A recent writer, in speculating upon the possible result of an
insurrectionary movement in the south, says, in the course of his
remarks,--
"Here, where the whites so far outnumber the blacks, as to render such a
struggle hopeless on their part, there is little or nothing to
apprehend; but in the south, where the case is reversed, the
consequences will probably be what they were in St. Domingo--the
extermination or expatriation of the whites, the loss of tens of
hundreds of thousands of lives, and hundreds or perhaps of millions of
property."
In reply, and in confutation of this opinion, Gen. Houston of Natchez,
addressed a very sensible and well-written paper to the editor of the
New-York Courier and Enquirer, in which he says--
"There are but two states in the Union where the slaves are equal in
numbers to the whites, and in these they have a bare majority; in other
states they have but a third and in others a fourth or fifth. Now is
there any man who supposes that an equal number of negroes, unacquainted
with arms, undisciplined, without combination, without officers,
without a rifle or a musket, or a single cartridge, can in any way be
formidable to an equal number of whites, well armed and equipped, well
supplied with all the necessaries of war, well organized, and well
officered? The notion is absurd. I will go farther; take a body of
negroes, furnish them with arms, equipments, and every thing necessary
for war; let them have twelve months to combine, to train, and to
acquire a knowledge of the use of arms, and my life on it, they would be
nothing more at the end of the time than an ignorant disorderly rabble,
who could not form a line of battle, a thousand of them would not stand
the charge of a single volunteer corps, they would disperse at the first
volley of musketry, and a body of white men would feel debased to
compete with such foes.
"There is no southern state that apprehends any injury from its
slaves--that seeks protection from any power on earth--not one of them
values the Union one particle as the means of guarding them on that
score.
"There are no people on earth better supplied with arms, more accustomed
to their daily use, and I may say more ready to use them, than the
people of the south. Go into any house in Mississippi, Alabama, South
Carolina, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, or any other southern state,
and you will generally see a good rifle and fowling-piece; and every
neighbourhood has its men who can throw a deer running at full speed at
the distance of one hundred yards. Do such men seek protection or
apprehend danger from an inferior number of unarmed, ignorant and
enslaved negroes? Most assuredly not.
"Experience has shown that the militia of the United States are
frequently able to combat successfully with the regular troops of
Europe. And many a well-fought field has shown that the militia of the
southern states are equal to any in the Union, I will not be invidious
and say superior. If such is the case, what lessons do the wars and
experience of Europe teach us? There it is a received maxim that ten
thousand disciplined troops are superior to an army of forty thousand
undisciplined peasantry, even when they are equally supplied with arms.
And to this maxim history shows but few exceptions, as in Switzerland
and the Tyrolese mountains, where the peasantry are much favoured by the
mountains and defiles, are inured to hardships, trained in the chase
and in the use of arms.
"Have not the peasantry of Europe more acquaintance with arms, more
means of acquiring them and other necessaries for war, more military
information, more means of combination, and more intelligence, than the
negroes of the south? Most assuredly they have, and yet they are
generally held in subjection by a comparatively small body of men. I
merely glance at this, but could, if time and space permitted, give many
striking illustrations.
"If the south are so safe, it may be asked why are they so sensitive on
this subject? I will answer:--they are sensitive from motives of
interest and humanity.
"He who makes my negroes dissatisfied with their situation, makes them
less useful to me, and puts me under the necessity of dealing more
rigorously with them.
"Throughout the whole south it is considered disgraceful not to clothe
and feed negroes well, or to treat them cruelly, and there are very few
who have the hardihood to brave public sentiment. And on many
plantations, when they are orderly and obedient, they have many
indulgences and privileges, such as to raise and sell poultry, &c.: to
cultivate a small piece of ground and sell the products; and time is
allowed them for such purposes. But if negroes become disorderly,
discontented, and disobedient, the necessity requires that they should
either be set at large at once, or their privileges curtailed, and
discipline made more rigorous till they are brought into complete
subjection; there is no middle course. Again--if negroes become
dissatisfied, disobedient and rebellious, there is a possibility that
they may do damage in a single neighbourhood, and destroy the lives of a
few women and children--the consequence of which would be that then
whites would be under the necessity of putting great numbers of the
misguided wretches to death. Such was the case at Southampton. This we
would avoid, both from motives of interest and humanity, not that we
apprehend any more serious injury, and you may rest assured that if the
negroes were to rebel and do any considerable injury, the havoc and
destruction made amongst them would be dreadful; and it would be
difficult to prevent its extending to those who were innocent.
"Those, therefore, who are instrumental in making the negro dissatisfied
with his condition, make it much worse, for they constrain his owner to
be more rigorous in his treatment, and they tempt him to rebellion,
which must lead to death and extermination."