If any weight was due to human testimony, it was made probable, at
least, if not certain, that the intentions of the promoters of the
scheme were that it should be most kind to the black man, in all its
direct action, and by its indirect influences, the precursor of the
abolition of slavery; and if the society had fallen into a mistake,
the colonists themselves had also fallen into the same; as in this
address they say the scheme has proved successful. He would,
therefore, conclude this second reason, by maintaining that he had
sufficiently proved that the scheme had been productive of good, not
only to the colored population, but also to the cause of universal
freedom.
The reasons he would now offer would be more general. And in bringing
forward the third head of argument, he observed, that the uniform
method which God had selected to civilize and enlighten mankind, and
to carry through the world a knowledge of the arts and laws, with all
the kindred blessings of civilization, was colonization. Amongst the
first commands given by God to man, was to replenish and subdue the
earth; and there was a striking fulness of meaning in the expression.
While there seemed to exist in the whole human family an instinctive
obedience to this command, God had so directed its manifestation, that
he believed he might safely challenge any one to show him any one
nation which had located the permanent seat of its empire in the
native land of its inhabitants. Every nation had been a conquered
nation; every people has been in turn enlightened from others, and in
turn colonists again. This nation, which has reputed itself the most
enlightened in the world, and far be it from him to controvert the
opinion in their presence, might trace its superior enlightenment in
part to the fact of its having been so much oftener conquered than any
other, and the consequent greater mixture of nations among the
inhabitants. Again, he observed, that God had kept several races of
men distinct, from the time of Noah down to the present day; and in
their mutual action upon each other, there was this extraordinary
fact, that wherever the descendants of Shem had colonized a country
occupied by the descendants of Japhet or Ham, they had extirpated
those who were before them. When the descendants of Japhet conquered
the descendants of Shem, they were extirpated before them; when the
descendants of Shem conquered those of Japhet, the case was the same;
and so of the descendants of Ham upon either. But when Japhet
conquered Japhet there was no extirpation, and when Shem conquered
Shem there was no extirpation, as also of Ham conquering Ham. Now as
to the continent of Africa, if history taught any truth, they must
roll back all its tide, or Africa was destined to be still farther
colonized. As yet, the pestilence, like the flaming sword before the
garden of the Lord, had kept the way hedged up, the white man and
yellow man away from the spot,--reserved till the fit hour and people
came. If we take the bodings of Providence all is well. But if we rely
on the lessons of the past, the only means in our power to prevent the
ultimate colonization of Africa by some strange race, and the
consequent extirpation of its race of blacks, is to colonize it with
blacks. If they let Shem colonize there, the blacks will be
extirpated; if they let Japhet colonize, the blacks will be
extirpated. Africa must be undone, or she must be colonized with
blacks; or all history is but one prodigious lie. To Britain seems
specially committed, by a good Providence, the destinies of Asia; and
we say to her, kindly and faithfully, Enter and occupy, till Messiah
come; enter at once, lest we enter before you. To America, in like
manner, is Africa committed. To do our Master's work there, we must
colonize it by blacks, we must enlighten it by blacks. And when Mr. T.
and his friends come to us with their quackery, scarcely four year's
old, and require us to forego for it our clearest convictions, our
most cherished plans, and our most enlightened views of truth and
duty, we can only say to them, "We are much obliged to you, but pray
excuse us, gentlemen; we have considered the matter before." Every
benevolent and right thinking person must see that the scheme of
colonizing Africa by black men, is necessary to enlighten Africa, and
prevent the extirpation of the black men there. He would, in the
fourth place, take up the question of christianizing Africa, separate
from the other question of mere civilization and preservation. There
were only three ways, as had been argued, in which the works of
missions could be possibly conducted. In an admirable little treatise
on the subject, published in this country, and he regretted he knew
not the author, or he would name him in pure honor, these methods were
ably defined and illustrated. One method was, to send out
missionaries, and do the work, as many are now attempting it, in so
many lands. Another was, by bringing the people to be converted, to
those whom God chose to make the means of their conversion. And when
Britain thinks harshly of America about slavery, let her remember, and
melt into kindness at the thought, of what we are doing to convert the
tens of thousands of Irish Catholics she sends to us yearly. The third
way was by colonization; and this, in past ages, has been the great
and glorious plan. By this, Europe became what she is; by this,
America was Christianized; and he would again refer them to the little
book of which he had spoken--which, not being written by a slave
owner, nor even an American, might possibly be true--to convince them,
that it was, in all cases, a most efficient means to save the world.
But in this peculiar case, it seemed to be the chief, if not the only
means. The climate suited the black man, while hundreds of whites had
fallen victims to it. So peculiar does this appear to me, that I have
never been able to comprehend how the pious and enlightened free
blacks of America could so long, or at all, resist the manifest call
of God, to go and labor for Him in their father land. There she is,
"sitting in darkness and drinking blood,"--with a full capacity, and a
perfect fitness on their parts, to enlighten, to comfort, and to save
her--their mother, doubly requiring their care, that she knows not
that she is blind and naked! And yet they linger on a distant shore;
and fill the air with empty murmurs, of time and earth, and its poor
vanities; and Christian men around them caress and applaud them for
their heathen hard-heartedness; and Christian communities, in their
strange infatuation, send missions to them, to prevent them from
becoming the truest missionaries that the earth could furnish!
Shadows that we are, shadows that we pursue! It was, in the fifth
place, the only effectual and practical mode of putting an end to the
slave trade. There was, indeed, another way--by stopping the demand.
But while they disputed the means of stopping the demand, there was
another way--the stopping of the supply. This had long been an object
dear to several nations. The government of Britain, the government of
America, and the governments of several other states, had sent several
cruisers to stop the supply; but would any slaves be taken from
Africa, if there was even a single city on the western coast, with ten
thousand inhabitants, and three vessels of war at their command? They
would put an end to the trade the moment they were able to chastise
the pirates, or make reprisals on the nations to which they belonged.
Why is it we never hear of the stealing of an Englishman, a German, or
a Turk? Because the thief knows that reprisals would be made, or that
he or some of his countrymen would be chastised or stolen in return.
So that all that was required, was to plant a city on the west coast
of Africa, and this would give protection to the population of that
country. Nothing is plainer, than that any nation which will make
reprisals, will have none of the inhabitants stolen. If reprisals were
made effective, the slave trade would be immediately stopped. It is
the course pursued by Mr. Thompson and his friends, not the course
pursued by us, which is likely to continue the slave trade. On one
hundred leagues of African coast, it is already to a great degree
suppressed; and if we had been aided as the importance of the cause
demanded, instead of being resisted with untiring activity, this
blessed object might now have been granted to the prayers of
Christendom.
* * * * *
Mr. THOMPSON earnestly hoped that every word which Mr. Breckinridge
had that night uttered respecting the principles of the Colonization
Society, and what had been effected by that institution, would be
carefully preserved; that on other occasions, and by other persons, on
both sides the Atlantic, Mr. Breckinridge's arguments might be
canvassed, his facts investigated, and his sentiments made known. I
shall offer no apology (continued Mr. T.) for referring to a point
discussed last evening, but not fairly disposed of. I am by no means
satisfied, nor do I think the enlightened, and least of all the
Christian world, will be satisfied with the doctrine which for two
evenings has been laid down and maintained by Mr. Breckinridge, that
America, as a nation, is not responsible before God for the sin of
slavery. I cannot, sir, receive that doctrine. I cannot lightly pass
it over. Much hinges upon this point, nor will I consent that America
shall lay the flattering unction to her soul that she is not her
brother's keeper; that any wretches within her precincts may commit
soul-murder, and she be innocent, by reason of her wilful, self
induced, and self continued impotency. I do not believe the doctrine
of "the irresponsibleness of America as a nation" to be politically
sound; still less do I believe it to be the doctrine of the Bible.
Sir, I fearlessly charge America, as a nation--as the United States of
America--as a voluntary confederacy of free republics--as living under
one common constitution, and one common government--with being a
nation of slave-holders, and the vilest and most culpable on the face
of the earth.
I charge America with having a slave-holding president; with holding
seven thousand slaves at the seat of government; with licensing the
slave trade for four hundred dollars; with permitting the domestic
slave trade to the awful extent of one hundred thousand souls per
annum; with allowing prisons, built with the public money, to be made
the receptacles of unoffending, home-born Americans, destined for the
southern market; with permitting her legislators and the highest
functionaries in the state to trample upon every dictate of humanity,
and every principle sacred in American independence, by trafficking
"in slaves and the souls of men."
I charge America, "as a nation," with permitting within her boundaries
a wide spread system, which my opponent has himself described as one
of clear robbery, universal concubinage, horrid cruelty, and
unilluminated ignorance.
I charge America, before the world and God, with the awful crime of
reducing more than two millions of her own children, born on her own
soil, and entitled to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,"
to the state of _beasts_; withholding from them every right, and
privilege, and social or political blessing, and leaving them the prey
of those who have legislated away the word of life, and the ordinances
of religion, lest their victims should at any time see with their
eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and
should assume the bearing, and the name, and the honors of humanity.
I charge America, "as a nation," with being wickedly, cruelly, and, in
the highest sense, criminally indifferent to the happiness and
elevation of the free colored man; with crushing and persecuting him
in every part of the country; with regarding him as belonging to a
low, degraded, and irreclaimable _caste_, who ought not to call
America his country or his home, but seek in Africa, on the soil of
his ancestors, a refuge from persecution in the land which the
English, and the Dutch, and the French, and the Irish, have wrested
from the _red_ men, and which they now proudly and self complacently,
but most falsely style the _white_ man's country.
I charge all this, and much more, upon the _government_ of America,
upon the _church_ of America, and upon the _people_ of America.
It is idle, to say the least, to talk of rolling the guilt of the
system upon the individual slave-holder, and the individual state.
This cannot fairly be done while the citizens throughout the land are
banded, confederated, united. It is the sin of the entire church. The
Presbyterians throughout the country are one body; the Baptists are
one body; the Episcopalian Methodists are one body; they acknowledge
one another; they cordially fellowship one another. They make the sin,
if it be a sin, theirs, by owning as brethren in Christ Jesus, and
ministers of Him, who was anointed to preach deliverance to the
captives, men who shamelessly traffic in rational, blood-redeemed
souls; nay, even barter away for accursed gold, their own church
members. It is pre-eminently the sin of the church. It is the sin of
the people at large. It is said the laws recognize slavery. I reply,
the entire nation is answerable for those laws. We hear that the
"Constitution can do nothing," that "the Congress can do nothing," to
which I reply, Woe, and shame, and guilt, and execration must be, and
ought to be, the portion of that people calling themselves Christians
and republicans, who can tolerate, through half a century, a
Constitution and a Congress that cannot prevent nor cure the buying
and selling of sacred humanity; the sundering of every fibre that
binds heart to heart, and the dehumanization and butchery of peaceful
and patriotic citizens within the territories over which they extend.
In whatever aspect I view this question, the people, and the whole
people, appear to be, before God and man, responsible, politically and
morally, for the sin of slave-holding. They are responsible for the
Constitution, with any deficiencies and faults it may have, for they
have the power, and it is therefore their duty, to amend it. They are
responsible for the character and acts of Congress, for they make the
senators and representatives that go there. In a word, they are
properly and solemnly responsible for that "system" of which we have
heard so much, and for "the workings of that system;" and I declare it
little better than subterfuge to say, that the people of America, the
source of power, the sovereign, the omnipotent people, are not
responsible for the existence of slavery and all its kindred
abominations, within the territorial limits of the United States.
The charges which he had here made were important, grave and awful. He
made them under the full and solemn impression of his accountableness
to mankind, and the God of nations. He believed them to be true; he
was prepared to substantiate them. That not one tittle of them might
be lost or misrepresented in Great Britain or America, he had penned
them with his own hand, out of his own heart, and he was prepared to
support them in England, or in Scotland, or in America itself: for he
hoped yet again to visit that country, and there resume his advocacy
of the cause of the slave.
He would now come to the colonization question, on which he felt
completely at home. In adverting to this question, however, he
experienced a difficulty, which he had felt on many former occasions,
that of not being able to compress what he had to say within the
compass of one address. He would not only have to reply to what Mr.
Breckinridge had advanced, but he would have to touch on topics which
Mr. Breckinridge had overlooked--principles affecting the origin,
character, and very existence of that society, which Mr. Breckinridge
had taken under his special protection. He (Mr. T.) would show that
the improvement of the black man's condition was not the chief object
of the Colonization Society; that its operations sprung from that
loathing of color which might be denominated the peculiar sin of
America. Slavery might be found in many countries, but it was in
America alone that there existed an aristocracy founded on the color
of the skin. A race of pale-skinned patricians, resting their claims
to peculiar rank and privileges upon the hue of the skin, the texture
of the hair, the form of the nose, and the size of the calf! But for
this abhorrence of color, Mr. B. would not have been contented with
the means proposed by the Colonization Society for the amelioration of
slavery; he would not have spoken a word of colonization, or of that
Golgotha, Liberia.
Acquainted as he (Mr. T.) was with America, he had been able to come
to no other conclusion, but that the prejudice of color was that on
which the colonization of the free negro was founded. There had been a
great deal said of the inferior intellect of the black race, and of a
marked deficiency in their moral qualities; but these were not the
grounds on which it was sought to expatriate them; the injustice
practised towards them rested solely on the prejudice which had been
excited against their external personal peculiarities. Every word
spoken by Mr. Breckinridge in defence of colonization, went directly
to prove this. The whole scheme rested on the dark color of those to
be expatriated. Had the sufferers been white in the skin, Mr. B. would
have advocated immediate, complete, and everlasting emancipation.
He would now turn to a matter, regarding which he considered Mr.
Breckinridge had treated the abolitionists of America with
injustice--with unkindness--with something which he did not like even
to name. Mr. B. had charged the abolitionists with having published a
law as the law of the state of Maryland, which had never been adopted
by the legislature of that state; and when he (Mr. T.) had required of
Mr. B. evidence in support of his grave allegations, it was in this
case precisely as in the case of Mr. Garrison and Mr. Wright,--the
proofs were non est inventus. Now, he would ask, was this fair; was it
magnanimous; was it generous; was it Christianlike?
The charge had been distinctly made, and then it had been asked of the
parties accused to prove a negative. Mr. Breckinridge was not likely
to be long in Glasgow, and it was therefore most easy, and most
convenient, to prefer charges which could not, even on the testimony
of the parties implicated, be answered until Mr. Breckinridge was far
away, and the poison had had full time to work its effect. He (Mr. T.)
would, however, give it as his opinion, that his fellow laborers on
the other side of the Atlantic, would triumphantly clear themselves of
this and every other imputation, and finally emerge from the ordeal,
however fierce, pure, untarnished, and unscathed.
Such a charge, however, should not be brought against him (Mr. T.).
The laws of Maryland, he cited, were to be found in the pages of the
Colonization Society's accredited organ, the African Repository, an
entire set of which was on the platform, open to inspection.
Mr. Breckinridge had taken great pains to make out a case for the
Maryland Colonization Society. This was not to be wondered at. That
society was a protege of his own. It had been patronized and fostered
by him. For it, it appeared, he had almost suffered martyrdom, when,
in advocating its cause in Boston, he had been mistaken for an
abolitionist,--in that same city of Boston, where a gentlemanly mob of
5000 individuals, fashionably attired, in black, and brown, and blue
cloth, had joyfully engaged in assaulting and dispersing a peaceful
meeting of forty ladies.
He had not yet done with the Maryland Colonization Society. He was
prepared to prove that it was, taken as a whole, a most oppressive and
iniquitous scheme. The laws framed to support it prohibited
manumission, except on condition of the removal of the freed slaves;
thus submitting a choice of evils, both cruel to the last
extent,--perpetual bondage, or banishment from the soil of their
birth, and the scenes and associations of infancy and youth. He could
show, that free persons of color, coming into the state, were liable
to be seized and sold; and white persons inviting them, and harboring
them, liable to the infliction of heavy fines.
These, and similar provisions, all disgraceful and cruel, were the
prominent features of the laws which had been framed to carry into
effect the benevolent and patriotic designs of the Maryland
Colonization Society!
That expulsion from the state was the thing intended, he would show
from newspapers published in the state. What said the Baltimore
Chronicle, a pro-slavery and colonization paper, at the time when the
laws referred to were passed? Let his auditory hear with attention.
"The intention of those laws was, and their effect must be,
to EXPEL the free people of color from this state. They will
find themselves so hemmed in by restrictions, that their
situation cannot be otherwise than uncomfortable should they
elect to remain in Maryland. These laws will no doubt be met
by prohibitory laws in other states, which will greatly
increase the embarrassments of the people of color, and leave
them no other alternative than to emigrate or remain in a
very unenviable condition."
What said the Maryland Temperance Herald of May 3, 1835?
"We are indebted to the committee of publication for the
first No. of the Maryland Colonization Journal, a new
quarterly periodical, devoted to the cause of colonization in
our state. Such a paper has long been necessary; we hope this
will be useful.
"Every reflecting man must be convinced, that the time is not
far distant when the safety of the country will require the
EXPULSION of the blacks from its limits. It is perfect folly
to suppose, that a foreign population, whose physical
peculiarities must forever render them distinct from the
owners of the soil, can be permitted to grow and strengthen
among us with impunity. Let hair-brained enthusiasts
speculate as they may, no abstract considerations of the
natural rights of man, will ever elevate the negro population
to an equality with the whites. As long as they remain in the
land of their bondage, they will be morally, if not
physically enslaved, and, indeed, so long as their distinct
nationality is preserved, their enlightenment will be a
measure of doubtful policy. Under such circumstances every
philanthropist will wish to see them removed, but gradually,
and with as little violence as possible. For effecting this
purpose, no scheme is liable to so few objections, as that of
African Colonization. It has been said, that this plan has
effected but little--true, but no other has done any thing.
We do not expect that the exertions of benevolent individuals
will be able to rid us of the millions of blacks who oppress
and are oppressed by us. All they can accomplish, is to
satisfy the public of the practicability of the scheme--they
can make the experiment--they are making it and with success.
The state of Maryland has already adopted this plan, and
before long every Southern state will have its colony. The
whole African coast will be strewn with cities, and then,
should some fearful convulsion render it necessary to the
public safety TO BANISH THE MULTITUDE AT ONCE, a house of
refuge will have been provided for them in the land of their
fathers."
Yet this was the plan of which the American Colonization Society, at
its annual meeting in 1833, had spoken in the following terms:--
Resolved, That the Society view, with the highest
gratification, the continued efforts of the State of Maryland
to accomplish her patriotic and benevolent system in regard
to her colored population; and that the last appropriation by
that state of two hundred thousand dollars, in aid of African
colonization, is hailed by the friends of the system, as a
BRIGHT EXAMPLE to other states.
Mr. Breckinridge had lauded the Colonization Society as a scheme of
benevolence and patriotism. He (Mr. T.) did not mean to deny that
there had been many pious and excellent men found amongst its founders
and subsequent supporters, but he was prepared to demonstrate that it
had grown out of prejudice, was based upon prejudice, made its appeal
to prejudice, and could not exist were the prejudice against the
colored man conquered. It had, moreover, made an appeal to the fears
and cupidity of the slaveholder, by setting forth, that, in its
operations, it would remove from the southern states the most
dangerous portion of the free population, and also enhance the value
of the slaves left remaining in the country. The doctrines found
pervading the publications of the society were of the most absurd and
anti-christian character. He would mention three, viz., 1st, that
_Africa_, and not _America_, was the true and appropriate home of the
colored man; 2dly, that prejudice against color was _invincible_, and
the elevation of the colored man, therefore, while in America, beyond
the reach of humanity, legislation and religion; and, 3dly, that there
should be no emancipation except for the purposes of colonization. How
truly monstrous were these doctrines! How calculated to cripple
exertion, to retard freedom, and mark the colored man out as a
foreigner and alien, to be driven out of the country as soon as the
means for his removal were provided. Such had really been the effect
of the society's views upon the public mind in America. If the colored
man was to be expatriated because his ancestors were Africans, then
let General Jackson be sent to Ireland, because his parents were
Irish; and Mr. Van Buren be sent to Holland, because his ancestors
were Dutch; and let the same rule be applied to all the other white
inhabitants of the country. Then would Great Britain, and France, and
Germany, and Switzerland recover their children; America be delivered
of her conquerors, and the red man come forth from the wilds and the
wildernesses of the back country, to enjoy, in undisturbed security,
the soil from which his ancestors had been driven. Mr. Breckinridge
had said much respecting his (Mr. T.'s) presumption in bringing
forward a resolution in Boston, so strongly condemning the measures
and principles of the Colonization Society. He (Mr. T.) might be
permitted to say, that if he had acted presumptuously, he had also
acted boldly and honestly; and that the auditory should know, that the
resolution referred to had been debated for one entire evening, and
from half past nine till half past one, the next day, with the Rev. R.
R. Gurley, the secretary and agent of the Colonization Society, who,
for eight or nine years, had been the editor of the African
Repository, and was, perhaps, better qualified than any other man in
the United States, to discuss the subject--always, of course,
excepting his Rev. opponent, then on the platform. He admitted, the
resolution was strongly worded; that it repudiated the society as
unrighteous, unnatural, and proscriptive; and declared the efforts
then making to give strength and permanency to the institution, were a
fraud upon the ignorance, and an outrage upon the intelligence and
humanity of the community. But this country should know that he had
defended his propositions, face to face, with one of the ablest
champions of the cause, before two American audiences, in the city of
Boston. That the assembly then before him might judge of the character
of the debate, and know its result, he would read a few short
extracts, taken from a respectable daily paper, published in Boston,
and entirely unconnected with the Abolitionists. The editor himself,
B. F. Hallett, Esq., reported the proceedings, and thus remarked:--
"One of the most interesting, masterly, and honorable
discussions ever listened to in this community, took place on
Friday evening and Saturday morning. The hall was as full as
it could hold. * * * * * * The whole discussion was a model
for courtesy and christian temper in like cases, and did
great credit to all parties concerned. We question if a
public debate was ever conducted in this city, in a better
spirit, and with more ability. There was not a discourteous
word passed, through the whole, and no occurrence which for
an instant marred the entire cordiality with which the
dispute was conducted. It was not men but principles that
were contending, and we venture to say that no public
discussion was ever managed on higher grounds, or was more
deeply interesting to an audience. The resolution was put,
all present being invited to vote. It was carried in the
affirmative with FOUR voices in the negative."
So said the Boston Daily Advocate.
The following extracts from the published addresses of some of the
most eminent and gifted supporters of the Colonization Society, would
show, that the _compulsory_ removal of the colored population, had
from the first been contemplated. If it was replied, "You cannot find
compulsion in the Constitution," he (Mr. T.) would rejoin, No; but
herein consists the wickedness and hypocrisy of the scheme; that while
it puts forth a fair face in its constitution, it does, really and in
truth, contain the elements of all oppression. The written
constitution of the Society was but the robe of an angel, covering an
implacable and devouring demon. He would make another remark, also,
before submitting the extracts in his hand. Mr. Breckinridge had
strenuously endeavored to lay the guilt of the oppressive laws in the
south upon the Abolitionists, declaring that those laws had resulted
from the spread of Anti-slavery principles. From the passages about to
be cited, and, more especially, from the words of Mr. Clay, it would
be found, that long prior to the "quackery" of the Abolitionists,
there had existed harsh and cruel laws, calling forth the regrets and
censures of Slaveholders themselves. Even admitting the truth of what
Mr. B. had said, did it follow that the truth should not therefore be
published. By no means. The Israelites, in their bondage, murmured
against the measures of him whom God had raised up to deliver them,
and complained that their burdens had increased since Pharaoh had been
remonstrated with. He would quote, for the benefit of Mr. B. a very
laconic remark, by an old commentator, "When the bricks are doubled,
Moses is near."
1. Charles Carrol Harper, Son of General Harper, to the
voters of Baltimore, 1826. Af. Repy., vol. 2. page 188. For
several years the subject of Abolition of Slavery has been
brought before you. I am decidedly opposed to the project
recommended. No scheme of abolition will meet my support,
that leaves the emancipated blacks among us. Experience has
proved that they become a corrupt and degraded class, as
burthensome to themselves, as they are hurtful to the rest
of society.
Again, page 189, "To permit the blacks to remain amongst us
after their emancipation, would be to aggravate, and not to
cure the evil."
2. Extracted with approbation from the Public Ledger,
Richmond, Indiana, Af. Repy., vol. 3. page 26. "We would say,
liberate them only on condition of their going to Africa or
Hayti."
3. Extracts from an address delivered at Springfield, before
the Hamden Col. Society, July 4th, 1828. By Wm. B. O.
Peabody, Esq. published by request of the Society. Af. Repy.,
vol. 4. page 226. "I am not complaining of the owners of
Slaves; they cannot get rid of them; it would be as humane to
throw them from the decks in the middle passage, as to set
them free in our country." Upon which the following eulogy is
pronounced, page 230. "We need hardly say that Mr. Peabody's
address is an excellent one. May its spirit universally
pervade and animate the minds of our countrymen.
4. Extracts from an Address to the Col. Socy. of Kentucky, at
Frankfort, Dec. 17th., 1829, by the Hon. Henry Clay. Af.
Repy., vol. 6, page 5. "If the question were submitted,
whether there should be immediate or gradual emancipation of
all the slaves in the United States, without their removal or
colonization, painful as it is to express the opinion, I have
no doubt it would be unwise to emancipate them. For I believe
that the aggregate of the evils which would be engendered in
Society, upon the supposition of such general emancipation,
and of the liberated slaves remaining promiscuously among us,
would be greater than all the evils of Slavery, great as they
unquestionably are."
Again, page 12. "Is there no remedy, I again ask, for the
evils of which I have sketched a faint and imperfect picture?
Is our posterity doomed to endure forever, not only all the
ills flowing from the state of Slavery, but all which arise
from incongruous elements of population, separated from each
other by invincible prejudices, and by natural causes?
Whatever may be the character of the remedy proposed, we may
confidently pronounce it inadequate, unless it provides
efficaciously for the total and absolute separation, by an
extensive space of water or of land, at least of the white
portion of our population, from that which is free of the
colored."
5. Extracts from the speech of Geo. Washington Park Curtis at
the 14th Annual meeting of the Amer. Col. Soc., Af. Repy.,
vol. 6. page 371-2. "Some benevolent minds in the
overflowings of their philanthropy, advocate amalgamation of
the two classes, saying, let the colored classes be freed and
remain among us as denizens of the empire; surely all classes
of mankind are alike descended from the primitive parentage
of Eden, then why not intermingle in one common society as
friends and brothers. No, Sir; no. I hope to prove, at no
very distant day, that a Southron can make sacrifices for the
cause of Colonization beyond seas, but for a Home Department
in those matters, I repeat no, Sir; no. What right, I demand,
have the children of Africa to a homestead in the white man's
country?
"If, as is most true, the crimes of the white man robbed
Africa of her sons, let atonement be made by returning the
descendants of the stolen to the clime of their ancestors,
and then all the claims of redeeming justice will have been
discharged. There let centuries of future rights, atone for
centuries of past wrongs. Let the regenerated African rise to
Empire; nay, let Genius flourish, and Philosophy shed its
mild beams to enlighten and instruct the posterity of Ham,
returning 'redeemed and disenthralled' from their long
captivity in the new world. But, Sir, be all these benefits
enjoyed by the African race under the shade of their native
palms. Let the Atlantic billow heave its high and everlasting
barrier between their country and ours. Let this fair land
which the white man won by his chivalry, which he has adorned
by the arts and elegancies of polished life, be kept sacred
for his descendants, untarnished by the footprint of him who
hath ever been a slave."
6. Mr. Henry Clay's speech, before the Society, January 1st,
1818--2d Annual Report, page 110. "Further, several of the
slaveholding states had, and perhaps all of them would,
prohibit entirely, emancipation, without some such outlet was
created. A sense of their own safety required the painful
prohibition. Experience proved that persons turned loose who
were neither freemen nor slaves, constituted a great moral
evil, threatening to contaminate all parts of society. Let
the colony once be successfully planted, and legislative
bodies who have been grieved at the necessity of passing
those 'prohibitory laws,' which at a distance might appear to
'stain our codes,' will hasten to remove the impediments to
the exercise of benevolence and humanity. They will annex the
condition that the emancipated shall leave the country, and
he has placed a false estimate upon liberty, who believes
there are many who would refuse the boon, when coupled even
with such a condition."
Here there was compulsion, both in principle and precept. In the laws
of Maryland, and elsewhere, were found abundant evidences of
compulsion in practice, and where there were no direct acts forcing
them to depart, a public sentiment had been created, which, in its
manifold operations, brought the colored man, crushed and hopeless, to
the conclusion, that it would be better for him to say farewell to
home and country, than remain a proverb and a nuisance amongst a
prejudiced and persecuting people. No colored man could justly be said
to go to Liberia, or elsewhere, with his free and unconstrained
consent, until the laws were equal, the treatment kind, prejudice
founded on complexion destroyed, and he presented himself a voluntary
agent, and asked the means to transport him to a foreign shore. As one
proof that compulsion had been openly and unblushingly advocated, he
would quote the words of Mr. Broadnax in the Virginia House of
Delegates:----
"It is idle to talk about not resorting to force; every body
must look to the introduction of force of some kind or
other--and it is in truth a question of expediency, of moral
justice, of political good faith--whether we shall fairly
delineate our whole system on the face of the bill, or leave
the acquisition of extorted consent to other processes. The
real question, the only question of magnitude to be settled,
is the great preliminary question--Do you intend to send the
free persons of color out of Virginia, or not?
"If the free negroes are willing to go, they will go--if not
willing they must be compelled to go. Some gentlemen think it
politic not now to insert this feature in the bill, though
they proclaim their readiness to resort to it when it becomes
necessary; they think that for a year or two a sufficient
number will consent to go, and then the rest can be
compelled. For my part, I deem it better to approach the
question and settle it at once, and avow it openly.
"I have already expressed it as my opinion that few, very
few, will voluntarily consent to emigrate if no COMPULSORY
measure be adopted.
"I will not express, in its full extent, the idea I entertain
of what has been done, or what enormities will be perpetrated
to induce this class of persons to leave the Slate. Who does
not know that when a free negro, by crime or otherwise, has
rendered himself obnoxious to a neighborhood, how easy it is
for a party to visit him one night, take him from his bed and
family, and apply to him the gentle admonition of a SEVERE
FLAGELLATION, to induce Kim to consent to go away I In a few
nights the dose can be repeated, perhaps increased, until, in
the language of the physician, quantum sufficit has been
administered to produce the desired operation; and the fellow
then becomes PERFECTLY WILLING to move away.
Finally, on this part of the subject, he would cite the Rev. R. J.
Breckinridge, who, at the annual meeting of the American Colonization
Society, in 1834, had used the following language:--
"Two years ago I warned the Managers of this Virginia
business, and yet they sent out TWO SHIP-LOADS OF VAGABONDS,
not fit to go to such a place, and they were COERCED away as
truly as if it had been done with a CART-WHIP.
His grand complaint against the Colonization Society was this--that
instead of grappling with the reigning prejudices of the community, it
falsely assumed the _insensibility_ of those prejudices, and proceeded
to legislate accordingly. They thus sanctioned and perpetuated the
greatest sources of suffering and wrong to the colored population. The
prejudice against the people of color had greatly increased since the
formation of the Society. The present supporters of the Society were
those who thoroughly loathed the free people of color, and the most
cruel and sanguinary opponents of the Abolitionists were the
boisterous defenders of the American Colonization Society. For
example, when a mob assailed the inhabitants in New York, broke up
their meetings, assaulted their persons, and sacked the house of Mr.
Lewis Tappan, that mob could, in the midst of their ruffian-like and
felonious exploits, most unanimously and heartily shout, "Three cheers
for the Colonization Society," and "away with the niggers." In
travelling in steamboats and stage coaches, he (Mr. T.) had invariably
found that his most furious and malignant opponents, and the most
determined haters of the black man, were loud in their profession of
attachment to the principles and plans of the society. Why had not the
wise and benevolent members of the society denounced that prejudice?
Because the best among them were themselves partakers of that
prejudice. It was evident, from all that Mr. Breckinridge had said,
that he was deeply imbued with that prejudice. It gave tone, and
color, and direction to all his remarks. Such men might profess to
love the black man; but they were likely to be suspected of
insincerity, when they uniformly manifested their love by driving the
object of it as far away as possible. Such a mode of expressing love
was contrary to all our ideas of the natural manifestations of that
feeling. If the Colonization Society was indeed so full of benevolence
and mercy, how was it that its character was so misunderstood by the
colored people, for whose special benefit it had been originated?
Surely they were likely to be the best judges of its effect upon their
welfare and happiness. What was the fact? The entire free colored
population of the United States were opposed to the expatriating
project. But his opponent would say it was owing to the abuse poured
upon the society by the foul-mouthed Abolitionists. He (Mr. T.)
should, however, deprive the gentleman of this refuge, by laying
before the meeting a very interesting fact, which would at once show
the feeling of the colored people when the plan was first submitted to
them. It would show, that in a meeting of three thousand, convened in
the city of Philadelphia, to decide whether the society should, or
should not, receive their countenance, they decided _against_ it
without a dissentient voice. He would lay before them a letter written
by a highly respectable, enlightened, and wealthy gentleman of color
in Philadelphia, Mr. James Forten. The letter was written to the
editor of the New England Spectator, in consequence of a remark made
by Mr. Gurley, during the debate in Boston.
PHILADELPHIA, June 10th, 1835.
REV. W. S. PORTER,--Dear Sir,--I cheerfully comply with the
request contained in your note of the 3d inst., to give you a
brief statement of a meeting held in 1817, by the people of
color in this city, to express their opinion on the Liberia
project. It was the largest meeting of colored persons ever
convened in Philadelphia,--I will say 3000, though I might
safely add 500 more. To show you the deep interest evinced,
this large assemblage remained in almost breathless and fixed
attention during the reading of the resolutions and the other
business of the meeting; and when the question was put in the
affirmative you might have heard a pin drop, so profound was
the silence. But when in the negative, one long, loud, ay,
tremendous NO, from this vast audience, seemed as if it would
bring down the walls of the building. Never did there appear
a more unanimous opinion. Every heart seemed to feel that it
was a life and death question. Yes, even then, at the very
onset, when the monster came in a guise to deceive some of
our firmest friends, who hailed it as the dawning of a
brighter day for our oppressed race,--even then we penetrated
through its thickly-laid covering, and beheld it
prospectively as the scourge which in after years was to
grind us to the earth, and, by a series of unrelenting
persecution, force us into involuntary exile.
I was not a little surprised to learn that Mr. Gurley
professed to be ignorant of this fact; for in the African
Repository he reviewed Mr. Garrison's Thoughts on African
Colonization; and a whole chapter of the work, if I mistake
not, is taken up with the sentiments of the people of color
on colonization, commencing with the Philadelphia meeting.
Perhaps Mr. Gurley did not read that chapter. But if his
memory is not very treacherous, he ought to have known the
circumstance, for I related it to him myself in a
conversation which I had with him at my house one evening, in
company with the Rev. Robert J. Breckinridge, and our beloved
friend, William Lloyd Garrison. The subject of colonization
was warmly discussed; and I well recollect bringing our
meeting of 1817 forward as a proof of our early and decided
opposition to the measure. No doubt Mr. Garrison also
remembers it.
Three meetings were held by us in 1817. The two first you
will find in the "Thoughts on Colonization," part 2d, page 9.
Of the protest and remonstrance adopted at the third meeting,
I send you an exact copy. It is in answer to an address to
the citizens of New York and Philadelphia, calling upon them
to aid a number of persons of color, whom they said were
anxious to join the projected colony in Africa. Those persons
were mostly from the south, and it was to disabuse the public
mind on this subject, that our meeting was held.
I remain, with great respect,
Yours, JAMES FORTEN.
He (Mr. T.) could pledge himself that such were still the feelings
of the free colored people of America. Wherever they possessed a
glimmering of light upon the subject, they utterly abhorred the
society, and would as soon _consent_ to be cut to pieces, as sent to
any of the colonies prepared for their reception. Was it not then too
bad that Christians should be called upon to support a society so
utterly at variance with the wishes and feelings of the parties most
nearly concerned? As a few moments yet remained, he would occupy it
in quoting the opinions of two gentlemen, ministers of religion, and
standing high in their own country, who had furnished lamentable
evidence of the extent to which prejudice might possess otherwise
strong and enlarged minds. The first quotation was from a report of
a committee at the Theological Seminary at Andover, Massachusetts,
presented to the Colonization Society of that institution in 1823.
It was from the pen of the Rev. Leonard Bacon, now pastor of a
Congregational church at New Haven, Connecticut.
"The Soodra is not farther separated from the Brahmin, in
regard to all his privileges, civil, intellectual, and moral,
than the negro is from the white man, by the prejudices which
result from the difference made between them by the God of
nature. A barrier more difficult to be surmounted than the
institution of the Caste, cuts off, and while the present
state of society continues, must always cut off, the negro
from all that is valuable in citizenship."
The other was his opponent on that platform; who, in a letter to the
New York Evangelist, had said, that emancipation, to be followed by
amalgamation, at the option of the parties, would be reckless
wickedness. But lest he should misrepresent that gentleman, he would
turn to the paper, and quote the passage cited.
"I know that any abolition without the consent of the States
holding the slaves, is impossible; that to obtain this
consent on any terms, is very difficult;--that to obtain it
without the prospect of extensive removal by colonization, is
impossible; that to obtain it instantly on any terms, is the
dream of ignorance; that to expect it instantly with
subsequent equality, is frantic nonsense; and that to demand
it, as an instant right, irrespective of consequences, and to
be followed by amalgamation at the option of the parties, is
RECKLESS WICKEDNESS!"
All the alarm created on the subject of amalgamation was totally
unfounded. The views of the Abolitionists were simple and scriptural.
They held that there should be no distinctions on account of color.
That to treat a man with coldness, unkindness, or contempt, on
account of his complexion, was to quarrel with the Maker of us all.
They held that this prejudice should be given up, and the colored man
be treated as a white man, according to his intellect, morality, and
fitness for the duties of civil life. They did not interfere with
those tastes by which human beings were regulated in entering into the
nearest and most permanent relations of life. They confined themselves
to the exhibition of gospel truth upon the subject, and left it to an
overruling and watchful Providence to guard and control the
consequences springing from a faithful and fearless discharge of duty.
Mr. Thompson concluded, by observing, that he considered the readiest
way to make men curse their existence and their God, was to oppress
and enslave them on account of that complexion, and those
peculiarities, which the Creator of the world had stamped upon them.
* * * * *
Mr. BRECKINRIDGE said, he would commence with a slight allusion to two
references which had been made to himself by Mr. Thompson. And in
regard to certain passages which had been read from speeches of his,
he would only say, that he had never written or uttered a single word
on this subject, which he would not rejoice to see laid before the
British public. But he had a right to complain of the manner in which
these passages had been quoted. It was not fair, he contended, to
break down a passage, and read only half a sentence, passing over the
other half because it would not answer the purpose of the reader; in
fact, because it would alter the sense of the passage altogether. He
charged Mr. T. with having been guilty of this in the last quotation
which he had made, and, in order to show the true meaning of the
garbled passage, he would read it as it stood: [See the passage as it
appears in Mr. T.'s speech.] He had read this the more particularly,
in order to show the consistency of his present opinions with those
which he had held and uttered two years ago. They would now perceive,
he said, that when the sentence was given entire, he said, that
setting the slaves free without reference to consequences, constituted
a material and an omitted part of that procedure, which he had
characterized as reckless wickedness, whereas by breaking it up in the
middle, he was made to say, that to permit voluntary amalgamation,
after instant abolition, was by itself to be so considered. He was now
ready to defend this statement as he had at first made it.
The next thing he would refer to, was the report of a speech which he
[Mr. B.] had delivered at an annual meeting of the American
Colonization Society. And with regard to it, if he was in America, he
would say, decidedly, that it was not a fair report: that it was an
unfair report, got up by Mr. Leavitt, the editor of the New York
Evangelist, to serve a special purpose. He would not deny that he had
said something which might give a pretext for the report. He had
charged the parent society with having been guilty of a gross
dereliction of duty to the colony and the cause, in sending away two
ships' cargoes of negroes to Liberia, who were not fit for that place,
and he believed that those two expeditions had done much to injure
the colony itself, as well as to impair public confidence in the
firmness and judiciousness of the parent board. They were emigrants
unfit to be sent out--the refuse of the counties around South Hampton
in Virginia; who were hurried out by the violent state of public
sentiment in that region, after the insurrection and massacre there.
Like a man conscious of rectitude, he had gone to the very parties
concerned, and declared his grounds of complaint; a line of conduct he
could not too often commend to Mr. Thompson, and no proof could be
more conclusive than this anecdote afforded, that the active friends
of colonization in America, however they might differ about details,
meant kindly by the blacks, and by Africa. Mr. B. again expressed his
surprise that Mr. Thompson should occupy the time of the meeting by
repeating his own speeches. He had adverted to this matter before, he
said, and as he was in a poor state of health, and had work elsewhere,
and as there was much ground yet to go over, and Mr. T. declared his
materials to be most abundant, he thought those repetitions might have
been spared. They who took the trouble to read the published speeches
of this gentleman, would find, that however exhaustless might be the
boasted stores of his facts, proofs, and illustrations, about what he
called "American Slavery," he was exceedingly economical of them.
After reading six or seven of them, he found them so very like each
other, that the same stories, in the same order, and the same
illustrations, in the same sequence, and the same unfounded charges,
in the same terms of unmeasured bitterness, may be often expected, and
never in vain. Indeed, so meagre was his supply of wit, even, that it
also went on very few changes. The whole case exhibiting a most
striking illustration of the truth uttered in a personal sense by one
of their own statesmen and scholars, and now proved to be of general
application, namely, that when a man resorted to his memory for his
jokes, it was very probable that he would draw upon his imagination
for his facts. As he [Mr. B.] had been so often asked to produce
certain placards for the purpose of substantiating some of his
statements, there could be no better connexion in which to call upon
Mr. Thompson to bring forward proof of those charges which he brought
against certain persons, and classes of persons, unless he wished the
world to believe that he had brought those charges without having a
single iota of evidence on which to found them. He would call upon Mr.
Thompson to bring forward his proofs in support of all those charges,
those reckless and extravagant charges, which he brought against the
ministers of religion in America. Mr. Thompson had stood before
several London audiences with a runaway slave from America, who
charged certain individuals with unparalleled cruelty! Amongst other
things, with burning a slave alive; a matter to which Mr. T's
attention had in vain been called, and his proofs demanded. He would
take no further notice of the gross things he had uttered of the
president of the United States than to say, that if he (Mr. B.) could
condescend to imitate his conduct, and utter ribaldrous things of the
king of Great Britain, he should richly deserve to be turned with
contempt out of this sacred place. He would proceed, then, with his
remarks on the Maryland colonization scheme. They had been told by Mr.
T. that the object of the Maryland society was compulsory
expatriation, as a condition precedent to freedom. When proof of this
was required, he could bring none; and when he (Mr. B.) had showed
that it was not so, but that its object was of unmixed good to the
blacks, an object accomplished as to many, on their showing, in the
proof produced, Mr. Thompson turned round, and said, that it was
entirely contrary to his preconceived notions, and repeated
statements, and must be false! But facts were better than notions and
statements both. And what were the facts in the present case? Why,
that on the one hand Mr. Thompson asserts that no slave can be
manumitted in Maryland except he will instantly depart the country;
whereas Messrs. Harper, Howard and Hoffman assert, in an official
report, on the 31st of last December, that 299 manumissions within
that state had been officially reported to them within a year, and
1101 within four years. At the same moment I have produced a record of
the very names and periods of emigration, of 140, bond and free, all
told, who, within the same four years, under the action of the very
laws in question, had gone from the state; admitting half of whom to
be of those particular manumitted slaves, there would be left 1021
more of them to prove that Mr. T. either totally misunderstood, or
mis-stated, that of which he affirms--either way, his assertions are
demonstrated to be untrue. As to the laws of Maryland, of which
mention had been made, he had not seen them since his visit to Boston
two years ago, and in adverting to them he had stated in general terms
what he understood them to be. The great object of these laws was said
to be the driving out of the free blacks from the state of Maryland.
Now that the means taken to promote this end were not of that grinding
and iniquitous character which Mr. Thompson had represented them as
being, would be sufficiently obvious to the meeting, when it was
considered that in that state there were three times the number of
free persons of color, than were to be found in the majority of the
free states, and considerably more than there were in any other state
in the Union. If the laws were found more oppressive in Maryland, how
did it come that the free blacks congregated there from all other
parts of America? Or if they were set free by the people so much
opposed to their increase, why did they not rather go to Pennsylvania,
which was separated from Maryland only by an imaginary line, and where
free blacks enjoyed almost the same rights as white men? But, again,
it was said, that that colonization scheme was an awfully wicked
scheme, because it sought to prevent the increase of free persons of
color in Maryland. But if this were a grievous sin, were the people of
Great Britain not equally guilty in sending away out of the country
ship loads of paupers, free whites, to other parts of the globe, in
order to prevent the increase of pauperism in this country? Why had
not this branch of the subject been adverted to by Mr. Thompson? Why
had he not, in the paroxysms of his enfuriated eloquence, while
abusing the American colonizationists, not included the king and
parliament of Britain for allowing the existence of laws, or if there
be no such law, for a practice rife in England, of expatriating
thousands of paupers not only by contributions, but at the public
expense. He would be told that the paupers were sent away to distant
parts of the globe, where they would be more comfortable in every
respect than they were at present. And had Mr. T. bowels of compassion
only for the black man? Is it lawful to export a white man against his
will, at the public charge, while it is unlawful to export a black
man, with his free consent, by private benevolence? Is America so
detestable a place, that England may lawfully make her the receptacle
of the refuse of the poor houses of the realm; while Africa is so
sacred a place, that no one that can even do her good is to be
permitted to go there from America, if his skin is dark? May Britain
say, she has more paupers than she can support, and so make it state
policy to force emigration from Ireland, by a system which makes a
quarter of the people there beg bread eight months out of twelve, and
produces inexpressible distress; and yet is Maryland to be precluded,
on any account, or upon any terms, from seeking the diminution, or
rather preventing the disproportionate increase, of a population,
anomalous, and difficult of proper regulation? He should be most happy
to receive an explanation of these strange contradictions! There was
another feature of the Maryland laws, which he might mention, which
forbade the emigration of slaves into Maryland, even along with their
owners. Mr. Thompson had prudently omitted all notice of that
enactment, while he had said a great deal about the registration of
free persons of color, as if it were a most intolerable hardship. He
(Mr. B.) was unable to see in what respect the great hardship
consisted. Was not every freeholder in this country registered? But
the free black was not allowed to leave the state of Maryland without
giving notice, it was said. There was nothing very oppressive in all
that. It was no worse interference on the part of the government, than
for the king of Great Britain to say to his subjects, You must return
home under certain contingencies; you shall not dwell in particular
places, nor fight for certain nations. Were the governments of
America, because they were republicans, not to have the power which
other nations had, of controlling the actions of that portion of their
population, whose movements must be regarded by all who regarded the
peace of society or the public good. He admitted, that some of the
laws in several of the states were hard and severe in reference to the
free colored population, but while he said so, it was but fair to add
that he considered the conduct of the abolitionists, in spreading
their new fangled notions, had done much to alter these laws for the
worse. In many instances the bad laws had become worse, and good laws
had become bad, solely through the imprudent conduct of Mr. Thompson's
associates. And this specific law of registration, and loss of right
of residence, by removal for any considerable time out of the state,
was obviously intended to prevent free persons of color from going out
and becoming imbued with false and bloody theories, and then returning
to disturb the public peace. The law says to them, Abide at home, or,
if you prefer it, depart, and find a home more to your mind; but if
you go, prudence requests us to prohibit your return. Mr. T.'s
complaints of this enactment, showed how necessary it was to have made
it.
In conclusion, he would recommend to Mr. Thompson, should he ever
return to America, he need not be so tremendously prudent in regard to
his personal safety, if he would just not be so tremendously imprudent
in the principles and proceedings he advocated, and the statements he
made with regard to the conduct of the American people. He had now
gone over the assertions of Mr. Thompson, regarding the Maryland
colonization scheme, and he trusted that he had shown the unfounded
nature of those assertions. All that had been said by Mr. T. as to the
principles and objects of the colonizationists, and the scope and
influence of their course, had no other proof than the writings of
those persons, who for some years, had formed a very small portion of
the supporters of this great interest; and who, without exception,
belonged to those classes, who at first, as had already been admitted,
supported it, for reasons, some of which were entirely political,
others perhaps severe to the slaves, and others unjust or
inconsiderate towards the free blacks. But that directly opposite
views, statements and arguments, could be more amply procured from the
still greater, and still proportionately increasing party, who support
this cause, as a great benevolent and religious operation, must be
perfectly known to the individual himself. If he admit this, said Mr.
B., it will show his present course to be of the same uncandid kind
with all the rest of his conduct towards America, in selecting what
answered his purpose; that always being the worst thing he could find,
and representing it as a fair sample of all. It will do more, it will
show that what he calls proof is no proof at all. But if he denies my
repeated representations as to the various classes of the original
supporters of the parent society, and the present state of them, I am
equally content; as, in that case, all America would have a fair
criterion by which to test his statements. As to the Maryland plan,
and that pursued by the united societies of Philadelphia and New York,
if they have any supporters except such as love the cause of the black
man, of temperance, and of peace, the world has yet to find it out.
The time being expired, Mr. B. sat down.