St. Domingo, 1797.
You tell me that you are anticipating the perusal of a summary account
of the slaves, and state of slavery in the West Indies; but, with every
desire to meet your wishes, I feel myself incompetent to the task of
directing my pen, upon this subject, in such a manner as may gratify
your expectations. I can only offer you, therefore, a few general
remarks, which may serve as a recapitulation of the desultory notes,
which have been already transmitted to you as circumstances chanced to
fall in my path.
You know already that the blacks are purchased upon the coast of Africa,
and brought from thence, to the West Indies, in trading ships, fitted
out expressly for that purpose. These vessels are the property of
individual merchants; and the profit or loss of the adventure rests upon
the same chances as in other articles of traffic; but the number, or
quantum of the cargo is now regulated by act of parliament, and cannot
exceed a given proportion according to the ship’s tonnage. In addition
to the common feelings of humanity, it is made the interest of all
concerned, to treat these poor Africans well upon the voyage;
consequently ill usage and unnecessary severities are carefully avoided,
and the cruelties which we read of are no longer practised. They are
kept upon deck in the day-time, and induced, by the cheering sound of
their favorite banjar, to dance and jump about, by way of exercise. Many
of them are taught to pull the ropes, and assist in working the ship;
and it is often surprising to observe their expertness, and the progress
they make, during the voyage, in performing the sailors’ duties.
The men and women are separated from each other, by a boarded partition,
placed across the vessel. They are fed with rice, or Guinea corn, the
pounding and preparing of which afford them a source of exercise and
employment. They have a great amusement in collecting together in
groups, and singing their favorite African songs, in which the energy of
their action is more remarkable than the harmony of the music. They
sleep between decks, upon the bare boards of the empty cabins—the men
below the middle hatchway, the women in the aft cabin. In these births
they are necessarily much crowded, only twenty inches of board being
allowed for each person; and, notwithstanding every care being taken to
preserve a free ventilation, still, from being thus stowed together, the
heat and fœtor of the place become intolerably offensive. But they are
removed at an early hour in the morning, and great attention is paid to
cleanliness, by daily washing the cabins, and leaving them as open as
possible to the sun and the breeze—the purification being effected with
greater facility in consequence of neither furniture, bedding, nor
clothing being allowed.
Like the cargoes of any other species of merchandise, the slaves are
regularly consigned to an agent for sale; and, in the course of a few
days after their arrival, having acquired their best appearance, by
resting from the fatigue of the voyage, and being well rubbed and
cleaned, or even oiled, and blacked, and polished so as to have sleek
and healthy-looking skins, they are exposed by auction or otherwise, and
unreservedly sold to the planters, merchants, and other inhabitants of
the colony,—each becoming as exclusively the property of the purchaser
as his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is his!
After the sale they are conducted to the respective homes of their new
masters; the separating from each other, often becoming their severest
trial—their heaviest and most bitter affliction: but, to the credit of
the parties concerned, it is contrived, as much as possible, to sell
those who are of one family, to the same purchaser, in order to spare
them the pangs of parting: still this cannot, in all cases, be
accomplished, and the scene of separation is sometimes truly melancholy
and affecting. Having reached the abodes of their several owners, they
are soothed by meeting with their countrymen; and some of the old
negroes are instructed to cheer and console them, by talking to them in
their own language, and representing that, by good conduct, they may
ensure good treatment, and make themselves happy. Next they are
designated with appropriate appellations, each having the name assigned
to him placed round his neck, written upon a card, or a piece of wood.
Commonly the christening and marriage form but one ceremony—the men
being desired to choose their wives at the time they are named; and they
are paired off accordingly.
The present price of a healthy negro is from fifty to eighty pounds
sterling, according to his age, and strength. The creoles, particularly
if cooks, or mechanics, such as tailors, carpenters, or the like, are
valued at twenty or thirty, or even sixty pounds more than the untried
Africans; who, besides requiring to be taught, may prove to be subject
to some malady, or may fall a sacrifice to the seasoning. Women, and
boys sixteen or seventeen years old, are considered to be of nearly
equal value; but they are somewhat cheaper than the men.
For a considerable time after their arrival it is usual to put them only
to light work, treating them with gentleness, and making their
employment more an object of amusement than of fatigue. Thus they are
gradually trained to the common round of toil, which, after all that is
said and written upon the subject, is not so severe or oppressive, as
general opinion in Europe represents it. It is compulsory, and therefore
performed with reluctance: but the labour is not more heavy, nor the day
longer, than that of the poor in other countries. They are not required
to toil during more than twelve hours of the twenty-four; and due
intervals are allowed for taking rest and food. The climate is
undoubtedly more exhausting than that of Europe, but the quantum of work
performed is proportionate. The labour of an industrious English
peasant, or mechanic amounts, perhaps, to three or four times as much,
within the twelve hours, as is accomplished, within the same period, by
a slave. Besides which, it should be taken into the account, that the
temperature is congenial to the negroes; in proof of which, I have
observed it to be a common practice among them, instead of retiring into
the shade, to eat their dinners, and bask away the whole hour allotted
them, in the open field, exposed to the direct rays of the sun.
It is always the interest of the master to be kind and considerate
towards his slaves; for, if they become sickly, and unfit for labour,
they will be only an useless expense to him. Among the planters, who
possess large bodies of them, their hours of rest and toil are regular
and proportioned: they are fitly clothed, and amply fed, and are less
frequently treated with severity. It is among a different class of
owners whose bread is earned by the toil of a smaller number, or who
have only a single slave, that the unhappy blacks are ill-fed,
hard-worked, and often punished.
From much, and careful observation, I am authorized to remark that the
planters in general are humane and merciful, and do not exact immoderate
toil: with them the slaves have a certain round of duty, which cannot be
regarded as excessive or severe, being such as may be performed without
any hurtful exertion. Still, humanity is shocked that hosts of our
species should be brought to public market—sold like sheep or pigs—and
driven to work, like cart-horses, with whips at their backs; and upon
this ground it is, that the whole system of slavery must be condemned;
for, notwithstanding the great majority of owners may be duly careful of
their negroes, it must be eternally unjust, and repugnant to every
proper sentiment, that any individual, possessing the common frailties
of our nature, should have absolute, and unlimited control over others
of his fellow-beings.
A man may be generally humane and considerate, and may recollect, upon
all common occasions, that it is equally consistent with his duty and
his interest to be tender toward his slaves; but it is too certain that
there are moments of ungovernable feeling, when no consciousness of
interest or propriety can prevail; and, when the individual, however
kind in his usual conduct, should not be left, unrestrained by the laws,
to wreak his vengeance upon another; for, no man, however just,
honorable, and correct in his ordinary dealings, can be, at all moments,
fit to be intrusted with the fourfold power of accuser, witness, judge,
and executioner!
And, if periods may occur, when even good men may be so led away by
their passions, as to interrupt the general consistency of their
characters, and conduct themselves with inhumanity, how dreadful is the
reflection that those, who, even in their best moments, are not governed
by the same amiable feelings, should, upon all occasions, possess the
same absolute authority!
Stupidity, obstinacy, and revenge, constitute the more prominent
features in the character of slaves—forming the cruel mark, stamped upon
them by the very nature of their situation; for, the man being degraded,
the mind naturally becomes debased. Sunk in the darkest ignorance, they
are wholly devoid of principle: having no sense of moral duty, they
thieve, lie, and cheat without restraint, considering the crime to
consist only in being detected: governed solely by fear, they scarcely
comprehend the doctrine of right and wrong. They are depressed below all
proper sense of shame, or elevation; and, being too imbecile to reason
upon what is fit and best, in a general view, they have no consideration
beyond self-interest, and the gratification of the present moment. Deep
sulkiness, idleness, deceit, and low cunning are among their most
conspicuous qualities; and if, from these feelings, they are liable to
offend the temper, and provoke the irascibility of those about them, it
is evident that it must require great forbearance and self-control not
to treat them with severity—hence, the impropriety of their being left
at the will and mercy of those, whose power over them is arbitrary and
unbounded[13].
As it is the effect of bondage to debase the mind of the slave, so is it
the natural effect of governing slaves to render the master
inconsiderate and severe: it destroys all the finer feelings, and, by
permitting men to indulge, instead of compelling them to conceal their
passions, begets inordinate and cruel habits, even among those in whose
bosoms nature had not implanted them. The laws of a well-ordered state
may have the power of rendering bad men good in effect, by causing them
to keep a constant watch over their passions, and teaching them to
subdue the worst feelings of their nature: but the governing of slaves
produces a directly opposite result, and tends to make the best men bad,
by removing all control, and suffering their worst passions to riot in
lawless sway.
One master may be severe, and punish for the slightest fault—another may
miscalculate, and fancy it his interest to overwork his slaves; and
others may distress them, from feelings of ill-will: also, if the
master, whose real interest it is to cherish and protect his negroes, be
kind and humane towards them, the manager, the overseer, or the driver,
who has not the same motives of interest to check him, may be cruel, and
inflict great severities, without the owner’s knowledge; for, a slave
has no hope of being heard in appealing against a white man; nor would
he dare to complain to the master, against those who wield the scourge,
lest resentment should multiply the affliction: hence, as every man is
frail, every slave must be liable to be ill treated, from one cause or
other. It cannot therefore be contended that the system is otherwise
than radically bad.
But, with respect to the acute feelings of the slaves, and the anguish
they suffer from a sense of the galling oppression to which they are
exposed, the case is not so grievous as it is sometimes represented;
for, very few, if any of them comprehend the advantages of freedom, or
reflect with poignancy upon the vast and bitter distinctions between
that condition and the ignominious state of slavery. I have frequently
taken the opportunity of leading the negroes into conversation,
expressly for the purpose of ascertaining their sentiments upon this
head; but I never met with one, either male or female, who knew how to
estimate properly, or, indeed, fully to understand the difference. To
the plain question, whether it would not be a great happiness to them to
have their freedom, they commonly reply by asking, what they could do if
they were free—who would give them food—who supply them with
clothing—or, who send them a doctor when sick? thus implying that, in
their neglected minds, the _freedom from care_ is a compensation for
their manifold privations. Many of them have been known even to refuse
their proffered enfranchisement; and others, who have been liberated,
have voluntarily continued the habits and toils of slavery. It will
occur to you that, in these cases, they must have been well treated by
their owners.
Although considerations of humanity must silence every syllable that
might be urged in defence of slavery, still, upon the ground of policy,
and the actual state of West India possession, the subject of
emancipation claims the most calm and attentive investigation. It is a
question upon which conflicting opinions are entertained; and many
persons, on either side, who might give a deliberate and unbiassed
judgment upon other matters, are too much under the influence of
prejudice with regard to this: but, the very existence of discordant
sentiments ought to teach all parties a lesson of the greatest caution.
Many well-informed colonists reduce the inquiry to a simple
question—whether the cultivation of the settlements should be continued
or abandoned? insisting that there can be no middle course! Some, led
away by a mistaken philanthropy, contend for a general and immediate
emancipation, upon the plea that the colonies might be cultivated, and
our West India commerce preserved, without slaves; whilst others,
weighing minutely the justice and policy, as well as the humanity of the
proceeding, are advocates for a slow and gradual enlargement; but in a
matter of such magnitude and importance, a circumspect measure of steady
operation must, undoubtedly, be far preferable to a hasty act, which,
however well intended, might only multiply the evil it is designed to
remove.
The abolition of the importation of slaves, from Africa[14], might be a
task of less difficulty than the emancipation of those already in the
colonies. To accomplish the former, with equal benefit and humanity, a
wise system of regulations should be established in the settlements; and
the arrangement should be concerted in conjunction with the other
nations engaged in this unnatural traffic. The creole slaves are of
higher value than those imported; but, while common calculation shows it
to be cheaper to purchase a negro than to breed one up, it is not to be
expected that the greatest possible care will be taken, and all the
requisite means employed to increase the population of the creoles. It
might, therefore, be an act of the highest policy to prohibit the
importation, and thereby render it the general and individual interest
of the colonists to introduce every useful regulation; more particularly
for the better accommodation of the pregnant females, and their
offspring: but, as it is doubtful, whether, under a sudden suspension of
the trade, any plan could be adopted to insure an increase, or even a
continuance of the existing population, it is necessary that the
abolition, as well as the emancipation, should be gradually effected.
Perhaps, with this view, it might be proper, among other regulations, to
allow certain vessels to continue the importation for a limited period,
requiring that each of them should bring an increased number of females,
in every future cargo, in order that there may be an adequate proportion
of women in the colonies at the time of the final prohibition.