The subject of American slavery, if rightly considered, must be to
every Christian, and every true patriot, a deeply interesting and
painful subject. That our country--which solemnly declared before God
and the world, that it is “self-evident” that “all men are created
equal, and are endowed with certain inalienable rights, as life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” and which claims to be the
freest on earth, and the asylum of the oppressed--should, nevertheless,
hold in abject bondage millions of its own people, is a deep stain on
our national character. The holding of these unoffending fellow beings
under the rod of oppression is a great political and moral evil. It is
a flagrant violation of our professed principles of equal rights, and
manifestly inconsistent with the principles of our holy religion. No
one would be willing to be a slave himself, and, therefore, if he loved
others as himself, or was willing to do to others as he would have
others do to him, he could not hold others in involuntary slavery.
Slaves are held as _property_, at the disposal of their master, and
possess, strictly speaking, no legal rights, civil or religious, and,
if ever so much abused, can seek no redress in any court of justice.
They are in a great measure kept without the means of intellectual,
moral and spiritual improvement. And by sale and the removal of the
purchased slaves to a distant part of the country, the most endearing
ties are liable continually to be severed, and the nearest relatives,
husbands and wives, parents and children, and brothers and sisters, to
be torn from each other, and forever separated.
But the greatest of the evils of American slavery is the depriving of
its victims of the Bible and of the means of religion. Some slaves
do indeed attend public worship, and receive oral instruction. Some
masters also impart to their slaves religious instruction. And a few
are able to read. But, if I am rightly informed, teaching them to
read is penal in all the slave States, except Kentucky, and those
who do it are liable to punishment by fine or imprisonment, or both.
Consequently, they are effectually prevented from reading “the Holy
Scriptures, which are able to make them wise unto salvation through
faith which is in Christ Jesus.” And many, according to the testimony
of the Synod of South Carolina and Georgia, “are in the condition of
heathen.”
And though not much, comparatively, seems to be now said on this
subject by many advocates for emancipation, yet, what is the political
bondage, and all the other evils of slavery, compared with this?
What is all the temporal happiness, which can be enjoyed, compared
with the salvation of the soul, or eternal blessedness? And are all
the deprivations and misery, which can be endured in this short life,
comparable with eternal misery? “The sufferings of this present time,”
however great, “are not worthy to be compared with the glory which
shall be revealed” in saints, or with that “everlasting punishment”
which will be the portion of those who are “lost”.
Those means, therefore, which are necessary to secure the salvation
of the soul, ought to be esteemed more highly, and sought with far
more earnestness for ourselves and others, than any mere temporal
privileges, advantages and blessings; and to deprive the slaves of
these means of salvation is the worst feature in the slave system, and
incurs the deepest guilt. And when such is the system, it requires no
arguments to prove, that it ought to be immediately abolished.
Indeed many at the South have most explicitly condemned slavery, and
urged the necessity of its abolition. Mr. Jefferson, speaking of
slavery, said, “It destroys the morals of one part of the nation, and
the _amor patria_ (love of country) of the other. With the morals of
the people, their industry is also destroyed. And can the liberties of
a nation be secure, when we have removed their only basis--a conviction
in the minds of the people, that these liberties are 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 for ever. The Almighty has no attribute which can take
sides with us in such a contest;” i. e. with the slaves. Patrick Henry
said, “It is as repugnant to humanity, as it is inconsistent with the
Bible, and destructive to liberty.” William Pinckney of Maryland said,
“Its continuance is as shameful as its origin.”
In 1818, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church _unanimously_
adopted a report on slavery, in which they say, “We consider the
voluntary enslaving of one part of the human race by another, as a
gross violation of the most precious and sacred rights of human nature;
as utterly inconsistent with the law of God, which requires us to
love our neighbor as ourselves; and as totally irreconcilable with the
spirit and principles of the gospel, which enjoins, that all things
whatsoever we would that men should do to us, we should do even so
to them. Slavery creates a paradox in the moral system; it exhibits
rational, accountable and immortal beings in such circumstances, as
scarcely to leave them the power of moral action. It exhibits them as
dependent on the will of others, whether they shall receive religious
instruction; whether they shall enjoy the ordinances of the gospel;
whether they shall perform the duties and cherish the endearments
of husbands and wives, parents and children, neighbors and friends;
whether they shall preserve their chastity and purity, or regard the
dictates of justice and humanity.
“Such are some of the consequences of slavery--consequences not
imaginary, but which connect themselves with its very existence.”
And they say further, “It is manifestly the duty of all Christians, who
enjoy the light of the present day--when the inconsistency of slavery,
both with the dictates of humanity and religion, has been demonstrated,
and is generally seen and acknowledged--to use their honest, earnest
and unwearied endeavors, as speedily as possible, to efface this blot
on our holy religion, and to obtain the complete abolition of slavery
throughout Christendom, and, if possible, throughout the world.”
Freedom is the right of the slave. And it is the duty of the master to
grant it, and to grant it immediately.
And, that emancipation is safe, and would be for the interest of
slaveholders, might be easily shown, and is clearly proved by the
result of the experiment in the West Indies. Free labor is manifestly
more profitable than slave labor. The African race possess kind, and
generous and grateful feelings; and if treated with humanity and
kindness, would labor much more faithfully as freemen for wages, than
as slaves under the cruel stimulus of the whip. And if emancipated,
there would be no fear of insurrection, or of the slaughter of the
whites. And the States, now feeling the withering influence of slavery,
would be much better cultivated and far more prosperous.
Though the result of the emancipation in the British West India Islands
has been, by some writers and papers, represented as unfavorable, yet,
according to the most authentic accounts, it has been successful. And
when difficulties have occurred, as has sometimes been the case, they
have been owing to the stupidity, or ill conduct of the planters.
The Rev. John Scoble of London--who had spent the greater part of the
last three years in the British West Indies, as an agent of the British
Anti-Slavery Society--at a meeting held in Boston, August 22, 1839,
gave a most interesting exposition of the results of the emancipation
of the slaves in these colonies, in answer to questions proposed to
him. A few extracts from his statements will be given, taken from the
Essex Register.
“From all which he had heard and seen, he was satisfied the experiment
of _complete emancipation_ had worked well for the owners of the
estates; and the prosperity of the colonies would be greatly increased
by it. Landed property, he said, had increased in value in Barbadoes
from 25 to 40 per cent. in some districts--and generally in the
colonies, from 5 to 25 per cent.”
“There had,” he said, “been a great improvement in the domestic
condition of the laborers--they enjoyed more comforts--their huts, or
rather _hovels_, which they formerly occupied, were giving place to
more comfortable habitations--they were not willing to wear the poor
and cheap clothes which their masters formerly furnished for them--many
of the women, instead of toiling in the fields, were now devoted to
household duties; and many children, who formerly had been compelled to
work in the fields, were now sent to school.
“Enquiries were made of Mr. Scoble, as to the willingness of the blacks
to labor for fair wages--as to the state of morals and religion among
them--how the aged and infirm poor were supported among them, &c.;
to all which Mr. S. gave the most satisfactory answers. In regard
to the state of _morals_, he said, crime had decreased since the
emancipation--and he stated many interesting facts in regard to the
number of persons confined in prisons in several colonies at his visits
in 1836, compared with the number in 1838. The number is now _only
about half as large_ as in former years, and most of the offences of
the negroes were misdemeanors, petty thefts,” &c.
Similar testimony is furnished in a letter, published in the New York
Journal of Commerce, from Mr. Gurney, an English Quaker gentleman, who
has lately visited some of the Windward Islands.
He says, “Landed property _has risen, and is still rising in
value_--being decidedly of greater value now than it was six years ago.
In Antigua it seems to be a clear point, that the property _without_
the slaves, is now of equal value with the property _and_ the slaves,
six years ago, or before emancipation.
“A similar remark applies with still greater force to St. Kitts. R.
Claxton, the Solicitor General there, told me that he would not take
£6,000 now for a property which cost him only £2,000 six years ago.
Indeed, many planters spoke of what they receive in the shape of
compensation, as quite a gratuity.
“The unfavorable reports which have been spread of the working of
freedom, have generally arisen from persons who are anxious to lay hold
of landed property at a cheap rate. A clear proof that all is doing
well, is unintentionally given by a gentleman in Antigua, who cries
down the system, as having ruined the West Indies, while he strives to
purchase all the landed property he can.
“The _comforts_ of the negroes are immensely increased. They are
providing themselves with good food and clothing. The evidence of
this fact is abundant in every island which we visited. No proof of
it can be stronger than the almost doubling of the imports within the
last two years. On the whole there cannot be the shadow of doubt that
the substantial property of the colonies which we visited is on the
increase.”