In presenting the CHARACTER OF SLAVERY, there is little for me, except
to make Slavery paint itself. When this is done, the picture will need
no explanatory words.
(1.) I begin with the _Law of Slavery and its Origin_; and here this
Barbarism sketches itself in its own chosen definition. It is simply
this: Man, created in the image of God, is divested of the human
character, and declared to be a “chattel,”--that is, a beast, a thing,
or article of property. That this statement may not seem made without
precise authority, I quote the statutes of three different States,
beginning with South Carolina, whose voice for Slavery has always
unerring distinctiveness. According to the definition supplied by this
State, slaves
“shall be deemed, held, taken, reputed, and adjudged in law
to be _chattels personal_ in the hands of their owners and
possessors, and their executors, administrators, and assigns,
to all intents, constructions, and purposes whatsoever.”[35]