slavery, as it was for the man thief to steal our ancestors from the
coast of Africa. You should therefore now use the same manner of
resistance, as would have been just in our ancestors, when the bloody
foot prints of the first remorseless soul thief was placed upon the
shores of our fatherland. The humblest peasant is as free in the sight
of God, as the proudest monarch that ever swayed a sceptre. Liberty is
a spirit sent out from God, and like its great Author, is no respecter
of persons.
Brethren, the time has come when you must act for yourselves. It is an
old and true saying, that "if hereditary bondmen would be free, they
must themselves strike the blow." You can plead your own cause, and do
the work of emancipation better than any others. The nations of the
old world are moving in the great cause of universal freedom, and some
of them at least, will ere long, do you justice. The combined powers
of Europe have placed their broad seal of disapprobation upon the
African slave trade. But in the slave holding parts of the United
States, the trade is as brisk as ever. They buy and sell you as
though you were brute beasts. The North has done much--her opinion of
slavery in the abstract is known. But in regard to the South, we adopt
the opinion of the New York Evangelist--"We have advanced so far, that
the cause apparently waits for a more effectual door to be thrown open
than has been yet." We are about to point you to that more effectual
door. Look around you, and behold the bosoms of your loving wives,
heaving with untold agonies! Hear the cries of your poor children!
Remember the stripes your fathers bore. Think of the torture and
disgrace of your noble mothers. Think of your wretched sisters, loving
virtue and purity, as they are driven into concubinage, and are
exposed to the unbridled lusts of incarnate devils. Think of the
undying glory that hangs around the ancient name of Africa:--and
forget not that you are native-born American citizens, and as such,
you are justly entitled to all the rights that are granted to the
freest. Think how many tears you have poured out upon the soil which
you have cultivated with unrequited toil, and enriched with your
blood; and then go to your lordly enslavers, and tell them plainly,
that YOU ARE DETERMINED TO BE FREE. Appeal to their sense of justice,
and tell them that they have no more right to oppress you, than you
have to enslave them. Entreat them to remove the grievous burdens
which they have imposed upon you, and to remunerate you for your
labor. Promise them renewed diligence in the cultivation of the soil,
if they will render to you an equivalent for your services. Point them
to the increase of happiness and prosperity in the British West
Indies, since the act of Emancipation. Tell them in language which
they cannot misunderstand, of the exceeding sinfulness of slavery, and
of a future judgment, and of the righteous retributions of an
indignant God. Inform them that all you desire, is FREEDOM, and that
nothing else will suffice. Do this, and for ever after cease to toil
for the heartless tyrants, who give you no other reward but stripes
and abuse. If they then commence the work of death, they, and not you,
will be responsible for the consequences. You had far better all
die--_die immediately_, than live slaves, and entail your wretchedness
upon your posterity. If you would be free in this generation, here is
your only hope. However much you and all of us may desire it, there is
not much hope of Redemption without the shedding of blood. If you must
bleed, let it all come at once--rather, _die freemen, than live to be
slaves_. It is impossible, like the children of Israel, to make a
grand Exodus from the land of bondage. THE PHARAOHS ARE ON BOTH SIDES
OF THE BLOOD-RED WATERS! You cannot remove en masse, to the dominions
of the British Queen--nor can you pass through Florida, and overrun
Texas, and at last find peace in Mexico. The propagators of American
slavery are spending their blood and treasure, that they may plant the
black flag in the heart of Mexico, and riot in the halls of the
Montezumas. In the language of the Rev. Robert Hall, when addressing
the volunteers of Bristol, who were rushing forth to repel the
invasion of Napoleon, who threatened to lay waste the fair homes of
England, "Religion is too much interested in your behalf, not to shed
over you her most gracious influences."
You will not be compelled to spend much time in order to become inured
to hardships. From the first moment that you breathed the air of
heaven, you have been accustomed to nothing else but hardships. The
heroes of the American Revolution were never put upon harder fare,
than a peck of corn, and a few herrings per week. You have not become
enervated by the luxuries of life. Your sternest energies have been
beaten out upon the anvil of severe trial. Slavery has done this, to
make you subservient to its own purposes; but it has done more than
this, it has prepared you for any emergency. If you receive good
treatment, it is what you could hardly expect; if you meet with pain,
sorrow, and even death, these are the common lot of the slaves.
Fellow-men! patient sufferers! behold your dearest rights crushed to
the earth! See your sons murdered, and your wives, mothers, and
sisters, doomed to prostitution! In the name of the merciful God! and
by all that life is worth, let it no longer be a debateable question,
whether it is better to choose LIBERTY or DEATH!
In 1822, Denmark Veazie, of South Carolina, formed a plan for the
liberation of his fellow men. In the whole history of human efforts to
overthrow slavery, a more complicated and tremendous plan was never
formed. He was betrayed by the treachery of his own people, and died a
martyr to freedom. Many a brave hero fell, but History, faithful to
her high trust, will transcribe his name on the same monument with
Moses, Hampden, Tell, Bruce, and Wallace, Touissaint L'Overteur,
Lafayette and Washington. That tremendous movement shook the whole
empire of slavery. The guilty soul thieves were overwhelmed with fear.
It is a matter of fact, that at that time, and in consequence of the
threatened revolution, the slave states talked strongly of
emancipation. But they blew but one blast of the trumpet of freedom,
and then laid it aside. As these men became quiet, the slaveholders
ceased to talk about emancipation: and now, behold your condition
to-day! Angels sigh over it, and humanity has long since exhausted her
tears in weeping on your account!
The patriotic Nathaniel Turner followed Denmark Veazie. He was goaded
to desperation by wrong and injustice. By Despotism, his name has
been recorded on the list of infamy, but future generations will
number him among the noble and brave.
Next arose the immortal Joseph Cinque, the hero of the Amistad. He was
a native African, and by the help of God he emancipated a whole
ship-load of his fellow men on the high seas. And he now sings of
liberty on the sunny hills of Africa, and beneath his native palm
trees, where he hears the lion roar, and feels himself as free as that
king of the forest. Next arose Madison Washington, that bright star of
freedom, and took his station in the constellation of freedom. He was
a slave on board the brig Creole, of Richmond, bound to New Orleans,
that great slave mart, with a hundred and four others. Nineteen struck
for liberty or death. But one life was taken, and the whole were
emancipated, and the vessel was carried into Nassau, New Providence.
Noble men! Those who have fallen in freedom's conflict, their memories
will be cherished by the true hearted, and the God-fearing, in all
future generations; those who are living, their names are surrounded
by a halo of glory.
We do not advise you to attempt a revolution with the sword, because
it would be INEXPEDIENT. Your numbers are too small, and moreover the
rising spirit of the age, and the spirit of the gospel, are opposed to
war and bloodshed. But from this moment cease to labor for tyrants who
will not remunerate you. Let every slave throughout the land do this,
and the days of slavery are numbered. You cannot be more oppressed
than you have been--you cannot suffer greater cruelties than you have
already. RATHER DIE FREEMEN, THAN LIVE TO BE SLAVES. Remember
that you are THREE MILLIONS.
It is in your power so to torment the God-cursed slaveholders, that
they will be glad to let you go free. If the scale was turned, and
black men were the masters, and white men the slaves, every
destructive agent and element would be employed to lay the oppressor
low. Danger and death would hang over their heads day and night. Yes,
the tyrants would meet with plagues more terrible than those of
Pharaoh. But you are a patient people. You act as though you were made
for the special use of these devils. You act as though your daughters
were born to pamper the lusts of your masters and overseers. And worse
than all, you tamely submit, while your lords tear your wives from
your embraces, and defile them before your eyes. In the name of God we
ask, are you men? Where is the blood of your fathers? Has it all run
out of your veins? Awake, awake; millions of voices are calling you!
Your dead fathers speak to you from their graves. Heaven, as with a
voice of thunder, calls on you to arise from the dust.
Let your motto be RESISTANCE! RESISTANCE! RESISTANCE!--No oppressed
people have ever secured their liberty without resistance. What kind
of resistance you had better make, you must decide by the
circumstances that surround you, and according to the suggestion of
expediency. Brethren, adieu. Trust in the living God. Labor for the
peace of the human race, and remember that you are three millions.