beloved Andrew to the work of the
ministry. We have examined into his qualifications, and believing
it to be the will of the great head of the church, we have
appointed him to preach the Gospel, and to administer the
ordinances, as God in his providence may call.[202]
Out of the midst then of great persecutions Andrew Bryan became the
official head of an established church.
The death of Jonathan Bryan, the master of Andrew Bryan, marked an
epoch in the useful career of this pioneer preacher. By consent of the
parties concerned, he purchased his freedom for the sum of fifty
pounds. He then bought a lot in Yamacraw and built on it a residence
near the rough building Sampson Bryan had built some time before. When
the Bryan estate was finally divided, the lot on which Sampson had
been permitted to build became the property of an attorney, who
married a daughter of the deceased Mr. Bryan and received 12 pounds a
year for it. In these readjustments there were no serious
interruptions to the worship of Andrew Bryan's congregation. The seven
hundred members worshiped not only without molestation, but in the
presence, and with the approbation and encouragement of many of the
white people.[203]
With this large membership Bryan needed but did not have a regular
assistant. In his absence his brother Sampson preached for him.
Bryan's plan was to divide his church when the membership became too
large for him to serve it efficiently. This finally had to be done.
This branch of the church was organized as the Second African Baptist
Church of Savannah with Henry Francis, a slave of Colonel Leroy
Hammond, as pastor. Francis showed such remarkable ability that some
white men, who considered him unusual, purchased his freedom that he
might devote all of his time to his chosen work. Not many years
thereafter Bryan's church again reached the stage of having an
unwieldy number and it was further divided by organizing in another
part of the city the Third African Baptist Church.
Bryan exercised the greatest of care in his public and private
obligations and manifested much interest in his family. In 1800 he
wrote Dr. Rippon: "With much pleasure, I inform you, dear Sir, that I
enjoy good health, and am strong in body, at the age of sixty-three
years, and am blessed with a pious wife, whose freedom I have
obtained, and an only daughter and child who is married to a free man,
tho' she, and consequently under our laws, her seven children, five
sons and two daughters, are slaves. By a kind Providence I am well
provided for, as to worldly comforts, (tho' I have had very little
given me as a minister) having a house and lot in this city, besides
the land on which several buildings stand, for which I receive a small
rent, and a fifty-six acre tract of land, with all necessary
buildings, four miles in the country, and eight slaves; for whose
education and happiness, I am enabled thro' mercy to provide."[204]
His church became in the course of time the beacon light in the Negro
religious life of Georgia. From this center went other workers into
the inviting fields of that State, until the Negro preacher became
circumscribed during the thirties and forties by laws intended to
prevent such disturbances as were caused by Nat Turner in starting an
insurrection in Virginia. Andrew Bryan, however, did not live to see
this. He passed away in 1812, respected by all who knew him and loved
by his numerous followers.[205] He was succeeded by his nephew, Andrew
Marshall, who served that church so long that former slaves still
living have a recollection of his work among these people. In keeping
with its loyalty to its ministers, this congregation boasts even today
that in its long history it has had only a few ministers to serve it.
JOHN W. DAVIS.
FOOTNOTES:
[186] He was sometimes called George Sharp.--See Benedict, _History of
the Baptists_, etc., p. 189.
[187] The facts of this article for the most part are taken from
letters written about the work of Liele and Bryan and from
correspondence concerning them published in London in the _Baptist
Annual Register_.
[188] Mr. Moore was an ordained Baptist minister, of Brooke County,
Georgia.
[189] THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY, I, p. 71.
[190] Under the influence of his preaching Liele's wife was converted
and baptized at Brunton Land.
[191] _Ibid._, p. 336.
[192] _The Baptist Annual Register_, 1790-93, p. 334.
[193] _The Journal of Negro History_, I, pp. 71-72.
[194] _The Journal of Negro History_, I, p. 72.
[195] _The Baptist Annual Register_, 1790-1793, p. 335.
[196] Benedict, _History of the Baptists_, p. 189.
[197] _The Baptist Annual Register_, 1798-1801, p. 368.
[198] _The Baptist Annual Register_, 1798-1801, p. 366.
[199] Dow, _History of the Cosmopolite_, p. 124.
[200] _The Baptist Annual Register_, 1790-1793, p. 339.
[201] Dow, _Experience and Travels_, p. 125.
[202] _The Baptist Annual Register_, 1790-1793, p. 340.
[203] _Ibid._, 1798-1800, p. 367.
[204] _The Baptist Annual Register_, 1798-1801, p. 368. _Ibid._,
1790-1793, p. 339.
[205] Benedict, _History of the Baptists_, pp. 790-791.
FIFTY YEARS OF HOWARD UNIVERSITY
PART I[206]
Howard University, in common with nearly all the larger private
institutions of learning in the southern and border States devoted to
the education of the Negro, was founded shortly after the Civil
War.[207] These institutions with a few exceptions were originally
supported by northern philanthropy, and their courses of study were
determined by the zealous missionaries from the North, who
successfully attempted to transplant among the freedmen the pedagogic
traditions of New England. That such a procedure, so vigorously
condemned on many sides when initiated but so gloriously justified in
its results, could have been possible may well prove a cause of wonder
to the student of education a century hence. And indeed, under
ordinary circumstances, the establishment of classical colleges and
schools of law, medicine and theology for a primitive people, unable
to read or write, would seem the height of folly. But the
circumstances were not ordinary. The situation was critical and
unusual remedies were required.
The close of the War of the Rebellion in 1865 witnessed something new
in the field of educational problems. A group numbering nearly four
millions was presented to the American nation for training in the
essentials of manhood and the duties of citizenship. The
apprenticeship which this group had served had been spent under a
system that did little more than acquaint them with the cruder tools
of industry and an imperfect use of a modern language. And while it
is true that many individual slaves acquired considerable skill in
industrial pursuits and a few became artisans of a rather high order,
the great mass of Negroes were laborers of the lowest class, requiring
the exercise of an intelligence but little above that of the beasts of
burden. On the side of the mastery of letters the best that can be
said by even the most generous students of this subject is that, at
the beginning of the year 1861, about ten per cent. of the adult
Negroes in the United States could read and write.[208]
From the standpoint of the white South the liberation of the slaves
had let loose upon the land what they considered a horde of
half-savage blacks, descendants of jungle tribes, inferior in every
respect to the white man and incapable of assimilating the knowledge
of the dominant race or of becoming citizens except in name only. In
addition to this attitude there remained in the South the traditional
idea that education was the peculiar privilege of the favored few of
the white race, and, except in its lowest reaches, a non-essential in
the life of the masses. At the close of the Civil War free public
schools were unknown in that section.[209] When it came to the
question of educating the Negro, all of the teachings and practice of
the South stamped it as a dangerous risk. To offer him the higher
courses of college and university grade was indeed an absurdity.
The North, on the other hand, looked upon the slave as a sufferer
released from an earthly torment and, because of his long period of
involuntary servitude, deserving of recompense of every kind that the
nation could bestow. As to his mental capacity, the North believed
that in order to rise from his degraded state and to take his place
among the races of civilized men the freedman awaited only the same
means of education that the Anglo-Saxon for centuries had enjoyed.
Whatever may be the judgment of history concerning these two
conflicting views, it is clear that the South had neither the
inclination nor the means to enter upon the task of educating the
Negro whereas the North was abundantly supplied with both.
Here, at any rate, was a situation offering the greatest opportunity
for the exercise of philanthropic zeal, both in the way of financial
aid and personal service. And to this call the North responded,
pouring out treasure, labor and love in a way that stamps the whole
movement of educating the Negro in America during the first half
century of his freedom as one of the most heroic examples of true
missionary zeal of all times. Those who took an active part in the
movement, including founders and teachers, seemed imbued with no other
idea than that of giving the best and in the largest measure. They
went to their tasks and took with them their ideals of human equality
and brotherhood. Every effort was bent toward raising the unfortunate
race to the level of their own standards of intellect, of society and
of morals. They, therefore, applied to the solution of the problem the
only educational machinery that they knew. Experiments in education
would not supply the immediate need. No man was to be limited in his
opportunities for intellectual development. Only his own desire and
capacities were to determine his limitations. Besides, such
opportunity was necessary for the training of leaders and must not be
denied. Howard University was a child of this movement and the
greatest embodiment of this idea.
The situation out of which this institution evolved requires some
comment. The abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia and
later throughout the South resulted in a large influx of freedmen into
the National Capital until they formed one third of its population,
thus constituting the largest urban group of Negroes in the world. The
educational problem presented by this group was quickly realized by
various freedmen's aid organizations and philanthropic individuals
with the result that day and night schools were immediately
established for persons of all ages, providing instruction in the
elementary studies.[210] In the opinion of many the situation had
been fully met by the establishment of these elementary schools. The
task had been difficult and attended with much opposition and even
open violence. The problem of the future was the maintenance and
extension of such schools at their present grade. Others, on the other
hand, considering the task only half done, believed that their duty
would be fully discharged only when an institution of higher learning
had been established at the capital of the nation, where Negro youth
could be trained for positions of leadership.
"Such an Institution," said one of the founders of Howard University,
"was demanded by the necessities of the great educational movement
which was inaugurated among the freed people at the close of the late
war. When primary, secondary and grammar schools were being opened
throughout the South, for the benefit of a class hitherto wholly
deprived of educational advantages, it became evident that
institutions of a higher grade were needed for the training of the
teachers and ministers who were to labor in this field. It was with a
view of supplying this need that Howard University was founded."[211]
On November 17, 1866, at the Columbia Law Building opposite Judiciary
Square in Washington, was uttered the first word from which the idea
of Howard University evolved. Using this building as a temporary house
of worship, members of the First Congregational Church[212] were on
that date holding a meeting on missions with Dr. C. B. Boynton, the
pastor of the church. After remarks by several persons concerning
various phases of the duty of the country towards the freedmen,
Reverend Benjamin F. Morris, a son of former Senator Thomas A. Morris,
of Ohio, arose to speak. He referred to his surprise and gratification
at the remarkable showing made in theological studies, by half a dozen
young colored men in an examination which he had recently witnessed.
These were students in what was then known as Wayland Institute, which
had at that time only one teacher. In this enthusiasm he expressed the
wish that the Congregational Church might some day establish a
theological school at the capital of the nation.[213]
The seed thus sown found such fruitful soil in the minds of the pastor
and Reverend Danforth B. Nichols that they, with Mr. Morris, resolved
to see the plan carried out at a subsequent meeting to be held at the
residence of Mr. Henry H. Brewster for the purpose of establishing a
New Missionary Society. At this meeting there prevailed the idea that
such a society was not needed for the reason that the American
Missionary Association was already occupying this field. Mr. Morris
thereupon took the floor and advocated the establishment of a
theological school for the preparation of colored men for the ministry
to work in the South and to go as missionaries to Africa. Dr. Boynton
supported the plan and urged immediate action; Dr. Nichols, in
answering objections raised concerning the financing of the project,
suggested the possibility of aid from the Freedmen's Bureau, an idea
which marked the beginning of the relationship of the University with
the Federal Government.
At the next meeting, a committee appointed to bring in a plan of
organization, recommended that a night school be opened at first; that
application be made to the Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau for
quarters, fuel and light for the school; and that three chairs of
instruction be established. These recommendations were adopted and the
first faculty appointed comprised the following: Evidences and
Biblical Interpretation, Reverend E. W. Robinson; Biblical History
and Geography, Reverend D. B. Nichols; Anatomy and Physiology, Dr.
Silas Loomis. Thus was the University born with neither a local
habitation nor a name. It was styled a Theological Institute and its
aim was "the education of the colored youth for the ministry."[214]
The development of plans for this new educational center was rapid.
Senator Pomeroy, of Kansas, who had become greatly interested in the
movement, suggested at first an extension of the original idea so as
to include the training of teachers. Later he made a motion that the
doors be thrown open to all who wished to enter. This proposition was
heartily agreed to, and Howard was given the distinction of being the
first University in America to be established without some restriction
based on race, sex, creed or color.[215] At a later meeting held to
consider the charter, it was decided to embrace in that instrument
university privileges and to provide for the departments of theology,
law and medicine.
When the question of a name was reached several were suggested and
rejected. Finally Dr. Nichols proposed that the University bear the
name of "The American Philanthropist, the Commissioner of the
Freedmen's Bureau, the true friend of the downtrodden and oppressed of
every color and nation of the Earth," General Oliver Otis Howard.[216]
This was enthusiastically adopted with but one dissenting vote, that
of General Howard himself, who felt that his usefulness to the new
institution would be greater under another name than his.
The act of incorporation was drawn by Senator Pomeroy, of Kansas, and
presented to the Senate by Henry Wilson, of Massachusetts, afterwards
Vice-President of the United States under Grant. Senator Pomeroy was
one of the incorporators and a member of the first board of trustees.
Senator Wilson had attended several of the organization meetings and
was an enthusiastic supporter of the plan. The bill passed both houses
of Congress and became a law when President Andrew Johnson affixed his
signature, March 2, 1867. The first meeting of the corporation was
held at the residence of Mr. Brewster for the purpose of organizing
the board of trustees. This board was made to include the seventeen
incorporators with the addition of General G. W. Balloch who was
elected treasurer.
The preliminaries disposed of, the University began its work by
opening classes in the Normal and Preparatory Departments united on
the first of the following May. The first student body consisting of
five pupils were altogether young white women, the daughters of
trustees Robinson and Nichols.[217] The recitations were held in a
rented frame building, previously used as a German dance hall and
saloon, which stood on the east side of what is now Georgia Avenue, a
short distance south of W Street.[218] The building and lot were later
purchased by the University but finally sold when the classes were
removed to their permanent home.
The selection of the permanent site for the University is due largely
to the fortunate combination of judgment, persistence and faith
characteristic of General Howard. He, with General E. Whittlesey,
acting as a committee on the selection of a site, wished to procure
the commanding elevation in the northern part of the city where the
University now stands. This was part of the tract of 150 acres known
as _Effingham_ and owned by John A. Smith. On the plea that the
location of a Negro school would depreciate the remainder of his
property, the owner refused to sell any part of it. After much
argument, General Howard asked him to state his price for the whole
farm. The rate given was one thousand dollars an acre, making a total
valuation of $150,000, a staggering sum under the circumstances.
Undaunted, however, General Howard closed the bargain, although the
treasury of the University was without a single dollar. Adjustments
brought the final purchase price for the property down to $147,500,
for which the corporation made itself responsible.[219]
With the exception of about thirty acres, the land was divided into
lots and sold at a price averaging about four times its original
cost.[220] The part reserved consisted of the main campus now
occupied by the academic building, dormitories and residences; the
site of the Medical School and the old Freedmen's Hospital; and a park
between the two covering four city blocks.[221]
The main part of the purchase price for the property was supplied by
the Freedmen's Bureau. The funds from the sale of the property not
needed for University purposes were placed in the treasury to be used
for the construction of buildings.[222] The corporation received
additional grants from the Freedmen's Bureau, bringing the sum
obtained from this source to about $500,000.[223] With these funds
several residences for professors and four large buildings were
erected; namely University Hall, Miner Hall, Clark Hall and the
Medical Building. Clark Hall, the boys' dormitory, was named in honor
of David Clark, of Hartford, Connecticut, who contributed $25,000
toward the support of the University. Miner Hall, the dormitory for
girls, was named in honor of Miss Myrtilla Miner, one of the pioneers
in the education of colored girls in the District of Columbia.[224]
The early financial management of the University soon brought it into
difficulties. The hopeful spirit of the times and the enthusiasm and
faith of those in charge of the enterprise were responsible for the
too rapid expansion of the first few years of the existence of the
institution which resulted in a constantly growing deficit. A
financial statement for the first eight years up to June 30, 1875,
leaving out of account the value of lands and buildings given by the
Government and of borrowed funds, shows receipts of $645,067.30 and
expenditures of $744,914.56, leaving a deficit of nearly $100,000. At
the annual meeting of the trustees, May 31, 1873, it was decided that
a retrenchment of one half the current expenses would be necessary in
order to avert disaster. To effect this the management had to make
radical readjustment in the faculties and in the salary schedule. To
this end every salaried officer in the University resigned upon the
request of the trustees.
In reestablishing the faculties the basis was one of rigid economy and
the only way by which the situation could be saved; for the
nation-wide financial crisis of 1873 and the lean years that followed
precluded the possibility of any increase in the income. The success
of this measure[225] is indicated by the fact that the immediate
expenses of the University were reduced from $57,160.40 in 1872 to
$9,446.19 in 1877. "This heroic treatment," says former President
Patton, "far too long delayed, saved the institution, but it cost it
much in professors, in students and in prestige." The vessel escaped
shipwreck with loss of many of the crew and passengers and a lot of
her cargo. The professional departments were cut off from any support
from the general funds, and remanded to receipts from tuition fees and
special donations. College professorships were reduced from $2,500 to
$1,200 and a residence worth $300; and the salaries of other officers
were similarly reduced. Incidentals were brought down to the lowest
living figure, and finally, with half the main building and a large
part of the dormitories closed, the point was reached at which the
income covered expenses.[226]
DWIGHT O. W. HOLMES.
FOOTNOTES:
[206] The most easily available information concerning the history of
Howard University is contained in a number of short sketches,
speeches, reports, announcements, and the like, in pamphlet form, and
a well-prepared volume of three hundred pages by Dr. Daniel S. Lamb
giving the history of the Medical Department up to 1900. These with
the files and annual catalogs have been freely used in the preparation
of this sketch.
[207] William M. Patton, _The History of Howard University_, 1896.
[208] Woodson, _The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861_, p. 228.
[209] Albert Bushnell Hart, _The Southern South_, pp. 289-291.
[210] Probably the most famous of these early schools was the normal
school for girls opened by Miss Myrtilla Miner, December 3, 1851, and
chartered under the name "Institution for the Education of Colored
Youth," under the Miner Board. In 1879 it was taken over by the public
school system of the District as the Myrtilla Miner Normal School.
From 1871 to 1876 it worked cooperatively with the Normal Department
of Howard University.
[211] _Annual Report of the President of Howard University, September
2, 1869._
[212] The relationship between the First Congregational Church and
Howard University has been very close from the first. Three of its
pastors have become presidents of the University, Doctors Rankin,
Boynton and Newman. The church building at the corner of Tenth and G
Streets has always been available for use for University exercises
when needed. For many years the commencement exercises of various
departments were held regularly in that auditorium.
[213] Danforth B. Nichols, _The Genesis of Howard University_, 1892,
p. 4.
[214] Nichols, _The Genesis of Howard University_, 1892, pp. 5, 6.
[215] Dean Robert Reyburn, _Address at the Inauguration of President
John Gordon_, 1904, p. 9.
[216] "Oliver Otis Howard, the founder of the University, and the one
whose name it bears, and who was president from April 5, 1869, to
December 1, 1873, was born in Leeds, Maine, November 8, 1830. He was
graduated at Bowdoin, 1850, and at West Point in 1854. He was
instructor in mathematics at West Point in 1854 and resigned in 1861
to take command of the Third Maine Regiment in the War of the
Rebellion, in which he served with distinction. For gallantry at the
first battle of Bull Run he was made Brigadier-General, September 3.
He lost his arm at Fair Oaks, June 1, 1862, and was in the battle of
Antietam. In November, 1863, he was made General of Volunteers. He
commanded the Eleventh Corps under General Hooker, served at
Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge,
and was assigned to the Army of the Tennessee. In the march to the sea
he commanded the right wing of Sherman's army, and was brevetted
Major-General in the regular army for gallant conduct in the campaign
of Atlanta. He was Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau from March,
1865, to July, 1864, when he was assigned to the command of the
Department of the Columbia. In 1877 he led the expedition against the
Nez Perces Indians and in 1878 against the Bannocks and Piutes. In
1881-1882 he was Superintendent of the United States Military Academy
at West Point. In 1886 he was commissioned Major-General in the
regular army.
"In 1863 he was made A.M. by Bowdoin College, and LL.D. in 1865 by
Watervelt College. The same degree was given him by Shurtliff College
and Gettysburg University. He was made Chevalier of the Legion of
Honor of France in 1884. He published war articles in the _Century_
and some stories that are partly autobiographical; also _Chief Joseph_
and the _Life of Count Gasparin_. In 1892 he was commander of the
Department of the Atlantic, and the second in command of the United
States Army. Major-General Howard died at Burlington, Vermont, October
26, 1909."--J. E. Rankin, _Presidents of Howard University_, pp.
11-12.
[217] James B. Johnson, _Address at the Twenty-fifth Anniversary of
Howard University_, 1892, p. 18.
[218] William M. Patton, _The History of Howard University_, 1896, p.
30.
[219] The tract as originally purchased may be approximately described
as extending eastward to the Soldiers' Home grounds and including
almost the entire present site of the reservoir (not including the
extreme eastward projection) and running south on its eastern boundary
to V Street. Its southern boundary was an irregular line passing south
of the Medical School building and including a small part of the
ground now occupied by the American League baseball park. Its northern
boundary toward the east extended up to and at one point a little
beyond what is now Hobart Street, tapering toward the west and meeting
Georgia Avenue at Fairmount Street. The western, boundary followed
Georgia Avenue to Howard Place, whence it followed Sixth Street to the
southern boundary.
[220] Daniel S. Lamb, _Howard University Medical Department_, 1900, p.
2.
[221] This park was at one time surrendered to the Federal government
for the remission of back taxes and exemption from further taxation.
Later, when the new Freedmen's Hospital was about to be erected on
that site the ground was transferred back to the University. The
ground is now leased by the government from Howard University for a
rental of one dollar a year.
[222] William M. Patton, _The History of Howard University_, p. 17.
[223] The Freedmen's Bureau was established in 1866 by the Federal
government for the purpose of promoting the general welfare of the
freedmen. General Howard was made commissioner of the organization and
held this office until 1872, when it was discontinued. It was through
this relation with the Freedmen's Bureau that the University became
the creature and ward of the Federal Government, a relation that has
been maintained continuously ever since.
The commissioner of the bureau was granted large powers, including the
control of all subjects relating to refugees and freedmen from slave
States or from any district or county within the territory embraced in
the operations of the army, under such rules and regulations as might
be prescribed by the head of the bureau and the President.
General Howard during the existence of the bureau disbursed
approximately $13,000,000 in various ways. Much of this was used for
educational purposes, including all grades of work. Among some of the
beneficiaries of this fund were Lincoln University, Wilberforce
University, Berea College, Fisk University, Biddle University,
Straight University and Lincoln Institute. In his efforts to enable
the people of the District of Columbia to share the benefits of this
fund the commissioner offered to erect a building for a certain
denominational institution located in Washington at that time, on the
condition that it become undenominational. The offer was declined,
whereupon the trustees of Howard University immediately made
application to receive this Federal aid. Because of the location of
the proposed institution at the nation's capital the application was
favorably acted upon and liberal appropriations made so that the
institution might stand as a monument to the nation's philanthropy.
As these large expenditures for Howard University with the other
operations of the bureau brought upon General Howard charges of
malfeasance, which led to two investigations, it should be said here
that both of the official investigations, one civil, the other
military, completely exonerated him.--See _Report of Special Committee
of the Trustees of Howard University upon Certain Charges_, etc.,
1873, and _Act of March 3, 1865, establishing the Bureau of Refugees,
Freedmen and Abandoned Lands_.
[224] It is worthy of note that the magnificent new home of the
Myrtilla Miner Normal School of Washington is named in honor of the
same noble woman. It stands on a site formerly owned by the University
and looks upon Miner Hall several hundred yards away across the
campus.
[225] Much credit for the skillful financial management of the
institution during these critical times is due to the secretary and
treasurer, Mr. James B. Johnson, who was a potent factor in the early
struggles of the institution. He was secretary and treasurer for many
years, dying while still in service in 1898.
[226] William M. Patton, _The History of Howard University_, 1896, pp.
21, 22.
MORE ABOUT THE HISTORICAL ERRORS OF JAMES FORD RHODES
In its issue of October, 1917, THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY published
an article of which I am the author, pointing out some of the
historical errors made by Mr. Rhodes in his "_History of the United
States from the Compromise of 1850 to the Final Restoration of Home
Rule at the South in 1877_." Since it appears that Mr. Rhodes has no
personal knowledge of the important historical events referred to, he
sent a copy of the journal containing the article to a friend who was
presumed to be better informed along those lines. Mr. Rhodes referred
to him as an expert, with the request that he make a careful
examination of the article and write a reply to the same, or perhaps
to make such comments as would furnish Mr. Rhodes with the information
desired. I have been favored, through a mutual friend, with a copy of
that reply, which is now before me and to which I shall now proceed to
make a reply.
In a labored effort to weaken the force of what I have written, this
expert in his opening generalization made several observations which
may be classed under three different heads: first, if the white men
referred to by me were of such a high character, why should the acts
accredited to them have been of such a low character? second, that I
am influenced in what I write about that period by racial bias and the
fact that I was an active participant in the events referred to;
third, that what I write is based upon my own experience and memory,
much of which is liable to be inaccurate through the treachery of
memory, the same not being fortified by references to other historical
works.
This expert says:
An obvious general comment on the article is that if the
Reconstruction period throughout the South and in Mississippi in
particular was engineered and controlled by men of such high
character as Mr. Lynch records, why should the acts accredited
to them have been of such a low character? It is not enough to
say that there were "mistakes"; the measures were too numerous
and systematic for this. It is to be noticed that Mr. Lynch does
not attempt to controvert statements of events in Mississippi,
with one or two exceptions to be considered below. To attempt to
review the conclusions to which Mr. Lynch takes exception would
involve a review of too great a mass of evidence. The web of
Reconstruction is such a tangled one, that even if one has
carefully considered a large part of the great bulk of primary
material on the subject, generalizations on the period must still
be accepted cautiously. This much may be said: Mr. Rhodes's
conclusions are in harmony with those of the other trained
historical students who have devoted time to a careful study of
this period. Mr. Lynch's racial bias, the fact that he was an
active participant in the events, and finally that his judgments
are based on his own experiences and not on a closer study of a
far wider field of material, make whatever he writes of value as
source material, but at the same time mitigate against its value
as an impartial opinion. This is especially evident from the fact
that he makes no attempt either in the article or in his book to
substantiate his statements by such references to his authorities
as modern historiography demands. His authority is of course,
himself and his recollections, and the recognition of the
treachery of the memory is a first fundamental in historical
work.
Referring to my contention that thousands of white men were identified
with the Republican party during the Reconstruction period he further
says:
A comparison of census and election statistics do not give
support to this fact; and tho such figures are far from exact,
they give a basis for generalizing superior to that of any
personal recollection, or, indeed, of anything short of a general
agreement of contemporary statements to the contrary. No such
agreement exists so far as I have been able to search. In
Tennessee, North Carolina, Arkansas, and to less extent in
Virginia and Texas, there were a considerable number of white
Republicans; but in the other southern states in no election
between 1868 and 1872 did the Republican vote equal the census
figures for Negroes of voting age in 1870. The nearest approach
to this was in South Carolina in 1870, when the Republican vote
for governor was 85,000 and the Negroes of voting age 85,400. In
Mississippi the nearest approach was in the vote for Grant in
1872, when there were 82,000 votes against the census figures of
90,000. The machinery for getting out the Negro vote, and it was
Republican machinery, was such as to permit the assumption that
an unusually large percentage of the Negroes voted at the
elections.
Undertaking to prove that Dent was not a carpet-bagger, he says:
Tho supported by the Democrats he was nominated by a faction of
Republicans; moreover, he was a Missourian by birth, had family
connections in Mississippi, and had, while living in California
married the daughter of a prominent Mississippian. He was
scarcely a typical carpet-bagger. That there should have been a
split in the Republican party of the state so early is not a very
good argument for the character of the leaders or of the measures
they endorsed.
Of the high hopes of such men as Alcorn there can be no doubt;
but scarcely less doubtful was the failure to realize their
hopes. Alcorn himself favored Negro disfranchisement in 1890.
Referring to others, the expert continues:
Judges Peyton was a Republican, Tarbell a carpet-bagger, but
Simrall is generally classed as a Democrat. He was chairman of
the state legislative committee that reported in favor of
rejecting the 14th Amendment. Riley classes him as a Democrat, as
does Garner, tho Mayes calls him a moderate Republican, of the
same class as Dent. Tarbell seems to have been a good judge.
Garner is lukewarm in his appreciation, but Lamar said that "his
decisions attest his extraordinary ability and industry." All
commend his uprightness. Tarbell in 1887 called himself a
conservative carpetbagger, one who found himself in the minority.
He said that the Republican party in Mississippi collapsed
through its own weakness; having devised a constitution in which
"there was much to praise and to be proud of, and little to
condemn," the party gave birth to legislation of which "the
criticism is, in a measure, reversed."[227] The judiciary was the
best department of government under Reconstruction in
Mississippi.
Taking up the question of ignorant Negro office holders, he says:
All that I find as to Evans, except Garner's statement of "it was
alleged," is in an account of Reconstruction in De Soto County,
written by I. C. Nichols in the publication of the Miss. Hist.
Soc., XI, 307. He does not say that Evans could not read or
write, but that his "bondsmen really administered his affairs and
ran his office." At one time there was a charge of defalcation
against him, but nothing specific, and Nichols concludes that
nothing really was wrong. After this some changes were made in
his bondsmen and "R. R. West was put in charge of the office and
became Sheriff in all but name." West was, perhaps, one of the
"honest, efficient, and capable assistants." Evans had been a
slave. In Washington County there was also a negro sheriff,
Winslow by name. Mr. Lynch does not mention him, but according to
the testimony of H. B. Putnam, a carpet-bagger, Winslow was
"nominally" sheriff, but his bondsmen ran the office; the
sheriff, tho he could read and write, was "incompetent to take
charge of his office," which was worth $10,000 or $15,000 a year
legitimately, and, according to a white Democrat, about $100,000
by other means.[228] Scott of Issaquena, whom Mr. Lynch mentions,
testified before the Boutwell committee, and so far as can be
judged by that testimony he was a man of fair intelligence, tho
according to the testimony of one of his own race, not endowed
with rash courage.[229] The testimony of another carpet-bagger,
with reference to Holmes County, is interesting, tho it does not
show whether the sheriff-elect was white or black. He was
probably not Sumner, as this man never served in the office. This
carpet-bagger said that the sheriff of the county having died and
this man elected to fill the vacancy the successor arranged to
have the witness assist in making the bond. "Other gentlemen
hesitated to go on the bond unless I would go there and be
responsible for the running of the office." The man was prevented
from taking office so nothing came of the arrangement. On the
whole such first-hand material as I have been able to find does
not uphold Garner entirely in his estimate of this class of
officials, especially as to his footnote statement about their
dishonesty; neither does it give the impression that they were
worthy, as a whole, of the important positions they occupied. If
Evans, as described by Rhodes, following Garner, was not typical,
neither was Bruce.
Mr. Lynch gives figures for 1875 and 1907 on financial matters
and on the basis of these claims that the profligacy of
Reconstruction finances is not proven. The manifest unfairness of
taking figures for 1907 may be passed over; but the necessary
basis of comparison must be wider than this. Nor do his
conclusions agree with any others that I have seen, nor, which is
more important, with other statistics. Both those of the census
or those given annually by Appletons' Annual Cyclopædia lead to
other conclusions. Just as an illustration of what is said on the
other side take this statement, which seems to be that of the
land tax. This was 1 mill in 1869, 5 mills in 1870, 4 mills in
1871, 8-1/2 mills in 1872, 12-1/2 mills in 1873, 14 mills in
1874, 9-1/4 mills in 1875, 6-1/2 mills in 1876, 6-1/5 mills in
1877, 3-1/2 mills in 1878. Another point that should be
considered is that Mr. Lynch confines his figures to state
finances; while it is for local finances that the Reconstruction
government of Mississippi is most severely condemned.
Conceding a point in this case, he says:
Mr. Lynch is correct in saying that the Mississippi senators at
the time of the state election of 1875 were Alcorn and Bruce.
Pease had been succeeded by Bruce on March 4 of that year. Pease
opposed Ames but he was no longer senator.
Mr. Lynch, in upholding the Reconstruction policy of Stevens and
Sumner and what he calls their desire to delay restoration, seems
to have overlooked the fact that the wisest of all the Civil War
statesmen desired to get the states back into the Union before
Congress should meet in December, 1865. Mr. Lynch is right in
thinking that the 14th Amendment was essentially a correct
measure, but so also does Mr. Rhodes. The 15th Amendment is quite
a different proposition, however. Nor does it follow, because
legislation of some sort might have been necessary to enforce the
14th Amendment or to take its place when the South refused to
adopt it, that the Reconstruction Acts were the legitimate
offspring of that necessity. That the negro soldiers helped to
win the war is not proof that the war would have failed without
them, or that the necessary price of their valor was suffrage for
all the men of their race, the bulk of whom were not capable of
understanding it; or that such suffrage was necessary to the
preservation of the Union. Oratory, inside or outside of
Congress, is not historical proof.
Directing attention to my idea of the undoing of Reconstruction he
maintains:
Mr. Lynch's statement that the failure of Reconstruction was due
to unwise judicial interpretation need not be considered. It is
anachronistic and does not agree with the views now generally
accepted by historical students. But what he says of the
infidelity of Waite and Bradley can be refuted directly from the
Supreme Court Reports. As to the appointment of these justices,
there is no evidence that it was because of any specially strong
nationalistic position on their part. Bradley, if chosen for any
particular views, got the justiceship because of his attitude on
legal tender; and the conditions under which Waite was appointed
do not show up any such bias on his part. In U. S. _v._ Reese the
court stood seven to two; and the dissentients were Clifford, a
Democrat, and Hunt, appointed by Grant.
In U. S. _v._ Harris (the Ku Klux decision) Woods delivered the
decision. Harlan alone dissented and only on the question of
jurisdiction. The bench at that time held two judges appointed by
Lincoln, two by Grant, two by Hayes, one by Garfield, and two by
Arthur. The Civil Rights Cases decision was delivered by Bradley.
Harlan was the only dissenter. These were the three important
Reconstruction decisions during the term of Waite and Bradley.
All of them were delivered after Reconstruction had failed. On
the other hand, Bradley delivered the opinion in Ex parte
Siebold, in which the federal election laws were upheld, and
Field and Clifford were the only ones who disagreed with it.
In the first place, I frankly confess that what I have written and
shall write in defense of the reconstructed governments at the South
has been and will be of very little value if it were conceded that the
acts accredited to the men to whom I have referred were of a low
character. This is the very point upon which the public has been
misinformed, misled and deceived. I do not hesitate to assert that the
Southern Reconstructed Governments were the best governments those
States ever had before or have ever had since, statements and
allegations made by Mr. Rhodes and some other historical writers to
the contrary notwithstanding. It is not claimed that they were
perfect, but they were a decided improvement on those they succeeded
and they were superior in every way to those which are representative
of what Mr. Rhodes is pleased to term the restoration of home rule.
They were the first and only governments in that section that were
based upon the consent of the governed. If Mr. Rhodes honestly
believed that what he wrote in condemnation and denunciation of those
governments was based upon authenticated facts, then the most
charitable view that can be taken in his case is that he, like
thousands of others, is simply an innocent victim of a gross
deception.
In the second place, whether or not I am influenced by racial ties or
partisan bias in what I have written and may hereafter write, I am
willing to allow the readers to decide. I am sure that they have not
failed to see from what I have thus far written, that the controlling
purpose with me is to give actual facts, free from racial partiality
or partisan bias. If some of the things I have written appear
otherwise, it is due to the fact that the misrepresentations I am
pointing out and correcting have been in the opposite direction. The
idea that I have endeavored to keep in mind is, that what the readers
and students of American history desire to know is the unbiased truth
about the important events of the period in question and not the
judgment and opinions of the person or persons by whom they are
recorded.
In the third place, the statement that the value of what I have
written is impaired because what is said about the important events of
the period in question is based in the main upon my own knowledge and
experience, must impress the intelligent reader as being strange and
unusual. He discredits what I say too because I do not make reference
to source materials. What this expert himself has to say is, like most
studies of Reconstruction, based on ex-parte evidence which is in
violation of all rules governing modern historical writing. No just
judge would rely altogether on the testimony of one's enemies to
determine the truth.
With reference to the period under consideration, the difference
between what I have written and what has been written by Mr. Rhodes
and some other historical writers is what the lawyers would call the
difference between primary and secondary evidence. The primary is
always considered the best evidence, the secondary to be used only
when the primary can not be obtained. And yet what I have written is
not based wholly upon memory. It is only so with reference to
distinguished persons and important events and tendencies, which are
not likely to be inaccurate through the treachery of memory. The
statistical information I have given is not from memory, but from the
files of the official records which are accessible to the public. But
it appears that Mr. Rhodes and some other historical writers used only
such parts of the official records as answered the purpose they seemed
to have in view, which evidently was to mislead and deceive the
public. This is virtually admitted by Mr. Rhodes's expert, in stating
that "the point Mr. Lynch makes about the defalcation of Hemingway is
an interesting one, and one that is evidently carefully kept in the
background by the local writers." Yes, they not only kept that point
in the background, but all other points that were not in harmony with
the purpose they seemed to have in mind, which was evidently one of
deception and misrepresentation.
The reader will not fail to see that Mr. Rhodes's nameless expert
passed over in silence a number of important points in my article.
Some of those alluded to by him he frankly admitted to be right, as in
the case of Treasurer Hemingway. In the case of Mr. Evans, the Negro
sheriff of De Soto County, he relies upon a statement written by a Mr.
Nichols of that county who was evidently a partisan, who makes an
effort to paint Mr. Evans in as unfavorable a light as possible, and
yet he fails to confirm the allegation that Mr. Evans could neither
read nor write, but concludes his communication with the declaration
"that nothing really was wrong." Judging from what is written by Mr.
Rhodes's expert I conclude that Garner is the one from whom Mr. Rhodes
obtained most of his misinformation. Yet in speaking of the Negro
sheriffs in a general way Mr. Rhodes's expert was frank enough to say:
"On the whole such first-hand material as I have been able to find
does not uphold Garner entirely in his estimate of this class of
officials, especially as to his footnote statement about their
dishonesty." This bears out the statement made by me that if Mr.
Rhodes had desired to be fair and impartial he would have taken all
the colored sheriffs into consideration and would have drawn an
average, which would have shown that in point of intelligence,
capacity and honesty they would have compared favorably with the
whites.
The assertion made by me that the Republican party in the State of
Mississippi included in its membership many of the best and most
substantial white men in that State is disputed because the Republican
vote in the State at the Presidential election of 1872 happened to be
only a few thousand less than the number of Negroes in the State of
voting age, as shown by the census of 1870. It is, therefore, assumed
that very few if any white men voted the Republican ticket at that
election. To ascertain the voting strength of a political party census
figures cannot be relied upon with any degree of certainty, but since
Mr. Rhodes's expert seems to think otherwise I am perfectly willing to
accept them in this instance for what they may be worth. The number of
Negroes of voting age in the State at that time, as shown by the
census of 1870, was 88,850; whites 76,909, colored majority, 11,941,
and yet the Republican majority in 1872 was 34,887. If the voting
strength of the two parties were in proportion to the number of blacks
and whites in the State, as this expert would have the public believe,
and the percentage of blacks and whites who voted were about the same,
which can be safely assumed, the Republican majority in that case
could not have been more than 12,000, whereas it was nearly three
times that number. Assuming that the Republican and Democratic vote
combined comprised the whole number that voted at that election, the
total number of votes polled was 129,463, which was 36,296 less than
the number of voters in the State. Of the 36,296 that did not vote I
estimate that at least 16,000 of them were white men. Subtract the
16,000 from the 76,909 white voters and it will be seen that the
number of white men that voted at that election was 60,909, and yet
the Democratic vote was 47,288, which was 13,621 less than the number
of white men that voted. My own estimate is that of the 82,175
Republican votes, 61,266 were cast by the blacks and 20,909 by the
whites. Of the 47,288 Democratic votes, 40,000 were cast by the whites
and 7,288 by the blacks.
From the above estimate it will be seen that more than one third of
the white men that voted at that election voted the Republican ticket.
This estimate is strengthened when the result of the election in the
different counties is taken into consideration. The Republicans not
only carried every county in which the Negro voters had a majority,
but also a number of counties in which the whites were in the
majority. The majority by which the State was carried by Alcorn in
1869 was about the same as that by which it was carried by Grant in
1872. Alcorn not only carried a number of white counties, but ten of
them elected Republicans to the Legislature, two of them, Lawrence and
Marion, elected each a Negro member. The ten counties were Pike,
Lawrence, Marion, Jackson, Jasper, Clark, Lee, Leak, Lafayette and
Attala. Judge Green C. Chandler, afterwards a judge of the Circuit
Court and later U. S. District Attorney, was elected from Clark. Hon.
H. W. Warren, who succeeded Judge Franklin as Speaker of the House,
was elected from Leak, Judge Jason Niles and Hon. E. Boyd, both able
and brilliant lawyers, were elected from Attala. Judge Niles was
afterwards appointed a Judge of the Circuit Court and later served as
a Republican member of Congress.
In the opinion of this expert Judge Dent, the Democratic candidate for
Governor in 1869, was scarcely a typical carpet-bagger because he was
born in Missouri and had family connections in Mississippi. Still if
he were not a typical carpet-bagger, then we had none in the State,
because the designation included all those that settled in the State
after the war was over. Judge Dent was one of that number. But I may
be able to give Mr. Rhodes what was believed to be the principal
reason that influenced the Democrats to support Judge Dent. He was
President Grant's brother-in-law. Hence it was hoped and believed that
in this case family ties would prove to be stronger than party ties
and that the national administration would support Dent instead of
Alcorn, the Ex-Confederate. But in this case they were mistaken. Grant
had been elected as a Republican, and he could not be induced to throw
the weight of his influence against his own party, even in a State
election, merely to contribute to the realization of the personal
ambition of his wife's brother. It is true that a few men who called
themselves Republicans also supported Judge Dent, but the result of
the election was conclusive evidence that the so-called split in the
party was not at all serious.
Speaking of the three Supreme Court Judges, the expert admits that
Peyton and Tarbell were Republicans, but Simrall, he claims, is
generally classed as a Democrat. In support of this assertion
attention is called to the fact, among others, that he was chairman of
the State legislative committee that reported in favor of rejecting
the 14th Amendment. But that was before the passage of the
Reconstruction Acts and before the Republican party in the State was
organized. Judge Simrall joined the Republican party in 1868 or 1869.
What I asserted and now repeat is that he was a Republican when he was
made a Justice of the State Supreme Court in 1870. Even if he, like
thousands of others, rejoined the Democratic party, that would not
disprove my assertion that he was a Republican while he was on the
bench. But it appears that he was not one of those that rejoined the
Democrats, but remained a Republican to the day of his death. In 1884,
nine years after the _Redemption_, he canvassed the State for Blaine
and Logan, Republican candidates for President and Vice-President. In
1890 the Democrats of Warren County in selecting suitable persons to
represent them in the State Constitutional Convention to be held in
the fall of that year were anxious to have the benefit of the
knowledge, ability and experience of Judge Simrall. They took the
liberty of placing his name on their ticket to which it appears he
made no objection, and in that way he was elected a delegate to that
convention. But did that make him a Democrat? I am sure both Mr.
Rhodes and his expert will allow Judge Sim rail to answer that
question for himself and that they will accept his answer as
conclusive on that point. For his answer to that question they are
respectfully referred to page 704 of the official journal of the
Constitutional Convention of 1890. They will see that the members of
the convention were politically classified. Each member, of course,
furnished the information about his own party affiliations. It will be
seen that Judge Sim rail is classified as a "National Republican."
Ex-Governor Alcorn was also a member of that convention, having been
elected from Coahoma County in the same way. His political
classification is that of a "Conservative." So it seems that neither
Sim rail nor Alcorn rejoined the Democratic party. Instead, therefore,
of Republicans being obliged to utilize Democratic material in the
selection of Judges, as erroneously stated by Mr. Rhodes, it seems
that the Democrats were obliged to utilize Republican talent,
experience and ability to assist them in framing a new constitution. I
am sure the assertion can be safely made that Sim rail and Alcorn were
not among the "lovers of good government" who rejoiced "at the
redemption of Mississippi" through the employment of means that Mr.
Rhodes so much regretted.
"The judiciary," the expert asserts, "was the best department of
government under Reconstruction in Mississippi," and yet the Judges
were all appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent
of the Senate. It goes without saying that if the Governor's
appointees were good, the appointing power was equally as good. The
expert virtually admits that there was no justification for the
declaration that "all lovers of good government must rejoice at the
redemption of Mississippi," when he used the following language: "Mr.
Lynch confines his figures to state finances; while it was for local
finances that the Reconstruction government of Mississippi is most
severely condemned." In other words, there was nothing wrong with the
State administration; it was the local county and municipal
governments that were bad. And yet, a fair and impartial investigation
will reveal the fact that there is no more foundation for this
allegation than for those about the State government. It is admitted
that during the early part of Reconstruction the local tax rate was
high, the reasons for which are fully explained in _The Facts of
Reconstruction_. Such an investigation would show that the charges of
extravagance, recklessness and maladministration so generally made
about the administration of county and municipal affairs were grossly
exaggerated and nearly, if not all of them wholly untrue. In fact, the
expert flatly contradicts himself on this point, because he admits
that the evidence does not support the charge of dishonesty in the
case of the Negro sheriffs, and yet the sheriff is the principal
officer in the administration of the county government.
With reference to the financial affairs of the State the expert makes
no effort to disprove a single statement I have made. He simply makes
the broad statement that my conclusions do not agree with other
statistics, and yet he fails to produce the statistics with which they
do not agree. To illustrate his point he calls attention to the
different _rates_ of taxation covering a period of about ten years,
which if true is of no importance in this connection because the same
has no bearing upon the material point now under consideration. The
tax _rate_ is always determined by the amount of money needed to meet
the obligations of the State, predicated upon the assessed value of
taxable property. Changes in the tax rate, therefore, are liable to be
of frequent occurrence. The material point at issue is the volume of
money paid into the treasury and the disposition made of it. In this
connection a slight amplification of the figures already given will
not be inappropriate. In 1875, the last year of Republican rule and
the year the State was _redeemed_, the total receipts from all sources
amounted to $1,801,129.12. The disbursements, same year, were
$1,430,192.83, or $370,936.29 less than was received. In 1907 the
receipts from all sources amounted to $3,391,127.15. The
disbursements, same year, were $3,730,343.29 or $339,216.14 more than
was received, and $2,300,150.46 more than was paid out in 1875. In
fact, the financial condition of the State during several years was
such that the Legislature was obliged to authorize the issuance of
bonds upon which to borrow money to meet current demands, thus adding
materially to the bonded debt of the State. Can any thing more
inexcusable and indefensible than this be imagined? That any one of
the Reconstructed governments could possibly have been guilty of such
maladministration as this is inconceivable. And yet, this
administration typifies what Mr. Rhodes is pleased to term the
restoration of home rule at the South, for which all lovers of good
government should rejoice.
The expert admits that I am right in what was said about Senators
Alcorn and Bruce, but asserts that Senator Pease, Mr. Brace's
immediate predecessor, was opposed to Ames. This is another assertion
that is not in harmony with the truth. Ames was a United States
Senator when he was elected Governor. When he resigned the Senatorship
to become Governor there remained about fourteen months of his term.
There devolved, therefore, upon the Legislature that was elected in
1873, the same time Senator Ames was elected Governor, the duty of
electing a Senator for the full term and also for the unexpired term.
Bruce, an Ames man, was elected for the full term and Pease, also an
Ames man, was elected for the unexpired term. If Pease had been
opposed to Ames he could not have been elected to the Senate by that
Legislature for that was unquestionably an Ames Legislature. It is
true Pease was defeated for renomination for State Superintendent of
Education by the Convention that nominated Ames, still he loyally
supported the ticket and after the election he was looked upon as one
of the friends and supporters of the Ames Administration. As such and
for that reason he was elected as one of the administration Senators.
I was a member of Congress at that time and, therefore, had occasion
frequently to confer with Senator Pease. If he were opposed to Ames, I
am sure that both Mr. Rhodes and his expert will admit that I would
have known it; and yet I do not hesitate to say that Senator Pease
never did by word, act or deed cause me to entertain the slightest
suspicion that he was not a loyal friend and supporter of the Ames
Administration.
In regard to the decisions of the Supreme Court, the expert simply
makes the declaration that the statement made by me that the failure
of Reconstruction was due to unwise judicial interpretation need not
be considered. In the first place, it is not true that I admitted that
Reconstruction was a failure. On the contrary, those who will
carefully read what I wrote will not fail to see that my contention is
that in its important and essential particulars that policy was a
grand and brilliant success and I instanced the ratification of the
14th and 15th Amendments, neither of which could have otherwise been
ratified, as a vindication of the wisdom of that legislation even if
nothing else had resulted from it. It is admitted that some of the
friends and supporters of the Congressional plan of Reconstruction
have been disappointed because those governments did not and could not
stand the test of time. To this extent and for this reason some
persons claim that the policy was a failure. I am not one of that
number, the reasons for which the readers of the article referred to
will see. But the inability of those governments to stand the test of
time I accounted for under three heads, one of which was several
unfortunate decisions rendered by the Supreme Court, the result, in my
opinion, of two unwise appointments made by President Grant in the
persons of Chief Justice Waite and Associate Justice Bradley. I do not
assert that those two judges, or any others, for that matter, were
appointed with reference to their attitude upon any public question,
still I am satisfied that they were believed to be in accord with the
other leaders and constitutional lawyers in the Republican party in
their construction of the 14th Amendment. The constitutional warrant
for the Civil Rights Bill is the clause which declares that "no state
shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or
immunities of citizens of the United States." It was therefore held
that any law or ordinance which provided for, recognized or sanctioned
separate facilities for the two races in the exercise and enjoyment of
the rights and privileges that are supposed to be common to all
classes of persons, would be a violation of this provision of the 14th
Amendment; and since Congress was authorized to enforce the Amendment,
affirmative legislation for the enforcement of that provision was held
to be thus warranted. This view was held by such able and brilliant
constitutional lawyers as Edmunds and Conkling in the Senate, and
Butler, George F. and E. Rockwood Hoar, Lyman Tremaine, Garfield and
Wilson in the House. Senator Carpenter was the only Republican lawyer
of any note that took a different view of the matter. While he
believed the whole bill was unconstitutional, the section prohibiting
race discrimination in the selection of jurors in State courts he
believed to be especially obnoxious to the constitution. He declared
that if that section could stand the test of a judicial decision all
the others could and should. And yet the court, through a decision
handed down by Mr. Justice Strong, affirmed the constitutionality of
that section, but in a decision delivered by Mr. Justice Bradley the
section providing for equal accommodations in hotels, inns and places
of amusement was declared unconstitutional except in the District of
Columbia and the territories. In several subsequent decisions, giving
in the main the opinion of Chief Justice Waite, some of the most vital
and important sections of the enforcement acts, especially those
having for their object the protection of individual citizens, through
federal machinery, when necessary, against domestic violence, were
also declared to be unconstitutional and void.
I am of the opinion, shared in by many others, that if men of the type
of Edmunds and Conkling had been appointed Supreme Court Justices
instead of Waite and Bradley, the rulings of the court in the
important cases referred to might have been, and I think would have
been, different. The unfortunate thing about those decisions is the
wide scope of authority thus conceded to the States. In other words,
they amount to a judicial recognition of the dangerous doctrine of
States Rights--a doctrine which has been the source and the cause of
most of our domestic troubles and misfortunes since those decisions
were rendered. But for those unfortunate decisions our country would
not be cursed and disgraced today by lynch law and other forms of
lawlessness and racial proscription and discrimination. But for those
unfortunate decisions lynchings could have been and I am sure would
have been held to be an offense against the peace and dignity of the
United States as well as the State in which the crime is committed.
Consequently, the criminals could be, and in most cases would be,
prosecuted in the United States courts, as was done in the case of
many of the leaders of that secret criminal organization called the Ku
Klux Klan. But this took place before the decisions referred to were
rendered. The court has also decided that a State law providing
separate accommodations for white and colored people on railroad
trains, at least for a passenger whose journey begins and ends in the
same state, is not an abridgment in violation of the constitution,
provided the accommodations for the two races are exactly equal. This
means that the validity even of those laws will not be affirmed
whenever it can be shown that the accommodations are not equal, which
can be very easily done. _Equal_ separate accommodations are both a
physical and a financial impossibility. It is simply impossible for a
railroad company to provide the same accommodations for one colored
passenger that it provides for one hundred whites. If, then, a colored
passenger cannot occupy a seat or a sleeping berth in a car in which
white persons may be passengers, this will not only be an abridgment,
but in some cases, an absolute denial of such accommodations. The
ultimate nullification of such unfair, unjust and unreasonable laws
must necessarily follow.
In spite of the unfavorable rulings of the court, as above noted,
that tribunal, as at present constituted, has rendered several very
important decisions which have given the friends of national supremacy
and equal rights much hope and encouragement, the most important of
which is the one declaring unconstitutional and void the ordinances
providing for the segregation of the races in the purchase and
occupation of property for residential purposes in several cities. The
decision in this case was broad, comprehensive and far-reaching. This
important, fair and equitable decision has given the colored American
new hope and new inspiration. It has strengthened and intensified his
loyalty and devotion to his country, his government, its flag and its
institutions. It makes him feel that with all of its faults and
shortcomings, our _form_ of government is superior to, and better than
that of any other, and that by a few more decisions along the line of
this one, which I hope and believe may be safely anticipated, every
justifiable cause of complaint on the part of the Negro will have been
removed, because the evils resulting from the unfavorable and
unfortunate rulings above noted will have been remedied and cured. Our
type of democracy will then be what it now purports to be, pure and
genuine. It will then be in truth and in fact the land of the free and
the home of the brave. It will then be a typical representative of
that form of democracy under which there can be no slave, no vassal
and no peon, but every one will be an equal before the law in the
exercise and enjoyment of life, liberty and property and in the
exercise and enjoyment of such public rights and privileges as are, or
should be, common to all citizens alike, without distinction or
discrimination based upon differences of race, color, nationality or
religion. These were the aims the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment
had in view when that Amendment was drawn, and from present
indications it seems to be clear that the highest court in the land
will not allow the same to be defeated.
But the most significant point about the segregation decision grows
out of the fact that the fair, reasonable, sound and equitable
principles therein set forth and clearly enunciated received the
approbation and endorsement of a unanimous court consisting of nine
Judges in which conflicting and antagonistic political views are
presumed to be represented. This indicates that the day is not far off
when the so-called race question will cease to be a political factor,
and that all political parties will recognize merit and not race,
fitness and not color, experience and not religion, ability and not
nationality as the tests by which persons must be judged, not only in
the administration of the government but in the industrial field as
well. For the accomplishment of these desirable purposes, men of the
type of James Ford Rhodes should give their support instead of
allowing the same to be used in the interest of that small class of
unpatriotic Americans who seek political distinction and official
recognition at the expense of racial harmony and brotherly love.
JOHN B. LYNCH
4352 FORESTVILLE AVENUE,
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.
FOOTNOTES:
[227] _Mag. of Am. History_, XVIII, 424.
[228] Boutwell, _Report_, 1446, 1470.
[229] _Ibid._, 608.
DOCUMENTS.
LETTERS OF GOVERNOR EDWARD COLES BEARING ON THE STRUGGLE OF FREEDOM
AND SLAVERY IN ILLINOIS[230]
Edward Coles was born of distinguished parentage in Albemarle County,
Virginia, December 15, 1786. He was educated at Hampden-Sidney and
William and Mary College, having as classmates Lieutenant-General
Scott, President John Tyler, Senator William S. Archer and Mr. Justice
Baldwin, of the Supreme Court of the United States. At the age of
twenty-three his father had bequeathed him a large plantation with a
number of slaves. "Of a polished education, fine personal appearance,
good manners and irreproachable character,"[231] he so impressed
President Madison that he made him his private secretary in 1809. In
this position he became well informed in public affairs and useful to
the President.
Early in Coles' college days he discussed with himself the question as
to whether the declaration that "all men are born free and equal"
could be harmonized with slavery. He reached the conclusion that the
institution should not exist in a country claiming to be a democracy.
He, therefore, resolved that he would not hold slaves and would not
live in a slave-holding State.
Enjoying the confidence of Jefferson, Coles took up with him the
important question of emancipating his slaves in the year 1814. The
letter follows:
EDWARD COLES TO THOMAS JEFFERSON
WASHINGTON, July 31, 1814.
_Dear Sir_:--I never took up my pen with more hesitation, or felt
more embarrassment than I now do in addressing you on the
subject of this letter. The fear of appearing presumptuous
distresses me, and would deter me from venturing thus to call
your attention to a subject of such magnitude, and so beset with
difficulties as that of a general emancipation of the slaves of
Virginia, had I not the highest opinion of your goodness and
liberality, in not only excusing me for the liberty I take, but
in justly appreciating my motives in doing so.
I will not enter on the _right_ which man has to enslave his
brother man, nor upon the moral and political effects of slavery
on individuals or on society; because these things are better
understood by you than by me. My object is to entreat and beseech
you to exert your knowledge and influence in devising and getting
into operation some plan for the gradual emancipation of slavery.
This difficult task could be less exceptionally and more
successfully performed by the revered fathers of all our
political and social blessings than by any succeeding statesmen;
and would seem to come with peculiar propriety and force from
those whose valor, wisdom and virtue have done so much in
ameliorating the condition of mankind. And it is a duty, as I
conceive, that devolves particularly on you, from your known
philosophical and enlarged view of subjects, and from the
principles you have professed and practiced through a long and
useful life, pre-eminently distinguished as well by being
foremost in establishing on the broadest basis the rights of man,
and the liberty and independence of your country, as in being
throughout honored with the most important trusts of your fellow
citizens, whose confidence and love you have carried with you
into the shades of old age and retirement. In the calm of this
retirement you might, most beneficially to society, and with much
addition to your own fame, avail yourself of that love and
confidence to put into complete practice those hallowed
principles contained in that renowned Declaration, of which you
were the immortal author, and on which we founded our right to
resist oppression and establish our freedom and independence.
I hope the fear of failing, at this time, will have no influence
in preventing you from employing your pen to eradicate this most
degrading feature of British Colonial policy, which is still
permitted to exist, notwithstanding its repugnance as well to the
principles of our revolution as to our free institutions. For
however prized and influential your opinions may now be, they
will still be much more so when you shall have been taken from us
by the course of nature. If, therefore, your attempt should now
fail to rectify this unfortunate evil--an evil most injurious
both to the oppressed and to the oppressor--at some future day
when your memory will be consecrated by a grateful posterity,
what influence, irresistible influence will the opinions and
writings of Thomas Jefferson have in all questions connected with
the rights of man, and of that policy which will be the creed of
your disciples. Permit men then, my dear Sir, again to entreat
your great powers of mind and influence, and to employ some of
your present leisure, in devising a mode to liberate one-half of
our fellow beings from an ignominious bondage to the other,
either by making an immediate attempt to put in train a plan to
commence this goodly work, or to leave human nature the
invaluable Testament--which you are so capable of doing--how best
to establish its rights; so that the weight of your opinion may
be on the side of emancipation when that question shall be
agitated, and that it will be sooner or later is most certain.
That it may be soon is my most ardent prayer--that it will be,
rests with you.
I will only add as an excuse for the liberty I take in addressing
you on this subject which is so particularly interesting to me,
that from the time I was capable of reflecting on the nature of
political society, and of the rights appertaining to man, I have
not only been principled against slavery, but have had feelings
so repugnant to it as to decide me not to hold them; which
decision has forced me to leave my native State, and with it all
my relations and friends. This, I hope, will be deemed by you
some excuse for the liberty of this intrusion, of which I gladly
avail myself to assure you of the very great respect and esteem
with which I am, my dear Sir, your very sincere and devoted
friend,[232]
EDWARD COLES.
He wrote Jefferson the following concerning the same question about
two months later:
WASHINGTON, Sep. 26th, '14.
I must be permitted again to trouble you, my dear Sir, to return
my grateful thanks for the respectful and friendly attention
shown to my letter in your answer of the 25th ult. Your favorable
reception of sentiments not generally avowed, if felt, by our
countrymen, but which have ever been so inseparably interwoven
with my opinions and feelings as to become, as it were, the
rudder that shapes my course, even against a strong tide of
interest and of local partialities, could not but be in the
highest degree gratifying to me. And your interesting and highly
prized letter conveying them to me in such flattering terms,
would have called forth my acknowledgments before this but for
its having been forwarded to me to the Springs, and from thence
it was again returned here before I received it, which was only a
few days since.
Your indulgent treatment encourages me to add that I feel very
sensibly the force of your remarks on the impropriety of yielding
to my repugnancies in abandoning my property in slaves and my
native State. I certainly should never have been inclined to
yield to them if I had supposed myself capable of being
instrumental in bringing about a liberation, or that I could by
my example ameliorate the condition of these oppressed people. If
I could be convinced of being in the slightest degree useful in
doing either, it would afford me very great happiness, and the
more so as it would enable me to gratify many partialities by
remaining in Virginia. But never having flattered myself with the
hope of being able to contribute to either, I have long since
determined, and should but for my bad health ere this, have
removed, carrying along with me those who had been my slaves, to
the country north-west of the river Ohio.
Your prayers I trust will not only be heard with indulgence in
Heaven, but with influence on Earth. But I cannot agree with you
that they are the only weapons of one at your age; nor that the
difficult work of cleansing the escutcheon of Virginia of the
foul stain of slavery can best be done by the young. To expect so
great and difficult an object, great and extensive powers, both
of mind and influence, are required, which can never be possessed
in so great a degree by the young as by the old. And among the
few of the former who might unite the disposition with the
requisite capacity, they are too often led by ambitious views to
go with the current of popular feeling rather than to mark out a
course for themselves, where they might be buffeted by the waves
of opposition; and indeed it is feared that these waves would in
this case be too strong to be effectually resisted by any but
those who had gained by a previous course of useful employment
the firmest footing in the confidence and attachment of their
country. It is with them, therefore, I am persuaded, that the
subject of emancipation must originate; for they are the only
persons who have it in their power effectually to arouse and
enlighten the public sentiment, which in matters of this kind
ought not to be expected to lead, but to be led; nor ought it to
be wondered at that there should prevail a degree of apathy with
the general mass of mankind, where a mere passive principle of
right has to contend against the weighty influence of habit and
interest. On such a question there will always exist in society a
kind of _vis inertia_, to arouse and overcome, which requires a
strong impulse, which can only be given by those who have
acquired a great weight of character, and on whom there devolves
in this case a most solemn obligation. It was under these
impressions that I looked to you, my dear Sir, as the first of
our aged worthies to awaken our fellow-citizens from their
infatuation to a proper sense of justice, and to the true
interest of their country; and by proposing a system for the
gradual emancipation of our slaves, at once to form a rallying
point for its friends, who, enlightened by your wisdom and
experience, and supported and encouraged by your sanction and
patronage, might look forward to a propitious and happy result.
Your time of life I had not considered as an obstacle to the
undertaking. Doctor Franklin, to whom, by the way, Pennsylvania
owes her early riddance of the evils of slavery, was as actively
and as usefully employed on as arduous duties after he had past
your age as he had ever been at any period of his life.
With apologizing for having given you so much trouble on this
subject, and again repeating my thanks for the respectful and
flattering attention you have been pleased to pay to it, I renew
the assurances of the great respect and regard which makes me
most sincerely yours
EDWARD COLES.
Coles went west to find a suitable location for settlement but was
delayed in carrying out the enterprise by serving on a special mission
to Russia in 1816. He then moved in 1819 to Edwardsville, Illinois,
where he emancipated his slaves. Arriving in that State just at the
time its citizens were trying to decide whether or not that
commonwealth should be a slave or free State, this anti-slavery man
turned the tide in favor of freedom. He had been in the State only
three years when he was nominated by the anti-slavery party for
governor. He received a minority of the votes cast at the election in
1822; but owing to a split in the pro-slavery party which divided its
votes between two candidates, Coles was elected, although the friends
of slavery elected their candidate for lieutenant-governor and a
majority of the members of both branches of the legislature. There
ensued then a struggle to have a convention called so to change the
constitution as to make Illinois a slave State.
Judge Gillespie, a contemporary, described the situation as follows:
It was conceded in those days that a State formed out of the
"North West Territory" could not be _admitted_ into the Union
contrary to the provisions of the ordinance of 1787, which
prohibited slavery, but the slavery propagandists contended that
you could, the next day after being admitted under an
_anti-slavery_ constitution, change the constitution so as to
admit slavery, and in that way, "whip the devil around the
stump." It was likewise contended that slavery existed in
Illinois beyond Congressional interference, by virtue of the
treaty (of 1763) between France and England, and that between
England and the United States at the close of the Revolutionary
War, in both of which the rights of the French inhabitants were
guaranteed. One of these rights was that of holding slaves,
which, it was contended, was protected by treaty stipulation, and
was equal in binding effect, to the Constitution (of the United
States) itself. Besides, it was maintained, that by the conquest
of George Rogers Clark, this country became a part of Virginia,
and that Congress had no more power to abolish slavery in
Illinois, than it had in Virginia. The logic of the times was
that the French inhabitants had the right to hold slaves, and
that the other inhabitants had equal rights with the
French--ergo: they all had the right to hold slaves. This was the
argument of the celebrated constitutional expounder--John
Grammar, of Union county--in the Legislature in reply to an
intimation questioning the validity of the title of slaves in
Illinois. The old gentleman instantly arose and remarked "that
fittener men" than he was "mout hev been found to defend the
masters agin the sneakin' ways of the infernal abolitioners; but
havin' rights on my side, I don't fear, Sir. I will show that are
proposition is unconstitutionable, inlegal, and fornenst the
compact. Don't every one know, or leastwise had ought to know,
that the Congress that sot at _Post Vinsan_, garnisheed to the
old French inhabitants the right to their niggers, and haint I
got as much rights as any Frenchman in this State? Answer me
that, Sir." Notwithstanding this seeming confidence, these men
were exceedingly desirous of reinforcing their rights. They
resorted to the indenturing method, by which they got their
servant to go before some officer and bind himself to serve the
master, generally for ninety-nine years, for which he was to
receive a slight equivalent at the end of each year.
As the "Yankees" increased in numbers, confidence (on the part of
the pro-slavery men) in the titles to their negroes, diminished,
and they finally concluded that there was no assurance for them,
except in changing the constitution so as to sanction
slaveholding and thus the contest commenced, which for fierceness
and rancor excelled anything ever before witnessed. The people
were at the point of going to war with each other. The
pro-slavery men were, as they have always been ready to resort to
violence wherever they dared, unwilling to listen to, or
incapable of comprehending arguments. Their method of overcoming
opposition was by "buldozing"; but on this occasion they had to
encounter men of invincible courage, who were eager and willing
to 'beard the lion in his den,' and defend their rights at all
hazards. Many of these men had removed to Illinois to get rid of
the curse of slavery.
This scheme, however, was with much difficulty defeated and the State
was saved for freedom. The intensity of this struggle has been well
described by Governor Reynolds in his _My Own Times_. He says:
The convention question gave rise to two years of the most
furious and boisterous excitement and contest that ever was
visited on Illinois. Men, women and children entered the arena of
party warfare and strife, and the families and neighborhoods were
so divided and furious and bitter against one another, that it
seemed a regular civil war might be the result. Many personal
combats were indulged in on the question, and the whole country
seemed, at times, to be ready and willing to resort to physical
force to decide the contest. All the means known to man to convey
ideas to one another were resorted to, and practised with energy.
The press teemed with publications on the subject. The
stump-orators were invoked, and the pulpit thundered anathemas
against the introduction of slavery. The religious community
coupled freedom and Christianity together, which was one of the
most powerful levers used in the content. At one meeting of the
friends of freedom in St. Clair county, more than thirty
preachers of the gospel attended and opposed the introduction of
slavery into the State.
This contest has been further described by W. H. Brown. He says:
The struggle which now commenced, and was continued through the
succeeding eighteen months, was one of no ordinary character. Our
previous elections had been conducted with warmth and zeal; but
into this canvass was infused a bitterness and malignity which
the agitation of the Slavery question only engenders. Why it
always produces this result, is worthy of the investigation of
the moralist and philosopher. Other great evils, political or
moral, are discussed with freedom, and measures for their
amelioration or prevention meet with no outward opposition; but
call in question the right of one man to enslave another, or even
make an effort to confine this gigantic sin to the territory in
which it exists, and the fiercest passions are aroused in the
hearts of its advocates, and the lack of power alone, saves their
opponents from utter destruction.
In this spirit was the contest of 1823-4 waged. Old friendships
were sundered, families divided and neighborhoods arrayed in
opposition to each other. Threats of personal violence were
frequent, and personal collisions a frequent occurrence. As in
times of warfare, every man expected an attack, and was prepared
to meet it. Pistols and dirks were in great demand, and formed a
part of the personal habiliments of all those conspicuous for
their opposition to the Convention measure. Even the gentler sex
came within the vortex of this whirlwind of passion; and many
were the angry disputations of those whose cares and interests
were usually confined to their household duties.
It will doubtless be profitable, therefore, to study the following
letters showing Governor Coles' connection with the anti-slavery
movement during the early history of Illinois.
GOVERNOR COLES TO RICHARD FLOWERS
_Dear Sir_:--I would have made my acknowledgments to you long
since for your kind letter of 13th of February, but for my having
been prevented from writing by the bearer of it, from the haste
with which he took his departure hence, and for my being much
harassed by the business attendant on the approaching
adjournment of the Legislature; and for my having gone soon
after the adjournment to Edwardsville, where I was detained until
a few days since by torrents of rain which have deluged the
country and rendered the streams and roads impassable. The
perusal of your letter afforded me particular pleasure. It
breathes the genuine sentiments of a Republican and of a
philanthropist; and produced an emotion which was "pleasing
though mournful to the soul." Pleasing that an adopted citizen
should possess principles so entirely accordant with our free
institutions; and as it held out encouragement that the people
would not sanction the late conduct and measures of their
Representatives--mournful, that if the slave faction should
succeed, how unpleasant and truly unfortunate the situation of
many of us, who have removed from a great distance and invested
our all in property which we shall be compelled to abandon or to
sacrifice, to seek new homes we know not where; or remain in a
community whose principles and practice are not only entirely at
variance with our own, but of a character calculated daily to
harrow up our feelings in the most painful way. I was born in the
very bosom of negro slavery; have seen it in all its bearings;
reflected well upon the nature of it, and having found it
impossible to reconcile it either with my political or religious
creed, I abandoned my native State, my aged parents and
relations, to seek in this State a community whose principles and
practice I presumed were in unison with my own. Judge, then, of
my feelings at the efforts which have been made and are now
making to change this free community of ours into a truly odious
one, consisting of masters and slaves--and you can judge the
better as your situation and principles are very similar with
mine. The great inducement with us both to emigrate to this State
was the firm belief that we should not be disturbed by the
clanking of the fetters of Slavery; that tyranny would not be
given a legal sanction, nor afforded the food on which it could
prey. But the majority of the people's representatives, having by
the most violent and unprecedented measure, taken a step with the
view of breaking down those barriers to oppression, which had
been erected by the wisdom and virtue of those who framed the
fundamental law of the State, and which you and many of us
considered, if not sacred, at least to have been permanently
settled, it becomes us to be on the alert to defeat a measure,
which if it should succeed, will not only be ruinous, and in the
highest degree unjust to many of us who have emigrated here under
the most solemn assurance that "neither slavery nor involuntary
servitude" should exist; but it will be of incalculable injury to
the interest of the State, of the Union, and of the extension and
advancement of freedom, and the amelioration of the human race.
You reside in a favorable situation to aid with effect this great
question. The county just below you forms the dividing line
between the sections of country in which the free and slave
parties predominate. It has occurred to me that the friends of
freedom would give ample support, and that the good cause would
be greatly promoted by establishing a printing press on the
Eastern side of the State. And I know of no place where it could
be established to so much advantage, as at Albion. Besides the
advantage it has in locality, there are in Albion, and its
vicinity, many persons who wield chaste and powerful pens, and
who have the means, and, I trust, the disposition of patronizing
an establishment of the kind. Pardon me for asking it as a favor
to me personally, and as a sacrifice to the furtherance of the
best and most virtuous of causes, that all personal, sectional,
national, county or town feelings, and all other unkind feelings,
let them originate from what cause they may, shall be buried, at
least while the great question is pending. I will write and ask
the same favor of Mr. Birkbeck. I have but little news. From all
I can learn a considerable majority of the people of the counties
situated in the north-west part of the State, as far south as
Monroe, St. Clair and Washington, are opposed to a call of a
convention, but great and extraordinary efforts are already
making to induce the people to vote for it.
Present my respectful compliments to Mrs. F. and family, and to
your son and his lady, and be assured of my respect and esteem.
EDWARD COLES.
GOVERNOR COLES TO NICHOLAS BIDDLE
_Dear Sir_:--It has been a long time since I either wrote to you
or heard from you. I made a visit last summer to my relations in
Virginia, and intended to have extended my tour as far as
Philadelphia, which I should certainly have done, for I am still
more attached to Philadelphia than any other city in the Union,
but for my trip having been delayed by a severe attack of bilious
fever, and having been prolonged in Virginia beyond the time I
expected, and the necessity I was under to be back here by the
meeting of the Legislature, to enter on the duties of the office
to which I had been recently elected. I assure you, when about to
leave Washington (where I staid only four or five days) and to
turn my face to the west, there was a great struggle between a
sense of duty which dragged me here, and my inclinations and many
strong attractions which drew me to your charming city. There has
long existed in this State a strong party in favor of altering
the constitution and making it a slave-holding State; while there
is another party in favor of a convention to alter the
constitution, but deny that Slavery is their object. These two
parties have finally, by the most unprecedented and unwarrantable
proceedings (an account of which you have no doubt seen in the
newspapers), succeeded in passing a resolution requiring the
sense of the people to be taken at the next general election
(August, 1824), on the propriety of calling a convention for the
purpose of altering the constitution. Knowing that this measure
would be strenuously urged during the late session of the
Legislature, and that many who professed to be hostile to the
further introduction of Slavery, would advocate it, and believing
that it would have a salutary effect to furnish them an
opportunity of evincing the sincerity of their professions; and
being also urged by a strong sense of the obligations imposed on
me, by my principles and feelings, to take notice of the subject,
I called the attention of the Legislature in a speech I delivered
on being sworn into office (a printed copy of which I sent you by
mail) to the existence of Slavery in the State, in violation of
the great fundamental principles of the ordinance, and
recommended that just and equitable provision be made for its
abrogation. As I anticipated, this part of my speech created a
considerable excitement with those who were openly or secretly in
favor of making Illinois a slave-holding, rather than making it
really as well as nominally, a free State--who wished to fill it
rather than empty it of slaves. Never did I see or hear in
America of party spirit going to such lengths, as well officially
as privately, as it did here on this question. Indeed, it seems
to me that Slavery is so poisonous as to produce a kind of
delirium in those minds who are excited by it. This question, and
the manner of carrying it, is exciting great interest throughout
the State, and has already kindled an extraordinary degree of
excitement and warmth of feeling, which will no doubt continue to
increase until the question is decided. I assure you, I never
before felt so deep an interest in any political question. It
preys upon me to such a degree, that I shall not be happy or feel
at ease until it is settled. It is impossible to foresee the
injurious effects resulting to this State of the unhappy
consequences which may arise to the Union, from the success of
the slave party in this State. Many of us who immigrated to this
State under the solemn assurance that there should exist here
"neither slavery nor involuntary servitude," will, if the slave
faction succeeds, be compelled to sacrifice or abandon our
property and seek new homes, we know not where, or remain in a
community whose principles we shall disapprove of, and whose
practice will be abhorrent to our feelings. And already we hear
disputed the binding effect of the ordinance--the power of
Congress to restrict a State, etc., etc., from which I fear, if
the introduction of Slavery should be tolerated here, the
discussions on the expediency and unconstitutionality of the
measure will not in all probability be confined to the citizens
of this State. But this is a part of the question too painful for
me to dwell on. I trust the good sense and virtue of the citizens
of Illinois will never sanction a measure so well calculated to
disturb the harmony of the Union and so injurious to its own
prosperity and happiness, as well as so directly opposite to the
progress of those enlightened and liberal principles which do
honor to the age. But to insure this it is necessary that the
public mind should be enlightened on the moral and political
effects of Slavery. You will confer a particular favor on me and
promote the virtuous cause in which I am enlisted, by giving me
information, or referring me to the sources from whence I can
draw it, calculated to elucidate the general character and
effects of Slavery--its moral, political and social
effects--facts showing its effects on the price of lands, and
general improvement and appearance of a country--of labor both as
it respects agriculture and manufactures, etc., etc. The State of
Pennsylvania having been long distinguished for its attachment to
free principles, there is no doubt but what you can procure in
Philadelphia many valuable pamphlets and publications which would
throw light on this question. Any which you may have it in your
power to procure and forward, will be most thankfully received,
and the amount of the expense repaid as soon as it is known. Your
old and truly sincere friend,
EDWARD COLES.
TO NICHOLAS BIDDLE, ESQ.,
PRESIDENT OF THE BANK OF THE UNITED STATES,
PHILADELPHIA.
MR. BIDDLE TO GOVERNOR COLES
PHILADELPHIA, May 20, 1823.
_Dear Sir:_ I have just received your friendly letter of the 22nd
ult., to which I shall take the first moment of leisure to give a
more detailed answer. In the meantime I can only say that I feel
most sincerely the embarrassment of your situation, and hope that
you may be able to triumph in the good cause. That no effort may
be wanting, you shall have all the assistance which I can give or
procure. My occupations necessarily absorb so much of my time
that I can promise you little on my part, personally, but I have
already engaged two of our most active gentlemen familiar with
that subject, who will cheerfully and zealously contribute to
your support. The first fruit of their labor is the pamphlet
accompanying this letter. I have not had time to read it, as I am
anxious to forward it without delay, but I understand that it is
the latest and best work on the subject, and goes directly to the
question of the superiority of free over slave labor. Mrs. B. and
Mr. Craig are glad to hear of your prosperity, and desire to be
particularly remembered to you.
With great sincerity of regard,
yrs.,
N. BIDDLE.
EDWARD COLES, ESQ.,
Vandalia.
MR. BIDDLE TO GOVERNOR COLES
PHILADELPHIA, May 26, 1823.
_My Dear Sir:_ My present occupations necessarily engross so much
of my time that I can scarcely contribute more than my good
wishes to the great cause which so naturally and deeply interests
you. It gives me peculiar satisfaction, therefore, to procure for
you the correspondence of my friend, Mr. Roberts Vaux, to whom
this note is intended to serve as an introduction. Mr. Vaux is a
gentleman of education, talents, fortune, leisure and high
standing in the community. He feels sensibly all the
embarrassments of your situation; he perceives the deep
importance of defeating this first effort to extend to the
north-western country the misfortunes of the slave population and
he is disposed to co-operate warmly and zealously with you. I
know of no individual more calculated to render you the most
efficient service. He is worthy of all your confidence, and I
recommend to you to yield it to him implicitly, as I am sure it
will be repaid by every kindness and every service in his power.
With great esteem and regard,
yrs.,
N. BIDDLE.
EDWARD COLES, ESQ.,
Vandalia,
Illinois.
MR. BIDDLE TO GOVERNOR COLES
PHILADELPHIA, May 26, 1823.
_My Dear Sir:_ I have put into the hands of my friend, Mr. Vaux,
a note for you which he will accompany with a communication on
the subject which now occupies you. Mr. Vaux will be hearty and
zealous in the cause, and I really deem it a subject of
congratulation to you, to procure the assistance of one who is
more able and willing than any individual of my acquaintance to
assist you. There is one thing which I wish to add. The Abolition
Society of this city, has been the subject, whether justly or not
I am unable to determine, of much hostility at a distance, and it
would be rather injurious than beneficial to have it supposed
that the society was active in the cause which you are
supporting. You will therefore understand that neither the
Abolition Society nor any other society has the least concern in
this matter. The simple fact is that Mr. Vaux, and two or three
of his friends, have been so much pleased with your past conduct
in relation to Slavery, and have so deep a sense of their duty to
resist the extension of that system, that they mean to volunteer
in assisting you, without any connections with any set of men,
and without any motives which the most honorable might not be
proud to avow.
Very sincerely,
yrs.,
N. BIDDLE.
EDWARD COLES, ESQ.,
Vandalia,
Illinois.
PHILADELPHIA, 5 Mo. 27, 1823.
TO EDWARD COLES, ESQ.:
_Esteemed Friend:_--My friend, Nicholas Biddle, has kindly
furnished me with a note of introduction to thy correspondence,
which is transmitted by the mail that conveys this letter. I
have been induced thus to solicit access to thy notice, because
thy conduct in relation to the emancipation of thy slaves could
not fail to beget great respect for an individual whose noble,
and generous example displayed so much practical wisdom, and
Christian benevolence. Nor has it been less gratifying to be
informed of thy official efforts to prevent the overthrow of
those constitutional barriers, which were erected to protect the
State of Illinois, from the moral, and political evils
inseparable from domestic slavery.
It is really astonishing, that any part of the inhabitants of
your State should wish to introduce a system which is generally
reprobated where its effects have been longest known, and from
the dominion of which, such of our fellow citizens of the South
as are disposed to examine the subject with the gravity which it
certainly merits, most anxiously desire to be redeemed.
Notwithstanding, however, the lessons which experience has taught
in this respect, it is likely that Illinois will be agitated by
the exertions of unreflecting men, and possibly without timely
and energetic efforts to counteract their schemes, they may be
enabled to persuade a majority of her people to violate their
early vows on this subject, and pollute your soil with the blood
and tears of slaves.
Feeling as I do, a deep sympathy for thyself, thus threatened
with the most unhappy consequences, and desirous that miseries
and mischiefs, the amount of which no mind can fully calculate,
may be averted from the extensive and fair region of which
Illinois forms a part, I would willingly contribute anything in
my power, and with these views I offer my own, and the services
of a few of my friends, in this interesting cause.
We have thought that benefit might result from making judicious
selections from writers whose purpose is to show the iniquity,
and impolicy of slavery--these selections to be printed in the
_Tract form_ (at our own expense) and forwarded to Illinois for
gratuitous distribution. If this plan should meet thy
approbation, I should be glad to receive an early intimation to
that effect, but should thy official station, or duties, render
it either improper or inconvenient for thee to take an active
part in this business, perhaps it will be in thy power to select
a few individuals who may be disposed to aid us, and in that
event, I shall be obliged by thy introduction of such persons to
my correspondence.
Accept the salutation of my respect,
ROBERTS VAUX.
EDWARDSVILLE, ILLINOIS, June 27, 1823.
_Esteemed Friend_:
Your kind and highly interesting letter of the 27th ult. was
rec'd by the last mail, and has been perused with very great
pleasure. The benevolent sentiments you express, and the correct
views you take of the great question which is now unfortunately
agitating this State, and the deep interest you evince for the
prosperity and happiness of Illinois, and the preservation of the
rights and liberty of its inhabitants, do credit alike to the
native benevolence of your heart and to those divine and
political principles which distinguish the real Christian and
Republican, and cannot fail to present a contrast, which, however
mortifying it may be to me as an Illinoisan, cannot but be highly
gratifying to me as a man, to see one so far removed from the
scene, and without any other interest except that which he feels
in the general happiness of his species, nobly and generously
volunteering his services to assist in promoting the cause of
humanity, whilst there are thousands here strenuously advocating
the giving a legal sanction to the oppression and abject slavery
of their fellow-creatures. Such noble, generous, and fervid
benevolence as yours, is highly honorable even to a _Friend_; and
is a new and striking proof of that extended philanthropy, and
pure and heaven-born spirit of Brotherly love, by which that
denomination of Christians have ever been distinguished, and
cannot fail to excite the admiration and win the confidence and
attachment of all--especially of those like myself, who daily
experience pain and mortification in hearing doctrines advanced
which are directly in opposition to the great fundamental truths
of our religious and political creeds.
In behalf of the friends of freedom in this State, I give you
sincere and grateful thanks for the offer of your services to
assist us to enlighten the minds of our fellow citizens, by
publishing judicious selections and observations on the iniquity
and impolicy of Slavery, in _tract form_, and distributing them
gratuitously through the State. It may be proper, however, to
remark that distant friends should be cautious in the manner of
making their benevolent exertions, as there is danger that
designing partisans here may not only paralyze the effort, but
turn it against the cause it was intended to promote, by
representing it to be the interference of other States for the
purpose of influencing the opinion of the people of this. An
ingenious pen could dress up this subject in a manner to give it
great effect in this country. Would it not, therefore, be best
not to state on the face of the publications where they were
printed? They could be printed in Philadelphia, and sent with the
goods of some merchant of St. Louis at a much less expense than
by mail.
Not being aware of any consideration which should restrain me,
but on the contrary believing that my present office increases
the obligations I am under, as a good citizen, to exert myself to
enlighten the minds of my fellow citizens, and strenuously to
oppose every measure which I am convinced is unjust in principle
or injurious in its effects, and believing Slavery to be both
iniquitous and impolitic, I conceive myself bound, both as a
citizen and as an officer, to do all in my power to prevent its
introduction into this State. I will therefore cheerfully render
you assistance in distributing any publications you may forward,
or give you any information you may desire.
The friends of freedom here propose making publication similar to
those you suggest, but they will not have the same means of doing
justice to the subject that you will have in Philadelphia. We are
particularly anxious, not only to present to the people proper
views of the immoral and anti-christian, unjust and
anti-republican character of Slavery, but also _facts_ showing
its impolicy and injurious effects in retarding the settlement
and prosperity of the State, by checking emigration to it, and
paralyzing the enterprise and activity of its citizens--that it
would impede the progress of manufactures, be prejudicial to
agriculture, and in one word, to the future prosperity, as well
as to the immediate interest of the State. The great argument
here in favor of the introduction and toleration of Slavery, is
that it would have the immediate effect of raising the price of
lands, and adding to the population and wealth of the country. We
want _facts_ to disprove these assertions, and also to show that
Slavery would operate to the injury of the poor or laboring
classes of society. Strange as it may appear, it is nevertheless
true, that there are many persons who are in principle opposed to
Slavery who will yet vote for making this a slaveholding State,
under the belief that by so doing they will be enabled to make an
immediate and advantageous sale of their lands, and thus gratify
that restless and rambling disposition which is so common with
frontier settlers.
Pardon this long and hasty letter. Give my regards to our mutual
friend Biddle, and be assured that your generous benevolence has
inspired me with great respect and sincere regard for you.
EDWARD COLES.
ROBERTS VAUX,
Philadelphia.
ROBERTS VAUX TO GOVERNOR COLES
BIRWOOD LODGE (NEAR PHIL'A), 7 Mo. 24, 1823.
_Esteemed Friend:_--I cannot delay an immediate acknowledgment of
thy letter of the 27th ultimo, which reached me at my summer
residence today.
It affords me unfeigned satisfaction to learn from it that thee
approves the plan which I submitted for thy consideration.
Anticipating a favorable notice of the suggestion, by a mind so
devoted as thine to the promotion of the great ends of humanity,
of justice, and of National honor, three pamphlets were prepared,
which will be immediately printed, and transmitted to thy address
at St. Louis. One of these tracts is designed to show the
impolicy and unprofitableness of Slave Labor, etc., and some
arguments are drawn from the published opinions of several
distinguished citizens _of the slave-holding States_; among which
Col. Taylor's are not the least authoritative and cogent. Another
essay exhibits a succinct account of the cruelties of the Slave
Trade, derived from authentic sources; and a third pamphlet is
intended to show that the interminable bondage of any portion of
the human race is, on the part of the oppressors, a flagrant
violation of natural and Divine Justice, and utterly inconsistent
with the doctrines of our Holy Redeemer.
Aware of the unpopularity of Philadelphia, and especially of
_Quaker_ sentiments on this particular topic, with all those who
attempt to justify slavery, it was originally determined to avoid
giving any complexion whatever to these publications which might
induce the belief that they proceeded from this State, or that
individuals of the Society of Friends had any agency in the
preparation of them. The coincidence of our judgment in regard to
the manner of treating the subject is worthy of remark.
If the least benefit results from this humble effort, it will
administer to my happiness, which will be augmented by the
reflection, that it owes its origin to thy own emphatic summons
for aid, in a cause which demands the exercise of every generous
and patriotic feeling.
That indulgent Heaven may crown thy labors with success, is the
sincere desire of thy friend.
With great truth and respect,
ROBERTS VAUX.
To EDWARD COLES, ESQUIRE,
Governor of Illinois,
Edwardsville, Illinois.
P. S.--On my next visit to the city, I intend to communicate thy
message to our friend Nicholas Biddle.
R. V.
GOVERNOR COLES TO MR. BIDDLE
EDWARDSVILLE, Sept. 18, 1823.
_Dear Sir_:--I have been long anxious to return you my thanks for
your kind letter of May 20th and 26th, and also for the
acceptable service you rendered me in making me known to Mr.
Vaux, from whom I have had the pleasure of receiving two letters,
and a promise of his assistance in preventing our soil from being
polluted with the foul and disgraceful stain of slavery. The
disinterested and praiseworthy zeal he evinces is as honorable to
him, as it is gratifying to me, and is well calculated not only
to give me an exalted opinion of his character, but to awaken the
most lively feelings of regard and friendship for him. I wish,
when you see him, you would tender him my kind regards and thanks
for his letter of July 24, and say to him, I hope soon to receive
the packages promised. The propriety of calling a convention, or
more properly speaking, of making this a slave-holding State, is
still discussed with considerable warmth, and continues to engage
the undivided attention of the people, being the constant theme
of conversation in every circle, and every newspaper teems with
no other subject. Unfortunately for the friends of freedom, four
out of five of the newspapers printed in this State are opposed
to them; and the only press whose editor is in favor of freedom,
although a pretty smart editor, has rendered himself unpopular
with many by his foolish and passionate attacks upon many of the
prominent men on his side of the question. If, however, the
advocates of Slavery have the advantage of us in printing
presses, we have greatly the advantage of them in possessing men
of the most talents, and most able to wield the pen and use the
press, with effect; and as three out of four of their presses
have professed a willingness to admit well-written original
essays on both sides of the question, we shall have not only the
best of the argument, but be able, I trust, to present it in the
best dress to the public. I am happy in telling you that the
advocates of a convention have been losing ground ever since the
adjournment of the Legislature; and there is no doubt with me if
the question were now to be decided, that a majority of the
people would be opposed to it. But what will be the state of the
parties next August is another question. Many of the people in
this State are very fickle and credulous, and much can be done by
designing and unprincipled partisans, and that everything which
can possibly be done will be done, we cannot but infer from the
extraordinary and unwarrantable measures resorted to last winter
in the Legislature in getting up the question, and the great
anxiety evinced, and exertions which have been made and are still
making to prevail on the people to sanction it. But as the
friends of freedom are aware of this, they will watch the
movements of their opponents, and be on the alert to counteract
their intrigues and machinations. The object for which a
convention is wanted is so justly odious, and the conduct of the
friends of the measure so disgraceful, that I cannot bring myself
to believe they will succeed. But I regret to state that the
advocates of Slavery in this State are gaining strength, from the
indiscretion of the advocates of freedom out of the State.
Certain leading newspapers in the Atlantic cities have taken a
stand, and held language which is used here in a way calculated
to do much mischief. Whether we have the constitutional right to
make this a slave-holding State, or not, or whether the opponents
of the extension of Slavery, here or elsewhere, may think proper
hereafter to call for the interposition of the Federal Gov't to
restrain the people of this State, it is certainly bad policy at
this time very strongly to urge it, and especially in what may be
considered dictatorial language; as it is of all other questions
the best calculated to arouse the feelings of State pride, and
State rights, and that natural love of unrestrained liberty and
independence which is common to our countrymen, and especially to
our frontier settlers, who of all men in the world have the
strongest jealousy of authority and aversion to restraint.
I wish, my friend, you would use your influence to prevail on the
newspaper writers to let this question alone for the present. If
they are sincere in their opposition to the further extension of
Slavery, they will not prematurely urge it, when they are assured
that by so doing they can do no good, but much harm.
I shall go to St. Louis in a day or two, when I hope to have the
pleasure of seeing and congratulating your brother on his late
marriage, and becoming acquainted with his lady. This has been
the most cool and agreeable, and by far the most healthful summer
I have ever seen in this country. The spring was too wet and we
were apprehensive of an unfavorable season both for health and
vegetation, but we have been most agreeably disappointed. My
health was never better. I beg you to present my kind regards to
Mrs. B., and to Mr. Craig, and to be assured of my sincere
regard.
EDWARD COLES.
NICHOLAS BIDDLE, ESQ.,
President of the Bank of the U. S.--Philadelphia.
P. S.--Could you or Mr. Vaux furnish me with an assessment of
lands in the different counties of Pennsylvania? I want to show
that lands are higher in price in free than slave States.
GOVERNOR COLES TO ROBERTS VAUX
VANDALIA, ILLINOIS, December 11, 1823.
_Esteemed Friend_:--I received some time since your letter of the
11th of Oct., and by the last mail yours of the 4th ulto. An
unusual press of public business prevented my sooner
acknowledging the former, and will now prevent my making as long
an answer to the two as I desire. For the last four weeks there
has been a great crowd of persons here, attending the Circuit and
Supreme Court of the State, and the U. S. and District Court and
the sale at auction for taxes of about 7,000 tracts of land,
belonging to non-resident proprietors. This has necessarily given
me much to do; but it has at the same time afforded me an
excellent opportunity of collecting the sense of the people on
the great question which is now agitating the State. And I am
happy in assuring you, from the best information I have been able
to collect from all parts of the State, I am more confirmed in my
belief that a majority of the people will be opposed to calling a
convention for the purpose of altering the Constitution so as to
make this a slave-holding State. But the extraordinary efforts
that have been made here during the last three or four weeks by
the friends of Slavery, in organizing their party, and enabling
its leaders to act with the most concert and effect, convince the
friends of freedom that their opponents are yet in the field, and
that they should be on the alert, for fear by some _ruse de
guerre_, at which their opponents are known from sad experience
to be great adepts, the advocates of oppression should triumph.
Nearly all the leading friends of a convention have been
assembled here, and held caucuses for the purpose of deliberating
upon the best means of promoting the success of their favorite
measure; have adopted sundry resolutions, and made many
arrangements; among others have appointed committees for each
county in the State, and requested that the county committees
appoint a committee in each township, for the purpose of
corresponding with each other, and of influencing by every
possible means the public opinion.
With respect to your inquiry whether there is not some more
expeditious and safe mode of sending out the pamphlets than
through a commercial house at St. Louis, I can think of no other,
except to forward them, as pamphlets, by mail to me to this
place, which is at this season of the year slow and precarious.
The pamphlet you forwarded me by mail, along with your last
letter, I received safe; but have been so busy as not yet to have
had time to read it. Two thousand of each kind, will, I presume,
be enough, and as many as I shall be able conveniently to
distribute. There will be for the next six months, so few persons
visiting this place, that I shall be compelled to rely chiefly on
the mails, as the means of distributing pamphlets, or other
information to the public. If possible, I intend to have all the
pamphlets published in one or more of our weekly newspapers.
Accompanying this I send you a pamphlet, which has been lately
published by my old friend Birkbeck, which is by far the best
publication which has been yet given to the public. After you
have perused it, you will confer a favor on me to loan it for the
perusal of our mutual friend Biddle, to whom I beg you to present
my kind regards.
With great respect and sincere regards, your friend,
EDWARD COLES.
TO ROBERTS VAUX,
Philadelphia.
We have had the misfortune (two days since) to lose our State
House by fire. This accident will operate in favor of a
convention. Many profess to be opposed to slavery but in favor of
a convention to remove the seat of Government. There is now of
course less inducement for keeping it here. I still, however,
hope and believe we shall have no convention.
MORRIS BIRKBECK TO GOVERNOR COLES
WANBOROUGH, Dec. 6, 1823.
_Dear Sir_: * * * * * * * * * *
I take the liberty by this mail to send you half a dozen; and if,
on reading a copy, you should think it may be useful to any of
the unconverted Conventionists, you may put it in their way. I am
glad you think favorably of the course the question is taking. I
believe the advocates of a Convention are not so numerous as they
have been on this side of the State. The leaders do not seem to
be so sanguine. This may, however, be a _ruse de guerre_
preparatory to a grand push in the spring. I am rejoiced that you
have escaped from sickness this summer. My family has enjoyed
excellent health, and the neighborhood--as heretofore. We should
be glad to see you amongst us; and a friendly visit from you
would give _me_ peculiar pleasure. I have not seen Mr. Pell since
the morning, when I received your letter. I shall deliver your
message to him, and I beg you to believe me your sincere friend,
M. BIRKBECK.
TO GOVERNOR COLES,
Vandalia.
GOVERNOR COLES TO MORRIS BIRKBECK
VANDALIA, January 29, 1824.
_My Dear Sir_:--I had the pleasure to receive, in due course of
mail, your letter of the 6th ulto., together with six of your
pamphlets, which you were so good as to send me, for which I
return you my thanks. I had previously seen republished in a
newspaper your pamphlet, and had read it with great pleasure. I
could not but wish every Conventionist in the State had it and
was compelled to read it with attention. Our society at
Edwardsville intends having another and large edition of it
reprinted for the purpose of having it extensively circulated. I
took the liberty to send one or two of your pamphlets to some
distant and particular friends, who take a deep interest in the
Slave question in this State. By the by, should not the review of
your pamphlet, which appeared first in the Illinois Gazette, and
since republished in all the Convention papers of the State, be
noticed? It is very ingeniously written, but what more
particularly requires correction is the fabrications and
misrepresentations of facts. One or two of these were hastily
noticed and sent to be inserted last week in the paper published
here; but no paper has since issued from the press.
During the setting of the Courts, and the sale of the lands of
non-residents for taxes, we had a considerable number of persons
assembled here from almost every part of the State; and a pretty
good opportunity was afforded of collecting the public sentiment
in relation to the great question which is now convulsing the
State. The friends of a Convention pretended to be pleased; but
it was very apparent they were not; and the more honest and
liberal among them acknowledged that they thought their prospects
bad. Our friends on the other hand were much pleased, and
rendered much more sanguine of success from the information they
received. The friends of Slavery, however, were caucusing nearly
every night, and made many arrangements for their electioneering
campaign. Among others, it is said, they have appointed five
persons in each county, with a request that these five appoint
three in each election precinct, for the purpose of diffusing
their doctrines, embodying their forces, and acting with the
greatest concert and effort. This is well calculated to bring
their strength to bear in the best possible manner, and should,
as far as possible, be counteracted. When bad men conspire, good
men should be watchful.
The friends of a Convention appear to become more and more bitter
and virulent in their enmity to me, and seem determined not only
to injure my standing with the people, but to break down my
pecuniary resources. A suit has been lately instituted at
Edwardsville against me for the recovery of the sum of $200 for
_each_ negro emancipated by me and brought into this State. The
suit has been brought under a law passed on the 30th of March,
1819, but which was not printed or promulgated until the October
following. In the meantime, that is about the first week of May,
my negroes emigrated to and settled in this State. What is truly
farcical in this suit is, that a poor worthless fellow, who has
no property, and of course pays no tax, has been selected to
institute it, from the fear he has of being taxed to support the
negroes I emancipated, when they, who are all young and healthy,
are so prosperous as to possess comfortable livings, and some of
them pay as much as four dollars a year tax on their property. I
should indeed, my friend, be unfortunate were I now compelled to
pay $200 for each of my negroes, big and little, dead and living
(for the suit goes to this) after the sacrifices I have made, and
my efforts to befriend and enable them to live comfortably. For I
not only emancipated all my negroes, which amounted to one-third
of all the property my father bequeathed me, but I removed them
out here at an expense of between five and six hundred dollars,
and then gave each head of a family, and all others who had
passed the age of 24, one hundred and sixty acres of land each,
and exerted myself to prevail on them to be honest, industrious
and correct in their conduct. This they have done in a remarkable
degree, so much so, with all the prejudice against free negroes,
there never has been the least ground for charge or censure
against any one of them. And now, for the first time in my life,
to be sued for what I thought was generous and praiseworthy
conduct, creates strange feelings, which, however, cease to give
me personal mortification, when I reflect on the character and
motives of those who have instituted it.
Just about the time this suit was instituted, I had the
misfortune to lose by fire two-thirds of all the buildings and
enclosures on my farm, together with about 200 apple trees and as
many peach trees--several of each kind large enough to bear
fruit. And soon after, the "State House" having been consumed by
fire, a project was set on foot to rebuild it by subscription.
Not liking the plan and arrangements, I declined subscribing, and
proposed others, which I thought would be more for the interest
of the State, of the county, and of the town--and which by the
way are now generally admitted would have been best. This however
was immediately laid hold of by some of the factious
Conventionists who being aware that the loss of the State House
would operate to the injury of their favorite measure in _this
county_, and being anxious to display great solicitude for the
interest of the people here, and that too, as much as possible at
the expense of the anti-Conventionists, they busied themselves in
misrepresenting to the multitude my reasons and motives for not
subscribing my name to their paper, and with the aid of large
potions of whiskey, contrived to get up a real _vandal_ mob, who
vented their spleen against me, in the most noisy and riotous
manner, nearly all night, for my opposition to a convention and
for my refusal as they termed it, to rebuild the State House. All
this and other instances of defamation and persecution, create in
my bosom opposite feelings; one of pain, the other of pleasure.
Pain to see my fellow man so ill-natured and vindictive merely
because I am the friend of my species, and am opposed to one
portion oppressing another--pleasure that I should be in a
situation which enables me to render services to the just and
good cause in which we are engaged; and so far from repining at
these indignities and persecutions, I am thankful to Providence
for placing me in the van of this eventful contest, and giving me
a temper, zeal, and resolution which I trust will enable me to
bear with fortitude the peltings which are inseparable from it.
In conclusion, I pray you to do me the justice to believe, that
no dread of personal consequences will ever abate my efforts to
promote the good of the public, much less to abandon the great
fundamental principles of civil and personal liberty--and to be
assured of my sincere friendship.
EDWARD COLES.
MORRIS BIRKBECK, ESQ.,
Wanborough, Edwards County.
MR. BIRKBECK TO GOVERNOR COLES
WANBOROUGH, Feb. 19, 1824.
_My Dear Sir_:--I have just received your letter of January 29,
and I assure you the receiving of it has given me unfeigned
pleasure, although its contents, as far as the unworthy conduct
of the party is productive of vexation to you, I as sincerely
lament. I am sorry that it should be at your expense; but as it
tends to expose the badness of the cause and the iniquity of its
supporters, the friends of liberty and virtue can hardly regret
that they should have thus displayed their true characters.
For myself, my private situation screens me in great measure from
persecution, though I presume, not from the honor of their
hatred. I am glad, you approve my little pamphlet; if I could
afford it I would spare the society at Edwardsville the expense
of republishing, &c. I have the satisfaction of knowing that it
has done some good, by changing the sentiments of several, who
through want of reflection or knowledge, had been advocates of
Slavery. And as there are many up and down in all parts of the
State, who are in that situation, I trust its general circulation
will be useful. I am continually plying the Slave party, through
the Illinois Gazette, with popular discussions and sometimes with
legal arguments, under the signature of Jonathan Freeman, and
some others. You will see, if you read that paper, an ironical
proposal of a plan for raising a fund to colonize the negroes as
an appendage to limited Slavery, signed J., which I think may
show the absurdity of that argument. The Edwardsville Spectator
published about a dozen of those short letters, and I suppose
that you will see a few more of them shortly. As they present
the question in various lights, pointing out the wickedness and
folly of the slave scheme, dissected as it were into distinct
portions, I imagine they make an impression on some readers more
effectually than a continued course of argument. I submit, with
great deference, a thought that some of these would be useful if
published by way of appendix to the _Appeal_. Perhaps you will
revert to them, and notice a few more which you will soon see;
then do as you see good.
As _publication_ is essential to the binding power of a law, in
fact to its existence _as law_, you will of course defeat your
persecutors, and put them to shame, on the principle of _ex post
facto_. You could not infringe in May a law promulgated in
October following.
The fire at Vandalia is rather against the Conventionists in that
quarter. The idea of re-building the State House by subscription,
you, as governor, could hardly countenance. What authority have
individuals to act in this case, even at their own expense? And
what claim have they on your private purse? I am only sorry for
your personal vexation under these attacks. They discover the
weakness and folly of the party, and I am in hopes they are
losing ground. They have great zeal and activity and no delicacy
about the means; there is considerable zeal and activity on our
side; and setting the good principles of our cause against their
total want of principle, I trust we are a match for them,
provided we do not relax in our efforts. The attack on my
pamphlet by Americanus (who is Mr. Webb of Bonpas), seems to the
Illinois Gazette a short reply to the personalities; further I
thought needless, and have just written another to the same
effect, which I shall send to the Vandalia paper. Not being
presumed to know the author, some severity of retort seems
allowable.
You have a circle at Vandalia chiefly, I fear, of the wrong sort
in regard to the vital question, which circumstance must detract
from your social enjoyment, where at best it could ill be spared.
The cause in which you are engaged so heartily is so thoroughly
good that it will bear you up through many sacrifices and
privations. Your sentiments on the subject rejoice and encourage
me, and in return (pedantry as it may seem) I shall give you a
sentiment from Horace for _your_ encouragement.[233]
Justum et tenacem propositi virum,
Non civium ardor prava jubentium,
Non vultus instantis tyranni,
Mente quatit solida.
I remain, with great esteem, yours,
M. BIRKBECK.
MORRIS BIRKBECK, ESQ.,
Wanborough.
I had hoped after the great and decided majority which was given
at the late election against a Convention, my political enemies
would have ceased to persecute me. But in this I was mistaken. It
would seem I must be sacrificed. Nothing short of my entire ruin
will satisfy my enemies, and they seem determined to effect it
without regard to the means. Yesterday the suit which has been
instituted against me for freeing my negroes was called up for
trial. Judge Reynolds not only decided several points of law
against me, in opposition to the opinion of several of the best
lawyers in the State, but he and Mr. Turney rejected _all_ my
testimony as illegal, and would not permit a solitary word to be
uttered by a witness of mine. Under such circumstances the jury
found a verdict of $2,000 against me, which, with the cost, will
be a difficult sum for me to raise, these hard times. I shall ask
for a new trial. If this application should share the fate of all
others I have made, it is to be hoped he will not assume the
power to prevent my taking an appeal to the Supreme Court.
In haste, your friend,
ED. COLES.
GOVERNOR COLES TO ROBERTS VAUX
VANDALIA, Jan'y 21, 1824.
_My Friend_:--While at Edwardsville a few days since, I received
a letter from D. B. Smith, notifying me that he had forwarded to
the care of I. I. Smith & Co., of St. Louis, certain pamphlets;
previous to which, however, I had been informed by one of that
company that he expected them, and had requested him to notify me
so soon as they should be received, and to forward them to me to
this place by the first safe opportunity. I also had the pleasure
to receive at Edwardsville the pamphlet you were so good as to
enclose me by mail. The information contained in this pamphlet in
relation to the foreign slave trade, is highly interesting. I
must, however, be allowed to express my regret that it does not
bear more directly on the question, which is now agitating us
here, by showing the resemblance between the _foreign_ and
_domestic_ slave trade, and the inevitable effect of the
extension of Slavery into new regions, to continue and increase
this odious traffic. To add to the circulation of this, as well
as the pamphlet I had previously the pleasure to receive from
you, I shall, if possible, prevail on some of the editors to
publish them in their newspapers. But unfortunately for our
cause, of the five newspapers printed in this State, four are the
avowed advocates of Slavery (in other words for a Convention) and
but one of Freedom, and that one not friendly to me and other
opponents of the Convention. This division among us arises from
factions, personal and local feelings, and from the circumstance
that we have many avowed friends of freedom, who are themselves
the masters of slaves; and who, while they unite with us in
opposing the means of the further introduction of Slavery, are at
the same time violently opposed to our efforts to abolish the
remnant of Slavery which is still allowed to stain our soil.
There is also another class among us who profess to be opposed to
Slavery and who rail much against it, but yet who are friendly to
it, as is fully evinced by their advocating every measure
calculated to introduce and tolerate it here. The character and
feelings of these several classes of our citizens were strongly
exemplified last winter, when, on entering into office, I called
the attention of the Legislature to the existence of Slavery
among us, and urged its abolition. As it may be the means of
throwing some light on the slave question in this State, I will
send you, accompanying this letter, a printed copy of my speech,
and a report made by a committee of the Legislature on a part of
it.
My remarks and recommendation on the subject of Slavery produced
a great excitement among those who held slaves, or were desirous
of holding them, particularly among those advocates of a
Convention who were professedly the opponents of Slavery, but
secretly its friends, and who hoped under the fair mask of
freedom, to deceive the people and to smuggle in the monster
Slavery. Bringing forward the measure of abolition at the same
time they brought forward the Convention question, placed these
professed friends to the rights of man in an awkward situation,
for it was apparent if they voted agreeable to their
declarations, they, together with the real and genuine friends of
freedom, would constitute a majority of the Legislature, and of
course pass the abolition Bill. This state of things had the
effect of unmasking their true opinions and views, and of clearly
exhibiting to the public the real object for which a convention
was to be called--that of making this a Slave-holding State....
Having had the good fortune, through every period of my life, to
live in great harmony with my fellow man, the enmity and
persecution I have lately had to encounter, have created a new
state of feeling, and caused me to look into my own conduct to
see whether it has been correct. In this review I have been
gratified to find I have not given just cause of offense to any
one; but I have been grieved to perceive with what virulence I
have been pelted, when the only complaint against me is, that I
am a friend to the equal rights of man, and am considered a
barrier to my opponents acquiring the power of oppressing their
fellow man. Under this view of my situation, I am gratified that
Providence has placed me in the van of this great contest; and I
am truly thankful that my system is so organized as to leave no
room for doubt, fear or hesitation. My opinions have long since
been maturely formed, and my course deliberately taken, and is
not now to be changed by detraction, prosecutions, or threats of
"_Convention or death_."
I beg you excuse my troubling you with the perusal of so long a
letter, and that you will pardon me for having said so much of
myself, in consideration of its connection with the great
question now agitating this State, by interesting yourself in
which you have displayed so signal and praiseworthy an instance
of your benevolence--for which I pray you to accept the grateful
thanks of your friend,
EDWARD COLES.
Answering this January 21, 1824, Mr. Vaux said:
The part which thee has been called to act, privately as well as
publicly and officially, in regard to the rights of mankind, and
for the upholding of the principles of justice and mercy toward a
degraded and oppressed portion of our fellow beings, ought to be
regarded as a manifestation of Providential power, concerning
which we must always believe the same Divine interposition will
be extended in every exigency. I am altogether satisfied that it
is reserved for thee to witness the triumph of truth and
beneficence in the struggle to which thee has been exposed; and,
what is of infinitely greater value, as it respects thyself, to
reap a plentiful harvest in the most precious of all rewards, the
approbation of Heaven!
I feel a deep interest in thy character, and a lively gratitude
for thy service, and it will always be among the purest
consolations of my mind to be assured of thy welfare and
happiness.
ROBERTS VAUX TO GOVERNOR COLES
_Esteemed Friend_:--My delay in the acknowledgment of the receipt
of thy truly interesting letter of Jan'y 21, last, will not, I
trust, be attributed to any want of respect and kindness, but to
the real causes, which were, first, an unusual press of business
relative to several public institutions, which at the season of
the receipt of that communication demanded my attention; and
secondly, to the expectation subsequently entertained here, that
thy presence might be expected at Washington as successor in the
Senate of the United States to N. Edwards, appointed on a foreign
mission. The likelihood that the latter event might bring us to a
_personal_ acquaintance in this city, when the session of
Congress should terminate, was contemplated with pleasure, since
a direct interchange of opinion would be preferred to epistolary
correspondence. Time, however, has served to show that this
prospect, with many others upon which we dwell with satisfaction,
failed of realization, and I therefore avail myself of the only
means which are left to renew the assurance of my remembrance, of
my undissembled regard, and of my sincere sympathy. The part
which thee has been called to act privately as well as publicly,
and officially, in regard to the rights of mankind, and for the
upholding of the principles of justice, and mercy toward a
degraded and oppressed portion of our fellow beings, ought to be
regarded as a manifestation of Providential power, concerning
which we must always believe the same Divine interposition will
be extended in every exigency. I am altogether satisfied that it
is reserved for thee to witness the triumph of truth and
beneficence in the struggle to which thee has been exposed; and,
what is of infinitely greater value, as it respects thyself, to
reap a plenteous harvest in the most precious of all rewards, the
approbation of Heaven!
I feel a deep interest in thy character, and a lively gratitude
for thy services, and it will always be among the purest
consolations of my mind to be assured of thy welfare and
happiness; with these impressions I salute thee, and remain
faithfully,
Thy Friend,
ROBERTS VAUX
To EDWARD COLES,
Governor of Illinois.
P. S.--I yesterday passed half and hour with our friend, N.
Biddle; he is well, but very much occupied with official duties
at the bank.
ROBERTS VAUX TO GOVERNOR COLES
_Dear Friend_: The last intelligence from Philadelphia is, that
the great question which has so long agitated your State, and
which had a bearing so important upon the common interests of
humanity, and justice, has been determined. Happy for your
commonwealth! Creditable for our country! Slavery will not be
permitted to overrun Illinois! The result of the conflict is
truly joyous; you have said to the moral plague, "_Thus far, but
no farther, shalt thou come._"
My warmest congratulations are tendered on this great event,
though I know how inferior all exterior circumstances must be in
comparison with the heart-solacing reward which is reaped by thy
devotedness in this noble cause.
Since I have been at my summer residence, I have received several
numbers of an Illinois newspaper, and a pamphlet from the same
quarter, all which contained highly interesting matter relative
to the question then undecided in your State; I presume I am
indebted to thy kindness for those documents, for which I feel
greatly obliged. The letter of Thos. Jefferson addressed to
thyself, is very interesting, and I have it in contemplation to
cause it to be printed in a tract form, for general distribution,
provided such use of it, may be altogether agreeable to thee.
I have indulged myself with a hope that it may be within the
range of probability, that thee will make a visit to Philadelphia
ere long. Not anything would give me more pleasure than thy
presence in our city, and that gratification would be increased
by thy making my house thy home. I have much more to communicate
than I have leisure now to put on paper, as we are today
preparing to return, on the morrow, to our house in town.
With sincere regard I remain thy friend,
ROBERTS VAUX.
GOVERNOR COLES TO ROBERTS VAUX
_My Dear Sir_:--When I had the happiness to enjoy your society
last summer in Philadelphia, you were so kind as to express a
wish to hear from me on my return to this State. I should long
since have fulfilled the promise then made you to comply with
this request which I felt was as flattering to me, as it was kind
in you; but for a mass of business which had accumulated during
my absence, the preparation for the meeting, and the labor and
interruption attendant on the session of the Legislature, which
adjourned a few days since; and the novel and extraordinary
efforts made by some of my old political opponents to supplant me
in the office of Governor, by thrusting in my place the
Lieutenant-Governor a zealous and thorough-going advocate of
Slavery. I had heard nothing of this intention (for although many
letters were written to me, it so happened not one ever came to
hand, or has since been heard of) until I reached Louisville on
my way home, when I was told by a friend that he had been
informed by a distinguished opponent of mine that it had been
determined that I should not be permitted to resume the office of
Governor. On my arriving in the State, I found that there had
been several caucuses held in different places, by what are
called the knowing ones, for the purpose of devising the best
mode of proceeding, and of organizing their forces to act against
me. All the Executive officers of the State recognizing me as
Governor, I found no difficulty in entering at once on the duties
of the office. The Lieutenant-Governor, however, still remained
at the seat of Gov't, contending that I had vacated the office by
my absence from the State, and that he was, under the
constitution, the acting Governor. On the meeting of the Supreme
Court, he applied for a mandamus against the Secretary of State.
The court refused the mandamus on an incidental point, and got
rid of the main question without deciding it. Soon after this the
General Assembly met, and efforts were made to induce it to
recognize the Lieutenant as the acting Governor; but these
efforts having failed, he made a communication to both Houses,
setting forth his claims to the office of Governor, and asking to
be heard by himself or counsel in support of them. Nothing was
done with this communication, there being only _one_ member in
_each_ House openly in favor of the Lieutenant-Governor's
pretensions. There would doubtless have been more if there had
been any prospect of ousting me. I attribute the unexpected
unanimity to the circumstance of the question having been stirred
in time to afford the people an opportunity of making known their
opinions and feelings to their Representatives previous to their
leaving home to take their seats in the Legislature. The current
of public opinion on this question was too strong in my favor to
be resisted by any but a most desperate antagonist. This effort
of my opponents has recoiled very much to my advantage, in
weakening their popularity, and adding to the strength of mine.
You will recollect my having shown you last summer some
strictures, which I had been induced to publish on the judge's
opinion in the malicious suit which had been instituted against
me for freeing my negroes, in consequence of several
extraordinary errors of fact, as well as of law, which it
contained, and the unusual pains taken by the judge to publish
and circulate these errors to my injury. Two actions have been
instituted against me for this publication--one by the court--the
other in the name of the judge as an individual, in which he has
laid his damages at $5,000. The former is to be tried at
Edwardsville next month--the latter at this place in April. The
original suit, or mother of the judge's twin-suits, is still
pending in our Supreme Court, and is expected will be decided at
the June term. I trust I shall get rid of all of these suits in
the course of the spring and summer. I feel the more anxious to
do so as they are the first suits, that ever were instituted
against me.
I have not heard anything of the pamphlets which you were so good
as to promise to send me. I shall go to St. Louis in about a
month, when I hope to receive them. I see noticed in the public
prints a new pamphlet, published by G. and C. Carville, at New
York, on the emancipation and removal of the slaves of the U. S.
If you could conveniently lay your hands on this pamphlet, you
would confer a favor on me by sending it to me by mail. May I ask
the favor of you to hand to Mr. Fry the enclosed five dollar
note, and request him to forward the National Gazette to William
Wilson (Chief Justice of the State), Carmi, White county,
Illinois.
I beg you to present my kind regards to Mrs. Vaux, and to accept
my grateful acknowledgments for your very kind and truly friendly
attentions to me while in Philadelphia; and permit me again to
renew to you the assurance of my obligations to you for the
services rendered to humanity and to Illinois during the late
vile effort to prostitute their rights and character and to
repeat that the virtuous and benevolent interest you evinced on
that occasion will ever endear you to
EDWARD COLES.
GOVERNOR COLES TO A. COWLES
_Dear Sir_:--Believing that I should have been able to prove that
I had not libeled Judge McRoberts, and explain how the Grand Jury
had been induced to present me for so doing, it was with great
regret that I heard you had thought proper to dismiss the
prosecution. Fearing that some malicious person may misrepresent
this transaction at some future day, when those who now
understand it may have forgotten many of the details in relation
to it, or perhaps be dead, or have removed from the country, I
have determined to ask the favor of you to give me a written
answer to the following questions:
Did you summon or request Judge McRoberts to appear before the
Grand Jury, which presented me for libeling him?
Did not Judge McRoberts request to see the indictment before it
was delivered to the Grand Jury, and did he not examine and alter
it, and if so what were the alterations made by him?
Did you ask Mr. Blackwell to aid you in the prosecution of me,
and do you know whether he was employed by Judge McRoberts to do
so?
As you have expressed the opinion verbally to several persons,
that I had not libeled Judge McRoberts, I ask the favor of you to
give me your opinion in writing, whether the matter contained in
the indictment was a libel?
With great respect, I am &c., &c.,
EDWARD COLES.
A. COWLES, ESQ.,
Circuit Attorney,
Edwardsville.
P. S.--Why was not Judge McRoberts returned as a witness, on the
back of the indictment?
EXTRACT FROM A LETTER FROM GOVERNOR COLES TO JOHN
RUTHERFORD
I give you many thanks, my dear Sir, for your long and truly
affectionate letter of February, and assure you, I feel great
contrition for having so long delayed the expression of them, and
of saying how much gratified I was at perusing your kind letter,
and the glad tidings it gave me of the health and happiness of
our dear Emily and her little ones; and also the pleasure I have
since derived at finding from the newspapers in what a flattering
manner your fellow citizens have elected you to represent them in
the Legislature.
I am greatly gratified at your election, not only from the regard
I have for you as a man, etc., and the consequent interest I take
in, and the pleasure I derive from your success; but I am
particularly so in seeing men of your principles in relation to
negro Slavery in the Councils of Virginia, as it cheers me with
the hope that something will soon be done to repudiate the
unnatural connection which has there so long existed between the
freest of the free and the most slavish of slaves.
Even if it were feasible, from the extraordinary apathy in the
great mass of the people, and the zeal displayed by many to
perpetuate the evil, I could not hope for speedy emancipation,
but I do trust for the honor as well as interest of the State
that ameliorating laws will be speedily passed, which will
gradually have the effect of reconciling and habituating the
masters, and preparing the slaves for a change which, as Mr.
Jefferson says, must sooner or later take place with or without
the consent of the masters. It behooves Virginia to move in this
great question; and it is a solemn duty which her politicians owe
to their country, to themselves, and to their posterity, to look
ahead and make provision for the future, and secure the peace,
prosperity and glory of their country.
The policy of Virginia for some years past has been most
unfortunate. So far from acting as if Slavery were an evil which
ought to be gotten rid of, every measure which could be taken has
been taken to perpetuate it, as if it were a blessing. Her
political pilots have acted like the inexperienced navigator,
who, to get rid of the slight inconvenience of the safety-valves
have hermetically sealed them, not foreseeing that the inevitable
consequence will be the bursting of the boiler, and dreadful
havoc among all on board. No law has been passed under the
_commonwealth_ to ameliorate the black code of the _colony_ of
Virginia; on the contrary, new laws have been passed, adding to
the oppression of the unfortunate negroes, and which have not
only abridged the rights of humanity, but of the citizen. Such is
the character of the law which restricts and to a great degree
prohibits the master from manumitting his slave. The idea should
be ever present to the politicians of Virginia, that the state of
Slavery is an unnatural state, and cannot exist forever; it must
come to an end by consent or by force; and if by consent, it must
from all experience, as from the nature of things, be preceded by
ameliorating laws, which will have the effect of gradually and
imperceptibly loosening the bonds of servitude.
Nothing is more erroneous than the idea which is entertained by
many, that ameliorating laws, and especially manumissions, are
productions of insurrections among the slaves. The history of the
British and Spanish West Indies shows that in those Islands where
they have prevailed most, the slaves have behaved best, and
insurrections have occurred oftenest where the slaves have been
most oppressed and manumissions most restricted. Indeed, we never
hear of insurrections in the Spanish Islands, where the slaves
are most under the protection of the law, and where there are no
restrictions on manumissions. Virginia should repeal the law
against emancipation, prohibit the domestic slave-trade--which is
nearly allied in all its odious features to the African slave
trade--restrict the power of the master in disposing of his
slaves, by preventing him from separating the child from its
parent, the husband from his wife, etc., and if possible, connect
the slave under proper modifications to the soil, or at least to
the vicinity of his birth; instruct the slaves especially in the
duties of Religion; extend to them the protection of the laws,
and punish severity in the master, and when cruelly exercised by
him, it should vest the right in the slave to his freedom; or to
be sold at an assessed valuation. These and many other provisions
might be adopted which would have a most salutary effect, and
especially the Spanish provision, which gives the right to the
slave to buy a portion of his time as soon as he can procure the
means, either by his own labor or by the bounty of others; thus,
for instance, suppose a negro worth $600 on paying $100, he is
entitled to one day in each week, and so on. In connection with
the emancipation of slaves, I should provide for the removal by
bounty and otherwise, of free negroes from the country, as the
natural difference, and unfortunate prejudice existing between
the whites and blacks would make it the interest of both to be
separated. This subject, is too big for a letter, and I can only
add, that if I could see ameliorating laws adopted, if I did not
live to see the emancipation, I should at least die with the
happy consolation of believing that measures were in progress for
the consummation of ultimate justice to the descendants of the
unfortunate African; and that my country, and the descendants of
my family, if not my nephews and nieces, would lie down in peace
and safety, and would not have entailed on them an unnatural and
odious system, productive of strife, enmity and war, between
themselves and their domestics. I was in hopes to have been able
by this time to have informed you and my other friends of the
result of the malicious suit instituted against me for freeing my
negroes, and which is pending in our Supreme Court. The case was
argued last week, but the court has adjourned to the 1st Monday
of January, next, without deciding it. I was much disappointed in
not getting a decision; I have however but little fear as to the
result.
FOOTNOTES:
[230] These letters are taken from E. B. Washburne's _Sketch of Edward
Coles, Second Governor of Illinois, and of the Slavery Struggle of
1823-1824_.
[231] _Ibid._, p. 18.
[232] Jefferson's reply was published in THE JOURNAL OP NEGRO HISTORY,
Vol. III, p. 83.
[233] The last paragraph of Mr. Birkbeck's letter cannot but excite
admiration. The quotation from Horace applied with great force to the
case of Governor Coles:
"Neither the ardor of citizens ordering base things, nor the face of
the threatening tyrant shakes a man just and tenacious of principle
from his firm intentions."
SOME UNDISTINGUISHED NEGROES
SOLOMON HUMPHRIES. Traveling through this country in 1833 at the very
time when free Negroes were being denounced as an evil of which this
country should by all means rid itself, C. D. Arfwedson found in
Macon, Georgia a thrifty free Negro named Solomon Humphries, well
known by all classes including local officials and even the governor
of the State. Humphries had by dint of energy acquired his freedom and
had made himself an asset in his community. He was then keeping a
large grocery store and had more credit than many other merchants in
the town, for he had accumulated about $20,000 worth of property. He
had a neat and comfortably furnished home, presided over by his wife,
an intelligent woman of color, who was often seen driving with him in
his own unostentatious carriage. He was sought by the wealthiest
people of the city whom he lavishly entertained at his home, doing
them the honor of waiting on them in person himself, although he had a
number of slaves who could have rendered this service. Making it a
rule to be especially hospitable to strangers, he invited Arfwedson to
be his guest while in the city; but on account of having planned
to go to Columbus that day, Arfwedson could not accept his
invitation.--_Arfwedson's United States and Canada in 1833 and 1834_,
I, p. 425.
* * * * *
A NEGRO COLONIZATIONIST. While the American Colonization Society was
being denounced by the free Negroes of the North, many blacks of the
same status in the South had a different attitude toward the movement,
especially during the twenties before it had been discovered that
Liberia was not suitable for a civilized people. One of the Negroes of
the South to be won to this movement was a free man of color named
Creighton, a slave owner of Charleston, South Carolina. He had
accumulated considerable wealth and had begun to feel that it would be
better for him to spend his remaining days in a land of freedom.
Several other free blacks were induced to go with him. In disposing of
his property he offered his slaves, the alternative of being liberated
on the condition of accompanying him on his expedition or of remaining
in this country to be sold as other property. Only one of his slaves
could be prevailed upon to accept freedom on these terms and go with
him to Liberia. Creighton then closed up his business in Charleston,
purchased for the enterprise a schooner _The Calypso_ and set sail for
Africa, October 17, 1821.--_Niles Register_, XXI, p. 163; taken from
_The New York Commercial Advertiser_.
* * * * *
A MORALIST. A white cooper called upon a Negro who owned a fine farm
near Cincinnati and expressed a desire to purchase some stave timber
from him. The Negro inquired as to what use the cooper would make of
it. The latter replied that he had a contract to make some whisky
barrels.
"Well, Sir," was the prompt reply, "I have the timber and want the
money, but no man can purchase a single stave or hoop pole, or a
particle of grain from me for that purpose."
The cooper, of course, became unusually angry on receiving such a
stern reproof and contemptuously addressed this man of color, calling
him a "Nigger."
"That is very true," mildly replied the Negro. "I can't help that, but
I _can_ help selling my timber to make whisky barrels, and I mean to
do it."--_The Weekly Herald and Philanthropist_, May 13, 1846.
* * * * *
A BENEVOLENT NEGRO. Before the Northwest Territory became disturbed by
the influx of free Negroes and fugitives running away from persecution
in the South, there had been enough trouble with white vagrants to
lead to drastic laws for the protection of certain communities.
Michigan, which did not until 1827 pass a measure dealing especially
with undesirable Negroes, had prior to this time a law providing for
selling idle and dissolute persons at auction. At one of the sales in
1821 a Negro bought a white man and ordered him to follow his master,
and the order was obeyed. But the benevolent black took his servant to
the steamboat, paid his passage and restored him his freedom, making
himself satisfied with sending the white vagrant out of the
territory.--_Niles Register_, XXI, p. 214.
BOOK REVIEWS
_Harvard Studies._ I. _Varia Africana._ I. ORIC BATES, Editor, F. H.
STERNS, Asst. Editor. Introduction by THEODORE ROOSEVELT. The African
Department of the Peabody Museum of Harvard University, Cambridge,
1917. Quarto. Pp. 292.
In the introduction to the Harvard African studies ex-President
Roosevelt describes the enterprise which this volume represents as
"the first serious attempt by Americans to contribute to the real
study of the African." He might have added, with almost equal truth,
that it is the first serious attempt by Americans to study the Negro.
Books have been written by Americans about the black man. Howard
University, Washington, D. C., has a library of such books. There are
other private collections, some of them running into several thousand
volumes. Most of them are written in a controversial spirit. Many of
them are theological, seeking to show, on the basis of scriptural
quotations, that the social status of the black man is pre-ordained
and eternally fixed. Others are pseudo-scientific attempts to solve
the race problem by showing that the black man is not quite human.
Some of them seek to prove, on the basis of anthropological data, that
the Negro has no soul, hence efforts to Christianize him are
hopeless.--Many more are written by Negroes to preserve some record of
their meager history, or to defend the race against the monstrous
attacks upon its humanity.
Such books are interesting and valuable as records of the sentiments
and attitudes which the racial struggle has called forth in the black
man and in the white. The strange distortions of fact and opinion
which they record are significant, not so much for what they tell us
of the Negro, as for what they reveal of the intensity of the racial
conflict, and of the nature of the passions involved. Most books on
the Negro in America published prior to 1900, and some books written
since that time, are mainly valuable as source books for the social
psychologist and the students of human nature. As literature they
represent a melancholy anthology. As records of human nature, under
the strains and stresses of a tragic although peaceful conflict, they
have a new and fascinating interest. It is in this sense that we can
say, spite of all that has been written, that there are no scientific
studies of the American Negro, there are only materials awaiting
scientific interpretation.
It must be regarded as an event of the first importance, therefore,
that an institution of the authority of Harvard University and the
Peabody Museum proposes to publish a series of studies intended to
cover the whole wide range of native African life and to extend these
studies eventually to the descendants of the African peoples in
America. No study of the Negro in America will be complete which does
not take account of the African background of the race. On the other
hand, no attempt to assess the qualities and capacities of the native
African, living in his isolated and primitive environment, will be
adequate which does not take account of the Negro's progress under the
conditions of a civilized environment. As a matter of fact the
Africans are the only contemporaneous primitive people who have
anywhere achieved race consciousness and civilization without losing
their racial identity. As a consequence almost every fundamental
process and stage of civilization, from the most primitive to the most
cosmopolitan man, is somewhere represented in the contemporary life of
the Negro in Africa and America. It is this fact which lends
significance to the present volume, since these studies propose to
cover eventually the whole range of Negro life in Africa and America,
so far as that can be done within the limits of the anthropological
sciences. An editorial note at the end of this first volume describes
the plan and scope of the proposed series of publications.
The Harvard African Studies is designed to consist of annual
volumes--under the title of Varia Africana--made up of
miscellaneous papers, and of occasional monographs presenting the
results of original field or laboratory research.
The scope of the volumes may be defined as African anthropology
in the widest sense. Only original papers are desired, but these
may be of any length compatible with their presentation in a
volume which is essentially in the nature of a journal, and may
deal with any of the following subjects: psychology, archæology,
ethnography, linguistics, sociology, ethno-geography, religion,
folklore, or technology. A range so wide must perforce be limited
in some directions, and the editors have therefore decided upon
the exclusion of purely historical papers, even when the latter
embody the political records of native tribes. As an exception to
this rule, the editors may be willing, under certain
circumstances, to accept historical material which, by
establishing the presence of this or that group of people in a
certain locality, or by throwing light on the nature or date of a
migration, bears on racial questions and problems of primitive
culture.
The series is open to papers of a non-controversial character
dealing with a topic sadly in need of more scientific
treatment--we refer to the question of the American Negro. The
anthropometrist, the sociologist, and the folklorist have in this
direction a field of research which, if approached with adequate
knowledge, can be made to yield invaluable results. As these
results cannot but be of practical importance, the editors are
particularly anxious to have an opportunity of presenting them.
As a further indication of the method and purpose of these studies the
editors emphasize that an effort will be made not only to add to the
mass of information already extant in the writings of explorers,
traders, and missionaries, but to correlate and organize the
information already existing.
Travelers, missionaries, administrators, and scientists have
published a vast amount of valuable information regarding the
various peoples and regions in Africa. As yet, however, there has
been comparatively little correlation of this evidence. Now that
the day of the reconnaissance explorer is essentially past, and
we begin to receive accurate and detailed studies of single
tribes, it is highly desirable to have the great mass of
published material carefully sifted, so that the future student
and investigator may be able to make his efforts as productive as
possible.
From even a few such documents, it might be possible to plot
cultural areas, as has been done for North America--the areas in
question being regions of fairly uniform culture, marked off with
some sharpness from other such areas. It would then appear
whether the African areas depended on geographic conditions, on
plant or animal distributions, or on the superior inventive
genius of certain tribes or races. On the other hand, it might
appear that the whole culture area hypothesis was untenable, and
that within any given geographic area, or within any given tribe,
there would exist elements of culture which were adopted at
widely differing times and belonged to different culture levels.
Thus, a true stratification of cultures might be exposed. Yet
again, it might be found that people living in similar
environments tended to develop a like culture regardless of any
contact or close ethnic affinities.
At the present moment the task of correlating existing material in
such a way as to test the validity of current theories and
presuppositions of the anthropological sciences is quite as important
as that of adding to existing collections of information. In this way
only can the mass of information now extant be made available for the
use of students in the secondary social sciences, like sociology and
political science, which are dealing with immediate and practical
problems. It is only in this way, for example, that the knowledge we
have gained of the Negro in Africa will contribute to the solution of
the race problem in America.
Interesting as is the prospect which opens with the first volume of
the African Studies, the untechnical reader will probably be more
impressed with imposing appearance of the volume, with the character
of its illustration and its general typographical appearance than with
its contents. These consist of twelve articles of an average length of
23 pages dealing with the following types: _Siwan customs_, _Oral
surgery in Egypt during the Old Empire_, _Worship of the Dead as
practiced by some African Tribes_, _The Paleoliths of the Eastern
Desert_, _Notes on the Nungu Tribe_, _Nassawara Province_, _A study of
the Ancient Speech of the Canary Islands_, _Benin Antiquities in the
Peabody Museum_, _The Utendi of Mwana Kupon_, _Notes on Egyptian
Saints_, _Dafûr Gourds_, _An Inscription from Gebel Barkal_, and
_Ancient Egyptian Fishing_.
Perhaps the most interesting of these articles, for the sociologist,
is that of R. H. Blanchard entitled _Notes an Egyptian Saints_.
Sainthood, as the author remarks, "is not a difficulty of achievement
in the Islamic world." Every hamlet has its shrine and in the larger
villages there will usually be found two or three such sanctuaries.
Once a year, on his birthday, a festival and religious fair in honor
of the saint is held. The primitive character of these religious
celebrations is attested by the orgiastic and often licentious
performances that accompany them. For example on the occasion of the
festival of el-Hamâl et-Rayah, a purely local celebrity, "the whole
adult male population of the town, in defiance of all orthodox Moslem
sentiment, intoxicated themselves with whatever alcoholic beverages
they could procure. Half a dozen prostitutes, hired for the occasion,
set up their booths or tents in the town, and received all comers.
There was among the revelers a great deal of horseplay of the most
licentious character, particularly in the vicinity of the booths if
the _sharamît_. Drunken men were dragged into the lanes by their
friends, and there left lying, exposed to the village wags and wits.
In 1914 this festival was modified by Government, which suppressed the
more offensive features of the celebration."
One of the most interesting of these saints referred to was "an old
Negro slave well known for his long, harmless, pious life." It is
generally held that the body of a man who has during his life attained
an unusual degree of sanctity is gifted with a supernatural power
which is often exerted on those who carry his bier to the grave. The
supernatural power of this old Negro saint was attested to in the
following peculiar way: "Having died toward evening, he would not, on
any account, have himself buried the same evening, and the bearers, in
spite of all their shouting of _la ilah ill Alllah_ (sic), could not
bring the corpse to the graveyard. It remained therefore, all night in
the house (though the people do not like to keep a corpse at night),
watched by a multitude of people praying. Next morning also it could
not be buried for a long time, the blessed dead compelled the bearers
to go through all the streets of the town, till at last, on the
recommendations of the governor, the higher officials carried the bier
to the grave, even the Turkish soldiers could not accomplish it. The
whole town was in uproar. The Mohammadans say the angels exercise this
coercive power. The Christians believe it is the devil."
It seems probable, as the author suggests, that we have in these
religious festivals in honor of a local celebrity surviving examples
of localized and more primitive type of religious cult which has not
yet been wholly superseded by the religion of Islam, with its wider
outlook and more rational conceptions of life. The notes here recorded
suggest at once questions which can only be answered by further
investigation and by comparison of the materials gathered in this
region with those that are now being brought to light in other fields.
It is the purpose of the Harvard African studies to answer these
questions, so far as they can be answered by a study of African life.
Interesting from other points of view are the reproductions of the
remarkable collection of Benin antiquities at the Peabody Museum, of
the celebrated Vai syllabary, and of an interesting poem of 100 lines
in the Suaheli language said to have been dictated by a dying mother
to her daughter. Transliteration and translation accompany the
reproduction in the original script.
ROBERT E. PARK.
* * * * *
_Fifty Years and Other Poems._ By JAMES WELDON JOHNSON. With an
Introduction by BRANDER MATTHEWS. The Cornhill Co., Boston, 1917. Pp.
xiv, 92.
From time to time for the last fifteen years Mr. James Weldon Johnson
has been remarked as one of the literary men of the race. He has now
brought together his verses in a little volume, _Fifty Years and Other
Poems_, an introduction to which has been written by Professor Brander
Matthews, of Columbia University. The task was eminently worth while.
The book falls into two parts. The first is made up of poems in the
commonly accepted forms, though there are one or two examples of
_vers libre_; and the second is entitled _Jingles and Croons_. This
second division consists of dialect verses, especially the songs that
have been set to music, most frequently by the poet's brother, Mr. J.
Rosamond Johnson. Outstanding are the very first lines, _Since you
went away_. It is well that these pieces have been brought together.
For artistic achievement, however, attention will naturally be fixed
upon the first division. _Fifty Years_ was written in honor of the
fiftieth anniversary of the emancipation of the race. Professor
Matthews speaks of it as "one of the noblest commemorative poems yet
written by any American--a poem sonorous in its diction, vigorous in
its workmanship, elevated in its imagination, and sincere in its
emotion." This is high praise, and yet it may reasonably be asked if
there are not in the book at least four pieces of finer poetic
quality. These are, first of all, the two poems that originally
appeared in the Century, _Mother Night_ and _O Black and Unknown
Bards_, and _The White Witch_ and _The Young Warrior_. The first of
these four poems is a sonnet well rounded out. The second gains merit
by reason of its strong first and last two stanzas. _The White Witch_
chooses a delicate and difficult theme, but contains some very strong
stanzas. _The Young Warrior_ is a poem of rugged strength and one that
deserves all the popularity it has achieved with Mr. Burleigh's
musical setting. Mr. Johnson is strongest in the simple, direct, and
sometimes sensuous expression that characterizes these latter poems,
and it is to be hoped that he may have the time and the inclination to
write many more like them.
BENJAMIN BRAWLEY.
* * * * *
_Battles and Victories of Allen Allensworth._ By CHARLES ALEXANDER.
Sherman, French and Company, Boston, 1914. Pp. 429.
Here we have the story of a successful Negro born a slave in Kentucky
but who, determined to succeed, rose to the distinction of a teacher
and preacher and finally to that of a chaplain in the United States
army with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. The value of this book to
the historian, however, is not the mere sketch of Colonel Allensworth
but the valuable facts bearing on the history of the Negroes in
various parts of the United States. The philanthropic attitude of the
Quakers toward Negroes, the life of the slave on the Mississippi, the
relations between the poor whites and the slaves, the escape of
fugitives to Canada, and the work of the abolitionists are all
mentioned from page to page.
The larger portion of the book, however, gives details of the life of
Allensworth, which would interest only those who knew him personally.
But his founding a town in California inhabited altogether by Negroes
stamps him as a pioneer whose achievements in this field must engage
the attention of the historian. The detailed accounts of his service
as a chaplain in the United States army in the Spanish-American War
and later in the Philippines add other valuable experiences which the
public should know. The book contains also references to the work of
Frederick Douglass, Judge William Jay and John Brown. The author
mentions also scores of other persons who have in various ways helped
to make the history of the Negro in the United States and especially
those who were effective in bringing about the emancipation of the
race.
The style of this book is decidedly rough. The work does not show
organization. It is written in such a way as to indicate that the
writer recorded his facts as they came to him at random without regard
as to the principles of composition. It was wholly unnecessary for him
to wander astray, discussing in detail the careers of almost every man
of that time influencing the life of the Negro, without showing the
connection between those facts and the life of the subject of this
sketch. The chief value of this work, therefore, is that of a source
book.
* * * * *
_The Negro Migrant in Pittsburgh, A study in Social Economics._ By
ABRAHAM EPSTEIN. Published under the supervision of the School of
Economics, University of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh, Pa., 1918.
The movement of the Negroes from the South to the North during the
present world war bids fair to be recorded as the most significant
event of our local history during this decade. In about two years a
million Negroes have gone North to take the places of those immigrants
who annually sought our shores prior to this upheaval. To show the
significance of the exodus a number of writers have sketched it in
newspapers and magazines. Books bearing on the subject are
forthcoming. The first scientific study of the transplanted southern
Negroes to appear in print, however, is Epstein's interesting and
valuable work.
Departing from the newspaper Pullman-palace-car method of studying
social conditions, Mr. Epstein assiduously applied himself to the task
of making a house-to-house investigation of the home life of this
large and typical community of Negroes recently brought to the North.
He learned whence they came, their antecedent circumstances, why they
abandoned their old homes, what they seek in the North and to what
extent they are realizing their dreams. The various factors
contributing to the solution of their local problems in Pittsburgh and
those effective in confusing the situation are well treated.
This work is especially valuable in its portrayal of home conditions.
The author directed his attention to what these migrants do, where
they live, how they spend their earnings and how they amuse
themselves. In this treatment, therefore, appears a discussion of
health, disease and crime as influenced by the presence of these
newcomers from a section in which their condition differed materially
from what they find in the North. Whether or not we agree with him in
his conclusions, therefore, this treatise must claim the attention of
students of present-day problems, desiring to deal with facts rather
than theories.
On the whole, Mr. Epstein does not find the Negro an exception to any
other migrant. Most of the facts which he sets forth are after all
favorable to blacks when one considers that their peculiar
circumstances are due to race prejudice and the proscription of trades
unions. The author did not find them unusually afflicted with disease,
as was predicted, and he saw no evidence of a wave of crime. Most of
the offenses charged to the account of the migrants are of the petty
sort which arise from the stimulus given such by the denizens of vice
tolerated by the community. Students of Negro life and history,
therefore, should read this dissertation.
C. G. WOODSON.
NOTES
Mr. Oswald Garrison Villard who was kind enough to call our attention
to the misprint of Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton Hart, for Sir Thomas
Fowell Buxton, Bart., on page 20 of the January number of THE JOURNAL
OF NEGRO HISTORY, has sent us the following note in William Lloyd
Garrison's own words concerning his relations with this distinguished
friend of the Negro in England:
"On arriving in London I received a polite invitation by letter from
Mr. Buxton to take breakfast with him. Presenting myself at the
appointed time, when my name was announced, instead of coming forward
promptly to take me by the hand, he scrutinized me from head to foot,
and then inquired, somewhat dubiously, 'Have I the pleasure of
addressing Mr. Garrison, of Boston, in the United States?' 'Yes, sir,'
I replied, 'I am he; and I am here in accordance with your
invitation.' Lifting up his hands he exclaimed, 'Why, my dear sir, I
thought you were a black man! And I have consequently invited this
company of ladies and gentlemen to be present to welcome Mr. Garrison,
the black advocate of emancipation from the United States of America!'
I have often said that that is the only compliment I have ever had
paid to me that I care to remember, or to tell of! For Mr. Buxton had
somehow or other supposed that no white American could plead for those
in bondage as I had done, and therefore I must be black!"
"The worthy successor of Wilberforce, our esteemed friend and
coadjutor, Thomas Fowell Buxton," had this picture drawn of him by his
guest (Mr. Garrison) on his return to America:
"Buxton has sufficient fleshly timber to make two or three
Wilberforces. He is six feet and a half in height, though rather
slender than robust. What a formidable leader of the anti-slavery
cause in appearance! We always felt delighted to see him rise in his
seat in Parliament to address the House, for his towering form
literally caused his pro-slavery opponents to 'hide their diminished
heads.' He is a very good speaker, but not an orator: his manner is
dignified, sincere, and conciliating, and his language without
pretence. But he has hardly decision, energy, and boldness enough for
a leader. His benevolent desires for the emancipation of the colonial
slaves led him to accede to a sordid compromise with the planters, and
he advocated the proposition to remunerate these enemies of the human
race, and to buy up wholesale robbery and oppression, in opposition to
the remonstrances of the great body of English abolitionists, and it
furnishes a dangerous precedent in the overthrow of established
iniquity and crime throughout the world. The results of the bargain do
not (January, 1836) reach Mr. Buxton's anticipations.... Still, aside
from this false step, Mr. Buxton deserves universal admiration and
gratitude for his long-continued, able and disinterested efforts,
amidst severe ridicule and malignant opposition, to break every yoke
and set the oppressed free."
* * * * *
President Nathan B. Young, of the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical
College, has kindly directed our attention to the following facts
which appeared in an article in the _Tampa Tribune_, showing how
adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment was effected:
"How the vote that made the Federal amendment abolishing slavery was
polled in the house of representatives on January 26, 1863, was told
to a representative of _The Tribune_ yesterday by the reading clerk of
that congress--now a Florida winter resident and nearing ninety years
of age.
"A change of two votes would have defeated the amendment; and urgent
business kept one man from being present to cast his vote against the
measure, so it is seen that history came near being made another way
that memorable day.
"The story was told, with all the vigor and freshness of a man just
from the existing scenes and actions, by E. W. Barber, editor of the
Jackson (Mich.) _Daily Patriot_, now at Crooked Lake, happy in the
summer of Florida's winter. Mr. Barber was reading clerk for the
thirty-eighth, thirty-ninth and fortieth congresses, from December,
1863 to 1869; and he is today the only official of that body who is
living. He will be ninety years old on the third of July, coming, and
is wonderfully preserved, all except his leg. Indeed he laughingly
declared that he would have been a dead tree if he had not been pruned
of a dead limb!
_Tells of Memorable Day_
"On the morning of December 26, 1863, said Mr. Barber, there was a
stillness in the house that betokened doubt even then of the passage
of the amendment, for but four men in the world knew that it was a
matter of accomplishment before the roll was called.
"The senate had already passed the amendment, he said, and the house
had defeated it in the first session of the congress; and there was a
doubt of its passage over in the lower body.
"After its defeat in the house, the party machinery was put in motion
to bring into line sufficient votes to make the necessary
three-fourths required. J. M. Ashley of Toledo and Augustus Frank of
Warsaw, N. Y., were appointed a committee of two to see if votes
enough could be secured at the short session to pass the bill through
the house.
"Edward W. Barber, the reading clerk, and Richard U. Sherman, the
tally clerk, kept a secret rollcall under lock and key in their desk,
and on this was marked the name of every man who had voted against the
amendment. As a man was changed or converted, his name was reported to
these two and his name added to those already secured for the
amendment. One by one the change came, and at last one day when a name
was added--the member from the Gettysburg district--Ashley exclaimed
"There, by God. We've got enough."
"That day in the house Ashley, who had changed his vote to "nay" after
the defeat of the bill earlier so he could move its reconsideration,
and had complied with that parliamentary condition, gave notice that
on January 26 he would call up the bill for a vote.
_Measure Sways in Balance_
"Betting ran high for and against the passage of the amendment, says
Mr. Barber. The odds were that it would not be passed because of the
violent opposition which it had evoked at the former attempt. There
were but four men who knew how the matter would go, and those were E.
W. Barber, reading clerk; Richard U. Sherman, tally clerk; J. M.
Ashley, and Augustus Frank, the committee of two named to get the
proper number of votes for the bill.
"The margin was close, two changes would have defeated it; and one
member opposed to the amendment was absent, so he said afterward,
because a large number of soldiers from his state were at Aquia Creek,
and he felt he must pay them some attention. The name of this member
was not given.
"Mr. Barber is still editing his paper, sending some fourteen
editorials a week to Jackson, Mich., for publication in _The Daily
Patriot_, from his Florida home, five miles south of Lake Wales.
"He has been coming to Florida for forty-five years and, while he has
been delaying his coming until well into December, he said yesterday
that from now on he expects to come early in November and stay until
well into spring.
"He is a most entertaining and interesting speaker and is full of
enthusiasm for his adopted home and his future prospects here."
* * * * *
A group of Southern folks have organized a Southern Publicity
Committee to advertise among themselves some of the South's
constructive work in racial matters. They propose to furnish Southern
daily papers with brief and accurate accounts of things actually being
done in definite places by given persons or groups or States in the
South, for or in cooperation with Negroes for Negro betterment, and to
make the South a better place, morally and economically, for both
races to live in.
The chairman of the committee is Dr. J. H. Dillard, director of the
Jeanes and Slater Funds, a Virginian, and an LL.D. of three Southern
universities, including his alma mater, Washington and Lee. The other
members are Dr. Thomas Jesse Jones, specialist of the U. S. Bureau of
Education; Mrs. Percy V. Pennypacker, of the National Federation of
Women's Clubs; the Rt. Rev. Theodore D. Bratton, D.D., of the Diocese
of Mississippi; Messrs. Clark Howell of the Atlanta Constitution;
Arthur B. Krock, of the Louisville Courier-Journal; D. P. Toomey, of
the Dallas News; C. P. J. Mooney of the Memphis Commercial-Appeal; E.
E. Britton, formerly of the Raleigh Observer, private secretary to
Secretary Daniels; Jackson Davis of Richmond, general field agent of
the General Education Board; Walter Parker, general manager of the New
Orleans Association of Commerce; the Rev. J. W. Lee, D.D., of St.
Louis, the well-known Southern Methodist minister, author and
lecturer; Dr. W. S. Currell, president of the South Carolina State
University; Dr. Chas. L. Crow, of the State university of Florida; Dr.
W. D. Weatherford, of Nashville, Tenn., secretary of the International
Y. M. C. A.; and Mrs. John D. Hammond of Georgia, who will act as
secretary for the committee.
The Committee will undertake publicity work in behalf of the best
aspects of our inter-racial relations in no spirit of boastfulness or
of self-satisfaction as Southerners. They are aware of the shadows,
the back eddies, the sinister influences in the lives of both races.
But they believe the good outweighs the evil, and deserves at least as
wide a hearing; and that to give publicity to successful constructive
work done by their own people will encourage others to similar
efforts, and will further the interests of both races. They ask a
hearing from the Southern public for these aspects of Southern life.
* * * * *
Dean Benjamin P. Brawley, of Morehouse College, has brought out a new
work entitled _The Negro in Literature and Art_, published by Duffield
and Company, New York City. It was incorrectly reported in our last
issue that this work was to be published by Dodd, Mead and Company.
* * * * *
Dean Brawley contributed to the _Sewanee Review_ for January an
article entitled _Richard le Gallienne and the Tradition of Beauty_.
This is a literary study of merit.
* * * * *
Dr. James H. Dillard contributed to _School and Society_ an article
entitled _County Machinery for Colored Schools in the South_. It
contains information both helpful and valuable to persons interested
in the education of the Negro.
* * * * *
M. M. Ponton's _Life and Times of Henry M. Turner_ has come from the
press of A. B. Caldwell Publishing Company, Atlanta, Georgia.
* * * * *
G. P. Putnam's Sons have announced the publication of Ella Loun's
_Reconstruction in Louisiana_.
* * * * *
J. E. Semmes has published _John H. B. Latrobe and His Times,
1803-1891_, through the Norman Remington Company, Baltimore.
THE JOURNAL
OF
NEGRO HISTORY
VOL. III--JULY, 1918--NO. 3
SLAVERY IN KENTUCKY
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This study is an attempt to give a connected and concise account of
the institution of slavery as it existed in the State of Kentucky from
1792 to 1865. Much has been written of slavery in other States, but
there has not been published a single account which deals adequately
with the institution in Kentucky. A scholarly treatise on _The
Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky_, by Professor Asa E. Martin, of
Pennsylvania State College, has appeared but, as this work is limited
to a discussion of the history of the movement to overthrow slavery,
our study parallels and supplements it.
In this study the chief emphasis has been placed upon the legal,
economic and social history of slavery in Kentucky, mention being made
of a few of the interesting anti-slavery incidents when these are
known to have influenced the local status of the slave. We have first
considered the inception of the system as based fundamentally upon the
type of land settlement and tenure, followed by a study of the growth
of the slave population, which brings in the question of the local
economic value of the slave. An attempt has been made to explain the
internal slave trade; and to consider to what extent Kentucky served
as a breeding State for slaves destined to the market in the lower
South.
In the chapter on the legal status of slavery special emphasis has
been placed not only upon the legal position of the institution but
upon the general evolution of the rights of the Negro in servitude.
This section is vitally connected with the anti-slavery movement after
about the year 1835. The problem of the fugitive slave and the general
rights of emancipation and of the freed Negro have been approached
purely from the legal standpoint.
The chapter on the social status of the slave considers the conditions
of slave life that were more or less peculiar to Kentucky. There has
often been made the statement, that in Kentucky Negro servitude was
generally on a higher plane than in the States to the south and the
treatment of slaves was much more humane. Some light has been thrown
on these questions.
As a supplement to the discussion of the legal and social status a
general summary of public opinion regarding emancipation and
colonization has been added. Although for the most part consisting of
previously published material this section has been treated from the
viewpoint of the existing institution and not from the anti-slavery
side which occasioned most of the original publication.
This study has been made from a consideration of the contemporary
evidence as found in newspapers, statements of slaves, and general
evidence of travelers and citizens of Kentucky during the period
before the Civil War. The material for the study of this field is not
only scattered throughout the country but for the most part it is very
meager compared with the records of States like Virginia and Missouri.
All the documents, papers, manuscripts and works known to be of value,
however, have been consulted. The most valuable records for this
treatise are to be found in the Durrett Collection at the University
of Chicago, the extensive files of early Kentucky papers in the
Library of the American Antiquarian Society, and the documents in the
Kentucky State Library at Frankfort.
To Mr. Clarence S. Brigham, of the American Antiquarian Society, Mr.
Edward A. Henry, of the University of Chicago Library, and Mr. Frank
Kavanaugh, of the Kentucky State Library, I am indebted for invaluable
assistance rendered in securing material for this work. The treatment
of the legal status of slavery would have been very meager, were it
not for the valuable aid given by Dr. George E. Wire, of the Worcester
County (Massachusetts) Law Library. To Miss Florence Dillard, of the
Lexington (Kentucky) Public Library, I am indebted for assistance
given throughout the period of my studies. To Prof. George H.
Blakeslee, of Clark University, I owe more than to any one else--for
his inspiration during my three years of study, for his most valuable
aid in the correction of the manuscript, his candid judgment and
judicial reasoning and the many suggestions which have helped to make
this study what it is.
IVAN E. MCDOUGLE
CLARK UNIVERSITY,
WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.