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THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY

EDITED BY

CARTER G. WOODSON




VOL. I., No. 1 JANUARY, 1916

PUBLISHED QUARTERLY




CONTENTS



CARTER G. WOODSON: The Negroes of Cincinnati Prior to the Civil War

W. B. HARTGROVE: The Story of Maria Louise Moore and Fannie M. Richards

MONROE N. WORK: The Passing Tradition and the African Civilization

A. O. STAFFORD: The Mind of the African Negro as reflected in his Proverbs

DOCUMENTS:
    What the Negro was thinking during the Eighteenth Century.
    Letters showing the Rise and Progress of the early Negro Churches
        of Georgia and The West Indies.

REVIEWS OF BOOKS:
    STEWARD'S _Haitian Revolution_;
    CROMWELL'S _The Negro in American History_;
    ELLIS'S _Negro Culture in West Africa_; and
    WOODSON'S _The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861_.

NOTES




THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF NEGRO LIFE AND HISTORY, INCORPORATED

41 North Queen Street, Lancaster, PA.
2223 Twelfth Street, Washington, D.C.

25 Cents A Copy $1.00 A Year

Copyright, 1916

Application made for entry as second class mail matter at the Postoffice
at Lancaster, Pa.




THE NEGROES OF CINCINNATI PRIOR TO THE CIVIL WAR



The study of the history of the Negroes of Cincinnati is unusually
important for the reason that from no other annals do we get such
striking evidence that the colored people generally thrive when
encouraged by their white neighbors. This story is otherwise significant
when we consider the fact that about a fourth of the persons of color
settling in the State of Ohio during the first half of the last century
made their homes in this city. Situated on a north bend of the Ohio
where commerce breaks bulk, Cincinnati rapidly developed, attracting
both foreigners and Americans, among whom were not a few Negroes.
Exactly how many persons of color were in this city during the first
decade of the nineteenth century is not yet known. It has been said that
there were no Negroes in Hamilton County in 1800.[1] It is evident, too,
that the real exodus of free Negroes and fugitives from the South to the
Northwest Territory did not begin prior to 1815, although their
attention had been earlier directed to this section as a more desirable
place for colonization than the shores of Africa.[2] As the reaction
following the era of good feeling toward the Negroes during the
revolutionary period had not reached its climax free persons of color
had been content to remain in the South.[3] The unexpected immigration
of these Negroes into this section and the last bold effort made to
drive them out marked epochs in their history in this city. The history
of these people prior to the Civil War, therefore, falls into three
periods, one of toleration from 1800 to 1826, one of persecution from
1826 to 1841, and one of amelioration from 1841 to 1861.

In the beginning the Negroes were not a live issue in Cincinnati. The
question of their settlement in that community was debated but resulted
in great diversity of opinion rather than a fixedness of judgment among
the citizens. The question came up in the Constitutional Convention of
1802 and provoked some discussion, but reaching no decision, the
convention simply left the Negroes out of the pale of the newly
organized body politic, discriminating against them together with
Indians and foreigners, by incorporating the word white into the
fundamental law.[4] The legislature to which the disposition of this
question was left, however, took it up in 1804 to calm the fears of
those who had more seriously considered the so-called menace of Negro
immigration. This body enacted a law, providing that no Negro or mulatto
should be allowed to remain permanently in that State, unless he could
furnish a certificate of freedom issued by some court in the United
States. Negroes then living there had to be registered before the
following June, giving the names of their children. No man could employ
a Negro who could not show such a certificate. Hiring a delinquent black
or harboring or hindering the capture of a runaway was punishable by a
fine of $50 and the owner of a fugitive thus illegally employed could
recover fifty cents a day for the services of his slave.[5]

As the fear of Negro immigration increased the law of 1804 was found to
be inadequate. In 1807, therefore, the legislature enacted another
measure providing that no Negro should be permitted to settle in Ohio
unless he could within twenty days give a bond to the amount of $500,
guaranteeing his good behavior and support. The fine for concealing a
fugitive was raised from $50 to $100, one half of which should go to the
informer. Negro evidence against the white man was prohibited.[6] This
law together with that of 1830 making the Negro ineligible for service
in the State militia, that of 1831 depriving persons of color of the
privilege of serving upon juries, and that of 1838 prohibiting the
education of colored children at the expense of the State, constituted
what were known as the "Black Laws."[7]

Up to 1826, however, the Negroes of Cincinnati had not become a cause of
much trouble. Very little mention of them is made in the records of this
period. They were not wanted in this city but were tolerated as a
negligible factor. D. B. Warden, a traveler through the West in 1819,
observed that the blacks of Cincinnati were "good-humoured, garrulous,
and profligate, generally disinclined to laborious occupations, and
prone to the performance of light and menial drudgery." Here the
traveler was taking effect for cause. "Some few," said he, "exercise the
humbler trades, and some appear to have formed a correct conception of
the objects and value of property, and are both industrious and
economical. A large proportion of them are reputed, and perhaps
correctly, to be habituated to petit larceny." But this had not become a
grave offence, for he said that not more than one individual had been
corporally punished by the courts since the settlement of the town.[8]

When, however, the South reached the conclusion that free Negroes were
an evil, and Quakers and philanthropists began to direct these
unfortunates to the Northwest Territory for colonization, a great
commotion arose in Southern Ohio and especially in Cincinnati.[9] How
rapid this movement was, may be best observed by noticing the statistics
of this period. There were 337 Negroes in Ohio in 1800; 1,890 in 1810;
4,723 in 1820; 9,586 in 1830; 17,342 in 1840; and 25,279 in 1850.[10]
Now Cincinnati had 410 Negroes in 1819;[11] 690 in 1826;[12] 2,255 in
1840;[13] and 3,237 in 1850.[14]

It was during the period between 1826 and 1840 that Cincinnati had to
grapple with the problem of the immigrating Negroes and the poor whites
from the uplands of Virginia and Kentucky. With some ill-informed
persons the question was whether that section should be settled by white
men or Negroes. The situation became more alarming when the Southern
philanthropic minority sometimes afforded a man like a master of
Pittsylvania County, Virginia, who settled 70 freedmen in Lawrence
County, Ohio, in one day.[15] It became unusually acute in Cincinnati
because of the close social and commercial relations between that city
and the slave States. Early in the nineteenth century Cincinnati became
a manufacturing center to which the South learned to look for supplies
of machinery, implements, furniture, and food.[16] The business men
prospering thereby were not advocates of slavery but rather than lose
trade by acquiring the reputation of harboring fugitive slaves or
frightening away whites by encouraging the immigration of Negroes, they
began to assume the attitude of driving the latter from those parts.

From this time until the forties the Negroes were a real issue in
Cincinnati. During the late twenties they not only had to suffer from
the legal disabilities provided in the "Black Laws," but had to
withstand the humiliation of a rigid social ostracism.[17] They were
regarded as intruders and denounced as an idle, profligate and criminal
class with whom a self-respecting white man could not afford to
associate. Their children were not permitted to attend the public
schools and few persons braved the inconveniences of living under the
stigma of teaching a "nigger school." Negroes were not welcome in the
white churches and when they secured admission thereto they had to go to
the "black pew." Colored ministers were treated with very little
consideration by the white clergy as they feared that they might lose
caste and be compelled to give up their churches. The colored people
made little or no effort to go to white theaters or hotels and did not
attempt to ride in public conveyances on equal footing with members of
the other race. Not even white and colored children dared to play
together to the extent that such was permitted in the South.[18]

This situation became more serious when it extended to pursuits of
labor. White laborers there, as in other Northern cities during this
period, easily reached the position of thinking that it was a disgrace
to work with Negroes. This prejudice was so much more inconvenient to
the Negroes of Cincinnati than elsewhere because of the fact that most
of the menial labor in that city was done by Germans and Irishmen. Now,
since the Negroes could not follow ordinary menial occupations there was
nothing left them but the lowest form of "drudgery," for which employers
often preferred colored women. It was, therefore, necessary in some
cases for the mother to earn the living for the family because the
father could get nothing to do. A colored man could not serve as an
ordinary drayman or porter without subjecting his employer to a heavy
penalty.[19]

The trades unions were then proscribing the employment of colored
mechanics. Many who had worked at skilled labor were by this prejudice
forced to do drudgery or find employment in other cities. The president
of a "mechanical association" was publicly tried in 1830 by that
organization for the crime of assisting a colored youth to learn a
trade.[20] A young man of high character, who had at the cabinet-making
trade in Kentucky saved enough to purchase his freedom, came to
Cincinnati about this time, seeking employment. He finally found a
position in a shop conducted by an Englishman. On entering the
establishment, however, the workmen threw down their tools, declaring
that the Negro had to leave or that they would. The unfortunate
"intruder" was accordingly dismissed. He then entered the employ of a
slaveholder, who at the close of the Negro's two years of service at
common labor discovered that the black was a mechanic. The employer then
procured work for him as a rough carpenter. By dint of perseverance and
industry this Negro within a few years became a master workman,
employing at times six or eight men, but he never received a single job
of work from a native-born citizen from a free State.[21]

The hardships of the Negroes of this city, however, had just begun. The
growth of a prejudiced public opinion led not only to legal proscription
and social ostracism but also to open persecution. With the cries of the
Southerners for the return of fugitives and the request of white
immigrants for the exclusion of Negroes from that section, came the
demand to solve the problem by enforcing the "Black Laws." Among certain
indulgent officials these enactments had been allowed to fall into
desuetude. These very demands, however, brought forward friends as well
as enemies of the colored people. Their first clash was testing the
constitutionality of the law of 1807. When the question came up before
the Supreme Court, this measure was upheld.[22] Encouraged by such
support, the foes of the Negroes forced an execution of the law. The
courts at first hesitated but finally took the position that the will of
the people should be obeyed. The Negroes asked for ninety days to comply
with the law and were given sixty. When the allotted time had expired,
however, many of them had not given bonds as required. The only thing to
do then was to force them to leave the city. The officials again
hesitated but a mob quickly formed to relieve them of the work. This was
the riot of 1829. Bands of ruffians held sway in the city for three
days, as the police were unable or unwilling to restore order. Negroes
were insulted on the streets, attacked in their homes, and even killed.
About a thousand or twelve hundred of them found it advisable to leave
for Canada West where they established the settlement known as
Wilberforce.[23]

This upheaval, though unusually alarming, was not altogether a bad omen.
It was due not only to the demands which the South was making upon the
North and the fear of the loss of Southern trade, but also to the rise
of the Abolition Societies, the growth of which such a riotous condition
as this had materially fostered. In a word, it was the sequel of the
struggle between the proslavery and the anti-slavery elements of the
city. This was the time when the friends of the Negroes were doing most
for them. Instead of frightening them away a group of respectable white
men in that community were beginning to think that they should be
trained to live there as useful citizens. Several schools and churches
for them were established. The Negroes themselves provided for their own
first school about 1820; but one Mr. Wing had sufficient courage to
admit persons of color to his evening classes after their first efforts
had failed. By 1834 many of the colored people were receiving systematic
instruction.[24] To some enemies of these dependents it seemed that the
tide was about to turn in favor of the despised cause. Negroes began to
raise sums adequate to their elementary education and the students of
Lane Seminary supplemented these efforts by establishing a colored
mission school which offered more advanced courses and lectures on
scientific subjects twice a week. These students, however, soon found
themselves far in advance of public opinion.[25] They were censured by
the faculty and to find a more congenial center for their operations
they had to go to Oberlin in the Western Reserve where a larger number
of persons had become interested in the cause of the despised and
rejected of men.

During the years from 1833 to 1836 the situation in Cincinnati grew
worse because of the still larger influx of Negroes driven from the
South by intolerable conditions incident to the reaction against the
race. To solve this problem various schemes were brought forth. Augustus
Wattles tells us that he appeared in Cincinnati about this time and
induced numbers of the Negroes to go to Mercer County, Ohio, where they
took up 30,000 acres of land.[26] Others went to Indiana and purchased
large tracts on the public domain.[27] Such a method, however, seemed
rather slow to the militant proslavery leaders who had learned not only
to treat the Negroes as an evil but to denounce in the same manner the
increasing number of abolitionists by whom it was said the Negroes were
encouraged to immigrate into the State.

The spirit of the proslavery sympathizers was well exhibited in the
upheaval which soon followed. This was the riot of July 30, 1836. It was
an effort to destroy the abolition organ, _The Philanthropist_, edited
by James G. Birney, a Southerner who had brought his slaves from
Huntsville, Alabama, to Kentucky and freed them. The mob formed in the
morning, went to the office of _The Philanthropist_, destroyed what
printed matter they could find, threw the type into the street, and
broke up the press. They then proceeded to the home of the printer, Mr.
Pugh, but finding no questionable matter there, they left it
undisturbed. The homes of James G. Birney, Mr. Donaldson and Dr. Colby
were also threatened. The next homes to be attacked were those of Church
Alley, the Negro quarter, but when two guns were fired upon the
assailants they withdrew. It was reported that one man was shot but this
has never been proved. The mob hesitated some time before attacking
these houses again, several of the rioters declaring that they did not
care to endanger their lives. A second onset was made, but it was
discovered that the Negroes had deserted the quarter. On finding the
houses empty the assailants destroyed their contents.[28]

Yet undaunted by this persistent opposition the Negroes of Cincinnati
achieved so much during the years between 1835 and 1840 that they
deserved to be ranked among the most progressive people of the
world.[29] Their friends endeavored to enable them through schools,
churches and industries to embrace every opportunity to rise. These
2,255 Negroes accumulated, largely during this period, $209,000 worth of
property, exclusive of personal effects and three churches valued at
$19,000. Some of this wealth consisted of land purchased in Ohio and
Indiana. Furthermore, in 1839 certain colored men of the city organized
"The Iron Chest Company," a real estate firm, which built three brick
buildings and rented them to white men. One man, who a few years prior
to 1840 had thought it useless to accumulate wealth from which he might
be driven away, had changed his mind and purchased $6,000 worth of real
estate. Another Negro, who had paid $5,000 for himself and family, had
bought a home worth $800 or $1,000. A freedman, who was a slave until he
was twenty-four years old, then had two lots worth $10,000, paid a tax
of $40 and had 320 acres of land in Mercer County. Another, who was
worth only $3,000 in 1836, had seven houses in Cincinnati, 400 acres of
land in Indiana, and another tract in the same county. He was worth
$12,000 or $15,000. A woman who was a slave until she was thirty was
then worth $2,000. She had also come into potential possession of two
houses on which a white lawyer had given her a mortgage to secure the
payment of $2,000 borrowed from this thrifty woman. Another Negro, who
was on the auction block in 1832, had spent $2,600 purchasing himself
and family and had bought two brick houses worth $6,000 and 560 acres of
land in Mercer County, said to be worth $2,500.[30]

This unusual progress had been promoted by two forces, the development
of the steamboat as a factor in transportation and the rise of the Negro
mechanic. Negroes employed on vessels as servants to the travelling
public amassed large sums received in the form of "tips." Furthermore,
the fortunate few, constituting the stewards of these vessels, could by
placing contracts for supplies and using business methods realize
handsome incomes. Many Negroes thus enriched purchased real estate and
went into business in Cincinnati.[31] The other force, the rise of the
Negro mechanic, was made possible by overcoming much of the prejudice
which had at first been encountered. A great change in this respect had
taken place in Cincinnati by 1840. Many who had been forced to work as
menial laborers then had the opportunity to show their usefulness to
their families and to the community. Colored mechanics were then getting
as much skilled labor as they could do. It was not uncommon for white
artisans to solicit employment of colored men because they had the
reputation of being better paymasters than master workmen of the more
favored race.[32] White mechanics not only worked with colored men but
often associated with them, patronized the same barber shop, and went to
the same places of amusement.[33]

In this prosperous condition the Negroes could help themselves. Prior to
this period they had been unable to make any sacrifices for charity and
education. Only $150 of the $1,000 raised for Negro education in 1835
was contributed by persons of color. In 1839, however, the colored
people raised $889.30 for this purpose, and thanks to their economic
progress, this task was not so difficult as that of raising the $150 in
1835. They were then spending considerable amounts for evening and
writing schools, attended by seventy-five persons, chiefly adults. In
1840 Reverend Mr. Denham and Mr. Goodwin had in their schools sixty-five
pupils each paying $3 per quarter, and Miss Merrill a school of
forty-seven pupils paying the same tuition. In all, the colored people
were paying these teachers about $1,300 a year. The only help the
Negroes were then receiving was that from the Ladies' Anti-Slavery
Society, which employed one Miss Seymour at a salary of $300 a year to
instruct fifty-four pupils. Moreover, the colored people were giving
liberally to objects of charity. Some Negroes burned out in 1839 were
promptly relieved by members of their own race. A white family in
distress was befriended by a colored woman. The Negroes contributed also
to the support of missionaries in Jamaica and during the years from 1836
to 1840 assisted twenty-five emancipated slaves on their way from
Cincinnati to Mercer County, Ohio.[34]

During this period they had made progress in other than material things.
Their improvement in religion and morals was remarkable. They then had
four flourishing Sabbath Schools with 310 regular attendants, one
Baptist and two Methodist churches with a membership of 800, a "Total
Abstinence Temperance Society" for adults numbering 450, and a "Sabbath
School or Youth's Society" of 180 members. A few of these violated their
pledges, but when we consider the fact that one fourth of the entire
colored population belonged to temperance organizations while less than
one tenth of the whites were thus connected, we must admit that this was
no mean achievement. Among the Negroes public sentiment was then such
that no colored man could openly sell intoxicating drinks. This growing
temperance was exhibited, too, in the decreasing fondness for dress and
finery. There was less tendency to strive merely to get a fine suit of
clothes and exhibit one's self on the streets. Places of vice were not
so much frequented and barber shops which on Sundays formerly became a
rendezvous for the idle and the garrulous were with few exceptions
closed by 1840. This influence of the religious organizations reached
also beyond the limits of Cincinnati. A theological student from the
State of New York said after spending some time in New Orleans, that the
influence of the elevation of the colored people of Cincinnati was felt
all the way down the river. Travelers often spoke of the difference in
the appearance of barbers and waiters on the boats.[35]

It was in fact a brighter day for the colored people. In 1840 an
observer said that they had improved faster than any other people in the
city. The _Cincinnati Gazette_ after characterizing certain Negroes as
being imprudent and vicious, said of others: "Many of these are
peaceable and industrious, raising respectable families and acquiring
property."[36] Mr. James H. Perkins, a respectable citizen of the city,
asserted that the day school which the colored children attended had
shown by examination that it was as good as any other in the city. He
said further: "There is no question, I presume, that the colored
population of Cincinnati, oppressed as it has been by our state laws as
well as by prejudice, has risen more rapidly than almost any other
people in any part of the world."[37] Within three or four years their
property had more than doubled; their schools had become firmly
established, and their churches and Sunday Schools had grown as rapidly
as any other religious institutions in the city. Trusting to good
conduct and character, they had risen to a prosperous position in the
eyes of those whose prejudices would "allow them to look through the
skin to the soul."[38]

The colored people had had too many enemies in Cincinnati, however, to
expect that they had overcome all opposition. The prejudice of certain
labor groups against the Negroes increased in proportion to the
prosperity of the latter. That they had been able to do as well as they
had was due to the lack of strength on the part of the labor
organizations then forming to counteract the sentiment of fair play for
the Negroes. Their labor competed directly with that of the whites and
began again to excite "jealousy and heart burning."[39] The Germans, who
were generally toiling up from poverty, seemed to exhibit less
prejudice; but the unfortunate Irish bore it grievously that even a few
Negroes should outstrip some of their race in the economic struggle.

In 1841 there followed several clashes which aggravated the situation.
In the month of June one Burnett referred to as "a mischievous and
swaggering Englishman running a cake shop," had harbored a runaway
slave. When a man named McCalla, his reputed master, came with an
officer to reclaim the fugitive, Burnett and his family resisted them.
The Burnetts were committed to answer for this infraction of the law and
finally were adequately punished. The proslavery mob which had gathered
undertook to destroy their home but the officials prevented them.
Besides, early in August according to a report, a German citizen
defending his blackberry patch near the city was attacked by two Negroes
and stabbed so severely that he died. Then about three weeks thereafter,
according to another rumor, a very respectable lady was insultingly
accosted by two colored men, and when she began to flee two others
rudely thrust themselves before her on the sidewalk. But in this case,
as in most others growing out of rumors, no one could ever say who the
lady or her so-called assailants were. At the same time, too, the
situation was further aggravated by an almost sudden influx of
irresponsible Negroes from various parts, increasing the number of those
engaged in noisy frolics which had become a nuisance to certain white
neighbors.[40]

Accordingly, on Tuesday, the twenty-ninth of August, there broke out on
the corner of Sixth and Broadway a quarrel in which two or three persons
were wounded. On the following night the fracas was renewed. A group of
ruffians attacked the Dumas Hotel, a colored establishment, on
McCallister Street, demanding the surrender of a Negro, who, they
believed, was concealed there. As the Negroes of the neighborhood came
to the assistance of their friends in the hotel the mob had to withdraw.
On Thursday night there took place another clash between a group of
young men and boys and a few Negroes who seriously wounded one or two of
the former. On Friday evening the mob incited to riotous acts by an
influx of white ruffians, seemingly from the steamboats and the Kentucky
side of the river, openly assembled in Fifth Street Market without being
molested by the police, armed themselves and marched to Broadway and
Sixth Street, shouting and swearing. They attacked a colored
confectionery store near by, demolishing its doors and windows. James W.
Piatt, an influential citizen, and the mayor then addressed the
disorderly persons, vainly exhorting them to peace and obedience to the
law. Moved by passionate entreaties to execute their poorly prepared
plan, the assailants advanced and attacked the Negroes with stones. The
blacks, however, had not been idle. They had secured sufficient guns and
ammunition to fire into the mob such a volley that it had to fall back.
The aggressors rallied again, however, only to be in like manner
repulsed. Men were wounded on both sides and carried off and reported
dead. The Negroes advanced courageously, and according to a reporter,
fired down the street into the mass of ruffians, causing a hasty
retreat. This mélée continued until about one o'clock when a part of the
mob secured an iron six pounder, hauled it to the place of combat
against the exhortations of the powerless mayor, and fired on the
Negroes. With this unusual advantage the blacks were forced to retreat,
many of them going to the hills. About two o'clock the mayor of the city
brought out a portion of the "military" which succeeded in holding the
mob at bay.[41]

On the next day the colored people in the district under fire were
surrounded by sentinels and put under martial law. Indignation meetings
of law-abiding citizens were held on Saturday to pass resolutions,
denouncing abolitionists and mobs and making an appeal to the people and
the civil authorities to uphold the law. The Negroes also held a meeting
and respectfully assured the mayor and citizens that they would use
every effort to conduct themselves orderly and expressed their readiness
to give bond according to the law of 1807 or leave the city quietly
within a specified time. But these steps availed little when the police
winked at this violence. The rioters boldly occupied the streets without
arrest and continued their work until Sunday. The mayor, sheriff and
marshal went to the battle ground about three o'clock but the mob still
had control. The officers could not even remove those Negroes who
complied with the law of leaving. The authorities finally hit upon the
scheme of decreasing the excitement by inducing about 300 colored men to
go to jail for security after they had been assured that their wives and
children would be protected. The Negroes consented and were accordingly
committed, but the cowardly element again attacked these helpless
dependents like savages. At the same time other rioters stormed the
office of _The Philanthropist_ and broke up the press. The mob continued
its work until it dispersed from mere exhaustion. The Governor finally
came to the city and issued a proclamation setting forth the gravity of
the situation. The citizens and civil authorities rallied to his support
and strong patrols prevented further disorder.[42]

It is impossible to say exactly how many were killed and wounded on
either side. It is probable that several were killed and twenty or
thirty variously wounded, though but few dangerously. Forty of the mob
were arrested and imprisoned. Exactly what was done with all of them is
not yet known. It seems that few, if any of them, however, were severely
punished. The Negroes who had been committed for safe keeping were
thereafter disposed of in various ways. Some were discharged on
certificates of nativity, others gave bond for their support and good
behavior, a few were dismissed as non-residents, a number of them were
discharged by a justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and the rest were
held indefinitely.[43]

This upheaval had two important results. The enemies of the Negroes were
convinced that there were sufficient law-abiding citizens to secure to
the refugees protection from mob violence; and because of these riots
their sympathizers became more attached to the objects of their
philanthropy. Abolitionists, Free Soilers and Whigs fearlessly attacked
the laws which kept the Negroes under legal and economic disabilities.
Petitions praying that these measures be repealed were sent to the
legislature. The proslavery element of the State, however, was equally
militant. The legislators, therefore, had to consider such questions as
extradition and immigration, State aid and colonization, the employment
of colored men in the militia service, the extension of the elective
franchise, and the admission of colored children to the public
schools.[44] Most of these "Black Laws" remained until after the war,
but in 1848 they were so modified as to give the Negroes legal standing
in courts and to provide for their children such education as a school
tax on the property of colored persons would allow[45] and further
changed in 1849[46] so as to make the provision for education more
effective.

The question of repealing the other oppressive laws came up in the
Convention of 1850. It seemed that the cause of the Negroes had made
much progress in that a larger number had begun to speak for them. But
practically all of the members of the convention who stood for the
Negroes were from the Western Reserve. After much heated discussion the
colored people were by a large majority of votes still left under the
disabilities of being disqualified to sit on juries, unable to obtain a
legal residence so as to enter a charitable institution supported by the
State, and denied admission to public schools established for white
children.[47]

The greatest problem of the Negroes, however, was one of education.
There were more persons interested in furnishing them facilities of
education than in repealing the prohibitive measures, feeling that the
other matters would adjust themselves after giving them adequate
training. But it required some time and effort yet before much could be
effected in Cincinnati because of the sympathizers with the South. The
mere passing of the law of 1849 did not prove to be altogether a
victory. Complying with the provisions of this act the Negroes elected
trustees, organized a system, and employed teachers, relying on the
money allotted them by the law on the basis of a per capita division of
the school fund received by the board of education. So great was the
prejudice of people of the city that the school officials refused to
turn over the required funds on the grounds that the colored trustees
were not electors and, therefore, could not be office-holders, qualified
to receive and disburse funds. Under the leadership of John I. Gaines,
therefore, the trustees called an indignation meeting and raised
sufficient money to employ Flamen Ball, an attorney, to secure a writ of
mandamus. The case was contested by the city officials, even in the
Supreme Court, which decided against the officious whites.[48]

This decision did not solve the whole problem in Cincinnati. The amount
raised was small and even had it been adequate to employ teachers, they
were handicapped by another decision that no portion of it could be used
for building schoolhouses. After a short period of accomplishing
practically nothing the law was amended in 1853[49] so as to transfer
the control of such schools to the managers of the white system. This
was taken as a reflection on the blacks of the city and tended to make
them refuse to cooperate with the white board. On account of the failure
of this body to act effectively prior to 1856, the people of color were
again given power to elect their own trustees.[50]

During this contest certain Negroes of Cincinnati were endeavoring to
make good their claim to equal rights in the public schools. Acting upon
this contention a colored man sent his son to a public school which, on
account of his presence, became a center of unusual excitement. Isabella
Newhall, the teacher, to whom he went, immediately complained to the
board of education, requesting that he be expelled because of his color.
After "due deliberation" the board of education decided by a vote of 15
to 10 that the colored pupil would have to withdraw. Thereupon two
members of that body, residing in the district of the timorous teacher,
resigned.[51]

Many Negroes belonging to the mulatto class, however, were more
successful in getting into the white schools. In 1849 certain parents
complained that children of color were being admitted to the public
schools, and in fact there were in one of them two daughters of a white
father and a mulatto mother. On complaining about this to the principal
of the school in question, the indignant patrons were asked to point out
the undesirable pupils. "They could not; for," says Sir Charles Lyell,
"the two girls were not only among the best pupils, but better looking
and less dark than many of the other pupils."[52]

Thereafter, however, much progress in the education of the colored
people among themselves was noted. By 1844 they had six schools of their
own and before the war two well-supported public schools.[53] Among
their teachers were such useful persons as Mrs. M. J. Corbin, Miss Lucy
Blackburn, Miss Anne Ryall, Miss Virginia C. Tilley, Miss Martha E.
Anderson, William H. Parham, William R. Casey, John G. Mitchell and
Peter H. Clark.[54] The pupils were showing their appreciation by
regular attendance, excellent deportment, and progress in the
acquisition of knowledge. Speaking of these Negroes in 1855, John P.
Foote said that they shared with the white citizens that respect for
education and the diffusion of knowledge, which has been one of their
"characteristics," and that they had, therefore, been more generally
intelligent than free persons of color not only in other parts of this
country but in all other parts of the world.[55] It was in appreciation
of the worth of this class to the community that in 1844[56] Nicholas
Longworth helped them to establish an orphan asylum and in 1858 built
for them a comfortable school building, leasing it with a privilege of
purchasing it within four years.[57] They met these requirements within
the stipulated time and in 1859 secured through other agencies the
construction of another building in the western portion of the city.

The most successful of these schools, however, was the Gilmore High
School, a private institution founded by an English clergyman. This
institution offered instruction in the fundamentals and in some
vocational studies. It was supported liberally by the benevolent element
of the white people and patronized and appreciated by the Negroes as the
first and only institution offering them the opportunity for thorough
training. It became popular throughout the country, attracting Negroes
from as far South as New Orleans[58] Rich Southern planters found it
convenient to have their mulatto children educated in this high
school.[59]

The work of these schools was substantially supplemented by that of the
colored churches. They directed their attention not only to moral and
religious welfare of the colored people but also to their mental
development. Through their well-attended Sunday-schools these
institutions furnished many Negroes of all classes the facilities of
elementary education. Such opportunities were offered at the Baker
Street Baptist Church, the Third Street Baptist Church, the Colored
Christian Church, the New Street Methodist Church, and the African
Methodist Church. Among the preachers then promoting this cause were
John Warren, Rufus Conrad, Henry Simpson, and Wallace Shelton. Many of
the old citizens of Cincinnati often refer with pride to the valuable
services rendered by these leaders.

In things economic the Negroes were exceptionally prosperous after the
forties. Cincinnati had then become a noted pork-packing and
manufacturing center. The increasing canal and river traffic and finally
the rise of the railroad system tended to make it thrive more than ever.
Many colored men grew up with the city. A Negro had in the East End on
Calvert Street a large cooperage establishment which made barrels for
the packers. Knight and Bell were successful contractors noted for their
skill and integrity and employed by the best white people of the city.
Robert Harlan made considerable money buying and selling race horses.
Thompson Cooley had a successful pickling establishment. On Broadway
A. V. Thompson, a colored tailor, conducted a thriving business. J.
Pressley and Thomas Ball were the well-known photographers of the city,
established in a handsomely furnished modern gallery which was
patronized by some of the wealthiest people. Samuel T. Wilcox, who owed
his success to his position as a steward on an Ohio River line,
thereafter went into the grocery business and built up such a large
trade among the aristocratic families that he accumulated $59,000 worth
of property by 1859.[60]

A more useful Negro had for years been toiling upward in this city. This
man was Henry Boyd, a Kentucky freedman, who had helped to overcome the
prejudice against colored mechanics in that city by exhibiting the
highest efficiency. He patented a corded bed which became very popular,
especially in the Southwest. With this article he built up a creditable
manufacturing business, employing from 18 to 25 white and colored
men.[61] He was, therefore, known as one of the desirable men of the
city. Two things, however, seemingly interfered with his business. In
the first place, certain white men, who became jealous of his success,
burned him out and the insurance companies refused to carry him any
longer. Moreover, having to do chiefly with white men he was charged by
his people with favoring the miscegenation of races. Whether or not this
was well founded is not yet known, but his children and grandchildren
did marry whites and were lost in the so-called superior race.

A much more interesting Negro appeared in Cincinnati, however, in 1847.
This was Robert Gordon, formerly the slave of a rich yachtsman of
Richmond, Virginia. His master turned over to him a coal yard which he
handled so faithfully that his owner gave him all of the slack resulting
from the handling of the coal. This he sold to the local manufacturers
and blacksmiths of the city, accumulating thereby in the course of time
thousands of dollars. He purchased himself in 1846 and set out for free
soil. He went first to Philadelphia and then to Newburyport, but finding
that these places did not suit him, he proceeded to Cincinnati. He
arrived there with $15,000, some of which he immediately invested in the
coal business in which he had already achieved marked success. He
employed bookkeepers, had his own wagons, built his own docks on the
river, and bought coal by barges.[62]

Unwilling to see this Negro do so well, the white coal dealers
endeavored to force him out of the business by lowering the price to the
extent that he could not afford to sell. They did not know of his acumen
and the large amount of capital at his disposal. He sent to the coal
yards of his competitors mulattoes who could pass for white, using them
to fill his current orders from his foes' supplies that he might save
his own coal for the convenient day. In the course of a few months the
river and all the canals by which coal was brought to Cincinnati froze
up and remained so until spring. Gordon was then able to dispose of his
coal at a higher price than it had ever been sold in that city. This so
increased his wealth and added to his reputation that no one thereafter
thought of opposing him.

Gordon continued in the coal business until 1865 when he retired. During
the Civil War he invested his money in United States bonds. When these
bonds were called in, he invested in real estate on Walnut Hills, which
he held until his death in 1884. This estate descended to his daughter
Virginia Ann Gordon who married George H. Jackson, a descendant of
slaves in the Custis family of Arlington, Virginia. Mr. Jackson is now a
resident of Chicago and is managing this estate.[63] Having lived
through the antebellum and subsequent periods, Mr. Jackson has been made
to wonder whether the Negroes of Cincinnati are doing as well to-day as
Gordon and his colaborers were. This question requires some attention,
but an inquiry as to exactly what forces have operated to impede the
progress of a work so auspiciously begun would lead us beyond the limits
set for this dissertation.

C. G. WOODSON



FOOTNOTES:

[1] Quillin, "The Color Line in Ohio," 18.

[2] "Tyrannical Libertymen," 10-11; Locke, "Antislavery," 31-32;
Branagan, "Serious Remonstrance," 18.

[3] Woodson, "The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861," 230-231.

[4] Constitution, Article I, Sections 2, 6.

[5] Laws of Ohio, II, 63.

[6] Laws of Ohio, V, 53.

[7] Hickok, "The Negro in Ohio," 41, 42.

[8] Warden, "Statistical, Political and Historical Account of the United
States of North America," 264.

[9] Quillin, "The Color Line in Ohio," 32.

[10] The Census of the United States, from 1800 to 1850.

[11] Flint's Letters in Thwaite's "Early Western Travels," IX, 239.

[12] Cist, "Cincinnati in 1841," 37; _Cincinnati Daily Gazette_, Sept.
14, 1841.

[13] Ibid.

[14] United States Census, 1850.

[15] _Ohio State Journal_, May 3, 1827; _African Repository_, III, 254.

[16] Abdy, "Journal of a Tour in the United States," III, 62.

[17] Jay, "Miscellaneous Writings on Slavery," 27, 373, 385, 387;
Minutes of the Convention of the Colored People of Ohio, 1849.

[18] Barber, "A Report on the Condition of the Colored People of Ohio,"
1840.

[19] Proceedings of the Ohio Antislavery Convention, 1835, 19.

[20] Ibid.

[21] Proceedings of the Ohio Antislavery Convention, 1835, 19.

[22] _African Repository_, V, 185.

[23] _African Repository_, V, 185.

[24] For a lengthy account of these efforts see Woodson's "The Education
of the Negro Prior to 1861," 245, 328, 329; and Hickok, "The Negro in
Ohio," 83, 88.

[25] Fairchild, "Oberlin: Its Origin, Progress and Results."

[26] Howe, "Historical Collections of Ohio," 356.

[27] _The Southern Workman_, XXXVII, 169.

[28] For a full account see Howe, "Historical Collections of Ohio,"
225-226.

[29] Barber, "Report on the Condition of the Colored People in Ohio,"
1840, and _The Philanthropist_, July 14 and 21, 1840.

[30] These facts are taken from A. D. Barber's "Report on the Condition
of the Colored People in Ohio" and from other articles contributed to
_The Philanthropist_ in July, 1840.

[31] In this case I have taken the statements of Negroes who were
employed in this capacity.

[32] _The Philanthropist_, July 14 and 24, 1840; and May 26, 1841.

[33] Hickok, "The Negro in Ohio," 89.

[34] _The Philanthropist_, July 14 and 21, 1840.

[35] _The Philanthropist_, July 21, 1840.

[36] _The Cincinnati Daily Gazette_, September 14, 1841.

[37] _The Philanthropist_, July 21, 1840.

[38] Ibid.

[39] _The Cincinnati Daily Gazette_, September 14, 1841.

[40] A detailed account of these clashes is given in _The Cincinnati
Daily Gazette_, September 14, 1841.

[41] _The Cincinnati Daily Gazette_, September, 1841.

[42] A very interesting account of this riot is given in Howe's
"Historical Collections of Ohio," pages 226-228.

[43] It was discovered that not a few of the mob came from Kentucky.
About eleven o'clock on Saturday night a bonfire was lighted on that
side of the river and loud shouts were sent up as if triumph had been
achieved. "In some cases." says a reporter, "the directors were boys who
suggested the point of attack, put the vote, declared the result and led
the way."--Cin. Daily Gaz., Sept. 14, 1841.

[44] Hickok, "The Negro in Ohio," 90 et seq.

[45] Laws of Ohio, XL, 81.

[46] Ibid., LIII, 118.

[47] The Convention Debates.

[48] Special Report of the United States Commissioner of Education,
1871, page 372.

[49] Laws of Ohio.

[50] Ibid., LIII, 118.

[51] _The New York Tribune_, February 19, 1855.

[52] Lyell, "A Second Visit to the United States of North America," II,
295, 296.

[53] _The Weekly Herald and Philanthropist_, June 26, 1844, August 6,
1844, and January 1, 1845.

[54] The Cincinnati Directory of 1860.

[55] Foote, "The Schools of Cincinnati," 92.

[56] _The Weekly Herald and Philanthropist_, August 23, 1844.

[57] Special Report of the United States Commissioner of Education, 372.

[58] Simmons, "Men of Mark," 490.

[59] A white slaveholder, a graduate of Amherst, taught in this school.
See _Weekly Herald and Philanthropist_, June 26, 1844.

[60] These facts were obtained from oral statements of Negroes who were
living in Cincinnati at this time; from M. R. Delany's "The Condition of
the Colored People in the United States"; from A. D. Barber's "Report on
the Condition of the Colored People in Ohio," 1840; and from various
Cincinnati Directories.

[61] Delany, "The Condition of the Colored People in the United States,"
92.

[62] The Cincinnati Directory for 1860.

[63] For the leading facts concerning the life of Robert Gordon I have
depended on the statements of his children and acquaintances and on the
various directories and documents giving evidence concerning the
business men of Cincinnati.




THE STORY OF MARIA LOUISE MOORE AND FANNIE M. RICHARDS[1]



The State of Virginia has been the home of distinguished persons of both
sexes of the white and colored races. A dissertation on the noted
colored women of Virginia would find a small circle of readers but
would, nevertheless, contain interesting accounts of some of the most
important achievements of the people of that State. The story of Maria
Louise Moore-Richards would be a large chapter of such a narrative. She
was born of white and Negro parentage in Fredericksburg, Virginia, in
1800. Her father was Edwin Moore, a Scotchman of Edinburgh. Her mother
was a free woman of color, born in Toronto when it was called York.
Exactly how they came to Fredericksburg is not known. It seems, however,
that they had been well established in that city when Maria Louise Moore
was born.

This woman was fortunate in coming into the world at that time. So
general had been the efforts for the elevation of the colored people
that free Negroes had many of the privileges later given only to white
people. Virginia then and for a long time thereafter ranked among the
commonwealths most liberal toward the Negro. The dissemination of
information among them was not then restricted, private teaching of
slaves was common, and progressive communities maintained colored
schools.[1a] In Fredericksburg such opportunities were not rare. The
parents of Maria Louise Moore fortunately associated with the free
Negroes who constituted an industrial class with adequate means to
provide for the thorough training of their children. Miss Moore,
therefore, easily acquired the rudiments of education and attained some
distinction as a student of history.

In 1820 Miss Moore was married to Adolphe Richards, a native of the
Island of Guadaloupe. He was a Latin of some Negro blood, had noble
ancestry, and had led an honorable career. Educated in London and
resident in Guadaloupe, he spoke both English and French fluently.
Because of poor health in later years he was directed by his friends to
the salubrious climate of Virginia. He settled at Fredericksburg, where
he soon became captivated by the charms of the talented Maria Louise
Moore. On learning of his marriage, his people and friends marveled that
a man of his standing had married a colored woman or a Southern woman at
all.

Adjusting himself to this new environment, Mr. Richards opened a shop
for wood-turning, painting and glazing. It is highly probable that he
learned these trades in the West Indies, but having adequate means to
maintain himself, he had not depended on his mechanical skill. In
Fredericksburg he had the respect and support of the best white people,
passing as one of such well-to-do free Negroes as the Lees, the Cooks,
the De Baptistes, who were contractors, and the Williamses, who were
contractors and brickmakers. His success was in a large measure due to
the good standing of the family of Mrs. Richards and to the wisdom with
which she directed this West Indian in his new environment.

They had in all fourteen children, the training of whom was largely the
work of the mother. All of them were well grounded in the rudiments of
education and given a taste for higher things. In the course of time
when the family grew larger the task of educating them grew more
arduous. Some of them probably attended the school conducted by a
Scotch-Irishman in the home of Richard De Baptiste. When the reaction
against the teaching of Negroes effected the closing of the colored
schools in Virginia, this one continued clandestinely for many years.
Determined to have her children better educated, Mrs. Richards sent one
of her sons to a school conducted by Mrs. Beecham, a remarkable English
woman, assisted by her daughter. These women were bent on doing what
they could to evade the law interpreted as prohibiting any one from
either sitting or standing to teach a black to read. They, therefore,
gathered the colored children around them while they lay prostrate on
the couch to teach them. For further evasion they kept on hand splinters
of wood which they had the children dip into a match preparation and use
with a flint for ignition to make it appear that they were showing them
how to make matches. When this scheme seemed impracticable, one of the
boys was sent to Washington in the District of Columbia to attend the
school maintained by John F. Cook, a successful educator and founder of
the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church. This young man was then
running the risk of expatriation, for Virginia had in 1838 passed a law,
prohibiting the return to that State of those Negroes, who after the
prohibition of their education had begun to attend schools in other
parts.[2]

It was because of these conditions that in 1851 when her husband died
Mrs. Richards sold out her property and set out to find a better home in
Detroit, Michigan. Some of the best white people of Fredericksburg
commended her for this step, saying that she was too respectable a woman
to suffer such humiliation as the reaction had entailed upon persons of
her race.[3] She was followed by practically all of the best free
Negroes of Fredericksburg. Among these were the Lees, the Cooks, the
Williamses and the De Baptistes. A few years later this group attracted
the Pelham family from Petersburg. They too had tired of seeing their
rights gradually taken away and, therefore, transplanted themselves to
Detroit.

The attitude of the people of Detroit toward immigrating Negroes had
been reflected by the position the people of that section had taken from
the time of the earliest settlements. Slavery was prohibited by the
Ordinance of 1787. In 1807 there arose a case in which a woman was
required to answer for the possession of two slaves. Her contention was
that they were slaves on British territory at the time of the surrender
of the post in 1796 and that Jay's Treaty assured them to her. Her
contention was sustained.[4] A few days later a resident of Canada
attempted under this ruling to secure the arrest and return of some
mulatto and Indian slaves who had escaped from Canada. The court held
that slavery did not exist in Michigan except in the case of slaves in
the possession of the British settlers within the Northwest Territory
July 11, 1796, and that there was no obligation to give up fugitives
from a foreign jurisdiction. An effort was made to take the slaves by
force but the agent of the owner was tarred and feathered.[4]

Generally speaking, Detroit adhered to this position.[4a] In 1827 there
was passed an act providing for the registry of the names of all colored
persons, requiring the possession of a certificate showing that they
were free and a bond in the sum of $500 for their good behavior.[5] This
law was obnoxious to the growing sentiment of freedom in Detroit and was
not enforced until the Riot of 1833. This uprising was an attack on the
Negroes because a courageous group of them had effected the rescue and
escape of one Thornton Blackburn and his wife, who had been arrested by
the sheriff as alleged fugitives from Kentucky.[6] The anti-slavery
feeling considerably increased thereafter. The Detroit Anti-Slavery
Society was formed in 1837, other societies to secure the relief and
escape of slaves quickly followed and still another was organized to
find employment and purchase homes for refugees.[7] This change of
sentiment is further evidenced by the fact that in 1850 it was necessary
to call out the three companies of volunteers to quell an incipient riot
occasioned by the arrest and attempt to return a runaway slave in
accordance with the Fugitive Slave Law. Save the general troubles
incident to the draft riots of the Northern cities of 1863,[8] Detroit
maintained this benevolent attitude toward Negroes seeking refuge.

In this favorable community the Richards colony easily prospered. The
Lees well established themselves in their Northern homes and soon won
the respect of the community. Most of the members of the Williams family
confined themselves to their trade of bricklaying and amassed
considerable wealth. One of Mr. Williams's daughters married a
well-to-do Waring living then at Wauseon, Ohio; another became the wife
of one Chappée, who is now a stenographer in Detroit; and the third
united in matrimony with James H. Cole, who became the head of a
well-to-do family of Detroit. Then there were the Cooks descending from
Lomax B. Cook, a broker of no little business ability. Will Marion Cook,
the musician, belongs to this family. The De Baptistes, too, were among
the first to get a foothold in this new environment and prospered
materially from their experience and knowledge acquired in
Fredericksburg as contractors.[8a] From this group came Richard De
Baptiste, who in his day was the most noted colored Baptist preacher in
the Northwest. The Pelhams were no less successful in establishing
themselves in the economic world. They enjoyed a high reputation in the
community and had the sympathy and cooperation of the influential white
people in the city. Out of this family came Robert A. Pelham, for years
editor of a weekly in Detroit, and from 1901 to the present time an
employee of the Federal Government in Washington.[9]

The children of Mrs. Richards were in no sense inferior to the
descendants of the other families. She lived to see her work bear fruit
in the distinguished services they rendered and the desirable
connections which they made after the Civil War. Her daughter Julia
married Thomas F. Carey who, after conducting a business for some years
in New York, moved to Toronto, where he died. From this union came the
wife of D. Augustus Straker. Her daughter Evalina married Dr. Joseph
Ferguson who, prior to 1861, lived in Richmond, Virginia, uniting the
three occupations of leecher, cupper and barber. This led to his coming
to Detroit to study medicine. He was graduated there and practiced for
many years in that city. Before the Civil War her son John D. Richards
was sent to Richmond to learn a trade. There he met and became the
lifelong friend of Judge George L. Ruffin, who was then living in that
city.[10]

The most prominent and the most useful person to emerge from this group
of pioneering Negroes was her daughter Fannie M. Richards. She was born
in Fredericksburg, Virginia, October 1, 1841. As her people left that
State when she was quite young she did not see so much of the
intolerable conditions as did the older members of the family. Miss
Richards was successful in getting an early start in education. Desiring
to have better training than what was then given to persons of color in
Detroit, she went to Toronto. There she studied English, history,
drawing and needlework. In later years she attended the Teachers
Training School in Detroit. Her first thought was to take up teaching
that she might do something to elevate her people. She, therefore,
opened a private school in 1863, doing a higher grade of work than that
then undertaken in the public schools. About 1862, however, a colored
public school had been opened by a white man named Whitbeck. Miss
Richards began to think that she should have such a school herself.

Her story as to how she realized her ambition is very interesting. Going
to her private school one morning, she saw a carpenter repairing a
building. Upon inquiry she learned that it was to be opened as Colored
School Number 2. She went immediately to William D. Wilkins, a member of
the board of education, who, impressed with the personality of the young
woman, escorted her to the office of superintendent of schools, Duane
Dotty. After some discussion of the matter Miss Richards filed an
application, assured that she would be notified to take the next
examination. At the appointed time she presented herself along with
several other applicants who hoped to obtain the position. Miss Richards
ranked highest and was notified to report for duty the following
September. Early one morning she proceeded to her private school in time
to inform her forty pupils of the desirable change and conducted them in
a body to their new home.

Miss Richards taught in this building until 1871, when by a liberal
interpretation of the courts, the schools were mixed by ignoring race
distinction wherever it occurred in the school laws of Michigan. She was
then transferred to the Everett School where she remained until last
June when she was retired on a pension after having served that system
half a century. Although she taught very few colored children she said
to a reporter several years ago:

    "I have never been made to feel in any way that my race has been a
    handicap to me. Neither my pupils nor the teachers have ever shown
    prejudice; I do not doubt that it exists; I shall be in Heaven long
    before it has all disappeared, but I say it is with a colored
    teacher as it is with a white one. Her work is the only thing that
    counts. I have never been called before the board for a reprimand in
    all my years of teaching. The methods have changed a good deal since
    the time that I started in and it would be easy to lag behind, but I
    try not to. It means continual reading and study to keep up with the
    modern way of doing things, but I manage to do it, and when the time
    comes that I cannot do my work in a satisfactory manner I want the
    Board of Education to discharge me and get some one else."

In testimony to these facts one of the daily papers of Detroit wrote her
up in 1910, saying that she had kept her interest in modern pedagogic
methods, maintained a high standard of scholarship in her school, and
retained her sympathy with little children, who had rewarded her
devotion to her work with their appreciation and love. To show how well
she is loved by her pupils the writer was careful to state that these
children as a gay group often surrounded her on her way to school,
clinging to her hands, crowding about her as best they may, all
chattering and pouring out accounts of their little doings.
"Frequently," says this writer, "she is stopped on the street by grown
men and women who long ago were her pupils and who have remembered her,
though with the passing of the years, and the new classes of little ones
who come to her every term, she has forgotten them."[11] Many have been
accustomed to bring their children to the Everett School and speak of
how glad they will be when these little ones will be under the care of
their parents' former teacher.

Miss Richards estimates that in the years of school work, she has had in
her room an average of fifty pupils a term, although sometimes the
attendance overflowed to a much greater number. With eighty-eight terms
of teaching to her credit, the number of pupils who owe part of their
education to "this gentle and cultured woman" amounts well up into the
tens of thousands, enough to populate a fair-sized city.

We can not close this article with a better testimonial than the
following letter from one of her former pupils, the Honorable Charles T.
Wilkins, a lawyer and an influential white citizen, who addressed her on
the occasion of her retirement last June.


"_My dear Miss Richards_: The friendship of so long standing between
your family and mine, and the high esteem in which, as an educator, a
woman, and a Christian, you were always held by my father the late
Colonel William D. Wilkins, lead me to take the liberty of writing to
_congratulate_ you upon the well-earned retirement from active work,
which I have just learned from the press that you contemplate after so
many years well spent in faithful service to our community. As a citizen
and one who has always been most interested in the education of our
youth, I wish to add my thanks to those which are felt, if not expressed
by the many who know of your devotion to and success in leading the
young in the way in which they should go.

"Though your active participation in this work is about to cease, may
you long be spared as an example to those who follow you is the earnest
hope of

"Yours very sincerely and respectfully,

(Signed) "Charles T. Wilkins"


W. B. HARTGROVE



FOOTNOTES:


[1] For many of the facts set forth in this article the writer is
indebted to Miss Fannie M. Richards, Robert A. Pelham, and C. G. Woodson.

[1a] Woodson, The Ed. of the Negro Prior to 1861, pp. 92, 217, 218.

[2] The law was as follows: Be it enacted by the General Assembly that
if any free person of color, whether infant or adult, shall go or be
sent or carried beyond the limits of this Commonwealth for the purpose
of being educated, he or she shall be deemed to have emigrated from the
State and it shall not be lawful for him or her to return to the same;
and if any such person shall return within the limits of the State
contrary to the provisions of this act, he or she being an infant shall
be bound out as an apprentice until the age of 21 years, by the
overseers of the poor of the county or corporation where he or she may
be, and at the expiration of that period, shall be sent out of the State
agreeably to the provisions of the laws now in force, or which may
hereafter be enacted to prohibit the migration of free persons of color
to this State; and if such person be an adult, he or she shall be sent
in like manner out of the Commonwealth; and if any persons having been
so sent off, shall hereafter return within the State, he or she so
offending shall be dealt with and punished in the same manner as is or
may be prescribed by law in relating to other persons of color returning
to the State after having been sent therefrome. Acts of the General
Assembly of Virginia, 1838, p. 76.

[3] The following enactments of the Virginia General Assembly will give
a better idea of the extent of this humiliation:

    4. Be it further enacted that all meetings of free Negroes or
    mulattoes at any school house, church, meeting-house or other place
    for teaching them reading or writing, either in the day or night,
    under whatsoever pretext, shall be deemed and considered as an
    unlawful assembly; and any justice of the county or corporation,
    wherein such assemblage shall be, either from his own knowledge, or
    on the information of others, of such unlawful assemblage or
    meeting, shall issue his warrant directed to any sworn officer or
    officers, authorizing him or them to enter the house or houses where
    such unlawful assemblage or meeting may be, for the purpose of
    apprehending or dispersing such free Negroes or mulattoes and to
    inflict corporal punishment on the offender or offenders at the
    discretion of any justice of the peace, not exceeding 20 lashes.

    5. Be it further enacted that if any white person or persons
    assemble with free Negroes or mulattoes, at any school house,
    church, meeting-house, or other place for the purpose of instructing
    such free Negroes or mulattoes to read or write, such person or
    persons shall, on conviction thereof, be fined in a sum not
    exceeding fifty dollars, and moreover may be imprisoned at the
    discretion not exceeding two months.

    6. Be it further enacted that if any white persons for pay or
    compensation, shall assemble with any slaves for the purpose of
    teaching and shall teach any slave to read or write, such persons or
    any white person or persons contracting with such teacher so to act,
    who shall offend as aforesaid, shall for each offence, be fined at
    the discretion of a jury in a sum not less than ten nor exceeding
    one hundred dollars, to be recovered on an information or
    indictment. Acts of the General Assembly of Virginia, 1831, p. 107.

    I. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia that no slave,
    free Negro or mulatto, whether he shall have been ordained or
    licensed or otherwise, shall hereafter undertake to preach, exhort
    or conduct or hold any assembly or meeting, for religious or other
    purposes, either in the day time or at night; and any slave, free
    Negro or mulatto so offending shall for every such offence be
    punished with stripes at the discretion of any justice of the peace,
    not exceeding 39 lashes; and any person desiring so to do, shall
    have authority without any previous written precept or otherwise, to
    apprehend any such offender and carry him before such justice.

    II. Any slave, free Negro or mulatto who shall hereafter attend any
    preaching, meeting or other assembly, held or pretended to be held
    for religious purposes, or other instruction, conducted by any
    slave, free Negro or mulatto preacher, ordained or otherwise; any
    slave who shall hereafter attend any preaching in the night time
    although conducted by a white minister, without a written permission
    from his or her owner, overseer or master or agent of either of
    them, shall be punished by stripes at the discretion of any justice
    of the peace, not exceeding 39 lashes, and may for that purpose be
    apprehended by any person, without any written or other precept:

    _Provided_, That nothing herein contained shall be so construed as
    to prevent the master or owner of slaves or any white person to whom
    any free Negro or mulatto is bound, or in whose employment, or on
    whose plantation or lot such free Negro or mulatto lives, from
    carrying or permitting any such slave, free Negro or mulatto, to go
    with him, her or them, or with any part of his, her, or their white
    family to any place of worship, conducted by a white minister in the
    night time: And provided also, That nothing in this or any former
    law, shall be construed as to prevent any ordained or licensed white
    minister of the gospel, or any layman licensed for that purpose by
    the denomination to which he may belong, from preaching or giving
    religious instruction to slaves, free Negroes and mulattoes in the
    day time; nor to deprive any masters or owners of slaves of the
    right to engage, or employ any free white person whom they think
    proper to give religious instruction to their slaves; nor to prevent
    the assembling of slaves of any one owner or master together at any
    time for religious devotion. Acts of the General Assembly of
    Virginia, 1831-1832, pp. 20-21.

[4] Campbell, Political History of Michigan, 246.

[4a] Slavery did not immediately cease, however. The number of slaves in
the vicinity of Detroit in 1773 were ninety-six; 127 in 1778; and 175 in
1783. Detroit had a colored population of 15 in 1805 and two years later
a number had sufficiently increased for Governor Hull to organize a
company of militia among them. The increase had been due to the coming
of refugees from Canada. The Census of 1810 showed 17 slaves in Detroit;
that of 1830 shows 32 in Michigan and an enumeration subsequent to 1836
shows that all were dead or manumitted. See Census of the United States.

[5] Laws of Michigan, 1827.

[6] This riot occurred on June 14, 1833. Thornton Blackburn and his
wife, the alleged runaways from Kentucky, were lodged in jail pending
the departure of a boat. A crowd of colored men and women, armed with
clubs, stones and pistols, gathered in the vicinity of the jail. Upon
the pretext of visiting Blackburn's wife a colored woman was admitted to
the jail and by an exchange of clothing effected the escape of the
prisoner who immediately crossed into Canada. Some time thereafter the
sheriff attempted to take his other prisoner to the boat, but was
knocked down and badly beaten. During the encounter the sheriff fired
into the mob, but Blackburn was rescued and carried to Canada. This
caused a great disturbance among the white people. They armed themselves
and attacked the blacks wherever they could be found. The city council
convened and undertook to dispose of the trouble by enforcing the law of
1827 requiring that colored people should stay off the streets at night.
Utley, Byron and McCutcheon, "Michigan as a Province and State," II,
347.

[7] Five years after the organization of the Detroit Anti-Slavery
Society Henry Bibb, an ex-slave, came to the city and lectured for two
years under the auspices of the Liberty Association, which was promoting
the election of anti-slavery candidates. Public sentiment against
slavery was becoming such that the Legislature of Michigan passed a law
prohibiting the use of jails to detain fugitives. Frederick Douglass and
John Brown found many friends of their cause in Detroit. Of the many
organized efforts made to circumvent the law and assist fugitives one
society purchased land and established homes for as many as 50 families
between 1850 and 1872. Farmer, "History of Detroit and Michigan," I,
Chapter XLVIII.

[8] The immediate cause of the riot in Detroit was the arrest,
conviction, and imprisonment of a colored man called William Faulkner
charged with committing an assault on a little girl. Feeling that the
prisoner was guilty, bands of ruffians swept through the streets and
mercilessly beat colored people. Seven years later it was discovered
that Faulkner was innocent and to reimburse him for his losses and
humiliation the same ruffians raised a handsome sum to set him up in
business. See Farmer's History of Detroit and Michigan, Chapter XLVIII.

[8a] A study of the directories of Detroit shows that a considerable
number of Negroes had entered the higher pursuits of labor. See
especially the Detroit Directory for 1865.

[9] Simmons, "Men of Mark," 356.

[10] In 1853 Judge Ruffin moved with his parents from Richmond to
Boston, where he became judge of the Charleston District. Simmons, "Men
of Mark," 469.

[11] This information was obtained from newspaper clippings in the
possession of Miss Fannie M. Richards.




THE PASSING TRADITION AND THE AFRICAN CIVILIZATION



A close examination shows that what we know about the Negro both of the
present and the past vitally affects our opinions concerning him. Men's
beliefs concerning things are to a large extent determined by where they
live and what has been handed down to them. We believe in a hell of roaring
flames where in the fiercest of heat the souls of the wicked are subject to
eternal burnings. This idea of hell was evolved in the deserts of the
Arabian Peninsula where heat is one of the greatest forces of nature with
which man has to contend. Among the native tribes of Northern Siberia
dwelling in the regions of perpetual ice and snow, hell is a place filled
with great chunks of ice upon which the souls of the wicked are placed and
there subjected to eternal freezings. This idea of hell was evolved in the
regions where man is in a continual battle with the cold.

The beliefs of Negroes concerning themselves have to a large extent been
made for them. The reader no doubt will be interested to know that the
prevailing notions concerning the inferiority of the Negro grew up to a
large extent as the concomitant to Negro slavery in this country. The
bringing of the first Negroes from Africa as slaves was justified on the
grounds that they were heathen. It was not right, it was argued, for
Christians to enslave Christians, but they could enslave heathen, who as a
result would have an opportunity to become Christians. These Negro slaves
did actually become Christians and as a result the colonists were forced
to find other grounds to justify their continuation of the system. The
next argument was that they were different from white people. Here we
have a large part of the beginnings of the doctrine of the inferiority of
the Negro.

When, about 1830, anti-slavery agitation arose in this country, a new set
of arguments were brought forward to justify slavery. First in importance
were those taken from the Bible. Science also was called upon and brought
forward a large number of facts to demonstrate that by nature the Negro
was especially fitted to be a slave. It happened that about this time
anthropology was being developed. Racial differences were some of the
things which especially interested scientists in this field. The races
were defined according to certain physical characteristics. These, it was
asserted, determined the superiority or inferiority of races. The true
Negro race, said the early anthropologists, had characteristics which
especially indicated its inferiority. Through our geographies, histories
and encyclopedias we have become familiar with representations of this
so-called true Negro, whose chief characteristics were a black skin, woolly
hair, protuberant lips and a receding forehead. Caricaturists seized upon
these characteristics and popularized them in cartoons, in songs and in
other ways. Thus it happened that the Negro, through the descriptions that
he got of himself, has come largely to believe in his inherent inferiority
and that to attain superiority he must become like the white man in color,
in achievements and, in fact, along all lines.

In recent years it has been asked, "Why cannot the Negro attain superiority
along lines of his own," that is, instead of simply patterning after what
the white man has done, why cannot the Negro through music, art, history,
and science, make his own special contributions to the progress of the
world? This question has arisen because in the fields of science and
history there have been brought forward a number of facts which prove this
possibility. First of all, the leading scientists in the field of
anthropology are telling us that while there are differences of races,
there are no characteristics which per se indicate that one race is
inferior or superior to another. The existing differences are differences
in kind not in value. On the other hand, whatever superiority one race has
attained over another has been largely due to environment.

A German writer in a discussion of the origin of African civilizations
said some time ago "What bold investigators, great pioneers, still find to
tell us in civilizations nearer home, proves more and more clearly that we
are ignorant of hoary Africa. Somewhat of its present, perhaps, we know,
but of its past little. Open an illustrated geography and compare the
'Type of the African Negro,' the bluish-black fellow of the protuberant
lips, the flattened nose, the stupid expression and the short curly hair,
with the tall bronze figures from Dark Africa with which we have of late
become familiar, their almost fine-cut features, slightly arched nose,
long hair, etc., and you have an example of the problems pressing for
solution. In other respects, too, the genuine African of the interior
bears no resemblance to the accepted Negro type as it figures on drug and
cigar store signs, wearing a shabby stovepipe hat, plaid trousers, and a
vari-colored coat. A stroll through the corridors of the Berlin Museum of
Ethnology teaches that the real African need by no means resort to the
rags and tatters of bygone European splendor. He has precious ornaments of
his own, of ivory and plumes, fine plaited willow ware, weapons of superior
workmanship. Justly can it be demanded 'What sort of civilization is this?
Whence does it come?'"

It is also pointed out that one of the most important contributions to the
civilization of mankind was very probably made by the Negro race. This was
the invention of the smelting of iron. The facts brought forward to
support this view are: that no iron was smelted in Europe before 900 B.C.;
that about 3000 B.C., there began to appear on the Egyptian monuments
pictures of Africans bringing iron from the South to Egypt; that at a time
considerably later than this iron implements began to appear in Asia; that
there is no iron ore in Egypt; and that in Negro Africa iron ore is
abundant. In many places it is found on top of the ground and in some
parts it can be melted by simply placing a piece of ore in the fire very
much as you would a potato to be roasted.

Studies in the fields of ancient and medieval history are also showing
that in the past there were in Negro Africa civilizations of probable
indigenous origin which attained importance enough to be mentioned in the
writings of the historians and poets of those periods. The seat of one of
the highest of these civilizations was Ethiopia. Here the Negro nation
attained the greatest fame. As early as 2,500 years before the birth of
Christ the Ethiopians appeared to have had a considerable civilization. It
was well known to the writers of the Bible and is referred to therein some
forty-nine times. In Genesis we read of Cush, the eldest son of Ham. Cush
is the Hebrew word for black and means the same as Ethiopia. One of the
most famous sons of Cush was Nimrod, whom the Bible mentions as being "a
mighty hunter before the Lord; whereof it is said, like Nimrod, a mighty
hunter before the Lord." The Bible refers to Ethiopia as being far distant
from Palestine. In the book of Isaiah we read "the land of the rustling of
wings which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia that sendeth ambassadors by
the sea." The rivers of Ethiopia mentioned in Isaiah are the upper
tributaries of the Nile, the Atbara, the Blue Nile and the Sobat.

The later capital of Ethiopia was Meroe. Recent excavations have shown
Meroe to have been a city larger than Memphis. The Temple of Ammon, where
kings were crowned, was one of the largest in the valley of the Nile. The
great walls of cut stones were 15 feet thick and 30 feet high. Heaps of
iron-slag and furnaces for smelting iron were discovered, and there were
magnificent quays and landing places on the river side, for the export of
iron. Excavations have also shown that for 150 years Egypt was a dependency
of Ethiopia. The kings of the twenty-third and twenty-fourth Egyptian
dynasties were really governors appointed by Ethiopian overlords, while the
twenty-fifth dynasty was founded by the Ethiopian king, Sabako, in order to
check Assyrian aggression. Palestine was enabled to hold out against
Assyria by Ethiopian help. Sennacherib's attempt to capture Jerusalem and
carry the Jews into captivity, was frustrated by the army of the Ethiopian
king, Taharka. The nation and religion of Judah were thus preserved from
being absorbed in heathen lands like the lost Ten Tribes. The Negro
soldiers of the Sudan saved the Jewish religion.

The old Greek writers were well acquainted with Ethiopia. According to them
in the most ancient times there existed to the South of Egypt a nation and
a land designated as Ethiopia. This was the land where the people with the
sunburnt faces dwelt. The Greek poet, Homer, mentions the Ethiopians as
dwelling at the uttermost limits of the earth, where they enjoyed personal
intercourse with the gods. In one place Homer said that Neptune, the god of
the sea, "had gone to feast with the Ethiopians who dwell afar off, the
Ethiopians who are divided into two parts, the most distant of men, some
at the setting of the sun, others at the rising." Herodotus, the Greek
historian, described the Ethiopians as long lived and their country as
extending to the Southern Sea.

The great fame of the Ethiopians is thus sketched by the eminent historian,
Heeren, who in his historical researches says: "In the earliest traditions
of nearly all the more civilized nations of antiquity, the name of this
distant people is found. The annals of the Egyptian priests were full
of them; the nations of inner Asia, on the Euphrates and Tigris, have
interwoven the fictions of the Ethiopians with their own traditions of the
conquests and wars of their heroes; and, at a period equally remote, they
glimmer in Greek mythology. When the Greeks scarcely knew Italy and Sicily
by name, the Ethiopians were celebrated in the verses of their poets; they
spoke of them as the 'remotest nation,' the 'most just of men,' the
'favorites of the gods,' The lofty inhabitants of Olympus journey to them
and take part in their feasts; their sacrifices are the most agreeable
of all that mortals can offer them. And when the faint gleam of tradition
and fable gives way to the clear light of history, the luster of the
Ethiopians is not diminished. They still continue the object of curiosity
and admiration; and the pens of cautious, clear-sighted historians often
place them in the highest rank of knowledge and civilization."

Of these facts most modern historians know but little and Negroes in
general almost nothing. For example, how many have ever heard of Al-Bekri,
the Arab writer, who in the eleventh century wrote a description of the
Western Sudan of such importance that it gained him the title of "The
Historian of Negro Land"? How much, by means of research, might be learned
of the town of Ghana situate on the banks of the Niger, which the historian
Al-Bekri described as a meeting place for commercial caravans from all
parts of the world? This town, he said, contained schools and centers of
learning. It was the resort of the learned, the rich, and the pious of all
nations. Likewise, most of us have never heard perhaps of another Arab
writer, Iben Khaldun, who in writing about the middle of the fourteenth
century of Melle, another of the kingdoms of the Sudan, reported that
caravans from Egypt consisting of twelve thousand laden camels passed every
year through one town on the eastern border of the empire on their way to
the capital of the nation. The load of a camel was three hundred pounds.
12,000 camel loads amounted, therefore, to something like 1,600 tons of
merchandise. At this time we are told that there was probably not a ship in
any of the merchant navies of the world which could carry one hundred tons.
250 years later the average tonnage of the vessels of Spain was 300 tons
and that of the English much less. The largest ship which Queen Elizabeth
had in her navy, the _Great Mary_, had a capacity of a thousand tons; but
it was considered an exception and the marvel of the age.

Another thing that is not generally known is the importance to which some
of these Negro kingdoms of the Western Sudan attained during the middle
ages and the first centuries of the modern era. In size and permanency
they compared favorably with the most advanced nations of Europe. The
kingdom of Melle of which the historian, Iben Khaldun, wrote, had an area
of over 1,000 miles in extent and existed for 250 years. It was the first
of the kingdoms of the Western Sudan to be received on equal terms with
the contemporary white nations. The greatest of all the Sudan states was
the kingdom of Songhay which, in its golden age, had an area almost equal
to that of the United States and existed from about 750 A.D. to 1591.
There is a record of the kings of Songhay in regular succession for almost
900 years. The length of the life of the Songhay empire coincides almost
exactly with the life of Rome from its foundation as a republic to its
downfall as an empire.

The greatest evidences of the high state of civilization which the Sudan
had in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were the attention that was
paid to education and the unusual amount of learning that existed there.
The university of Sankore at Timbuctu was a very active center of learning.
It was in correspondence with the universities of North Africa and Egypt.
It was in touch with the universities of Spain. In the sixteenth century
Timbuctu had a large learned class living at ease and busily occupied with
the elucidation of intellectual and religious problems. The town swarmed
with students. Law, literature, grammar, theology and the natural sciences
were studied. The city of Melle had a regular school of science. One
distinguished geographer is mentioned, and allusions to surgical science
show that the old maxim of the Arabian schools, "He who studies anatomy
pleases God," was not forgotten. One of these writers mentions that his
brother came from Jenne to Timbuctu to undergo an operation for cataract of
the eyes at the hands of a celebrated surgeon there. It is said that the
operation was wholly successful. The appearance of comets, so amazing to
Europe of the Middle Ages and at the present time to the ignorant, was by
these learned blacks noted calmly as a matter of scientific interest.
Earthquakes and eclipses excited no great surprise.

The renowned writer of the Sudan was Abdurrahman Essadi. He was born in
Timbuctu in 1596. He came of learned and distinguished ancestors. He is
chief author of the history of Sudan. The book is said to be a wonderful
document. The narrative deals mainly with the modern history of the
Songhay Empire, and relates the rise of this black civilization through
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and its decadence up to the middle
of the seventeenth century. The noted traveller, Barth, was of the opinion
that the book forms one of the most important additions that the present
age has made to the history of mankind. The work is especially valuable
for the unconscious light which it throws upon the life, manners,
politics, and literature of the country. It presents a vivid picture of
the character of the men with whom it deals. It is sometimes called the
Epic of the Sudan.

From this brief sketch which I have given of the African in ancient and
medieval times it is clear that Negroes should not despise the rock from
which they were hewn. As a race they have a past which is full of interest.
It is worthy of serious study. From it we can draw inspiration; for it
appears that not all black men everywhere throughout the ages have been
"hewers of wood and drawers of water." On the contrary, through long
periods of time there were powerful black nations which have left the
records of their achievements and of which we are just now beginning to
learn a little. This little, however, which we have learned teaches us that
the Negroes of today should work and strive. Along their own special line
and in their own peculiar way they should endeavor to make contributions to
civilization. Their achievements can be such that once more black will be
dignified and the fame of Ethiopia again spread throughout the world.

MONROE N. WORK




THE MIND OF THE AFRICAN NEGRO AS REFLECTED IN HIS PROVERBS



As a study of folk literature of different races offers one way of
understanding their mental attitude toward life and its problems, the
folk literature of the Negro will reveal to us his inherent moral and
intellectual bias and the natural trend of his philosophy. Let us therefore
examine some phases of this subject, paying particular attention to that
part which relates especially to the proverbs. The sources of such
literature are abundant. A little research in a well-equipped library
brings one into a curious and informing mass of knowledge, ever increasing
in bulk, in the French, German and English languages, as well as in many
strange and highly inflected African tongues.

A cursory reading of this literature discloses at once that our general
knowledge of Africa has been based in the past mainly on those external
facts that strike the sense of sight, such as the physical appearance of
the population, native dress and handiwork, musical instruments, implements
of warfare, and customs peculiar to the social and religious life of the
people. Only through the folk literature, however, can we get a glimpse of
the working of the mind of the African Negro. Professor Henry Drummond,
although he had traveled in Africa and had written at length about it,
still exhibited a longing for this insight when he observed: "I have often
wished that I could get inside of an African for an afternoon and just see
how he looked at things." At that time much of the folk literature of that
continent was not as now available. A deeper and more extensive reading of
it at present strengthens our belief in the ancient saying "Out of Africa
there is always something new," a rather disquieting thought, if we have
reached the conclusion that native culture on that continent has never
risen above the zero point.

A critical examination of the content of this folk literature will result
in a division somewhat similar to that found in the same type of literature
of other races. Such a division discloses stories, poetry, riddles and
proverbs. The African folk literature is especially rich in proverbs. So
numerous are these proverbs that it has been said that there is scarcely an
object presented to the eye, scarcely an idea excited in the mind, but it
is accompanied by some sententious aphorism, founded on close observation
of man and animals and in many cases of a decidedly moral tendency. Lord
Bacon remarked many years ago that "the genius, wit and spirit of a nation
are discovered in its proverbs." Cervantes in _Don Quixote_ says "Methinks,
Sancho, that there is no proverb that is not true, because they are all
judgments drawn from the same experience which is the mother of all
knowledge." If these sayings be true, then the proverbs of the African
Negro should be examined in order to see if they approach these
observations.

For convenience of the reader an effort has been made to arrange these
sententious sayings under general subjects. These selected by no means
exhaust the mine of African proverbial lore but are only a few nuggets that
suggest the Negro's power to infer and generalize and to express himself in
a graphic and concise way relative to life as he observed and experienced
it.[1]

_Anger_
    Anger does nobody good, but patience is the father of kindness.

_Assistance_
    Not to aid one in distress is to kill him in your heart.

_Birth_
    Birth does not differ from birth; as the free man was born so was
    the slave.
    In the beginning our Lord created all. With him there is neither
    slave nor free man, but every one is free.

_Boasting_
    Boasting is not courage. He who boasts much cannot do much. Much
    gesticulation does not prove courage.

_Borrowing_
    Borrowing is easy but the day of payment is hard.

_Chance_
    He who waits for chance may wait for a year.

_Character_
    Wherever a man goes to dwell his character goes with him. Every
    man's character is good in his own eyes.

_Charity_
    Charity is the father of sacrifice.

_Children_
    There is no wealth without children. It is the duty of children to
    wait on elders, not elders on children.

_Condemnation_
    You condemn on hearsay evidence alone, your sins increase.

_Contempt_
    Men despise what they do not understand.

_Covetousness_
    If thou seeketh to obtain by force what our Lord did not give thee,
    thou wilt not get it.

_Danger of Beauty_
    He who marries a beauty, marries trouble.

_Danger of Poverty_
    Beg help and you will meet with refusals; ask for alms and you will
    meet with misers.

_Danger of Wealth_
    It is better to be poor and live long than rich and die young.

_Disposition_
    A man's disposition is like a mark in a stone, no one can efface it.

_Doing Good_
    If one does good, God will interpret it to him for good.

_Duty to One's Self_
    Do not repair another man's fence until you have seen to your own.

_Effort_
    You cannot kill game by looking at it.

_Evil Doer_
    The evil doer is ever anxious.

_Experience_
    We begin by being foolish and we become wise by experience.

_Familiarity_
    Familiarity induces contempt, but distance secures respect.

_Faults_
    Faults are like a hill, you stand on your own and you talk about
    those of other people.

_Faults of the Rich_
    If thou art poor, do not make a rich man thy friend.
    If thou goest to a foreign country, do not alight at a rich man's
    house.

_Favor of the Great_
    To love the king is not bad, but a king who loves you is better.

_Folly_
    After a foolish action comes remorse.

_Forethought_
    A person prepared beforehand is better than after reflection.
    The day on which one starts is not the time to commence one's
    preparation.

_Forgiveness_
    He who forgives ends the quarrel.

_Friends_
    There are three friends in this world--courage, sense, and insight.

_Friendship_
    Hold a true friend with both of your hands.

_Future_
    Thou knowest the past but not the future.
    As to what is future, even a bird with a long neck can not see it,
    but God only.

_Gossip_
    Gossip is unbecoming an elder.

_Gentleness_
    A matter dealt with gently is sure to prosper, but a matter dealt
    with violently causes vexation.

_Hate_
    There is no medicine for hate.

_Heart_
    It is the heart that carries one to heaven.

_Heathen_
    He is a heathen who bears malice.

_Hope_
    Hope is the pillar of the world.

_Ignorance_
    Lack of knowledge is darker than night.
    An ignorant man is always a slave.
    Whoever works without knowledge works uselessly.

_Immortality_
    Since thou hast no benefactor in this world, thy having one in the
    next world will be all the more pleasant.

_Injury_
    He who injures another brings injury upon himself.

_Laziness_
    Laziness lends assistance to fatigue.
    A lazy man looks for light employment.

_Love_
    One does not love another if one does not accept anything from him.
    If you love the children of others, you will love your own even
    better.

_Meekness_
    If one knows thee not or a blind man scolds thee, do not become
    angry.

_Mother_
    Him whose mother is no more, distress carries off.

_Necessity of Effort_
    The sieve never sifts meal by itself.

_Old Age_
    There are no charms or medicine against old age.

_Opportunity_
    The dawn does not come twice to wake a man.

_Patience_
    At the bottom of patience there is heaven.
    Patience is the best of qualities; he who possesses it possesses
    all things.

_People_
    Ordinary people are as common as grass, but good people are dearer
    than the eye.

_Politeness_
    Bowing to a dwarf will not prevent your standing erect again.
    "I have forgotten thy name" is better than "I know thee not."

_Poverty_
    A poor man has no friends.
    He who has no house has no word in society.

_Riches_
    Property is the prop of life.
    A wealthy man always has followers.

_Sleep_
    Sleep has no favorites.

_Strife_
    Strife begets a gentle child.

_Sun_
    The sun is the king of torches.

_Trade_
    Trade is not something imaginary or descriptive, but something real
    and profitable.

_Truth_
    Lies, however numerous, will be caught by truth when it rises up.
    The voice of truth is easily known.

_Unselfishness_
    If you love yourself others will hate you, if you humble yourself
    others will love you.

_Valor_
    Boasting at home is not valor; parade is not battle; when war comes
    the valiant will be known.
    The fugitive never stops to pick the thorn from his foot.

_Wisdom_
    A man may be born to wealth, but wisdom comes only with length of days.
    A man with wisdom is better off than a stupid man with any amount of
    charms and superstition.
    Know thyself better than he who speaks of thee.
    Not to know is bad, not to wish to know is worse.
    A counsellor who understands proverbs soon sets matters right.



   PROVERBS BASED ON THE OBSERVATION OF ANIMALS


_Butterfly_
    The butterfly that brushes against thorns will tear its wings.

_Dog_
    If the dog is not at home, he barks not.
    A heedless dog will not do for the chase.
    A lurking dog does not lie in the hyena's lair.

_Elephant_
    He who can not move an ant, and yet tries to move an elephant, shall
    find out his folly.
    The elephant does not find his trunk heavy.
    Were no elephant in the jungle, the buffalo would be a great animal.

_Fly_
    If the fly flies, the frog goes not supperless to bed.

_Fox_
    When the fox dies, fowls do not mourn.

_Goat_
    When the goat goes abroad, the sheep must run.

_Rat_
    When the rat laughs at the cat, there is a hole.
    The rat has not power to call the cat to account.
    The rat does not go to sleep in the cat's bed.

_Wolf_
    He who goes with the wolf will learn to howl.

A. O. STAFFORD



FOOTNOTE:


[1] Among the works which have been consulted in the preparation of this
article are the following:
     R. F. Burton, Wit and Wisdom from West Africa.
     S. W. Koelle, African Native Literature.
     A. B. Ellis, The Yoruba Speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West
         Africa.
     Heli Chatelin, Folk Tales of Angola.




WHAT THE NEGRO WAS THINKING DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY



ESSAY ON NEGRO SLAVERY[1]

NO. 1


Amidst the infinite variety of moral and political subjects, proper for
public commendation, it is truly surprising, that one of the most
important and affecting should be so generally neglected. An encroachment
on the smallest civil or political privilege, shall fan the enthusiastic
flames of liberty, till it shall extend over vast and distant regions, and
violently agitate a whole continent. But the cause of humanity shall be
basely violated, justice shall be wounded to the heart, and national honor
deeply and lastingly polluted, and not a breath or murmur shall arise to
disturb the prevailing quiescence or to rouse the feelings of indignation
against such general, extensive, and complicated iniquity.--To what cause
are we to impute this frigid silence--this torpid indifference--this cold
inanimated conduct of the otherwise warm and generous Americans? Why do
they remain inactive, amidst the groans of injured humanity, the shrill
and distressing complaints of expiring justice and the keen remorse of
polluted integrity?--Why do they not rise up to assert the cause of God
and the world, to drive the fiend injustice into remote and distant
regions, and to exterminate oppression from the face of the fair fields of
America?

When the united colonies revolted from Great Britain, they did it upon
this principle, "that all men are by nature and of right ought to be
free."--After a long, successful, and glorious struggle for liberty,
during which they manifested the firmest attachment to the rights of
mankind, can they so soon forget the principles that then governed their
determinations? Can Americans, after the noble contempt they expressed for
tyrants, meanly descend to take up the scourge? Blush, ye revolted
colonies, for having apostatized from your own principles.

Slavery, in whatever point of light it is considered, is repugnant to the
feelings of nature, and inconsistent with the original rights of man. It
ought therefore to be stigmatized for being unnatural; and detested for
being unjust. Tis an outrage to providence and an affront offered to divine
Majesty, who has given to man his own peculiar image.--That the Americans
after considering the subject in this light--after making the most manly
of all possible exertions in defence of liberty--after publishing to the
world the principle upon which they contended, viz.: "that all men are by
nature and of right ought to be free," should still retain in subjection
a numerous tribe of the human race merely for their own private use and
emolument, is, of all things the strongest inconsistency, the deepest
reflexion on our conduct, and the most abandoned apostasy that ever took
place, since the almighty fiat spoke into existence this habitable world.
So flagitous a violation can never escape the notice of a just Creator
whose vengeance may be now on the wing, to disseminate and hurl the arrows
of destruction.

In what light can the people of Europe consider America after the strange
inconsistency of her conduct? Will they not consider her as an abandoned
and deceitful country? In the hour of calamity she petitioned heaven to be
propitious to her cause. Her prayers were heard. Heaven pitied her
distress, smiled on her virtuous exertions, and vanquished all her
afflictions. The ungrateful creature forgets this timely assistance--no
longer remembers her own sorrows--but basely commences oppression in her
turn.--Beware America! pause--and consider the difference between the mild
effulgence of approving providence and the angry countenance of incensed
divinity!

The importation of slaves into America ought to be a subject of the deepest
regret, to every benevolent and thinking mind.--And one of the greatest
defects in the federal system, is the liberty it allows on this head.
Venerable in every thing else, it is injudicious here; and it is to be much
deplored, that a system of so much political perfection, should be stained
with any thing that does an outrage to human nature. As a door, however, is
open to amendment, for the sake of distressed humanity, of injured national
reputation, and the glory of doing so benevolent a thing, I hope some wise
and virtuous patriot will advocate the measure, and introduce an alteration
in that pernicious part of the government.--So far from encouraging the
importation of slaves, and countenancing that vile traffic in human flesh;
the members of the late continental convention[2] should have seized the
happy opportunity of prohibiting for ever this cruel species of reprobated
villainy.--That they did not do so, will for ever diminish the luster of
their other proceedings, so highly extolled, and so justly distinguished
for their intrinsic value. Let us for a moment contrast the sentiments and
actions of the Europeans on this subject, with those of our own countrymen.
In France the warmest and most animated exertions are making, in order to
introduce the entire abolition of the slave trade; and in England many of
the first characters of the country advocate the same measure, with an
enthusiastic philanthropy. The prime minister himself is at the head of
that society; and nothing can equal the ardour of their endeavours, but the
glorious goodness of the cause.[3]--Will the Americans allow the people of
England to get the start of them in acts of humanity? Forbid it shame!

The practice of stealing, or bartering for human flesh is pregnant with the
most glaring turpitude, and the blackest barbarity of disposition.--For can
any one say, that this is doing as he would be done by? Will such a
practice stand the scrutiny of this great rule of moral government? Who can
without the complicated emotions of anger and impatience, suppose himself
in the predicament of a slave? Who can bear the thoughts of his relatives
being torn from him by a savage enemy; carried to distant regions of the
habitable globe, never more to return; and treated there as the unhappy
Africans are in this country? Who can support the reflexion of his
father--his mother--his sister--or his wife--perhaps his children--being
barbarously snatched away by a foreign invader, without the prospect of
ever beholding them again? Who can reflect upon their being afterwards
publicly exposed to sale--obliged to labor with unwearied assiduity--and
because all things are not possible to be performed, by persons so
unaccustomed to robust exercise, scourged with all the rage and anger of
malignity, until their unhappy carcasses are covered with ghastly wounds
and frightful contusions? Who can reflect on these things when applying the
case to himself, without being chilled with horror, at circumstances so
extremely shocking?--Yet hideous as this concise and imperfect description
is, of the sufferings sustained by many of our slaves, it is nevertheless
true; and so far from being exaggerated, falls infinitely short of a
thousand circumstances of distress, which have been recounted by different
writers on the subject, and which contribute to make their situation in
this life, the most absolutely wretched, and completely miserable, that can
possibly be conceived.--In many places in America, the slaves are treated
with every circumstance of rigorous inhumanity, accumulated hardship, and
enormous cruelty.--Yet when we take them from Africa, we deprive them of a
country which God hath given them for their own; as free as we are, and as
capable of enjoying that blessing. Like pirates we go to commit devastation
on the coast of an innocent country, and among a people who never did us
wrong.

An insatiable, avaricious desire to accumulate riches, cooperating with a
spirit of luxury and injustice, seems to be the leading cause of this
peculiarly degrading and ignominious practice. Being once accustomed to
subsist without labour, we become soft and voluptuous; and rather than
afterwards forego the gratification of our habitual indolence and ease, we
countenance the infamous violation, and sacrifice at the shrine of cruelty,
all the finer feelings of elevated humanity.

Considering things in this view, there surely can be nothing more justly
reprehensible or disgusting than the extravagant finery of many country
people's daughters. It hath not been at all uncommon to observe as much
gauze, lace and other trappings, on one of those country maidens as hath
employed two or three of her father's slaves, for twelve months afterwards,
to raise tobacco to pay for. Tis an ungrateful reflexion that all this
frippery and effected finery, can only he supported by the sweat of another
person's brow, and consequently only by lawful rapine and injustice. If
these young females could devote as much time from their amusements, as
would be necessary for reflexion; or was there any person of humanity at
hand who could inculcate the indecency of this kind of extravagance, I am
persuaded that they have hearts good enough to reject with disdain, the
momentary pleasure of making a figure, in behalf of the rational and
lasting delight of contributing by their forbearance to the happiness of
many thousand individuals.

In Maryland where slaves are treated with as much lenity, as perhaps they
are any where, their situation is to the last degree ineligible. They live
in wretched cots, that scarcely secure them from the inclemency of the
weather; sleep in the ashes or on straw, wear the coarsest clothing, and
subsist on the most ordinary food that the country produces. In all things
they are subject to their master's absolute command, and, of course, have
no will of their own. Thus circumstanced, they are subject to great
brutality, and are often treated with it. In particular instances, they may
be better provided for in this state, but this suffices for a general
description. But in the Carolinas and the island of Jamaica, the cruelties
that have been wantonly exercised on those miserable creatures, are without
a precedent in any other part of the world. If those who have written on
the subject, may be believed, it is not uncommon there, to tie a slave up
and whip him to death.

On all occasions impartiality in the distribution of justice should be
observed. The little state of Rhode Island has been reprobated by other
states, for refusing to enter into measures respecting a new general
government; and so far it is admitted that she is culpable.[4] But if she
is worthy of blame in this respect, she is entitled to the highest
admiration for the philanthropy, justice, and humanity she hath displayed,
respecting the subject I am treating on. She hath passed an act prohibiting
the importation of slaves into that state, and forbidding her citizens to
engage in the iniquitous traffic. So striking a proof of her strong
attachment to the rights of humanity, will rescue her name from oblivion,
and bid her live in the good opinion of distant and unborn generations.

Slavery, unquestionably, should be abolished, particularly in this country;
because it is inconsistent with the declared principles of the American
Revolution. The sooner, therefore, we set about it, the better. Either we
should set our slaves at liberty, immediately, and colonize them in the
western territory;[5] or we should immediately take measures for the
gradual abolition of it, so that it may become a known, and fixed point,
that ultimately, universal liberty, in these united states, shall
triumph.--This is the least we can do in order to evince our sense of the
irreparable outrages we have committed, to wipe off the odium we have
incurred, and to give mankind a confidence again in the justice,
liberality, and honour of our national proceedings.

It would not be difficult to show, were it necessary, that America would
soon become a richer and more happy country, provided the step was adopted.
That corrosive anguish of persevering in anything improper, which now
embitters the enjoyments of life, would vanish as the mist of a foggy morn
doth before the rising sun; and we should find as great a disparity between
our present situation, and that which would succeed to it, as subsists
between a cloudy winter, and a radiant spring.--Besides, our lands would
not be then cut down for the support of a numerous train of useless
inhabitants--useless, I mean, to themselves, and effectually to us, by
encouraging sloth and voluptuousness among our young farmers and planters,
who might otherwise know how to take care of their money, as well as how to
dissipate it.--In all other respects, I conceive them to be as valuable as
we are--as capable of worthy purposes, and to possess the same dignity that
we do, in the estimation of providence; although the value of their work
apart, for which we are dependent on them, we generally consider them as
good for nothing, and accordingly, treat them with greatest neglect.

But be it remembered, that this cause is the cause of heaven; and that the
father of them as well as of us, will not fail, at a future settlement, to
adjust the account between us, with a dreadful attention to justice.

Othello
Baltimore, May 10, 1788.

--_American Museum_, IV, 412-415.



ESSAY ON NEGRO SLAVERY

_No. II_


Upon no better principle do we plunder the coasts of Africa, and bring away
its wretched inhabitants as slaves than that, by which the greater fish
swallows up the lesser. Superior power seems only to produce superior
brutality; and that weakness and imbecility, which ought to engage our
protection, and interest the feelings of social benevolence in behalf of
the defenceless, seems only to provoke us to acts of illiberal outrage and
unmanly violence.

The practice which has been followed by the English nation, since the
establishment of the slave trade--I mean that of stirring up the natives
of Africa, against each other, with a view of purchasing the prisoners
mutually taken in battle, must strike the humane mind with sentiments of
the deepest abhorrence, and confer on that people a reproach, as lasting
as time itself. It is surprising that the eastern world did not unite, to
discourage a custom so diabolical in its tendency, and to exterminate a
species of oppression which humbles the dignity of all mankind. But this
torpid inattention can only be accounted for, by adverting to the savage
disposition of the times, which countenanced cruelties unheard of at this
enlightened period. What rudeness of demeanor and brutality of manner,
which had been introduced into Europe, by those swarms of barbarians, that
overwhelmed it from the north, had hardly begun to dissipate before the
enlivening sun of civilization, when this infernal practice first sprang
up into existence. Before this distinguished era of refined barbarity, the
sons of Africa were in possession of all the mild enjoyments of peace--all
the pleasing delights of uninterrupted harmony--and all the diffusive
blessings of profound tranquility. Boundless must be the punishment, which
irritated providence will inflict on those whose wanton cruelty has
prompted them to destroy this fair arrangement of nature--this flowery
prospect of human felicity. Engulphed in the dark abyss of never ending
misery, they shall in bitterness atone for the stab thus given to human
nature; and in anguish unutterable expiate crimes, for which nothing less
than eternal sufferings can make adequate retribution!--Equally iniquitous
is the practice of robbing that country of its inhabitants; and equally
tremendous will be the punishment. The voice of injured thousands, who
have been violently torn from their native country, and carried to distant
and inhospitable climes--the bitter lamentations of the wretched, helpless
female--the cruel agonizing sensations of the husband, the father and the
friend--will ascend to the throne of Omnipotence, and, from the elevated
heights of heaven, cause him, with the whole force of almighty vengeance,
to hurl the guilty perpetrators of those inhuman beings, down the steep
precipice of inevitable ruin, into the bottomless gulph of final,
irretrievable, and endless destruction!

Ye sons of America, forbear!--Consider the dire consequences, that will
attend the prosecution, against which the all-powerful God of nature holds
up his hands, and loudly proclaims, desist!

In the insolence of self-consequence, we are accustomed to esteem ourselves
and the Christian powers of Europe, the only civilized people on the
globe; the rest without distinction, we presumptuously denominate
barbarians. But, when the practices above mentioned, come to be
deliberately considered--when added to these, we take a view of the
proceedings of the English in the East Indies, under the direction of the
late Lord Clive, and remember what happened in the streets of Bengal and
Calcutta--when we likewise reflect on our American mode of driving,
butchering and exterminating the poor defenceless Indians, the native and
lawful proprietors of the soil--we shall acknowledge, if we possess the
smallest degree of candor, that the appellation of barbarian does not
belong to them alone. While we continue those practices the term christian
will only be a burlesque expression, signifying no more than that it
ironically denominates the rudest sect of barbarians that ever disgraced
the hand of their Creator. We have the precepts of the gospel for the
government of our moral deportment, in violation of which, those outrageous
wrongs are committed; but they have no such meliorating influence among
them, and only adhere to the simple dictates of reason, and natural
religion, which they never violate.

Might not the inhabitants of Africa, with still greater justice on their
side, than we have on ours, cross the Atlantic, seize our citizens, carry
them into Africa, and make slaves of them, provided they were able to do
it? But should this be really the case, every corner of the globe would
reverberate with the sound of African oppression; so loud would be our
complaint, and so "feeling our appeal" to the inhabitants of the world at
large. We should represent them as a lawless, piratical set of unprincipled
robbers, plunderers and villains, who basely prostituted the superior power
and information, which God had given them for worthy purposes to the vilest
of all ends. We should not hesitate to say that they made use of those
advantages only to infringe upon every dictate of justice; to trample under
foot every suggestion of principle, and to spurn, with contempt, every
right of humanity.

The Algerines are reprobated all the world over, for their unlawful
depredations; and stigmatized as pirates, for their unreasonable exactions
from foreign nations. But, the Algerines are no greater pirates than the
Americans; nor are they a race more destructive to the happiness to
mankind. The depredations of the latter on the coast of Africa, and upon
the Indians' Territory make the truth of this assertion manifest. The
piratical depredations of the Algerines appear to be a judgment from
heaven upon the nations, to punish their perfidy and atrocious violations
of justice; and never did any people more justly merit the scourge than
Americans, on whom it seems to fall with peculiar and reiterated violence.
When they yoke our citizens to the plow, and compel them to labour in that
degraded manner, they only retaliate on us for similar barbarities. For
Algiers is a part of the same country, whose helpless inhabitants we are
accustomed to carry away. But the English and Americans cautiously avoid
engaging with a warlike people, whom they fear to attack in a manner so
base and unworthy; whilst the Algerines, more generous and courageous
plunderers, are not afraid to make war on brave and well-disciplined
enemies, who are capable of making a gallant resistance.

Whoever examines into the conditions of the slaves in America will find
them in a state of the most uncultivated rudeness. Not instructed in any
kind of learning, they are grossly ignorant of all refinement, and have
little else about them, belonging to the nature of civilized man, than mere
form. They are strangers to almost every idea, that doth not relate to
their labour or their food; and though naturally possessed of strong
sagacity, and lively parts, are, in all respects, in a state of most
deplorable brutality.--This is owing to the iron-hand of oppression, which
ever crushes the bud of genius and binds up in chains every expansion of
the human mind.--Such is their extreme ignorance that they are utterly
unacquainted with the laws of the world--the injunctions of religion--their
own natural rights, and the forms, ceremonies and privileges of marriage
originally established by the Divinity. Accordingly they lived in open
violation of the precepts of christianity and with as little formality or
restrictions as the brutes of the field, unite for the purposes of
procreation. Yet this is a civilized country and a most enlightened period
of the world! The resplendent glory of the gospel is at hand, to conduct us
in safety through the labyrinths of life. Science hath grown up to
maturity, and is discovered to possess not only all the properties of
solidity of strength, but likewise every ornament of elegance, and every
embellishment of fancy. Philosophy hath here attained the most exalted
height of elevation; and the art of government hath received such
refinements among us, as hath equally astonished our friends, our enemies
and ourselves. In fine, no annals are more brilliant than those of America;
nor do any more luxuriantly abound with examples of exalted heroism,
refined policy, and sympathetic humanity. Yet now the prospect begins to
change; and all the splendor of this august assemblage, will soon be
overcast by sudden and impenetrable clouds; and American greatness be
obliterated and swallowed up by one enormity. Slavery diffuses the gloom,
and casts around us the deepest shade of approaching darkness. No longer
shall the united states of America be famed for liberty. Oppression
pervades their bowels; and while they exhibit a fair exterior to the other
parts of the world, they are nothing more than "painted sepulchres,"
containing within them nought but rottenness and corruption.

Ye voluptuous, ye opulent and great, who hold in subjection such numbers of
your fellow-creatures, and suffer these things to happen--beware! Reflect
on this lamentable change, that may, at a future period, take place against
you. Arraigned before the almighty Sovereign of the universe, how will you
answer the charge of such complicated enormity? The presence of these
slaves, who have been lost, for want of your instruction, and by means of
your oppression, shall make you dart deeper into the flames, to avoid their
just reproaches, and seek out for an asylum, in the hidden corners of
perdition.

Many persons of opulence in Virginia, and the Carolinas, treat their
unhappy slaves with every circumstance of coolest neglect, and the most
deliberate indifference. Surrounded with a numerous train of servants,
to contribute to their personal ease, and wallowing in all the luxurious
plenitude of riches, they neglect the wretched source, whence they draw
this profusion. Many of their negroes, on distant estates, are left to
the entire management of inhuman overseers, where they suffer for the
want of that sustenance, which, at the proprietors seat of residence,
is wastefully given to the dogs. It frequently happens, on these large
estates, that they are not clothed, 'till winter is nearly expired;
and then, the most valuable only are attended to; the young, and the
labour-worn, having no other allowance, in this respect, than the
tattered garments, thrown off by the more fortunate. A single peck of
corn a week, or the like measure of rice, is the ordinary quantity of
provision for a hard working slave; to which a small quantity of meat is
occasionally, tho' rarely, added. While those miserable degraded persons
thus scantily subsist, all the produce of their unwearied toil, is taken
away to satiate their rapacious master. He, devoted wretch! thoughtless
of the sweat and toil with which his wearied, exhausted dependents
procure what he extravagantly dissipates, not contented with the ordinary
luxuries of life, is, perhaps, planning, at the time, some improvement on
the voluptuous art.--Thus he sets up two carriages instead of one;
maintains twenty servants, when a fourth part of that number are more than
sufficient to discharge the business of personal attendance; makes every
animal, proper for the purpose, bleed around him, in order to supply the
gluttonous profusion of his table; and generally gives away what his slaves
are pining for;--those very slaves, whose labour enables him to display
this liberality!--No comment is necessary, to expose the peculiar folly,
ingratitude, and infamy of such execrable conduct.

But the custom of neglecting those slaves, who have been worn out in our
service, is unhappily found to prevail, not only among the more opulent but
thro' the more extensive round of the middle and inferior ranks of life. No
better reason can be given for this base inattention, than that they are no
longer able to contribute to our emoluments. With singular dishonor, we
forget the faithful instrument of past enjoyment, and when, by length of
time, it becomes debilitated, it is, like a withered stalk, ungratefully
thrown away.

Our slaves unquestionably have the strongest of all claims upon us, for
protection and support; we having compelled them to involuntary servitude,
and deprived them of every means of protecting or supporting themselves.
The injustice of our conduct, and barbarity of our neglect, when this
reflexion is allowed to predominate, becomes so glaringly conspicuous, as
even to excite, against ourselves, the strongest emotion of detestation and
abhorrence.

To whom are the wretched sons of Africa to apply for redress, if their
cruel master treats them with unkindness? To whom will they resort for
protection, if he is base enough to refuse it to them? The law is not their
friend;--alas! too many statutes are enacted against them. The world is not
their friend;--the iniquity is too general and extensive. No one who hath
slaves of his own, will protect those of another, less the practice should
be retorted. Thus when their masters abandon them, their situation is
destitute and forlorn, and God is their only friend!

Let us imitate the conduct of a neighboring state, and immediately take
measures, at least, for the gradual abolition of slavery.[6] Justice
demands it of us, and we ought not to hesitate in obeying its inviolable
mandates.--All the feelings of pity, compassion, affection, and
benevolence--all the emotions of tenderness, humanity, philanthropy, and
goodness--all the sentiments of mercy, probity, honour, and integrity,
unite to solicit for their emancipation. Immortal will be the glory of
accomplishing their liberation; and eternal the disgrace of keeping them
in chains.

But, if the state of Pennsylvania is to be applauded for her conduct, that
of South Carolina can never be too strongly execrated.[7] The legislature
of that state, at no very remote period, brought in a bill for prohibiting
the use of letters to their slaves, and forbidding them the privilege of
being taught to read!--This was a deliberate attempt to enslave the minds
of those unfortunate objects, whose persons they already held in arbitrary
subjection:--Detestable deviation from the becoming rectitude of man.

One more peculiarly distressing circumstance remains to be recounted,
before I take my final leave of the subject.--In the ordinary course of the
business of the country, the punishment of relatives frequently happens on
the same farm, and in view of each other:--The father often sees his
beloved son--the son his venerable sire--the mother her much-loved
daughter--the daughter her affectionate parent--the husband the wife of his
bosom, and she the husband of her affection, cruelly bound up without
delicacy or mercy, and punished with all extremity of incensed rage, and
all the rigour of unrelenting severity, whilst these unfortunate wretches
dare not even interpose in each other's behalf. Let us reverse the case and
suppose it ours:--all is silent horror!

Othello
Maryland, May 23, 1788.

--_American Museum_, IV, 509-512.



LETTER ON SLAVERY BY A NEGRO


I am one of that unfortunate race of men, who are distinguished from the
rest of the human species, by a black skin and wooly hair--disadvantages
of very little moment in themselves, but which prove to us a source of
greatest misery, because there are men, who will not be persuaded that
it is possible for a human soul to be lodged within a sable body. The
West Indian planters could not, if they thought us men, so wantonly
spill our blood; nor could the natives of this land of liberty, deeming
us of the same species with themselves, submit to be instrumental in
enslaving us, or think us proper subjects of a sordid commerce. Yet,
strong as the prejudices against us are, it will not, I hope on this
side of the Atlantic, be considered as a crime, for a poor African not
to confess himself a being of an inferior order to those, who happen to
be of a different colour from himself; or be thought very presumptuous,
in one who is but a negro, to offer to the happy subjects of this free
government, some reflections upon the wretched condition of his
countrymen. They will not, I trust, think worse of my brethren, for
being discontented with so hard a lot as that of slavery; nor disown me
for their fellow-creature, merely because I deeply feel the unmerited
sufferings which my countrymen endure.

It is neither the vanity of being an author, nor a sudden and capricious
gust of humanity, which has prompted this present design. It has long been
conceived and long been the principal subject of my thoughts. Ever since an
indulgent master rewarded my youthful services with freedom and supplied me
at a very early age with the means of acquiring knowledge, I have laboured
to understand the true principles, on which the liberties of mankind are
founded, and to possess myself of the language of this country, in order to
plead the cause of those who were once my fellow slaves, and if possible to
make my freedom, in some degree, the instrument of their deliverance.

The first thing then, which seems necessary, in order to remove those
prejudices, which are so unjustly entertained against us, is to prove
that we are men--a truth which is difficult of proof, only because it is
difficult to imagine, by what argument it can be combatted. Can it be
contended that a difference of colour alone can constitute a difference of
species?--if not in what single circumstance are we different from the rest
of mankind? what variety is there in our organization? what inferiority
of art in the fashoning of our bodies? what imperfection in the faculties
of our minds?--Has not a negro eyes? has not a negro hands, organs,
dimensions, senses, affections, passions?--fed with the same food; hurt
with the same weapons; subject to the same diseases; healed by the same
means; warmed and cooled by the same summer and winter as a white man? if
you prick us, do we not bleed? if you poison us, do we not die? are we not
exposed to all the same wants? do we not feel all the same sentiments--are
we not capable of all the same exertions--and are we not entitled to all
the same rights, as other men?

Yes--and it is said we are men, it is true; but that we are men, addicted
to more and worse vices, than those of any other complexion; and such is
the innate perverseness of our minds, that nature seems to have marked us
out for slavery.--Such is the apology perpetually made for our masters, and
the justification offered for that universal proscription, under which we
labour.

But, I supplicate our enemies to be, though for the first time, just in
their proceedings toward us, and to establish the fact before, they attempt
to draw any conclusions from it. Nor let them imagine that this can be
done, by merely asserting that such is our universal character. It is
the character, I grant, that our inhuman masters have agreed to give us,
and which they have so industriously and too successfully propagated, in
order to palliate their own guilt, by blackening the helpless victims of
it, and to disguise their own cruelty under the semblance of justice. Let
the natural depravity of our character be proved--not by appealing to
declamatory invectives, and interested representations, but by showing that
a greater proportion of crimes have been committed by the wronged slaves of
the plantation, than by the luxurous inhabitants of Europe, who are happily
strangers to those aggravated provocations, by which our passions are every
day irritated and incensed. Show us, that, of the multitude of negroes, who
have within a few years transported themselves to this country,[8] and who
are abandoned to themselves; who are corrupted by example, prompted by
penury, and instigated by the memory of their wrongs to the commission of
crime--shew us, I say (and the demonstration, if it be possible, cannot be
difficult) that a greater proportion of these, than of white men have
fallen under the animadversions of justice, and have been sacrificed to
your laws. Though avarice may slander and insult our misery, and though
poets heighten the horror of their fables, by representing us as monsters
of vice--the fact is, that, if treated like other men, and admitted to a
participation of their rights, we should differ from them in nothing,
perhaps, but in our possessing stronger passions, nicer sensibility, and
more enthusiastic virtue.

Before so harsh a decision was pronounced upon our nature, we might have
expected--if sad experience had not taught us, to expect nothing but
injustice from our adversaries--that some pains would have been taken,
to ascertain, what our nature is; and that we should have been considered,
as we are found in our native woods, and not as we now are--altered and
perverted by an inhuman political institution. But, instead of this, we
are examined, not by philosophers, but by interested traders: not as
nature formed us, but as man has depraved us--and from such an inquiry,
prosecuted under such circumstances, the perverseness of our dispositions
is said to be established. Cruel that you are! you make us slaves; you
implant in our minds all the vices, which are in some degree, inseparable
from that condition; and you then impiously impute to nature, and to God,
the origin of those vices, to which you alone have given birth; and punish
in us the crimes, of which you are yourselves the authors.

The condition of the slave is in nothing more deplorable, than in its being
so unfavorable to the practice of every virtue. The surest foundation of
virtue is love of our fellow creatures; and that affection takes its birth,
in the social relations of men to one another. But to a slave these are
all denied. He never pays or receives the grateful duties of a son--he
never knows or experiences the fond solicitude of a father--the tender
names of husband, of brother, and of friend, are to him unknown. He has no
country to defend and bleed for--he can relieve no sufferings--for he looks
around in vain, to find a being more wretched than himself. He can indulge
no generous sentiment--for he sees himself every hour treated with contempt
and ridiculed, and distinguished from irrational brutes, by nothing but
the severity of punishment. Would it be surprising, if a slave, labouring
under all these disadvantages--oppressed, insulted, scorned, trampled
on--should come at last to despise himself--to believe the calumnies of his
oppressors--and to persuade himself, that it would be against his nature,
to cherish any honourable sentiment or to attempt any virtuous action?
Before you boast of your superiority over us, place some of your own colour
(if you have the heart to do it) in the same situation with us; and see,
whether they have such innate virtue, and such unconquerable vigour of
mind, as to be capable of surmounting such multiplied difficulties, and of
keeping their minds free from the infection of every vice, even under the
oppressive yoke of such a servitude.

But, not satisfied with denying us that indulgence, to which the misery of
our condition gives us so just a claim, our enemies have laid down other
and stricter rules of morality, to judge our actions by, than those by
which the conduct of all other men is tried. Habits, which in all human
beings, except ourselves, are thought innocent, are, in us, deemed criminal
and actions, which are even laudable in white men, become enormous crimes
in negroes. In proportion to our weakness, the strictness of censure is
increased upon us; and as resources are withheld from us, our duties are
multiplied. The terror of punishment is perpetually before our eyes; but we
know not, how to avert it, what rules to act by, or what guides to follow.
We have written laws, indeed, composed in a language we do not understand
and never promulgated: but what avail written laws, when the supreme law,
with us, is the capricious will of our overseers? To obey the dictates of
our own hearts, and to yield to the strong propensities of nature, is often
to incur severe punishment; and by emulating examples which we find
applauded and revered among Europeans, we risk inflaming the wildest wrath
of our inhuman tyrants.

To judge of the truth of these assertions, consult even those milder and
subordinate rules for our conduct, the various codes of your West India
laws--those laws which allow us to be men, whenever they consider us as
victims of their vengeance, but treat us only like a species of living
property, as often as we are to be the objects of their protection--those
laws by which (it may be truly said) that we are bound to suffer, and be
miserable under pain of death. To resent an injury, received from a white
man, though of the lowest rank, and to dare to strike him, though upon the
strongest and grossest provocation, is an enormous crime. To attempt to
escape from the cruelties exercised upon us, by flight, is punished with
mutilation, and sometimes with death. To take arms against masters, whose
cruelties no submission can mitigate, no patience exhaust, and from whom no
other means of deliverance are left, is the most atrocious of all crimes;
and is punished by a gradual death, lengthened out by torments, so
exquisite, that none, but those who have been long familiarized, with West
Indian barbarity, can hear the bare recital of them without horror. And yet
I learn from writers, whom the Europeans hold in the highest esteem, that
treason is a crime, which cannot be committed by a slave against his
master; that a slave stands in no civil relation towards his master, and
owes him no allegiance; that master and slave are in a state of war; and if
the slave take up arms for his deliverance, he acts not only justifiably,
but in obedience to a natural duty, the duty of self-preservation. I read
in authors whom I find venerated by our oppressors, that to deliver one's
self and one's countrymen from tyranny, is an act of the sublimest heroism.
I hear Europeans exalted, as the martyrs of public liberty, the saviours of
their country, and the deliverers of mankind--I see other memories honoured
with statues, and their names immortalized in poetry--and yet when a
generous negro is animated by the same passion which ennobled them,--when
he feels the wrongs of his countrymen as deeply, and attempts to avenge
them as boldly--I see him treated by those same Europeans as the most
execrable of mankind, and led out, amidst curses and insults to undergo a
painful, gradual and ignominious death: And thus the same Briton, who
applauds his own ancestors for attempting to throw off the easy yoke,
imposed on them by the Romans, punishes us, as detested parricides, for
seeking to get free from the cruelest of all tyrannies, and yielding to the
irresistible eloquence of an African Galgacus or Boadicea.

Are then the reason and morality, for which Europeans so highly value
themselves, of a nature so variable and fluctuating, as to change with the
complexion of those, to whom they are applied?--Do rights of nature cease
to be such, when a negro is to enjoy them?--Or does patriotism in the heart
of an African, rankle into treason?

A Free Negro
--_American Museum_, V, 77 et seq., 1789.



REMARKABLE SPEECH OF ADAHOONZOU, KING OF DAHOMEY, AN INTERIOR NATION OF
AFRICA, ON HEARING WHAT WAS PASSING IN ENGLAND RESPECTING THE SLAVE TRADE


I admire the reasoning of the white men; but with all their sense, it does
not appear that they have thoroughly studied the nature of the blacks,
whose disposition differs as much from that of the whites, as their colour.
The same great Being formed both; and since it hath seemed convenient for
him to distinguish mankind by opposite complexions, it is a fair conclusion
to presume that there may be as a great a disagreement in the qualitie
of their minds; there is likewise a remarkable difference between the
countries which we inhabit. You, Englishmen, for instance, as I have been
informed, are surrounded by the ocean, and by this situation seem intended
to hold communication with the whole world, which you do, by means of your
ships; whilst we Dahomans, being placed on a large continent, and hemmed in
amidst a variety of other people, of the same complexion, but speaking
different languages, are obliged by the sharpness of our swords, to defend
ourselves from their incursions, and punish the depredations they make on
us. Such conduct in them is productive of incessant wars. Your countrymen,
therefore, who alledge that we go to war for the purpose of supplying your
ships with slaves, are grossly mistaken.

You think you can work a reformation as you call it, in the manners of
the blacks; but you ought to consider the disproportion between the
magnitude of the two countries; and then you will soon be convinced of
the difficulties that must be surmounted, to change the system of such a
vast country as this. We know you are a brave people, and that you might
bring over a great many of the blacks to your opinions, by points of your
bayonets; but to effect this, a great many must be put to death and
numerous cruelties must be committed, which we do not find to have been
the practice of the whites; besides, that this would militate against the
very principle which is professed by those who wish to bring about a
reformation.

In the name of my ancestors and myself, I aver, that no Dahoman ever
embarked in war merely for the sake of procuring wherewithal to purchase
your commodities. I, who have not been long master of this country, have
without thinking of the market, killed many thousands, and I shall kill
many thousands more. When policy or justice requires that men be put to
death, neither silk, nor coral, nor brandy, nor cowries, can be accepted
as substitutes for the blood that ought to be spilt for example sake:
besides if white men chuse to remain at home, and no longer visit this
country for the same purpose that has usually brought them thither, will
black men cease to make war? I answer, by no means, and if there be no
ships to receive their captives, what will become of them? I answer, for
you, they will be put to death. Perhaps you may be asked, how will the
blacks be punished with guns and powder? I reply by another question, had
we not clubs, and bows, and arrows before we knew white men? Did not you
see me make _custom_--annual ceremony--for Weebaigah, the third king of
Dahomey? And did you not observe on the day such ceremony was performing,
that I carried a bow in my hand, and a quiver filled with arrows on my
back? These were the emblems of the times; when, with such weapons, that
brave ancestor fought and conquered all his neighbors. God made war for
all the world; and every kingdom, large or small, has practiced it, more
or less, though perhaps in a manner unlike, and upon different principles.
Did Weebaigah sell slaves? No; his prisoners were all killed to a man.
What else could he have done with them? Was he to let them remain in this
country to cut the throats of his subjects? This would have been wretched
policy indeed; which, had it been adopted, the Dahoman name would have
long ago been extinguished, instead of becoming as it is at this day, the
terror of surrounding nations. What hurts me most is, that some of your
people have maliciously misrepresented us in books, which never die;
alledging that we sell our wives and children for the sake of procuring a
few kegs of brandy. No! We are shamefully belied, and I hope you will
contradict, from my mouth, the scandalous stories that have been
propagated; and tell posterity that we have been abused. We do, indeed,
sell to the white men a part of our prisoners, and we have a right to do
so. Are not all prisoners at the disposal of their captors? and are we to
blame, if we send delinquents to a far country? I have been told you do
the same. If you want no more slaves from us, why cannot you be ingenious
and tell the plain truth; saying that the slaves you have already
purchased are sufficient for the country for which you bought them; or
that the artists who used to make fine things, are all dead, without
having taught anybody to make more? But for a parcel of men, with long
heads, to sit down in England, and frame laws for us, and pretend to
dictate how we are to live, of whom they know nothing, never having been
in a black man's country during the whole course of their lives, is to me
somewhat extraordinary! No doubt they must have been biased by the report
of some one, who had had to do with us; who, for want of a due knowledge
of the treatment of slaves, found that they died on his hands, and that
his money was lost; and seeing that others thrived by the traffic, he
envious of their good luck, has vilified both black and white traders.

You have seen me kill many men at the customs; and you have often observed
delinquents at Grigwhee, and others of my provinces tied, and sent up to
me. I kill them, but do I ever insist on being paid for them? Some heads I
order to be placed at my door, others to be strewed about the market place,
that the people may stumble upon them, when they little expect such a
sight. This gives a grandeur to my customs, far beyond the display of fine
things which I buy; this makes my enemies fear me, and gives me such a name
in the Bush.[9] Besides, if I neglect this indispensable duty, would my
ancestors suffer me to live? would they not trouble me day and night, and
say, that I sent no body to serve them? that I was only solicitous about my
own name, and forgetful of my ancestors? White men are not acquainted with
these circumstances; but I now tell you that you may hear and know, and
inform your countrymen, why customs are made, and will be made, as long as
black men continue to possess their country; the few that can be spared
from this necessary celebration, we sell to the white men; and happy, no
doubt, are such, when they find themselves on the Grigwhee, to be disposed
of to the Europeans. "We shall still drink water," say they to themselves;
"white men will not kill us; and we may even avoid punishment, by serving
our new masters with fidelity."

--_The New York Weekly Magazine_, II, 430, 1792.



FOOTNOTES:


[1] "Othello," the author of these two essays, was identified as a Negro
by Abbé Gregoire in his "De la litterature des Nègres."

[2] The writer refers here to the Convention of 1787 which framed the
Constitution of the United States.

[3] Here the writer has in mind the organization of the English Society
for the Abolition of the Slave Trade and the support given the cause by
Wilberforce, Pitt, Fox and Burke in England and by Brissot, Clavière and
Montmorin in France.

[4] Rhode Island had failed to ratify the Constitution of the United
States.

[5] During the first forty years of the republic there was much talk about
colonizing the Negroes in the West.

[6] The writer refers here to the acts of Pennsylvania, providing for the
abolition of slavery.

[7] In 1740 South Carolina enacted a law prohibiting any one from teaching
a slave to read or employing one in "any manner of writing." Georgia
enacted the same law in 1770.

[8] This letter was originally published in England, where the number of
Negroes had considerably increased after the war in America.

[9] The country expression for the woods was "Bush."




LETTERS SHOWING THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE EARLY NEGRO CHURCHES OF
GEORGIA AND THE WEST INDIES[1]


AN ACCOUNT OF SEVERAL BAPTIST CHURCHES, CONSISTING CHIEFLY OF NEGRO
SLAVES: PARTICULARLY OF ONE AT KINGSTON, IN JAMAICA; AND ANOTHER AT
SAVANNAH IN GEORGIA

A letter from the late Rev. Mr. Joseph Cook of the Euhaw, upper Indian
Land, South Carolina, bearing date Sept. 15, 1790, "A poor negro, commonly
called, among his own friends, Brother George, has been so highly favoured
of God, as to plant the first Baptist Church in Savannah, and another in
Jamaica:" This account produced an earnest desire to know the circumstances
of both these societies. Hence letters were written to the Rev. Mr. Cook at
the Euhaw; to Mr. Jonathan Clarke, at Savannah; to Mr. Wesley's people at
Kingston; with a view to obtain information, in which particular regard was
had to the _character_ of this poor but successful minister of Christ.
Satisfactory accounts have been received from each of these quarters, and a
letter from brother George himself, containing an answer to more than fifty
questions proposed in a letter to him: We presume to give an epitome of the
whole to our friends, hoping that they will have the goodness to let a
plain unlettered people convey their ideas in their own simple way.

Brother George's words are distinguished by inverted commas, and what is
not so marked, is either matter compressed or information received from
such persons to whom application has been made of it.

George Liele, called also George _Sharp_ because his owner's name was
Sharp, in a letter dated Kingston, Dec. 18, 1791, says, "I was born in
Virginia, my father's name was Liele, and my mother's name Nancy; I can
not ascertain much of them, as I went to several parts of America when
young, and at length resided in New Georgia; but was informed both by
white and black people, that my father was the only black person who
knew the Lord in a spiritual way in that country: I always had a
natural fear of God from my youth, and was often checked in conscience
with thoughts of death, which barred me from many sins and bad company.
I knew no other way at that time to hope for salvation but only in the
performance of my good works." _About two years before the late war_,
"the Rev. Mr. Matthew Moore,[2] one Sabbath afternoon, as I stood with
curiosity to hear him, he unfolded all my dark views, opened my best
behaviour and good works to me which I thought I was to be saved by, and
I was convinced that I was not in the way to heaven, but in the way to
hell. This state I laboured under for the space of five or six months.
The more I heard or read, the more I" saw that I "was condemned as a
sinner before God; till at length I was brought to perceive that my life
hung by a slender thread, and if it was the will of God to cut me off at
that time, I was sure I should be found in hell, as sure as God was in
Heaven. I saw my condemnation in my own heart, and I found no way
wherein I could escape the damnation of hell, only through the merits of
my dying Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; which caused me to make
intercession with Christ, for the salvation of my poor immortal soul;
and I full well recollect, I requested of my Lord and Master to give me
a work, I did not care how mean it was, only to try and see how good I
would do it." When he became acquainted with the method of salvation by
our Lord Jesus Christ, he soon found relief, particularly at a time when
he was earnestly engaged in prayer; yea, he says, "I felt such love and
joy as my tongue was not able to express. After this I declared before
the congregation of believers the work which God had done for my soul,
and the same minister, the Rev. Matthew Moore, baptized me, and I
continued in this church about four years, till the vacuation" of
Savannah by the British. When Mr. Liele was called by grace himself, he
was desirous of promoting the felicity of others. One who was an
eyewitness of it, says, _That he began to discover his love to other
negroes, on the same plantation with himself, by reading hymns among
them, encouraging them to sing, and sometimes by explaining the most
striking parts of them_. His own account is this, "Desiring to prove the
sense I had of my obligations to God, I endeavoured to instruct" the
people of "my own color in the word of God: the white brethren seeing
my endeavours, and that the word of the Lord seemed to be blessed, gave
me a call at a quarterly meeting to preach before the congregation."
Afterwards Mr. Moore took the sense of the church concerning brother
Liele's abilities, when it appeared to be their unanimous opinion, "that
he was possessed of ministerial gifts," and according to the custom
which obtains in some of the American churches, he was licensed as a
probationer. He now exercised at different plantations, especially on
those Lord's Day evenings when there was no service performed in the
church to which he belonged; and preached "about three years at Brunton
land, and at Yamacraw," which last place is about half a mile from
Savannah. Mr. Henry Sharp, his master, being a deacon of the church
which called George Liele to the work of the ministry, some years before
his death gave him his freedom, only he continued in the family till his
master's exit. Mr. Sharp in the time of the war was an officer, and was
at last killed in the king's service, by a ball which shot off his hand.
The author of this account handled the bloody glove, which he wore when
he received the fatal wound. Some persons were at this time dissatisfied
with George's liberation, and threw him into prison, but by producing
the proper papers he was released; his particular friend in this
business was colonel Kirkland. "At the vacuation of the country I was
partly obliged to come to Jamaica, as an indented servant, for money I
owed him, he promising to be my friend in this country. I was landed at
Kingston, and by the colonel's recommendation to general Campbell, the
governor of the Island, I was employed by him two years, and on leaving
the island, he gave me a written certificate from under his own hand of
my good behaviour. As soon as I had settled Col. Kirkland's demands on
me, I had a certificate of my freedom from the vestry and governor,
according to the act of this Island, both for myself and family.
Governor Campbell left the Island. I began, about September 1784, to
preach in Kingston, in a small private house, to a good smart
congregation, and I formed the church with four brethren from America
besides myself, and the preaching took very good effect with the poorer
sort, especially the slaves. The people at first persecuted us both at
meetings and baptisms, but, God be praised, they seldom interrupt us
now. We have applied to the Honourable House of Assembly, with a
petition of our distresses, being poor people, desiring to worship
Almighty God according to the tenets of the Bible, and they have granted
us liberty, and given us their sanction. Thanks be to God we have
liberty to worship him as we please in the Kingdom. You ask about those
who," in a judgment of charity, "have been converted to Christ. I think
they are about four hundred and fifty. I have baptized four hundred in
Jamaica. At Kingston I baptize in the sea, at Spanish Town in the river,
and at convenient places in the country. We have nigh _three hundred and
fifty members_; a few white people among them, one white brother of the
first battalion of royals, from England, baptized by Rev. Thomas Davis.
Several members have been dismissed to other churches, and twelve have
died. I have sent enclosed" an account of "the conversion and death of
some. A few of Mr. Wesley's people, after immersion, join us and
continue with us. We have, together with well wishers and followers, in
different parts of the country, about fifteen hundred people. We receive
none into the church without a few lines from their owners of their good
behaviour towards them and religion. The Creoles of the country, after
they are converted and baptized, as God enables them, prove very
faithful. I have deacons and elders, a few; and teachers of small
congregations in the town and country, where convenience suits them to
come together; and I am pastor. I preach twice on the Lord's Day, in the
forenoon and afternoon, and twice in the week, and have not been absent
six Sabbath Days since I formed the church in this country. I receive
nothing for my services; I preach, baptize, administer the Lord's
Supper, and travel from one place to another to publish the gospel, and
to settle church affairs, all freely. I have one of the chosen men, whom
I baptized, a deacon of the church, and a native of this country, who
keeps the regulations of church matters; and I promoted a _free school_
for the instruction of the children, both free and slaves, and he is
the schoolmaster.

"I cannot justly tell what is my age, as I have no account of the time
of my birth, but I suppose I am about forty years old. I have a wife and
four children. My wife was baptized by me in Savannah, at Brunton land,
and I have every satisfaction in life from her. She is much the same age
as myself. My eldest son is nineteen years, my next son seventeen, the
third fourteen, and the last child, a girl of eleven years; they are all
members of the church. My occupation is a farmer, but as the seasons in
this part of the country, are uncertain, I also keep a team of horses,
and waggons for the carrying goods from one place to another, which I
attend to myself, with the assistance of my sons; and by this way of
life have gained the good will of the public, who recommend me to
business, and to some very principal work for government.

"I have a few books, some good old authors and sermons, and one large
bible that was given to me by a gentleman; a good many of our members
can read, and are all desirous to learn; they will be very thankful for
a few books to read on Sundays and other days.

"The last accounts I had from Savannah were, that the Gospel had taken
very great effect both there and in South Carolina. Brother Andrew
Bryan, a black minister at Savannah, has TWO HUNDRED MEMBERS, in full
fellowship and had certificates from their owners of ONE HUNDRED MORE,
who had given in their experiences and were ready to be baptized. Also I
received accounts from Nova Scotia of a black Baptist preacher, Brother
David George, who was a member of the church at Savannah; he had the
permission of the Governor to preach in three provinces; his members in
full communion were then _sixty_, white and black, the Gospel spreading.
Brother Amos is at Providence, he writes me that the Gospel has taken
good effect, and is spreading greatly; he has about THREE HUNDRED
MEMBERS. Brother Jessy Gaulsing, another black minister, preaches near
Augusta, in South Carolina, at a place where I used to preach; he was a
member of the church at Savannah, and has _sixty members_; and a great
work is going on there.

"I agree to election, redemption, the fall of Adam, regeneration, and
perseverance, knowing the promise is to all who endure, in grace, faith,
and good works, to the end, shall be saved.

"There is no Baptist church in this country but ours. We have purchased
a piece of land, at the east end of Kingston, containing three acres for
the sum of 155 l.[3] currency, and on it have begun a meeting-house
fifty-seven feet in length by thirty-seven in breadth. We have raised
the brick wall eight feet high from the foundation, and intend to have a
gallery. Several gentlemen, members of the house of assembly, and other
gentlemen, have subscribed towards the building about 40 l. The chief
part of our congregation are SLAVES, and their owners allow them, in
common, but three or four bits per week[4] for allowance to feed
themselves; and out of so small a sum we cannot expect any thing that
can be of service from them; if we did it would soon bring a scandal
upon religion; and the FREE PEOPLE in our society are but poor, but they
are all willing, both free and slaves, to do what they can. As for my
part, I am too much entangled with the affairs of the world to go on,"
as I would, "with my design, in supporting the cause: this has, I
acknowledge, been a great hindrance to the Gospel in one way; but as I
have endeavored to set a good example" of industry "before the
inhabitants of the land, it has given general satisfaction another
way.... And, Rev. Sir, we think the Lord has put it in the power of the
Baptist societies in England to help and assist us in completing this
building, which we look upon will be the greatest undertaking ever was
in this country for the bringing of souls from darkness into the light
of the Gospel.... And as the Lord has put it into your heart to enquire
after us, we place all our confidence in you, to make our circumstances
known to the several Baptist churches in England; and we look upon you
as our father, friend, and brother.

"Within the brick wall we have a shelter, in which we worship, until our
building can be accomplished.

"Your ... letter was read to the church two or three times, and did
create a great deal of love and warmness throughout the whole
congregation, who shouted for joy and comfort, to think that the Lord
had been so gracious as to satisfy us in this country with the very same
religion with ... our beloved brethren in the old country, according to
the scriptures; and that such a worthy ... of London, should write in so
loving a manner to such poor worms as we are. And I beg leave to say,
That the whole congregation sang out that they would, through the
assistance of God, remember you in their prayers. They altogether give
their Christian love to you, and all the worthy professors of Jesus
Christ in your church at London, and beg the prayers of your
congregation, and the prayers of the churches in general, wherever it
pleases you to make known our circumstances. I remain with the utmost
love ... Rev. Sir, your unworthy fellow-labourer, servant, and brother
in Christ.

(Signed) George Liele

P.S. We have chosen twelve trustees, all of whom are members of our
church, whose names are specified in the title; the title proved and
recorded in the Secretary's office of this island.

I would have answered your letter much sooner, but am encumbered with
business: the whole island under arms; several of our members and a
deacon were obliged to be on duty; and I being trumpeter to the troop of
horse in Kingston, am frequently called upon. And also by order of
government I was employed in carrying all the cannon that could be found
lying about this part of the country. This occasioned my long delay,
which I beg you will excuse."

--_Baptist Annual Register_, 1790-3, pages 332-337.



To The Rev. Mr. John Rippon

Kingston In Jamaica, Nov. 26, 1791.

_Reverend Sir_,

The perusal of your letter of the 15th July last, gave me much
pleasure--to find that you had interested yourself to serve the glorious
cause Mr. Liele is engaged in. He has been for a considerable time past
very zealous in the ministry; but his congregation being chiefly slaves,
they had it not in their power to support him, therefore he has been
obliged to do it from his own industry; this has taken a considerable
part of his time and much of his attention from his labours in the
ministry; however, I am led to believe that it has been of essential
service to the cause of GOD, for his industry has set a good example to
his flock, and has put it out of the power of enemies to religion to
say, that he has been eating the bread of idleness, or lived upon the
poor slaves. The idea that too much prevails here amongst the masters of
slaves is, that if their minds are considerably enlightened by religion
or otherwise, that it would be attended with the most dangerous
consequences; and this has been the only cause why the Methodist
ministers and Mr. Liele have not made a greater progress in the ministry
amongst the slaves. Alas! how much is it to be lamented, that a full
QUARTER OF A MILLION of poor souls should so long remain in a state of
nature; and that masters should be so blind to their own interest as not
to know the difference between obedience inforced by the lash of the
whip and that which flows from religious principles. Although I much
admire the _general doctrine_ preached in the Methodist church, yet I by
no means approve of their discipline set up by Mr. Wesley, that reverend
man of God. I very early saw into the impropriety of admitting slaves
into their societies _without permission of their owners_, and told them
the consequences that would attend it; but they rejected my advice; and
it has not only prevented the increase of their church, but has raised
them many enemies. Mr. Liele has very wisely acted a different part. He
has, I believe, admitted no slaves into society but those who had
obtained permission from their owners, by which he has made many
friends; and I think the Almighty is now opening a way for another
church in the capital, where the Methodists could not gain any ground: a
short time will determine it, of which I shall advise you.--I really
have not time to enter so fully on this subject as I wish, being very
much engaged in my own temporal affairs, and at present having no
clerk.--The love I bear to the cause of God, and the desire I have of
being any ways instrumental to the establishing of it in this land of
darkness, has led me to write this: but before I conclude, I have some
very interesting particulars to lay before you:--Mr. Liele has by the
aid of the congregation and the assistance of some few people, raised
the walls of a church ready to receive the roof, but has not the means
to lay it on and finish it; nor do I see any prospect of its going
further, without he receives the aid of some religious institution from
home. One hundred and fifty pounds, I think, would complete it; and if
this sum could be raised, it would greatly serve the cause of GOD, and
might be the means of bringing many hundred souls, who are now in a
state of darkness, to the knowledge of our great Redeemer. If this could
be raised the sooner the better. Our family contributed towards the
purchase of the Methodist chapel; nor shall our mite be wanting to
forward this work if it meets with any encouragement from home.--I am a
stranger to you, but you may know my character from Daniel Shea, Esq.;
and John Parker, Esq.; merchants in your city; or from Mr. Samuel
Yockney, tea-dealer, in Bedford Row.

Perhaps you may expect me to say something of Mr. Liele's character. He
is a very industrious man--decent and humble in his manners, and, I
think, a good man. This is my opinion of him. I love all Christians of
every denomination, and remain, with respect and sincere regard,

Reverend Sir,

Your friend and servant,

(Signed) Stephen Cooke.

--_Baptist Annual Register_, 1790-1793, pages 338 and 339.



FOOTNOTES:


[1] Most of these letters were written by two colored preachers, George
Liele and Andrew Bryan.

[2] Mr. Moore was an ordained Baptist minister, of the county of Burke,
in Georgia; he died, it seems, some time since. EDITOR.

[3] 140 l. currency is 100 l. sterling.

[4] A bit was seven pence half-penny currency, or about five pence
halfpenny sterling.




SKETCHES OF THE BLACK BAPTIST CHURCH AT SAVANNAH, IN GEORGIA; AND OF THEIR
MINISTER ANDREW BRYAN, EXTRACTED FROM SEVERAL LETTERS


Savannah, July 19, 1790, &c.

_Dear Brother_,

"With pleasure I receive your favor of the 20th ult. more particularly,
as I trust the correspondence may be of use to Brother Andrew's
church; concerning the origin of which, I have taken from him the
following account.

"Our Brother _Andrew_ was one of the black hearers of _George Liele,"_
of whom an account was given before; and was hopefully converted by his
preaching from chapter III. of St. John's Gospel, and a clause of verse
7, _Ye must be born again_; prior to the departure of _George Liele_ for
Jamaica, he came up from Tybee River, where departing vessels frequently
lay ready for sea, and baptized our Brother _Andrew_, with a wench of
the name _Hagar_, both belonging to _Jonathan Bryan_, Esq.; these were
the last performances of our Brother _George Liele_ in this quarter.
About eight or nine months after his departure, _Andrew_ began to exhort
his black hearers, with a few whites. Edward Davis, Esq.; indulged him
and his hearers to erect a rough building on his land at _Yamacraw_, in
the suburbs of Savannah for a place of worship, of which they have been
very artfully dispossessed. In this their beginning of worship they had
frequent interruptions from the whites; as it was at a time that a
number of blacks had absconded, and some had been taken away by the
British. This was a plausible excuse for their wickedness in their
interruptions. The whites grew more and more inveterate; taking numbers
of them before magistrates--they were imprisoned and whipped. _Sampson_,
a brother of _Andrew_, belonging to the same master, was converted about
a year after him, and continued with him in all their persecutions, and
does until now. These, with many others, were twice imprisoned, and
about _fifty_ were severely whipped, particularly _Andrew, who was cut
and bled abundantly_, while he was under their lashes; Brother
_Hambleton_ says, he held up his hand, and told his persecutors that he
rejoiced not only to be whipped, but _would freely suffer death for the
cause of Jesus Christ_. "The chief justice _Henry Osborne_, Esq.; _James
Habersham_, Esq.;[1] and _David Montague_, Esq.; were their examinants,
and released them. Their kind _master_ also interceded for them; and
was much affected and grieved at their punishment." Brother _Hambleton_
was also an advocate for them; and further says, that at one of their
examinations _George Walton_, Esq.; spoke freely in favour of the
sufferers, saying, that such treatment would be condemned even among
barbarians. "The chief justice _Osborne_ then gave them liberty to
continue their worship between sunrising and sun set; and their
indulgent _master_ told the magistrate, that he would give them the
liberty of his own _house or his barn_, at a place called Brampton,
about three miles from town, and that they should not be interrupted
in their worship. In consequence hereof, they made use of their
masters _barn_, where they had a number of hearers, with little or
no interruption, for about two years. During the time of worship at
Brampton Brother Thomas Burton, an elderly baptist preacher, paid them
a visit, examined and baptized about _eighteen_ blacks: at another period
while there they received a visit from our brother _Abraham Marshall_[2]
who examined and baptized about forty and gave them two certificates
from under his hand;" copies of which follow:

This is to _certify_, that upon examination into the experiences and
characters of a number of _Ethiopians_, and adjacent to Savannah, it
appears that God has brought them out of darkness into the light of the
Gospel, and given them fellowship one with the other; believing it is
the will of Christ, we have constituted them a church of Jesus Christ,
to keep up his worship and ordinances.

(Signed) A. Marshall, V.D.M.


Jan. 19, 1788.

This is to certify, that the Ethiopian church of Jesus Christ at
Savannah, have called their beloved _Andrew_ to the work of the
ministry. We have examined into his qualifications, and believing it to
be the will of the great Head of the church, we have appointed him to
preach the Gospel, and to administer the ordinances, as God in his
providence may call.

(Signed) A. Marshall, V.D.M.



Jan. 20, 1788.

"After the death of their master his son, Dr. _William Bryan_,
generously continued them the use of the _barn_ for worship, until the
estate was divided among the family. Our Brother _Andrew_, by consent of
parties, purchased his freedom, bought a lot at Yamacraw, and built a
residence near the dwelling house which their master had given _Sampson_
liberty to build on his lot; and which have ever been made use of for
worship. But by the division of their master's estate, the lot whereon
_Sampson_ had built a house to live in, and which until this time
continues to be used for worship, by _Andrew_, fell into the hands of an
attorney, who married a daughter of the deceased Mr. Bryan, and receives
no less than 12 l. a year for it. _Sampson_ serves as a clerk, but
frequently exhorts in the absence of his brother who has his
appointments in different places to worship.

"Brother _Andrew's_ account of his number in full communion is TWO
HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE, and about THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY have been
received as converted followers, many of whom have not permission" from
their owners "to be baptized.--The whole number is judged to be about
five hundred and seventy-five, from the towns being taken to this
present July. I have consulted brother _Hambleton_, who thinks they have
need of a few Bibles, the Baptist Confession of Faith, and Catechism;
Wilson on Baptism, some of Bunyan's works, or any other that your wisdom
may think useful to an illerate [sic] people. They all join in prayers
for you and yours and beg your intercession at the throne of grace for
them, as well as for the small number of whites that dwell here; and
among them I hope you will not forget your poor unworthy brother, and
believe me, with sincere affections and brotherly love, your in the
bonds of the Gospel,

(Signed) Jonathan Clarke[3]



Concerning the church at Savannah, the late Rev. Mr. Joseph Cook, of the
Euhaw, upper Indian land, thus writes: "From the enclosed you will see
how it became a church, and what they have suffered, which is extremely
affecting, but they now begin to rise from obscurity and to appear
great. I have some acquaintance with their pastor, and have heard him
preach; his _gifts are small_, but he is _clear in the grand doctrines_
of the Gospel.--I believe him to be _truly pious_ and he has been the
instrument of doing more good among the poor slaves than all the learned
doctors in America."

The friends of our adorable Redeemer will, no doubt, rejoice to find
that this large body of Christians negroes, under the patronage of some
of the most respectable persons in their city, "have opened a
subscription for the erecting of a place of worship in the city of
Savannah, for the society of black people of the Baptist denomination--
the property to be vested in the hands of seven or more persons in trust
for the church and congregation."

Their case[4] is sent to England, recommended by
     J. JOHNSON,[5] Minister of the Union Church.
     JOHN HAMILTON.
     EBENEZER HILLS.
     JOSEPH WATTS.
     D. MOSES VALLOTTON.
     JOHN MILLENE.
     ABRAHAM LEGGETT.

Since the preceding account has been in the press, other letters have been
received, of which the following is an extract.



Kingston, Jamaica, May 18, 1792.

_Rev. and Dear Sir_,

In answer to yours I wrote December 18 last, and as I have not received
a line from you since, I send this, not knowing but the other was
miscarried. Mr. Green has called upon me, and very kindly offered his
service to deliver a letter from me into your hands; he also advised me
to send you a copy of our church covenant, which I have done: being a
collection of some of the principal texts of scripture which we observe,
both in America and this country, for the direction of our practice. It
is read once a month here on sacrament meetings, that our members may
examine if they live according to all those laws which they profess,
covenanted and agreed to; by this means our church is kept in scriptural
subjection. As I observe in my last the chiefest part of our society are
poor illiterate slaves, some living on sugar estates, some on mountains,
pens, and other settlements, that have no learning, no not to know so
much as a letter in the book; but the reading this covenant once a
month, when all are met together from the different parts of the island,
keeps them in mind of the commandments of God. And by shewing the same
to the gentlemen of the legislature, and the justices, and magistrates,
when I applied for a sanction, it gave them general satisfaction; and
wherever a negro servant is to be admitted, their owners, after the
perusal of it, are better satisfied. We are this day raising the roof on
the walls of our meeting house; the height of the walls from the
foundation is seventeen feet. I have a right to praise God, and glorify
him for the manifold blessings I have received, and do still receive
from him. I have full liberty from _Spanish Town_, the capital of this
country, to preach the Gospel throughout the Island: the Lord is
blessing the work everywhere, and believers are added daily to the
church. My tongue is not able to express the goodness of the Lord. As
our meeting house is out of town "(about a mile and a half)," I have a
steeple on it, to have a bell to give notice to our people and more
particularly to the owners of Slaves that are in our society, that they
may know the hour on which we meet, and be satisfied that our servants
return in due time; for which reason I shall be greatly obliged to you
to send me out, as soon as possible, a bell that can be heard about two
_miles_ distance, with the price. I have one at present, but it is
rather small. The slaves may then be permitted to come and return in due
time, for at present we meet very irregular in respect to hours. I
remain, with the utmost regards, love and esteem,

Rev. Sir, yours, &c.

George Liele.



Copy of a Recommendatory Letter of Hannah Williams, a Negro Woman, in
London. It is all in print, except the part of it which now appears
in Italics.


Kingston, Jamaica, we that are of the Baptist Religion, being separated
from all churches, excepting they are of the same faith and order after
Jesus Christ, according to the scriptures, do certify, that our beloved
_Sister Hannah Williams, during the time she was a member of the
Church at Savannah, until the evacuation, did walk as a_ faithful,
well-behaved Christian, and to recommend her to join any church of the
same faith and order. Given under my hand this 21st day of _December_,
in the year of our Lord, 1791.

George Liele.

--_Baptist Annual Register_, 1790-1793, pages 339-344.




ACCOUNT OF THE NEGRO CHURCH AT SAVANNAH, AND OF TWO NEGRO MINISTERS


Savannah, Dec. 22, 1792.


_Dear Brother Rippon_,

By return of Capt. Parrot in the ship Hannah, opportunity offers to
acknowledge receipt of your kind favour with two boxes of books
agreeable to invoice, which were very thankfully acceptable to our
Brother Andrew, as well as to myself, and were delivered agreeable to
your request. Within a month past a few of our Christian friends
providentially collected at my house, when it was thought necessary we
should commence a subscription for the building of a Baptist
Meeting-house in this city, as the corporation has given us a lot for
that purpose. Mr. Ebenezer Hills and myself were appointed trustees, and
we have subscribed £35. 6s. if we can get as much more, we intend to
begin the work, please God to smile on our weak endeavours, and the
place will be made sufficiently large to accommodate the black people:
they have been frowned upon of late by some despisers of religion, who
have endeavoured to suppress their meeting together on Thursday evening
in the week which was their custom, but is now set aside; so that they
only continue worship from the sun rise to sun set on Sabbath days.

I copied brother Andrew's last return of members for brother Silas
Mercer, who was here since the association of Coosawhatchic, which is as
follows: Return made to the Georgia Association,

     Supposed to be two or three years past..................  250
     Baptized since (say 80 in this year 1792)...............  159 409
                                                               ---
     Excommunicated..........................................    8
     Dead....................................................   12  20
                                                               --- ---
       Total remaining Nov. 26, 1792.........................      389

Brother Andrew lately brought me a letter from brother George Liele, of
Jamaica, expressive of the great increase of his church in that island.
Andrew is free only since the death of his old master, and purchased his
freedom of one of their heirs at the rate of 50 l. He was born at Goose
Creek, about 16 miles from Charleston, South Carolina; his mother was a
slave, and died in the service of his old master: his father, a slave,
yet living, but rendered infirm by age for ten years past. Andrew was
married nine years since, which was about the time he and his wife were
brought to the knowledge of their wretched state by nature: His wife is
named Hannah and remains a slave to the heirs of his older master; they
have no children; He was ordained by our Brother Marshall: he has no
assistant preacher but his Brother Sampson, who continues a faithful
slave, and occasionally exhorts. Some white ministers from the country
preach in his church. Jesse Peter, another Negro (whose present master
is Thomas Galphin), is now here, and has three or four places in the
country where he attends preaching alternately; a number of white people
admire him. While he is here, I propose to be informed more particularly
of his situation, etc. Although a slave his master indulges him in his
profession and gives him uncommon liberty. To return to Andrew, he has
four deacons appointed, but not regularly introduced. He supports
himself by his own labour. There are no white people that particularly
belong to his church, but we have reason to hope that he has been
instrumental in the conviction and converting of some whites. Amos, the
other Negro minister, mentioned by Brother George, resides at one of the
Bahama Islands, which is called New Providence, and is about four days
sail towards the southeast. There is one white church at Ogeechee, and
another at Effingham; each of these are about twenty miles from this,
which are the nearest and only ones. Perhaps fifty of Andrew's church
can read, but only three can write.

For the present, accept of the sincere love and kind respects of the
Black Society, with Andrew's particular thanks. My ears have heard their
petitions to the throne of grace for you particularly, which no doubt
they will continue; and let me entreat your prayers for them, and for
the connected societies of this State.

Your brother in the Lord Jesus,

Jonathan Clarke.

--_Baptist Annual Register_, 1790-1793, pages 540-541.



Kingston, Jamaica, Jan. 12, 1793.

Our Meeting-house is now covered in and the lower floor was completed
the 24th of last month. We supposed we are indebted for lumber, lime,
bricks, &c. between 4 and 500 l. I am not able to express the thanks I
owe for your kind attention to me, and the cause of God. The
Schoolmaster, together with the members of our church, return their
sincere thanks for the books you have been pleased to send them, being
so well adapted to the society, they have given great satisfaction.

I hope shortly to send you a full account of the number of people in our
societies in different parts of this island. I have baptized near 500.

I have purchased a piece of land in Spanish Town, the capital of this
Island, for a burying ground, with a house upon it, which serves for a
Meeting-house. James Jones, Esq., one of the magistrates of this town,
and Secretary of the Island, told me, that the Hon. William Mitchell,
Esq., the Gustos, had empowered him to grant me license to preach the
Gospel, and they have given me liberty to make mention of their names in
any congregation where we are interrupted. Mr. Jones has given
permission for all his negroes to be taught the word of God. The gospel
is taking great effect in this town. My brethren and sisters in general,
most affectionately give their Christian love to you, and all the dear
lovers of Jesus Christ in your church at London, and beg that they, and
all the other churches, will remember the poor Ethiopian Baptists of
Jamaica in their prayers, I remain, dear Sir and brother, your unworthy
fellow labourer in Christ.

George Liele.

--_Baptist Annual Register_, 1790-1793, page 542.



Kingston, Jamaica, April 12, 1793.


_Rev. and Dear Sir_,

I am one of the poor, unworthy, helpless creatures born in this island,
whom our glorious master Jesus Christ was graciously pleased to call
from a state of darkness to the marvelous light of the gospel and since
our Lord has bestowed his mercy on my soul, our beloved minister, by
consent of the church, appointed me deacon, schoolmaster, and his
principal helper.

We have great reason in this island to praise and glorify the Lord for
his goodness and loving kindness, in sending his blessed Gospel amongst
us by our well-beloved minister, Brother Liele. We were living in
slavery to sin and satan, and the Lord hath redeemed our souls to a
state of happiness to praise his glorious and ever blessed name; and we
hope to enjoy everlasting peace by the promise of our Lord and master
Jesus Christ. The blessed Gospel is spreading wonderfully in this
island; believers are daily coming into the church and we hope, in a
little time, to see Jamaica become a Christian country.

I remain respectfully, Rev. and Dear Sir,

Your poor Brother in Christ,

Thomas Nichols Swigle.



Mr. George Gibbs Bailey, of Bristol, now at Kingston, in Jamaica, writes
thus, under date May 9, 1793. "I have inquired of all those who I
thought could give me an account of Mr. Liele's conduct without
prejudice, and I can say with pleasure, what Pilate said, I can _find no
fault in this man_. The Baptist church abundantly thrives among the
Negroes, more than any denomination in Jamaica; but I am very sorry to
say the Methodist church is declining greatly."

Another sensible Gentleman, of Kingston, in Jamaica, much attached to
Mr. Wesley's interest, also says, "I will be very candid with you and
tell you that I think the Baptist church is the church that will spread
the Gospel among the poor Negroes and I hope and trust, as there is
reason to believe that your church will be preferred before all others
by the Negroes, that those of you who are in affluence will contribute
and send out a minister and support him," &c.

--_Baptist Annual Register_, 1790-1793, pages 542-543.



FROM THE REV. ABRAHAM MARSHALL, WHO FORMED THE NEGRO CHURCH AT SAVANNAH,
TO MR. RIPPON


Kioka, Georgia, May 1, 1793.

_Rev. and Dear Sir_,

Yours came safe to hand, and gave singular satisfaction. Neither
spreading plains, nor rolling oceans, can prevent us from weeping with
those that weep, and rejoicing with those that rejoice. I have had it
in contemplation for some time to open a correspondence with our dear
friend on the other side of the flood, but my constant travelling has
hitherto prevented; I am highly pleased that you have opened the way....

As to the Black Church in Savannah, of which you had a particular
account by Mr. Clarke, I baptized forty-five of them in one day,
assisted in the constitution of the church, and ordination of the
minister. They have given repeated proofs, by their sufferings, of their
zeal for the cause of God and religion; and, I believe, are found in the
faith, and strict in discipline.

I am also intimately acquainted with Jessy Golfin; he lives thirty miles
below me, in South Carolina, and twelve miles below Augusta; he is a
negro servant to Mr. Golfin, who, to his praise be it spoken, treats him
with respect. His countenance is grave, his voice charming, his delivery
good, nor is he a novice in the mysteries of the kingdom.

From less than the least,

Abraham Marshall.

--_Baptist Annual Register_, 1790-1793, page 545.



A LETTER FROM THE NEGRO BAPTIST CHURCH IN SAVANNAH, ADDRESSED TO THE
REVEREND DOCTOR RIPPON


Savannah-Georgia, U.S.A., Dec. 23, 1800.

_My Dear and Reverend Brother_,

After a long silence occasioned by various hindrances, I sit down to
answer your inestimable favour by the late dear Mr. White, who I hope is
rejoicing, far above the troubles and trials of this frail sinful state.
All the books mentioned in your truly condescending and affectionate
letter, came safe, and were distributed according to your humane
directions. You can scarcely conceive, much less than I describe, the
gratitude excited by so seasonably and precious a supply of the means of
knowledge and grace, accompanied with benevolent proposals of further
assistance. Deign, dear sir, to accept our united and sincere thanks for
your great kindness to us, who have been so little accustomed to such
attentions. Be assured that our prayers have ascended, and I trust will
continue to ascend to God, for your health and happiness, and that you
may be rendered a lasting ornament to our holy Religion, and a
successful Minister of the Gospel.

With much pleasure, I inform you, dear sir, that I enjoy good health,
and am strong in body, tho' sixty-three years old, and am blessed with
a pious wife, whose freedom I have obtained, and an only daughter and
child who is married to a free man, tho' she, and consequently, under
our laws, her seven children, five sons and two daughters, are slaves.
By a kind Providence I am well provided for, as to worldly comforts,
(tho' I have had very little given me as a minister) having a house and
lot in this city, besides the land on which several buildings stand, for
which I receive a small rent, and a fifty-six acre tract of land, with
all necessary buildings, four miles in the country, and eight slaves;
for whose education and happiness, I am enabled thro' mercy to provide.

But what will be infinitely more interesting to my friend, and is so
much more prized by myself, we enjoy the rights of conscience to a
valuable extent, worshiping in our families and preaching three times
every Lord's-day, baptizing frequently from ten to thirty at a time in
the Savannah, and administering the sacred supper, not only without
molestation, but in the presence, and with the approbation and
encouragement of many of the white people. We are now about seven
hundred in number, and the work of the Lord goes on prosperously.

An event which has had a happy influence on our affairs was the coming
of Mr. Holcombe, late pastor of Euhaw Church, to this place at the call
of the heads of the city, of all denominations, who have remained for
the thirteen months he has been here among his constant hearers and his
liberal supporters. His salary is 2000 a year. He has just had a
baptistery, with convenient appendages, built in his place of worship,
and has commenced baptizing.

Another dispensation of Providence has much strengthened our hands, and
increased our means of information; Henry Francis, lately a slave to the
widow of the late Colonel Leroy Hammond, of Augusta, has been purchased
by a few humane gentlemen of this place, and liberated to exercise the
handsome ministerial gifts he possesses amongst us, and teach our youth
to read and write. He is a strong man about forty-nine years of age,
whose mother was white and whose father was an Indian. His wife and only
son are slaves.

Brother Francis has been in the ministry fifteen years, and will soon
receive ordination, and will probably become the pastor of a branch of
my large church, which is getting too unwieldy for one body. Should this
event take place, and his charge receive constitution, it will take the
rank and title of the 3rd Baptist Church in Savannah.

With the most sincere and ardent prayers to God for your temporal and
eternal welfare, and with the most unfeigned gratitude, I remain,
reverend and dear sir, your obliged servant in the gospel.

(Signed) Andrew Bryan.

P.S. I should be glad that my African friends could hear the above
account of my affairs.

--_The Baptist Annual Register_, 1798-1801, page 366.



STATE OF THE NEGROES IN JAMAICA


Kingston, Jamaica, 1st May, 1802.

_Rev. and Dear Sir_,

Since our blessed Lord has been pleased to permit me to have the rule of
a church of believers, I have baptized one hundred and eleven: and I
have a sanction from the Rev. Dr. Thomas Rees, rector of this town and
parish, who is one of the ministers appointed by his Majesty to hold an
ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the clergy in this island, confirmed by
a law passed by the Legislative Body of this island, made and provided
for that purpose.

Our church consists of people of colour and black people; some of free
condition, but the greater part of them are slaves and natives from the
different countries in Africa. Our number both in town and country is
about five hundred brethren, and our rule is to baptize once in three
months; to receive the Lord's supper the first Lord's-day in every
month, after evening services is over; and we have meetings on Tuesday
and Thursday evenings throughout the year. The whole body of our church
is divided into several classes, which meet every Monday evening, to be
examined by their Class-leaders, respecting their daily walk and
conversation; and I am truly happy to acquaint you, that since the
gospel has been preached in Kingston, there never was so great a
prospect for the spread of the fame as there is now. Numbers and numbers
of young people are flocking daily to join both our society and the
Methodists, who have about four hundred. Religion so spreads in
Kingston, that those who will not leave the Church of England to join
the Dissenters, have formed themselves into evening societies: it is
delightful to hear the people at the different places singing psalms,
hymns, and spiritual songs; and to see a great number of them who lived
in the sinful state of fornication (which is the common way of living in
Jamaica), now married, having put away that deadly sin.

Our place of worship is so very much crowded, that numbers are obliged
to stand out of doors: we are going to build a larger chapel as soon as
possible. Our people being poor, and so many of them slaves, we are not
able to go on so quick as we could without we should meet with such
friends as love our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, to enable us in going
on with so glorious an undertaking.

I preach, baptize, marry, attend funerals, and go through every work of
the ministry without fee or reward; and I can boldly say, for these
sixteen years since I began to teach and instruct the poor Ethiopians in
this island, the word of God (though many and many times travelling
night and day over rivers and mountains to inculcate the ever-blessed
gospel), that I never was complimented with so much as a pair of shoes
to my feet, or a hat to my head, or money or apparel, or any thing else
as a recompense for my labour and my trouble, from any of my brethren or
any other person:--my intention is to follow the example set before me
by the holy apostle Saint Paul, to labour with my hands for the things I
stand in need of to support myself and family, and to let the church of
Christ be free from incumbrances.

We have five trustees to our chapel and burrying-ground, eight deacons,
and six exhorters.

I had the pleasure of seeing Mr. V. of his Majesty's ship Cumberland, in
this town, who has been at my house, and at our chapel, and has seen all
my church-books and the manner in which I have conducted our society. He
has lately sailed for England with Admiral Montagu; and when he sees you,
he will be able to tell you of our proceedings better than I can write.

All my beloved brethren beg their Christian love to you and all your dear
brethren in the best bonds; and they also beg yourself and them will be
pleased to remember the poor Ethiopian Baptists in their prayers, and be
pleased also to accept the same from, Reverend and Dear Sir,

Your poor unworthy Brother, in the Lord Jesus Christ,

(Signed) T. N. S.

P.S. Brothers Baker, Gilbert, and others of the Africans, are
going on wonderfully in the Lord's service, in the interior part of
the country.

July 1, 1802.

--_Baptist Annual Register_, 1801-1802, pages 974-975.



LETTER TO DR. RIPPON


Kingston, Jamaica, Oct. 9, 1802.

_Rev. and Dear Sir_,

I take the liberty to give you a further account of the spread
of the Gospel among us.

On Saturday the 28th August last we laid our foundation stone
for the building of the New Chapel; fifty-five feet in length, and
twenty-nine and half feet in breath. The brethren assembled together
at my house, and walked in procession to our place of worship,
where a short discourse was delivered upon the subject, taken
from Mat. XVI. 18. _Upon this rock I will build my Church, and
the gates of Hell shall not prevail against_. As soon as divine service
was over, we laid a stone in a pillar provided for that purpose, and
on the stone was laid a small marble plate, and these words engraven
thereon, St. John's Chapel was founded 28th August 1802, before a
large and respectable congregation. The bricklayers have just
raised the foundation above the surface of the earth. And as our
Church consists chiefly of Slaves, and poor free people, we are not
able to go on so fast as we could wish, for which reason we beg
leave to call upon our Baptist friends in England, for their help
and support of the Ethiopian Baptists, setting forward the glorious
cause of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, now in hand.

My last return of the Members in our Society on the 10th August last
stood thus,

                                                  595
     Expelled...............................   2
     Dismissed..............................  26
     Dead...................................  19   47
                                                  ---
          Members in society 10th August 1802 ... 548

Since which, we have had sixty-two more added to the Church, almost all
young people, and natives of different countries in Africa, which make
610 in Society.

About two months ago, I paid my first visit to a part of our Church held
at Clinton Mount, Coffee Plantation, in the parish of Saint Andrew,
about 16 miles distance from Kingston, in the High Mountains, where we
have a Chapel and 254 brethren. And when I was at breakfast with the
Overseer, he said to me, I have no need of a book-keeper (meaning an
assistant), I make no use of a whip, for when I am at home my work goes
on regular, and when I visit the field I have no fault to find, for
every thing is conducted as it ought to be. I observed myself that the
brethren were very industrious, they have a plenty of provisions in
their ground, and a plenty of live stock, and they, one and all
together, live in unity, brotherly love, and in the bonds of peace.

Last Lords Day, the 3rd October, was our quarterly baptism, when we
walked from our place of Worship at noon, to the water, the distance of
about a half mile, where I baptised eighteen professing believers,
before a numerous and large congregation of spectators, which make in
all 254 baptised by me since our commencement.

I am truly happy in acquainting you, that a greater spread of the gospel
is taking place at the west end of the island.--A fortnight ago, the
Rev. Brother Moses Baker visited me, he is a man of colour, a native of
America, one of our baptist brothers and a member of our church, he is
employed by a Mr. Winn, (a gentleman down in the country who possesses
large and extensive properties in this island), to instruct his negroes
in the principles of the Christian religion; and Mr. Vaughan has
employed him for that purpose, and both these gentlemen allow him a
compensation. Mr. Winn finds him in house room, lands, &c., &c., and by
his instructing those slaves at Mr. Vaughan's properties, several miles
from Mr. Winn's estate, a number of slaves belonging to different
properties (no less than 20 sugar estates in number) are become
converted souls.--Mr. Baker's errand to me was, that he wanted a person
to assist him, he being sent for by a Mr. Hilton, a gentleman down in
the parish of Westmoreland (50 miles distance from Mr. Baker's dwelling
place), to instruct his and another gentlemen's slaves, on two large
sugar estates, into the word of God, producing to me at the same time
the letters and invitations he received. I gave him brother George
Vineyard, one our exhorters, and old experienced professor (who has been
called by grace upwards of eighteen years) to assist him; he also is a
native of America, and this gentleman Mr. Hilton, has provided a House,
and maintainance, a salary, and land for him to cultivate for his
benefit upon his own estate, and brother Baker declared to me, that he
has in the church there, fourteen hundred justified believers, and about
three thousand followers, many under conviction for sin. The distance
brother Baker is at from me is 136 miles, he has undergone a great deal
of persecution and severe trials for the preaching of the gospel, but
our Lord has delivered him safe out of all--Myself and brethren were at
Mr. Liele's Chapel a few weeks ago at the funeral of one of his elders,
he is well, and we were friendly together. All our brethren unite with
me in giving their most Christian love to you, and all the dear beloved
brethren in your church in the best bonds, and beg, both yourself and
them, will be pleased to remember the Ethiopian Baptists in their
prayers, and I remain dear Sir, and brother,

Your poor unworthy brother, in the Lord Jesus Christ,

(Signed) Thomas Nicholas Swigle.

P.S. These sugar estates, in the parish where Brother Baker resides,
are very large and extensive; and they have three to four hundred slaves
on each property.

--_Baptist Annual Register_, 1800-1802, pages 1144-1146.



FOOTNOTES:


[1] The Rev. Mr. George Whitefield's intimate friend.

[2] The Editor of the Baptist Annual Register said that he had not the
honor of a correspondence with this respectable minister but that his
name stood thus in the Georgia Association of 1788. At "Kioka, Abraham
Marshall, 22 baptized, 230" members in all.

[3] The character of Mr. Jonathan Clarke, according to the writer, might
be learned at May and Hill's, merchants, Church-row, Fenchurch-street.

[4] It was committed to the care of the Editor of the Baptist Annual
Register.

[5] The Rev. Mr. Johnson was well known in London; he sailed for America
in the fall of 1790; and laboured in the _Orphan House_ at Savannah,
built by Mr. Whitefield, and assigned in trust to the countess of
Huntingdon. On May 30, 1775, the orphan house building caught fire and
was entirely consumed, except the two wings which still remained. Editor
of the Baptist Annual Register.




BOOK REVIEWS



_The Haitian Revolution, 1791 to 1804_. By T. G. Steward. Thomas Y.
Crowell Company, New York, 1915. 292 pages. $1.25.

In the days when the internal dissensions of Haiti are again thrusting
her into the limelight such a book as this of Mr. Steward assumes a
peculiar importance. It combines the unusual advantage of being both
very readable and at the same time historically dependable. At the
outset the author gives a brief sketch of the early settlement of Haiti,
followed by a short account of her development along commercial and
racial lines up to the Revolution of 1791. The story of this upheaval,
of course, forms the basis of the book and is indissolubly connected
with the story of Toussaint L'Overture. To most Americans this hero is
known only as the subject of Wendell Phillips's stirring eulogy. As
delineated by Mr. Steward, he becomes a more human creature, who
performs exploits, that are nothing short of marvelous. Other men who
have seemed to many of us merely names--Rigaud, Le Clerc, Desalines, and
the like--are also fully discussed.

Although most of the book is naturally concerned with the revolutionary
period, the author brings his account up to date by giving a very brief
resumé of the history of Haiti from 1804 to the present time. This
history is marked by the frequent occurrence of assassinations and
revolutions, but the reader will not allow himself to be affected by
disgust or prejudice at these facts particularly when he is reminded, as
Mr. Steward says, "that the political history of Haiti does not differ
greatly from that of the majority of South American Republics, nor does
it differ widely even from that of France."

The book lacks a topical index, somewhat to its own disadvantage, but it
contains a map of Haiti, a rather confusing appendix, a list of the
Presidents of Haiti from 1804 to 1906 and a list of the names and works
of the more noted Haitian authors. The author does not give a complete
bibliography. He simply mentions in the beginning the names of a few
authorities consulted.

J. R. Fauset.



_The Negro in American History_. By John W. Cromwell. The American
Negro Academy, Washington, D.C., 1914. 284 pages. $1.25 net.

In John W. Cromwell's book, "The Negro in American History," we have
what is a very important work. The book is mainly biographical and
topical. Some of the topics discussed are: "The Slave Code"; "Slave
Insurrections"; "The Abolition of the Slave Trade"; "The Early
Convention Movement"; "The Failure of Reconstruction"; "The Negro as a
Soldier"; and "The Negro Church." These topics are independent of the
chapters which are more particularly chronological in treatment.

In the appendices we have several topics succinctly treated. Among these
are: "The Underground Railroad," "The Freedmen's Bureau," and, most
important and wholly new, a list of soldiers of color who have received
Congressional Medals of Honor, and the reasons for the bestowal.

The biographical sketches cover some twenty persons. Much of the
information in these sketches is not new, as would be expected regarding
such well-known persons as Frederick Douglass, John M. Langston, and
Paul Laurence Dunbar. On the other hand, Mr. Cromwell has given us very
valuable sketches of other important persons of whom much less is
generally known. Among these are Sojourner Truth, Edward Wilmot Blyden,
and Henry O. Tanner.

The book does not pretend to be the last word concerning the various
topics and persons discussed. Indeed, some of the topics have had fuller
treatment by the author in pamphlets and lectures. It is to be regretted
that the author did not feel justified in giving a more extensive
treatment, as the great store of his information would easily have
permitted him to do.

The book is exceptionally well illustrated, but it lacks information
regarding some of the illustrations. Not only are the readers of a book
entitled to know the source of the illustrations but in the case of
copies of paintings, and other works of art, the original artist is as
much entitled to credit as an author whose work is quoted or appropriated
to one's use.



_Negro Culture In West Africa_. By George W. Ellis, K.C., F.R.G.S. The
Neale Publishing Co., New York, 1914. 290 pages. $2.00 net.

This study by Mr. Ellis of the culture of West Africa as represented by
the Vai tribe, is valuable both as a document and as a scientific
treatment of an important phase of the color problem. As a document it
is an additional and a convincing piece of evidence of the ability of
the Negro to treat scientifically so intricate a problem as the rise,
development, and meaning of the social institutions of a people. Easy,
yet forceful in style; well documented with footnotes and cross
references; amply illustrated with twenty-seven real representations of
tools, weapons, musical instruments and other pieces of handwork;
containing, incidentally, a good bibliography of the subject; and
finally, with its conclusions condensed in the last four pages, it is a
book excellent in plan and in execution. The map, however, which has
been selected for the book is overcrowded and, therefore, practically
useless.

As a scientific study, its value is suggested by the topics emphasized,
viz., "Climate," "Institutions," "Foreign Influence," "Proverbs,"
"Folklore," and "Writing System." Referring to the climate the author
says: "In West Africa the body loses its strength, the memory its
retentiveness, and the will its energy. These are the effects observed
upon persons remaining in West Africa only for a short time, and they
form a part of the experience of almost every person who has lived on
the West Coast. White persons,--with beautiful skin, clear and soft, and
with rosy cheeks,--after they have been in West Africa for a while
become dark and tawny like the inhabitants of Southern Spain and Italy.
If we can detect these effects of the West African climate in only a
short time upon persons who come to the West Coast, what must have been
the effect of such a climate upon the Negroes who for centuries have
been exposed to its hardships?"

The moral life of the Vais appears to be the product of their social
institutions and their severe environment. These institutions grow out
of the necessities of government for the tribe under circumstances which
suggest and enforce their superstitions and beliefs. This is not so
with respect to education. It seems that the influence of the "Greegree
Bush" (a school system) is now considerably weakened by the Liberian
institutions on the one hand, the Mohammedan faith and customs on the
other. So that now this institution falls short of achieving its aims,
and putting its principles into practice.

The study as a whole gives evidence of the author's eight years of
travel and research, and can be read with profit by all friends of
mankind.

Walter Dyson.



_The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861_. By C. G. Woodson, Ph.D. G.
P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1915. 460 pages. $2.00 net.

The very title of Dr. Woodson's book causes one who is interested in the
race history to ask questions and think. There are comparatively few people
who know anything about the efforts made to educate the Negro prior to
1861. Consequently, from the first page of the book to the last, the reader
is continually acquiring facts concerning this most interesting and
important phase of the Colored-American's history of which he has never
heard before, and some of which seem too wonderful to be true. But it is
not possible to doubt anything which is found in Dr. Woodson's book. One
knows that every statement he reads concerning the education of the Negro
prior to 1861 is true, for the author has taken pains to substantiate every
fact that he presents.

It is difficult to imagine any phase of race history more fascinating and
more thrilling than an account of the desperate and prolonged struggle
between the forces which made for the mental and spiritual enlightenment
of the slave and those which opposed these humane and Christian efforts
with all the bitterness and strength at their command. The reasons
assigned by those who favored the education of the slaves and the
methods suggested together with the arguments used by those who were
opposed to it and the laws enacted to prevent it furnish an illuminating
study in human nature.

One is surprised to find that very early in the history of the colonies
there were scholars and statesmen who did not hesitate to declare their
belief in the intellectual possibilities of the Negro. These men agreed
with George Buchanan that the Negro had talent for the fine arts and under
favorable circumstances could achieve something worth while in literature,
mathematics and philosophy. The high estimate placed upon the innate
ability of the Negro may be attributed to the fact that early in the
history of the country there was a goodly number of slaves who had managed
to attain a certain intellectual proficiency in spite of the difficulties
which had to be overcome. By 1791 a colored minister had so distinguished
himself that he was called to the pastorate of the First Baptist Church
(white) of Portsmouth, Va. Benjamin Banneker's proficiency in mathematics
enabled him to make the first clock manufactured in the United States. As
the author himself says, "the instances of Negroes struggling to obtain an
education read like the beautiful romances of a people in an heroic age."

Indeed the reaction which developed against allowing the slaves to pick up
the few fragments of knowledge which they had been able to secure was due
to some extent to the enthusiasm and eagerness with which they availed
themselves of the opportunities afforded them and the salutary effect
which the enlightenment had on their character. The account of the
establishment of schools and churches for slaves who were transplanted
to free soil is one of the most interesting chapters in the book. The
struggle for the higher education shows that tremendous obstacles had
been removed, before the race was allowed to secure the opportunity
which it so earnestly desired. In the chapter on vocational training the
effort made by colored people themselves to secure economic equality,
and the determined opposition to it manifested by white mechanics are
clearly and strongly set forth. In the appendix of the book one finds a
number of interesting and valuable treatises, while the bibliography is
of great assistance to any student of race history.

In addition to the fund of information which is secured by reading Dr.
Woodson's book, a perusal of it can not help but increase one's respect
for a race which under the most disheartening and discouraging
circumstances strove so heroically and persistently to cultivate its
mind and allowed nothing to turn it aside and conquer its will.

"The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861" is a work of profound
historical research, full of interesting data on a most important phase
of race life which has hitherto remained unexplored and neglected.

Mary Church Terrell.




NOTES


In the death of Booker T. Washington the field of history lost one of its
greatest figures. He will be remembered mainly as an educational reformer,
a man of vision, who had the will power to make his dreams come true. In
the field of history, however, he accomplished sufficient to make his
name immortal. His "_Up from Slavery_" is a long chapter of the story of
a rising race; his "_Frederick Douglass_" is the interpretation of the
life of a distinguished leader by a great citizen; and his "_Story of the
Negro_" is one of the first successful efforts to give the Negro a larger
place in history.

Doubleday, Page and Company will in the near future publish an extensive
biography of Booker T. Washington.

During the Inauguration Week of Fisk University a number of Negro scholars
held a conference to consider making a systematic study of Negro life. A
committee was appointed to arrange for a larger meeting.

Dr. C. G. Woodson is now writing a volume to be entitled "_The Negro in the
Northwest Territory_"

The Neale Publishing Company has brought out "_The Political History of
Slavery in the United States_" by J. Z. George.

"_Lincoln and Episodes of the Civil War_" by W. E. Doster, appears among the
publications of the Putnams.

"_Black and White in the South_" is the title of a volume from the pen of
M. S. Evans, appearing with the imprint of Longmans, Green and Company.

T. Fisher Unwin has brought out "_The Savage Man in Central Africa"_ by
A. L. Cureau.

"_Reconstruction in Georgia, Social, Political, 1865-1872"_ by C. Mildred
Thompson, appears as a comprehensive volume in the Columbia University
Studies in History, Economics, and Public Law.




       *       *       *       *       *



THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY

VOL. I--APRIL, 1916--No. 2

PUBLISHED QUARTERLY




CONTENTS



KELLY MILLER: The Historic Background of the Negro Physician

W. B. HARTGROVE: The Negro Soldier in the American Revolution

C. G. WOODSON: Freedom and Slavery in Appalachian America

A. O. STAFFORD: Antar, the Arabian Negro Warrior, Poet and Hero

DOCUMENTS:
  Eighteenth Century Slaves As Advertised By Their Masters:
    Learning a Modern Language;
    Learning to Read and Write;
    Educated Negroes;
    Slaves in Good Circumstances;
    Negroes Brought from the West Indies;
    Various Kinds of Servants;
    Negro Privateers and Soldiers Prior to The American Revolution;
    Relations Between the Slaves and the British During The Revolutionary
        War;
    Relations Between the Slaves And the French During The Colonial Wars;
    Colored Methodist Preachers Among the Slaves;
    Slaves in Other Professions;
    Close Relations of the Slaves and Indentured Servants.

REVIEWS OF BOOKS:
     DUBOIS'S _The Negro_;
     ROMAN'S _The American Civilization and the Negro_;
     HENRY'S _The Police Control of the Slave in South Carolina_;
     STEWARD AND STEWARD'S _Gouldtown_.

NOTES

HOW THE PUBLIC RECEIVED THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY
     _Various Letters and Reviews_




THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF NEGRO LIFE AND HISTORY, INCORPORATED

41 North Queen Street, Lancaster, PA.
2223 Twelfth Street, Washington, D.C.

25 Cents A Copy $1.00 A Year

Copyright, 1916





THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY


VOL. I--APRIL, 1916--No. 2




THE HISTORIC BACKGROUND OF THE NEGRO PHYSICIAN



In a homogeneous society where there is no racial cleavage, only the
selected members of the most favored class occupy the professional
stations. The element representing the social status of the Negro would,
therefore, furnish few members of the coveted callings. The element of
race, however, complicates every feature of the social equation. In India
we are told that the population is divided horizontally by caste and
vertically by religion; but in America the race spirit serves both as
horizontal and vertical separations. The Negro is segregated and shut in
to himself in all social and semi-social relations of life. This isolation
necessitates separate ministrative agencies from the lowest to the highest
rounds of the ladder of service. During the days of slavery the interests
of the master demanded that he should direct the general social and moral
life of the slave, and should provide especially for his physical
well-being. The sudden severance of this tie left the Negro wholly without
intimate guidance and direction. The ignorant must be enlightened, the
sick must be healed, and the poor must have the gospel preached to them.
The situation and circumstances under which the race found itself demanded
that its professional class, for the most part, should be men of their
own blood and sympathies. The needed service could not be effectively
performed by those who assumed and asserted racial arrogance, and bestowed
their professional service as cold crumbs that fell from the master's
table. The professional class who are to uplift and direct the lowly must
not say, "So far shalt thou come, but not any farther," but rather, "Where
I am, there ye shall be also."

There is no more pathetic chapter in the history of human struggle than
the emergence of the smothered ambition of this race to meet the social
exigencies involved in the professional needs of the masses. In an
instant, in the twinkling of an eye, the plowhand was transformed into a
priest, the barber into a bishop, the housemaid into a schoolmistress, the
day-laborer into a lawyer, and the porter into a physician. These high
places of intellectual and professional authority, into which they found
themselves thrust by stress of social necessity, had to be operated with
at least some semblance of conformity to the standards which had been
established by the European through the traditions of the ages. The higher
place in society occupied by the choicest members of the white race, and
that too after long years of arduous preparation, had to be assumed by
black men without personal or formal fitness. The stronger and more
aggressive natures pushed themselves into these higher callings by sheer
force of untutored energy and uncontrolled ambition.

An accurate study of the healing art as practiced by Negroes in Africa as
well as its continuance after transplantation in America would form an
investigation of great historical interest. This, however, is not the
purpose of this paper. It is sufficient to note the fact that witchcraft
and the control of disease through roots, herbs, charms and conjuration are
universally practiced on the continent of Africa. Indeed, the medicine man
has a standing and influence that is sometimes superior to that of kings
and queens. The natives of Africa have discovered their own materia medica
by actual practice and experience with the medicinal value of minerals and
plants. It must be borne in mind that any pharmacopeia must rest upon the
basis of practical experiment and experience. The science of medicine was
developed by man in his groping to relieve pain and to curb disease, and
was not handed down ready made from the skies. In this groping, the
African, like the rest of the children of men, has been feeling after the
right remedies, if haply he might find them.

It was inevitable that the prevailing practice of conjuration in Africa
should be found among Negroes after they had been transferred to the new
continent. The conjure man was well known in every slave community. He
generally turned his art, however, to malevolent rather than benevolent
uses; but this was not always the case. Not infrequently these medicine men
gained such wide celebrity among their own race as to attract the attention
of the whites. As early as 1792 a Negro by the name of Cesar[1] had gained
such distinction for his curative knowledge of roots and herbs that the
Assembly of South Carolina purchased his freedom and gave him an annuity of
one hundred pounds.

That slaves not infrequently held high rank among their own race as
professional men may be seen from the advertisements of colonial days. A
runaway Negro named Simon was in 1740 advertised in _The Pennsylvania
Gazette_[2] as being able to "bleed and draw teeth" and "pretending to be
a great doctor among his people." Referring in 1797 to a fugitive slave of
Charleston, South Carolina, _The City Gazette and Daily Advertiser_[3]
said: "He passes for a Doctor among people of his color and it is supposed
practices in that capacity about town." The contact of such practitioners
with the white race was due to the fact that the profession of the barber
was at one time united with that of the physician. The practice of
phlebotomy was considered an essential part of the doctor's work. As the
Negro early became a barber and the profession was united with that of
the physician, it is natural to suppose that he too would assume the
latter function. That phlebotomy was considered an essential part of the
practice of the medicine is seen from the fact that it was practiced upon
George Washington in his last illness. An instance of this sort of
professional development among the Negroes appears in the case of the
barber, Joseph Ferguson. Prior to 1861 he lived in Richmond, Virginia,
uniting the three occupations of leecher, cupper, and barber. This led to
his taking up the study of medicine in Michigan, where he graduated and
practiced for many years.

The first regularly recognized Negro physician, of whom there is a
complete record, was James Derham, of New Orleans. He was born in
Philadelphia in 1762, where he was taught to read and write, and
instructed in the principles of Christianity. When a boy he was
transferred by his master to Dr. John Kearsley, Jr., who employed him
occasionally to compound medicines, and to perform some of the more humble
acts of attention to his patients. Upon the death of Dr. Kearsley, he
became (after passing through several hands) the property of Dr. George
West, surgeon to the Sixteenth British Regiment, under whom, during the
Revolutionary War, he performed many of the menial duties of the medical
profession. At the close of the war, he was sold by Dr. West to Dr. Robert
Dove at New Orleans, who employed him as an assistant in his business, in
which capacity he gained so much of his confidence and friendship, that
he consented to liberate him, after two or three years, upon easy terms.
From Dr. Derham's numerous opportunities of improving in medicine, he
became so well acquainted with the healing art, as to commence practicing
in New Orleans, under the patronage of his last master. He once did
business to the amount of three thousand dollars a year. Benjamin Rush,
who had the opportunity to meet him, said: "I have conversed with him upon
most of the acute and epidemic diseases of the country where he lives and
was pleased to find him perfectly acquainted with the modern simple mode
of practice on those diseases. I expected to have suggested some new
medicines to him; but he suggested many more to me. He is very modest and
engaging in his manners. He speaks French fluently and has some knowledge
of the Spanish language."[4]

The most noted colored physician after the time of James Derham was Doctor
James McCune Smith, a graduate of the University of Glasgow. He began the
practice of medicine in New York about 1837, and soon distinguished himself
as a physician and surgeon. He passed as a man of unusual merit not only
among his own people but among the best elements of that metropolis. That
he was appreciated by the leading white physicians of the city is evidenced
by the fact that in 1852 he was nominated as one of the five men to draft a
constitution for the "Statistic Institute" of which he became a leading
member. For a number of years he held the position of physician to the
colored orphan asylum, serving on the staff with a number of white doctors.

Living in a day when the Negro was the subject of much anthropological
and physiological discussion, Doctor Smith could not resist participating
in this controversy. There were at this time a number of persons who were
resorting to science to prove the inferiority of the Negro. Given a
hearing extending over several evenings, Doctor Smith ably discussed "The
Comparative Anatomy of the Races" before an assembly of the most
distinguished ladies and gentlemen of the city, triumphing over his
antagonist. In 1846 he produced a valuable work entitled "The Influence
of Climate on Longevity, with Special Reference to Insurance." This paper
was written as a refutation of a disquisition of John C. Calhoun on the
colored race. Among other things Doctor Smith said: "The reason why the
proportion of mortality is not a measure of longevity, is the following:
The proportion of mortality is a statement of how many persons die in a
population; this, of course, does not state the age at which those persons
die. If 1 in 45 die in Sweden, and 1 in 22 in Grenada, the age of the dead
might be alike in both countries; here the greater mortality might
actually accompany the greater longevity."[5]

The first real impetus to bring Negroes in considerable numbers into the
professional world came from the American Colonization Society, which in
the early years flourished in the South as well as in the North. This
organization hoped to return the free Negroes to Africa and undertook to
prepare professional leaders of their race for the Liberian colony. "To
execute this scheme, leaders of the colonization movement endeavored to
educate Negroes in mechanic arts, agriculture, science and Biblical
literature. Exceptionally bright youths were to be given special training
as catechists, teachers, preachers and physicians. Not much was said about
what they were doing, but now and then appeared notices of Negroes who had
been prepared privately in the South or publicly in the North for service
in Liberia. Dr. William Taylor and Dr. Fleet were thus educated in the
District of Columbia. In the same way John V. DeGrasse, of New York, and
Thomas J. White, of Brooklyn, were allowed to complete the medical course
at Bowdoin in 1849. In 1854 Dr. DeGrasse was admitted as a member of the
Massachusetts Medical Society. In 1858 the Berkshire Medical School
graduated two colored doctors who were gratuitously educated by the
American Educational Society."[6] Dr. A. T. Augusta studied medicine at the
University of Toronto. He qualified by competitive examination and obtained
the position of surgeon in the United States Army, being the first Negro to
hold such a position. After the war he became one of the leading colored
physicians in the District of Columbia. Prior to 1861 Negroes had taken
courses at the Medical School of the University of New York; Caselton
Medical School in Vermont; Berkshire Medical School in Pittsfield,
Massachusetts; the Rush Medical School in Chicago; the Eclectic Medical
School in Philadelphia; the Homeopathic College of Cleveland; and the
Medical School of Harvard University.

The next colored physician of prominence was Martin R. Delany. Delany grew
to manhood in Pittsburgh, where early in his career he began the study
of medicine, but abandoned it for pursuits in other parts. In 1849 he
returned to that city and resumed his studies under Doctors Joseph P.
Gazzan and Francis J. Lemoyne, who secured for him admission to the
medical department of Harvard College after he had been refused by the
University Pennsylvania, Jefferson College, and the medical colleges of
Albany and Geneva, New York. After leaving Harvard, he, like Dr. Smith,
became interested in the discussion of the superiority and inferiority of
races, and traveled extensively through the West, lecturing with some
success on the physiological aspect of these subjects. He then returned to
Pittsburgh, where he became a practitioner and distinguished himself in
treating the cholera during the epidemic of 1854. About this time his
worth to the community was attested by his appointment as a member of the
Subcommittee of Referees who furnished the Municipal Board of Charity with
medical advice as to the needs of white and colored persons desiring aid.
In 1856 he removed to Chatham, Canada, where he practiced medicine a
number of years. Doctor Delany thereafter like William Wells Brown, an
occasional physician, devoted most of his time to the uplift of his
people, traveling in America, Africa and England. He became such a worker
among his people that he was known as a leader rather than a physician. He
served in the Civil War as a commissioned officer of the United States
Army, ranking as major.

Up to this point the colored physician had appeared as an occasional or
exceptional individual, but hardly as forming a professional class.
Following the wake of the Civil War colleges and universities were planted
in all parts of the South for the sake of preparing leaders for the newly
emancipated race. Several medical schools were established in connection
with these institutions. The rise of the Negro physician as a professional
class may be dated from the establishment of these institutions. The School
of Medicine of Howard University, Washington, D.C., and the Meharry Medical
College at Nashville, Tennessee, proved to be the strongest of these
institutions and today are supplying the Negro medical profession with a
large number of its annual recruits.

Dr. Charles B. Purvis, who was graduated from the Medical College of
Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1865, is perhaps the
oldest colored physician in the United States; and by general consent ranks
as dean of the fraternity. He shared with Dr. A. T. Augusta the honor of
being one of the few colored men to become surgeons in the United States
Army. Shortly after graduation he was made assistant surgeon in the
Freedmen's Hospital at Washington, D.C., with which institution he was
connected during the entire period of his active professional life. The
development and present position of the medical school at Howard University
is due to Dr. Purvis more than to any other single individual. For several
years he has been retired upon the Carnegie Foundation. Dr. George W.
Hubbard, a distinguished white physician, dean of the Meharry Medical
College, Nashville, Tennessee, has also been a great pioneer and promoter
of the medical education of the Negro race.

At first, the Negro patient refused to put confidence in the physician of
his own race, notwithstanding the closer intimacy of social contact. It
was not until after he had demonstrated his competency to treat disease
as well as his white competitor that he was able to win recognition among
his own people. The colored physician is everywhere in open competition
with the white practitioner, who never refuses to treat Negro patients,
if allowed to assume the disdainful attitude of racial superiority. If
the Negro doctor did not secure practically as good results in the
treatment of disease as the white physician, he would soon find himself
without patients.

According to the last census there were in the United States 3,077 Negro
physicians and 478 Negro dentists. When we consider the professional needs
of ten millions of Negroes, it will be seen that the quota is not over one
fourth full. There is urgent need especially for an additional number of
pharmacists and dentists. It must be said for the Negro physician that
their membership more fully measures up to the full status of a
professional class than that of any other profession among colored men.
Every member of the profession must have a stated medical education based
upon considerable academic preparation, sufficient to enable them to pass
the rigid tests of State Boards in various parts of the country. The best
regulated medical schools are now requiring at least two years of college
training as a basis for entering upon the study of medicine. Under the
stimulus of these higher standards the Negro medical profession will become
more thoroughly equipped and proficient in the years to come.

These physicians maintain a national medical association which meets
annually in different parts of the country and prepare and discuss papers
bearing upon the various phases of their profession. There are under the
control of Negro physicians a number of hospitals where are performed
operations verging upon the limits of surgical skill. The profession has
developed not a few physicians and surgeons whose ability has won
recognition throughout their profession. A number of them have performed
operations which have attracted wide attention and have contributed to
leading journals discussions dealing with the various forms and phases of
disease, as well as their medical and surgical treatment.

By reason of the stratum which the Negro occupies, the race is an easy prey
to disease that affects the health of the whole nation. The germs of
disease have no race prejudice. They do not even draw the line at social
equality, but gnaw with equal avidity at the vitals of white and black
alike, and pass with the greatest freedom of intercourse from the one to
the other. One touch of disease makes the whole world kin, and also kind.
The Negro physician comes into immediate contact with the masses of his
race; he is the missionary of good health. His ministration is not only to
his own race, but to the community and to the nation as a whole. The white
plague seems to love the black victim. This disease must be stamped out by
the nation through concerted action. The Negro physician is one of the most
efficient agencies to render this national service. During the entire
history of the race on this continent, there has been no more striking
indication of its capacity for self-reclamation and of its ability to
maintain a professional class on the basis of scientific efficiency than
the rise and success of the Negro physician.

KELLY MILLER


FOOTNOTES:


[1] THE NEGRO CESAR'S CURE FOR POISON

     Take the roots of plantane and wild hoarhound, fresh or dried, three
     ounces, boil them together in two quarts of water to one quart, and
     strain it; of this decoction let the patient take one third part,
     three mornings fasting, successively, from which, if he finds any
     relief, it must be continued until he is perfectly recovered. On the
     contrary, if he finds no alteration after the third dose, it is a sign
     that the patient has not been poisoned at all, or that it has been
     with such poison that Cesar's antidote will not remedy, so may leave
     off the decoction.

     During the cure the patient must live on spare diet, and abstain from
     eating mutton, pork, butter, or any other fat or oily food.

     N. B. The plantane or hoarhound will either of them cure alone, but
     they are most efficacious together.

     In summer you may take one handful of the roots and of the branches of
     each, in place of three ounces of the roots each.

     For drink during the cure let them take the following: Take of the
     roots of goldenrod, six ounces or in summer, two large handfuls of the
     roots and branches together, and boil them in two quarts of water to
     one quart, to which also may be added, a little hoarhound and
     sassafras; to this decoction after it is strained, add a glass of rum
     or brandy, and sweeten with sugar for ordinary drink.

     Sometimes an inward fever attends such as are poisoned, for which he
     ordered the following: Take one pint of wood ashes and three pints of
     water, stir and mix well together, let them stand all night and strain
     or decant the lye off in the morning, of which ten ounces may be taken
     six mornings following, warmed or cold according to the weather.

     These medicines have no sensible operation, though sometimes they work
     on the bowels, and give a gentle stool.

     The symptoms attending such as are poisoned, are as follows: A pain of
     the breast, difficulty of breathing, a load at the pit of the stomach,
     an irregular pulse, burning and violent pains of the viscera above and
     below the navel, very restless at night, sometimes wandering pains
     over the whole body, a reaching inclination to vomit, profuse sweats
     (which prove always serviceable), slimy stools, both when costive and
     loose, the face of pale and yellow color, sometimes a pain and
     inflamation of the throat, the appetite is generally weak, and some
     cannot eat anything; those who have been long poisoned are generally
     very feeble and weak in their limbs, sometimes spit a great deal, the
     whole skin peels, and lastly the hair falls off.

     Cesar's cure for the bite of a rattlesnake: Take of the roots of
     plantane or hoarhound (in summer roots and branches together), a
     sufficient quantity; bruise them in a mortar, and squeeze out the
     juice, of which give as soon as possible, one large spoonful; this
     generally will cure; but if he finds no relief n an hour after you may
     give another spoonful which never hath failed.

     If the roots are dried they must be moistened with a little water.

     To the wound may be applied a leaf of good tobacco, moistened with
     rum.

     _The Massachusetts Magazine_, IV, 103-104 (1792).

[2] _The Pennsylvania Gazette_, Sept. 11, 1740.

[3] _The City Gazette and Daily Advertiser_, June 22, 1797.

[4] _The Columbian Gazette_, II, 742-743.

[5] Delany, "Condition of the Colored People," 111.

[6] C. G. Woodson, "The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861."




THE NEGRO SOLDIER IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION



The facts as to the participation of Negroes in the American Revolution
have received the attention of several writers. Yet not one of them has
made a scientific presentation of the facts which they have discovered.
These historians have failed to consider the bearing of the status of the
free Negro during the colonial period, the meaning of the Revolution to the
Negro, and what the service of the Negro soldiers first enlisted effected
in changing the attitude of the people toward the blacks throughout the
original thirteen colonies.

To a person who has lived in the nineteenth or twentieth century it would
seem incredible that Negroes, the majority of whom were then slaves, should
have been allowed to fight in the Continental Army. The layman here may
forget that during the eighteenth century slavery was a patriarchal
institution rather than the economic plantation system as it developed
after the multiplication of mechanical appliances, which brought about the
world-wide industrial revolution. During the eighteenth century a number of
slaves brought closely into contact with their masters were gradually
enlightened and later emancipated. Such freedmen, in the absence of any
laws to the contrary, exercised political rights,[1] among which was that
of bearing arms. Negroes served not only in the American Revolution, but in
every war of consequence during the colonial period. There were masters who
sent slaves to the front to do menial labor and to fight in the places of
their owners. Then there were slaves who, finding it easier to take
occasional chances with bullets than to bear the lash, ran away from their
masters and served as privateers or enlisted as freemen.[2] The newspapers
of the colonial period often mentioned these facts in their advertisements
of fugitive slaves. In 1760 a master had considerable difficulty with a
slave who escaped from New England into New Jersey, where he said he would
enlist in the provincial service.[3] Advertising for his mulatto servant,
who was brought up in Rhode Island, James Richardson of Stonington said
that the fugitive had served as a soldier the previous summer.[4] A few
free Negroes found their way into the colonial militia along with white
soldiers. This passed, of course, not without some opposition, as in the
case of Massachusetts. In 1656 that colony excluded Negroes and Indians
from the militia, and according to Governor Bradstreet's report to the
Board of Trade in 1680 and subsequent action taken by that colony in 1775
and 1776, it adhered to this policy.[5]

Favorable as this condition of Negroes during the colonial period seemed,
the situation became still more desirable during the Revolution itself.
This upheaval was social as well as political. Aristocracy was suddenly
humiliated and the man in the common walks of life found himself in power,
grappling with problems which he had long desired to solve. Sprung from the
indentured servant poor white class, the new rulers had more sympathy for
the man farthest down. The slaves, therefore, received more consideration.
In the heat of the excitement of war the system lost almost all of its
rigor, the slave codes in some cases falling into desuetude. The contest
for liberty was in the mouths of some orators of the Revolution the
cause of the blacks as well as that of the whites, and the natural rights
of the former were openly discussed in urging the independence of the
United States. When men like Laurens, Henry, Hamilton and Otis spoke for
the rights of the American colonies, they were not silent on the duty
of the American people toward their slaves.[6] In 1774 a patriot in the
Provincial Congress of Massachusetts spoke of the "propriety, that while we
are attempting to free ourselves from slavery, our present embarrassments,
and preserve ourselves from slavery, that we also take into consideration
the state and circumstances of the Negro slaves in this province."[7]

When the Revolution came the Negro was actually in the army before the
question of his enlistment could be raised by those who had not yet been
won to the cause of universal freedom. Feeling the same patriotism which
the white man experienced, the Negro bared his breast to the bullet and
gave his life as a sacrifice for the liberty of his country. According to
Bancroft, "the roll of the army of Cambridge had from its first formation
borne the names of men of color." "Free Negroes," said he, "stood in the
ranks by the side of white men. In the beginning of the war they had
entered the provincial army; the first general order which was issued by
Ward had required a return, among other things, of the complexion of the
soldiers; and black men, like others, were retained in the service after
the troops were adopted by the continent."[8]

Before the various officials had had time to decide whether or not the
Negro should be enlisted, many had numbered themselves among the first
to spill their blood in behalf of American liberty. Peter Salem had
distinguished himself at Bunker Hill by killing Major Pitcairn,[9] a
number of other Negroes under the command of Major Samuel Lawrence had
heroically imperilled their lives and rescued him when he had advanced so
far beyond his troops that he was about to be surrounded and taken
prisoner,[10] and Salem Poor of Colonel Frye's regiment had acquitted
himself with such honor in the battle of Charlestown that fourteen American
officers commended him to the Continental Congress for his valor.[11] But
great as were the services rendered by these patriots of color, the
increase in the number of blacks in the Continental Army gave rise to
vexatious questions. There were those who, influenced by the theories which
had made the Revolution possible, hailed with joy the advent of the Negro
in the role of the defender of his country, which they believed owed him
freedom and opportunity. Some, having the idea that the Negro was a savage,
too stupid to be employed in fighting the battles of freemen, seriously
objected to his enlistment. Others were fearful of the result from setting
the example of employing an uncivilized people to fight the British, who
would then have an excuse not only for enlisting Negroes[12] but also the
Indians. A still larger number felt that the question of arming the slaves
would simply reduce itself to one of deciding whether or not the colonies
should permit the British to beat them playing their own game.[13]

In the beginning, however, those who believed the Negroes should be
excluded from the army triumphed. Massachusetts officially took a stand
against the enlistment of slaves. The Committee of Safety, of which John
Hancock and Joseph Ward were members, reported in May, 1775, to the
Provincial Congress the opinion that as the contest then between Great
Britain and her colonies respected the liberties and privileges of the
latter, that the admission of any persons but freemen as soldiers would be
inconsistent with the principles supported and would reflect dishonor on
the colony.[14] They urged that no slaves be admitted into the army under
any consideration whatever. No action was taken. This was not seemingly
directed at the enlistment of free Negroes; but it must have had some
effect, for in July of the same year, when Washington took command of the
army at Cambridge, there were issued from his headquarters to recruiting
officers instructions prohibiting the enlistment of any Negro, any person
not native of this country, unless such person had a wife and a family and
was a settled resident.[15]

This matter became one of such concern that the officials of the
Continental Army had to give it more serious consideration. Communications
relative thereto directed to the Continental Congress provoked a debate in
that body in September, 1775. On the occasion of drafting a letter to
Washington, reported by a committee consisting of Lynch, Lee and Adams, to
whom several of his communications had been referred, Rutledge, of South
Carolina, moved that the commander-in-chief be instructed to discharge from
the army all Negroes, whether slave or free.[16] It seems that Rutledge had
the support of the Southern delegates, but failed to secure a majority vote
in favor of this radical proposition.

The matter was not yet settled, however. On the eighth of the following
month there was held a council of war consisting of Washington, Ward, Lee,
Putnam, Thomas, Spencer, Heath, Sullivan, Greene and Gates, to consider the
question whether or not it would be advisable to enlist Negroes in the new
army or "whether there be any distinction between such as are slaves and
those who are free." It was unanimously agreed to reject all slaves and by
a large majority to refuse Negroes altogether.[17] Upon considering ten
days later the question of devising a method of renovating the army,
however, the question of enlisting Negroes came up again before a Committee
of Conference. The leaders in this council were Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin
Harrison, Thomas Lynch, the Deputy Governors of Connecticut and Rhode
Island, and the Committee of Council of Massachusetts Bay. They were asked
the question whether Negroes should be excluded from the new enlistment,
especially such as were slaves. This council also agreed that Negroes
should be rejected altogether.[18] Accordingly, the general orders from
Washington, dated November 12, 1775, declared that neither Negroes, boys
unable to bear arms, nor old men unfit to endure fatigues of the campaign
should be enlisted.

The men who had taken this position had acted blindly. They had failed to
consider the various complications which might arise as a result of the
refusal to admit Negroes to the army. What would the Negroes think when
they saw their offering thrown away from the altar of their country? Were
the Revolutionary fathers so stupid as to think that the British would
adopt the same policy? They could not have believed that the situation
could be so easily cleared. Before the Revolution was well on its way
the delegates from Georgia to the Continental Congress had already
experienced certain fears as to the safety of Georgia and South Carolina.
They believed that if one thousand regular troops should land in Georgia
under a commander with adequate supplies and he should proclaim freedom
to all loyal Negroes, twenty thousand of them would join the British in a
fortnight. It was to them a matter of much concern that the Negroes of
these provinces had such a wonderful art of communicating intelligence
among themselves as to convey information several hundred miles in a week
or in a fortnight.[19] The colonists, too, could not ignore the bold
attempt of Lord Dunmore, the dethroned governor of Virginia, who issued
a proclamation of freedom to all slaves who would fight for the king,
endeavored to raise a black regiment among them, and actually used a
number of Negroes in the battle at Kemp's Landing, where they behaved like
well-seasoned soldiers, pursuing and capturing one of the attacking
companies.[20] Referring thereafter to Lord Dunmore as an arch-traitor who
should be instantly crushed, George Washington said: "But that which
renders the measure indispensably necessary is the Negroes, if he gets
formidable numbers of them, will be tempted to join" him.

Subsequent developments showed that these misgivings were justified. In
July, 1776, General Greene learned on Long Island that the British were
about to organize in that vicinity a regiment of Negroes aggregating
200.[22] Taking as a pretext the enrollment of Negroes in the Continental
Army, Sir Henry Clinton proclaimed from Philipsburgh in 1779 that all
Negroes taken in arms or upon any military duty should be purchased from
the captors for the public service, and that every Negro who would desert
the "Rebel Standard" should have full security to follow within the
British lines any occupation which he might think proper.[23] In 1781
General Greene reported to Washington from North Carolina that the British
there had undertaken to embody immediately two regiments of Negroes.[24]
They were operating just as aggressively farther South. "It has been
computed by good judges," says Ramsey, "that between the years 1775 and
1783 the State of South Carolina lost 25,000 Negroes,[25] that is, one
fifth of all the slaves, and a little more than half as many as its entire
white population. At the evacuation of Charleston 241 Negroes and their
families were taken off to St. Lucia in one transport, the Scimitar."[26]
Yet in Georgia it is believed that the loss of Negroes was much greater,
probably three fourths or seven eighths of all in the State. There the
British were more successful in organizing and making use of Negroes. One
third of the 600 men by whom Fort Cornwallis was garrisoned at the siege
of Augusta were Negroes. So effective were some of these Negroes trained
by the British in Georgia that a corps of fugitive slaves calling
themselves the "King of England's Soldiers," so harassed the people on
both sides of the Savannah River, even after the Revolution, that it was
feared that a general insurrection of the slaves there would follow as a
result of this most dangerous and best disciplined band of marauders that
ever infested its borders.[27]

The leaders of the Revolution, therefore, quickly receded from their
radical position of excluding Negroes from the army. Informed that the
free Negroes who had served in the ranks in New England were sorely
displeased at their exclusion from the service, and fearing that they
might join the enemy, Washington departed, late in 1775, from the
established policy of the staff and gave the recruiting officers leave to
accept such Negroes, promising to lay the matter before the Continental
Congress, which he did not doubt would approve it.[28] Upon the receipt of
this communication the matter was referred to a committee composed of
Wythe, Adams and Wilson, who recommended that free Negroes who had served
faithfully in the army at Cambridge might be reenlisted but no others.[29]
In taking action on such communications thereafter the Continental
Congress followed the policy of leaving the matter to the various States,
which were then jealously mindful of their rights.

Sane leaders generally approved the enlistment of black troops. General
Thomas thought so well of the proposition that he wrote John Adams in
1775, expressing his surprise that any prejudice against it should
exist.[30] Samuel Hopkins said in 1776 that something should be speedily
done with respect to the slaves to prevent their turning against the
Americans. He was of the opinion that the way to counteract the tendency
of the Negroes to join the British was not to restrain them by force and
severity but by public acts to set the slaves free and encourage them to
labor and take arms in defense of the American cause.[31] Interested in
favor of the Negroes both by "the dictates of humanity and true policy,"
Hamilton urged that slaves be given their freedom with the swords to
secure their fidelity, animate their courage, and influence those
remaining in bondage by opening a door to their emancipation.[32] General
Greene emphatically urged that blacks be armed, believing that they would
make good soldiers.[33] Thinking that the slaves might be put to a much
better use than being given as a bounty to induce white men to enlist,
James Madison suggested that the slaves be liberated and armed.[34] "It
would certainly be consonant to the principles of liberty," said he,
"which ought never to be lost sight of in a contest for liberty." John
Laurens, of South Carolina, was among the first to see the wisdom of this
plan, directed the attention of his coworkers to it, and when authorized
by the Continental Congress, proceeded to his native State, wishing that
he had the persuasive power of a Demosthenes to make his fellow citizens
accept this proposition.[35] In 1779 Laurens said: "I would advance those
who are unjustly deprived of the rights of mankind to a state which would
be a proper gradation between abject slavery and perfect liberty, and
besides I am persuaded that if I could obtain authority for the purpose,
I would have a corps of such men trained, uniformly clad, equipped and
ready in every respect to act at the opening of the next campaign."

All of the colonies thereafter tended to look more favorably upon the
enlistment of colored troops. Free Negroes enlisted in Virginia and so
many slaves deserted their masters for the army that the State enacted in
1777 a law providing that no Negro should be enlisted unless he had a
certificate of freedom.[36] That commonwealth, however, soon took another
step toward greater recognition of the rights of the Negroes who desired
to be free to help maintain the honor of the State. With the promise
of freedom for military service many slaves were sent to the army as
substitutes for freemen. The effort of inhuman masters to force such
Negroes back into slavery at the close of their service at the front
actuated the liberal legislators of that commonwealth to pass the Act of
Emancipation, proclaiming freedom to all Negroes who had thus enlisted
and served their term faithfully, and empowered them to sue _in forma
pauperis_, should they thereafter be unlawfully held in bondage.[37]

In the course of time there arose an urgent need for the Negro in the
army. The army reached the point when almost all sorts of soldiers were
acceptable. In 1778 General Varnum induced General Washington to send
certain officers from Valley Forge to Rhode Island to enlist a battalion
of Negroes to fill the depleted ranks of that State.[38] Setting forth in
the preamble that "history affords us frequent precedents of the wisest,
freest and bravest nations having liberated their slaves and enlisted
them as soldiers to fight in defense of their country," the Rhode Island
Assembly resolved to raise a regiment of slaves, who were to be freed upon
their enlistment, their owners to be paid by the State according to the
valuation of a committee. Further light was thrown upon this action in the
statement of Governor Cooke, who in reporting the action of the Assembly
to Washington boasted that liberty was given to every effective slave to
don the uniform and that upon his passing muster he became absolutely
free and entitled to all the wages, bounties and encouragements given to
any other soldier.[39]

The State of New Hampshire enlisted Negroes and gave to those who served
three years the same bounty offered others. This bounty was turned over to
their masters as the price of the slaves in return for which their owners
issued bills of sale and certificates of freedom.[40] In this way slavery
practically passed out in New Hampshire. This affair did not proceed so
smoothly as this in Massachusetts. In 1778 that legislature had a committee
report in favor of raising a regiment of mulattoes and Negroes. This action
was taken as a result upon receiving an urgent letter from Thomas Kench, a
member of an artillery regiment serving on Castle Island. Kench referred to
the fact that there were divers of Negroes in the battalions mixed with
white men, but he thought that the blacks would have a better esprit de
corps should they be organized in companies by themselves. But the feeling
that slaves should not fight the battles of freemen and a confusion of the
question of enlistment with that of emancipation for which Massachusetts
was not then prepared,[41] led to a heated debate in the Massachusetts
Council and finally to blows in the coffee houses in lower Boston. In
such an excited state of affairs no further action was taken. Finding
recruiting difficult it is said that Connecticut undertook to raise a
colored regiment[42] and in 1781 New York, offering the usual land bounty
which would go to the masters to purchase the slaves, promised freedom to
all slaves who would enlist for the time of three years.[43] Maryland
provided in 1780 that each unit of £16,000 of property should furnish one
recruit who might be either a freeman or a slave, and in 1781 resolved to
raise 750 Negroes to be incorporated with the other troops.[44]

Farther South the enlistment of Negroes had met with obstacles. The best
provision the Southern legislatures had been able to make was to provide
in addition to the allotment of money and land that a person offering to
fight for the country should have "one sound Negro"[45] or a "healthy
sound Negro"[46] as the laws provided in Virginia and South Carolina
respectively. Threatened with invasion in 1779, however, the Southern
States were finally compelled to consider this matter more seriously.[47]
The Continental Army had been called upon to cope with the situation but
had no force available for service in those parts. The three battalions
of North Carolina troops, then on duty in the South, consisted of drafts
from the militia for nine months, which would expire before the end of
the campaign. What were they to do then when this militia, which could
not be uniformly kept up, should grow impatient with the service? Writing
from the headquarters of the army at this time, Alexander Hamilton in
discussing the advisability of this plan doubtless voiced the sentiment
of the staff. He thought that Colonel Laurens's plan for raising three or
four battalions of emancipated Negroes was the most rational one that
could be adopted in that state of Southern affairs. Hamilton foresaw the
opposition from prejudice and self-interest, but insisted that if the
Americans did not make such a use of the Negroes, the British would.

The movement received further impetus when special envoys from South
Carolina headed by Huger appeared before the Continental Congress on March
29, 1779, to impress upon that body the necessity of doing something to
relieve the Southern colonies. South Carolina, they reported, was suffering
from an exposed condition in that the number of slaves being larger than
that of the whites, she was unable to effect anything for its defense with
the natives, because of the large number necessary to remain at home to
prevent insurrections among the Negroes and their desertion to the enemy.
These representatives, therefore, suggested that there might be raised
among the Negroes in that State a force "which would not only be formidable
to the enemy from their numbers and the discipline of which they would
readily admit but would also lessen the danger from revolts and desertions
by detaching the most vigorous and enterprising from among the Negroes." At
the same time the Committee expressed the opinion that a matter of such
vital interest to the two States concerned should be referred to their
legislative bodies to judge as to the expediency of taking this step, and
that if these commonwealths found it satisfactory that the United States
should defray the expenses.

Congress passed a resolution complying with these recommendations.[48]
Laurens, the father of the movement, was made a lieutenant-colonel and
he went immediately home to urge upon South Carolina the expediency of
adopting this plan. There Laurens met determined opposition from the
majority of the aristocrats who set themselves against "a measure of so
threatening aspect and so offensive to that republican pride, which
disdains to commit the defence of the country to servile bands or share
with a color to which the idea of inferiority is inseparably connected,
the profession of arms, and that approximation of condition which must
exist between the regular soldier and the militiaman." It was to no
purpose too that Laurens renewed his efforts at a later period. He
mustered all of his energy to impress upon the Legislature the need of
taking this action but finally found himself outvoted, having only reason
on his side and "being opposed by a triple-headed monster that shed the
baneful influence of avarice, prejudice, and pusillanimity in all our
assemblies." "It was some consolation to me, however," said he, "to find
that philosophy and truth had made some little progress since my last
effort, as I obtained twice as many suffrages as before."

Hearing of the outcome, Washington wrote him that he was not at all
astonished at it, as that spirit of freedom, which at the commencement
of the Revolution would have sacrificed everything to the attainment of
this object, had long since subsided, and every selfish passion had taken
its place. "It is not the public but the private interest," said he,
"which influences the generality of mankind, nor can Americans any longer
boast an exception. Under these circumstances it would have been rather
surprising if you had succeeded."[49] It is difficult, however, to
determine exactly what Washington's attitude was. Two days after Hamilton
wrote Jay about raising colored troops in South Carolina, the elder
Laurens wrote Washington: "Had we arms for three thousand such black men
as I could select in Carolina, I should have no doubt of success in
driving the British out of Georgia, and subduing East Florida before the
end of July." To this Washington answered: "The policy of our arming
slaves is in my opinion a moot point, unless the enemy set the example.
For, should we begin to form Battalions of them, I have not the smallest
doubt, if the war is to be prosecuted, of their following us in it, and
justifying the measure upon our own ground. The contest then must be who
can arm fastest, and where are our arms? Besides I am not clear that a
discrimination will not render slavery more irksome to those who remain
in it. Most of the good and evil things in this life are judged by
comparison; and I fear a comparison in this case will be productive of
much discontent in those, who are held in servitude. But, as this is a
subject that has never employed much of my thoughts, these are no more
than the first crude Ideas that have struck me upon ye occasion."[50]

What then resulted from the agitation and discussion? The reader naturally
wants to know how many Negroes were actually engaged in the Continental
Army. Here we find ourselves at sea. We have any amount of evidence that
the number of Negroes engaged became considerable, but exact figures are
for several reasons lacking. In the first place, free Negroes rarely
served in separate battalions. They marched side by side with the white
soldier, and in most cases, according to the War Department, even after
making an extended research as to the names, organizations, and numbers,
the results would be that little can be obtained from the records to show
exactly what soldiers were white and what were colored.[51] Moreover the
first official efforts to keep the Negroes out of the army must not
be regarded as having stopped such enlistments. As there was not any
formal system of recruiting, black men continued to enlist "under various
laws and sometimes under no law, and in defiance of law." The records of
every one of the original thirteen States show that each had colored
troops. A Hessian officer observed in 1777 that "the Negro can take the
field instead of his master; and, therefore, no regiment is to be seen
in which there are not negroes in abundance, and among them there are
able-bodied, strong and brave fellows."[52] "Here too," said he, "there
are many families of free negroes who live in good homes, have property
and live just like the rest of the inhabitants." In 1777 Alexander
Scammell, Adjutant-General, made the following report as to the number
and placement of the Negroes in the Continental Army:

       RETURN OF NEGROES IN THE ARMY, 24TH AUGUST, 1778

      |-----------------|---------|--------------|------------|--------
      |   Brigades      | Present | Sick, Absent | On Command | Total
      |-----------------|---------|--------------|------------|--------
      |North Carolina   |  42     |  10          |   6        |  58
      |Woodford         |  36     |   3          |   1        |  40
      |Muhlenburg       |  64     |  26          |   8        |  98
      |Smallwood        |  20     |   3          |   1        |  24
      |2d Maryland      |  43     |  15          |   2        |  60
      |Wayne            |   2     |  ..          |  ..        |   2
      |2d Pennsylvania  |  33     |   1          |   1        |  35
      |Clinton          |  33     |   2          |   4        |  62
      |Parsons          | 117     |  12          |  19        | 148
      |Huntington       |  56     |   2          |   4        |  62
      |Nixon            |  26     |  ..          |   1        |  27
      |Paterson         |  64     |  13          |  12        |  89
      |Late Learned     |  34     |   4          |   8        |  46
      |Poor             |  16     |   7          |   4        |  27
      |-----------------|---------|--------------|------------|--------
      |  Total          | 586     |  98          |  71        | 755
      ------------------------------------------------------------------

       Alexander Scammell,
      _Adjutant-General_.[52a]

But this report neither included the Negro soldiers enlisted in several
other States nor those that joined the army later. Other records show that
Negroes served in as many as 18 brigades.

Some idea of the number of Negroes engaged may be obtained from the
context of documents mentioning the action taken by States. Rhode Island
we have observed undertook to raise a regiment of slaves. Governor Cooke
said that the slaves found there were not many but that it was generally
thought that 300 or more would enlist. Four companies of emancipated
slaves were finally formed in that State at a cost of £10,437 7s 7d.[53]
Most of the 629 slaves then found in New Hampshire availed themselves
of the opportunity to gain their freedom by enlistment as did many of the
15,000 slaves in New York. Connecticut had free Negroes in its regiments
and formed also a regiment of colored soldiers assigned first to Meigs'
and afterward to Butler's command. Maryland resolved in 1781 to raise
750 Negroes to be incorporated with the other troops. Massachusetts
thought of forming a separate battalion of Negroes and Indians but had no
separate Negro regiment, the Negroes having been admitted into the other
battalions, after 1778, to the extent that there were colored troops from
72 towns in that State. In view of these numerous facts it is safe to
conclude that there were at least 4,000 Negro soldiers scattered
throughout the Continental Army.

As to the value of the services rendered by the colored troops we have
only one witness to the contrary. This was Sidney S. Rider. He tried to
ridicule the black troops engaged in the Battle of Rhode Island and
contended that only a few of them took part in the contest.[54] On the
other hand we have two distinguished witnesses in their favor. The
Marquis de Chastellux said that "at the passage to the ferry I met a
detachment of the Rhode Island regiment, the same corps we had with us
the last summer, but they have since been recruited and clothed. The
greatest part of them are Negroes or Mulattoes; but they are strong,
robust men, and those I have seen had a very good appearance."[55]
Speaking of the behavior of troops, among whom Negroes under General
Greene fought on this occasion, Lafayette said the following day, that
the enemy repeated the attempt three times (tried to carry his position),
and were as often repulsed with great bravery.[56] One hundred and
forty-four of the soldiers thus engaged to roll back the lines of the
enemy were, according to the Revolutionary records, Negroes.[57] Doctor
Harris, a Revolutionary soldier, who took part in the Battle of Rhode
Island, said of these Negroes: "Had they been unfaithful or even given
away before the enemy all would have been lost. Three times in succession
they were attacked with more desperate valor and fury by well disciplined
and veteran troops, and three times did they successfully repel the
assault and thus preserved our army from capture."[58] A detachment of
these troops sacrificed themselves to the last man in defending Colonel
Greene in 1781 when he was attacked at Point Bridge, New York. A Negro
slave of South Carolina rendered Governor Rutledge such valuable service
that by a special act of the legislature in 1783 his wife and children
were enfranchised.[59]

The valor of the Negro soldiers of the American Revolution has been highly
praised by statesmen and historians. Writing to John Adams, a member of the
Continental Congress, in 1775, to express his surprise at the prejudice
against the colored troops in the South, General Thomas said: "We have some
Negroes but I look on them in general equally serviceable with other men
for fatigue, and in action many of them had proved themselves brave."
Graydon in speaking of the Negro troops he saw in Glover's regiment at
Marblehead, Massachusetts, said: "But even in this regiment (a fine one)
there were a number of Negroes."[60] Referring to the battle of Monmouth,
Bancroft said: "Nor may history omit to record that, of the 'revolutionary
patriots' who on that day perilled life for their country, more than seven
hundred black men fought side by side with the white."[61] According to
Lecky, "the Negroes proved excellent soldiers: in a hard fought battle that
secured the retreat of Sullivan they three times drove back a large body
of Hessians."[62] We need no better evidence of the effective service of
the Negro soldier than the manner in which the best people of Georgia
honored Austin Dabney,[63] a mulatto boy who took a conspicuous part in
many skirmishes with the British and Tories in Georgia. While fighting
under Colonel Elijah Clarke he was severely wounded by a bullet which in
passing through his thigh made him a cripple for life. He received a
pension from the United States and was by an act of the legislature of
Georgia given a tract of land. He improved his opportunities, acquired
other property, lived on terms of equality with some of his white
neighbors, had the respect and confidence of high officials, and died
mourned by all.

W. B. HARTGROVE



FOOTNOTES:


[1] Bancroft, "History of the United States," VIII, 110; MacMaster,
"History of the United States."

[2] See "Documents" in this number.

[3] _The New York Gazette_, Aug. 11, 1760.

[4] Supplement to the _Boston Evening Post_, May 23, 1763.

[5] Moore's "Slavery in Mass.," 243; Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., VII, 336.

[6] Adams, "Works of John Adams," X, 315; Moore, "Notes on Slavery in
Mass.," 71. Hamilton, Letter to Jay, March 14, 1779.

[7] Moore, "Historical Notes on the Employment of Negroes in the American
Revolution," 4.

[8] Bancroft, "History of the United States," VIII, 110.

[9] Washburn, "History of Leicester," 267.

[10] Washington, "The Story of the Negro," I, 315.

[11] Manuscript, Massachusetts Archives, CLXXX, 241.

[12] Journals of the Continental Congress, 1775, pp. 221, 263; 1776, pp.
60, 874; 1779, pp. 386, 418.

[13] Ford, "Washington's Writings," VIII, 371.

[14] Journal of the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, 553.

[15] Moore, "Historical Notes," 5.

[16] Ibid., 6.

[17] Ibid., 6.

[18] Ibid., 7.

[19] Adam's Works, II, 428.

[20] Life and Correspondence of Joseph Reed, I, 135.

[21] _Not in Text_

[22] Force, American Archives, I, 486. Fifth Series.

[23] "By his Excellency, Sir HENRY CLINTON, K.B., General and
Commander-in-Chief of all His Majesty's Forces within the Colonies lying on
the Atlantic Ocean, from Nova Scotia to West Florida, inclusive, etc.

     "PROCLAMATION

     "Whereas, The Enemy have adopted a practice of enrolling NEGROES among
     their troops: I do hereby give Notice, that all NEGROES taken in Arms,
     or upon any military Duty shall be purchased for the public service at
     a stated price; the Money to be paid to the Captors.

     "But I do most strictly forbid any Person to sell or claim Right over
     any Negroe, the Property of a Rebel, who may take refuge with any part
     of this Army: And I do promise to every Negroe who shall desert the
     Rebel Standard full Security to follow within these Lines any
     occupation which he may think proper."

     "Given under my Hand at Head-Quarters, Philipsburgh, the 30th day of
     June 1779.

     H. CLINTON.

     By his Excellency's Command, JOHN SMITH, Secretary."

[24] The Journal of the Continental Congress, II, 26.

[25] Ramsay, "The History of South Carolina" [Edition, 1809], I, 474-475.

[26] _The Gazette of the State of South Carolina_, Nov. 22, 1784.

[27] Moore, "Historical Notes," 14.

[28] Sparks, "Washington's Works," III, 218.

[29] Ibid.

[30] Letter of General Thomas to John Adams, Oct. 24, 1775.

[31] Moore, "Historical Notes," 4.

[32] Hamilton's "Works," I, 76-78.

[33] Moore, "Historical Notes," 13.

[34] Madison's Papers, 68.

[35] Letter of Hamilton to Jay, March 14, 1779; and Journals of the
Continental Congress.

[36] Hening, Statutes at Large, IX, 280.

[37] Ibid., XI, 308, 309.

[38] Rhode Island Colonial Records, VIII, 640, 641.

[39] Ibid., 358-360.

[40] Moore, "Historical Notes," 19.

[41] Manuscripts in the Archives of Massachusetts, CXCIX, 80.

[42] Moore, "Historical Notes," 20.

[43] Laws of the State of New York, Chapter XXXII, Fourth Session.

[44] Sparks, "Correspondence of the American Revolution," III, 331.

[45] Moore, "Historical Notes," 20.

[46] Ibid., 21.

[47] Taking up the Southern situation, Hamilton in 1779 wrote Jay as
follows:

     "_Dear Sir_: Colonel Laurens, who will have the honor of delivering
     you this letter, is on his way to South Carolina, on a project which I
     think, in the present situation of affairs there, is a very good one,
     and deserves every kind of support and encouragement. This is, to
     raise two, three, or four battalions of negroes, with the assistance
     of the government of that State, by contributions from the owners, in
     proportion to the number they possess. If you should think proper to
     enter upon the subject with him, he will give you a detail of his
     plan. He wishes to have it recommended by Congress to the State; and,
     as an inducement, that they would engage to take their battalions into
     Continental pay.

     "It appears to me, that an expedient of this kind, in the present
     state of Southern affairs, is the most rational that can be adopted,
     and promises very important advantages. Indeed, I hardly see how a
     sufficient force can be collected in that quarter without it: and the
     enemy's operations there are growing infinitely serious and
     formidable. I have not the least doubt, that the negroes will make
     very excellent soldiers with proper management: and I will venture to
     pronounce, that they cannot be put in better hands than those of Mr.
     Laurens. He has all the zeal, intelligence, enterprise, and every
     other qualification, requisite to succeed in such an undertaking. It
     is a maxim with some great military judges, that, with sensible
     officers, soldiers can hardly be too stupid; and, on this principle,
     it is thought that the Russians would make the best soldiers in the
     world, if they were under other officers than their own. The King of
     Prussia is among the number who maintain this doctrine, and has a very
     emphatic saying on the occasion, which I do not exactly recollect. I
     mention this because I have frequently heard it objected to the scheme
     of embodying negroes, that they are too stupid to make soldiers. This
     is so far from appearing to me a valid objection, that I think their
     want of cultivation (for their natural faculties are as good as ours),
     joined to that habit of subordination which they acquire from a life
     of servitude will enable them sooner to become soldiers than our white
     inhabitants. Let officers be men of sense and sentiment, and the
     nearer the soldiers approach to machines, perhaps the better.

     "I foresee that this project will have to combat much opposition from
     prejudice and self-interest. The contempt we have been taught to
     entertain for the blacks, makes us fancy many things that are founded
     neither in reason nor experience; and an unwillingness to part with
     property of so valuable a kind, will furnish a thousand arguments to
     show the impracticability, or pernicious tendency, of a scheme which
     requires such sacrifices. But it should be considered, that if we do
     not make use of them in this way, the enemy probably will; and that
     the best way to counteract the temptations they will hold out, will be
     to offer them ourselves. An essential part of the plan is, to give
     them their freedom with their swords. This will secure their fidelity,
     animate their courage, and, I believe, will have a good influence upon
     those who remain, by opening a door to their emancipation.

     "This circumstance, I confess, has no small weight in inducing me to
     wish the success of the project; for the dictates of humanity and true
     policy equally interest me in favor of this unfortunate class of men.

     "While I am on the subject of Southern affairs, you will excuse the
     liberty I take in saying, that I do not think measures sufficiently
     vigorous are pursuing for our defence in that quarter. Except the few
     regular troops of South Carolina, we seem to be relying wholly on the
     militia of that and two neighboring States. These will soon grow
     impatient of service and leave our affairs in a miserable situation.
     No considerable force can be uniformly kept up by militia, to say
     nothing of the many obvious and well-known inconveniences that attend
     this kind of troops. I would beg leave to suggest, sir, that no time
     ought to be lost in making a draught of militia to serve a
     twelve-month, from the States of North and South Carolina and
     Virginia. But South Carolina, being very weak in her population of
     whites, may be excused from the draught, on condition of furnishing
     the black battalions. The two others may furnish about three thousand
     five hundred men, and be exempted, on that account, from sending any
     succor to this army. The States to the northward of Virginia, will be
     fully able to give competent supplies to the army here; and it will
     require all the force and exertions of the three States I have
     mentioned, to withstand the storm which has arisen, and is increasing
     in the South.

     "The troops draughted, must be thrown into battalions, and officered
     in the best possible manner. The best supernumerary officers may be
     made use of as far as they will go. If arms are wanted for their
     troops, and no better way of supplying them is to be found, we should
     endeavor to levy a contribution of arms upon the militia at large.
     Extraordinary exigencies demand extraordinary means. I fear this
     Southern business will become a very _grave_ one.

     "With the truest respect and esteem, I am, sir, your most obedient
     servant,

     Alexander Hamilton."

[48] The resolutions of Congress were as follows:

     "_Resolved_, That it be recommended to the States of South Carolina
     and Georgia, if they shall think the same expedient, to take measures
     immediately for raising three thousand able-bodied negroes.

     "That the said negroes be formed into separate corps, as battalions,
     according to the arrangements adopted for the main army, to be
     commanded by white commissioned and non-commissioned officers.

     "That the commissioned officers be appointed by the said States.

     "That the non-commissioned officers may, if the said States
     respectively shall think proper, be taken from among the
     non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the continental battalions
     of the said States respectively.

     "That the Governors of the said States, together with the commanding
     officer of the Southern army, be empowered to incorporate the several
     continental battalions of their States with each other respectively,
     agreeably to the arrangement of the army, as established by the
     resolutions of May 27, 1778; and to appoint such of the supernumerary
     officers to command the said negroes, as shall choose to go into that
     service.

     "_Resolved_, That Congress will make provision for paying the
     proprietors of such Negroes as shall be enlisted for the service of
     the United States during the war, a full compensation for the
     property, at a rate not exceeding one thousand dollars for each
     active, able-bodied negro man of standard size, not exceeding
     thirty-five years of age, who shall be so enlisted and pass muster.

     "That no pay or bounty be allowed to the said negroes; but that they
     be clothed and subsisted at the expense of the United States.

     "That every negro, who shall well and faithfully serve as a soldier to
     the end of the present war, and shall return his arms, be emancipated,
     and receive the sum of fifty dollars."

     In connection with this Congress passed also the following resolution:

     "WHEREAS John Laurens, Esq., who has heretofore acted as aide-de-camp
     to the commander-in-chief, is desirous of repairing to South Carolina,
     with a design to assist in defence of the Southern States:

     "_Resolved_, That a commission of lieutenant-colonel be granted to the
     said John Laurens, Esq."

     Journals of the Continental Congress, 1779, pp. 386, 418.

[49] Sparks, "Writings of Washington," VIII, 322, 323.

[50] Ford, "Washington's Writings," VII, 371.

[51] Letter from the Adjutant General of the U.S. War Department.

[52] Schloezer's "Briefwechsel," IV, 365.

[52a] The Washington Manuscripts in the Library of Congress.

[53] "The Spirit of '76 in Rhode Island," 186-188.

[54] Sidney S. Rider, "An Historical Tract in the Rhode Island Series,"
No. 10.

[55] Marquis de Chastellux, "Travels," I, 454.

[56] Moore, "Historical Notes," 19.

[57] "The Spirit of Rhode Island in '76," 186-188.

[58] Washington, "The Story of the Negro," I, 311, Note.

[59] Moore, "Historical Notes," 22.

[60] Ibid., 16.

[61] Bancroft, "History of the United States," X, 133.

[62] Lecky, "American Revolution," 364.

[63] Austin Dabney, a remarkable free man of color, died at Zebulon. His
remains repose, we understand, near those of his friend Harris. The
following account of Dabney, as given by Governor Gilmer, may be
interesting:

     In the beginning of the Revolutionary conflict, a man by the name of
     Aycock removed to Wilkes County, having in his possession a mulatto
     boy, who passed for and was treated as his slave. The boy had been
     called Austin, to which the captain to whose company he was attached
     added Dabney.

     Dabney proved himself a good soldier. In many a skirmish with the
     British and Tories, he acted a conspicuous part. He was with Colonel
     Elijah Clarke in the battle of Kettle Creek, and was severely wounded
     by a rifleball passing through his thigh, by which he was made a
     cripple for life. He was unable to do further military duty, and was
     without means to procure due attention to his wound, which threatened
     his life. In this suffering condition he was taken into the house of a
     Mr. Harris, where he was kindly cared for until he recovered. He
     afterwards labored for Harris and his family more faithfully than any
     slave could have been made to do.

     After the close of the war, when prosperous times came, Austin Dabney
     acquired property. In the year 18--, he removed to Madison County,
     carrying with him his benefactor and family. Here he became noted for
     his great fondness for horses and the turf. He attended all the races
     in the neighboring counties, and betted to the extent of his means.
     His courteous behavior and good temper always secured him gentlemen
     backers. His means were aided by a pension which he received from the
     United States.

     In the distribution of the public lands by lottery among the people
     of Georgia, the Legislature gave to Dabney a lot of land in the county
     of Walton. The Hon. Mr. Upson, then a representative from Oglethorpe,
     was the member who moved the passage of the law, giving him the lot
     of land.

     At the election for members of the Legislature the year after, the
     County of Madison was distracted by the animosity and strife of an
     Austin Dabney and an Anti-Austin Dabney party. Many of the people
     were highly incensed that a mulatto negro should receive a gift of
     the land which belonged to the freemen of Georgia. Dabney soon after
     removed to the land given him by the State, and carried with him
     the family of Harris, and continued to labor for them, and
     appropriated whatever he made for their support, except what was
     necessary for his coarse clothing and food. Upon his death, he left
     them all his property. The eldest son of his benefactor he sent to
     Franklin College, and afterwards supported him whilst he studied law
     with Mr. Upson, in Lexington. When Harris was undergoing his
     examination, Austin was standing outside of the bar, exhibiting great
     anxiety in his countenance; and when his young protégé was sworn in,
     he burst into a flood of tears. He understood his situation very
     well, and never was guilty of impertinence. He was one of the best
     chroniclers of the events of the Revolutionary War, in Georgia. Judge
     Dooly thought much of him, for he had served under his father, Colonel
     Dooly. It was Dabney's custom to be at the public house in Madison,
     where the judge stopped during court, and he took much pains in
     seeing his horse well attended to. He frequently came into the room
     where the judges and lawyers were assembled on the evening before the
     court, and seated himself upon a stool or some low place, where he
     would commence a parley with any one who chose to talk with him.

     He drew his pension in Savannah where he went once a year for this
     purpose. On one occasion he went to Savannah in company with his
     neighbor, Colonel Wyley Pope. They traveled together on the most
     familiar terms until they arrived in the streets of the town. Then
     the Colonel observed to Austin that he was a man of sense, and knew
     that it was not suitable to be seen riding side by side with a
     colored man through the streets of Savannah; to which Austin replied
     that he understood that matter very well. Accordingly when they came
     to the principal street, Austin checked his horse and fell behind.
     They had not gone very far before Colonel Pope passed the house of
     General James Jackson who was then governor of the state. Upon
     looking back he saw the governor run out of the house, seize Austin's
     hand, shake it as if he had been his long absent brother, draw him
     from his horse, and carry him into his house, where he stayed whilst
     in town. Colonel Pope used to tell this anecdote with much glee,
     adding that he felt chagrined when he ascertained that whilst he
     passed his time at a tavern, unknown and uncared for, Austin was the
     honored guest of the governor.

     White's "Historical Collections," 584.




FREEDOM AND SLAVERY IN APPALACHIAN AMERICA



To understand the problem of harmonizing freedom and slavery in
Appalachian America we must keep in mind two different stocks coming in
some cases from the same mother country and subject here to the same
government. Why they differed so widely was due to their peculiar ideals
formed prior to their emigration from Europe and to their environment in
the New World. To the tidewater came a class whose character and
purposes, although not altogether alike, easily enabled them to develop
into an aristocratic class. All of them were trying to lighten the
burdens of life. In this section favored with fertile soil, mild
climate, navigable streams and good harbors facilitating direct trade
with Europe, the conservative, easy-going, wealth-seeking, exploiting
adventurers finally fell back on the institution of slavery which
furnished the basis for a large plantation system of seeming
principalities. In the course of time too there arose in the few towns
of the coast a number of prosperous business men whose bearing was
equally as aristocratic as that of the masters of plantations.[1] These
elements constituted the rustic nobility which lorded it over the
unfortunate settlers whom the plantation system forced to go into the
interior to take up land. Eliminating thus an enterprising middle class,
the colonists tended to become more aristocratic near the shore.

In this congenial atmosphere the eastern people were content to dwell.
the East had the West in mind and said much about its inexhaustible
resources, but with the exception of obtaining there grants of land nothing
definite toward the conquest of this section was done because of the
handicap of slavery which precluded the possibility of a rapid expansion of
the plantation group in the slave States. Separated thus by high ranges of
mountains which prevented the unification of the interests of the sections,
the West was left for conquest by a hardy race of European dissenters
who were capable of a more rapid growth.[2] these were the Germans and
Scotch-Irish with a sprinkling of Huguenots, Quakers and poor whites who
had served their time as indentured servants in the east.[3] The unsettled
condition of Europe during its devastating wars of the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries caused many of foreign stocks to seek homes in America
where they hoped to realize political liberty and religious freedom. Many
of these Germans first settled in the mountainous district of Pennsylvania
and Maryland and then migrated later to the lower part of the Shenandoah
Valley, while the Scotch-Irish took possession of the upper part of that
section. Thereafter the Shenandoah Valley became a thoroughfare for a
continuous movement of these immigrants toward the south into the uplands
and mountains of the Carolinas, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee.[4]

Among the Germans were Mennonites, Lutherans, and Moravians, all of whom
believed in individual freedom, the divine right of secular power, and
personal responsibility.[5] The strongest stock among these immigrants,
however, were the Scotch-Irish, "a God-fearing, Sabbath-keeping,
covenant-adhering, liberty-loving, and tyrant-hating race," which had
formed its ideals under the influence of philosophy of John Calvin, John
Knox, Andrew Melville, and George Buchanan. By these thinkers they had been
taught to emphasize equality, freedom of conscience, and political liberty.
These stocks differed somewhat from each other, but they were equally
attached to practical religion, homely virtues, and democratic
institutions.[7] Being a kind and beneficent class with a tenacity for the
habits and customs of their fathers, they proved to be a valuable
contribution to the American stock. As they had no riches every man was to
be just what he could make himself. Equality and brotherly love became
their dominant traits. Common feeling and similarity of ideals made them
one people whose chief characteristic was individualism.[8] Differing thus
so widely from the easterners they were regarded by the aristocrats as "Men
of new blood" and "Wild Irish," who formed a barrier over which "none
ventured to leap and would venture to settle among."[9] No aristocrat
figuring conspicuously in the society of the East, where slavery made men
socially unequal, could feel comfortable on the frontier, where freedom
from competition with such labor prevented the development of caste.

The natural endowment of the West was so different from that of the East
that the former did not attract the people who settled in the Tidewater.
The mountaineers were in the midst of natural meadows, steep hills, narrow
valleys of hilly soil, and inexhaustible forests. In the East tobacco
and corn were the staple commodities. Cattle and hog raising became
profitable west of the mountains, while various other employments which
did not require so much vacant land were more popular near the sea.
Besides, when the dwellers near the coast sought the cheap labor which the
slave furnished the mountaineers encouraged the influx of freemen. It is
not strange then that we have no record of an early flourishing slave
plantation beyond the mountains. Kercheval gives an account of a settlement
by slaves and overseers on the large Carter grant situated on the west side
of the Shenandoah, but it seems that the settlement did not prosper as
such, for it soon passed into the hands of the Burwells and the Pages.[10]

The rise of slavery in the Tidewater section, however, established the
going of those settlers in the direction of government for the people. The
East began with indentured servants but soon found the system of slavery
more profitable. It was not long before the blacks constituted the masses
of the laboring population,[11] while on the expiration of their term of
service the indentured servants went west and helped to democratize the
frontier. Caste too was secured by the peculiar land tenure of the East.
The king and the proprietors granted land for small sums on feudal terms.
The grantees in their turn settled these holdings in fee tail on the oldest
son in accordance with the law of primogeniture. This produced a class
described by Jefferson who said: "There were then aristocrats, half-breeds,
pretenders, a solid independent yeomanry, looking askance at those above,
yet not venturing to jostle them, and last and lowest, a seculum of beings
called overseers, the most abject, degraded and unprincipled race, always
cap in hand to the Dons who employed them for furnishing material for the
exercise of their price."[12]

In the course of colonial development the people of the mountains were
usually referred to as frontiersmen dwelling in the West. This "West" was
for a number of years known as the region beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains
and later beyond the Alleghenies. A more satisfactory dividing line,
however, is the historical line of demarcation between the East and West
which moved toward the mountains in the proportion that the western section
became connected with the East and indoctrinated by its proslavery
propagandists. In none of these parts, however, not even far south, were
the eastern people able to bring the frontiersmen altogether around to
their way of thinking. Their ideals and environment caused them to have
differing opinions as to the extent, character, and foundations of local
self-government, differing conceptions of the meaning of representative
institutions, differing ideas of the magnitude of governmental power over
the individual, and differing theories of the relations of church and
State. The East having accepted caste as the basis of its society naturally
adopted the policy of government by a favorite minority, the West inclined
more and more toward democracy. The latter considered representatives only
those who had been elected as such by a majority of the people of the
district in which they lived; the former believed in a more restricted
electorate, and the representation of districts and interests, rather than
that of numbers.[13] Furthermore, almost from the founding of the colonies
there was court party consisting of the rich planters and favorites
composing the coterie of royal officials generally opposed by a country
party of men who, either denied certain privileges or unaccustomed to
participation in the affairs of privileged classes, felt that the
interests of the lowly were different. As the frontier moved westward the
line of cleavage tended to become identical with that between the
privileged classes and the small farmers, between the lowlanders and the
uplanders, between capital and labor, and finally between the East and
West.

The frontiersmen did not long delay in translating some of their political
theories into action. The aristocratic East could not do things to suit
the mountaineers who were struggling to get the government nearer to them.
At times, therefore, their endeavors to abolish government for the people
resulted in violent frontier uprisings like that of Bacon's Rebellion
in Virginia and the War of Regulation in North Carolina. In all of these
cases the cause was practically the same. These pioneers had observed
with jealous eye the policy which bestowed all political honors on the
descendants of a few wealthy families living upon the tide or along the
banks of the larger streams. They were, therefore, inclined to advance
with quick pace toward revolution.[14] On finding such leaders as James
Otis, Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson, the frontiersmen instituted such
a movement in behalf of freedom that it resulted in the Revolutionary
War.[15] These patriots' advocacy of freedom, too, was not half-hearted.
When they demanded liberty for the colonists they spoke also for the
slaves, so emphasizing the necessity for abolition that observers from afar
thought that the institution would of itself soon pass away.[16]

In the reorganization of the governments necessitated by the overthrow
of the British, however, the frontiersmen were unfortunate in that
they lacked constructive leadership adequate to having their ideas
incorporated into the new constitutions. Availing themselves of their
opportunity, the aristocrats of the coast fortified themselves in their
advantageous position by establishing State governments based on the
representation of interests, the restriction of suffrage, and the
ineligibility of the poor to office.[17] Moreover, efforts were made
even to continue in a different form the Established Church against which
the dissenting frontiersmen had fought for more than a century. In the
other Atlantic States where such distinctions were not made in framing
their constitutions, the conservatives resorted to other schemes to keep
the power in the hands of the rich planters near the sea. When the
Appalachian Americans awoke to the situation then they were against a
stone wall. The so-called rights of man were subjected to restrictions
which in our day could not exist. The right to hold office and to vote
were not dependent upon manhood qualifications but on a white skin,
religious opinions, the payment of taxes, and wealth. In South Carolina a
person desiring to vote must believe in the existence of a God, in a future
state of reward and punishment, and have a freehold of fifty acres of land.
In Virginia the right of suffrage was restricted to freeholders possessing
one hundred acres of land. Senators in North Carolina had to own three
hundred acres of land; representatives in South Carolina were required
to have a 500 acre freehold and 10 Negroes; and in Georgia 250 acres
and support the Protestant religion.[18] In all of these slave States,
suffering from such unpopular government, the mountaineers developed into
a reform party persistently demanding that the sense of the people be taken
on the question of calling together their representatives to remove certain
defects from the constitutions. It was the contest between the aristocrats
and the progressive westerner. The aristocrats' idea of government was
developed from the "English Scion--the liberty of kings, lords, and
commons, with different grades of society acting independently of all
foreign powers." The ideals of the westerners were principally those of the
Scotch-Irish, working for "civil liberty in fee simple, and an open road to
civil honors, secured to the poorest and feeblest members of society."[19]

The eastern planters, of course, regarded this as an attack on their system
and fearlessly denounced these rebellious wild men of the hills. In taking
this position, these conservatives brought down upon their heads all of the
ire that the frontiersmen had felt for the British prior to the American
Revolution. The easterners were regarded in the mountains as a party bent
upon establishing in this country a régime equally as oppressive as the
British government. The frontiersmen saw in slavery the cause of the whole
trouble. They, therefore, hated the institution and endeavored more than
ever to keep their section open to free labor. They hated the slave as
such, not as a man. On the early southern frontier there was more prejudice
against the slaveholder than against the Negro.[20] There was the feeling
that this was not a country for a laboring class so undeveloped as the
African slaves, then being brought to these shores to serve as a basis for
a government differing radically from that in quest of which the
frontiersmen had left their homes in Europe.

This struggle reached its climax in different States at various periods.
In Maryland the contest differed somewhat from that of other Southern
States because of the contiguity of that commonwealth with Pennsylvania,
which early set such examples of abolition and democratic government that
a slave State near by could not go so far in fortifying an aristocratic
governing class. In Virginia the situation was much more critical than
elsewhere. Unlike the other Atlantic States, which wisely provided
roads and canals to unify the diverse interests of the sections, that
commonwealth left the trans-Alleghany district to continue in its own way
as a center of insurgency from which war was waged against the established
order of things.[21] In most States, however, the contest was decided by
the invention of the cotton gin and other mechanical appliances which, in
effecting an industrial revolution throughout the world, gave rise to the
plantation system found profitable to supply the increasing demand for
cotton. In the course of the subsequent expansion of slavery, many of the
uplanders and mountaineers were gradually won to the support of that
institution. Realizing gradually a community of interests with the eastern
planters, their ill-feeling against them tended to diminish. Abolition
societies which had once flourished among the whites of the uplands tended
to decline and by 1840 there were practically no abolitionists in the South
living east of the Appalachian Mountains.[22]

Virginia, which showed signs of discord longer than the other Atlantic
States, furnishes us a good example of how it worked out. The reform party
of the West finally forced the call of a convention in 1829, hoping in
vain to crush the aristocracy. Defeated in this first battle with the
conservatives, they secured the call of the Reform Convention in 1850 only
to find that two thirds of the State had become permanently attached to the
cause of maintaining slavery.[23] Samuel McDowell Moore, of Rockbridge
County in the Valley, said in the Convention of 1829-30 that slaves should
be free to enjoy their natural rights,[24] but a generation later the
people of that section would not have justified such an utterance in behalf
of freedom. The uplanders of South Carolina were early satisfied with such
changes as were made in the apportionment of representation in 1808, and
in the qualifications of voters in 1810.[25] Thereafter Calhoun's party,
proceeding on the theory of government by a concurrent majority, vanquished
what few liberal-minded men remained, and then proceeded to force their
policy on the whole country.

In the Appalachian Mountains, however, the settlers were loath to follow
the fortunes of the ardent pro-slavery element. Actual abolition was
never popular in western Virginia, but the love of the people of that
section for freedom kept them estranged from the slaveholding districts
of the State, which by 1850 had completely committed themselves to the
pro-slavery propaganda. In the Convention of 1829-30 Upshur said there
existed in a great portion of the West (of Virginia) a rooted antipathy
to the slave.[26] John Randolph was alarmed at the fanatical spirit on
the subject of slavery, which was growing up in Virginia. Some of this
sentiment continued in the mountains. The highlanders, therefore, found
themselves involved in a continuous embroglio because they were not moved
by reactionary influences which were unifying the South for its bold
effort to make slavery a national institution.[27]

The indoctrination of the backwoodsmen of North Carolina in the tenets of
slavery was effected without much difficulty because of less impediment in
the natural barriers, but a small proportion of the inhabitants of the
State residing in the mountainous districts continued anti-slavery. There
was an unusually strong anti-slavery element in Davie, Davidson, Granville
and Guilford counties. The efforts of this liberal group, too, were not
long in taking organized form. While there were several local organizations
operating in various parts, the efforts of the anti-slavery people centered
around the North Carolina Manumission Society. It had over forty branches
at one time, besides several associations of women, all extending into
seven or eight of the most populous counties of the State. This society
denounced the importation and exportation of slaves, and favored providing
for manumissions, legalizing slave contracts for the purchase of freedom,
and enacting a law that at a certain age all persons should be born
free.[28] That these reformers had considerable influence is evidenced by
the fact that in 1826 a member of the manumission society was elected to
the State Senate. In 1824 and 1826 two thousand slaves were freed in North
Carolina.[29] Among the distinguished men who at times supported this
movement in various ways were Hinton Rowan Helper, Benjamin S. Hedrick,
Daniel R. Goodloe, Eli W. Caruthers, and Lunsford Lane, a colored orator
and lecturer of considerable ability.[30] They constituted a hopeless
minority, however, for the liberal element saw their hopes completely
blasted in the triumph of the slave party in the Convention of 1835, which
made everything subservient to the institution of slavery.

In the mountains of Kentucky and Tennessee conditions were a little more
encouraging, especially between 1817 and 1830. The anti-slavery work in
Kentucky seemed to owe its beginning to certain "Emancipating Baptists."
Early in the history of that State six Baptist preachers, Carter Tarrant,
David Darrow, John Sutton, Donald Holmes, Jacob Gregg, and George Smith,
began an anti-slavery campaign, maintaining that there should be no
fellowship with slaveholders.[31] They were unable to effect much, however,
because of the fact that they had no extensive organization through
which to extend their efforts. Every church remained free to decide for
itself and even in Northern States the Baptists later winked at slavery.
More effective than these efforts of the Baptists was the work of the
Scotch-Irish. Led by David Rice, a minister of the Presbyterian Church,
the anti-slavery element tried to exclude slavery from the State when
framing its first constitution in the Convention of 1792.[32] Another
effort thus to amend the fundamental law was made at the session of the
legislature of 1797-98, and had it not been for the excitement aroused by
the Alien and Sedition Laws, the bill probably would have passed.[33]

Many successful efforts were made through the anti-slavery bodies. The
society known as "Friends of Humanity" was organized in Kentucky in 1807.
It had a constitution signed by eleven preachers and thirteen laymen.
The organization was in existence as late as 1813. The records of the
abolitionists show that there was another such society near Frankfort
between 1809 and 1823.[34] Birney then appeared in the State and gave his
influence to the cause with a view to promoting the exportation of Negroes
to Liberia.[35] A number of citizens also memorialized Congress to colonize
the Negroes on the public lands in the West.[36] In the later twenties an
effort was made to unite the endeavors of many wealthy and influential
persons who were then interested in promoting abolition. Lacking a vigorous
and forceful leader, they appealed to Henry Clay, who refused.[37] They
fought on, however, for years to come. A contributor to the _Western
Luminary_ said, in 1830, that the people of Kentucky were finding slavery
a burden.[38] Evidently a good many of them had come to this conclusion,
for a bill providing for emancipation introduced in the Legislature was
postponed indefinitely by a vote of 18 to 11.[39] So favorable were
conditions in Kentucky at this time that it was said that Tennessee was
watching Kentucky with the expectation of following her lead should the
latter become a free State as was then expected.

The main factor in promoting the work in Tennessee was, as in Kentucky,
the Scotch-Irish Presbyterian stock. They opposed slavery in word and in
deed, purchasing and setting free a number of colored men. Among these
liberal westerners was organized the "Manumission Society of Tennessee,"
represented for years in the American Convention of Abolition Societies by
Benjamin Lundy.[40] The Tennessee organization once had twenty branches and
a membership of six hundred.[41] Among its promoters were Charles Osborn,
Elihu Swain, John Underhill, Jesse Willis, John Cannady, John Swain, David
Maulsby, John Rankin, Jesse Lockhart, and John Morgan.[42] They advocated
at first immediate and unconditional emancipation, but soon seeing that the
realization of this policy was impossible, they receded from this advanced
position and memorialized their representatives to provide for gradual
emancipation, the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, the
prevention of the separation of families, the prohibition of the interstate
slave trade, the restriction of slavery, the general improvement of colored
people through church and school, and especially the establishment among
them of the right of marriage.[43] To procure the abolition of slavery by
argument, other persons of this section organized another body, known as
the "Moral Religious Manumission Society of West Tennessee."[44] It once
had a large membership and tended to increase and spread the agitation in
behalf of abolition.

In view of these favorable tendencies, it was thought up to 1830 that
Tennessee, following the lead of Kentucky, would become a free State.[45]
But just as the expansion of slavery into the interior of the Atlantic
States attached those districts to the fortunes of the slaveholding class,
it happened in some cases in the mountains which to some extent became
indoctrinated by the teaching of the defenders of slavery. Then the ardent
slavery debate in Congress and the bold agitation, like that of the
immediatists led by William Lloyd Garrison, alienated the support which
some mountaineers had willingly given the cause. Abolition in these States,
therefore, began to weaken and rapidly declined during the thirties.[46]
Because of a heterogeneous membership, these organizations tended to
develop into other societies representing differing ideas of anti-slavery
factions which had at times made it impossible for them to cooperate
effectively in carrying out any plan. The slaveholders who had been members
formed branches of the American Colonization Society, while the radical
element fell back upon organizing branches of the Underground Railroad to
cooperate with those of their number who, seeing that it was impossible
to attain their end in the Southern mountains, had moved into the
Northwest Territory to colonize the freedmen and aid the escape of
slaves.[47] Among these workers who had thus changed their base of
operation were not only such noted men as Joshua Coffin, Benjamin Lundy,
and James G. Birney, but less distinguished workers like John Rankin, of
Ripley; James Gilliland, of Red Oak; Jesse Lockhart, of Russellville;
Robert Dobbins, of Sardinia; Samuel Crothers, of Greenfield; Hugh L.
Fullerton, of Chillicothe, and William Dickey, of Ross or Fayette County,
Ohio. There were other southern abolitionists who settled and established
stations of the Underground Railroad In Bond, Putnam, and Bureau Counties,
Illinois.[48] The Underground Railroad was thus enabled to extend into
the heart of the South by way of the Cumberland Mountains. Over this Ohio
and Kentucky route, culminating chiefly in Cleveland, Sandusky, and
Detroit, more fugitives found their way to freedom than through any other
avenue.[49] The limestone caves were of much assistance to them. The
operation of the system extended through Tennessee into northern Georgia
and Alabama, following the Appalachian highland as it juts like a
peninsula into the South. Dillingham, John Brown, and Harriet Tubman used
these routes.

Let us consider, then, the attitude of these mountaineers toward slaves.
All of them were not abolitionists. Some slavery existed among them. The
attack on the institution, then, in these parts was not altogether
opposition to an institution foreign to the mountaineers. The frontiersmen
hated slavery, hated the slave as such, but, as we have observed above,
hated the eastern planter worse than they hated the slave. As there was a
scarcity of slaves in that country they generally dwelt at home with their
masters. Slavery among these liberal people, therefore, continued
patriarchal and so desirous were they that the institution should remain
such that they favored the admission of the State of Missouri as a slave
State,[50] not to promote slavery but to expand it that each master, having
a smaller number of Negroes, might keep them in close and helpful contact.
Consistently with this policy many of the frontier Baptists, Scotch-Irish
and Methodists continued to emphasize the education of the blacks as the
correlative of emancipation. They urged the masters to give their servants
all proper advantages for acquiring knowledge of their duty both to man and
to God. In large towns slaves were permitted to acquire the rudiments of
education and in some of them free persons of color had well-regulated
schools.[51]

Two noteworthy efforts to educate Negroes were put forth in these parts. A
number of persons united in 1825 to found an institution for the education
of eight or ten Negro slaves with their families, to be operated under the
direction of the "Emancipating Labor Society of the State of Kentucky."
About the same time Frances Wright was endeavoring to establish an
institution on the same order to improve the free blacks and mulattoes
in West Tennessee. It seems that this movement had the support of a goodly
number of persons, including George Fowler, and, it was said, Lafayette,
who had always been regarded as a friend of emancipation. According to
a letter from a clergyman of South Carolina, the first slave for this
institution went from the York district of that State. Exactly what these
enterprises were, however, it is difficult to determine. They were not well
supported and soon passed from public notice. Some have said that the
Tennessee project was a money-making scheme for the proprietors, and that
the Negroes taught there were in reality slaves. Others have defended the
work as a philanthropic effort so characteristic of the friends of freedom
in Appalachian America.[52]

The people of Eastern Tennessee were largely in favor of Negro education.
Around Maryville and Knoxville were found a considerable number of white
persons who were thus interested in the uplift of the belated race. Well
might such efforts be expected in Maryville, for the school of theology at
this place had gradually become so radical that according to the _Maryville
Intelligencer_ half of the students by 1841 declared their adherence to the
cause of abolition.[53] Consequently, they hoped not only to see such
doctrines triumph within the walls of that institution, but were
endeavoring to enlighten the Negroes of that community to prepare them for
the enjoyment of life as citizens in their own or some other country.[54]

Just as the people of Maryville had expressed themselves through _The
Intelligencer_, so did those of Knoxville find a spokesman in _The
Presbyterian Witness_. Excoriating those who had for centuries been finding
excuses for keeping the slaves in heathenism, the editor of this
publication said that there was not a solitary argument that might be urged
in favor of teaching a white man that might not be as properly urged in
favor of enlightening a man of color. "If one has a soul that will never
die," said he, "so has the other. Has one susceptibilities of improvement,
mentally, socially, and morally? So has the other. Is one bound by the laws
of God to improve the talents he has received from the Creator's hands? So
is the other. Is one embraced in the commands search the scriptures? So is
the other."[55] He maintained that unless masters could lawfully degrade
their slaves to the condition of beasts, they were just as much bound to
teach them to read the Bible as to teach any other class of their
population.

From a group in Kentucky came another helpful movement. Desiring to train
up white men who would eventually be able to do a work which public
sentiment then prevented the anti-slavery minority from carrying on, the
liberal element of Kentucky, under the leadership of John G. Fee and his
coworkers, established Berea College. Believing in the brotherhood of man
and the fatherhood of God, this institution incorporated into its charter
the bold declaration that "God hath made of one blood all nations that
dwell upon the face of the earth." This profession was not really put to a
test until after the Civil War, when the institution courageously met the
issue by accepting as students some colored soldiers who were returning
home wearing their uniforms.[56] The State has since prohibited the
co-education of the races.

With so many sympathizers with the oppressed in the back country, the South
had much difficulty in holding the mountaineers in line to force upon the
whole nation their policies, mainly determined by their desire for the
continuation of slavery. Many of the mountaineers accordingly deserted the
South in its opposition to the tariff and internal improvements, and when
that section saw that it had failed in economic competition with the North,
and realized that it had to leave the Union soon or never, the mountaineers
who had become commercially attached to the North and West boldly adhered
to these sections to maintain the Union. The highlanders of North Carolina
were finally reduced to secession with great difficulty; Eastern Tennessee
had to yield, but kept the State almost divided between the two causes;
timely dominated by Unionists with the support of troops, Kentucky stood
firm; and to continue attached to the Federal Government forty-eight
western counties of Virginia severed their connection with the essentially
slaveholding district and formed the loyal State of West Virginia.

In the mountainous region the public mind has been largely that of people
who have developed on free soil. They have always differed from the
dwellers in the district near the sea not only in their attitude toward
slavery but in the policy they have followed in dealing with the blacks
since the Civil War. One can observe even to-day such a difference in the
atmosphere of the two sections, that in passing from the tidewater to the
mountains it seems like going from one country into another. There is still
in the back country, of course, much of that lawlessness which shames the
South, but crime in that section is not peculiarly the persecution of the
Negro. Almost any one considered undesirable is dealt with unceremoniously.
In Appalachian America the races still maintain a sort of social contact.
White and black men work side by side, visit each other in their homes, and
often attend the same church to listen with delight to the Word spoken by
either a colored or white preacher.

C. G. WOODSON



FOOTNOTES:


[1] Wertenbaker, "Patrician and Plebeian in Virginia," 31.

[2] Exactly how many of each race settled in the Appalachian region we
cannot tell, but we know that they came in large numbers, after the year
1735. A few important facts and names may give some idea as to the extent
of this immigration. The Shenandoah Valley attracted many. Most prominent
among those who were instrumental in settling the Valley was the Scotchman,
John Lewis, the ancestor of so many families of the mountains. The
Dutchmen, John and Isaac Van Meter, were among the first to buy land from
Joist Hite, probably the first settler in the Valley. Among other
adventurers of this frontier were Benjamin Allen, Riley Moore, and William
White, of Maryland, who settled in the Shenandoah in 1734; Robert Harper
and others who, in the same year, settled Richard Morgan's grant near
Harper's Ferry; and Howard, Walker, and Rutledge, who took up land on what
became the Fairfax Manor on the South Branch. In 1738 some Quakers came
from Pennsylvania to occupy the Ross Survey of 40,000 acres near Winchester
Farm in what is now Frederick County, Virginia. In the following year John
and James Lindsay reached Long Marsh, and Isaac Larne of New Jersey the
same district about the same time; while Joseph Carter of Bucks County,
Pennsylvania, built his cabin on the Opequon near Winchester in 1743, and
Joseph Hampton with his two sons came from Maryland to Buck Marsh near
Berryville. But it is a more important fact that Burden, a Scotch-Irishman,
obtained a large grant of land and settled it with hundreds of his race
during the period from 1736 to 1743, and employed an agent to continue the
work. With Burden came the McDowells, Alexanders, Campbells, McClungs,
McCampbells, McCowans, and McKees, Prestons, Browns, Wallaces, Wilsons,
McCues, and Caruthers. They settled the upper waters of the Shenandoah
and the James, while the Germans had by this time well covered the
territory between what is known as Harrisonburg and the present site of
Harper's Ferry. See Maury, "Physical Survey," 42; _Virginia Magazine_, IX,
337-352; Washington's Journal, 47-48; Wayland, "German Element of the
Shenandoah," 110.

[3] Wayland, "German Element of the Shenandoah," 28-30; _Virginia
Historical Register_, III, 10.

[4] See Meade, "Old Families of Virginia," _The Transalleghany Historical
Magazine_, I and II; De Hass, "The Settlement of Western Virginia," 71, 75;
Kercheval, "History of the Valley," 61-71; Faust, "The German Element in
the United States."

[5] Dunning, "The History of Political Theory from Luther to Montesquieu,"
9,10.

[6] _Not in Text_

[7] Buchanan, the most literary of these reformers, insisted that society
originates in the effort of men to escape from the primordial state of
nature, that in a society thus formed the essential to well-being is
justice, that justice is maintained by laws rather than by kings, that the
maker of the laws is the people, and that the interpreter of the laws is
not the king, but the body of judges chosen by the people. He reduced the
power of the ruler to the minimum, the only power assigned to him being to
maintain the morals of the state by making his life a model of virtuous
living. The reformer claimed, too, that when the ruler exceeds his power he
becomes a tyrant, and that people are justified in rejecting the doctrine
of passive obedience and slaying him. See Buchanan, "De Jure Apud Scotos"
(Aberdeen, 1762); Dunning, "History of Political Theories from Luther to
Montesquieu"; and P. Hume Brown, "Biography of John Knox."

[8] Just how much the racial characteristics had to do with making this
     wilderness a center of democracy, it is difficult to estimate. Some
     would contend that although the Western people were of races different
     from this aristocratic element of the East, their own history shows
     that this had little to do with the estrangement of the West from the
     East, and that the fact that many persons of these same stocks who
     settled in the East became identified with the interests of that
     section is sufficient evidence to prove what an insignificant factor
     racial characteristics are. But although environment proves itself
     here to be the important factor in the development of these people
     and we are compelled to concede that the frontier made the Western
     man an advocate of republican principles, heredity must not be
     ignored altogether.

     Exactly how much influence the Scotch-Irish had in shaping the destiny
     of Appalachian America is another much mooted question with which we
     are concerned here because historians give almost all the credit to
     this race. Even an authority like Justin Winsor leaves the impression
     that Virginia cared little for the frontier, and that all honor is due
     to the Scotch-Irish. Their influence in shaping the destiny of other
     States has been equally emphasized. The facts collected by Hanna
     doubtless give much support to the claims of that people to the honor
     for the development of Appalachian America. His conclusions, however,
     are rather far-sweeping and often shade into imagination. On the other
     hand, a good argument may be made to prove that other people, such as
     the Germans and Dutch, deserve equal honor. Furthermore, few of the
     eulogists of the Scotch-Irish take into account the number of
     indentured servants and poor whites who moved westward with the
     frontier. Besides, it must not be thought that the East neglected the
     frontier intentionally simply because the Tidewater people could not
     early subdue the wilderness. They did much to develop it. The records
     of the time of the Indian troubles beginning in 1793 show that the
     State governments answered the call for troops and ammunition as
     promptly as they could, and their statute books show numerous laws
     which were enacted in the interest of the West during these troubles.
     The truth of the matter is that, whatever might have been the desire
     of the East to conquer the wilderness, the sectionalizing institution
     of slavery which the colony had accepted as the basis of its society
     rendered the accomplishment of such an object impossible. There was
     too great diversity of interest in that region.

[9] Jefferson's Works, VI, 484.

[10] Kercheval, "History of the Valley," 47 and 48.

[11] It soon became evident that it was better to invest in slaves who had
much more difficulty than the indentured servants in escaping and passing
as freemen.

[12] Jefferson's Works, VI, 484.

[13] This statement is based on the provisions of the first State
constitutions. See Thorpe's "Charters and Constitutions."

[14] Grigsby, "Convention of 1788," 15, 49.

[15] The people living near the coast desired reform under British rule.
The frontiersmen had to win them to the movement. A certain Scotch-Irish
element in the Carolinas was an exception to this rule in that they at
first supported the British.

[16] The letters and speeches of most of the Revolutionary leaders show
that they favored some kind of abolition. Among the most outspoken were
James Otis, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and John
Laurens. See also Schoepf, "Travels in the Confederation," 149; and Brissot
de Warville, "New Travels," I, 220.

[17] See the various State constitutions in Thorpe's "Charters and
Constitutions."

[18] Ibid.

[19] Foote, "Sketches of Virginia," 85.

[20] Hart, "Slavery and Abolition," 73; Olmsted, "The Back Country,"
230-232. _Berea Quarterly_, IX, No. 3.

[21] See the Speeches of the Western members of the Virginia Convention of
1829-30, Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of 1829-30.

[22] This is proved by the reports and records of the anti-slavery
societies and especially by those of the American Convention of Abolition
Societies. During the thirties and forties the southern societies ceased to
make reports. See Adams, "A Neglected Period of Anti-Slavery," 117.

[23] The vote on the aristocratic constitution framed in 1829-30 shows
this. See Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of 1829-30, p. 903.

[24] Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of 1829-30, p. 226.

[25] Thorpe, "Charters and Constitutions, South Carolina."

[26] Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of 1829-30, pp. 53, 76,
442, 858.

[27] See Calhoun's Works: "A Disquisition on Government," p. 1 et seq.

[28] Adams, "Neglected Period of Anti-Slavery," 138.

[29] Ibid., 34.

[30] Bassett, "Anti-Slavery Leaders of North Carolina," 72.

[31] Adams, "Anti-Slavery, etc.," 100-101.

[32] Speech of David Rice in the Constitutional Convention of Kentucky,
1792.

[33] Birney, "James G. Birney," 96-100.

[34] Reports of the American Convention of Abolition Societies, 1809
and 1823.

[35] Birney, "James G. Birney," 70.

[36] Adams, "The Neglected Period of Anti-Slavery in America," 129-130.
Annals of Congress, 17th Congress, 1st ses., 2d ses., 18th Cong., 1st ses.

[37] Ibid., 20.

[38] "The Genius of Universal Emancipation," 11. 35.

[39] Ibid., 10. 145.

[40] See Proceedings of the American Convention of Abolition Societies.

[41] Adams, "The Neglected Period of Anti-Slavery," 132.

[42] Ibid., 131.

[43] "The Genius of Universal Emancipation," 1. 142; 5. 409.

[44] "The Genius of Universal Emancipation," 4. 76, 142; Birney, "James G.
Birney," 77; Minutes of the American Convention of Abolition Societies,
1826, p. 48.

[45] "The Genius of Universal Emancipation," 11. 65, 66.

[46] See The Minutes and Proceedings of the American Convention of
Abolition Societies, covering this period.

[47] This statement is based on the accounts of a number of abolitionists.

[48] Adams, "A Neglected Period of Anti-Slavery," 60, 61.

[49] Siebert, "The Underground Railroad," 10. 346.

[50] Ambler, "Sectionalism in Virginia," 107-108.

[51] Woodson, "The Education of the Negro," 120-121.

[52] "The Genius of Universal Emancipation," 5. 117, 126, 164, 188, 275,
301, 324, 365; 6. 21, 140, 177.

[53] The Fourth Annual Report of the American Anti-Slavery Society, 1837,
p. 48; The New England Anti-Slavery Almanac for 1841, p. 31.

[54] Ibid.

[55] _The African Repository_, XXXII, 16.

[56] The Catalogue of Berea College, 1897.




ANTAR, THE ARABIAN NEGRO WARRIOR, POET AND HERO



That men of Negro blood should rise to distinction in Arabia is not at all
singular. By language and ethnological conformation the people of the
Arabian Peninsula belong to the great Semitic group of the human family.
But the proximity of Africa to Arabia carried the slave trade at a very
early period to that soil. Naturally, as a result of intermarriage,
thousands of Negroes with Arabian blood soon appeared in that part of Asia.
This was especially true of the midland and southern districts of the
peninsula. To-day, after several centuries of such unions, there is found
in southwestern Arabia, in northern and central Africa an ever-increasing
colored population of vast numbers, known as Arabised Negroes. Many of
these have become celebrities whose achievements form an integral part of
Arabian civilization and Mohammedan culture.[1] Emerging from this group
came Antar, the most conspicuous figure in Arabia, a man noble in thought,
heroic in deed, an exemplar of ideals higher than those of his age and a
model for posterity.

Antarah ben Shedad el Absi (Antar the Lion, the son of the Tribe of
Abs), the historic Antar, was born about the middle of the sixth century
of our era, and died about the year 615. Some accounts give the year
525 as the date of his birth. By Clement Huart, a distinguished
Orientalist, he is described as a mulatto.[2] "Goddess born, however,"
says Reynold A. Nicholson, "he could not be called by any stretch of the
imagination. His mother was a black slave."[3] All authorities agree that
Shedad, his father, was a man of noble blood and that his mother was an
Abyssinian slave.

The manner in which they became attached to each other is interesting. As
a result of tyrannical action upon the part of King Zoheir, chief of the
Absians, several chieftains seceded to attack and rob other tribes and
establish their own kingdom. Among these chieftains was one Shedad. In
their wanderings they attacked and conquered a certain tribe, among the
prisoners of which was a black woman of great beauty named Zebiba. Shedad
fell in love with this woman and to obtain possession of her yielded all
rights to the spoils. She then had two sons. Shedad lived in the fields
with her for a time, during which she gave birth to a son. As a boy his
strength was prodigious and courage unparalleled.

In his early life Antar was assigned to the lowly task of a keeper of
camels. Here he followed the usual routine incident to such a task while
the clan of his father roved from place to place, clashing with rivals in
quest of the prizes of the chase or the spoils of war, or rested in some
vale of Arabia and devoted itself to the simpler pastoral life. Following
this sort of occupation, he so distinguished himself as to impress the
woman whom he later married. This was Ibla, the beautiful daughter of
Malek, another son of King Zoheir. She was, therefore, Antar's cousin.
Antar's growth in courage, in bodily strength, sense of justice, and
sympathy for the weak excited her admiration and high esteem. His love for
Ibla found expression in deeds of valor and poems dedicated to her virtues,
but the jealousy of chieftains and his lowly birth prevented their union.
The magnanimity of Antar in the face of bitter opposition, however, and his
undying love finally won him Ibla as his bride.

Favored by great strength and a leonine courage, Antar soon passed from
the duties of a keeper of camels to those of a first-class fighting man.
By these virtues, so highly prized by the warlike Arabs, he ingratiated
himself both with his father and his tribe. Much of the life of Antar
is lost to authentic history, but that part which remains shows that he
followed the career of a great chieftain endowed with military qualities,
poetic gifts, and a talent for leadership of extraordinary order.
According to Huart, he took part in the terrible wars of the horses
arising out of the rivalry between the stallion Dahis and the mare
Ghabra.[4] Treachery alone prevented the famous courser from winning the
race, and in his vengeance Qais, chief of the tribe of Abs, waged bitter
war against his enemies. Antar was the rhapsodist as well as a participant
in these contests. Success in war rapidly followed. His kinsmen forgot his
lowly birth and former menial occupation and regarded him as the first
warrior of his day. His deeds of heroism increased his prestige and after
his father's death he became the protector of his tribe and the pattern of
Arabic chivalry.

Meanwhile he had shown such rare poetic gifts that his fame spread
beyond the circle of his clan and in due course of time he was selected
as a contestant in those poetic trials that were peculiar to the Arabs
in the pre-Islamic days. So successful was Antar's effort that he was
acknowledged the greatest poet of his time and one of his odes was
selected as one of the Mu 'Allakât, the seven suspended poems, while
judged by the assemblage of all the Arabs worthy to be written in letters
of gold and hung on high in the sacred Kaabah at Mecca, as accepted models
of Arabian style.[5]

The death of Antar is enshrouded in obscurity. Antar perished about the
year 615 while fighting against the tribe of the Tai. According to one
authority he had grown old and his youthful activity had forsaken him. He
is said to have fallen from his horse and to have been unable to regain
his feet in time. His death was a signal for peace and the end of the
long-drawn hostility. In spite of the tribe's desire to avenge its hero
and its bard, a compensation of 100 camels was accepted for the murder of
one of its scions and the poets celebrated the close of the long struggle.
Another author says the hero, stricken to death by a poison shaft sped by
the hand of a treacherous and implacable foe, remounted his horse to insure
the safe retreat of his tribe and died leaning on his lance. His enemies,
smitten with terror by the memory of his prowess, dared not advance, till
one cunning warrior devised a strategem which startled the horse out of its
marble stillness. The creature gave a bound and Antar's corpse, left
unsupported, fell upon the ground.[6]

His fame as a literary character transcends that of the modern authors of
black blood, such as Pushkin in Russia, and the elder Dumas in France.
After his death the fame of Antar's deeds spread across the Arabian
Peninsula and throughout the Mohammedan world. In time these deeds, like
the Homeric legends, were recorded in a literary form and therein is found
that Antar, the son of an Abyssinian slave, once a despised camel driver,
has become the Achilles of the Arabian Iliad, a work known to this day
after being a source of wonder and admiration for hundreds of years to
millions of Mohammedans as the "Romance of Antar." The book, therefore,
ranks among the great national classics like the "Shah-nameh" of Persia,
and the "Nibelungen-Lied" of Germany. Antar was the father of knighthood. He
was the champion of the weak and oppressed, the protector of the women, the
impassioned lover-poet, the irresistible and magnanimous knight. "Antar" in
its present form probably preceded the romances of chivalry so common in
the twelfth century in Italy and France.[7]

This national classic of the Arabian world is of great length in the
original, being often found in thirty or forty manuscript volumes in
quarto, in seventy or eighty in octavo. Portions of it have been translated
into English, German and French. English readers can consult it best in a
translation from the Arabic by Terrick Hamilton in four volumes published
in London in 1820. This translation, now rare, covers only a portion of the
original; a new translation, suitably abridged, is much needed. The fact
that its hero is of Negro blood may have chilled the ardor of English
translators to meet this need.

The original book purports to have been written more than a thousand years
ago--in the golden prime of the Caliph Harún-al-Rashid (786-809)--by the
famous As-Asmai (741-830). It is in fact a later compilation probably of
the twelfth century. The first Arabic edition was brought to Europe by an
Austro-German diplomat and scholar--Baron von Hammer Purgstall--near the
end of the eighteenth century. The manuscript was engrossed in the year
1466. The verses with which the volumes abound are in many cases
undoubtedly those of Antar.

One enthusiastic critic of this romance has said: The book in its present
form has been the delight of all Arabians for many centuries. Every wild
Bedouin of the desert knew much of the tale by heart and listened to its
periods and to its poems with quivering interest. His more cultivated
brothers of the cities possessed one or many of its volumes. Every
coffee-house in Aleppo, Bagdad, or Constantinople had a narrator who, night
after night, recited it to rapt audiences. The unanimous opinion of the
East has always placed the romance of Antar at the summit of such
literature. As one of their authors well says: "'The Thousand and One
Nights' is for the amusement of women and children; 'Antar' is a book for
men. From it they learn lessons of eloquence, of magnanimity, of generosity
and of statecraft." Even the prophet Mohammed, well-known foe to poetry and
poets, instructed his disciples to relate to their children the traditions
concerning Antar, "for these will steel their hearts harder than stone."[9]

Another critic has said: "The Romance of Antar is the free expression of
real Arab hero-worship. And even in the cities of the Orient today, the
loungers over their cups can never weary of following the exploits of
this black son of the desert who in his person unites the great virtues of
his people, magnanimity and bravery, with the gift of poetic speech. Its
tone is elevated; it is never trivial, even in its long and wearisome
descriptions, in its ever-recurring outbursts of love. Its language
suits its thought: choice and educated, and not descending--as in the
'Nights'--to the common expressions or ordinary speech. It is the Arabic
romance of chivalry and may not have been without influence in the spread
of the romance of mediæval Europe."[10]

An idea of this romance may be obtained from the following:

Years and years ago King Zoheir ruled Arabia. Now Shedad, a son, nettled
under the stern sway of his sire and longed for the chase and the combat.
The green plains becked, the murmuring streams sang until the heart of
Shedad grew sad. When the sun rose one morn he gathered his camels and
warriors and departed.

Far from the home of King Zoheir dwelt the tribe Djezila in peace but
Shedad fell upon them and slew them. As beautiful as a goddess was a black
woman named Zebiba who was captured. Now it came to pass that Shedad loved
Zebiba and dwelt with her and her two sons in the fields. In time she bore
him a son, as dark as an elephant, with eyes as black as night and a head
of shaggy hair. They called him Antar.

Antar grew in strength, in courage and in mind until the chieftains
disputed his possession, for his mother was a slave and Antar must tend the
herds. Zoheir summoned the chieftains and Antar and when he was brought
before him he marveled and threw him a piece of meat. But a dog that
chanced to be in the tent was quicker than he and seized it and ran off.
Rage gave Antar the fleetness of the wind. With mighty leaps he bounded
after the dog. Swifter darted no eagle upon its prey than Antar pursued the
rogue. With a mighty spring he caught it and seizing its jaws tore them
asunder down to the beast's shoulders, and in triumph he held the meat
aloft. But the King grew afraid and let Shedad depart with Antar. At ten
years of age he slew a wolf that harassed his flock and later killed a
slave who had beaten an old woman. Thus did the women find in him a
protector and they hung upon his words and recounted his deeds and his acts
of justice.

Now Shedad's brother, Malek, had a daughter named Ibla, who was as fair as
the moon. The ladies were wont to drink camel's milk morning and evening
when Antar had cooled it in the winds. It chanced one morning that Antar
entered Ibla's tent just as her mother was combing her hair, and the beauty
of her form transfixed him. A thing of loveliness fairer he had never seen,
nor ringlets of darker hue grace a human head. His heart beat wildly at the
birth of a great passion and the hot blood burned his dark cheeks. But
Ibla fled and Antar left with a light heart. For days he sang in measures
sweet of Ibla's beauty and his arm burned to do deeds. The weeds of the
field became the fairest of flowers; the limpid pools mirrored Ibla's face
in images beautiful and pure and the zephyrs whispered of love. But Antar
had dared love a princess and his father became wroth and came to the
fields one day with some chiefs to punish him.

When they arrived they found Antar in combat with a lion. With a roar like
thunder the beast lashed its tail and advanced. But Antar knew not fear. He
stepped forward to the fray. The snarling creeping beast scratched furrows
in the ground and bided the time for the spring. Then it leaped. Like a
flash Antar hurled his lance and leaped aside. A gleam of light and iron
met flesh as the mighty body hurtled by. Quickly he seized the shaft and
held it firmly while the beast lashed furiously and growled in its death
struggles, and then it lay still. But the heart of Shedad was softened and
he invited Antar and the chieftains to sup with him. Long into the night
recounted Shedad Antar's deeds but the dark eyes of Antar saw only Ibla and
his heart yearned for the morrow and the end of the feasting.

Not far from the land of King Zoheir dwelt the tribe of Temin and Zoheir
and his warriors departed to war against them. To Antar was entrusted the
care and protection of the women during Zoheir's absence. Antar swore to
protect them with his life and the women were not afraid. But the days are
long when lords are away and the women burned for entertainment. Then it
was that Semiah, the lawful wife of Shedad, called the women together and
spoke of a feast on the shores of a near by lake. When the day came Ibla
and her mother attended and as Antar saw her his heart leaped with joy.
Just then shouts were heard and from afar appeared a cloud of dust which
grew larger and filled the sky as it drew near. Out from the cloud of dust
sprang the tribesmen called Cathan and with yells they seized and carried
off the women.

But Antar sped up like the wind when he heard the shrieks of his beloved
Ibla and saw her anguished face and frenzied struggles. Horse he had none
but love and despair gave him the swiftness of a steed, the courage of a
lion and the strength of the elephant. Across the plains he coursed as
swiftly as the wind but the steeds were as swift as he. Clouds of dust
choked him and hid him from view but double burdens on tired coursers could
not continue the mad pace. Antar overtook one horseman, threw him off and
slew him. Then a cry arose among the tribesmen of Cathan to kill Antar,
but Antar lusted for battle and donning the armor of the slain man, he slew
warrior after warrior until the tribesmen of Cathan loosed the women and
fled. Then Antar comforted the women and drove many horses home before him,
among them a black charger.

When Shedad returned with Zoheir he went to visit his flocks and saw Antar
upon a black horse guarding the herds. Shedad inquired whence came the
horse, but Antar did not wish to betray the imprudent action of his
father's wife and remained silent. Thereupon Shedad called him a robber
and struck him with such violence that the blood ran. But Semiah saw the
cruel act and her heart went out to Antar. She clasped him in her arms and
throwing herself at her lord's feet, she raised her veil and told the
story of the attack and rescue and Antar's courage. Antar's silence and
magnanimity so touched Shedad that he wept. The news of Antar's feat soon
reached the king, who gave him a robe of honor and rich presents.

But jealousies among the chieftains toward Antar grew and plots were made
to kill him. Again and again he circumvented his foes and in triumphs
showed infinite pity and mercy. Deeds of darkness but increased the mutual
love between Ibla and Antar and the name of Antar was heard far into
distant lands.

Now it happened that a youth of wealth and lineage sought Ibla's hand in
marriage. But pride choked him and he basked in the glory of his fathers'
deeds. When Antar heard of the boastful youth's suit he swore a great oath
to kill him and he fell upon him. But the youth escaped. Now the chieftains
saw a chance to destroy Antar's power and encompass his destruction. They
appeared before Zoheir and demanded Antar's life. Then Zoheir stripped him
of his high estate and favors and sent him back to the fields to attend the
herds and Antar bowed his great head in shame and left. But the love he
bore for Ibla was as meat to his body and refreshment to his mind and his
great spirit died not.

Soon the tribe of Tex fell upon Zoheir and his warriors and sorely pressed
them. The pride of Zoheir, however, was great and Antar stayed far from the
battle, for his heart was heavy and he was again a tender of herds. Then
the day went against Zoheir and his warriors and many fell and sadness came
upon the land. And the men of Tex pressed the men of Zoheir harder and
carried off the women and with them Ibla. Still Antar tended the herds and
came not. But the mighty chieftains of Zoheir came to him and begged him to
cloak his wrath and do battle with them against the men of Tex. And Antar
heard the men of Tex in silence and his heart gave a bound when they spoke
of Ibla, but still he stayed in his tent and came not. Then the chieftains
sought to move him by his great love for Ibla. Thereupon Antar's face
beamed and he spoke and laid down the condition that Ibla must be given him
as a wife. Shedad and Malek agreed and Antar girt himself and with the
remnant of Zoheir's army went against the men of Tex. Now the strength of
Antar was that of a hundred men and his courage that of a thousand and
animated by his great burning passion and with the ardor of battle in his
nostrils he fell upon the tribe of Tex. Redder sank never a sun than the
plains blushed with the blood of men after that battle. Tears filled Ibla's
eyes when she beheld Antar and in triumph he led her back to the land
of King Zoheir. But the heart of Malek was false, and bitter plots were
rife, and even Shedad viewed in despair the rise of a black slave. Malek
demanded that Antar should give his bride a present of a thousand camels of
a certain breed that could be found only in distant lands. Now Antar read
his heart and saw his wicked artifice but he set out. Far from the land
of King Zoheir wandered Antar, far from the wiles of Malek and jealous
suitors, far from the tent of his beloved Ibla. But the heart of Antar was
not cast down nor did hope die.

Now it happened that Antar entered the country of Persia where he was taken
prisoner. His captors bound him upon a horse and departed for the village
of their king. Tidings came of the ravages of a fierce lion and no warriors
dared to give it battle. Fiercer had roamed no lion in the land of King
Zoheir nor in Persia. Whole villages fled before it and herds were but as
chaff. But Antar begged that he be loosed and they untied his bonds and
gave him a lance and he departed to attack the lion.

Courage is half victory and the arm of Antar was skilled in the art of the
lance and his heart was stout. But the strength of the lion was of the body
whilst that of Antar was of the body and the mind. With a mighty throw
Antar hurled the lance and it found its mark, but the lion bounded forward
and Antar stood unarmed. Then with a mighty wrench he jerked a young tree
from the ground and with powerful blows beat down the attack of the lion.
He gave a mighty swing and cleft the beast's skull and it fell down and
died, and Antar departed for the tent of the king. Then the men marvelled,
for none dared follow to see the terrible combat nor did people believe
until they saw the beast.

Then the king loaded Antar with rich gifts and honors and gave him the
thousand camels which he sought, and Antar departed for the land of King
Zoheir. Great was the rejoicing of Ibla when messengers brought tidings
of Antar's return. Great was the surprise of Malek and the rage of the
chieftains. But Shedad's heart softened and he yearned for his son and the
fair Ibla gave him her hand and Antar and Ibla married and dwelt in the
land of King Zoheir.

To this day the fame of Antar still persists. Rimsky-Korsakoff, a modern
Russian composer, has given us in his symphony "Antar" a tone picture of
this Arabian Negro's life that opens and closes with an atmospheric eastern
pastorale of great beauty. It has been played during the past winter with
marked success in Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, at the
concerts of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, that representative body of
great musicians. The remarkable career of Antar and the perpetuation of his
memory in history, literature and music, though removed by many centuries
from the life of the American Negro of today, offers to him many thoughts
for reflection.

While Arabia of the pre-Islamic days is not America of this generation nor
the Semitic people of the East like the Germanic races of the West, still
those human qualities that make for valor, for greatness of spirit, that
reflect genius devoted to literature and social service are compelling
forces in all climes and in all races. An opportunity for a free expression
of them and a recognition of their potent effect in the sum total of human
culture should be the mission of scholarship in all lands. Those elements
of character which the Arabs of Antar's day regarded as their _beau ideal_
were found not unworthy of admiration when manifested in one of Negro
blood. When his poetic fancy reflected the spirit of Arab life his works
were not rejected because his mother was an African slave but one of the
best was placed among the immortal poems of his father's country. When his
genius for warfare was shown it was given an opportunity to develop and
serve the cause of all who preferred valiant deeds to arguments of race.
When his life was spent it was not looked upon as one of an unusual Negro
rising above a sphere previously limited to his fellows of the same blood
but as an epic of success crowning human effort and worthy to be embodied
in the literature of Arabia as the exploits of a hero who exemplified the
spirit of the people, acceptable for all time as their model for valor,
poetic genius, hospitality, and magnanimity.

A. O. STAFFORD



FOOTNOTES:


[1] Palgrave, "Essays on Eastern Questions," 37 et seq.

[2] Huart, "A History of Arabian Literature," 13.

[3] Nicholson, "Literary History of the Arabs," 114.

[4] Huart, "A History of Arabian Literature," 14.

[5] These are two selections from Antar's Mu 'Allakât:

     A FAIR LADY

     'Twas then her beauties first enslaved my heart--
     Those glittering pearls and ruby lips, whose kiss
     Was sweeter far than honey to the taste.
     As when the merchant opes a precious box
     Of perfume, such an odor from her breath
     Comes toward me, harbinger of her approach;
     Or like an untouched meadow, where the rain
     Hath fallen freshly on the fragrant herbs
     That carpet all its pure untrodden soil:
     A meadow where the fragrant rain-drops fall
     Like coins of silver in the quiet pools,
     And irrigate it with perpetual streams;
     A meadow where the sportive insects hum,
     Like listless topers singing o'er their cups,
     And ply their forelegs like a man who tries
     With maimed hands to use the flint and steel.


     THE BATTLE

     There where the horsemen rode strongest
     I rode out in front of them,
     Hurled forth my battle-shout and charged them;
     No man thought blame of me.
     Antar! they cried; and their lances
     Well-cords in slenderness, pressed to the breast
     Of my war-horse still as I pressed on them.
     Doggedly strove we and rode we.
     Ha! the brave stallion! Now is his breast dyed
     With blood drops, his star-front with fear of them!
     Swerved he, as pierced by the spear points.
     Then in his beautiful eyes stood the tears
     Of appealing, words inarticulate.
     If he had our man's language,
     Then had he called to me.
     If he had known our tongue's secret,
     Then had he cried to me.

            *       *       *       *       *

     Deep through the sand drifts the horsemen
     Charged with teeth grimly set,
     Urging their war-steeds;
     I urged them spurred by my eagerness forward
     To deeds of daring, deeds of audacity.

[6] Huart, "A History of Arabian Literature," 13.

[7] Holden, "Library of the World's Best Literature," 586.

[8] _Not in Text_

[9] Edward S. Holden, "Library of the World's Best Literature," I, p. 587.

[10] Richard Gottheil, "Library of the World's Best Literature," II, 674.




DOCUMENTS



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY SLAVES AS ADVERTISED BY THEIR MASTERS


In some respects the eighteenth century slave was better off than the
Negro of today. As a rule no Negro can now get his name into the leading
newspapers unless he commits a heinous crime. At that time, however,
masters in offering slaves for sale and advertising fugitives unconsciously
spoke of their virtues as well as their shortcomings, that the public
might be fully informed as to the character of the blacks. Through these
advertisements, therefore, we can get at the very life of the Negro when
slavery was still of the patriarchal sort and can thus contrast his then
favorable condition with the wretchedness of the institution after it
assumed its economic aspect in the nineteenth century. We observe that the
eighteenth century slave was rapidly taking over modern civilization in
the West Indies and in the thirteen colonies on the American continent.
The blacks were becoming useful and skilled laborers, acquiring modern
languages, learning to read and write, entering a few of the professions,
exercising the rights of citizens, and climbing the social ladder to the
extent of moving on a plane of equality with the poor whites.

To emphasize various facts these advertisements have been grouped under
different headings, but each throws light on more than one phase of the
life of the eighteenth century slave. The compiler will be criticised here
for publishing in full many advertisements which contain repetitions of the
same phraseology. The plan is deemed wise in this case, however, because of
the additional value the complete document must have. The words to which
special attention is directed appear in his own capitals.



LEARNING A MODERN LANGUAGE


RAN away from Austin Paris of Philadelphia, Founder, on the 22do this
Instant, A Negro Boy called Bedford or Ducko, aged about Sixteen or
Seventeen Years; SPEAKS VERY GOOD ENGLISH wears a dark brown colored Coat
and Jacket, a Pair of white Fustian Breeches, a grey mill'd Cap with a red
Border, a Pair of new Yarn Stockings, with a Pair of brown worsted under
them, or in his Pockets. Whoever brings him to his said Master, or informs
him of him so that he may be secured, shall be satisfied for their Pains,
by me. Austin Paris.

  _The American Weekly Mercury_ (Philadelphia), Jan. 31, 1721.



TO be Sold, Three Very likely Negro Girls being about 16 years of age, and
a Negro Boy about 14, SPEAKING GOOD ENGLISH, enquire of the Printer hereof.

   _The American Weekly Mercury_ (Philadelphia), June 20, 1723.



RAN away from Joseph Coleman in the Great Valley in Chester County, a
Negro Man, named Tom, aged about 30 Years, of a middle Stature, HE SPEAKS
VERY GOOD ENGLISH, haveing on a white Shirt, Stockings and Shoes, a great
riding Coat tyed round him with blew Girdles. He was seen by several
Persons in New York, about the latter end of June last, who was well
acquainted with him and suspected his being a Run away but he told them his
former Master Capt. Palmer had sold him to a Person in the Great Valley,
who had given him his Freedom, then he pulled out a forged pass, which to
the best of his remembrance was signed by one William Hughes. Whosoever
takes up the said Negro and puts him into any Gaol, and gives notice
thereof to his said Master or to William Bradford in New York, or to
Messrs. Steel or Bethuke Merchants in Boston, shall have Three Pounds
Reward and all Reasonable Charges.

Those that take him are desired to secure the pass.

  _The American Weekly Mercury_ (Philadelphia), July 11, 1723.



_RAN away from his Master, Capt._ John Steel, _at the North End of_
Boston, _the 17th Instant, a Young Negro Fellow, named_ Pompey _SPEAKS
PRETTY GOOD ENGLISH is about 19 or 20 Years of Age, is short in Stature
and pretty long visaged, has been used to change his name; he had on a
great Ratteen Coat, Waistcoat and Breeches, the coat pretty old, with
white Metal Buttons, a Cotton and linnen Shirt, and ordinary Worsted
Cap, and grey Yarn Stockings, he took with him an old Hat, and a Leather
Jockey Cap, a pair of old black Stockings, and a new Ozenbrigs Frock: He
has made several Attempts to get off in some Vessel, therefore all
Masters of Vessels are cautioned not to entertain him._

_Whoever shall apprehend the said Negro and carry him to said Master
shall have_ Five Pounds _old Tenor, and necessary Charges paid by_ John
Steel.

  _The Boston Weekly News-Letter_, Jan. 23, 1746.



RAN away on the 19th of this Instant _SEPTEMBER_, from his Master _John
Johnson_, of _Boston_, Jack-maker, a Negro Man Servant, named Joe, about 23
Years of Age, a likely Fellow, who had on when he went away a dark colored
Fly Coat, with flat white Metal Buttons, a Swan Skin double breasted
Jacket, Leather Deer Skin Breeches, a pair of high heel'd thick soled
Shoes. He can play on the Flute, has a Scar on his upper Lip and SPEAKS
GOOD _ENGLISH_. Whoever shall take him up and deliver him to his said
Master, shall have _Ten Pounds_ Reward, Old Tenor, and all reasonable
Charges paid. All Masters of Vessels and others, are hereby cautioned
against harbouring, concealing or carrying off said Negro, as they will
avoid the Penalty of the Law.

  _The Boston Evening Post_, Oct. 3, 1748.



_RAN-AWAY from_ Luykas Job. Wyngaard, _of the City of_ Albany, _Merchant, a
certain Negro Man named_ SIMON, _of a middle size, a slender spry Fellow,
has a handsome smooth Face, and thick Legs; SPEAKS VERY GOOD_ ENGLISH: _Had
on when he went away a blue Cloth Great Coat. Whoever takes up the said
Negro and brings him to his Master, or to Mr._ JOHN LIVINGSTON, _at_ NEW
YORK, _shall receive_ Three Pounds, New York _Money, Reward, and all
reasonable Cost and Charges paid by_

  JOHN LIVINGSTON.

  _The New York Gazette Revived in the Weekly Post-Boy_, Nov. 28, 1748.



_A Likely Negro Boy about 14 Years of Age, country born, CAN SPEAK_ DUTCH
_OR_ ENGLISH, _to be sold: Enquire of Printer hereof._

  _The New York Gazette Revived in the Weekly Post-Boy_, Feb. 28, 1750.



RAN AWAY from the Subscriber living near the Head of South River, in _Anne
Arundel County_, on the 16th of June, a Negro Man, named _Joseph
Marriott_, lately convicted from London; he is a tall slim Fellow and TALKS
VERY PLAIN _ENGLISH_. Had on a black Cloth Coat, a short white Flannel
Waistcoat, a Check Shirt, a Pair of red Everlasting Breeches, a Pair of
Yarn Stockings, a Pair of Old Cannell'd Pumps, a Worsted Capt, and an old
Castor Hat; and took sundry other Cloaths with him.

Whoever apprehends the said Fellow, and brings him to the Subscriber shall
have Two Pistoles Reward.

  BENJAMIN WELSH.

  _The Maryland Gazette_, July 4, 1754.



RAN AWAY from his Master, James Dalton of Boston, on the first Instant, a
Negro Man named Ulysses, SPEAKS GOOD ENGLISH, about 5 feet 8 Inches high,
turns his Toes a little in, somewhat bow-legged.

  _The Boston Evening Post_, Oct. 10, 1757.



Cranstown, May 2, 1760.

_Ran-away from his Master Capt Edward Arnold of_ Cranstown, _the 20th of
April, A Negro Man named_ Portsmouth, _about 27 Years of Age, about 5 Feet
6 Inches high, strait limb'd SPEAKS PRETTY GOOD ENGLISH:_ * * * * * * * * *

  EDWARD ARNOLD.

  _The Boston Gazette and Country Journal_, May 19, 1760.



_RAN-away on the 28th Day of June 1761, from his Master, Ephraim Swift of_
Falmouth _in the County of_ Barnstable, _A Negro Man Servant named_ Peter,
_about 27 or 28 Years old, SPEAKS GOOD ENGLISH: had on when he went away a
Beaveret Hat, a green worsted Capt, a close bodied Coat coloured with a
green narrow Frieze Cape, a Great Coat, a black and white homespun Jacket,
a flannel checked Shirt, grey yarn Stockings; also a flannel Jacket, and a
Bundle of other Cloaths, and a Violin. He is very tall Fellow._

_Whosoever shall apprehend the said Negro Fellow and commit him to any of
his Majesty's Gaols, or secure him so as that his Master may have him
again, shall have_ Five _Dollars Reward, and all necessary Charges paid._

  EPHRAIM SWIFT.

_All Masters of Vessels and others are cautioned not to carry off or
conceal the said Negro, as they would avoid the Penalty of the Law._

  _The Boston Gazette and Country Journal_, July 6, 1761.



EIGHT DOLLARS REWARD

RAN away from the Subscriber, the 17th instant, a likely Negro Fellow,
(named CATO) about five feet seven inches high, about twenty years old, had
on when he went away, a grey bear-skin double-breasted Jacket with large
white metal buttons, and striped under ditto, long striped trowsers, with
leather breeches under them, a sailor's Dutch Cap; he has pimples in his
face, SPEAKS GOOD ENGLISH, very nice about the hair, tells a very plausible
story, upon any extraordinary occasion, and pretends to have a pass signed
by John Nelson.

Whosoever may take up said servant, and return him, to his Master, shall
have Eight Dollars reward, and all necessary Charges paid by

  GEORGE WATSON.
  Plymouth March 25, 1769.

  _Post Script to the Boston Weekly News-Letter_, Apr. 20, 1769.



TEN DOLLARS REWARD

Run away on the 14th instant, a Negro Woman named Lydia, aged about forty,
SPEAKS GOOD ENGLISH, is remarkably tall and stout made, has a large mark on
her right cheek where she has been burnt; she had on her a blue negro cloth
jacket and coat, a blue shalloon gown, a red and white cotton handkerchief
round her head, a blue and white ditto about her neck, and a pair of men's
shoes, and a ditto men's clowded stockings. She has belonged to Mrs.
Derise, sen. and to Mr. Dalziel Hunter. The Reward will be paid on delivery
of the said Wench, by Mr. McDowell, No 27 Broadstreet; and any person
harbouring her after this notice will be prosecuted according to law.

  Feb. 18th, 1783.

  _The South-Carolina Weekly Advertiser_, Feb. 19, 1783.



RAN AWAY

From the Subscribers, the 28th of June, A short old Negroe-man named Tom,
marked with the small pox, SPEAKS VERY GOOD ENGLISH, late the property of
Capt. Richard Estes; and having reason to believe that he is gone to the
former plantation, or embarked himself for Bermuda, where he has children
belonging to a Mr. Robinson; therefore all captains of vessels, or others
are forbid harbouring or carrying off said Negroe, on forfeit according to
law. Whosoever will send or deliver said Negro to us or the Warden of the
Work-house, shall be generously rewarded. Charleston, June 29. Roch &
Custer.

  _The South Carolina Gazette and General Advertiser_, July 1, 1784.



TWO GUINEAS REWARD

RAN AWAY a Negro Man named Prince about twenty-three years old, and about
five feet six inches high, small featured, of a dark complection, his
Guinea country marks on his face, SPEAKS VERY GOOD ENGLISH, has a down
look; had on when he went away a light coloured surtout coat, a pair of
yellow stocking breeches, and a round black hat; he has been seen skulking
about this city since Saturday last. Two Guineas reward will be given and
all reasonable charges paid to any one delivering the said Negro to the
Warden of the Work-house, or to the Subscriber, and the utmost rigour of
the law will be inflicted on conviction of any person harbouring the said
Negroe.

  Charleston, July 6, 1784. Samuel Boas, No. 5 Church Street.

  _The South Carolina Gazette and General Advertiser_, July 6, 1784.



BROUGHT TO THE WORKHOUSE

A Negro fellow named March, of the Guinea country, five feet one inch high,
SPEAKS VERY MUCH BROKEN ENGLISH, forty or forty-five years of age, says his
master's name is Mr. Gerry, of Santee.

Also a negroe fellow named Sambo, of the Guinea country, five feet four
inches high, twenty or twenty-five years of age, pitted a little with the
small pox; has on a check shirt, a white cloth sailor jacket, with black
binding, and a pair of Osnaburg trowsers.

Also a negro fellow named Abraham, born on John's Island in this State,
thirty or thirty-five years of age, five feet three inches high, SPEAKS
PROPER ENGLISH, and says his masters name is Thomas Cleay, and lives at
Cullpepper, in Virginia.

  JOHN GERLEY, WARDEN.

  July 9, 1784.

  _The South Carolina Gazette and General Advertiser_, July 10, 1784.



TO BE SOLD
On Tuesday Next,
By Messrs. Colcock & Gibbons.
A YOUNG NEGRO.

Between fourteen and fifteen years of age, who is an exceedingly good hair
dresser, and understands very well to keep horses, CAN SPEAK FRENCH AND
ENGLISH.

  ROGER SMITH.

  _The South Carolina Gazette and General Advertiser_, July 20, 1784.



RUN-AWAY

From the Subscriber
The following Negroes viz.

Moll, a tall black Wench, about 20 years old, is frequently seen in and
about Charleston, and Stono, she has changed her name to Judah, and says
she is free.

JAMES, a short well made fellow, with a large scar on one cheek, has also a
scar on one foot, with the loss of a part of his toes, is frequently seen
in Charleston and at Mr. Manigault's plantation.

JEFFERY, a middle size well made straight limb'd fellow, about 22 or 23
years old, a little pitted with the small pox, used to the coasting
business.

Also JAMIE, a short well made fellow, a little bough legged, about 20 years
old. THE ABOVE NEGROES ARE VERY ARTFUL, SPEAK GOOD ENGLISH, and most
probably have changed their names. A Reward of THREE GUINEAS will be paid
for each of the said negroes on delivery to the Warden of the Workhouse, in
Charleston, or to the subscriber in Georgetown.

This is therefore to forewarn all persons from harbouring, or Masters of
vessels from carrying off said Negroes, as they may depend on conviction,
to be treated with the utmost rigour of the law, by

  LEWIS DUTARQUE.

  _The State Gazette of South Carolina_, Jan. 26, 1786.



BROUGHT TO THE WORKHOUSE

A Negro Girl named Hannah, this country born, 4 feet 8 inches high, 13
or 14 years of age, dark complexion, SPEAKS GOOD ENGLISH, has on a blue
Negro Cloth Wrapper and petticoat, much faded, says her master's name is
Mr. Rose, and lives at Asbepoo. Taken up by James Ackett in this City,
February 2, 1786.

  JOHN GERLEY, WARDEN.

  _State Gazette of South Carolina_, Feb. 20, 1786.



THREE GUINEAS REWARD RUNAWAY

_From the Subscriber's Plantation called Mrs. Wright's Place near
Dorchester_, A MULATTO FELLOW named JOE, about 20 years of age, five feet
five inches high, SPEAKS EXCEEDINGLY GOOD ENGLISH, had on when he went away
a brown jacket and overalls. Whoever will deliver the said fellow to the
subscriber, shall have the above reward.

  A. PLEYM.

  _The State Gazette of South Carolina_, April 20, 1786.



RUN-AWAY

_From the Subscriber on September last, Scipio, a likely black fellow,
about 25 years old, has a few of his country marks on each side of his
face, which can be perceived on examining closely, HE SPEAKS REMARKABLY
GOOD ENGLISH FOR A NEGRO, AND IS EXCEEDINGLY ARTFUL, he formerly belonged
to Captain Ogier, at which time was his waiting man, he is in all
probability on Santee river, or Stono, as he is well acquainted there, and
indeed everywhere else in the State, he generally keeps with a negro
fellow belonging to the Reverend Mr. Lewis, deceased, by the name of
Brutus, who is likewise runaway. Whoever will deliver said fellow or
secure him, so that the subscriber can get him, either dead or alive,
shall receive_ TEN POUNDS.

_Andrew a likely fellow, of a yellowish complexion, about 30 years old, his
particular marks are not recollected, he formerly belonged to the estate of
Thomas Sullivan, deceased, and was sold about 12 months ago to Mr. Hubert
Hodson, of the Round O, he has a wife in Charleston, who belongs to a free
negro carpenter, who lives now in King Street, named James Miles, and it is
suspected that he is harboured there. Whoever will deliver said fellow or
secure him in the Work-House of Charleston, so that the subscriber gets him
shall receive_ FIVE POUNDS.

_Nancy, a very likely black Guinea wench, SPEAKS GOOD ENGLISH, very artful,
and no doubt will change her name, and master's too; she is branded on the
breast something like L blotched, about 5½ feet high, went away in 1784,
at which time she belonged to John Logan Esq, deceased, she has been in
Charleston the greatest part of her time since her absence, passes for a
free wench, and it is said washes and irons for a livelihood. Whoever will
deliver said wench, or secure her, so that the subscriber gets her safe
shall receive_ FIVE POUNDS.

_All persons are hereby cautioned from harbouring either of these negroes,
as they may depend on being prosecuted with the utmost rigour of the law. A
handsome reward will be paid any person who will give information of their
being harboured by any white person, so that the evidence will admit of a
prosecution_.

  HENRY BELL.

  _Round O in St. Bartholomew's Parish, Aug. 4, 1786._

  _The State Gazette of South Carolina_, Aug. 21, 1786.



NEGRO IN CUSTODY

CHARLES THOMAS, very black, has white teeth, is about 5 feet 10 inches
high, and about 26 or 27 years of age, has had his left leg broke, which
bends in a little about the ancle, SPEAKS BOTH FRENCH AND ENGLISH, and is
a very great rogue.

Thomas Acken, Gaoler.

New Castle Delaware, Aug. 28, 1793.

  _The Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser_, Sept. 20, 1793.



100 DOLLARS REWARD

Absented himself on Thursday 16th instant, from the subscriber, a Mustee
Fellow named James, well known about town, being formerly the Property of
Mr. Sarazin; of a Yellow Complexion, bushy hair, pitted with small pox, a
remarkable scar over his right eye, SPEAKS VERY PROPER, AND CAN AT ANY
TIME MAKE OUT A PLAUSIBLE TALE; had on an old green plush coat, with
yellow cuffs and cape, but will no doubt change his dress, as he took a
variety with him. Any person apprehending the said fellow, and deliver him
to the Master of the Work-House, or to the Subscriber, shall be entitled
to the above reward.

  JOHN GEYER.

  _The City Gazette and Daily Advertiser_, June 22, 1797.



20 DOLLARS REWARD

Ran-away from the Subscriber, on the evening of the 5th instant, a Negro
Fellow named Lando; he is about 5 feet 7 inches high, 18 or 19 years of
age, remarkably likely Fellow, rather slim made; HE SPEAKS FRENCH TOLERABLE
WELL, and is too fond of the French Negroes, it is supposed he is harboured
by some of them. He had on when he went away a pair of brown trowsers, and
a jacket of the same colour, with green cape and cuffs and white metal
buttons, but it is very probable he may have changed his dress, as he
carried other clothes with him.

A reward of Fifty Dollars will be paid to any person that will give
information of his being harbored by a White and Twenty-five Dollars if by
a Black Person, on conviction of the offender.

  DAVID HAIG.

  _City Gazette and Daily Advertiser_ (Charleston, S.C.), June 27, 1797.



TEN DOLLARS REWARD

Ran-away from his Master on the 6th ultimo, a MULATTO FELLOW named DICK,
about 20 years old, five feet nine or ten inches high; a stout well-built
Fellow, SPEAKS ENGLISH VERY WELL. It will be difficult to describe his
dress, as he carried a quantity of clothing with him, when he absented
himself.

The above reward will be paid to whoever shall have secured him, so that he
may be returned to his Master.

Masters of vessels and all other persons are cautioned against harbouring
said fellow, as they will incur the penalties of the law in that case.

  JAMES MORISON.

  _City Gazette and Daily Advertiser_ (Charleston, S.C.), Nov. 12, 1798.



THIRTY DOLLARS REWARD

Absented themselves sometime since, the following slaves, viz.

Bob, a carpenter Fellow, of a yellowish complexion, mustee, has bushy hair,
is about five feet six inches high, and 35 years of age; is well made, AND
SPEAKS RATHER MORE PROPER THAN NEGROES IN GENERAL.

Dorcas, his Wife, also has a Yellowish complexion and bushy hair, is about
26 years of age, is a good cook, VERY SMART, AND SPEAKS VERY PROPERLY.

They have with them their two Children; one a Girl called Willoughby, about
8 or 10 years old; and another infant only a few months old.

One half the above sum will be paid for Bob, and the other half for Dorcas
and the children, on their being lodged in any gaol in the State, or being
delivered to Captain PAUL HAMILTON on Salimas Island or Mr. William P.
Smith at Ponpon; and One Hundred Dollars will be paid on conviction of
their being harboured by a White person.

  MARY EDDINGS.

  _City Gazette and Daily Advertiser_ (Charleston, S.C.), July 31, 1799.



500 DOLLARS REWARD

Absented themselves from the subscriber the following Negroes, viz.

Tom on the 23 January ult. from the City of Charleston; he is about 42
years of age, of a black complexion, SPEAKS GOOD ENGLISH, a little
knock-kneed, had on when he went away an iron on one leg, and another on
his neck.

Cyrus, from Chehaw, in the month of August last past. He is about five feet
six or eight inches high, SPEAKS GOOD ENGLISH, about 38 years of age, well
made, and is remarkably bow-legged.

Also Hercules from Chehaw in the month of February 1797. He is about five
feet eight or nine inches high, stout and well made, SPEAKS GOOD ENGLISH,
is about 36 years old, has remarkable thick lips, and has a small
impediment in his speech when frightened, and of a yellowish complexion.

The above Negroes are harboured on the Ashley river, where Tom and Hercules
had been for three years past, and are now between Wappoo-cut and Ashley
ferry.

One Hundred dollars will be paid on conviction of a white person taking or
having taken Tom's irons off, and twenty if by a Negro. Also fifty dollars
will be paid on delivery of him to the master of the work house; fifty
dollars will also be paid on delivery of Cyrus, and one hundred for
Hercules; and a further reward of two hundred dollars will be paid on
conviction of their being harboured by a white person.

  February 15,
  ARTHUR HUGHES.

  _The City Gazette and Daily Advertiser_, March 5, 1800.



RAN-away from the subscribed on the 6th of July, a Negro man named PETER,
formerly the property of Dr. Guion. He is very black and SPEAKS GOOD
ENGLISH. He is about forty-five years of age, and has a free wife in this
town, at whose house I have reason to suppose he is harboured. As he is
well known in Newbern I need not describe him more particularly.

I will give a reward of Ten Dollars to any person who will deliver him to
Mr. Dudley, the gaoler, or to the subscriber. All person are forwarned from
harbouring or employing said fellow at their peril.

  THOMAS CURTIS.

  August 8.

  _The Newbern Gazette_, Aug. 15, 1800.



TWENTY DOLLARS REWARD

Absented himself from the Subscriber on Friday, his Waiting Man, named
YORK, well known in Charleston, as he has been accustomed to drive a
carriage and worked out the last year. He is a likely fellow, of a dark
complexion, about five feet ten inches high, of a thin visage, about
twenty-seven years of age, SPEAKS VERY PROPER, and may pass for a freeman.
He had on when he went away, oznaburg overalls and a white shirt, with a
brown negro cloth coat, and corduroy waistcoat, faced with green on the
pockets, also a blue surtoutt, lined with green boise.

All masters of vessels are requested not to carry him off the State; and a
reward of Twenty Dollars will be given to any person who will deliver him
to the Master of the Work-house, or to

  THOMAS WARING.
  August 3.

  _City Gazette and Daily Advertiser_ (Charleston, S.C.), Aug. 18, 1800.



FIVE DOLLARS REWARD

Absented himself from the Subscriber's plantation, in St. Thomas Parish,
the 15th ult. BUTLER. He is a thin black fellow, about five feet seven
inches high, and about 26 years of age, is remarkably civil when spoken to,
AND SPEAKS VERY GOOD ENGLISH; is something of a shoemaker; he has of late
threatened to go and see his mother, who belongs to the state of gen.
Greene, and lives on one of his plantations in the State of Georgia, where
it is probable he is gone; he also has a wife in Charleston, who works at
the Distillery, (formerly Mr. Fitzsimmon's) where he may be concealed by
her. The above reward will be paid to any person who will deliver him to
the Master of the Work-House, or to the Subscriber in Boundary Street.

N.B. If the above Negro Fellow is taken up in the country, Ten Dollars will
be paid, and all reasonable traveling expenses.

  THOMAS WIGFALL.
  October 1.

  _City Gazette and Daily Advertiser_ (Charleston, S.C.) Oct. 3, 1800.



ADVERTISEMENT

Confined in Barnwell Gaol, on the 21st day of July 1802; two NEGRO FELLOWS,
Jacob and Enox. JACOB is about five feet ten inches high and very trim
built, about twenty-one years of age, SPEAKS PLAIN ENGLISH, is a good deal
scared on the back, has some very good clothes, such as a blue coat, new
lining shirt, white ribbed stockings, several waistcoats, pair of striped
overalls, two blankets, and several other things not worth mentioning; and
upon examination says he was born in Virginia and was brought from thence
by John Fellows, and sold by John Eaves, in the State of Georgia, on the
South of Ogeehie, from whom he has absconded.

Enox is spare built and low in stature, appears to be about twenty-five
years of age, SPEAKS ENGLISH, THOUGH SOMEWHAT NEGROISH had a white plain
coat and home spun jacket and overalls; and upon examination says he
belongs to James Hogg, about fourteen miles below Coosawhatchie Court
House.

  WILLIAM GOODE, Gaoler,
  Barnwell District.

  _City Gazette and Daily Advertiser_, Aug. 12, 1802.



RUN away from Sassafras River on the 9th of November, a lusty Negro Man,
named Prince, about 25 Years old, full faced and pitted with the Small Pox,
AND SPEAKS ENGLISH. He had on when he went away, a home spun Kersey Jacket
blue Waistcoat under it, Oznabrigs shirt, new shoes, and old Yarn
Stockings: He pretends to have a certificate for his Freedom, which is
supposed he had from one of the Sailors on board of the Vessel he ran from.

Whoever takes up the said Negro and brings him to the Printers at Annapolis
or to the Subscriber at Sassafras, shall have four Pistoles Reward and
necessary charges, paid by

  SAMUEL ALLYNE.

N.B. It is probable he is in Baltimore or some other part of the Western
Shore as he went away in a Canoe.



LEARNING TO READ AND WRITE


RUN away on the 4th Inst., at Night from James Leonard in Middlesex County
East-New-Jersey, a Negro Man named Simon, aged 40 years, is a well-set
Fellow, about 5 feet 10 inches high, has large Eyes, and a Foot 12 inches
long; he was bred and born in this Country, TALKS GOOD ENGLISH, CAN READ
AND WRITE, is very slow in his speech, can bleed and draw Teeth * * *

Whoever takes up and secures the said Negro, so that his Master may have
him again shall have Three Pounds Reward and reasonable charges, paid by

  JAMES LOENARD.

  _The Pennsylvania Gazette_, Sept. 11, 1740.



RAN-away from Capt. Joseph Hale of Newbury, a Negro Man, named _Cato_, the
6th Instant, about 22 Years of Age, short and small, SPEAKS GOOD ENGLISH
AND CAN READ AND WRITE, understands farming Work carry'd with him a striped
homespun Jacket and Breeches, and Trousers, and an outer Coat and Jacket of
home-made Cloth, two Pair of Shoes, sometimes wears a black Wigg, has a
smooth Face, a sly Look, TOOK WITH A VIOLIN, AND CAN PLAY WELL THEREON. Had
with him three Linnen Shirts, home-made pretty fine yarn Stockings. Whoever
shall bring said Negro to his Master or secure him so that he may have him
again shall have _five Pounds_ Reward and all necessary Charges paid by me.

  JOSEPH HALE.

  Newbury, July 8th, 1745.

  _The Boston Gazette or Weekly Journal_, July 9, 1745.


RAN-away from his Master Eleazer Tyng, Esq at Dunstable, on the 26th May
past, a Negro Man Servant call'd Robbin, almost of the Complexion of an
Indian, short thick square shoulder'd Fellow, a very short Neck, and thick
Legs, about 28 Years old, TALKS GOOD ENGLISH, CAN READ AND WRITE, and plays
on the Fiddle; he was born at Dunstable *** Whoever will apprehend said
Negro and secure him, so that his Master may have him again, or bring him
to the Ware-House of Messiers Alford and Tyng in Boston, shall have a
reward of Ten Pounds, old Tenor, and all reasonable Charges.

N.B. And all Masters of Vessels or others are hereby cautioned against
harbouring, concealing or carrying off said Servant, on Penalty of the law.

  _The New York Gazette Revived in the Weekly Post-Boy_, July 18, 1748.



RAN away from the Subscriber, the 20th of _November_ last, living on
_Patuxent_ River, near Upper Marlborough, in _Prince George's_ County, a
dark Mulatto Man, named _Sam_, about 5 feet 9 or 10 Inches high, about 30
Years of Age, a Carpenter by Trade, has a down Look, and low Voice. Had on
when he went away a new Cotton Jacket and Breeches, and osnabrigs Shirt; he
is supposed to have taken with him, one Cotton Coat lined with blue, one
red Waistcoat and Breeches, one blue Silk Coat, one light Cloth Coat, some
fine Shirts, and one or two good Hats. He is supposed to be lurking in
_Charles County_ near _Bryan-Town_, where a Mulatto Woman lives, whom he
has for some Time called his Wife; BUT AS HE IS AN ARTFUL FELLOW, AND CAN
READ AND WRITE, it is probable he may endeavour to make his Escape out of
the Province.

Whoever takes up the said Runaway, and secures him so as his Masters may
get him again, shall have, if taken out of this Province, Three Pounds;
and if within this Province, Forty Shillings, besides what the Law allows
paid by

  WILLIAM DIGGES, JUNIOR.

  _The Maryland Gazette_, Feb. 27, 1755.



RAN away from Jonathan Sergeant, at Newark, in New-Jersey, A young negro
man, named Esop, of middle size, with round forehead, strait nose, and a
down guilty look; HE CAN WRITE, AND IT IS LIKELY HE MAY HAVE A COUNTERFEIT
PASS: Had with him a beaver hat, light grey linsey-wolsey jacket, two
trowsers, new pumps, and an old purple coloured waist coat. It is supposed
he went away in company with a white man, named John Smith, who is an old
lean, tall man, with a long face and nose, and strait brown hair; who had
on an old faded snuff-coloured coat. Whoever takes up and secures said man
and Negro, so that their master may have them again, shall have Forty
Shillings reward for each and all reasonable Charges, paid by

  JONATHAN SERGEANT.

  _The Pennsylvania Gazette_, Aug. 28, 1755.



FORTY DOLLARS REWARD

And all reasonable charges shall be paid to any Person that secures and
brings to William Kelly, of the City of New York, merchant a Negro man
named Norton Minors, who ran away from his masters Messrs. Bodkin and
Ferrall of the Island of St. Croix, on the 1st day of July last; is by
trade a Caulker and ship-carpenter; has lived at Newbury, in New-England;
was the property of Mr. Mark Quane, who sold him to Mr. Craddock of Nevis,
from whom the above gentlemen bought him about three years ago; is about 5
feet 8 inches high; age about 37 years; SPEAKS GOOD ENGLISH, CAN READ AND
WRITE; AND IS A VERY SENSIBLE FELLOW: And his masters suspect he came off
in the sloop Boscawen, Andrew Ford, Master, who sailed from the above
Island the very day this fellow eloped, bound for Louisbourg.

  _The New York Gazette_, Nov. 10, 1760.



RAN AWAY on the 9th Instant, October, in the Morning from the Subscriber, a
Negro Man named JACK, a well set Fellow, about 5 feet 8 Inches high, full
fac'd, much pitted with the Small-pox, snuffles when he speaks, READS
ENGLISH, PRETENDS MUCH TO UNDERSTAND THE SCRIPTURES. Had on when he went
away a Pair of Course Trowsers, stripped Jacket, and a Frock over it.
Whoever takes up said Fellow and brings him to the subscriber shall have
_FORTY SHILLINGS_ and all reasonable Charges paid.--All Masters of Vessels
&c. are desired not to harbour him, or carry him off, as he or they may
depend on being prosecuted as the Law directs.

  MANUEL MYERS,

  Linging in Stone Street.

  _The New York Gazette_, Nov. 10, 1760.



RAN AWAY in August last from the Subscriber, living in Northampton County,
Virginia, a Molatto Man Slave, about Five Feet Nine Inches high, and hath
a large Scar on one Side of his Face. IT IS PROBABLE HE WILL ENDEAVOUR TO
PASS FOR A FREE MAN, AS HE CAN WRITE. Whoever takes up, and secures the
said slave, so that the Subscriber can have him again, shall have TWENTY
DOLLARS; and if delivered to me, at Northampton, FORTY DOLLARS Reward paid
by

  MICHAEL CHRISTIAN.

  _The Maryland Gazette_, Oct. 27, 1769.



St. Mary's County, January 16, 1776.

TWENTY DOLLARS REWARD

Ran away from the subscriber near Chaptico, the 4th instant, a small Negro
Man named _Dickison_, otherwise _Joe_, he has been frequently used to both
names, he is about 5 feet 2 or 3 inches high: Had on when he went away
three country cloth jackets, the under one lappelled and checked, another
striped in length, the other warped with white and filled with black, his
breeches the same, country shoes and stockings, felt hat half worn; he took
with him a mill-bag half worn: It is likely he may have changed his name
and cloths, HE IS A VERY ARTFUL FELLOW AND CAN READ, and likely may
endeavour to pass for a freeman. Any person bringing him home, or securing
him so as his master may get him again, shall receive if out of the
Province the above reward; if sixty miles from home Five Pounds, if taken
in the county or at a small distance Three Pounds and all reasonable
charges, paid by

  THOMAS NICHOLS.

  _Dunlap's Maryland Gazette or The Baltimore General Advertiser_,
     July 23, 1776.



Perry-Hall, Baltimore County, Sept. 13, 1785.

FORTY DOLLARS REWARD, for apprehending and delivering to the suscriber,
Negro Will. He left my service the 3rd inst., is short and well made, has
remarkably small hands and feet, about 26 years of age, has a large beard
for a Negro. HE ATTEMPTS TO READ AND WRITE, BUT HE PERFORMS VERY
IMPERFECTLY. HE IS BY TRADE A BLACKSMITH; HAS DROVE A CARRIAGE, CAN SHAVE
AND DRESS HAIR, AND IS A COBBLING SHOEMAKER. He is fond of strong liquor
and when intoxicated is very quarrelsome. The above-described ungrateful
rogue I manumitted some years past, with a number of other slaves, who were
free at different periods, and I am apprehensive he has got one of their
discharges. He is not free by manumission till next Christmas, and from
that time he was to serve me 6 months, by agreement, for the expenses of a
former elopement, about two years past, which cost me upwards of Twenty
Pounds.

  H. D. GOUGH.

  _The Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser_, Sept. 20, 1785.



RANAWAY on the Monday the 7th of June, a likely mulatto man named Francis,
of a middle stature; he is about 25 years old, has a small scar on one of
his cheeks, and some time ago received a fall from a horse, which has
caused the skin about one of his eyes to be somewhat darker than the rest
of his face. HE CAN WRITE A PRETTY GOOD HAND; PLAYS ON THE FIFE EXTREMELY
WELL, and is an incomparable good house servant He had when he left home, 6
good linen shirts, a fine new brown broad cloth coat, a green shaggy
jacket, breeches of several kinds, with shoe-boots and shoes. I do suppose
that he intends to ship himself for Europe or elsewhere. I therefore
forewarn all masters and captains of vessels as well as all other persons,
from having any thing to say to the servant above described, and will give
a reward of Five Guineas to any Person or Persons who will either deliver
him to me in Halifax town, North Carolina, or secure him in any jail so
that I get him again.

  HALCOT B. PRIDE.
  June 24, 1790.

  _The Norfolk and Portsmouth Chronicle_, July 10, 1790.



100 DOLLARS REWARD

Run away from the subscriber the 9th inst., a negro man slave named Will
about 40 years of age 5 feet 8 or 10 inches high; has two remarkable scars
on his breast and is much scarified about the neck and throat, caused by a
disorder he was cured of some years ago; CAN READ A LITTLE, and a very
dissembling fellow. He took with him sundry cloaths, among which are a blue
cotton coat, with metal buttons, a striped jacket, a pair of blue cotton,
and a pair of corduroy breeches. It is probable he will endeavor to pass
for a freeman, and try to get on board some vessel; all masters of vessels
are hereby forewarned from carrying him off. Whoever will deliver the said
slave to me in Southampton county, near South Quay, or secure him in any
gaol, so that I get him again, shall receive the above reward.

  SAMUEL BROWNE.
  Feb. 25, 1791.

  _The Norfolk and Portsmouth Chronicle_, March 19, 1791.



_TEN DOLLARS REWARD_

Absconded from my service on Tuesday evening, the 10th instant, a black
Negro Man, named Manuel, by trade a blacksmith, about 21 Years of age, 5
feet 7 or 8 inches high, of a strong lusty make, full faced, and somewhat
round shouldered; he is sober and intelligent and CAN BOTH READ AND WRITE.
He had on and took with him, a grey cloth coat, an old short grey napped
do., one pair nankeen breeches and vest, and one pair of corduroy breeches,
and black vest. Whoever apprehends and brings home the above described
Manuel, shall have the above reward.

  ADAM FONERDEN.
  Sept. 12, 1793.

  _The Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser_, Oct. 1, 1793.



RAN AWAY

On the 25th ultimo, from the subscriber, living near Culpepper Court-house,
_A Negro Man_ named _JACK_, about 30 years old, 5 feet 10 or 11 inches
high, very muscular, full faced, wide nostrils, large eyes, a down look,
speaks slowly and wore his hair cued; had on when he eloped, a white shirt,
grey broad cloth coat, mixed cassimere waistcoat and breeches, a brown hat,
faced underneath with green, and a pair of boots. He formerly belonged to
Mr. _Augustin Baughan_, of Fredericksburg, now of Baltimore, and I am told
was seen making for Alexandria, with the intention of taking the stage
thither: HE IS ARTFUL CAN BOTH READ AND WRITE AND IS A GOOD FIDDLER; it is
therefore probable that he may attempt a forgery and pass as a free man. He
is most commonly known by the name of _Jack Taylor_, was originally from
Essex County, has a father living there, and it is said he has a wife, the
property of Mrs. Dalrymple of Dumfries. Whoever secures him in any jail so
that I get him again shall have Ten Dollars Reward, and if taken above
sixty and not more than one hundred miles distant, and brought home, shall
receive Twelve Dollars, and for any greater distance, Fifteen Dollars, with
all reasonable expenses borne. Masters of Vessels and stage drivers are
forewarned carrying him out of the State, under penalty of the law.

  CARTER BEVERLEY.

  _The Virginia Herald_ (Fredericksburg), Jan. 21, 1800.



TWENTY DOLLARS REWARD

Ran-away from the Subscriber's plantation at Ponpon, about the beginning of
last September, a young _Mulatto Fellow_ named CYRUS, about five feet six
or seven inches high, 25 years old, very short and strong built. The said
fellow is very well known about town, as he served four years
apprenticeship to Mr. Donaldson, house carpenter. IT IS PROBABLE THAT HE
HAS FORGED A PASS FOR HIMSELF, AS HE WRITES; he sometimes calls himself
James and says he belongs to Mr. Savage. Any person apprehending and
delivering him to the Master of the Work House, or at the Subscriber's on
South Bay, shall receive the above reward and all reasonable expenses paid

  THOMAS OSBORN.

  _The City Gazette and Daily Advertiser_ (Charleston), March 7, 1801.



EIGHT HUNDRED DOLLARS REWARD

Montgomery County, near Sugar Loaf
Mountain, Oct. 10, 1780.

Ran away, from the Subscriber, the 23rd of September last, a Negro Man
named Frederick, about 26 years of age, about 6 feet high, and is a black
country born likely well-set fellow. Had on, when he went away, a coarse
shirt and short trousers; and carried with him, one old lightish-coloured
lagathee or duroy patched coat, with a slit on the shoulders, one pair of
black everlasting breeches, one pair of white cotton ditto, patched and
darned before, one pair of white corded linen ditto, one striped linsey
jacket, with sleeves, one linen ditto, without sleeves, one pair white yarn
stockings, one pair of shoes and buckles, AND A TESTAMENT AND HYMN BOOK. HE
CAN READ PRINT, IS VERY SENSIBLE AND ARTFUL, delights much in traffic, and
it is probable he will change his name and cloaths, and endeavour to pass
for a freeman. Whoever takes up said Negro and secures him, so that I get
him again, shall receive One Hundred and Fifty Pounds Reward; if 30 miles
from home, One hundred Twenty Five Pounds, and so on in proportion as far
as the above Reward, paid by

  JOHN WILSON.

  _The Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser_, Oct. 17, 1780.



RAN away from the subscribers living near the Queen Tree, St. Mary's
County, on the fifth day of the present month, being Easter Sunday, the
following three negro men, viz.

George, the property of John Edeley, aged twenty-three years, of a dark
complexion, about six feet high, fleshy and well looking; had on when he
went away, a blue great coat, a good ruffled shirt, a pair of country linen
trousers, his other cloaths are uncertain.

David, the property of Nathaniel Ewing, aged about twenty-one years, five
feet seven inches high, of a dark complexion, well made, has a burn on one
of his arms near the shoulder, a sharp nose; had on when he went away a
dark coloured cloth coat, whitish breeches, Irish linen shirt, old boots,
a new hat with a black ribbon around the crown, other cloaths uncertain.

Charles, the property of Cornelius Wildman, aged about twenty-six years,
five feet seven inches high, dark complexion, down looking fellow, thick
lips; had on when he went away a cotton and woolen country coat, a striped
silk jacket, a pair of white breeches and stockings, a new wool hat with a
ribbon around it. IT IS PROBABLE THAT THESE FELLOWS WILL ATTEMPT TO GET
TO PENNSYLVANIA, AS DAVID HAS ONCE BEEN THERE WITH HIS MASTER; IT IS ALSO
APPREHENDED THAT THEY MAY HAVE SUPPLIED THEMSELVES WITH PASSES EITHER FROM
SOME ILL-DESIGNING WHITE PERSON, OR THAT GEORGE HAS CONTRIVED TO EXECUTE
SOME KIND OF PASSES HIMSELF, AS HE CAN READ WRITING, ALSO WRITE SOME
LITTLE. We are likewise of the opinion they may endeavour to pass by the
name of BUTLER, as George had some time in his possession before he went
off a pass granted to CLEM BUTLER, who was a free negro, from which it is
likely he might take copies. Whoever takes up and secures said Negro
slaves in any gaol, so that their masters may get them again, shall
receive TWENTY FOUR DOLLARS, including what the law allows for the three
Negroes or the sum of EIGHT DOLLARS, also including what the law allows,
for either of them.

  April 11, 1795.

  JOHN EDELEY
  NATHANIEL EWING
  CORNELIUS WILDMAN.

  _The Maryland Gazette_, May 21, 1795.



_FORTY DOLLARS REWARD_

Ran away from the subscriber living near Stafford court-house in the
commonwealth of Virginia, about the middle of May last, a Negro fellow
named JACK, about five feet eight or nine inches high, nineteen years old,
thick made and well set, stoops in the shoulders, and his complexion black,
has a remarkable scar on the top of one of his feet, but I forget whether
right or left; he carried with him the following cloaths, a greenish
coloured great coat of elastic cloth, with buff cuffs and cape, a white
casimer vest and breeches, a brown cloth vest, and a calico vest, but these
he may change for other cloaths; this negro lately belonged to the estate
of Mr. Thomas Stone, in Charles County, Maryland, and may pass himself for
one of the Thomas family of negroes belonging to the said estate, who made
pretention to their freedom, but the fallacy of the attempt may be easily
detected, as he is quite black, whereas the Thomas family are all of
mulatto colour; HE CAN ALSO READ A LITTLE. I suspect he is lurking about
Baltimore or Annapolis; his mother is in the former city, who is also a
runaway, and named Rachel. I will give the above reward of fifty dollars
to any person who will deliver him to me at my place of residence, or forty
dollars for securing him in any gaol so that I may get him again.

  TRAVERS DANIEL, JUN.
  Stafford County, Virginia, Oct. 28, 1797.

  _The Maryland Gazette_, January 4, 1798.



EIGHTY DOLLARS REWARD

RAN AWAY from the subscriber's farm about seven miles from Annapolis, on
Wednesday the 5th instant, two slaves, Will and Tom; they are brothers.
Will, a straight tall well made fellow, upwards of six feet high, he is
generally called black, but has rather a yellowish complexion, by trade a
carpenter and cooper, and in general capable of the use of tools in almost
any work; saws well at the whip saw, about thirty years of age, when he
speaks quick he stammers a little in his speech. Tom a stout well made
fellow, a bright mulatto, twenty-four years of age, and about five feet
nine or ten inches high; he is a complete hand at plantation work, and can
handle tools pretty well. Their dress at home, upper jackets lined with
flannel, and overalls of a drab colour, but they have a variety of other
clothing, and it is supposed they will not appear abroad in what they wear
at home. WILL WRITES PRETTY WELL, AND IF HE AND HIS BROTHER ARE NOT
FURNISHED WITH PASSES FROM OTHERS, THEY WILL NOT BE AT A LOST FOR THEM, BUT
UPON PROPER EXAMINATION MAY BE DISCOVERED TO BE FORGED. These people it is
imagined, are gone for Baltimore town as Tom has a wife living there with
Mr. Thomas Edwards. For taking up and securing the two fellows in the gaol
of Baltimore town, or any other gaol, so that I get them again, shall
receive a reward of eighty dollars, and for either forty dollars.

  Annapolis, April 10, 1797.

  THOMAS HOWARD.

  _The Maryland Gazette_, Feb. 1, 1798.



200 DOLLARS REWARD

Run away in the spring of the last year, from this place, a Young fellow
belonging to me, named John, sometimes called Johnson, at times calling
himself John Hill, at other times John Howe. This fellow is about 5 feet 5
inches high, 23 years old, and is of a dull copper-colour, being the son of
a mulatto man and negro woman; his features are generally ugly; his eyes
remarkably large and prominent; he is sensible and shrewd, civil in his
manners, and plausible in conversation; he served his time with a cabinet
maker, and has worked as journeyman with a Windsor Chair-maker; he is very
ingenious, and well acquainted with the use of the joiners tools. JOHN
READS AND I BELIEVE CAN WRITE A LITTLE. He probably made some one of the
Northern ports the place of his destination, or perhaps Charleston. I will
pay the above reward to any person who will deliver John to me or to the
Jailor in this place.

  W. H. HILL.

  _The Charleston Courier_, June 29, 1803.



EDUCATED NEGROES


RAN AWAY ON SATURDAY NIGHT LAST, FROM Moorhall in Chester County, a Mulatto
Man Slave, aged about 22, has a likely whitish countenance, of a middle
Stature; having on a chocolate coloured Cloth coat, Linnen Waistcoat,
Leather Breeches, grey Stockings, a Pess-burnt Wig, and a good Hat; has
with him several white Shirts, and some Money: HE SPEAKS SWEDE AND ENGLISH
WELL. Whoever secures the said Slave, so that his Master may have him
again, shall be very handsomely Rewarded, and all reasonable Charges paid
by

  WILLIAM MOORE.

  Wilmington, N.C., June 10, 1803.

  _The Pennsylvania Gazette_, July 31, 1740.



RUN AWAY THE 23RD OF AUGUST, FROM his master Philip French of New
Brunswick, in East-New-Jersey, a Negro Man _Claus_, of middle Stature
yellowish complexion, about 44 Years of Age, SPEAKS DUTCH AND GOOD ENGLISH.

  PHILIP FRENCH.

  _The Pennsylvania Gazette_, Sept. 24, 1741.



RUN AWAY THE 15TH OF MAY FROM John Williams, of Trenton Ferry, a Negro Man,
named James Bell, about 30 Years of Age, middle stature, SPEAKS VERY GOOD
ENGLISH, AND VERY FLUENT IN HIS TALK; he formerly belonged to Slator Clay.

  JOHN WILLIAMS.

  _The Pennsylvania Gazette_, June 21, 1744.



Philadelphia May 29, 1746.

RUN away the 2nd Instant, from John Pawling, at Perkiomen, a likely lusty,
Negroe Man, named Toney, 6 Foot high, about 24 Years of Age, and SPEAKS
GOOD ENGLISH AND HIGH DUTCH. Had on when he went away, a striped Linsey
Woolsey Jacket, Tow Shirt and Trowsers, an old Felt Hat. Whoever takes up
and secures said Negroe, so that his Master may have him again shall have
Twenty-five Shillings Reward, and reasonable Charges, paid by

  JOHN PAWLING.

  _The Pennsylvania Gazette_, June 5, 1746.



RAN AWAY about the Middle of July last from the subscriber, living in
King's County, Long Island, a Negro Man named Jack, he is about 35 Years of
Age, slim made, about 5 Feet 8 Inches in height, SPEAKS GOOD ENGLISH AND
DUTCH, and has been used to attending a Grist-Mill.--Whoever secures him in
any gaol or brings him to me shall be rewarded, and all reasonable Charges
paid by

  New York, August 15, 1766.
  ABRAHAM SCHENK.

  _The New York Gazette or the Weekly Post-Boy_, Aug. 21, 1766.



THREE GUINEAS REWARD

Ran-away from the subscriber on Wednesday evening last, a Mulato Fellow
named Harry (sometimes calls himself Waters), speaks good English and
tolerable German, he is about five feet 8 inches high, well made, and about
25 years of age, has taken away with him, a blue broadcloth coat, with a
red cape, a pair of blue Negro Cloth trowsers and a short jacket, with
oznaburg jacket and trowsers, much stained with tar. AS HE IS A SMART
SENSIBLE FELLOW, HE MAY PROBABLY PASS FOR A FREEMAN. A Reward of Three
Guineas will be given to any person who will deliver the said fellow to the
Warden of the Work-house, or to the subscriber in Charleston.

  GEORGE DENER.

N.B. Captains of Vessels and others are cautioned from carrying off, or
concealing the said Mulatto, as they may depend upon being treated with the
utmost rigour of the law.--If he returns of his own accord he will be
forgiven.

  Feb. 11, 1786.

  _The State Gazette of South Carolina_, Feb. 20, 1786.



ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS REWARD

Ran away from Elk Forge Caecil County, Maryland, on the 2nd inst., Aug.
1784, Negro George about 35 or 40 years of age 5 feet 7 or 8 inches high,
slender bodied, thin visage, not very black, PLAUSIBLE, AND COMPLACENT;
CAN SPEAK PRETTY GOOD ENGLISH, A LITTLE FRENCH, AND A FEW WORDS OF HIGH
DUTCH, HAS BEEN IN THE WEST INDIES AND IN CANADA, AND HE WAS FORMERLY A
WAITING MAN TO A GENTLEMEN, HAS THEREBY HAD AN OPPORTUNITY OF GETTING
ACQUAINTED WITH THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF AMERICA. His chief employ, lately,
has been in the kitchen and at cooking, at which he is very complete: is
also a barber. He has a variety of cloaths with him, and probably may
procure a pass. 'Tis thought he will endeavour to get off by water;
therefore, all concerned in that way are desired to take notice. Whoever
will secure said fellow in any gaol and give notice to the subscriber, so
that he may have him again, shall receive the above reward, and reasonable
charges if brought home.

  THOMAS MAY.

  _The Maryland Gazette_, August 19, 1784.



TWENTY DOLLARS REWARD

Ran-away on Saturday the 23rd March, LEWIS, well known in this city where
he has been a Hair Dresser these several years, is of a good size, a stout
well-made fellow, well-featured, and between 24 and 25 years of age, SPEAKS
BOTH FRENCH AND ENGLISH FLUENTLY, IS VERY ARTFUL, AND WILL PROBABLY ATTEMPT
TO PASS AS A FREEMAN.

Whoever will apprehend him and deliver him to the Master of the Work-house,
in Charleston, or to any of the gaolers in this State, shall be entitled to
a Reward of Twenty Dollars, and all reasonable expenses.

All Masters of Vessels and others are forbid employing, harbouring or
carrying him off, as on conviction they will be prosecuted to the extent of
the law.

Apply to the Printers of the City Gazette.

  April 1, 1799.

  _The City Gazette and Daily Advertiser_, April 1, 1799.



CITY SHERIFF'S SALE

Will _be sold before the Store of Messrs. Aerstein & Co., on Thursday next
the 10th inst., at twelve o'clock, a valuable negro named WILL about 22
years of age; he is well adopted for a Waiting Man for a single gentleman
who travels or as a Steward of a Ship of Packet. HE SPEAKS FRENCH AND
SPANISH, READS AND WRITES and never known to be guilty of any mean or bad
tricks which blacks in common are addicted to, such as pilfering or
drinking. His deportment is agreeable and polite. Seized by virtue of an
execution for Drain Assessment and Arrearages of Taxes, and to be sold as
the Property of Col._ ALEXANDER MOULTRIE.

_Condition, cash payable in dollars, at 4s 8d, the property not to be
altered until the terms are complied with.[1]_

ALSO WILL BE SOLD.--

_A few articles of_ Household Furniture as _the property of the estate
of_ James Paterson, _deceased, for arrearages of State and City Taxes.
Condition, cash, purchasers to pay for Sheriff's bills of sale._

  City Sheriff's Office, Jan. 4.
  J. H. STEVENS,
  City Sheriff.

  _City Gazette & Daily Advertiser_, Jan. 5, 1799.


      FOOTNOTE:

      [1] This advertisement appears also under another heading.



TWENTY DOLLARS REWARD

For Jack who has again run-away.

The subscriber's servant Jack, who calls himself John Leech, again
absconded last night. He is a short well made young Mulatto, probably about
five feet five inches high, about twenty-five years of age, and plausible;
he has a thick bushy head of hair, like a negro's; thick lips, a film on
his left eye, over which he sometimes wears a peace of green silk. He
belonged when he was a child, to the late Ephraim Mitchell, esq. deceased,
and afterwards to Francis Bremar, esq. from whom the subscriber bought him.

He is well acquainted all over the state, having waited upon his former
masters when traveling, and also upon the subscriber when he went on the
Circuits. HE CAN WRITE HIMSELF AND MAY FORGE A PASS OR CERTIFICATE OF
FREEDOM. He had on, when he went off, a pair of overalls, and waistcoat of
servant's cloth of a light grey mixed colour almost new, and carried
several changes with him nearly of the same colour, and several coatees
like them, with capes, cuffs and welts to the pockets of green cloth; but
he may change his clothes; he also carried away a great coat of a drab
colour spotted. He may go to Goose-creek or to the vicinity of Belville,
Statesburg or Columbia, or attempt to go to the northward, but if its most
suspected, that he will endeavour to get on board of some vessel. Whoever
will deliver him to the subscriber, or to the Master of the Work-house or
lodge him in any gaol of the State, shall receive the above reward, and if
he should be harboured by any one that the reward will be doubled upon the
harbourers being prosecuted to conviction by the informer. All Masters of
Vessels and others are warned against employing him or carrying him out of
the city.

  LEWIS TREZVANT.

  _The Carolina Gazette_, Feb. 4, 1802.



SLAVES IN GOOD CIRCUMSTANCES


TWENTY DOLLARS REWARD

Ran away from Mr. Davis Stone in Loudoun County, Virginia, on Saturday the
19th ult., a Virginia-born NEGRO MAN, named WILL between 5½ and six feet
high, stout made twenty seven years old, of a black, complexion, round
shouldered and down look, when spoken to is apt to grin, is an artful
sensible fellow, much accustomed to driving a wagon, is good at any kind of
plantation business, tolerably ingenious, and I am informed, has a pass;
had on, and took with him one white hat, one white cassimere coat, a little
worn, one blue broadcloth ditto, almost new, a drab coloured coat and
breeches, quite new, one red waistcoat, one cassimere ditto, one striped
ditto, one pair cassimere breeches, a pair of fustian ditto, several
shirts, both coarse and fine, one pair of mixed yarn stockings, blue and
white, shoes with buckles, and the soles are nailed; it is probable that he
may change his clothes, AS HE HAS PLENTY OF MONEY. Whoever takes up the
said fellow and secures him in any gaol, so that I may get him again or
deliver him to me near the Falls Church shall receive the above Reward and
all reasonable charges, paid by

  JOHN DULIN.

N.B. He crossed the ferry at Elk Ridge-Landing on his way to Baltimore, on
Sunday the third instant.

--> All masters of vessels and others are forewarned from harbouring him,
at their peril.

  Nov. 5, 1793.

  _The Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser_, Nov. 5, 1793.



_Sixteen Dollars Reward_

Ran away, from the subscriber, on Monday evening last, a NEGRO LAD, named
TOWER, about 18 or 19 years of age, 5 feet 3 or 4 inches high, rather
square or heavy in his built, somewhat bow legged, and walks with a
considerable swing, has a full round face and thick lips, talks slow and
not very plain. Had on and took with him, a green broadcloth coat, almost
new, a new striped jacket, with sleeves in the fashion of a sailor's, a
striped crossbarred printed-cotton vest of an olive colour, buckskin
breeches, and striped silk and cotton hose; BUT AS HE IS KNOWN TO HAVE
TAKEN A CONSIDERABLE SUM OF MONEY WITH HIM, it is probable that he may
change his clothes. Whoever brings home said negro, or secures him in gaol,
shall receive the above Reward and all reasonable charges.

It is supposed that he will try to go to Philadelphia; and as he speaks a
little French and is known to have put a striped ribbon round his hat, it
is probable that he will attempt to pass as one who lately came in the
street from Cape François.

N.B. All Masters of vessels and others, are cautioned against taking him at
their peril.

  Baltimore, Sept. 19, 1793.
  DAVID HARRIS.

  _The Maryland Journal and the Baltimore Advertiser_, Sept. 20, 1793.



FIFTEEN DOLLARS REWARD

Ran away on the 20th instant, from the subscriber, living in Patapsco Neck,
a NEGRO MAN named SALISBURY, but may assume some other name; he is about 21
years of age; 5 feet 8 or 9 inches high, stout and well made, has a smiling
countenance and very thick lips; he has lately been under the doctor's
hands for a sore on his right arm, which he generally carries in his bosom:
Had on and took with him a blue broadcloth coat with yellow buttons, a
fustian jacket, a red and white striped do., a coarse and white country
cloth upper-jacket, and breeches, a pair of nankeen do., a white shirt and
an oznaburg do., with a pair of good shoes. AS I EXPECT HE HAS A SUM OF
MONEY WITH HIM, PROBABLY HE MAY GET SOME ONE TO FORGE A PASS FOR HIM, AND
PASS AS A FREE MAN. Whoever takes up said NEGRO and secures him in any
Gaol, so that I may get him again, shall have the above reward, and
reasonable charges, if brought home, paid by

Robuck Lynch.

N.B. All masters of vessels, and others, are forewarned at their peril not
to harbour or conceal said Negro.

Baltimore County, May 25, 1793.

  _The Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser_, June 11, 1793.



Ran away from the subscriber living in Annapolis, on the 24th of May, a
Negro man named Willis Bowzer, about thirty-four years of age, a full
faced well looking fellow, who had the small pox in March last, and is
much marked with it, he is very remarkable about the ancles and feet, his
ancles look as they had been hurt, they turn in looked swelled with knots
on them, his feet are flat, or rather round instead of hollow; he is about
five feet ten or eleven inches high, has a flat nose, and is a smooth
spoken fellow; he appears to be religious and I suppose will endeavour to
pass for a free man. As he has money and a variety of cloaths. Whoever
takes up and secures the said fellow, so that I get him again, shall
receive a Reward of Forty Dollars.

  JOHN STUART.

N.B. All masters of vessels and others, are forbid carrying, or in any
anywise harbouring, entertaining or employing the said negro at their
peril.

  _The Maryland Gazette_, June 11, 1795.



NEGROES BROUGHT FROM THE WEST INDIES


Philadelphia, June 17, 1745.

RUN away from the Sloop Sparrow, lately arrived from Barbadoes, Joseph
Perry Commander, a Negro Man named John; he WAS BORN IN DOMINICA AND SPEAKS
FRENCH, BUT VERY LITTLE ENGLISH, he is a very ill-featured Fellow, and has
been much cut in his Back by often Whipping; his Clothing was only a Frock
and Trowsers. Whoever brings him to John Yeats, Merchants in Philadelphia,
shall have Twenty Shillings Reward, and reasonable Charges, paid by

  JOHN YEATS.

  _The Pennsylvania Gazette_, July 4, 1745.



RAN away, the 24th of last Month from Bennet Bard, of Burlington, a Mulatto
Spanish Slave, named George, aged about 24 years, about 5 feet 10 Inches
high, smooth faced, well-set, and has his Hair lately cutt off, speaks
tolerable good English, BORN AT HAVANNA, SAYS HE WAS SEVERAL YEARS WITH DON
BLASS, and is a good Shoemaker. Had on when he went away a corded Dimity
Waistcoat, Ozenbrigs shirt and Trowsers, no Stockings, old Shoes, and a new
Hat. Whoever takes up and secures said Fellow so that his Master may have
him again, shall have Forty Shillings Reward and reasonable Charges paid by

  BENNET BARD.

  _The Pennsylvania Gazette_, Aug. 1, 1745.



RAN AWAY on the Ninth of this instant September, from the subscriber, a
Negroe Man, named Frank, alias Francisco, about 5 Feet 7 or 8 Inches high,
well-set, about 25 Years of Age, walks remarkably upright, CAN TALK BUT
LITTLE ENGLISH, HAVING LIVED AMONG THE SPANIARDS, AND TALKS IN THAT DIALECT
************** It is supposed he is gone off in Company with a Negroe
Fellow that has been lurking about this city some Time (supposed to be a
Runaway) as he was seen in Company with the Negro the Night before he went
off.

  THOMAS PRYOR.

  _The Pennsylvania Gazette_, Sept. 20, 1764.



RAN AWAY from the Subscriber living in New-York, the Beginning of June
Inst. a Negro Fellow named Charles, about five Feet ten Inches, very black,
Pock-pitted, and remarkable for his white Teeth; SPEAKS BOTH FRENCH AND
ENGLISH, JAMAICA BORN, marked under his left Breast P.C. Count; had on when
he went away, a brown Jacket, and a blue short Waistcoat under it; a Pair
of Trowsers, and a Sailor's round Hat.--Whoever takes up said Negro, and
secures him so that he may be had again shall have FORTY SHILLINGS Reward
and all reasonable Charges paid by

  ANDREW MYER in Dock-street.

N.B. All Masters of Vessels and others are hereby warned not to carry off
said Servant, at their Peril, as they will answer as the law directs.

  _The New York Gazette or the Weekly Post-Boy_, July 31, 1766.



Ran away about a Year ago, a Negro Man, goes by the name of Antigua George,
WAS BORN IN ANTIGUA, TALKS GOOD ENGLISH, is betwixt 50 and 60 Years old,
about 5 Feet 5 Inches high, grey headed, and bends much in his legs when he
walks. Had on a Cotton Jacket and Breeches, Country made Shoes and
Stockings, and an Osnabrigs Shirt. He has since been taken up twice in
TALBOT and made his Escape; and now imagine he passes for a free Negro.

Whoever takes up the said Negro, if in Talbot, shall have Twenty Shillings
Reward, if brought home; if at any farther Distance, Four Dollars Reward,
and reasonable Charges if brought home, paid by the subscriber living at
Nye River.

Martha Bryan.

  _The Maryland Gazette_, April 9, 1767.



Ran away from the Subscriber, since the 22nd July last, a Negro fellow
named Daniel. WAS BORN IN THE WEST-INDIES, SPEAKS GOOD FRENCH AND ENGLISH;
is about 5 feet high, likely face and Knock Knees. Whoever will apprehend
the said fellow and take him to the Warden of the Workhouse, or to the
subscriber, at No. 95 Broadstreet, shall receive a handsome reward. This is
to forbid all persons whatsoever from harbouring said Negro, as they may
depend upon being prosecuted by law.

  DE L CANTREE & SELLS.

  _The Gazette of the State of South Carolina_, Aug. 16, 1784.



TWO GUINEAS REWARD

RAN away from the Subscriber a few days ago, a tall thin Negro-man of the
name of Will about 20 years of age, remarkable by a cut or scar on the left
side of his mouth; SPEAKS GOOD ENGLISH. THE FELLOW WAS BORN IN THE ISLAND
OF ST. CHRISTOPHER and has served some time to cooper's trade, as well as
having gone several voyages to sea. He had on when he ran off, a speckled
waistcoat and breeches, and a snuff-colourd coat; but having took all his
Cloaths with him, it is probable he may have changed his dress.

The above Reward will be paid to any person that delivers him to the
Subscriber, or the Warden of the Sugar House.--Masters of Vessels are
hereby warned at their peril not to harbour, or to take him off.

  WILLIAM MARSHALL,
  No. 48 Queen Street.

  _The South Carolina Gazette and General Advertiser_, July 10, 1784.



THIRTY DOLLARS REWARD

Ran away on Saturday last a FRENCH NEGRO WOMAN, NAMED SOBETT, about 23
years old, marked on her breast thus Annette Chambis, about 4 feet 4 inches
high, of a yellow complexion. She is slender made, tolerable likely,
somewhat pitted with Small-pox; her hair remarkably short, and her clothing
cannot be described. The above reward will be paid to any person or persons
who will deliver said negro woman to the subscriber at the house of Mr.
Changeur.

  D. DAMCOURT.

  _The Baltimore Telegraph_, Oct. 18, 1796.



RAN-AWAY, a MULATTO GIRL named CATHERINE about 18 years old, BY BIRTH
FRENCH, but being a number of years in this country, has acquired the
English pretty fluent. She is well known about town, therefore, this is to
caution all persons from harbouring her, as they will be dealt with as the
law orders in such case.

  JACOB DE LEON.

N.B. A reward of Ten Dollars will be paid on proving where she is haboured.

  _The City Gazette and Daily Advertiser_, March 5, 1800.



TEN DOLLARS REWARD

Run away from the subscriber, on the Euhaw, South Carolina, a Boy about
sixteen years of age, SUPPOSED FORMERLY FROM ST. DOMINGO. As he was
purchased from a Frenchman, HE MAY SPEAK FRENCH FOR WHAT I KNOW, BUT
SPEAKING ENGLISH, HE STUTTERS AND STAMMERS; he also beats well upon the
drum. I do forwarn all captains of vessels not to carry him off, or any
other persons not to harbour him upon their peril.

ELIZABETH COLLETON.
September 11.

  _The City Gazette and Daily Advertiser_, Sept. 18, 1800.



VARIOUS KINDS OF SERVANTS


A very likely Negro Woman to be sold, aged about 28 Years, fit for Country
or City Business. SHE CAN CARD, SPIN, KNIT AND MILK; AND ANY OTHER
COUNTRY-WORK. Whoever has a mind for the said Negro, may repair to Andrew
Beadford in Philadelphia.

A Young Negro Woman to be sold by Samuel Kirk in the Second Street,
Philadelphia.

  _The American Weekly Mercury_ (Philadelphia), Oct. 26, 1721.



_A Likely Negro Man about Twenty two Years of Age, speaks good English, has
had the Smallpox and the Measles, has been seven Years with a LIME BURNER:
To be sold, Inquire of John Langdon, Baker, next Door to John Clark's at
the North End, Boston._

_A Likely Negro Man about Twenty-five Years of Age, has had the Small Pox,
and speaks pretty good English, suitable for a Farmer, &C. To be sold.
Enquire of the Printers._

  _The Boston Weekly News-Letter_, March 21, 1734.



TO BE SOLD

A likely Young Negro Fellow, by TRADE A BRICKLAYER AND PLASTERER, has had
the Small Pox. Enquire of the printer hereof.

  _The Pennsylvania Gazette_, Jan. 29, 1739.



RAN away about two months, aged 19 Negro Woman, known by the name of
Elizabeth Gregory; she was born in Long Island and has relations there and
FORMERLY SERVED IN GOVERNOR MORRIS' FAMILY AT TRENTON; she was taken out of
prison about 18 months ago by Thomas Lawrence, Esq. of whom the subscriber
purchased her time.

  JOHN KEARSLEY, JUNIOR.

  _The Pennsylvania Gazette_ (No. 1090), 1749.



TEN POUNDS REWARD

Fairfax County, Virginia, July 5, 1784.

Ran away from the Subscriber, about six weeks ago, two slaves, viz: DICK, a
stout lusty Mulatto Fellow about twenty two years of age, has large
features and eyes, and a very roguish down look; he beats a drum pretty
well, is artful and plausible, and well acquainted in most parts of
Virginia and Maryland, HAVING FORMERLY WAITED UPON ME. CLEM, a well-set
black negro lad of about nineteen years of age, has a remarkable large scar
of a burn, which covers the whole of one of his knees. 'Tis impossible to
describe their dress, as I am told they have stolen a variety of cloaths
since their elopement. I suspect they have made towards Baltimore or
Philadelphia, or may have got on board some bay or river craft. I will give
the above reward to any person who will bring them to me in Fairfax County
or secure them in any gaol, and give me notice so that I get them again, or
Five Pounds for either of them.

George Mason, Junior.

  _The Maryland Gazette_, Aug. 26, 1784.



TEN POUNDS REWARD, for apprehending and delivering in any gaol, so that the
owner gets him, a Negro Man Slave, named George, BY TRADE A BLACKSMITH. He
made his elopement last October from Port Royal Virginia. He is a black
Virginia-born, speaks plain, and is very sensible, about 6 feet high, well
made, has a brisk walk, large legs and arms, small over the belly, small
face, somewhat hollow-eyed, about 28 years of age, is fond of smoking the
pipe; he was well cloathed when he went away, but his dress I can not
describe. I expect he will change his name, pass a freeman, _AND GET
EMPLOYMENT IN THE SMITH'S BUSINESS, AT WHICH HE IS A VERY GOOD HAND._ The
above reward will be given, with reasonable Charges, if delivered to the
subscriber, in Port Royal Virginia.

  JOSEPH TIMBERLAKE, JUNIOR.
  Baltimore, Sept. 15, 1785.

  _The Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser_, Sept. 20, 1785.



TWO GUINEAS REWARD RUNAWAY

A stout well made Negro Fellow named BOB, about 28 years of age, 5 feet
8 or 9 inches high, this country born, rather bowlegged, sensible and
artful, speaks quick, and sometimes stutters a little; HE MAY POSSIBLY
HAVE A TICKET THAT I GAVE HIM TWO DAYS BEFORE HE WENT AWAY, DATED THE
6TH OF APRIL, MENTIONING HE WAS IN QUEST OF A RUNAWAY, AS I DID NOT
MENTION WHEN HE WAS TO RETURN, HE MAY ENDEAVOUR TO PASS BY THAT; he was
seen on the road towards Goose Creek, where he has relations at Mr. John
Parkers, and at Cane Acre, at Mr. John Gough's, at either or both places
he may be harboured, or in Charleston at Mr. Benjamin Villepontour's,
where he formerly had a wife. The above reward will be given and all
reasonable charges paid on his being delivered in St. Stephens Parish to
Thomas Cooper.

  April 13, 1786.

  _The State Gazette of South Carolina_, May 1, 1786.



RUN-AWAY

From the Subscriber
About ten days ago
A Negro Fellow Named
BILLY

BY TRADE A TAYLOR, of a yellowish complexion, and has a very remarkable
bushy head of hair, he is well known about Santee, where he formerly lived,
and had a wife, especially at Mr. Isaac Dubose's and also in Charleston,
where he was worked at his trade for four or five years past. The above
fellow is very artful and plausible, and may perhaps by telling a good
tale, endeavour to pass for a freeman. A guinea reward will be paid to any
person who will secure him in the Work-house in Charleston, or deliver him
to the subscriber at Stono.

  JOSEPH BEE.
  March 21, 1789.

N.B. All persons whatever are hereby cautioned against harbouring the
above fellow, as they shall and may expect to be prosecuted with the
utmost rigor of the law; and in case of his not returning home within a
month from this date, a reward of Five Guineas will be paid to any person,
either white or black, who will produce his head to his said master, whose
lenity and indulgence hitherto, has been the cause of his present desertion
and ingratitude.

  _The Columbian Herald_, April 30, 1789.



FIVE DOLLARS REWARD

Absented himself from the subscriber about the 10th of April, a likely
young Negro Fellow, named Carolina; HE HAS ALWAYS BEEN ACCUSTOMED TO WAIT
IN THE HOUSE; he was seen in the city about ten days ago, dressed in a
sailor jacket and trowsers. Carolina plays remarkably well on the violin.

The above reward will be paid to any person delivering him to the Master
of the Work-House or at No 11 East Bay.

All Masters of vessels and others are hereby cautioned against carrying
said Negro out of the State, as they will, on conviction, be prosecuted to
the utmost rigor of the law.

  ROBERT SMITH.
  June 13.

  _The City Gazette and Daily Advertiser_, July 30, 1799.



SEVEN DOLLARS REWARD

Ran-away on Monday the 17th instant, A NEGRO MAN named ABERDEEN, is WELL
KNOWN IN TOWN AS A SAWYER, was seen on Tuesday morning about three miles
from town, had on an osnaburg coatee and trowsers, and a black hat, is
about five feet four or five inches high, smooth faced, a little wide at
the knees, is about forty years of age, speaks pretty good English, and
can speak Creole French, is of the Cromantee Country, he is very artful
and may have a forged pass to where he intends to go, or as being free.

Whoever will deliver the said Negro to the Master of the Work-House in
Charleston, or to the Subscriber, shall receive the above reward and all
reasonable Charges,

  WILLIAM RESIDE.

  _City Gazette and Daily Advertiser_, Oct. 5, 1798.



Ran-away about the 24th of June last, a MULATTO MAN named Will, about 5
feet 10 inches high, speaks good English, was raised by Townsend, in
Christ Church parish and purchased lately from Mr. Hance Farley, _CABINET
MAKER_, Queen Street.

  L. CAMERON
  SAMUEL SHAW.

  _The City Gazette and Daily Advertiser_, July 31, 1799.



NEGRO PRIVATEERS AND SOLDIERS PRIOR TO THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION


Whereas Negro Jo (who formerly lived with Samuel Ogle, Esq; then Governor
of Maryland, as his cook) about 13 Months ago run away from the
Subscriber, who was then at Annapolis, AND HAS SINCE BEEN OUT A VOYAGE IN
ONE OF THE PRIVATEERS BELONGING TO PHILADELPHIA, and is returned there:
These are to desire any Person to apprehend the said Negro, so that he may
be had again, for which on their acquainting me therewith, they shall be
rewarded with the Sum of Five Pounds, current Money: Or if the said Negro
will return to me, at my House in St. Mary's County, he shall be kindly
received, and escape all Punishment for his Offence.

  PHILIP KEY.

  _The Pennsylvania Gazette_, Nov. 7, 1745.



Philadelphia, July 3, 1746.

Run away from Samuel M'Call, jun. a Negro Man, named Tom, a very likely
Fellow, about 22 or 23 Years of Age, about 5 Foot 10 Inches high, speaks
good English, HAS BEEN A PRIVATEERING; has several good Cloaths on, with
Check Shirts, some new; formerly belonged to Dr. Shaw of Burlington.
Whoever secures the said Negro in any County Gaol so that his Master may
have him again, shall have a Pistole Reward and reasonable Charges paid by

  SAMUEL M'CALL.

N.B. He is a sensible, active Fellow, and runs well.

  _The Pennsylvania Gazette_, July 3, 1746.



Philadelphia, June 23, 1748.

Run away from John Potts of Colebrookdale, Philadelphia county, Esq.,
about the 10th inst., a Spanish Negro Fellow, named John, of middle
stature, about 30 years of age: Had on when he went away, only a shirt and
trowsers, a cotton cap, a pair of old shoes; he is a cunning fellow and
subject to make game at the ceremonial part of all religious worship
except that of the papists; he is proud, and dislikes to be called a
negroe, HAS FORMERLY BEEN A PRIVATEERING, and talks much (with a seeming
pleasure) of the cruelties he then committed. Whoever takes up said
Negroe, and takes him to his Master at Colebrookdale aforesaid, or secures
him in any gaol shall have _Thirty Shilling_ reward, and reasonable
charges, paid by said John Potts or Thomas York.

  _The Pennsylvania Gazette_, June 23, 1748.



RAN away from his Master _Eleazer Tyng, Esq. at_ Dunstable, _on the 26th
May past, a Negro Man Servant Call'd_ Robbin, _almost of the complexion of
an Indian, short thick square shouldered Fellow, a very short neck, and
thick legs, about 28 Years old, talks good English, can read and write, and
plays on the Fiddle; he was born at_ Dunstable _and IT IS THOUGHT HE HAS
BEEN ENTIC'D TO ENLIST INTO THE SERVICE, or to go to_ Philadelphia: _Had
on when he went away, a strip'd cotton and Linnen blue and white Jacket,
red Breeches with Brass Buttons, blue Yarn Stockings, a fine Shirt, and
took another of a meaner Sort, a red Cap, a Beaver Hat with a mourning Weed
in it, and sometimes wears a Wig. Whoever will apprehend said Negro and
secure him, so that his Master may have him again, or bring him to the
Ware-House of Messiers_ Alford _and_ Tyng, _in_ Boston, _shall have a
reward of_ Ten Pounds, _old Tenor, and all reasonable Charges._

_N.B. And all Masters of Vessels or others are hereby cautioned against
harbouring, concealing or carrying off said Servant, on Penalty of the
Law._

  _The New York Gazette Revived in the Weekly Post-Boy_, July 18, 1748.

N.B.N.B. This Fellow was advertised in the New York papers the 5th of
June and in New Haven the 11th of June, 1759, was afterward taken up in
Waterbury, and was put into Litchfield Gaol, from thence he was brought to
Belford, and there made his Escape from his master again. Those who
apprehend him are desired to secure him in Irons. He was taken up by Moses
Foot of North Waterbury in New England. It is likely that he will change
his cloaths as he did before. The Mole above mentioned is something long.

N.B. By information he was in Morris County in the Jerseys all winter AND
SAID HE WOULD ENLIST IN THE PROVINCIAL SERVICE.[1]

  _The New York Gazette_ August 11, 1760.

      [1] This advertisement appears in full on pages 213-214.



Ran-away from his Master Mr. James Richardson of Stonington, in the County
of New London, a Molatto or Mustee Servant, of about 24 Years of Age, much
Pox-broken, about 6 Feet high, brought up in North Kingston in Rhode Island
Government; AND WAS A SOLDIER LAST SUMMER: He had on when he went away, a
Leather Jockey Cap, a good Pair of Leather Breeches, a new large Duffil
Coat, of a blue Colour, a strait-bodiced ditto, a white Broad Cloth Coat
and Jacket. Whoever will take up said Fellow and secure him in any of his
Majesty's Gaols in _North America_, or return him to his Master, shall have
Twelve Dollars Reward and all necessary Charges paid by me, JAMES
RICHARDSON.

All Masters of Vessels are hereby cautioned not to carry off said Fellow
upon the Peril of the Law.

May 7, 1763.

  _Supplement to the Boston Evening Post_, May 23, 1763.



RELATIONS BETWEEN THE SLAVES AND THE BRITISH DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR


A Negro Man, by name of Jemmy now in my possession, ONE WHO FOLLOWED THE
BRITISH TROOPS, and has a wife at my house; he is about 5 feet 8 or 9
inches high, speaks well and sensible, says his master's name is Captain
Kealing, from Yorktown, in Virginia. Any person claiming said Negro may
have him, by applying on James Island, to

  JAMES WITTER.

  _The South Carolina Weekly Advertiser_, April 2, 1783.



_Brought to the Work House_

A Negro Wench named Sarah, of the Popah country 5 feet 1 inch high, speaks
broken English, she has three of her country marks on her cheeks, 30 or 35
years of age, and says her master's is Timothy Ford, and lives near
George-town; the said Wench SAID SHE WAS CARRIED OFF BY THE BRITISH TO
CHARLESTON.

  JOHN GERLEY WARDEN.
  June 21, 1784.

  _The South Carolina Gazette and General Advertiser_, July 27, 1784.



_Brought to the Work House_

A Negro Fellow named Dick of the Eoboe country, five feet five inches high,
35 years of age, speaks good English, says his master's name is _John
Hill_, and lives near New Charleston in Boston; THE SAID NEGRO FELLOW WAS
CARRIED OFF BY A BRITISH MAN OF WAR, TO SAVANNAH IN GEORGIA; he says his
master is dead, but that his old mistress is living:

  JOHN GERLEY WARDEN.
  June 21, 1784.

  _The South Carolina Gazette and General Advertiser_, July 24, 1784.



"The following is a List of Two Hundred and Forty-one Negroes that were
taken off AT THE EVACUATION OF CHARLESTON, in one transportship the
Scimtar. _They were put on board by Colonel Muncreef and carried to_ ST.
LUCIA. Their families were also carried off at the same time in different
vessels."[1]

  _The Gazette of the State of South Carolina_,
     November 22 and December 6, 1784.

      [1] The list is not given here for the reason that the names are not
      written in full. They are such as: "Cato," "Pompey," "Cicero," "Sam,"
      etc.



RELATIONS BETWEEN THE SLAVES AND THE FRENCH DURING THE COLONIAL WARS


RUN-AWAY the 2nd of July from Richard Colegate, of Kent County on
Delaware, a Molatto Man, named James Wenyam, of Middle Stature, about 37
Years of Age, has a red Beard a Scar on one Knee: Had on when he went
away, a Kersey Jacket, a Pair of Plain Breeches, a Tow Shirt, and a Felt
Hat. He swore when he went away to a Negro Man, whom he wanted to go with
him, that he had often been in the back Woods with his Master, AND THAT HE
WOULD GO TO THE FRENCH AND INDIANS AND FIGHT FOR THEM. Whoever secures the
said Molatto Man, and gives Notice thereof to his Master, or to Abraham
Gooding, Esq.; or to the High Sheriff of New Castle County, so that his
Master may have him again, shall have Three Pounds Reward, and reasonable
Charges, paid by

  RICHARD COLEGATE.

  _The Pennsylvania Gazette_, July 31, 1746.



TEN PISTOLES REWARD

Kent County Maryland, March 19, 1755.

Whereas there were several Advertisements, (some of which were printed,
and others of the same Signification written), dispersed through this
Province, describing and offering a Reward of Two Pistoles, &c. for
taking up a Servant Man, named James Francis, and a Mulatto Man Slave
call'd  Tobby, both belonging to the subscriber; and ran away on the 11th
Instant:***********

That this Slave shou'd run away and attempt getting his liberty, is very
alarming, as he has always been too kindly used, if any Thing, by his
Master, and one in whom his Master has put great Confidence, and depended
on him to overlook the rest of the Slaves, and he had no Kind of
Provocation to go off. IT SEEMS TO BE THE INTEREST AT LEAST OF EVERY
GENTLEMAN THAT HAS SLAVES, TO BE ACTIVE IN THE BEGINNING OF THESE ATEMPTS,
FOR WHILST WE HAVE THE FRENCH SUCH NEAR NEIGHBORS, WE SHALL NOT HAVE THE
LEAST SECURITY IN THAT KIND OF PROPERTY. I shall be greatly obliged to any
Gentlemen that shall hear of these Fellows, to endeavour to get certain
Intelligence which Way they have taken, and to inform me of it by Express,
and also to employ some active Person or Persons immediately, to take
their Track and pursue them and secure them, and I will thankfully
acknowledge the Favour and immediately answer the Expence attending it.

  THOMAS RINGGOLD.

  _The Maryland Gazette_, March 20, 1755.



COLORED METHODIST PREACHERS AMONG THE SLAVES


FORTY DOLLARS REWARD

A Young negro man slave, the property of the subscriber, named Sam, left
the service of Charles Gosnell near Soldiers Delight, in Baltimore County,
on Sunday last, to whom he was hired; he was seen the same day traveling
towards Baltimore, where he has several relations (manumitted blacks) who
will conceal and assist him to make his escape: HE WAS RAISED IN A FAMILY
OF RELIGIOUS PERSONS, COMMONLY CALLED METHODISTS, AND HAS LIVED WITH SOME
OF THEM FOR YEARS PAST, ON TERMS OF PERFECT EQUALITY; the refusal to
continue him on these terms, the subscriber is instructed, has given him
offence, and is the sole cause of his absconding. Sam is about
twenty-three years old, 5 feet 8 or 9 inches high, pretty square made, has
a down look, very talkative among persons whom he can make free with, but
slow of speech; HE HAS BEEN IN THE USE OF INSTRUCTING AND EXHORTING HIS
FELLOW CREATURES OF ALL COLORS IN MATTERS OF RELIGIOUS DUTY: Had on and
took with him when he went off, the following clothes, a country-made
cloth jacket, with sleeves, a red under jacket, an old striped vest, and
striped Holland trousers, two pair of coarse linen trousers, one
two-linen, and one other coarse linen shirt, a pair of new shoes, and an
old hat; but it is supposed he will change his clothes with his relations.
Whoever will take the said slave and deliver him to the subscriber, or
secure him in Baltimore County Gaol, shall receive TEN DOLLARS, if taken
within ten miles, or any shorter distance from home; FIFTEEN DOLLARS, if
above fifteen miles; TWENTY DOLLARS, if 30 miles; THIRTY DOLLARS, if above
40 miles; and in the State; and if out of the State, the above Reward from
THOMAS JONES.

N.B. It is not improbable but that he will endeavor to get over to Dorset
County, on the Eastern Shore. All skippers of Vessels and others are
forbid to hire or assist him in any manner. Baltimore, June 6, 1793.

  _The Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser_, June 14, 1793.



Went away on the 9th inst. from the subscriber living in the city of
Annapolis, a negro man named Jem, a lively, brisk, active fellow when he
pleases, 28 years of age, about 5 feet 8 inches high, slender made, rather
thin face, has a great hesitation in his speech, and when he laughs shows
his gums very much, takes snuff, one of his legs is sore; he is very
artful and can turn his hand to any thing; he has been used to waiting, to
taking care of horses and driving a carriage, is something of a gardener,
carpenter and bricklayer; IS OR PRETENDS TO BE OF THE SOCIETY OF
METHODISTS, HE CONSTANTLY ATTENDED THE MEETINGS, AND AT TIMES EXHORTED
HIMSELF; he took with him a watch of his own, a fine hat, a new drab
coloured surtout coat, lined about the body with green, light cloth
waistcoat, buckskin breeches; a black coat lapelled is missing from the
house; it is probable he may change his dress; he had some time in the
summer from me a pass for a limited time (three or four days) to go to
Baltimore, it is not improbable but he may get the date altered and make
use of it. Whoever takes him up and delivers him to me, or secures him in
any gaol so that I get him again, shall receive TWENTY DOLLARS. December
16, 1797.

  JAMES BRICE.

  _The Maryland Gazette_, January 4, 1798.



Ran-away from the subscriber on the 19th of October last, Negro Jacob, 35
years of age, about 6 feet high, smooth face, high forehead, his wool
growing in a peak leaves his temples bare, speaks low and rather hoarse,
had on and took with him when he went away, a brownish cotton coat, a blue
coarse short coat with metal buttons, old breeches, osnabrig shirt, and a
match coat blanket; his Sunday apparel, a purple cloth coat with rimmed
buttons, nankeen breeches, mixed worsted stockings, and half boots; HE
PROFESSES TO BE A METHODIST, AND HAS BEEN IN THE PRACTICE OF PREACHING OF
NIGHTS; it is expected he is harbouring about the city of Annapolis, West
river, South river, South river Neck, or Queen Anne, as he has a wife at
Miss Murdoch's. Whoever takes up and secures said fellow in any gaol so
that I get him again, shall receive the above reward paid by

  THOMAS GIBBS, living near Queene Anne.

N.B. All masters of vessels and others are forewarned harbouring employing
or carrying off said fellow at their peril.

  March 7, 1800. T. G.

  _The Maryland Gazette_, September 4, 1800.



Ran away from the subscriber, living in Anne Arundel county, on the 21st
of February, a negro man named Dick, about forty years of age, five feet
six inches high, round full face, large eyes, very bow legged, slow of
speech, and fond of smoking a pipe, HE IS A METHODIST PREACHER, took along
with him a country cloth coat, and one gray coloured, and breeches, two
osnabrig shirts, short kersey coat and trousers, shoes nailed. Whoever
takes up the said negro, and secures him in any gaol shall receive the
above reward, and if brought home all reasonable charges paid by me.

  HUGH DRUMMOND.
  Feb. 24, 1800.

  _The Maryland Gazette_, Sept. 4, 1800.



Philadelphia, Sept. 4, 1746.

RUN AWAY on the 16th of July from Thomas Rutter, of this city, a Negro
Man, named Dick, commonly CALLED PREACHING DICK,[2] aged about 27 Years.
* * *

  THOMAS RUTTER.

  _The Pennsylvania Gazette_, Sept. 4, 1746.


      [2] It is not known whether Dick was a Methodist or Baptist Preacher.



FORTY DOLLARS REWARD

Ran-Away from the subscriber on the 8th of November last, a negro fellow
named Simbo. He was formerly the property of Francis Burns dec. of Onslow
County, HE IS A METHODIST PREACHER, AND CAN READ AND WRITE.--He is about 6
feet high, very black and smooth skin, and speaks very distinct.

He is supposed to be lurking some times down Neuse river, and at others up
the same, and so he ranges through Craven, Jones, and Onslow Counties.

Any person apprehending the said negro, and delivering him to the
subscriber, within five miles of Swansborough, shall be entitled to the
above reward.--Or any person who will so secure him that I get him again,
shall receive Twenty Dollars.

The most probable method to catch him, will be at Methodist meetings.--All
masters of vessels and others are forewarned from harbouring employing or
carrying him away, at their peril.

  June 27.
  HENRY LOCKEY.

  _The Newbern Gazette_, August 15, 1800.



SLAVES IN OTHER PROFESSIONS


RUN AWAY ON THE 4TH INST., AT NIGHT FROM _James Leonard_ in Middlesex
County, _East-New-Jersey_, a Negro Man named _Simon_, aged 40 Years, is
well-set Fellow, about 5 feet 10 Inches high, has large Eyes, and a Foot
12 inches long; he was bred and born in this Country, talks good English
can read and write, is very slow in his speech, CAN BLEED AND DRAW TEETH
PRETENDING TO BE A GREAT DOCTOR AND VERY RELIGIOUS, AND SAYS HE IS A
CHURCHMAN. Had on a dark grey Broadcloth Coat, with other good Apparel,
and peeked toe'd Shoes. He took with him a black Horse, about 13 Hands and
a Half high, a Star in his Forehead, branded with 2 on the near Thigh or
Shoulder, and trots; also a black hunting Saddle about half worn.

Whoever takes up and secures the said Negro, so that his Master may have
him again shall have _Three Pounds Reward_ and reasonable Charges, paid by

  JAMES LEONARD.

  _The Pennsylvania Gazette_, Sept. 11, 1740.



Whereas Cambridge, _a Negro Man belonging to_ James Oliver _of_ Boston
_doth absent himself sometimes from his Master: SAID NEGRO PLAYS WELL UPON
A FLUTE, AND NOT SO WELL ON A VIOLIN. This is to desire all Masters and
Heads of Families not to suffer said Negro to come into their Houses to
teach their Prentices or Servants to play, nor on any other Accounts. All
Masters of Vessels are also forbid to have anything to do with him on any
Account, as they may answer it in the Law.

N.B. Said Negro is to be sold: Enquire of said_ Oliver.

  _The Boston Evening Post_, Oct. 24, 1743.



SIX DOLLARS REWARD

Absconded on or about the 1st instant, a Negro Fellow, named Pero. He is
remarkably tall being nearly 6½ feet in height, his hands have been frost
bitten, in consequence of which he has lost several of his finger nails.
He speaks the French and English languages; PASSES FOR A DOCTOR AMONG
PEOPLE OF HIS COLOR, AND IT IS SUPPOSED PRACTICES IN THAT CAPACITY ABOUT
TOWN. The above reward will be paid on his delivery at the Work-House, or
the Subscriber

  JAMES GEORGE.

N.B. All masters of vessels are forewarned from carrying him off the State
as they will be prosecuted to the utmost rigor of the law.

  _The City Gazette and Daily Advertiser_, June 22, 1797.



CLOSE RELATIONS OF THE SLAVES AND INDENTURED SERVANTS


RUN AWAY in April last from Richard Tilghman of Queen Anne County in
Maryland a Mulatto slave, Named Richard Molson, of Middle stature, about
forty years old, and has had the Small Pox, HE IS IN COMPANY WITH A WHITE
WOMAN NAMED MARY, WHO IS SUPPOSED NOW GOES FOR HIS WIFE; AND A WHITE MAN
NAMED _GARRETT CHOISE_, AND _JANE_ HIS WIFE, which said White People are
servants to some Neighbors of the said RICHARD TILGHMAN. The said
fugatives are Supposed to be gone to CAROLINAS or some other of his
Majesty's Plantations in AMERICA. Whoever shall apprehend the said
Fugatives and cause them to be committed into safe custody, and give
Notice thereof to their Owners shall be well rewarded. The White man has
one of his fore fingers disabled.

Whoever shall carry them to the Sheriff of PHILADELPHIA shall have Twenty
Pounds current money paid him or them or shall convey the Molatta to the
said sheriff shall have Ten Pounds, or whoever shall convey the Molatta to
the said RICHARD TILGHMAN shall have Fifteen Pounds reward.--

  _The American Weekly Mercury_ (Philadelphia), Aug. 11, Aug. 25 and
     Sept. 1, 1720.



RAN AWAY from the Subscribers in _Baltimore County_ in _Maryland_, a Negro
Man named Charles, of middle stature, aged about 28 or 30 Years, talks
tolerable English: Had on when he went away, an Ozenbrigs Frock with brass
Buttons on it, dark colour'd Kersey Jacket, a Cotton Jacket, old Leather
Breeches, Ozenbrig Trowsers, Felt Hat, and old Shoes. HE IS SUPPOSED TO BE
IN COMPANY WITH TWO SERVANT MEN belonging to _John Fuller_, sen., the one
of them is a Scotch Man, named _James M'Cornet_, of middle stature, age
about 26 Years, long black Hair if not cut off, and a black Beard; has
with him a dark Kersey Jacket and a Cotton Jacket, old Leather Breeches, a
pair of Ozenbrigs Trowsers and a pair of Crocus Trowsers, Ozenbrigs Shirt
and a Dowlass Shirt, Country made Shoes and Stockings and an old Felt Hat
bound round with the same. The other named _Charles King_ of middle
Stature, aged about 23 Years; has with him a Drugget Coat much worn, of a
Cinnamon Colour, Cotton Jacket, Leather Breeches with Pewter Buttons on
one Knee covered with Leather and none on the other, two ozenbrigs Shirts,
a pair of Trowsers, Country made Shoes and Stockings of a bluish grey
Colour, topt with black and white Yarn.

NOTE James M'Connet speaks broad Scotch very thick, and snuffles a little.

Whoever takes up the said Negro together with his Companions, shall have
Twenty Shillings Reward for each besides what the Law directs paid by us

  DARBY HERNLY
  JOHN FULLER.

  _The Philadelphia Gazette_, June 26, 1740.



Run away 21st of August, from the Subscribers, of Kingsess, Philadelphia
County, A WHITE MAN AND A NEGRO, IT IS SUPPOSED THEY ARE GONE TOGETHER,
the White Man's Name is Abraham Josep, a Yorkshire Man, a Shoemaker by
Trade aged about 24 Years * * *

The Negroe's Name is Tom, of a yellowish colour, pretty much pitted with
Small Pox, thick set * * *

Two nights before there were several things stolen, and it is supposed
they have them

  JAMES HUNT
  PETER ELLIOT.

  _The Pennsylvania Gazette_, Sept. 10, 1741.



RUN away from Talbot County</span> School, Maryland, on Monday, the 5th
of this instant August, George Ewings, MASTER OF SAID SCHOOL, WHO TOOK
WITH HIM A NEGROE MAN, named Nero and two Geldings, the one of a grey,
the other of a black Colour, the Property of the Visitors of said
School. The said Ewings is an Irishman, of a middling Stature, and thin
Visage, is pitted with Small-pox, and has the Brogue upon his Tongue,
and had on when he went away a light blue new coat.

Whoever apprehends and secures said Ewings, Negro and Geldings, so that
they may be had again, shall receive a Reward of Five Pounds, Maryland
Currency, paid by the Visitors of said School

  Signed by order,
  WILLIAM GOLDSBOROUGH, Register of Said School.

  _The Pennsylvania Gazette_, Aug. 15, 1745.



RUN away on Saturday the 26th of October, from Cadwalder, of Trenton, a
Negro Man, named Sam, a likely Fellow, about 26 Years of Age, speaks very
good English: Had on when he went away, a good Duroy Coat, a fine Hat,
almost new, a Pair of good Leather Breeches with Trowsers over them; but
as he has other Clothes with him, he may have changed them since. HE WAS
ENTICED AWAY BY ONE ISAAC RANDALL, AN APPRENTICE OF THOMAS MERRIOT, jun.
They took with them a likely bay Gelding, six Years old, thirteen Hands
and a Half high, paces well, and is shod before: And they are supposed to
have gone with a Design to enter on board a Privateer, either at New York
or Philadelphia. Whoever takes them up, and secures the Negro and Gelding
shall be rewarded, by

  THOMAS CADWALDER.

  _The Pennsylvania Gazette_, Oct. 31, 1745.



RUN away, the 2nd of last month from the subscriber, living at the old town
Potomack, Frederick county, Maryland, a mulattoe servant man named Isaac
Cromwell, about 40 years of age, a tall slim fellow, very smooth tongued,
by which some people may perhaps be imposed upon: Had on when he went away,
a blanket coat, leather breeches, worsted Stockings, new shoes, with brass
buckles on them.

RUN AWAY AT THE SAME TIME, AN ENGLISH SERVANT WOMAN, named Anne Greene,
about 45 years of age, short and well set, one of her legs much shorter
than the other, much pock-marked: Had on when she went away, a white
jacket, striped linsey coat. They took with them the following goods, viz.
blankets, a striped cotton gown, and petticoat, several shirts and skirts,
with other clothing, too tedious here to mention, also a small bay horse
not branded, a large bay pacing horse, his hind feet both white, about 7
years old, branded on the near buttock with a heart and a T through it; and
a small old black horse, his brand not known, with some white spots on his
back. Whoever takes up the said servants, and secures them, so that their
master may have them again, shall have Five Pounds, if taken in Maryland,
and if in Pennsylvania, or the Jerseys, Seven Pounds and reasonable
Charges, paid by Thomas Cresap or James Whitehead, Work-house-keeper in
Philadelphia.

  _Pennsylvania Gazette_, June 1, 1749.



RUN AWAY FROM FRANCIS MINES, APPOQUINIMY, New Castle county, a servant
woman, named Ann Wainrite: She is short, well-set, fresh coloured, of a
brown complexion, round visage, was brought up in Virginia, speaks good
English and bold. Had on when she went away, a blue linsey-wolsey gown, a
dark brown petticoat, and a Bath bonnet. She hath taken with her a striped
cotton shirt, and some white ones, a drab coloured great coat, a silver
hilted sword, with a broad belt, and a cane; with a considerable parcel of
other goods: Also a large bay pacing horse, roughly trimmed, shod before,
and branded on the near buttock S.R. THERE WENT AWAY WITH HER, A NEGRO
WOMAN belonging to Jannet Balvaird, named Beck; she is lusty strong and
pretty much pock-broken; had on when she went away, a brown linnen gown, a
striped red and white linsey-wolsey petticoat, the red very dull, a coarse
two petticoat, and calico one, with a great piece tore at the bottom, and
stole a black crape gown: Also a bay horse with three white feet, a blaze
down his face, and a new russet hunting saddle. Whoever takes up the above
mentioned women and horses, and secures them, so as they may be had again,
shall have Four Pounds reward and reasonable Charges, paid by

  FRANCIS MINES
  JANNET BALVAIRD.

  _The Pennsylvania Gazette_, Oct. 8, 1747.



RUN AWAY from the subscriber, on Elkridge, in Anne Arundel county,
Maryland, TWO WHITE SERVANTS, AND A NEGRO; one of the servants named John
Wright, a shoemaker by trade, has a red nose, and a crooked finger; Had on,
an ozenbrigs shirt, and breeches of the same, and a dark colour'd coat,
with a large cape. The other a Yorkshire-man, named William Cherryhome, a
stout fellow, with yellowish hair: Had on ozenbrigs shirts and trowsers, a
white fustian coat: they both have hats and shirts. The Negro named Sam, is
a lusty young fellow, with large scars on his breast and back. Whoever
takes up and secures the said servants and Negro, so that they may be had
again, shall have NINE POUNDS, besides what the law allows, paid by

  JOHN HAMMOND.

N.B. They were seen coming from Lancaster to Philadelphia.

  _The Pennsylvania Gazette_, Aug. 2, 1750.



RUN away from James West, the first of April last a servant man, named
Willis M'Coy, a small short fellow, his right eye looks red; he had on when
he went away, a blue jacket and a striped flannel jacket under it, a pair
of trowsers, and under them a pair of cloth breeches, too long for him, and
were ripped at the knee; he had two shirts on, one ozenbrigs, the other
check linnen, he is supposed to have run away with a Negro man, named Toby,
WHO LEFT HIS MASTER THE SAME DAY THE OTHER DID; the Negro has a dark
coloured duffil great coat much torn, he is a lusty well-set fellow,
betwixt 40 and 50 years old, has sundry jackets, and coarse and fine
shirts; they have no doubt changed their apparel; the Negro speaks good
English, born in Philadelphia. Whoever takes up the white servant, shall
have Three Pounds reward, and reasonable charges, paid by James West; and
whoever takes up the Negroe above, shall have Forty Shillings paid by James
Mockey, and Charges.

  _The Pennsylvania Gazette_, Aug. 2, 1750.



RUN away from the Subscriber, living at _Cambridge_ in Dorchester County,
on the 15th of this Instant July, a dark Mulatto Man Slave, named Prince:
HE WENT OFF IN COMPANY WITH A WHITE SERVANT MAN whose name is John, but
his surname forgot, belonging to Mr. William Horner, Merchant of the same
Town. The said slave is of middle Stature, well made, well featured, and
is a pert lively Fellow and plays well on the Banjer. He had on a country
Linnen Shirt, short Linnen Breeches, and an old Felt Hat.

Whoever takes up the said slave and brings him to the Subscriber, shall
have Four Pounds Reward, besides what the Law allows paid by

  JOHN WOOLLFORD.

If the White Man is secured, so that he may be had again, I doubt not but
they who secure him will have a handsome Reward paid by _William Homer_.

   _The Maryland Gazette_, July 25, 1754.



RAN away from Jonathan Sergeant, at Newark, in New-Jersey, A young Negro
man, named Esop, of middle size, with round forehead, strait nose, and a
down guilty look; he can write, and it is likely he may have a counterfeit
pass: Had with him a beaver hat, light grey linsey-wolsey jacket, tow
trowsers, new pumps, and an old purple colour'd waistcoat. IT IS SUPPOSED
HE WENT AWAY IN COMPANY WITH A WHITE MAN, named John Smith, who is an old
lean, tall man, with a long face and nose, and strait brown hair; who had
on an old faded snuff-coloured coat. Whoever takes up and secures said man
and Negro, so that their master may have them again, shall have Forty
Shillings reward for each and all reasonable Charges, paid by

  JONATHAN SERGEANT.

    _The Pennsylvania Gazette_, Aug. 28, 1755.



FORTY SHILLINGS REWARD

Run away from the manor of Eaton in Suffolk County on the 18th of November,
a negro named Caesar, about 40 Years of age, near 5 feet 8 inches high; has
thick lips, bandy legs, walks lame, and speaks very bad English; had on
when he went away, a blue jacket, check flannel shirt, tow Cloth trowsers,
black and white yarn stockings, half worn shoes, and an old felt hat; has
formerly lived in some part of West Jersey, where 'tis suspected he is
gone; HE WENT OFF IN COMPANY WITH ONE THOMAS CORNWELL, WHO CALLS HIMSELF A
BRISTOL MAN, and who 'tis feared has forged a pass for the Negro. Whoever
secures the Negro so that the subscriber may have him again, shall have the
above reward and all reasonable Charges, paid by

  JOHN SLOSS HOBART.

All masters of vessels, and others are forbid to conceal or transport said
Negro at their peril.

  _The New York Gazette or Weekly Post-Boy_, Dec. 5, 1765.



RAN away on the 25th of April last, from a Mine Bank, belonging to
_Alexander Lawson_ and Company, in _Anne Arundel_ County, near _Elk Ridge_,
Landing, a Convict Servant Fellow, who came in the County last Year in
Captain _James Dobbins:_ He is an Englishman about 6 Feet high, and of a
black complexion. Had on two Cotton Jackets, the under one without Sleeves,
a Pair of Cotton Breeches, an Osnabrigs Shirt, a Felt Hat, a white Linnen
Cap, a Silk Handkerchief, white Yarn Stockings, and Country made Shoes.

A NEGRO FELLOW BELONGING TO THE SAID COMPANY WENT AWAY WITH HIM, who is
acquainted with the back Roads, and is supposed to be conducting him that
Way. He is about 5 Feet 6 Inches high, pretty aged, and speaks good
English. Had on a Cotton Jacket and Breeches, and Osnabrigs Shirt, an old
Felt Hat, a white Linnen Cap, white Yarn Stockings, and Country made Shoes.
They took with them a Drugget Coat of a light Colour, lined with Shalloon,
and trimmed with Metal Buttons.

Whoever apprehends the said two Fellows, and secures them in any Gaol, so
that the Subscriber may have them again, shall have, if taken within the
Province, Four Pistoles Reward, for each, and reasonable Charges, if
brought to _Alexander Lawson_.

  _The Maryland Gazette_, May 9, 1754.



FIFTY PISTOLES REWARD

Annapolis, in Maryland, March 25, 1754.

Ran away on the 18th Instant with the Sloop Hopewell, belonging to the
Subscriber, William Curtis, Master, the TWO FOLLOWING CONVICT SERVANTS, AND
NEGRO MAN, viz:

John Wright, a White Man, of a swarthy Complexion, very lusty, talks
hoarse, and is much pitted with the Small Pox.

John Smith, also a lusty White Man, with short black Hair.

Toney, a yellowish Negro, and not quite so lusty, pretends to be a
Portugese, speaks good English and pertly, is a good Hand by Water, also
can do Cooper's Work, Butchering, &c. Had on or with him, a Dove colour'd
Surtoot Coat.

They may have sundry Cloaths, Wigs, Linnen, Cash &c. belonging to the
Captain, as it is believed they have murdered him; and the above Wright was
seen with the Captain's Cloaths on, which were red; though he had Cloaths
of sundry Colours with him: He also had a neat Silver hilted Sword, and
Pistols mounted with Silver.

The Captain had the Register of the Sloop with him, but he was not
endorsed thereon, as he was to return here to make up his Load, and clear
at the proper Office.

They were seen off Patuxent on the 22nd Instant, at which time the said
Wright assumed Master, and took two Men with them, belonging to Schooner of
Mr. James Dick's and Company one a White Man belonging to Capt. William
Strachan, of London Town, who went on board with some Bread for them, at
which Time they hoisted Sail, and cut their Boat adrift, and carried them
off.

They had some Lumber on board, such as Staves, Heading, and Plank; also
Rum, Molasses, Sugar, Linnen &C. &C.

The Sloop is about 45 Tons, Square sterned, with a Round House, with a
Partition under dividing the Cabin and Steerage, the Waste black, yellow
Gunwales and Drift Rails, and the Drift and Stern blue.

Whoever secures the said sloop and Goods so that the Owner may have her
again, and the three White Servants and two Slaves, so that they may be
brought to Justice, shall have FIFTY PISTOLES Reward, paid by

  PATRICK CREAGH.

  _Maryland Gazette_, April 11, 1754.



New-York, July 10, 1760.

RUN away from Dennis Hicks, of Philipsburgh in Westchester County, and
Province of New York, a mulatto man Slave named Bill, aged about 20 Years
has a long sharp Nose, with a black Mole on the Right side of his Face,
near his Nose, has very large Ears, speaks good English, and pretends to be
free, and can read and write well: SAYS HE HAS A WHITE MOTHER AND WAS Born
in NEW-ENGLAND. He is of a middle size, and has a thin Visage, with his
Hair cut off. All person are forbid to harbour him, and all Masters of
Vessels are forbid to carry him off, as they will answer it at their Peril.
TWENTY-FIVE POUNDS Reward for securing him in any Gaol, or bringing him to
me so that I may have him again, and reasonable Charges paid by

  DENNIS HICKS.

N.B. This Fellow was advertised in the New York Papers the 5th of June and
in Newhaven the 11th of June 1759, was afterward taken up in Waterbury, and
was put into Litchfield Gaol, from thence he was brought to Belford, and
there made his escape from his master again. Those who apprehend him are
desired to secure him in Irons. He was taken up by Moses Fort, of North
Waterbury in New England. It is likely he will change his Cloaths as he did
before. The Mole above mentioned is something long.

N.B. By information he was in Morris County in the Jerseys all the Winter;
and said he would enlist in the provincial service.[3]

  _The New York Gazette_, Aug. 11, 1760.

      [3] This advertisement appears under another heading on page 199.



TEN PISTOLES REWARD

Kent County Maryland, March 19, 1755.

Whereas there were several advertisements, (some of which were printed, and
others of the same Signification written), dispersed through this Province,
describing and offering a Reward of Two Pistoles, &c. for taking up a
SERVANT MAN, NAMED JAMES FRANCIS, AND A MULATTO MAN SLAVE call'd Toby, both
belonging to the subscriber, and ran away on the 11th Instant: And whereas
it has been discovered since the Publishing of the said Advertisements,
that they carried with them many more Things than is therein described, I
do hereby again and farther give Notice that the White Man James Francis,
is aged about 21 years, his Stature near five Feet and and half, slender
bodied, with a smooth Face, almost beardless, born in England and bred a
Farmer. The Mulatto is a lusty, well-set Country born Slave with a great
Nose, wide Nostrils, full mouth'd, many Pimples in his Face; very slow in
Speech, he is a tolerable Cooper and House Carpeter, and no doubt will
endeavour to pass for a Free-Man; Each hath a Felt Hat, Country Cloth Vest
and Breeches, and Yarn Stockings: one of them has a light coloured loose
Coat of Whitney or Duffel: The White Man a dark close bodied Coat, a
striped short Vest of Everlasting, another of blue Fearnothing, with other
Cloaths. The Slave has also many other valuable Garments; they took with
them likewise a Gun, Powder and Shot, and are supposed either to cross, or
go down Bay in a Pettiauger.

Whoever brings the said Servant and Slave to the Subscriber on the Mouth of
Chester River or to Thomas Ringgold at Chester-Town, shall have for a
Reward Ten Pistoles and all reasonable Charges in taking and securing the
said Servant and Slave, paid by[4]

  JAMES RINGGOLD.
  THOMAS RINGGOLD.

  _The Maryland Gazette_, March 20, 1755.


      [4] This advertisement occurs also under the heading of "The
      Relations of the French and Negroes."



ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS REWARD

RAN away from Hagerstown, Washington County, Maryland in September last, a
Negro wench named PEGGY, but sometimes calls herself NANCY, about 26 years
of age, talks on the Welsh accent, her complexion of a yellowish cast, the
wool on her head is longer than negroes commonly have: Had on a blue
petticoat of Duffil cloth, old shoes and stockings, her other clothes
uncertain. IT IS SUPPOSED SHE WENT OFF WITH A PORTUGESE FELLOW WHO SERVED
HIS TIME WITH MR. JACOB FUNK: they probably may be in the neighborhood of
Georgetown or Alexandria or gone towards camp, and that she will attempt to
pass for a free woman, and wife to the Portugese fellow. Whoever takes her
up and secures her in any gaol, so that the subscriber get her again, or
delivers her to Daniel Hughes, Esq., in Hagerstown, shall have the above
reward, and reasonable charges,

  JOHN SWAN.

  _The Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser_, Oct. 19, 1779.



SIX DOLLARS REWARD

On Monday night, the 18th instant, ran away, from the subscriber, living
in Montgomery County, near Georgetown, a likely, bright MULATTO MAN named
GEORGE PINTER, about 21 years of age, 5 feet 9 or 10 inches high, spare
made, with long bushy hair; he is remarkably talkative, and generally
smiles when spoken to; he had on, and took with him, a drab-coloured
country-cloth surtout, one white broad-cloth coat with plated buttons, one
striped nankeen ditto, two striped silk and cotton waistcoats with gilt
buttons, one pair of blue yarn stockings, all of them about half worn, and
a pretty good felt hat, with a very wide but shallow crown; his other
clothes unknown. It is highly probable he is furnished with a pass and
will assume the character of a free man; he went off, IT IS SUSPECTED IN
COMPANY WITH A COUPLE OF IRISH SERVANTS WHO LEFT THE LITTLE FALLS ON THE
SAME DAY, where they had been at work together for some time past. Whoever
apprehends and secures the said Runaway, in any gaol, so that his master
may get him again, shall receive the above reward, with reasonable
charges, if brought home.

  WILLIAM WALLACE.
  March 25, 1793.

  _The Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser_, March 29, 1793.



Westmoreland County, Virginia, Aug. 17, 1749.

RUN away from subscriber on Monday last, a Convict Servant named Thomas
Winey; he professes farming, was imported lately from Maidstone gaol in
the County of Kent, Great Britain--* * *

THE ABOVE MENTIONED SERVANT TOOK WITH HIM A MOLATTOE SLAVE named James, a
well set fellow, 23 years old ************ I have been informed by their
confederates since they went off, that they intend to go to Pennsylvania
and from thence to New England, unless they can on their way get passage
in some vessel to Great Britain where the Molattoe slave pretends to have
an UNCLE WHO ESCAPED FROM HIS MASTER IN THIS COLONY NEAR 23 YEARS AGO, AND
IS SAID TO KEEP A COFFEE HOUSE IN LONDON.

  _The Pennsylvania Gazette_, Sept. 14, 1749.




REVIEWS OF BOOKS


_The Negro._ By W. E. B. DuBois. New York: Henry Holt and Co. 1915. Pp.
254. 50 cents.

In this small volume Dr. DuBois presents facts to show that, contrary to
general belief, the Negro has developed and contributed to civilization the
same as all other groups of the human race. The usual arguments that the
backward state of Negro culture is due to the biological inferiority of the
race he shows to be without foundation, since these arguments have been
largely abandoned by creditable scholars. Much of the material in the book
has been known for several years to readers of works of scholars on race
questions. As is commonly the case, truths which tend to destroy
deep-rooted prejudices reach general readers with considerable slowness.
While it is not possible to treat but briefly a large subject in such small
compass, the facts set forth by the author will put many persons on their
guard against individuals who continue to spread misinformation about the
Negro race.

The book is divided into twelve chapters, contains a helpful index, has a
topically arranged list of books suggested for further reading, and an
index. All of the chapters make interesting reading; but those treating of
the achievements in state building and general culture of the ancient
African Negro are especially stimulating. The author points out that in
Egypt, both as mixed Semitic-Negroids and pure blacks from Ethiopia, Negro
blood shared in producing the civilization of Egypt. Another center of
Negro civilization was the Soudan. There strong Negro empires like Songhay
and Melle developed under Mohammedan influence and existed for many
centuries. In West Africa there was a flourishing group of Negro city
states, the most famous of these being the Yoruban group. Recent
discoveries of Frobenius in these parts of the continent show that the
people reached a high stage of development in the terra cotta, bronze,
glass, weaving, and iron industry. In the regions about the Great Lakes,
inhabited largely by the Bantu, are found many worked over gold and silver
mines, old irrigation systems, remains of hundreds of groups of stone
buildings and fortifications. The author explains that the decline of this
ancient culture was due to internal wars, Mohammedan conquest, and
especially the ravages of the slave trade. The fact of the existence of
such culture in the past stands as evidence of the capacity of the race to
achieve.

It is worth noting what the author thinks about "the future relation of the
Negro race to the rest of the world." He states that the "clear modern
philosophy ... assigns to the white race alone the hegemony of the world
and assumes that other races, and particularly the Negro race, will either
be content to serve the interests of the whites or die out before their
all-conquering march." Of the several plans of solutions of the Negro
problems since the emancipation from chattel slavery he tells us that
practically all have been directed by the motive of economic exploitation
for the benefit of white Europe. Because all dark races, and the white
workmen too, are included in this capitalistic program of economic
exploitation, he believes there is coming "a unity of the working classes
everywhere," which will apparently know no race line. But the colored
peoples are more largely the victims of this economic exploitation. In
answer to it the author concludes: "There is slowly arising not only a
strong brotherhood of Negro blood throughout the world, but the common
cause of the darker races against the intolerable assumptions and insults
of Europeans has already found expression." He expresses the hope that
"this colored world may come into its heritage, ... the earth," may not
"again be drenched in the blood of fighting, snarling human beasts," but
that "Reason and Good will prevail."

J. A. BIGHAM.



_The American Civilization and the Negro._ By C. V. Roman, A.M., M.D. F. A.
Davis Company, Philadelphia, 1916. 434 pages.

This volume is a controversial treatise supported here and there by facts
of Negro life and history. The purpose of the work is to increase racial
self respect and to diminish racial antagonism. The author has endeavored
to combine argument and evidence to refute the assertions of such writers
as Schufeldt and agitators like Tillman and Vardaman. But although on the
controversial order the author has tried to write "without bitterness and
bias." The effort here is directed toward showing that humanity is one in
vices and virtues as well as in blood; that the laws of evolution and
progress apply equally to all; that there are no diseases peculiar to the
American Negro nor any debasing vices peculiar to the African; that there
are no cardinal virtues peculiar to the European; and that all races having
numerous failings, one should not give snap judgment of the other,
especially when that judgment involves the welfare of a people.

The work contains an extensive zoological examination of man as an
inhabitant of the world, the differences in the separate individuals
composing races, the forces with which they must contend, the morals of
mankind, and the general principles of human development. The question of
Negro slavery in America is discussed as a preliminary in coming to the
crucial point of the study, the presence of the colored man in the South.
The author frankly states what the colored man is struggling for. Making a
review of the history of the Negroes of the United States, he justifies
their claim to political rights on the ground that they are reacting
successfully to their environment.

The book abounds with illustrations of prominent colored Americans,
successful Negroes, individual types, typical family groups, arts and
crafts among the Africans, public schools and colleges.

J. O. BURKE.



_The Police Control of the Slave in South Carolina._ By H. M. Henry, M.A.,
Professor of History and Economics, Emory and Henry College, Emory,
Virginia, 1914. 216 pages.

This work is a doctoral dissertation of Vanderbilt University. The author
entered upon this study to show to what extent the southern people "sought
to perpetuate, not slavery, but the same method of controlling the
emancipated Negro which was in force under the slavery regime, the
difficulties which were met with from without and the measure of success
attained." He was not long in discovering that the laws on the statute
books did not adequately answer the question. It was necessary, therefore,
to determine to what extent these laws were in force and what extra-legal
method may have been resorted to in a system so flexible as slavery.

One of the first influences discovered was the Barbadian slave code and
then the evolution of slave control from that of the white indentured
servant. Soon then the status of the slave as interpreted by the court was
that of no legal standing in these tribunals. The overseer is then
presented as a Negro driver, referred to in contemporary sources. The
author devotes much space to the patrol system, the various kinds of
punishment, the court for the trial of slaves, the relations between the
Negroes and the whites, the question of trading with slaves, slaves hiring
their time, the slave trade, the stealing, harboring and kidnapping of free
Negroes, the runaway slaves, the Seamen Acts, the gatherings of Negroes,
slave insurrections, the abolition of incendiary literature, the
prohibition of the education of the blacks, manumission, and the legal
status of the free Negro.

The author shows by his researches that although amended somewhat, the
slave code agreed upon in 1740 continued as a part of the organic law. At
times some effort was made to ameliorate the condition of the blacks. The
kidnapping of free Negroes, at first permitted, was later declared a crime,
the murder of a Negro by a white man, which until 1821 was punishable only
by a fine, was then made a capital offence, the court for the trial of
Negroes became more inclined to be just, the privileges of trading and
hiring their time, although prohibited by law, became common, and some
efforts were made to give the blacks religious instruction. At the same
time the Negro suffered from reactionary measures restricting their
emancipation, prohibiting free Negroes from entering the State, and
proscribing their education. The author can see why the rich planters for
financial reasons supported this system, but wonders why non-slaveholders
who formed the majority of the white population, "should have assisted in
upholding and maintaining the slavery status of the Negro with its
attendant inconveniences, such a patrol service, when they must have been
aware in some measure, at least, that as an economic regime it was a
hindrance to their progress."

In this study the author found nothing "to indicate that there was any
movement or any serious discussion of the advisability of abolishing
slavery or devising any plan that would eventually lead to it." In that
State there never were many anti-slavery inhabitants. The Quakers who came
into the State soon left and the Germans, who at first abstained from
slavery, finally yielded. There probably was an academic deprecation of the
evils of the institution but hardly any tendency toward agitation; and if
there had been such, the promoters would not have secured support among the
leading people. A few men like Judge O'Neall favored the emancipation of
worthy slaves, but the agitation from without gave this sentiment no chance
to grow. Yet the author is anxious not to leave the impression that, had it
not been for outside interference, slavery in South Carolina would have
been modified. This would not have happened, he contended, because unlike
the States of North Carolina and Virginia, South Carolina did not find
slaves less valuable. The condition of the slave in the upper country was
better than that in the low lands, but no section of the State showed signs
of abolition.

This work is a well-documented dissertation. It has an appendix containing
valuable documents, and a critical bibliography of the works consulted. It
could have been improved by digesting documents which appear almost in full
throughout the work. Another defect is that it has no index.

C. B. WALTER.



_Gouldtown_. By William Steward, A.M., and REV. Theophilus G. Steward, D.D.
J. B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia, 1913. 237 pages. $2.50.

There are hundreds of thousands of mulattoes in the United States. Anyone
interested in this group of the American people will find many illuminating
and suggestive facts in Gouldtown. It is the history of the descendants of
Lord Fenwick, who was a major in Oliver Cromwell's army, and of Gould a
Negro man. Fenwick's will of 1683 contains the following: "I do except
against Elizabeth Adams of having any ye leaste part of my estate, unless
the Lord open her eyes to see her abdominable transgression against him, me
and her good father, by giving her true repentance, and forsaking yt
_Black_ yt hath been ye ruin of her, and becoming penitent for her sins;
upon yt condition only I do will and require my executors to settle five
hundred acres of land upon her." Elizabeth did not forsake this Negro by
the name of Gould and the remarkable mulatto group of Gouldtown is the
result of this marriage. Gouldtown is a small settlement in southwest New
Jersey.

In 1910 there were 225 living descendants from this union scattered
throughout the United States from the Atlantic to the Pacific; many in
Canada, others in London, Liverpool, Paris, Berlin and Antwerp. For over
200 years these descendants have married and inter-married with Indian,
Negro and White with no serious detriment except the introduction of
tuberculosis into one branch of the family by an infusion of white blood.
It is interesting to note that crime, drunkenness, pauperism or sterility
has not resulted from these two hundred years of miscegenation. Thrift and
intelligence, longevity and fertility have been evident. In every war
except the Mexican, the community has been represented; one member of the
group became a bishop in the A.M.E. Church; one, chaplain in the United
States army, and many, now white, are prominent in other walks of life.
Several golden weddings have been celebrated. Several have reached the age
of a hundred years while many seem not to have begun to grow old until
three score years have been reached.

If one enters into the spirit of Gouldtown, and reads hastily the dry,
Isaac-begat-Jacob passages, the study moves like the story of a river that
loses itself in the sands. "Samuel 3rd. when a young man went to Pittsburgh
then counted to be in the far west and all trace of him was lost." "Daniel
Gould ... in early manhood went to Massachusetts, losing his identity as
colored." Such expressions are typical of the whole study. A constant
fading away, a losing identity occurs. The book is clearly the story of the
mulatto in the United States.

Aside from an occasional lapse in diction, it is a careful study with 35
illustrations and many documents such as copies of deeds, wills,
family-bible and death records.

WALTER DYSON.




NOTES


"_The Creed of the Old South_," by Basil Gildersleeve, has come from the
Johns Hopkins Press. This is a presentation of the Lost Cause to enlarge
the general appreciation of southern ideals.

From the same press comes also "_The Constitutional Doctrines of Justice
Harlan_," by Floyd B. Clark. The author gives an interesting survey of the
decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States, tracing the
constitutional doctrine of the distinguished jurist.

The Neale Publishing Company has brought out "_The Aftermath of the Civil
War in Arkansas_," by Powell Clayton. The author was governor of the State
from 1868 to 1871. Not desiring to take radical ground, he endeavors to be
moderate in sketching the work of different factions.

From the press of Funk Wagnalls we have "_Samuel Coleridge-Taylor;
Musician, His Life and Letters_," by W. C. Berwick Sayres.

Dean B. G. Brawley, of Morehouse College, contributed to the January number
of "_The South Atlantic Quarterly_" an article entitled "_Pre-Raphaelitism
and Its Literary Relations_."

C. F. Heartman, New York, has published the poems of Jupiter Hammon, a
slave born in Long Island, New York, about 1720. Nothing is known of
Hammon's early life. It is probable that he was a preacher. His first poem
was published December 25, 1760. They do not show any striking literary
merit but give evidence of the mental development of the slave of the
eighteenth century.

Dr. B. F. Riley, the noted Birmingham preacher and social worker, is
planning to bring out a biography of Booker T. Washington. Dr. Riley is a
white man and is the author of "_The White Man's Burden_," an historical
and sociological work written in behalf of the rights of all humanity
irrespective of class or condition.

Dr. C. G. Woodson has been asked to write for the revised edition of the
"_Encyclopaedia Americana_" the article on "_Negro Education_."

The Cambridge University Press has published "_The Northern Bantu_," by J.
Roscoe. This is a short history of some central African tribes of the
Uganda Protectorate.

J. A. Winter contributed to the July number of "_The South African Journal
of Science_" a paper entitled "_The Mental and Moral Capabilities of the
Natives, Especially of Sekukuniland_."

In "_Folk Lore_," September 30, 1915, appeared "_Some Algerian
Superstitions noted among the Shawai Berbers of the Aurès Mountains and
their Nomad Neighbors_."

Murray has published in London "_A History of the Gold Coast and Ashanti_"
in two volumes, by W. W. Claridge. The introduction is written by the
Governor of the Gold Coast, Sir Hugh Clifford. It covers the period from
the earliest times to the commencement of the present century. The volume
commences with an account of the Akan tribes and their existence in two
main branches--Fanti and Ashanti. Beginning with the early voyages, the
author gives an extensive sketch of European discovery and settlement.

"_A History of South Africa from the Earliest Days to the Union_," by W. C.
Scully, has appeared under the imprint of Longmans, Green and Company.

Fisher Unwin has published "_South West Africa_," by W. Eveleigh. The
volume gives a brief account of the history, resources and possibilities
of that country.




HOW THE PUBLIC RECEIVED THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY



_My dear Dr. Woodson:_

I thank you cordially for sending me a copy of the first issue of THE
JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY. It is a real pleasure to see a journal of this
kind, dignified in form and content, and conforming in every way to the
highest standards of modern historical research. You and your colleagues
are to be congratulated on beginning your enterprise with such promise, and
you certainly have my very best wishes for the future success of an
undertaking so significant for the history of Negro culture in America and
the world.

I feel it a duty to assist concretely in work of this kind, and accordingly
I enclose my check for sixteen dollars, of which fifteen dollars are in
payment of a life membership fee in the Association for the Study of Negro
Life and History, and one dollar for a year's subscription to the JOURNAL.

Very sincerely yours,

J. E. Spingarn



_Dear Dr. Woodson:_

Thank you for sending me the first number of your QUARTERLY JOURNAL. Mr.
Bowen had already loaned me his copy and I had been meaning to write to
you, stating how much I liked the looks of the magazine, the page, the
print, and how good the matter of this first number seemed to me to be. I
am going to ask the library here to subscribe to it and I shall look over
each number as it comes out. Enclosed is my cheque for five dollars which
you can add to your research fund.

Very truly yours,

Edward Channing,
_Mclean Professor of Ancient
and Modern History,
Harvard University_



_My dear Dr. Woodson:_

No words of mine can express the delight with which I am reading the first
copy of your JOURNAL, nor the supreme satisfaction I feel that such an
organization as the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History is
in actual and active existence. Inclosed find check for sixteen dollars
for one year's subscription to the JOURNAL and a life membership in the
Association.

Very truly yours,

Leila Amos Pendleton
_Washington, D.C._



_Dear Sir:_

I have read with considerable interest Number 1 of THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO
HISTORY. The enterprise seems to me to be an excellent one and deserving of
enthusiastic support.

Yours sincerely,

A. A. Goldenweiser,
_Department of Anthropology,
Columbia University_



_Dear Sir:_

Last week I chanced to see a copy of THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY, January
number, and while I didn't have opportunity to read it fully, I was very
favorably impressed with it; so much so that I am sending my check for one
year's subscription, including the January number. Allow me to hope much
success may attend this undertaking and that subsequent numbers be as
elegant and attractive as this one.

Yours very truly,

T. Spotuas Burwell



_Dear Sir:_

I want to congratulate you on the appearance and contents of this first
number. It has received most favorable comment from every one to whom I
have shown it. I certainly wish it every success.

Yours truly,

Caroline B. Chapin
_Englewood, N.J._


_Dear Mr. Woodson:_

I have examined with more than usual interest the copy of THE JOURNAL OF
NEGRO HISTORY which has just reached me through your courtesy. It certainly
looks hopeful and I trust that the venture may prove its usefulness very
quickly. I am sending you my check for a subscription as I shall be glad to
receive subsequent issues.

Wishing you great success in your editorial position and hoping that the
idea of the organization may be attained, I remain,

Yours very truly,

F.w. Shepardson,
_Professor of American History,
The University of Chicago_



_My dear Dr. Woodson:_

I looked over the first number of THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY with much
interest. It bears every evidence of a scientific disposition on the part
of the editor and his board.

Yours sincerely,

Ferdinand Schevill,
_Professor of European History,
The University of Chicago_



_My dear Dr. Woodson:_

Your magazine is excellent. I am noting it in the current _Crisis_.

Very sincerely Yours,

W. E. B. DuBois,
_Editor of the Crisis_



_My dear Dr. Woodson:_

Enclosed find my check for $1 for one year's subscription to THE JOURNAL OF
NEGRO HISTORY. I am enjoying the reading of the first issue and shall look
forward with interest to the coming of each successive one.

With best wishes for the work, I am,

Very truly yours,

T. C. Williams,
_Manassas, Va._



_My dear Dr. Woodson:_

I have read THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY with pleasure, interest, profit
and withal, amazement. The typographical appearance, the size and the
strong scholastic historical articles reveal research capacity of the
writers, breadth of learning and fine literary taste. Having been the
editor of the _Voice of the Negro_ and knowing somewhat of the literary
capacity of the best writers of the race, I cannot but express satisfaction
and amazement with this new venture under your leadership. I sincerely hope
and even devoutly pray that this latest born from the brain of the Negro
race may grow in influence and power, as it deserves, to vindicate for the
thinkers of the race their claim to citizenship in the republic of thought
and letters. Count upon me as a fellow worker.

Yours sincerely,

J. W. E. Bowen
_Vice-President of Gammon Theological Seminary_



_My Dear Dr. Woodson:_

I have examined with interest the first number of THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO
HISTORY, which you so kindly sent me. It is a credit to its editors and
contributors and I hope it may continue to preserve high standards and to
prosper.

Sincerely yours,

Frederick J. Turner,
_Professor of American History in Harvard University_



_My dear Dr. Woodson:_

I am obliged to you for your copy of THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY and am
interested in knowing that you have undertaken this interesting work. I
shall endeavor to see that it is ordered for our library. I should suppose
that if you could manage to float it and keep it going for a few years, at
least, that it would have considerable historical value.

Very sincerely yours,

A. C. Mclaughlin,
_Head of the Department of American History,
The University of Chicago_



_My dear Dr. Woodson:_

Thank you for sending me the JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY, which I have
examined with interest and which I am calling to the attention of the
Harvard Library. You have struck a good field of work, and I am sure you
can achieve genuine results in it.

Sincerely yours,

Charles H. Haskins,
_Dean of the Harvard Graduate School_



_My dear Dr. Woodson:_

Please accept my thanks for an initial copy of THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY
which you were kind enough to send me. I am delighted with it. Its
mechanical makeup leaves nothing to be desired and its contents possess a
permanent value. It should challenge the support of all forward-looking men
of the race and command the respect of the thinking men of the entire
country regardless of creed or color. I wish you the fullest measure of
success in this unique undertaking.

Your friend,

J.w. Scott,
_Principal of the Douglass High School,
Huntington, W. Va._



_My dear Mr. Woodson:_

I wish to acknowledge the receipt of the first number of THE JOURNAL OF
NEGRO HISTORY. I have read it with much interest and congratulate you, as
the editor, upon your achievement. The more I think of the matter, the more
do I believe there is a place for such a publication. The history of the
Negro in Africa, in the West Indies, in Spanish America, and in the United
States offers a large field in which little appears to have been done.

Very truly yours,

A. H. Buffinton,
_Instructor in History, Williams College_



_My dear Sir:_

A copy of THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY was received yesterday and I wish to
thank you and the gentlemen associated with you for this magnificent
effort. There is "class" to this magazine, more "class" than I have seen in
any of our race journals. May I say, notwithstanding the fact that I edited
a race magazine once myself, the whole magazine is clean and high and
deserves a place in our homes and college libraries alongside with the
great periodicals of the land.

Yours very truly,

J. Max Barber



_Dear Sirs:_

Please find enclosed my subscription of one dollar in cash to THE JOURNAL
OF NEGRO HISTORY, and permit me to congratulate you on your first
publication.

Very truly yours,

Oswald Garrison Villard



_Dear Sir:_

The first number of your magazine reached me a few days ago. It is a fine
publication, doing credit to its editor and to the association. I think it
has a fine field.

Sincerely yours,

T. G. Steward,
_Captain, U. S. Army, Retired_



_Dear Dr. Woodson:_

I have the first number of THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY. Permit me to
congratulate you and to earnestly hope that it may live long and prosper.
It is excellent in purpose, matter and method. If the present high standard
is maintained, you and your friends will not only make a most valuable
contribution to a dire need of the Negro, but you will add in a
substantial measure to current historical data.

Truly yours,

D. S. S. Goodloe,
_Principal, Maryland Normal and Industrial School_



"Why then, should the new year be signalized by the appearance of a
magazine bearing the title THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY? How can there be
such a thing as history for a race which is just beginning to live? For the
JOURNAL does not juggle with words; by 'history' it means history and not
current events. The answer is to be found within its pages...."

"But the outstanding feature of the new magazine is just the fact of its
appearance. Launched at Chicago by a new organization, the Association for
the Study of Negro Life and History, it does not intend 'to drift into the
discussion of the Negro Problem,' but rather to 'popularize the movement of
unearthing the Negro and his contributions to civilization ... believing
that facts properly set forth will speak for themselves.'"

"This is a new and stirring note in the advance of the black man.
Comparatively few of any race have a broad or accurate knowledge of its
part. It would be absurd to expect that the Negro will carry about in his
head many details of a history from which he is separated by a tremendous
break. It is not absurd to expect that he will gradually learn that he,
too, has a heritage of something beside shame and wrong. By that knowledge
he may be uplifted as he goes about his task of building from the bottom."

_The New York Evening Post._



When men of any race begin to show pride in their own antecedents we have
one of the surest signs of prosperity and rising civilization. That is one
reason why the new JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY ought to attract more than
passing attention. Hitherto the history of the Negro race has been written
chiefly by white men; now the educated Negroes of this country have decided
to search out and tell the historic achievements of their race in their own
way and from their own point of view. And, judging from the first issue of
their new publication, they are going to do it in a way that will measure
up to the standards set by the best historical publications of the day.

The opinions which the American Negro has hitherto held concerning his own
race have been largely moulded for him by others. Himself he has given us
little inkling of what his race has felt, and thought and done. Any such
situation, if long enough continued, would make him a negligible factor in
the intellectual life of mankind. But the educated leaders of the race, of
whom our colleges and universities have been turning out hundreds in recent
years, do not propose that this shall come to pass. They are going to show
the Negro that his race is more ancient than the Golden Fleece or Roman
Eagle; that Ethiopia had a history quite as illustrious as that of Nineveh
or Tyre, and that the Negro may well take pride in the rock from which he
was hewn. The few decades of slavery form but a small dark spot in the
annals of long and great achievements. That embodies a fine attitude and
one which should be thoroughly encouraged. It aims to teach the Negro that
he can do his own race the best service by cultivating those hereditary
racial traits which are worth preserving, and not by a fatuous imitation of
his white neighbors.

At any rate, here is a historical journal of excellent scientific quality,
planned and managed by Negro scholars for readers of their own race, and
preaching the doctrine of racial self-consciousness. That in itself is a
significant step forward.

_The Boston Herald._



A new periodical, to be published quarterly, is the journal of "The
Association for the Study of Negro Life and History," a society organized
in Chicago in September, 1915. The commendable aim of the Association is to
collect and publish historical and sociological material bearing on the
Negro race. Its purpose, it is claimed, is not to drift into discussion of
the Negro problem, but to publish facts which will show to posterity what
the Negro has so far thought, felt, and done.

The president of the association, George C. Hall, of Chicago; its
secretary-treasurer, Jesse E. Moorland, of Washington, D.C.; the editor of
the JOURNAL, Carter G. Woodson, also of Washington; and the other names
associated with them on the executive council and on the board of associate
editors, guarantee an earnestness of purpose and a literary ability which
will doubtless be able to maintain the high standard set in the first issue
of the JOURNAL. The table of contents of the January number includes
several historical articles of value, some sociological studies, and other
contributions, all presented in dignified style and in a setting of
excellent paper and type. The general style of the JOURNAL is the same as
that of the _American Historical Review._

_The Southern Workman._



An undertaking which deserves a cordial welcome began in the publication,
in January, of the first number of the _Journal of Negro History_, edited
by Mr. Carter G. Woodson, and published at 2223 Twelfth Street, N.W.,
Washington, by the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History,
formed at Chicago in September, 1915. The price is but $1 per annum. The
objects of the Association and of the journal are admirable--not the
discussion of the "negro problem," which is sure, through other means, of
discussion ample in quantity at least, but to exhibit the facts of negro
history, to save and publish the records of the black race, to make known
by competent articles and by documents what the negro has thought and felt
and done. The first number makes an excellent beginning, with an article by
the editor on the Negroes of Cincinnati prior to the Civil War; one by W. B.
Hartgrove on the career of Maria Louise Moore and Fannie M. Richards,
mother and daughter, pioneers in negro education in Virginia and Detroit;
one by Monroe N. Work, on ancient African civilization; and one by A. O.
Stafford, on negro proverbs. The reprinting of a group of articles on
slavery in the _American Museum_ of 1788 by "Othello," a negro, and of
selections from the _Baptist Annual Register_, 1790-1802, respecting negro
Baptist churches, gives useful aid toward better knowledge of the American
negro at the end of the eighteenth century.

_The American Historical Review._




       *       *       *       *       *



THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY

VOL. I--JUNE, 1916--No. 3

PUBLISHED QUARTERLY




CONTENTS



JOHN H. RUSSELL, Ph.D.: Colored Freemen as Slave Owners in Virginia

JOHN H. PAYNTER, A.M.: The Fugitives of the Pearl

BENJAMIN BRAWLEY: Lorenzo Dow

LOUIS R. MEHLINGER: The Attitude of the Free Negro Toward African
    Colonization

DOCUMENTS:
  TRANSPLANTING FREE NEGROES TO OHIO FROM 1815 TO 1858:
    Blacks and Mulattoes,
    New Style Colonization,
    Freedom in a Free State,
    The Randolph Slaves,
    The Republic of Liberia.
  A TYPICAL COLONIZATION CONVENTION:
    Convention of Free Colored People,
    Emigration of the Colored Race,
    Circular, Address to the Free Colored People of the State of Maryland,
    Proceedings of the Convention of Free Colored People of the State of
      Maryland


REVIEWS OF BOOKS:
     ABEL'S _The Slaveholding Indians. Volume I: As Slaveholder and
       Secessionist_;
     GEORGE'S _The Political History of Slavery in the United States_;
     CLARK'S _The Constitutional Doctrines of Justice Harlan_;
     THOMPSON'S _Reconstruction in Georgia, Economic, Social, Political,
       1865--1872_

NOTES



THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF NEGRO LIFE AND HISTORY, INCORPORATED

41 North Queen Street, Lancaster, PA.
2223 Twelfth Street, Washington, D. C.

25 Cents A Copy $1.00 A Year

Copyright, 1916




COLORED FREEMEN AS SLAVE OWNERS IN VIRGINIA[1]



Among the quaint old seventeenth century statutes of Virginia may be found
the following significant enactment:

No negro or Indian though baptized and enjoyned their own freedome shall be
capable of any purchase of Christians _but yet not debarred from buying any
of their owne nation._[2]

"Christians" in this act means persons of the white race. Indented
servitude was the condition and status of no small part of the white
population of Virginia when this law was enacted. While it is not a part of
our purpose in this article to show that white servants were ever bound in
servitude to colored masters, the inference from this prohibition upon the
property rights of the free Negroes is that colored freemen had at least
attempted to acquire white or "Christian" servants. In a revision of the
law seventy-eight years later it was deemed necessary to retain the
prohibition and to annex the provision that if any free Negro or mulatto
"shall nevertheless presume to purchase a Christian white servant, such
servant shall immediately become free."[3]

If we see in these laws nothing more than precautionary measures against a
possible reversal of the usual order of white master and black servant to
that of black master and white servant, they are nevertheless significant
as commentaries on the extent of the remaining unimpaired property rights
of black freemen. Only in the light of these prohibitions do we see the
full significance of the last clause of the act which reads: "but yet not
debarred from buying any of their owne nation."

With no evidence beyond this explicit admission in the written law of the
right of free Negroes to own servants and slaves of their own race it could
scarcely be doubted that there were in the colony colored men known to the
framers of this law who held to service persons of their own race and
color. But when the court records are opened and the strange story of the
free Negro Anthony Johnson and his slave John Casor is read and understood
we are forced to a realization of the impartial attitude of the law toward
black masters not only in its outward expression but also in its actual
application. The story of the relation of these two black settlers in the
young colony is worth relating in the quaint language of the times word for
word as it appears in the manuscript records.

     The deposition of Capt. Samll. Goldsmyth taken in open court 8th of
     March [16]54 sayeth that being att ye house of Anth. Johnson Negro
     about ye beginning of November last to receive a Hogsd of tobac, a
     negro called Jno. Casor came to this depo[nen]t & told him yt hee came
     into Virginia for seaven or eight years of Indenture; yt hee had
     demanded his freedome of Antho. Johnson his mayster & further sd yt
     hee had kept him his serv[ant] seaven years longer than hee should or
     ought; and desired that this Depont would see yt hee might have noe
     wronge; whereupon your depont demanded of Anth. Johnson his Indenture.
     the sd Johnson answered hee never saw any. The negro Jno. Casor
     replyed when hee came in he had an Indenture. Anth. Johnson sd hee had
     ye Negro for his life, but Mr. Robert & George Parker sd they knewe
     that ye sd Negro had an Indenture in one Mr. S[andys?] hand on ye
     other side of ye Baye. Further sd Mr. Robert Parker & his Brother
     George sd (if the sd. Anth. Johnson did not let ye negro go free) the
     said negro Jno Casor would recover most of his Cows from him ye sd
     Johnson. Then Anth. Johnson (as this dep't. did suppose) was in a
     great feare.... Anth. Johnsons sonne in Law, his wife & his own two
     sonnes persuaded the old negro Anth. Johnson to sett the sd. Jno.
     Casor free ... more sth not.

     Samll Goldsmyth.

     Eight March Anno 1654.[4]

John Casor was not, however, permitted to enjoy long his freedom. Johnson
decided to petition the county court to determine whether John Casor was a
slave for life or a servant "for seven years of indenture." The court
record of the suit is as follows:

     Whereas complaint was this daye made to ye court by ye humble peticion
     of Anth. Johnson Negro ag[ains]t Mr. Robert Parker that hee detayneth
     one John Casor a Negro the plaintiffs Serv[an]t under pretense yt
     the sd Jno. Casor is a freeman the court seriously considering &
     maturely weighing ye premises doe fynd that ye sd Mr. Robert Parker
     most unrightly keepeth ye sd Negro John Casor from his r[igh]t
     mayster Anth. Johnson as it appeareth by ye Deposition of Capt. Samll
     Gold smith & many probable circumstances. be it therefore ye
     Judgement of ye court & ordered that ye sd Jno. Casor negro, shall
     forthwith bee turned into ye service of his sd master Anthony Johnson
     and that the sd Mr. Robert Parker make payment of all charges in the
     suite and execution.[5]

In thus sustaining the claim of Anth. Johnson to the perpetual service of
John Casor the court gave judicial sanction to the right of Negroes to own
slaves of their own race. Indeed no earlier record, to our knowledge, has
been found of judicial support given to slavery in Virginia except as a
punishment for crime. Additional gleanings from the records show that this
black slavemaster was a respected citizen of wealth and one of the very
earliest Negro arrivals upon this continent, if, indeed, he was not one of
the first twenty brought in on the Dutch man-of-war in 1619. Every doubt
of the correctness of this assertion should be banished by a perusal of the
somewhat detailed evidence upon which the conclusion is based.

The discovery of the fact that Anthony Johnson was a slaveowner led to a
further examination of court records and land patents for additional
information concerning him. In the court records of Northampton County in
1653 it was found recorded that "Anth. Johnson negro hath this daye made
his compl[ain]t to ye court that John Johnson, Senr. most unrightly
detayneth a pattent of his for 450 acres of land (which pattent sd. Jno.
Johnson negro claymeth & boldly affirmeth to bee his land."[6]

A search in the early land patents of the State revealed a grant by the
authorities of the State of two hundred and fifty acres of land in
Northampton County to Anthony Johnson a Negro. The grant was made as "head
rights" upon the importation by the Negro of five persons into the
colony.[7] Still pursuing the record of this black freeman, who was able to
maintain a slave, the following was discovered in the records of the county
court of Northampton:

     Upon ye humble pet[ition] of Anth. Johnson negro & Mary his wife &
     their Information to ye Court that they have been Inhabitants in
     Virginia above thirty years, consideration being taken of their hard
     labor and honored service performed by the petitioners in this
     Country for ye obtayneing of their Livelyhood and ye great Llosse
     they have sustained by an unfortunate fire with their present charge
     to provide for. Be it therefore fitt and ordered that from the day of
     the debate hearof during their natural lives the sd Mary Johnson &
     two daughters of Anthony Johnson Negro be disingaged and freed from
     payment of Taxes and leavyes in Northampton County for public use.[8]

Subtracting thirty years from 1652, the date of this order of the court, it
appeared that this Negro and his wife were in Virginia in 1622. Examination
of a census taken in Virginia after the Indian massacre of 1622 and called
"The Lists of Living and Dead in Virginia" revealed the fact that there
were only four Negroes in the colony beside the surviving nineteen out of
the twenty that came in in 1619. The name of one of these four was Mary and
the name of one of the first twenty was Anthony.[9] It may with good reason
be surmised, if it cannot be proved, that Mary became the wife of Anthony
and that in the course of the next thirty years they acquired the surname
Johnson as well as a large tract of land and a slave by the name of John
Casor.



THE EXISTENCE OF BLACK MASTERS AFTER COLONIAL TIMES


Some readers may be inclined to regard the case of the slave John Casor as
altogether exceptional and peculiar to an early period in the growth of
slavery before custom had fully crystallized into law. It is true that
similar examples are hard to find in the seventeenth century when the free
Negroes were few in number. But if from the paucity of examples it is
argued that such a case was a freak of the seventeenth century and that
nothing similar could have occurred after slavery became a settled and much
regulated institution, the answer is that slave-owning by free Negroes was
so common in the period of the Commonwealth as to pass unnoticed and
without criticism by those who consciously recorded events of the times.
For abundant proof of the relation of black master and black slave we must
refer again to court records and legislative petitions from which events
and incidents were not omitted because of their common occurrence. Deeds of
sale and transfer of slaves to free Negroes, wills of free Negroes
providing for a future disposition of slaves, and records of suits for
freedom against free Negroes, all relate too well the story of how black
masters owned slaves of their own race, to require additional proof.

The following record of the court of Henrico County under date of 1795 is
an example of what is to be found in the records of any of the older
counties of Virginia:

     Know all men by these presents that I, James Radford of the County
     of Henrico for and in consideration of the sum of thirty-three pounds
     current money of Virginia to me in hand paid by George Radford a
     black freeman of the city of Richmond hath bargained and sold unto
     George Radford one negro woman aggy, to have and to hold the said
     negro slave aggy unto the said George Radford his heirs and assigns
     forever.

     James Radford (seal)[10]

Judith Angus, a well-to-do free woman of color of Petersburg, was the owner
of two household slaves. Before her death in 1832 she made a will which
provided that the two slave girls should continue in the service of the
family until they earned money enough to enable them to leave the State and
thus secure their freedom according to law.[11]

From the records of the Hustings Court of Richmond may be gotten the
account of a suit for freedom begun by Sarah, a slave, against Mary
Quickly, a free black woman of the city. It is worthy of note that no claim
was made by the plaintiff that Mary Quickly, being a black woman, had no
right to own a slave. The grounds for the suit had no relation whatever to
the race or color of the defendant, Mary Quickly.[12]

The only evidence at hand of the kind of relations that existed between
black masters and their chattel slaves is supplied by the word of old men
who remember events of the last two decades before the war. All that have
been heard to speak of the matter are unanimously of the opinion that black
masters had difficulty in subordinating and controlling their slaves.
William Mundin, a mulatto barber of Richmond, seventy-five years of age,
when interviewed, but still of trustworthy memory and character, is
authority for the statement that Reuben West, a comparatively wealthy free
colored barber of Richmond, went into the slave market and purchased a
slave cook, but because of the spirit of insub ordination manifested by
the slave woman toward him and his family he disposed of her by sale. James
H. Hill, another free colored man to whose statements a good degree of
credence is due, corroborates in many points this story about Reuben West
as a slaveowner. His statement is that Reuben West was a free colored
barber of some wealth and the owner at one time of two slaves, one of whom
was a barber working in his master's shop on Main Street. So much of these
statements has been confirmed by reference to tax books and court records
that the entire story may be accepted as true.



A TRULY BENEVOLENT SLAVERY


The type of black master represented by Reuben West or Anthony Johnson must
be distinguished from the colored slaveowner who kept his slaves in
bondage, not for their service, but wholly in consideration of the slaves.
A very considerable majority of black masters, unlike the examples above
cited, were easily the most benevolent known to history. It was owing to a
drastic state policy toward freedmen that this unusually benevolent type of
slavery arose.

During the last quarter of the eighteenth century slaveowners in Virginia
possessed unrestricted powers to bestow freedom upon their slaves. Under
such circumstances free blacks became instrumental in procuring freedom for
many of their less fortunate kinsmen. They frequently advanced for a slave
friend the price at which his white master held him for sale and, having
liberated him, trusted him to refund the price of his freedom. A free
member of a colored family would purchase whenever able his slave
relatives. The following deed of sale is a striking example of such a
purchase:

     Know all men of these presents that I David A. Jones of Amelia County
     of the one part have for and in consideration of the sum of five
     hundred dollars granted unto Frank Gromes a black man of the other
     part a negro woman named Patience and two children by name Phil and
     Betsy to have and to hold the above named negroes to the only proper
     use, behalf and benefit of him and his heirs forever.

     David Jones (seal)[13]

Phil Cooper, of Gloucester County, in 1828 was the chattel slave of his
free wife. Janette Wood of Richmond was manumitted in 1795 by her mother,
"natural love" being the only consideration named in the legal instrument.
John Sabb, of Richmond, purchased in 1801 his aged father-in-law Julius and
for the nominal consideration of five shillings executed a deed of
manumission.[14]

Purchases of this kind before 1806 were usually followed immediately by
manumission of the slave. Scattered through the deeds and wills of Virginia
County records in the quarter century ending with 1806 are to be found
numerous documents of which the following is an example:

     To all whom these presents may come know ye, that I Peter Hawkins a
     free black man of the city of Richmond having purchased my wife Rose,
     a slave about twenty-two years of age and by her have had a child
     called Mary now about 18 mo. old, for the love I bear toward my wife
     and child have thought proper to emancipate them and for the further
     consideration of five shillings to me in hand paid ... I emancipate
     and set free the said Rose and Mary and relinquish all my right ...
     as slaves to the said Rose and Mary.

     Peter Hawkins (seal)[15]

Indeed the kindness of free Negroes toward their friends and relatives
seeking freedom afforded such an accessible avenue to liberty that those
vigilant white citizens who desired to preserve the institution of slavery
deemed it necessary to put obstructions in the way. A law which required
any slave manumitted after May 1, 1806 to leave the State within the space
of twelve months was passed in 1806 and remained in force until the war
rendered it obsolete. Forfeiture of freedom was the penalty for refusal to
accept banishment. From this act dates the beginning of this benevolent
type of slavery. Free Negroes continued to purchase their relatives but
held them as slaves, refusing to decree their banishment by executing a
deed or will of manumission.

A pathetic example of this kind was the case of Negro Daniel Webster of
Prince William County. At the age of sixty when an illness forced him to
the conclusion that life was short, he sent a petition to the legislature
saying that he had thus far avoided the evil consequences of the law of
1806 by retaining his family in nominal slavery but that then he faced the
alternative of manumitting his family to see it disrupted and banished or
of holding his slave family together till his death, when its members like
other property belonging to his estate would be sold as slaves to masters
of a different type. He begged that exception be made to the law of 1806 in
the case of his wife and children so that he might feel at liberty to
manumit them.[16]

A similar petition to the Legislature in 1839 by Ermana, a slave woman,
stated that her husband and owner had been a free man of color, that he had
died intestate and that she, her children and her property had escheated to
the literary fund. Scores of similar petitions to the Legislature for
special acts of relief tell the story of how black men and women who owned
members of their families neglected too long to remove from them the status
of property.

A case more amusing than pathetic was that of Betsy Fuller, a free Negro
huckstress of Norfolk, and her slave husband. The colored man's legal
status was that of property belonging to his wife. Upon the approach of the
Civil War he was blatant in his advocacy of Southern views, thus evincing
his indifference to emancipation.[17]

Feeble efforts were made by the legislature for a score of years before the
war to limit the power of free Negroes to acquire slaves for profit. By an
act of 1832 free Negroes were declared incapable of purchasing or
otherwise acquiring permanent ownership, except by descent, of any slaves
other than husband, wife, and children. Contracts for the sale of a slave
to a black man were to be regarded as void.[18] But even this attempt at
limitation was passed by a bare majority of one.[19] Within three years of
the beginning of the War the law was revised to read: "No free negro shall
be capable of acquiring, except by descent, any slave." [20] In the opinion
of a judge who passed upon this law, its object was "to keep slaves as far
as possible under the control of white men only, and to prevent free
negroes from holding persons of their own race in personal subjection to
themselves. Perhaps also it is intended to evince the distinctive
superiority of the white race." [21]

Whatever may have been their object these acts are of more significance
because of the story they tell than they ever were in accomplishing the
emancipation of slaves from masters of the black race. The period of the
existence of the black master was conterminous with the period of the
existence of slavery. By the same immortal proclamation which broke the
shackles of slaves serving white masters were rent asunder, also, the bonds
which held slaves to masters of their own race and color.

JOHN H. RUSSELL, PH.D.,
(_Professor of Political Science, Whitman College, Walla Walla,
Washington._)


FOOTNOTES:

[1] Acknowledgments are due to the Johns Hopkins Press for permitting the
use in this article of data included in the author's monograph entitled
"The Free Negro in Virginia, 1619-1865."

[2] Hening's Statutes at Large of Virginia, Vol. II, p. 280 (1670). Italics
my own.

[3] Hening, Vol. V, p. 550.

[4] Original MS. Records of the County Court of Northampton. Orders, Deeds
and Wills, 1651-1654, p. 20.

[5] Original MS. Records of the County Court of Northampton. Orders, Deeds
and Wills, 1651-1654, p. 10.

[6] Original MS. Records of Northampton Co., 1651-1654, p. 200.

[7] MS. Land Patents of Virginia, 1643-1651, 326.

[8] MS. Court Records of Northampton Co., 1651-1654, p. 161.

[9] J. C. Hotten, "Lists of Emigrants to America," pp. 218-258.

[10] MS. Deeds of Henrico County, No. 5, p. 585.

[11] MS Legislative Petitions, Dinwiddie County, 1833, A 5123, Virginia
State Library.

[12] Orders of the Hustings Court of Richmond, Vol. 5, p. 41.

[13] MS. Deeds of Henrico County, No. 4, p. 692.

[14] MS. Deeds of Henrico County, No. 6, p. 274.

[15] MS. Deeds of Henrico County, No. 6, p. 78.

[16] MS. Legislative Petitions, Prince William Co., 1812, Virginia State
Library.

[17] _Lower Norfolk County Antiquary_, Vol. IV, p. 177.

[18] Acts of Assembly, 1831-1832, p. 20.

[19] Senate Journal, 1832, p. 176.

[20] Acts of Assembly, 1857-1858.

[21] Grattan's Reports, Vol. 14, p. 260.




THE FUGITIVES OF THE PEARL



The traditional history of the Negro in America, during nearly three
hundred years, is one in which the elements of pathos, humor and tragedy
are thoroughly mixed and in which the experiences encountered are of a kind
to grip the hearts and consciences of men of every race and every creed.
Just as colonial Americans resented their enforced enlistment for maritime
service under the flag of King George, so it may be assumed that with equal
vigor did the little band of Africans object to a forced expatriation from
their native wilds, even though, as it happened, they were destined to be,
in part, the builders of a great and prosperous nation and the progenitors
of a strong and forward-looking race.

There are few incidents that distinguish the bondage of the descendants of
that first boat load of involuntary African explorers, that evince, in so
large a degree, the elements alluded to, as do those which cluster about
the story of the "Edmondson Children." There were altogether fourteen sons
and daughters of Paul and Amelia who passed as devoutly pious and
respectable old folks. Paul was a freeman who hired his time in the city.
Amelia was a slave. Their little cabin, a few miles out of the city of
Washington proper, was so neat and orderly that it was regarded as a model
for masters and slaves alike for many miles around. They were thus
permitted to live together by the owners of Amelia, who realized how much
more valuable the children would be as a marketable group after some years
of such care and attention as the mother would be sure to bestow. Milly, as
she was familiarly called, reared the children, tilled the garden, and,
being especially handy with the needle, turned off many a job of sewing for
the family of her mistress. She was entirely ignorant so far as books go,
but Paul read the Bible to her when visiting his loved ones on Sunday and
what he explained she remembered and treasured up for comfort in her
moments of despair.

The older boys and girls were hired out in prominent families in the city
and by their intelligence, orderly conduct and other evidences of good
breeding came to be known far and wide as "The Edmondson Children," the
phrase being taken as descriptive of all that was excellent and desirable
in a slave. The one incurable grief of these humble parents was that in
bringing children into the world they were helping to perpetuate the
institution of slavery. The fear that any day might bring to them the cruel
pangs of separation and the terrible knowledge that their loved ones had
been condemned to the horrors of the auction block was with them always a
constant shadow, darkening each waking moment. More and ever more, they
were torn with anxiety for the future of the children and so they threw
themselves with increasing faith and dependence upon the Master of all, and
no visit of the children was so hurried or full of other matters but that a
few moments were reserved for prayer. At their departure, one after another
was clasped to the mother's breast and always this earnest admonition
followed them, "Be good children and the blessed Lord will take care of
you." Louisa and Joseph, the two youngest, were still at home when there
occurred events in which several of their older brothers and sisters took
so prominent a part and which are here to be related.

The incidents of this narrative which are reflected in its title are
contemporary with and in a measure resultant from the revolution out of
which came the establishment of the first French Republic and the expulsion
of Louis-Philippe in 1848. The citizens of the United States were
felicitating their brothers across the water upon the achievement of so
desirable a result. In Washington especially, the event was joyously
acclaimed. Public meetings were held at which representatives of the people
in both houses of Congress spoke encouragingly of the recent advance toward
universal liberty. The city was regally adorned with flags and bunting and
illumination and music everywhere. The White House was elaborately
decorated in honor of the event and its general observance, scheduled for
April 13. A procession of national dignitaries, local organizations and the
civic authorities, accompanied by several bands of music and throngs of
citizens, made its way to the open square (now Lafayette Park) opposite the
White House. Speeches were in order. Among the addresses which aroused the
large crowd to enthusiasm were those of Senator Patterson of Tennessee and
Senator Foote of Mississippi.[1] The former likened the Tree of Liberty to
the great cotton-wood tree of his section, whose seed is blown far and
wide, while the latter spoke eloquently of the universal emancipation of
man and the approaching recognition in all countries of the great
principles of equality and brotherhood.

Here and there huddled unobtrusively in groups on the fringe of the crowd
were numbers of slaves. The enthusiasm of the throng, frequently manifested
in shouts of approval, was discreetly reflected in the suppressed
excitement of the slaves, who whispered among themselves concerning the
curious and incredible expressions they had heard. Could it possibly be
that these splendid truths, this forecast of universal liberty, might
include them too? A few of the more intelligent, among whom was Samuel
Edmondson, drew together to discuss the event and were not long concluding
that the authority they had listened to could not be questioned and that
they should at once contribute their share towards so desirable a
consummation.

Coincident with this celebration there had arrived at Washington the
schooner _Pearl_ with Daniel Drayton[2] as super-cargo, Captain Sayres,
owner, and a young man, Chester English, as sailor and cook. Drayton
witnessed the great demonstration near the White House and, as might have
been expected, the sentiment that seemed to have won all Washington found a
natural and active response, for when the news of the purpose of his visit
was communicated by the woman for whose deliverance he had agreed to make
the trip, he was appealed to on behalf of others and consented to take all
who should be aboard by ten o'clock that night.

The Edmondson boys actively promoted the scheme and, rightly in so just a
cause, abused the privileges which their integrity and unusual intelligence
had won for them. The news was passed to an aggregate of 77 persons, all of
whom faithfully appeared and were safely stowed away between decks before
midnight. Samuel sought his sisters Emily and Mary at their places of
employment and acquainted them with his purpose. They at first hesitated on
account of the necessity of leaving without seeing their mother, but were
soon persuaded that it was an opportunity they should not be willing to
neglect.

The _Pearl_ cast free from her moorings shortly after midnight Saturday and
silently, with no sign of life aboard, save running lights fore and aft,
crept out to mid-stream and made a course towards the lower Potomac. The
condition that obtained on Sunday morning after the discovery of the
absence of so many slaves from their usual duties may be accurately
described as approaching a panic. Had the evidences of a dreadful plague
become as suddenly manifest, the community could not have experienced a
greater sense of horror or for the moment been more thoroughly paralyzed. A
hundred or more families were affected through the action of these seventy
and seven slaves and the stern proofs of their flight were many times
multiplied.

The action of the masters in this emergency is eloquent testimony that the
fine orations of two days before concerning the spread of liberty and
universal brotherhood had been nothing more than so many meaningless
conversations. When confronted on Sunday morning with the fact that theirs
and their neighbors' slaves, in so great numbers, had disappeared during
the night, the realization of the difference between popular enthusiasm for
a sentiment and a real sacrifice for a principle was borne in upon them and
they found that while they enjoyed the former they were not at all ready to
espouse the latter.

As a result the day was but little advanced when an excited cavalcade of
the masters, after scouring every portion of the city, broke for the open
country to the North, designing to cover each of the roads leading from the
city. They had not reached the District limits, however, when they whirled
about and galloped furiously in the opposite direction and never checked
rein, until panting and foaming, their horses were brought up at the
wharves. A vessel was chartered and steamed away almost immediately on its
mission to capture the party of runaway slaves.

Fate, which occasionally plays such strange and cruel tricks in the lives
of men, presented in this instance a Machiavellian combination of opposing
forces, that was disastrous to the enterprise of the fugitives. Judson
Diggs,[3] one of their own people, a man who in all reason might have been
expected to sympathize with their effort, took upon himself the role of
Judas. Judson was a drayman and had hauled some packages to the wharf for
one of the slaves, who was without funds to pay the charge, and although he
was solemnly promised that the money should be sent him, he proceeded at
once to wreak vengeance through a betrayal of the entire party.

Even so, it would seem they might have had an excellent chance to escape,
but for the adverse winds and tides which set against them towards the
close of Sunday. They were approaching the open waters of the Bay and the
little vessel was already pitching and tossing as from the lashing of a
gale. The captain decided that it was the part of prudence to remain within
the more quiet waters of the Potomac for the night and make the open sea by
light of day. Under these circumstances they put into Cornfield Harbor and
here in the quiet hours before midnight the pursuing masters found them.

It is difficult to realize the consternation felt by the fugitives when the
noise of tramping feet and the voices of angry men broke upon their ears.
They seemed to realize at once that they were lost and many gave themselves
up to shrieks and tears until wise counsel prevailed. Captain Drayton and
his mate were immediately the storm center of the infuriated masters, many
of whom were loud in the demand that summary vengeance be wreaked upon them
and that these two at least should be hung from the yard arm. It was easily
possible that this demand might have been acceded to, had not a diversion
been caused by some of the others who were anxious to locate the slaves.

To satisfy themselves as to their safety they proceeded to break open the
hatchways when, so suddenly as to create something of a panic, Richard
Edmondson bounded on deck and in a voice of suppressed excitement
exclaimed, "Do yourselves no harm, gentlemen, for we are all here!" Richard
was young, muscular and of splendid proportions and seeing him thus by the
poor light of smoky lanterns, with flashing eyes and swinging arms, leaping
into their midst with an unknown number of others following, some of the
masters experienced a feeling of terror, and dropping their guns, scurried
away to safety among the dark shadows of the vessel.

By the time the others reached the deck, the shock of Richard's strange
appearance had somewhat died away and when Samuel, who was one of the last,
appeared, a sharp blow which, but for a sudden lurch of the vessel, would
have laid him low fell on one side of his head. Drayton and Sayres,[4] who
were witnesses of this incident, were horrified to think that, having not
so much as a penknife with which to defend themselves, these poor creatures
might be brutally murdered, and, notwithstanding the serious aspect of
their own fortunes,[5] protested vigorously against such violence. But for
this timely interference, there is but little doubt that some of these poor
people would have been cruelly if not fatally injured.

The true condition of affairs, however, was speedily recognized and seeing
there was nothing to fear in the way of resistance, order was soon evolved
out of the general chaos and then came the decision to make an early start
on the return trip. Among the slaves, the reaction from a feeling of hope
and joyous anticipation of the delights of freedom was terrible indeed. The
bitter gall and wormwood of failure was the sad and gloomy portion of these
seventy and seven souls. Among them then there were but few who were not
completely crushed, their minds a seething torrent, in which regret, misery
and despair made battle for the mastery. Children weeping and wailing clung
to the skirts of their elders. The women with shrieks, groans and tearful
lamentations deplored their sad fate, while the men, securely chained
wrist and wrist together, stood with heads dropped forward, too dazed and
wretched for aught but to turn their stony gaze within upon the wild
anguish of their aching hearts.

Their arrival at Washington was signalized by a demonstration vastly
different but little short of that which had taken place a few days before.
The wharves were alive with an eager and excited throng all intent upon a
view of the miserable folks who had been guilty of so ungrateful an effort.
So disorderly was the mob that the debarkation was for some time delayed.
This was finally accomplished through the strenuous efforts of the entire
constabulary of the city.

The utmost watchfulness and care was, however, unavailing to prevent
assaults. The most serious instance of this kind was the act of an Irish
ruffian, who so far forgot the traditions and sufferings of his own people
as to cast himself upon Drayton with a huge dirk and cut off a piece of his
ear.[6] For a few moments all the horrors incident to riot and bloodshed
were in evidence. The air was filled with the screams of terrorized women
and children and the curses and threats of vengeful men. The whole was a
struggling, swaying mass, which for a season had been swept beyond itself
by brutish passion.

Numerous arrests were made and in due course the march to the jail was
begun with the accompanying crowd hurling taunts and jeers at every step.
While they were proceeding thus, an onlooker said to Emily, "Aren't you
ashamed to run away and make all this trouble for everybody?" To this she
replied, "No sir, we are not and if we had to go through it again, we'd do
the same thing."

The controversy that was precipitated through the attempted escape, between
the advance guard of abolition and the defenders of slavery, was most
bitter and violent. The storm broke furiously about the offices of _The
National Era_. In Congress, Mr. Giddings of Ohio moved an "inquiry into
the cause of the detention at the District jail of persons merely for
attempting to vindicate their inalienable rights." Senator Hale of New
Hampshire moved a resolution of "inquiry into the necessity for additional
laws for the protection of property in the District."[7] A committee
consisting of such notable characters as the Channings, Samuel May, Samuel
Howe, Richard Hildreth, Samuel Sewell and Robert Morris, Jr., was formed at
Boston to furnish aid and defense for Drayton. These men were empowered to
employ counsel and collect money. Horace Mann, William H. Seward, Salmon P.
Chase and Fessenden of Maine volunteered to serve gratuitously.[8]

Other philanthropists directed their attention to the liberation of these
slaves. The Edmondsons were owned by an estate. The administrator, who was
approached by John Brent,[9] the husband of the oldest sister of the
children, agreed to give their friends an opportunity to effect their
purchase, as he was unwilling to run any further risk by keeping them. He
failed to keep this promise and when Mr. Brent went to see them the next
day he was informed that they had been sold to Bruin and Hill, the
slave-dealers of Alexandria and Baltimore, and had been sent to the former
city. A cash sum of $4,500 had been accepted for the six children and when
taxed with the failure to keep his promise, he simply said he was unwilling
to take any further risk with them. Bruin also refused to listen to any
proposals, saying he had long had his eyes on the family and could get
twice what he paid for them in the New Orleans market.

They were first taken to the slave pens at Alexandria, where they remained
nearly a month. Here the girls were required to do the washing for a dozen
or more men with the assistance of their brothers and were at length put
aboard a steamboat and taken to Baltimore where they remained three weeks.
Through the exertions of friends at Washington, $900 was given towards
their freedom by a grandson of John Jacob Astor, and this was appropriated
towards the ransom of Richard, as his wife and children were said to be ill
and suffering at Washington. The money arrived on the morning they were to
sail for New Orleans but they had all been put aboard the brig _Union_,
which was ready to sail, and the trader refused to allow Richard to be
taken off. The voyage to New Orleans covered a period of seven days, during
which much discomfort and suffering were experienced. There were eleven
women in the party, all of whom were forced to live in one small apartment,
and the men numbering thirty-five or forty, in another not much larger.
Most of them being unaccustomed to travel by water were afflicted with all
the horrors of sea-sickness. Emily's suffering from this cause was most
pitiable and so serious was her condition at one time that the boys feared
she would die. The brothers, however, as in all circumstances, were very
kind and would tenderly carry her out on deck whenever the heat in their
close quarters became too oppressive and would buy little comforts that
were in their reach and minister in all possible ways to her relief.

In due course they arrived at New Orleans and were immediately initiated
into the horrors of a Georgia pen. The girls were required to spend much
time in the show room, where purchasers came to examine them carefully with
a view to buying them. On one occasion a youthful dandy had applied for a
young person whom he wished to install as housekeeper and the trader
decided that Emily would just about meet the requirements, but when he
called her she was found to be indulging in a fit of weeping. The youth,
therefore, refused to consider her, saying that he had no room for the
snuffles in his house. The loss of this transaction so incensed the
trader, who said he had been offered $1,500 for the proper person, that he
slapped Emily's face and threatened to send her to the calaboose, if he
found her crying again.

Here also the boys had their hair closely cropped and their clothes, which
were of good material, exchanged for suits of blue-jeans. Appearing thus,
they were daily exhibited on the porch for sale. Richard, who was in
reality free, as his purchase money was on deposit in Baltimore, was
allowed to come and go at will and early bent his energies toward the
discovery of their elder brother Hamilton,[10] who was living somewhere in
the city. His quest was soon rewarded with success and one day to the
delight of his sisters and brothers he brought him to see them. Hamilton
had never seen Emily, as he had been sold away from his parents before her
birth, but his joy, though mingled with sorrow, could not be suppressed. He
was soon busy with plans for the increase of their meager comforts. Finding
upon inquiry that Hamilton was thoroughly responsible, the trader consented
to the girls' spending their nights at their brother's home. He was also at
pains to secure good homes for the unfortunate group and was successful in
inducing a wealthy Englishman to purchase his brother Samuel.

In consequence of an epidemic of yellow fever, which increased in virulence
from day to day, the traders decided to bring the slaves North without
further delay and so a few days later they were reembarked on the brig
_Union_ with Baltimore as their destination. Samuel was the only one of the
brothers and sisters left behind. As he was pleasently situated with humane
and kindly owners, the parting from him was not so sad as otherwise it
might have been. Sixteen days were required for the trip and upon their
arrival they were again placed in the same old prison. Richard was almost
immediately freed and, in company with a Mr. Bigelow, of Washington, was
enabled to rejoin his wife and children.

Paul Edmondson visited his children at the Baltimore jail in company with
their sister.[11] He had been encouraged to hope that in some way a fund
might be raised for their ransom, but it was not until some weeks later,
after they had been returned through Washington and again placed in their
old slave quarters at Alexandria, that an understanding as to terms could
be had with Bruin and Hill. They finally agreed to accept $2,250 if the
amount was raised within a certain time and gave Paul a signed statement of
the terms, which might be used as his credentials in the matter of
soliciting assistance. Armed with this document, he arrived at New York and
found his way to the Anti-Slavery office, where the price demanded was
considered so exorbitant that but little encouragement was given him. From
here he went to the home of Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, where he arrived
foot-sore and weary. After ringing the bell, he sat upon the doorstep
weeping. Here Mr. Beecher found him and, taking him into his library,
inquired his story.

As a result there followed a public meeting in Mr. Beecher's Brooklyn
church, at which he pleaded passionately as if for his own children, while
other clergymen spoke with equal interest and feeling. The money was
raised, an agent appointed to consummate the ransom of the children, and
Paul, with a sense of happiness and relief to which he had long been a
stranger, started with the good news on his way homeward.

Meanwhile the girls were torn with doubt and anxiety as to the success of
their father's mission. Several weeks had elapsed and the traders were
again getting together a coffle of slaves for shipment to the slave market,
this time to that in South Carolina. The girls, too, had been ordered to
be in readiness and the evening before had broken down in tears when
Bruin's young daughter, who was a favorite with the girls, sought them out
and pleaded with them not to go. Emily told her to persuade her father not
to send them and so she did, while clinging around his neck until he had
not the heart to refuse.

A day or two later, while looking from their window, they caught sight of
their father and ran into his arms shouting and crying. So great was their
joy that they did not notice their father's companion, a Mr. Chaplin, the
agent appointed at the New York meeting to take charge of the details of
their ransom. These were soon completed, their free papers signed and the
money paid over. Bruin, too, it is said, was pleased with the joy and
happiness in evidence on every hand and upon bidding the girls good-bye
gave each a five dollar gold piece.

Upon their arrival at Washington they were taken in a carriage to their
sister's home, whence the news of their deliverance seemed to have
penetrated to every corner of the neighborhood with the result that it was
far into the night before the last greetings and congratulations had been
received and they were permitted, in the seclusion of the family circle, to
kneel with their parents in prayer and thanksgiving.[12]

In the meantime what had become of Samuel? When Hamilton Edmondson was
seeking to locate his sisters and brothers in desirable homes in New
Orleans, he first saw Mr. Horace Cammack, a prosperous cotton merchant,
whose friendship and respect he had long since won and who, upon the
further representation of Samuel's proficiency as a butler, agreed to
purchase him. In this wise, it came to pass that Samuel was duly installed
as upper houseman in the Cammack home. Although situated more happily than
most slaves he was fully determined, as ever, that the world should one day
know and respect him as a free man, and patiently waited and watched for
the opportunity to accomplish his purpose.

Meanwhile another element had thrust itself into the equation and must be
reckoned with in the solution of the problem of his after life. It happened
that Mrs. Cammack, a lady of much beauty and refinement of manner, had in
her employ as maid, a young girl of not more than eighteen years named
Delia Taylor. She was tall, graceful and winsome, of the clear mulatto
type, and through long service in close contact with her mistress, had
acquired that refinement and culture, which elicit the admiration and
delight of those in like station and inspire a feeling much akin to
reverence in those more lowly placed. With some difficulty Samuel
approached her with a proposal and, although at first refused, finally won
her as his bride.

Matters now moved along on pleasant lines for Samuel and Delia during
several months, but with the advent of Master Tom, Cammack's son who had
been away to college, there was encountered an element of discord, which
was for a while to destroy their happiness. This young gentleman took a
violent dislike to Samuel from the very first meal the latter served him.
They finally clashed and Samuel had to run away. His master, however, sent
his would-be-oppressor with the rest of the family to the country and
ordered Samuel to return home. This he did and immediately entered upon his
duties.

The year following, Mr. Cammack went to Europe on cotton business and not
long after his arrival was killed in a violent storm while yachting with
friends off the coast of Norway. After this event, affairs in the life of
Samuel gradually approached a crisis, while in the meantime an additional
responsibility had been added to himself and Delia in the person of a
little boy, whom they named David.

Master Tom, being now the head of the house, left little room for doubt as
to the authority he had inherited and proceeded to evince the same in no
uncertain way, especially towards those against whom he held a grievance.
To get rid of Samuel was first in order. This was the easiest possible
matter, for there was not a wealthy family on the visiting list of the
Cammacks who would not, even at some sacrifice, make a place for him in
their service. Through the close intimacy of Mrs. Cammack and Mrs. Slidell,
the latter was given the refusal and Samuel told to go around and see his
future Mistress. To her he expressed a desire to serve in her employ but he
was now determined more than ever that his next master should be himself.
Accordingly he proceeded directly to a friend from whom he purchased a set
of free-papers, which had been made out and sold him by a white man. These
required that he should start immediately up the river but upon a full
consideration of the matter he decided that the risks were too great in
that direction. The problem was a serious one. An error of judgment, a step
in the wrong direction, would not only be a serious, if not fatal blow to
his hopes, but might lead to untold hardships to others most dear to him.

Somewhat irresolutely he turned his steps towards the river front, gazing
with longing eyes at the stretch of water, the many ships in harbor, some
entering, others steaming away or being towed out to open water. The
thought that in this direction, beyond the wide seas, lay his refuge and
ultimate hope came to him with so much force as to cause him to reel like
one on whom a severe blow had been dealt. He stood for some time, seemingly
bewildered, in the din and noise of the wharf, noting abstractedly the many
bales of cotton, as truck after truck-load was rushed aboard an outward
bound steamer. The bales seemed to fascinate him completely. A stevedore
yelled at him to move out of the way and aroused him into action, but in
that interval an idea which seemed to offer a possible means of escape had
been evolved. He would impersonate a merchant from the West Indies in
search of a missing bale of goods and endeavor to get passage to the
Islands, where he well knew the flag of free England was abundant guarantee
for his protection. The main thought seemed a happy one, for he soon found
a merchantman that was to clear that night for Jamaica. It was not a
passenger vessel, but the captain, a good-natured Briton, said that he had
an extra bunk in the cabin and if the gentleman did not mind roughing it,
he would be glad to have his company. The first step towards his freedom
was successfully taken, the money paid down for the passage and with the
injunction from the captain to be aboard by nine o'clock he returned
ashore.

Only a few hours now remained to him, before a long, perhaps a lasting
separation from his dear wife and baby, and thinking to pass these with
them he hurried thence by the most unfrequented route, but had hardly
crossed the threshold when Delia, weeping bitterly, implored him to make
good his escape, as Master Tom had already sent the officers to look for
him. With a last, fond embrace and a tear, which, falling upon that cradled
babe, meant present sorrow, but no less future hope, the husband and father
made his way under the friendly shadows of the night, back to the waiting
ship.

When the officer from the custom house came aboard to inspect the ship's
papers Samuel was resting, apparently without concern, in the upper bunk of
the little cabin.

The captain seated himself at the center table, opposite the officer, and
spread the papers before him. "Heigho, I see you have a passenger this
trip," and then read from the sheet: "Samuel Edmondson, Jamaica, W.I.,
thirty years old. General Merchant."

"Yes," said the captain as he concluded. "Mr. Edmondson asked for passage
at the last moment and as he was alone and we had a bunk not in service, I
thought I'd take him along. He has a valuable bale of goods astray,
probably at Jamaica, and is anxious to return and look it up."

"Well I hope he may find it. Where is he? let's have a look at him."

"Mr. Edmondson, will you come this way a moment?" called the captain.

As may be imagined the subject of this conversation had been listening
intently and now when it was demanded that he present himself, he murmured
a fervent "God help me" and jumped nimbly to the deck.

"This is my passenger," said the Captain, and to Samuel he said: "The
customs officer simply wished to see you, Mr. Edmondson."

Samuel bowed and stood at ease, resting one hand upon the table and in this
attitude without the quiver of an eyelash or the flinching of a muscle,
bore the searching look of the officer, which rested first upon his face
and then upon his hand. The flush of excitement still mounting his cheek
and brow, gave a bronzed swarthiness and decidedly un-American cast to his
rich brown color, while his features, clean-cut and but slightly of the
Negro type, with hands well shaped and nails quite clean, were a
combination of conditions rarely met in the average slave. The first glance
of suspicion was almost immediately lost to view in the smile of friendly
greeting with which the officer's hand was extended. "I hope you may
recover your goods," were the words he said and, rising, added: "I must be
off." The captain had meanwhile placed his liquor chest on the table and,
in a glass of good old Jamaica rum, a hearty "_Bon voyage_" and responsive
"_Good wishes_" were exchanged.

The subsequent story of Samuel, interesting and adventurous as it is,
scarcely comes within the scope of the purpose of this article. After a
brief stay at Jamaica, Samuel sailed before the mast on an English schooner
carrying a cargo of dye-wood to Liverpool. Two years were passed here in
the service of a wealthy merchant, whom he had served while a guest of his
former master in New Orleans. During the third year he was joined by his
wife and boy who had been liberated by their mistress. Subsequently the
family took passage for Australia under the protection of a relative of his
Liverpool employer, who was returning to extensive mining and sheep-raising
interests near the rapidly growing city of Melbourne.[13]

JOHN H. PAYNTER, A.M.


THE EDMONSONS
================================================================================
Descendants of Paul and Amelia Edmondson
------------|----------------|------------------|-----------------|-------------
  Children  | Grandchildren  |G. Grandchildren  |      G.G.       |    G.G.G.
            |                |                  |  Grandchildren  |Grandchildren
------------|----------------|------------------|-----------------|-------------
1. Hamilton |                |                  |                 |
 Edmonson   |                |                  |                 |
            |                |                  |                 |
2. Elizabeth|1. Catharine    |1. John H. Paynter|1. Verden T.     |
 Edmonson m.| Brent m. James | m. Minnie H.    | Paynter          |
 John Brent | H. Paynter '60 | Pillow          |2. Brent Paynter  |
            | d. 64          |                 |3. Cary Paynter   |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |                |2. Minerva       |                  |
            |                | Paynter         |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |2. Martha Brent |1. Claude DeWitt |                  |
            | m. Wm. H. Bell | Bell            |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |                |2. Adelbert Bell |1. Marie ----     |
            |                | m. 1. ----      |2. Albertine Bell |
            |                | 2.----          |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |3. Amelia Brent |1. James Wormley |                  |
            | m. Garrett     | m. 1. Lena Champ|                  |
            | Smith Wormley  | 2. Emma Davis   |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |                |2. Garrett       |1. Amelia Wormley |
            |                | Wormley m. 1.   |2. Julian Wormley |
            |                | Rebecca Webster,|                  |
            |                | 2. Cora Nickens,|                  |
            |                | 3. Emily ----   |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |                |3. C. Sumner     |                  |
            |                | Wormley         |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |                |4.Edith Wormley  |                  |
            |                | m. Harry S.     |                  |
            |                | Minton          |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |                |5.Smith Wormley  |1. Lowell Wormley |
            |                | m. ---- Cheatham|2. Edith Wormley  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |                |6. Clem Wormley  |1. Swan Leon      |
            |                | m. ---- ----    | Wormley          |
            |                |                 |2. Clementine     |
            |                |                 | Wormley          |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |                |7. Roscoe Wormley|1. Sumner Wormley |
            |                | m. ---- ----    |2. Roscoe Wormley |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |                |8. Leon Wormley  |1. Elizabeth      |
            |                | m. ---- Anderson| Wormley          |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |4. Emily Brent  |1. Corinne       |                  |
            | m. Wm.L.       | Freeman         |                  |
            | Freeman        |                 |                  |
            |                |2. Olive Freeman |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |                |3. Fred Dent     |1. Reginald       |1. ---- Freeman
            |                | Freeman m. Lucy | Freeman          |
            |                | Standard        | m. ---- ----     |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |5. John S. Brent|1. Ellsworth     |                  |
            | m. 1. Margaret | Brent m.        |                  |
            | 2. Rebecca     | Jennie Howard   |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |                |2. Marion        |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |                |3. Julia         |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |                |4. Edna          |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |6. Rebecca Brent|1. Ella Wright m.|                  |
            | m. John Wright | James H. Payne  |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |                |2. Ira Wright m. |                  |
            |                | Ruth Taylor     |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |                |3. Marie Wright  |1. Francis Ennis  |
            |                | m. Robt. E.     |  Syphax          |
            |                | Syphax          |2. Robt. E.       |
            |                |                 |   Syphax         |
            |7. Calvin Brent |1. Marguerite    |                  |
            | m. 1. Albertine| Brent           |                  |
            | Jones          |                 |                  |
            | 2. ---- ----   |2. Ethel Brent   |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |                |3. Ralph Brent   |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |                |4.Alfred Brent   |1. Janice Brent   |
            |                | m. ---- ----    |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |                |5. Clarence Brent|1. ---- ----      |
            |                | m. ---- ----    |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |                |6. Ernestine     |                  |
            |                | Brent           |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |                |7. John Brent    |                  |
            |                | m. ---- Cook    |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |8. Wm. Brent    |                 |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
3. Ephraim  |1. Narcissa     |                 |                  |
 Edmondson  | Edmondson m.   |                 |                  |
            | George Tossett |                 |                  |
            | 2. ---- Massey |                 |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |2. Oliver       |1. ---- Edmondson|                  |
            | Edomondson     |                 |                  |
            | m. ---- ----   |                 |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
4. Richard  |1. Sophoenia    |                 |                  |
 Edmondson  | Edmondson      |                 |                  |
 m. ------  | m. ---- Fairfax|                 |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |2. Sallie       |1. Wm. Freeman   |                  |
            | Edmondson m.   | m. ---- ----    |                  |
            | Benj. Freeman  |                 |                  |
            |                |2.George Freeman |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
5. Martha   |1. Edward Young |1. Walter Young  |1. Dorothy        |
 Edmondson  | m. Josephine   | m. Belle Steves | Maxwell Young    |
 m.         | Johnson        |                 |2. Alex. Helene   |
 1. Edward  |                |                 | Young            |
 Young,     |                |                 |                  |
 2. Levi    |                |                 |3. Elizabeth      |
 Penaington |                |                 | Martha Young     |
            |                |                 |4. Edward Owen    |
            |                |                 | Young            |
            |                |                 |5. Isabel Young   |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |                |2. Mollie Young  |                  |
            |                |  m. ---- Thomas |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
6. Eveline  |1. Julia Ingram |1. ---- ----     |                  |
 Edmondson  | m. Joseph      |                 |                  |
 m. Wm. B.  | Becket         |                 |                  |
 Ingram     |2. Martha Ingram|1. WilliamCoxton |                  |
            | m. Mason Coxton|2. Fred Coxton   |                  |
            |                |3. Mason Coxton  |                  |
            |                |4. Joseph Coxton |                  |
            |                |5. Mary Coxton   |                  |
            |                |6. Julia Coxton  |                  |
            |                |7. Eva Coxton    |                  |
            |                | m. Carl Seward  |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |3. Eveline      |1. Marie Johnson |                  |
            | Ingram m. Wm.  | m. ---- Mosely  |                  |
            | Johnson        |                 |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |4. William      |                 |                  |
            | Ingram m.      |                 |                  |
            |  ---- ----     |                 |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |5.Joseph Ingram |                 |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
7. Saml.    |1. David        |                 |                  |
 Edmondson  | Edmondson      |                 |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |2. Amelia       |                 |                  |
            | Edmondson      |                 |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |3. Robt.        |1. Albion        |                  |
            | Wellington     | Edmondson       |                  |
            | Edmondson m.   |2. Delia         |                  |
            |                | Edmondson       |                  |
            | Evie Bastien   |3. Hugh Edmondson|                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
8. Emily    |1. Ida Johnson  |1. Irene Berry   |                  |
 Edmondson  | m. Jas. Berry  |2. Annita Berry  |                  |
 m. Larkin  |                |3. Wallace Berry |                  |
 Johnson    |                |                 |                  |
            |2. Fannie       |1. ---- ----     |                  |
            | Johnson        |                 |                  |
            | m. Rezin H.    |2. ---- ----     |                  |
            | Shipley        |                 |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |3. Emma Johnson |1. Bernard       |                  |
            | m. Wallace     | Chapman         |                  |
            | Chapman        |2. Garrett       |                  |
            |                | Chapman         |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |4. Robt. Johnson|1. ---- Johnson  |                  |
            | m. ---- ----   |2. ---- Johnson  |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
9. Henrietta|                |                 |                  |
 Edmondson  |                |                 |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
10. John    |                |                 |                  |
 Edmondson  |                |                 |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
11. Eliza   |                |                 |                  |
 Edmondson  |                |                 |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
12. Mary    |                |                 |                  |
 Edmondson  |                |                 |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
13. Joseph  |                |                 |                  |
 Edmondson  |                |                 |                  |
 m. Alice   |                |                 |                  |
 ----       |                |                 |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
14. Louisa  |1. Annita L. Joy|                 |                  |
 Rebecca    | m. Wm. A. Clark|                 |                  |
 Edmondson  |                |                 |                  |
 m. Gilbert |2. Lula Joy m.  |                 |                  |
 L. Joy     | Arthur Brooks  |                 |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
            |3. Gilbert L.   |1. Corelli Dancy |                  |
            | Joy, Jr., m.   |  Joy            |                  |
            | Margaret Jones |                 |                  |
            |                |                 |                  |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------


FOOTNOTES:

[1] _The Washington Union_, April 14, 1848.

[2] Daniel Drayton was a native of New Jersey who had spent several years
     following the water. He had risen from cook to captain in the
     wood-carrying business from the Maurice River to Philadelphia.
     Eventually he engaged in coast traffic from Philadelphia southward.
     He seemed to have drifted quite naturally from strong humane
     impulses, intensified by an old-time spiritual conversion, into a
     settled conviction that the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of
     man was a reality and that it was his duty to do what he could to
     assist those in bondage.

     Latterly his voyages had carried him into the Chesapeake Bay and
     thence up the Potomac. His first successful effort to assist the
     slaves was made on an earlier trip when he agreed to take away a
     woman and five children. The husband was already a free man. The
     woman had under an agreement with her master more than paid for her
     liberty, but when she had asked for a settlement, he had only
     answered by threatening to sell her. The mother and five children
     were taken aboard at night and after ten days were safely delivered
     at Frenchtown, where the husband was in waiting for them. Memoir of
     Daniel Drayton, Congressional Library.

[3] The only punishment meted out to Judson Diggs for his act of betrayal,
     so far as is known, was that by a party of young men who, shortly
     after the occurrence, took him from his cart and after considerable
     rough handling, threw him into the little stream that in those days
     and indeed for many years thereafter, took its way along the north
     side of the old John Wesley Church, then located at a spot directly
     opposite the north corner of the Convent of the Sacred Heart on
     Connecticut Avenue, between L and M Streets.

     A number of old citizens now living distinctly remember Judson Diggs,
     who lived, despised and avoided, until late in the sixties. One of
     these is Mr. Jerome A. Johnson of the Treasury Department.

[4] Memoir of Daniel Drayton, Congressional Library.

[5] The case against Drayton and Sayres was prosecuted by Philip Barton
     Key, the District Attorney, before Judge Crawford, and on appeal the
     prisoners were sentenced to pay a fine of $10,000 and to remain in
     jail until the same should be paid.

     English was absolved from all criminal responsibility and given his
     liberty.

     After an imprisonment of more than four years they were pardoned by
     President Fillmore, to whom such application had been presented by
     Charles Sumner.--Memoir of Daniel Drayton.

     The fare at the jail was insufficient and of poor quality and a more
     wholesome and generous diet was frequently surreptitiously furnished
     by Susannah Ford, a colored woman, who sold lunches in the lobby of
     the Court House.

[6] Stowe, "Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin."

[7] _The National Era_, April 16, 1848.

[8] Memoir of Daniel Drayton.

[9] John Brent, the husband of Elizabeth, the oldest of the Edmondson
girls, had first bought himself, earning the money chiefly by sawing wood;
had then bought the freedom of his father, Elton Brent, for whom he paid
$800, and finally bought Elizabeth's freedom, after which they were
married. He purchased the ground at the southwest corner of 18th and L
streets, now owned by his heirs, and erected a small frame dwelling. This
was later enlarged and there the John Wesley A. M. E. Zion Church was
established. He was a laborer in the War Department during forty years and
died in 1885.--From interviews with Mr. Brent and other members of the
family.

[10] Hamilton Edmondson was sold in the New Orleans slave market about the
year 1840 and took the name of his purchaser and was thereafter known as
Hamilton Taylor. He learned the trade of cooper and was allowed a
percentage of his earnings, but was unfortunate in having his first savings
stolen. He eventually acquired his freedom through the payment of $1,000.

[11] He continued in the cooperage business, was highly respected and
became comparatively wealthy, having a place of business on Girard near
Camp street. John S. Brent, who is his nephew and the son of the John Brent
heretofore mentioned in this narrative, spent a week with his uncle,
Hamilton Taylor, in 1865, on his return from Texas, when, as a member of
the Fifth Massachusetts Cavalry, he was mustered out of the
service.--Interview with John S. Brent.

[12] The fame of the Edmondson children through the incident of the _Pearl_
     was now wide indeed, and after the Brooklyn meeting there had been
     made many suggestions looking to their education and further benefit.
     The movement for the education of Emily and Mary was crystallized
     into a definite proposition and they were both placed in a private
     school a short distance out of New York. Miss Myrtilla Miner had
     already established her school for girls at Washington and had moved
     to a new location at about what is now the square bounded by 19th,
     20th, N and O streets. Here, after returning from New York, Emily
     assisted Miss Miner in the school and it was in one of the little
     cabins on this place that the Edmondson family established their home
     after moving in from the country. Miss Miner, speaking of the
     establishment of her school at its new location, says: "Emily and I
     lived here alone, unprotected except by God, the rowdies occasionally
     stoning the house at evening and we nightly retired in the
     expectation that the house would be fired before morning. Emily and I
     have been seen practicing shooting with a pistol."--Myrtilla Miner,
     "A Memoir," Congressional Library; "Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin."

     The parents of the children, however, were not yet entirely relieved
     of the fears that had so long haunted them, for there were still the
     two youngest children, Louisa and Joseph, whom the good mother
     frequently alluded to as "the last two drops of blood in her heart,"
     and although she had scarcely ever seen a railroad train, she
     determined to go to New York herself to see what could be done and to
     thank the good people who had already brought so much of happiness to
     herself and family. While the mother was in that city the girls were
     brought to see her and in later years she often delighted to tell of
     their happy meeting and of the good white folks who were brought
     together to hear her story. She returned to Washington at the end of
     a week, carrying the assurance that the money would be provided for
     the redemption of the last two of her children.

     Mrs. Louisa Joy, the last of the "Edmondson Children," died only a
     short while ago.

[13] _Note_.--This personal narrative of Samuel Edmondson was related by
himself at his home in Anacostia where he died several years ago.




LORENZO DOW[1]



This is the record of a remarkable and eccentric white man who devoted
himself to a life of singular labor and self-denial. In any consideration
of the South one could not avoid giving at least passing notice to Lorenzo
Dow as the foremost itinerant preacher of his time, as the first Protestant
who expounded the gospel in Alabama and Mississippi, and as a reformer who,
at the very moment when cotton was beginning to be supreme, presumed to
tell the South that slavery was wrong.

He arrests attention--this gaunt, restless preacher. With his long hair,
his flowing beard, his harsh voice, and his wild gesticulation, he was so
rude and unkempt as to startle all conservative hearers. Said one of his
opponents: "His manners (are) clownish in the extreme; his habit and
appearance more filthy than a savage Indian, his public discourses a mere
rhapsody, the substance often an insult upon the gospel." Said another as
to his preaching in Richmond: "Mr. Dow's clownish manners, his heterodox
and schismatic proceedings, and his reflections against the Methodist
Episcopal Church, in a late production of his on church government, are
impositions on common sense, and furnish the principal reasons why he will
be discountenanced by the Methodists."

But he was made in the mould of heroes. In his lifetime he traveled not
less than two hundred thousand miles, preaching to more people than any
other man of his time. He went from New England to the extremities of the
Union in the West again and again. Several times he went to Canada, once to
the West Indies, and three times to England, everywhere drawing great
crowds about him. Friend of the oppressed, he knew no path but that of
duty. Evangel to the pioneer, he again and again left the haunts of men to
seek the western wilderness. Conversant with the Scriptures, intolerant of
wrong, witty and brilliant, he assembled his hearers by the thousands. What
can account for so unusual a character? What were the motives that prompted
this man to so extraordinary and laborious a life?

Lorenzo Dow was born October 16, 1777, in Coventry, Tolland County,
Connecticut. When not yet four years old, he tells us, one day while at
play he "suddenly fell into a muse about God and those places called heaven
and hell." Once he killed a bird and was horrified for days at the act.
Later he won a lottery prize of nine shillings and experienced untold
remorse. An illness at the age of twelve gave him the shortness of breath
from which he suffered more and more throughout his life. About this time
he dreamed that the Prophet Nathan came to him and told him that he would
live only until he was two-and-twenty. When thirteen he had another dream,
this time of an old man, John Wesley, who showed to him the beauties of
heaven and held out the promise that he would win if he was faithful to the
end. A few years afterwards came to the town Hope Hull, preaching "This is
a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners"; and Lorenzo said: "I thought he told me
all that ever I did." The next day the future evangelist was converted.

But he was to be no ordinary Christian, this Lorenzo. Not satisfied with
his early baptism, he had the ceremony repeated, and with twelve others
formed a society for mutual watch and helpfulness. At the age of eighteen
he had still another dream, this time seeing a brittle thread in the air
suspended by a voice saying, "Woe unto you if you preach not the gospel."
Then Wesley himself appeared again to him in a dream and warned him to set
out at once upon his mission.

The young candidate applied to the Connecticut Conference of the Methodist
Church. He met with a reception that would have daunted any man less
courageous. He best tells the story himself: "My brethren sent me home.
Warren and Greenwich circuits, in Rhode Island, were the first of my
career. I obeyed, but with a sorrowful heart. Went out a second time to New
Hampshire, but sent home again; I obeyed. Afterwards went to Conference by
direction--who rejected me, and sent me home again; and again I obeyed. Was
taken out by P.W. on to Orange circuit, but in 1797 was sent home again: so
in obedience to man I went home a fourth time."

As a matter of fact there was much in the argument of the church against
Lorenzo Dow at this time. The young preacher was not only ungraceful and
ungracious in manner, but he had severe limitations in education and
frequently assumed toward his elders an air needlessly arrogant and
contemptuous. On the other hand he must reasonably have been offended by
the advice so frequently given him in gratuitous and patronizing fashion.
Soon after the last rebuff just recorded, however, he says, on going out on
the Granville circuit, "The Lord gave me souls for my hire." Again making
application to the Conference, he was admitted on trial for the first time
in 1798 and sent to Canada to break fresh ground. He was not satisfied with
the unpromising field and wrote, "My mind was drawn to the water, and
Ireland was on my mind." His great desire was to preach the gospel to the
Roman Catholics beyond the sea. Accordingly, on his twenty-second birthday,
acting solely on his own resources, the venturesome evangelist embarked at
Montreal for Dublin. Here he had printed three thousand handbills to warn
the people of the wrath to come. He attracted some attention, but soon
caught the smallpox and was forced to return home. Back in America, he
communicated to the Conference his desire to "travel the country at
large." The church, not at all impressed in his favor by his going to
Ireland on his own accord, would do nothing more than admit him to his old
status of being on trial, with appointment to the Dutchess, Columbia, and
Litchfield circuits. Depressed, Dow gave up the work, and, desiring a
warmer climate, he turned his face toward the South. From this time forth,
while he constantly exhibited a willingness to meet the church half way, he
consistently acted with all possible independence, and the church as
resolutely set its face against him.

Dow landed in Savannah in January, 1802. This was his first visit to the
region that was to mean so much to him and in whose history he himself was
to play so interesting a rôle. He walked on foot for hundreds of miles in
Georgia and South Carolina, everywhere preaching the gospel to all classes
alike. Returning to the North, he found that once more he could not come to
terms with his conference. He went back to the South, going now by land for
the first time. He went as far as Mississippi, then the wild southwestern
frontier, and penetrated far into the country of Indians and wolves.
Returning in 1804, he became one of the first evangelists to cultivate the
camp-meeting as an institution in central Virginia. Then he threw down the
gauntlet to established Methodism, daring to speak in Baltimore while the
General Conference of the church was in session there. The church replied
at once, the New York Conference passing a law definitely commanding its
churches to shut their doors against him.

Notwithstanding this opposition Dow continued to work with his usual zeal.
About 1804 he was very busy, speaking at from five hundred to eight hundred
meetings a year. In the year 1805, in spite of the inconveniences of those
days, he traveled ten thousand miles. Then he made ready to go again to
Europe. Everything possible was done by the regular church to embarrass him
on this second visit, and when he arrived in England he found the air far
from cordial. He did succeed in introducing his camp-meetings into the
country, however; and although the Methodist Conference registered the
opinion that such meetings were "highly improper in England," Dow prolonged
his stay and planted seed which, as we shall see, was later to bear
abundant fruit. Returning to America, the evangelist set out upon one of
the most memorable periods of his life, journeying from New England to
Florida in 1807, from Mississippi to New England and through the West in
1808, through Louisiana in 1809, through Georgia and North Carolina and
back to New England in 1810, spending 1811 for the most part in New
England, working southward to Virginia in 1812, and spending 1813 and 1814
in the Middle and Northern states, where the public mind was "darkened more
and more against him." More than once he was forced to engage in
controversy. Typical was the judgment of the Baltimore Conference in 1809,
when, in a matter of difference between Dow and one Mr. S., without Dow's
having been seen, opinion was given to the effect that Mr. S. "had given
satisfaction" to the conference. Some remarks of Dow's on "Church
Government" were seized upon as the excuse for the treatment generally
accorded him by the church. In spite of much hostile opinion, however, Dow
seems always to have found firm friends in the State of North Carolina. In
1818 a paper in Raleigh spoke of him as follows: "However his independent
way of thinking, and his unsparing candor of language may have offended
others, he has always been treated here with the respect due to his
disinterested exertions, and the strong powers of mind which his sermons
constantly exhibit."[2]

His hold upon the masses was remarkable. No preacher so well as he
understood the heart of the pioneer. In a day when the "jerks," and falling
and rolling on the ground, and dancing still accompanied religious emotion,
he still knew how to give to his hearers, whether bond or free, the
wholesome bread of life. Frequently he inspired an awe that was almost
superstitious and made numerous converts. Sometimes he would make
appointments a year beforehand and suddenly appear before a waiting
congregation like an apparition. At Montville, Connecticut, a thief had
stolen an axe. In the course of a sermon Dow said that the guilty man was
in the congregation and had a feather on his nose. At once the right man
was detected by his trying to brush away the feather. On another occasion
Dow denounced a rich man who had recently died. He was tried for slander
and imprisoned in the county jail. As soon as he was released he announced
that he would preach about "another rich man." Going into the pulpit at the
appointed time, he began to read: "And there was another rich man who died
and--." Here he stopped and after a breathless pause he said, "Brethren, I
shall not mention the place this rich man went to, for fear he has some
relatives in this congregation who will sue me." The effect was
irresistible; but Dow heightened it by taking another text, preaching a
most dignified sermon, and not again referring to the text on which he had
started.

Dow went again to England in 1818. He was not well received by the
Calvinists or the Methodists, and, of course, not by the Episcopalians; but
he found that his campmeeting idea had begun twelve years before a new
religious sect, that of the Primitive Methodists, commonly known as
"ranters." The society in 1818 was several thousand strong, and Dow visited
between thirty and forty of its chapels. Returning home, he resumed his
itineraries, going in 1827 as far west as Missouri. In thinking of this
man's work in the West we must keep constantly in mind, of course, the
great difference made by a hundred years. In Charleston in 1821 he was
arrested for "an alleged libel against the peace and dignity of the State
of South Carolina." His wife went north, as it was not known but that he
might be detained a long time; but he was released on payment of a fine of
one dollar. In Troy also he was once arrested on a false pretense. At
length, however, he rejoiced to see his enemies defeated. In 1827 he wrote:
"Those who instigated the trouble for me at Charleston, South Carolina, or
contributed thereto, were all cut off within the space of three years,
except Robert Y. Hayne, who was then the Attorney-General for the state,
and is now the Governor for the _nullifiers_."[3]

The year 1833 Dow spent in visiting many places in New York, and in this
year he made the following entry in his Journal: "I am now in my
fifty-sixth year in the journey of life; and enjoy better health than when
but 30 or 35 years old, with the exception of the callous in my breast,
which at times gives me great pain.... The dealings of God to me-ward, have
been good. I have seen his delivering hand, and felt the inward support of
his grace, by faith and hope, which kept my head from sinking when the
billows of affliction seemed to encompass me around.... And should those
hints exemplified in the experience of Cosmopolite be beneficial to any
one, give God the glory. Amen and Amen! Farewell!" He died the following
year in Georgetown, District of Columbia, and rests under a simple slab in
Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington.

There is only one word to describe the writings of Lorenzo
Dow--Miscellanies. Anything whatsoever that came to the evangelist's mind
was set down, not always with good form, though frequently with witty and
forceful expression. Here are "Hints to the Public, or Thoughts on the
Fulfilment of Prophecy in 1811"; "A Journey from Babylon to Jerusalem,"
with a good deal of sophomoric discussion of natural and moral philosophy;
"A Dialogue between the Curious and the Singular," with some discussion of
religious societies and theological principles; "The Chain of Lorenzo," an
argument on the eternal sonship of Christ; "Omnifarious Law Exemplified:
How to Curse and Swear, Lie, Cheat and Kill according to Law," "Reflections
on the Important Subject of Matrimony," and much more of the same sort.
"Strictures on Church Government" has already been referred to as bringing
upon Dow the wrath of the Methodist Church. The general thesis of this
publication, regarded at the time as so sensational, is that the Methodist
mode of church government is the most arbitrary and despotic of any in
America, with the possible exception of that of the Shakers.

"A Cry from the Wilderness--intended as a Timely and Solemn Warning to the
People of the United States" is in every way one of Dow's most
characteristic works. At this distance, when slavery and the Civil War are
viewed in the perspective, the mystic words of the oracle impress us as
almost uncanny: "In the rest of the southern states, the influence of these
Foreigners will be known and felt in its time, and the seeds from the HORY
ALLIANCE and the DECAPIGANDI, who have a hand in those grades of GENERALS,
from the INQUISITOR to the Vicar General and down....

[Image: Pointing Hand] The STRUGGLE will be DREADFUL! the CUP will be
BITTER! and when the agony is over, those who survive may see better
days! FAREWELL!"[4]

A radical preacher of the Gospel, he could not but be moved with compassion
on observing the condition of the Negroes in the South during these years.
When denied admission to white churches because of his apparent fanaticism
he often found it pleasant to move among the blacks. Arriving in Savannah,
one day, he was accosted by a Negro, who, seeing that he had no place to
stop, inquired as to whether he would accept the hospitality of a black
home. He embraced this opportunity and found the people by whom he was
entertained "as decent as two thirds of the citizens of Savannah."[5] When
on another occasion in Savannah he learned that Andrew Bryan, the Negro
minister of the city, had, because of his preaching, been whipped
unmercifully and imprisoned, Dow preached to the congregation himself.[6]
He moved among Negroes, lived with them socially, distributed tracts among
them, preached to them the Word, counted them with pride among his converts
and treasured in his memory his experiences among them.[7]

As a result this liberal-minded man was naturally opposed to slavery. He
was as outspoken a champion of freedom as lived in America in his day.
"Slavery in the South," said he, "is an evil that calls for national reform
and repentance." He thought that this "national scourge in this world"
might "be antidoted before the storm" gathered and burst.[8] "As all men
are created equal and independent by God of Nature," contended he, "Slavery
must have Moral Evil for its foundation, seeing it violates the Law of
Nature, as established by its author." "Ambition and avarice on the one
hand," thought he, "and social dependence upon the other, affords the
former an opportunity of being served at the expense of the latter and this
unnatural state of things hath been exemplified in all countries, and all
ages of the world from time immemorial." He further said, "Pride and vain
glory on the one side, and degradation and oppression on the other creates
on the one hand a spirit of contempt, and on the other a spirit of hatred
and revenge, preparing them to be dissolute: and qualifying them for every
base and malicious work!" He believed that "the mind of man is ever
aspiring for a more exalted station; the consequence is the better slaves
used the more saucy and impertinent they become: of course the practice
must be wholly abolished or the slaves must be governed with absolute
sway." He had discovered that "the exercise of an absolute sway over others
begets an unnatural hardness which as it becomes imperious contaminates the
mind of the governor; while the governed becomes factious and stupefied
like brute beasts, which are kept under by a continual dread and hence
whenever the subject is investigated, the evils of despotism presents to
view in all their odious forms." [9]

His attack on slavery, however, was neither so general nor universal as
would be expected of such a radical. He saw that "there is a distinction
admissible in some cases, between Slavery itself and the spirit of
slavery." "A man may possess slaves by inheritance or some other way; and
may not have it in his power either to liberate them or to make better
their circumstances, being trammelled by the Laws and circumstances of the
country,--yet whilst he feels a sincere wish to do them all the justice he
can." He remarked too that "we have no account of Jesus Christ saying one
word about emancipation. Onesimus ran away from Philemon to Rome; whence
finding Paul, whom he had seen at his master's, he experienced religion,
and was sent back by the apostle with a letter--but not a word about
setting him free."[10]

Contrasting then the unhappy state with that of the past, he said, "The
first and primitive Christians had all things common, not from commandment
but from spirit by which they were influenced day by day; so when the time
of restitution takes place, which will be long before the consummation of
all things, then the Law of Nature, from Moral principles will be practiced
and the world will be as one concentrated Family." "The openings to
Providence preparatory to that day should be attended to, from principles
of duty--lest judgments should perform what offered mercy if not rejected
may be ready to accomplish. To feed and clothe another is both the interest
and duty of all Masters--and the sixth chapter of Ephesians is an excellent
tract on the subject to all who wish for advice, both as masters and
servants."[11]

It was likewise in keeping with Dow's fearlessness to denounce the efforts
to discriminate against Negroes in the early Churches. He questioned the
far-reaching authority of Bishop Coke, Asbury, and McKendree, and accused
Asbury of being jealous of the rising power of Richard Allen, founder of
the African Methodist Church.[12] He refers at considerable length to the
incident in a Philadelphia church which ultimately made Absalom Jones a
rector and Richard Allen a bishop: "The colored people were considered by
some persons as being in the way. They were resolved to have them removed,
and placed around the walls, corners, etc.; which to execute, the above
expelled and restored man, at prayer time, did attempt to pull Absolom
Jones from his knees, which procedure, with its concomitants, gave rise to
the building of an African meeting house, the first ever built in these
middle or northern states."

Here at least was a man with a mission--that mission to carry the gospel of
Christ to the uttermost parts of the earth. He knew no standard but that of
duty; he heeded no command but that of his own soul. Rude, and sharp of
speech he was, and only half-educated; but he was made of the stuff of
heroes; and neither hunger, nor cold, nor powers, nor principalities, nor
things present, nor things to come, could daunt him in his task. After the
lapse of a hundred years he looms larger, not smaller, in the history of
our Southland; and as of old we seem to hear again "the voice of one crying
in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord."

BENJAMIN BRAWLEY



FOOTNOTES:


[1] Very little has been written about Lorenzo Dow. There is an article by
Emily S. Gilman in the _New England Magazine_, Vol. 20, p. 411 (June,
1899), and also one by J. H. Kennedy in the _Magazine of Western History_,
Vol. 7, p. 162. The present paper is based mainly upon the following works:
(1) "Biography and Miscellany," published by Lorenzo Dow, Norwich, Conn.,
1834; (2) "History of Cosmopolite;" or "The Four Volumes of Lorenzo Dow's
Journal concentrated in one, containing his Experience and Travels,"
Wheeling, 1848; (3) "The Dealings of God, Man, and the Devil; as
exemplified in the Life, Experience, and Travels of Lorenzo Dow," 2 vols.
in one. With an Introductory Essay by the Rev. John Dowling, D.D., of New
York. Cincinnati, 1858.

[2] "Dealings," II, 169.

[3] "Dealings," I, 178.

[4] "Dealings," II, 148.

[5] "Perambulations of Cosmopolite, or Travels and Labors in Europe and
America," 95.

[6] Ibid., 93.

[7] Ibid., _passim._

[8] Biography and Miscellany, 30.

[9] "A Journey from Babylon to Jerusalem or the Road to Peace and True
Happiness," 71.

[10] "A Journey from Babylon and Jerusalem," 71.

[11] Ibid., 72.

[12] "History of Cosmopolite," 544-546.




THE ATTITUDE OF THE FREE NEGRO TOWARD AFRICAN COLONIZATION



In the midst of the perplexities arising from various plans for the
solution of the race problem one hundred years ago, the colonization
movement became all things to all men. Some contended that it was a
philanthropic enterprise; others considered it a scheme for getting rid of
the free people of color because of the seeming menace they were to
slavery. It was doubtless a combination of several ideas.[1] Furthermore,
the meaning of colonization varied on the one hand according to the use the
slave-holding class hoped to make of it, and on the other hand according to
the intensity of the attacks directed against it by the Abolitionists and
the free colored people because of the acquiescent attitude of
colonizationists toward the persecution of the free blacks both in the
North and South.[2]

Almost as soon as the Negroes had a chance to express themselves they
offered urgent protest against the policy of removing them to a foreign
land. Before the American Colonization Society had scarcely organized, the
free people of Richmond, Virginia, thought it advisable to assemble under
the sanction of authority in 1817, to make public expression of their
sentiments respecting this movement. William Bowler and Lenty Craw were the
leading spirits of the meeting. They agreed with the Society that it was
not only proper, but would ultimately tend to benefit and aid a great
portion of their suffering fellow creatures to be colonized; but they
preferred being settled "in the remotest corner of the land of their
nativity." As the president and board of managers of the Society had been
pleased to leave it to the entire discretion of Congress to provide a
suitable place for carrying out this plan, they passed a resolution to
submit to the wisdom of that body whether it would not be an act of charity
to grant them a small portion of their territory, either on the Missouri
River or any place that might seem to them most conducive to the public
good and their future welfare, subject, however, to such rules and
regulations as the government of the United States might think proper.[3]
Many Negroes, however, emigrated from this State during later years.
Subsequent accounts indicate, too, that this increasing interest in
colonization among the colored people of that Commonwealth extended even
into North Carolina.[4]

Farther north we observe more frequent and frank expressions of the
attitude of the colored people toward this enterprise. When the people of
Richmond, Virginia, registered their mild protest against it, about 3,000
free blacks of Philadelphia took higher ground.[5] Because their ancestors
not of their own accord were the first successful cultivators of the wilds
of America, they felt themselves entitled to participate in the blessings
of its "luxuriant soil," which their blood and sweat had moistened. They
viewed with deep abhorrence the unmerited stigma attempted to be cast upon
the reputation of the free people of color, "that they are a dangerous and
useless part of the community," when in the state of disfranchisement in
which they lived, in the hour of danger, they "ceased to remember their
wrongs and rallied around the standard of their country." They were
determined never to separate themselves from the slave population of this
country as they were brethren by the "ties of consanguinity, of suffering,
and of wrong."[6] They, therefore, appointed a committee of eleven persons
to open correspondence with Joseph Hopkinson, member of Congress from that
city, to inform him of the sentiments of the meeting, and issued an address
to the "Humane and Benevolent Inhabitants of Philadelphia,"[7] disclaiming
all connection with the society, questioning the professed philanthropy of
its promoters, and pointing out how disastrous it would be to the free
colored people, should it be carried out.[8]

Although a few persecuted Negroes of Maryland from the very beginning
believed it advisable to emigrate, the first action of importance observed
among the colored people of Baltimore, favoring colonization in Africa, was
that of a series of meetings held there in 1826. The sentiment of these
delegates as expressed by their resolutions was that the time had come for
the colored people to express their interest in the efforts which the wise
and philanthropic were making in their behalf. Differing from the people of
Richmond they felt that, although residing in this country, they were
strangers, not citizens, and that because of the difference of color and
servitude of most of their race, they could not hope to enjoy the
immunities of freemen. Believing that there would be left a channel through
which might pass such as thereafter received their freedom, they urged
emigration to Africa as the scheme which they believed would offer the
quickest and best relief.[9]

We have not been able to find many records which give proof that in the
States far South there was much opposition of the Negroes to the plan of
removing the free people of color from the United States. We must not
conclude, however, that this absence of protest from the free colored
people in that section of the country was due to the fact that they almost
unanimously approved the plan of African Colonization.[10] Consideration
must be given to the fact that the free colored people in the Southern
States did not exercise the privilege of free speech. Consequently, if
there were even a large minority who opposed the plan, they were afraid to
make their views known, especially when this movement was being promoted by
some of the leading white people of that section.

Occasionally there arose among the colored people of the South advocates of
colonization, setting forth the advantages of emigration in all but
convincing style.[11] Such was a free man of color of Savannah in the year
1832. He had always viewed the principles on which the American
Colonization Society was grounded as one of large policy, though he saw it
was "aided by a great deal of benevolence." And when viewing his situation
with those of his colored brethren of the United States he had often
wondered what prevented them from rising with one accord to accept the
offer made them, although they might sacrifice the comforts of their
present situation. He had often almost come to the conclusion that he would
make the sacrifice, and had only been prevented by unfavorable accounts of
the climate. Hearing that Liberia needed help, he desired to go. He and the
Negroes for whom he spoke seemed to be of an enterprising kind. He
understood the branches of "wheel-wright, blacksmith, and carpentry," and
had made some progress in machinery. He did not expect to go at the expense
of the Society and therefore hoped to take with him something more than
those who had emigrated on those terms.[12]

Another such freeman spoke from Charleston the same year. He had observed
with much regret that Northern States were passing laws to get rid of the
free people of color driven from the South on account of hostile
legislation.[13] He was also fearful as to the prospects of the free blacks
even in favorable Southern cities like Charleston, where they were given a
decided preference in most of the higher pursuits of labor. He believed,
therefore, that emigration to Africa was the solution of their problem. He
urged this for the reason that the country offered them and their posterity
forever protection in life, liberty, "and property by honor of office with
the gift of the people, privileges of sharing in the government, and
finally the opportunity to become a perfectly free and independent people,
and a distinguished nation."[14] The letters of Thomas S. Grimké written to
the Colonization Society during these years show that other freedmen of
Charleston driven to the same conclusions were planning to emigrate.[15]

Conditions in that State, however, forced some free Negroes to emigrate to
foreign soil. A number of free colored people left Charleston, and settled
in certain free States. After residing two or three years in the North they
found out that their condition instead of improving had grown worse, as
they were more despised, crowded out of every respectable employment, and
even very much less respected. They, therefore, returned to their former
home. On reaching Charleston, however, they were still dissatisfied with
their condition. Changes, which had taken place during their absence from
the State, made it evident that in this country they could never possess
those rights and privileges which all men desire. Some of them resolved,
therefore, to try their fortunes in Liberia.[16]

The Negroes in Alabama had also become interested in the movement during
these years.[17] In writing to Mr. McLain, of Washington, S. Wesley Jones,
a colored man of Tuscaloosa, said that save the Christian religion there
was no subject of so much importance and that lay so near his heart as that
of African Colonization. All that was necessary to change the attitude on
the part of the colored people was a "move by some one in whom the people
have confidence to put the whole column in motion," and just "when there is
a start made in Alabama the whole body of the free people of color will
join in a solid phalanx." As for himself he had fully made up his mind to
go to Liberia, but could not leave the United States until he had closed up
a ten years' business, and if successful in collecting "tolerably well"
what was due him he would be able to go without expense to the Society.[18]

In July, 1848, this same writer addressed to Mr. McLain another letter in
which he gave details of a trip he had made in an adjoining county in the
interest of emigration to Liberia. During this trip he said he had found a
few free colored people who, after he had talked with them on the subject,
were of one accord that the best thing they could do for themselves was to
emigrate to Liberia.[19] In another letter addressed to McLain by the same
writer December 29, 1851, it was stated that the colonization movement was
still growing in the State. He also said that "those of us who want to go
to Liberia are men who have been striving to do something" for themselves
and consequently have "more or less business to close up." Mention was also
made of the fact that there were at Huntsville, in the northern part of the
State, several who had in part "made up their minds to go and only wanted a
little encouragement to set them fully in favor of Liberia."[20]

Although thus favorably received in the South, however, the Colonization
Society met opposition in other parts. The spreading of the immediate
abolition doctrine by men like Garrison and Jay had a direct bearing on the
enterprise. The two movements became militantly arrayed against each other
and tended to inflame the minds of the colored people throughout the
country. The consensus of opinion among them was that the Colonization
Society was their worst enemy and its efforts would tend only to
exterminate the free people of color and perpetuate the institution of
slavery.[21] So general was this feeling that T. H. Gallaudet, a promoter of
the colonization movement, writing to one of its officers in 1831, said
that something must be done to calm the feelings of the colored people in
the large cities of the North.[22] Their resentment seemed to be due not so
much to the fact that they were urged to emigrate, but that a large number
of the promoters of the enterprise seemed to feel that the free Negroes
should be forced to leave.[23] Considering themselves as much entitled to
the protection of the laws of this country as any other element of its
population, they took the position that any free man of color who would
accept the offers of the colonization movement should be branded as an
enemy of his race. They not only demonstrated their unalterable opposition
but expressed a firm resolve to resist the colonizationists even down to
death.

The proceedings of these meetings will throw much light on the excitement
then prevailing among the free people of color in the border and Northern
States. In 1831 a Baltimore meeting, led by William Douglass and William
Watkins, expressed the belief that the American Colonization Society was
founded "more upon selfish policy than in the true principles of
benevolence; and, therefore, as far as it regards the life-giving spring of
its operations," that it was not entitled to their confidence, and should
be viewed by them with that caution and distrust which their happiness
demanded. They considered the land in which they had been born and bred
their only "true and appropriate home," and declared that when they desired
to remove they would apprise the public of the same, in due season.[24]
That same year a large meeting of colored people of Washington, in the
District of Columbia, convened for the purpose of expressing their opinion
on this important question. Although they knew that among the advocates of
the colonizing system, they had many true and sincere friends, they
declared that the efforts of these philanthropists, though prompted no
doubt by the purest motives, should be viewed with distress. They further
asserted that, as the soil which gave them birth was their only true and
veritable home, it would be impolitic, if they should leave their home
without the benefit of education.[25] A meeting of the very same order of
the free people of color of Wilmington, Delaware, that year, led by Peter
Spencer and Thomas Dorsey, took the position that the colonization movement
was inimical to the best interests of the colored people, and at variance
with the principles of civil and religious liberty, and wholly incompatible
with the spirit of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence of
the United States.[26]

A meeting of free colored people held in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1831,
was of the opinion that none should leave the United States, but if there
were or should be any expatriated in consequence of abuses from their white
countrymen, it was advisable to recommend them to Haiti or Upper Canada
where they would find equal laws. In regard to their being sent to Africa,
because they were natives of that land, they asked: "How can a man be born
in two countries at the same time?" In refutation of the argument made by
the Colonization Society, that the establishment of the colony in Liberia
would prevent the further operation of the slave trade, they said: "We
might as well argue that a watchman in the city of Boston would prevent
thievery in New York; or that the custom house officers there would prevent
goods being smuggled into any other port of the United States."[27] Because
there were in the United States much better lands on which a colony might
be established, and at a much cheaper expense to those who promoted it,
than could possibly be had by sending them into "a howling wilderness
across the seas," they questioned the philanthropy of the promoters of
African colonization and adopted resolutions in opposition to the
movement.[28]

A public meeting of colored citizens of New York, with Samuel Ennals and
Philip Bell as promoters, referred to the Colonizationists as men of
"mistaken views" with respect to the welfare and wishes of the colored
people. The meeting solemnly protested against the bold effort to colonize
the oppressed free people of color on the ground that it was "unjust,
illiberal and unfounded; tending to excite prejudice of the community."[29]
At a meeting of the free colored people of Brooklyn, promoted by Henry C.
Thompson and George Hogarth, it was resolved that they knew of no other
country in which they could justly claim or demand their rights as
citizens, whether civil or political, but in the United States of America,
their native soil; and that they would be active in their endeavors to
convince the members of the Colonization Society, and the public generally,
that being men, brethren, and fellow citizens, they were like other
citizens entitled to an equal share of protection from the Federal
Government.[30]

The sentiment of a meeting at Hartford, Connecticut, in 1831, was that the
American Colonization Society was actuated by the same motives which
influenced the mind of Pharaoh, when he ordered the male children of the
Israelites to be destroyed. They believed that the Society was the greatest
of all foes to the free colored people and slave population; and that the
man of color who would emigrate to Liberia was an enemy to the cause and a
traitor to his brethren. As they had committed no crime worthy of
banishment, they would resist all attempts of the Colonization Society to
banish them from their native land.[31] A New Haven meeting of the Peace
and Benevolent Society of Afric-Americans, led by Henry Berrian and Henry
N. Merriman, expressed interest in seeing Africa become civilized and
religiously instructed, but not by the absurd and invidious plan of the
colonization society to send a "nation of ignorant men to teach a nation of
ignorant men." They would, therefore, resist all attempts for their removal
to the torrid shores of Africa, and would sooner suffer every drop of their
blood to be taken from their veins than submit to such unrighteous
treatment. From the colored people of Lyme, Connecticut, came the sincere
opinion that the Colonization Society was one of the wildest projects ever
patronized by enlightened men. The colored citizens of Middletown, chief
among whom were Joseph Gilbert and Amos G. Beman, inquired "Why should we
leave this land, so dearly bought by the blood, groans and tears of our
fathers? Truly this is our home," said they, "here let us live and here let
us die."[32]

The meeting in Columbia, Pennsylvania, the leaders of which were Stephen
Smith and James Richard, expressed the opinion that African colonization
was a scheme of the Southern planters and wicked device of slaveholders who
were desirous of riveting more firmly, and perpetuating more certainly, the
fetters of slavery by ridding themselves of a population whose presence,
influence and example had a tendency (as they supposed) to produce
discontent among the slaves, and to furnish them with inducements to
rebellion.[33] A few weeks later a meeting was held at Pittsburgh under the
leadership of J. B. Vashon and R. Bryan. The colored people of this city
styled themselves as brethren and countrymen as much entitled to the free
exercise of the elective franchise as any other inhabitants and demanded an
equal share of protection from the Federal Government. They informed the
Colonization Society that should their reason forsake them, then might they
desire to remove. They would apprise them of that change in due season. As
citizens of the United States, they mutually pledged to each other their
lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor, not to support a colony in
Africa nor Upper Canada, nor yet emigrate to Haiti. Here they were
born--here they would live by the help of the Almighty God--and here they
would die.[34] Early in 1832, the colored people of Lewiston, Pennsylvania,
in a meeting called by Samuel and Martin Johnston, expressed practically
the same sentiments.[35] Through the influence of Jacob D. Richardson and
Jacob G. Williams, an indignation meeting of the same kind was held at
Harrisburg.[36]

The free people of color, assembled at Nantucket, Rhode Island, in 1831,
under the leadership of Arthur Cooper and Edward J. Pompey, saw no
philanthropy in the colonization movement, but discovered in it a scheme
gotten up to delude them from their native land into a country of sickness
and death.[37] A Trenton meeting promoted by Lewis Cork and Abner H.
Francis viewed the American Colonization Society as the most inveterate foe
both to the free and slave man of color. These memorialists disclaimed all
union with the Society and, once for all, declared that they would never
remove under its patronage either to Africa or elsewhere.[38]

In New York there had been various expressions pro and con as to emigration
to Liberia, but it does not seem that a large number of colored people of
that city ever favored it. They believed rather in emigration to Canada.
The attitude of the people of that State was shown in 1834 by the troubles
of Reverend Peter Williams, Rector of St. Phillip's Church in the city of
New York. Working through the Phoenix Society and the Anti-Slavery Society
he had endeavored to convince the free colored people that the idea held
out to men of color that no matter how they might strive to become
intelligent, virtuous and useful, they could never enjoy the privilege of
citizens in the United States, was erroneous. On the contrary, he believed
that the Declaration of Independence, which his father had helped to
maintain, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ had sufficient power to raise the
people of color at some time to the rank of citizenship. Although his
opposition never extended further than the expression of his views, there
arose so much antagonism to him that he was asked by his bishop to resign
from the Anti-Slavery Society, because of a disturbance in his church.[39]
There remained others, however, to continue the attack. At a meeting in
1839 the free people of color of New York entered a unanimous protest
against the efforts of this body, reiterating the sentiment that the
American Colonization Society was the source from which came the various
proscriptions and oppressions under which they groaned.[40]

The attitude of the free blacks of New York was probably better
demonstrated on the occasion of the appearance of W. S. Ball, who had been
sent to Liberia by the free colored people of Illinois to secure definite
information concerning the advisability of emigrating to Africa. On his
return to New York, he made a speech to a large assembly of colored people,
some of whom desiring to see Liberia for themselves, had made preparations
for a company to sail September, 1848. Ball expressed himself as well
pleased with the country and after interesting the colored people of
Illinois[40a] he hoped to return to Liberia with a large emigration. The
colored people of New York received him in good faith. While the Liberian
Commissioners were in session, President Roberts and his comrades were
invited to come to the Anthony Street Church to inform them of the country.
After several speeches had been made, opportunity was given to the colored
people to ask questions that had not been touched upon. This continued for
some time and seemed to elicit information highly favorable to the cause,
until a Mr. Morrill made his way up the aisle toward the platform. After
having gained the attention of the audience with an air of superiority
which showed he was accustomed to control audiences of colored people, he
said that he had just come into town and was surprised to find his friends
engaged in holding a colonization meeting. "That question," said he, "has
been settled long ago! and the Liberia humbug--" At this point the hisses
were so loud he could not be heard. Finally after much yelling and shouting
of "hear him," the meeting became a bedlam and the presiding officer
attempted to leave the chair. Finding order impossible the meeting was
adjourned in an uproar. Amid cries of "a fight, a fight," women leaped over
the pews and made their way to the doors. After some time had elapsed order
was restored by clearing the house, but Morrill, who seemingly had come
with the expressed purpose of breaking up the meeting, was not found in the
chaos that ensued.[41]

Doubtless the best expression of antagonism to the American Colonization
Society came from the Annual Convention of the Free Colored People held
first in 1830 and almost annually thereafter in Philadelphia and other
Northern cities almost until the Civil War. The Second Annual Convention
showed an attitude of militant opposition by emphatically protesting
against any appropriation by Congress in behalf of the movement. The Third
Annual Convention, which met in Philadelphia in 1833, probably represented
the high water mark of their antagonism to this enterprise. There were 59
representatives of the free people of color from eight different States,
namely, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, Rhode Island, New
York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. The leaders of the movement were
James Forten, Robert Douglas, Joseph Cassey, Robert Purvis, and James
McCrummell. At an early stage in the proceedings of this Convention there
prevailed a motion that "a committee consisting of one delegate from each
of the States represented in the Convention, be appointed to draft
resolutions expressive of the sentiments of the people of color in regard
to the subject of colonization." Although these men were opposed to
emigration to Africa, they favored a sort of colonization in some part of
America, for the relief of such persons as might leave the United States
on account of oppressive laws like those of Ohio.[42] The colored people
would in this case give such refugees all aid in their power.

After having divested themselves of "all unreasonable prejudice," and
reviewed the whole ground of their opposition to the American Colonization
Society, with all the candor of which they were capable, they still
declared to the world that they were unable to arrive at any other
conclusion than that the life-giving principles of the Society were totally
repugnant to the spirit of true benevolence; that the doctrines which the
Society inculcated were hostile to those of their holy religion and in
direct violation of the golden rule, and that "the inevitable tendency of
this doctrine was to strengthen the cruel prejudice of their opponents, to
still the heart of sympathy to the appeals of suffering Negroes, and retard
their advancement in morals, literature and science, in short, to
extinguish the last glimmer of hope, and throw an impenetrable gloom over
their fears and most reasonable prospects." All plans for actual
colonization, therefore, were rejected.[43]

The movement thereafter continued to receive the attention of the people in
the various parts of the country, being generally denounced. The Negroes of
Ohio were prominent among those who opposed it.[44] Invited to hear a
lecture by Mr. Pinney, a former governor of Liberia, then on a tour in the
United States raising funds to purchase land there, the free blacks of
Cincinnati held a meeting to protest. Arrogating to themselves the
privilege of expressing the opinion of all the colored people of the United
States, they respectfully declined the invitation for the reasons that the
scheme was iniquitous in that it implied the assumption of the inequality
of the free people of color.[45] They accordingly urged that such sums as
their so-called friends might give for the purchase of land in Africa might
be used for establishing schools and asylums for colored children in this
country.[46] At a series of meetings of free colored people, held in the
city of Cleveland, Ohio, during the winter of 1845-46, the Colonization
Society was denounced as an organization whose proceedings tended to
aggravate the injustice with which the free colored people were treated in
this country. It was called the greatest antagonist which colored people
had to meet and put down, before they could "stand erect in this country."
During the meeting a very bitter spirit was shown toward the white race.
They passed resolutions declaring that the colored people were entitled to
all the privileges and immunities enjoyed by the whites and pledged
themselves never to rest until they had redressed their wrongs and gained
their rights.[47]

Another important instance of the opposition of the colored people of the
North and West may be observed in the proceedings of a meeting held in
Cincinnati. Mr. Vashon, a free man of color of Pittsburgh, had a motion
passed in one of their anti-slavery meetings in that city, "declaring the
Colonization Society inimical to the best interests of the free colored
population of the country, and unworthy of the support of the churches."
After speeches had been made by Vashon and Henry Gloster, a free man of
color from Michigan, the original motion was passed with but one or two
dissenting voices in spite of the efforts to amend it. It is probable that
the amendments proposed were to soften the tone of the original motion, but
no mention was made of them other than to state that they were offered by
the opposition.[48]

Numerous other meetings were held to continue the expression of the same
sentiments. At a meeting in Boston in 1847 the Colonization Society was
referred to as the expatriating institution which would never be able to
expel "Americans by birth" pledged never to leave their native land.[49]
A State convention of colored people of New York held during three days
in the capital at Albany, 1851, unanimously expressed their pleasure at
the failure of the Colonization Society of that State to obtain an
appropriation from the Legislature.[50] At another meeting at Albany in
1852, Reverend J. W. C. Pennington and Dr. J. McCune Smith were
instrumental in inducing the meeting to adopt an able refutation of
Governor Hunt's views in favor of a similar appropriation.[51] Another
State Convention of Colored People of Ohio convened in Cincinnati,
unconditionally condemned the Society because its policy of expatriating
the free colored people was merely to render slave property more secure
and valuable.[52] John M. Langston was the chairman of this meeting.
Other such meetings held in Rochester, New York, and New Bedford,
Massachusetts, about the same time, expressed similar sentiments.[53] On
the occasion of the formation of a County Colonization Society as a
result of a visit of J.B. Pinney to Syracuse, resolutions expressing
deep regret that the influence of the Society had extended to that
section[54] were unanimously passed. At another meeting at Providence,
the same year, the Colonization Society was denounced because of the
plea that its motive in promoting emigration to Africa was to
Christianize the heathen.[55]

A series of meetings were held in Ohio to oppose the efforts of
colonization agents.[56] A Columbus meeting of 1849 considered such
workers inveterate enemies. Another meeting in the same place in 1851
referred to one of their memorials as containing the false statement that
the colored people of Ohio were prepared to go to Liberia. They considered
N. L. Rice and David Christy, promoters of the colonization scheme in that
State, avowed friends of slavery and slaveholders.[57] In a subsequent
State Convention in 1853, they urged every free black to use his influence
against any bill offered in any State, or national legislature to
appropriate money for this enterprise.[58] When "Cushing's Bill" to
facilitate colonization was offered, the free people of Cincinnati, Ohio,
held an indignation meeting in 1853 to organize their friends to prevent
its passage.[59]

The most distinguished Negroes of the country, too, were using the rostrum
and the press to impede the progress of the American Colonization Society.
Prominent among these protagonists were Samuel E. Cornish, and Theodore S.
Wright, who without doubt voiced the sentiments of the majority of the free
colored people in the North. These leaders took occasion in 1840 to attack
Theodore Frelinghuysen and Benjamin Butler who had been reported as saying
that the colonization project had been received with delight by the colored
people.[60] Answering this assertion, they maintained that "if it was said
of Southern slaves--if it had been asserted that they yearned for Africa
or indeed, any part of the world, even more unhospitable and unhappy, where
they might be free from their masters, there probably would have been no
one to dissent from that opinion." But to prove that this was not the
situation among the free people of color these spokesmen related numerous
facts, showing that in various conventions from year to year the free
blacks had protested against emigration to Africa.[61]

The greatest enemy of the Colonization Society among the freedmen,
however, was yet to appear. This was Frederick Douglass. At the National
Convention of Free People of Color, held at Rochester, New York, in 1853,
he was called upon to write the address to the colored people of the United
States. A significant expression in this address was: "We ask that no
appropriation whatever, State or national, be granted to the colonization
scheme. We would have our right to leave or remain in the United States
placed above legislative interference."[62] He had already gone on record
in writing to Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe in reply to her inquiry as to the
best thing to be done for the elevation of the colored people. "Evidently
the Society," said he, "looks upon our extremity as their opportunity and
whenever the elements are started against us they are stimulated to
immeasurable activity. They do not deplore our misfortunes but rather
rejoice in them."[63] He referred to the Society as the twin sister of
slavery, still at her post fostering prejudice against the colored man and
scattering abroad her hateful unphilosophical dogmas as to the inferiority
of the Negro and the necessity of his expatriation for his elevation and
that of his white country men. "The truth is," said he, "we are here and
here we are likely to remain. Individuals emigrate, nations never. We have
grown up with this republic and I see nothing in her character or find in
the character of the American people as yet, which compels the belief that
we must leave the United States."[64]

All the free persons of color, however, did not continue to think on this
wise. After the ebullitions of sentiment had ceased, a few Negroes began
to think that emigration was not an unmixed evil. They were driven to this
position in various ways. Some desired to flee from increasing persecution
then afflicting free Negroes both in the North and in the South; others
were won over by such inducements for commercial advancement as a
pacification of Yoruba seemed to offer in opening up the Soudan; and not a
few like Alexander Crummell[65] and Daniel A. Payne, who, although opposed
to the expatriation of their race, favored colonization so far as it would
redeem Africa. Even Frederick Douglass, in answering the charge that the
free people of color had been prejudiced against efforts to redeem Africa,
stated that they were very much in favor of such a work, but objected to
the efforts of the Colonization Society because of its "defect of good
motives,"[66] A number of Negroes yielded also to the logic of the
Colonizationists, who in trying to disabuse their minds of the thought that
it would be a disgrace to leave this country as exiles, held up to them the
example of the Pilgrim Fathers who left their native land to obtain
political and religious liberty. Furthermore, some Negroes like Martin R.
Delaney, who had at first fearlessly opposed the colonization of the blacks
in Africa, began during the fifties to promote the emigration of the free
people of color to other parts. Many of this persuasion went to Canada West
and some few to Trinidad.[67]

Although antagonism to African Colonization was pronounced in the Northern
free States, there were several intelligent colored men who were strongly
in favor of it. It was said, however, that such Negroes had usually been
educated or aided in some way by the American Colonization Society. One of
this class of spokesmen was George Baltimore, of Whitehall. In reading in
the _National Watchman_ a notice for a call for a national convention of
colored people to be held in Troy, in 1847, he availed himself of the
opportunity to speak for the Colonization Society. Referring to the
suggestions set forth in the call, the writer said that he could adopt all
of them excepting the one to recommend emigration and colonization not of
Africa, Asia, or Europe. He considered this a fling at the American
Colonization Society, and those people of color who were desirous of going
to their fatherland.[68] Another spokesman of this order was Alphonso M.
Sumner, of Philadelphia. Personally he was in favor of emigrating from the
United States and was of the opinion that, at that time at least,
colonization in Liberia offered the only tangible means of attaining their
wishes. He believed that the abolition of the slave trade could be attained
in no other way, but like most colored men in the free States, favoring
colonization, he was desirous of knowing something about the land before
emigrating thereto.[69]

Writing from Hartford in 1851, Augustus Washington stated that he was well
aware that there could be nothing more startling than that a Northern
colored man, considered intelligent and sound in faith, should declare his
opinion and use his influence in favor of African colonization. He
maintained, however, that the novelty of the thing did not prove it false
any more than it would be to say that because one breaks away from a
long-established custom he may not have the least reason for doing so. He
urged the free colored people to emigrate from the crowded cities to less
populous parts of the United States, to the Great West or to Africa, or to
any place where they might secure an equality of rights and liberties with
a mind unfettered and space in which to rise. Moreover, from the time he
was a lad of fifteen years of age, and especially since the Mexican War, he
had advocated the plan of a separate State for the colored people.[70] In a
letter addressed to the editor of the _African Repository_, in 1853,
Nathaniel Bowen undertook to express similar views. Although they possessed
only partial freedom in this country, the free colored people of his city,
Rome, New York, were generally against colonization. Moreover, he found
many colored people who talked of and favored going to Canada, but he
believed if those persons would take their interests into consideration,
they would not hesitate to go to Africa.[71]

The efforts toward emigration too took organized form during the forties
and fifties. In 1848 the free colored people of Dayton, Ohio, held a
meeting to express their sentiments in favor of emigration to Africa, and
to ask the white citizens to aid them in going there.[72] The movement also
reached the colored people of Cincinnati, Ohio.[73] At a meeting held in
that city on the 14th of July, 1850, they adopted a preamble and
resolutions expressing similar sentiments. Going a step further, in 1850 a
number of free Negroes of New York formed an organization called the New
York and Liberian Agricultural and Emigration Society to coöperate with the
Colonization Society. Considerable money was collected by the organization
to aid emigrants whom they sent to Liberia.[74]

In July, 1852, there was held in Baltimore, a meeting of delegates from
the city and different sections of the State of Maryland. After heated
discussion and much excitement they passed resolutions to examine the
different foreign localities for emigration, giving preference to Liberia.
It seemed that although a majority of the delegates present desired to
coöperate with the American Colonization Society, they were afraid to do
so because of the opposition of the Baltimore people, who in a state of
excitement almost developed into a mob intent upon breaking up the
meeting.[75] As this meeting of delegates from the whole State seemed to
be favorable to the colonization enterprise, the people of Baltimore felt
it incumbent upon them to hold another meeting a few days thereafter,
maintaining that they did not know that a previous meeting was called for
the consideration of the questions brought before it, and denounced it as
being unrepresentative. They said that they were not opposed to voluntary
emigration but did not at any time elect delegates to the so-called Colored
Colonization Convention.[76]

To carry out more effectively the work of ameliorating the condition of
the colored people, a National Council composed of two members chosen by
election at a poll in each State, was organized in 1853. As many as twenty
State conventions were to be represented. Before these plans could be well
matured, however, those who believed that emigration was the only solution
of the race problem called another convention to consider merely that
question. Only those who would not introduce the question of African
emigration but favored colonization in some other parts were invited.
Among the persons thus interested were Reverend William Webb and Martin R.
Delaney of Pittsburgh, Doctor J. Gould Bias and Franklin Turner of
Philadelphia, Reverend Augustus R. Greene of Allegheny, Pennsylvania,
James M. Whitfield of New York, William Lambert of Michigan, Henry Bibb,
James Theodore Holly of Canada, and Henry M. Collins of California.[77]
Frederick Douglass criticised this step as uncalled for, unwise,
unfortunate, and premature. "A convention to consider the subject of
emigration," said he, "when every delegate must declare himself in favor
of it before hand, as a condition of taking his seat, is like the handle
of the jug, all on one side."[78] James M. Whitfield, the Negro poet of
America, came to the defense of his co-workers, he and Douglass continuing
the literary duel for a number of weeks. The convention was accordingly
held. In it there appeared three parties, one led by Doctor Delaney who
desired to go to the Niger Valley in Africa, another by Whitfield, whose
interests seemed to be in Central America, and a third by Holly who showed
a preference for Haiti. The leaders of these respective parties were
commissioned to go to these various countries to do what they could in
carrying out their schemes.[79] Holly went to Haiti and took up with the
Minister of the Interior the question of admitting Negro emigrants from
the United States.[80]

Among the colored people of the Northwest there appeared evidence of
considerable interest in emigration. This was especially true of Illinois
and Indiana, from which commissioners had been sent out to spy the
land.[81] This is evidenced too by the sentiment expressed by delegates
attending the Cleveland Convention in 1854. The next emigration convention
was held at Chatham, Canada West, in 1856. One of the important features of
this meeting was the hearing the report of Holly who went to Haiti the
previous year. From this same meeting Martin R. Delaney proceeded on his
mission to the Niger Valley in Africa. There he concluded a treaty with
eight African kings, offering inducements to Negroes to emigrate. In the
meantime James Redpath had gone to Haiti and accomplished some things that
Holly failed to achieve. He was appointed Haitian Commissioner of
Emigration in the United States, with Holly as his co-worker. They
succeeded in sending to Haiti as many as two thousand emigrants, the first
sailing in 1861. Owing to their unpreparedness and the unfavorable
climate, not more than one third of them remained.[82]

Considering the facts herein set forth we are compelled to say that the
colonization movement was a failure. Although it did finally interest a
number of free Negroes their concern in it did not materialize on account
of the outbreak of the Civil War occurring soon thereafter. On the whole,
the movement never appealed to a large number of intelligent free people of
color. With the exception of those who hoped to be especially benefited
thereby, few leading Negroes dared to support the enterprise. The most
weighty evidence we can offer is statistics themselves. The report of the
Colonization Society shows that from 1820 to 1833 [83] only 2,885 colored
persons had been sent out by the Society. More than 2,700 of this number
were taken from the slave States, and about two thirds of these were slaves
manumitted on the condition of their emigrating. Of the 7,836[84] sent out
of the United States up to 1852, 2,720 were born free, 204 purchased their
freedom, 3,868 were emancipated in view of removing them to Liberia, and
1,044 were liberated Africans sent out by the United States Government.
When we consider the fact that there were 434,495[85] free persons of color
in the United States in 1850 and 488,070 in 1860, this element of the
population had not been materially decreased by the efforts of the American
Colonization Society.

LOUIS R. MEHLINGER



FOOTNOTES:


[1] _The African Repository_, XXVI, 246, and XXIX, 14.

[2] Jay, "An Inquiry into the Character and Tendencies of the American
Colonization and American Anti-Slavery Societies," p. 26 _et passim_;
Stebbins, "Facts and Opinions Touching the Real Origin, Character, and
Influence of the American Colonization Society," p. 63 _et seq._; _The
African Repository_, and Colonization Society Letters in the Library of
Congress.

[3] Garrison, "Thoughts on Colonization," 8.

[4] Colonization Society Letters, 1826, Letter of J. Gales, of Raleigh,
North Carolina. Niles Register, XXXV, 386; XLI, 103.

[5] The leaders of this meeting were: James Forten, chairman, Russell
Parrott, secretary, Rev. Absalom Jones, Rev. Richard Allen, Robert
Douglass, Francis Perkins, Rev. John Gloucester, Robert Gordon, James
Johnson, Quamony Clarkson, John Sommerset, and Randall Shepherd. See
Garrison's "Thoughts on African Colonization." Niles Register, XVII, 30.

[6] Stebbins, "Origin, Character and Influence of the American Colonization
Society," 194.

[7] The address was as follows:

     "Relieved from the miseries of slavery, many of us by your aid,
     possessing benefits which industry and integrity in this prosperous
     country assures to all its inhabitants, enjoying the rich blessings
     of religion, by opportunities of worshipping the only true God, under
     the light of Christianity, each of us according to his understanding;
     and having afforded us and our children the means of education and
     improvement; we have no wish to separate from our present homes, for
     any purpose whatever. Contented with our present situation and
     condition, we are desirous of increasing the prosperity, by honest
     efforts, and by the use of the opportunities, for their improvement,
     which the constitution and laws allow.

     "We, therefore, a portion of those who are the objects of this plan,
     and among those whose benefits, with them of others of color, it is
     intended to promote; with humble and grateful acknowledgments to
     those who have devised it, renounce and disclaim every connection
     with it; and respectfully and firmly declare our determination not to
     participate in any part of it.

     "Nor do we view the colonization of those who may become emancipated
     by its operation among our southern brethren, as capable to produce
     their happiness. Unprepared by education and a knowledge of the
     principles of our blessed religion, for their new situation, those
     who will thus become colonized will thus be surrounded by every
     suffering which can affect the members of the human family.

     "Without arts, without habits of industry, and unaccustomed to
     provide by their own exertions and foresight for their wants, the
     colony will soon become the abode of every vice, and the home of
     every misery. Soon will the light of Christianity, which now dawns
     among that portion of our species, be cut out by the clouds of
     ignorance, and their day of life be closed, without the illumination
     of the gospel.

     "To those of our brethren who shall be left behind, there will be
     assured perpetual slavery and augmented sufferings. Diminished in
     numbers, the slave population of the southern states, which by their
     magnitude alarms its proprietors, will be easily secured. Those who
     among their bondsmen, who feel that they should be free, by right
     which all mankind have from God and from nature, will be sent to the
     colony; and the timid and submissive will be retained, and subjected
     to increasing rigor. Year after year will witness those means to
     assure safety and submission among their slaves, and the southern
     masters will colonize only those who it may be dangerous to keep
     among them. The bondage of a large portion of our members will thus
     be rendered perpetual.

     "Disclaiming, as we emphatically do, a wish or desire to interpose
     our opinions and feelings between the plan of colonization and the
     judgment of those whose wisdom as far as exceeds ours as their
     situations are exalted above ours, we humbly, respectfully, and
     fervently intreat and beseech your disapprobation of the plan of
     colonization now offered by the American Society for colonizing the
     free people of color of the United States. Here in the city of
     Philadelphia, where the voice of the suffering sons of Africa was
     first heard; where was first commenced the work of abolition, on
     which heaven has smiled, for it could have had success only from the
     Great Maker; will not a purpose be assisted which will state the
     cause of the entire abolition of slavery in the United States, and
     which may defeat it altogether; which proffers to those who do not
     ask for them what it calls benefits, but which they consider
     injurious and which must insure to the multitudes whose prayers can
     only reach you through us, misery, sufferings, and perpetual slavery.

     "James Forten, _Chairman_,

     "Russell Parrott, _Secretary_."

[8] Garrison, "Thoughts on Colonization," p. 10.

[9] _The African Repository_, II, 295 _et seq._

[10] It must be borne in mind, too, that _The African Repository_, in which
appeared most of the letters of Negroes favoring emigration to Africa, was
the organ of the American Colonization Society.

[11] _The African Repository_, VII, 216.

[12] Ibid., XII, 149-150.

[13] During these years conditions were becoming intolerable for the free
blacks in the South.

[14] _The African Repository_, VII, 230.

[15] Colonization Society Letters, 1832.

[16] _The African Repository_, XXIII, 190.

[17] Colonization Society Letters, 1848-1851.

[18] _The African Repository_, XXVI, 276.

[19] Ibid., XXVI, 194.

[20] Ibid., XXVIII, (July 12, 1848).

[21] Colonization Society Letters, 1831, _passim._

[22] Letter of T. H. Gallaudet in the Colonization Society Letters, 1831.

[23] Jay, "An Inquiry into the Character and Tendencies of the American
Colonization Society," 28 _et passim._

[24] Garrison, "Thoughts on African Colonization," 22.

[25] Garrison, "Thoughts on Colonization," 22.

[26] Ibid., 23.

[27] Ibid., 11.


[28] The resolutions were as follows:

     "_Resolved_, That this meeting contemplate, with lively interest, the
     reported progress of the sentiments of liberty among our degraded
     brethren, and that we legally oppose every operation that may have a
     tendency to perpetuate our present political condition.

     "_Resolved_, That this meeting look upon the American Colonization
     Society as a clamorous, abusive and peace-disturbing combination.

     "_Resolved_, That this meeting look upon those clergymen, who have
     filled the ears of their respective congregations with the absurd
     idea of the necessity of removing the free colored people from the
     United States, as highly deserving the just reprehension directed to
     the false prophets and priests, by Jeremiah, the true prophet, as
     recorded in the twenty-third chapter of his prophesy.

     "_Resolved_, That this meeting appeal to the generous and enlightened
     public for an impartial hearing relative to the subject of our
     present political condition.

     "_Resolved_, That the gratitude of this meeting, which is so sensibly
     felt, be fully expressed to those whose independence of mind and
     correct views of the rights of man have led them so fearlessly to
     speak in favor of our cause; that we rejoice to behold in them such a
     strong desire to extend towards us the inestimable blessings in the
     gift of a wise Providence which is deemed by all nature, and for
     which their valiant fathers struggled in the Revolution.

     "ROBERT ROBERTS, _Chairman_,

     "JAMES G. BARBARDOES, _Secretary_"

     --Garrison, "Thoughts on African Colonization," 20.

[29] Ibid., 13.

[30] Garrison, "Thoughts on Colonization," 23-24.

[31] Ibid., 28-29.

[32] Ibid., 30-31.

[33] Garrison, "Thoughts on African Colonization," 31-32.

[34] Ibid., 34-35.

[35] Ibid., 49. Among the resolutions passed were:

     "_Resolved_, That we hold these truths to be self-evident (and it is
     the boasted declaration of our independence), that all men (black and
     white, poor and rich) are born free and equal; that they are endowed
     by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these
     are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

     "_Resolved_, That we feel it to be our duty to be true to the
     constitution of our country, and are satisfied with the form of
     government under which we now live; and, moreover, that we are bound
     in duty and reason to protect it against foreign invasion; that we
     always have done so and will do so still.

     "_Resolved_, That we view the efforts of the Colonization Society as
     officious and uncalled for. We have never done anything worthy of
     banishment from our friends and home."--Garrison, "Thoughts on
     African Colonization," 41.

[36] Garrison, "Thoughts on African Colonization," 40-41.

[37] Ibid., 33-34.

[38] Ibid., 45-47.

[9] Believing it his duty to aid any free person or persons of color who
thought it best and wished to emigrate, instead of opposing them he had
given his personal support in their efforts to leave the country. Records
would show that he had helped the most prominent men of the Colony to get
there, among them being John B. Russwurm and James M. Thompson, two
excellent men and good scholars.--_African Repository_, X, 187.

[40] Cornish and Wright, "The Colonization Scheme Considered," 7.

[40a] _African Repository_, XXIV, 158.

[41] _The African Repository_, XXIV, 261.

[42] Reference is here made to the "Black Laws" of Ohio, passed to prevent
the immigration of persecuted blacks from the South into that commonwealth.

[43] Proceedings of the Third Annual Convention of the Free People of
Color.

[44] At this time the free blacks throughout the country were being urged
by Abolitionists to redouble their attacks on the American Colonization
Society. The Negroes merely needed to follow their lead.

[46] Having the idea that the colonization scheme meant the expatriation of
the free Negroes, several of their eminent leaders and anti-slavery friends
advocated the colonization of the colored people on the western public
lands.

[45] _The African Repository_, XX, 316, 317.

[47] _The African Repository_, XXII, 265.

[48] Ibid., XXVI, 221.

[49] Stebbins, "Facts and Opinions Touching the Real Origin and Influence
of the American Colonization Society," 196.

[50] Ibid., 197.

[51] Ibid., 202.

[52] Ibid., 199.

[53] Ibid., 200.

[54] Ibid., 201.

[55] Ibid., 206.

[56] Ibid., 206.

[57] Stebbins, "Facts and Opinions Touching the Real Origin, Character and
Influence of the American Colonization Society," 207.

[58] Ibid., 208.

[59] Ibid., 208.

[60] Cornish and Wright, "The Colonization Scheme Considered," 7.

[61] "Having now done what we could," said they, "we ask you in view of the
whole case whether you ought longer to take advantage of our weakness and
press on us an enterprise that we have rejected from the first? Whether you
ought to persist in a scheme which nourishes an unreasonable and
un-Christian prejudice--which persuades legislatures to continue their
unjust enactments against us in all their rigor--which exposes us to the
persecution of the proud and profligate--which cuts us off from employment,
and straitens our means of subsistence--which afflicts us with the feeling
that our condition is unstable--and prevents us from making efforts for our
improvement, or for the advancement of our own usefullness and benefits and
with our families."--Cornish and Wright, "The Colonization Scheme
Considered," 8.

[62] Stebbins, "Facts and Opinions Touching the Real Origin, Character and
Influence of the American Colonization Society," 208.

[63] _The African Repository_, XXVI, 294.

[64] Douglass, "Life and Times of Frederick Douglass," 260.

[65] Crummell thought so well of it that he went to Africa for this
purpose. See _The African Repository_, XXX, 125.

[66] Ibid., LXIII, 273.

[67] Niles' Register, LVI, 165 and 180.

[68] _The African Repository_, XXIII, 374.

[69] Ibid., XXIV, 243.

[70] Mr. Washington had been active in securing the assistance of a few men
of superior ability and high ideals and finally entered into negotiations
with the authorities for a tract of land in Mexico on which he proposed to
colonize the free Negroes of the United States, but the war in that country
prevented the execution of the plan. He was compelled finally to abandon
the plan of a separate state in America, but gave all his time, voice and
pen and means to the cause of emigration to Liberia. See _New York
Tribune_, ----, and _The African Repository_, XXVII, 259.

[71] Anthony Bowen, who was at that time a messenger in the Patent Office
at Washington, D.C., was the uncle of Nathaniel Bowen. See _The African
Repository_, XXVIII, 164.

[72] _The African Repository_, XXI, 285.

[73] _The Cincinnati Gazette_, July 14, 1841.

[74] Stebbins, "Facts and Opinions Touching the Real Origin, Character and
Influence of the American Colonization Society," 200-201.

[75] _The Baltimore Sun_, July 27, 28 and 29, 1852.

[76] Stebbins, "Facts and Opinions, etc.," 200-201.

[77] Cromwell, "The Negro in American History," 42.

[78] _The North Star_, 1853.

[79] Letter of Bishop Holly in Cromwell's "Negro in American History,"
43-44.

[80] Ibid., 44.

[81] _The African Repository_, XXIV, 261.

[82] Letter of Bishop Holly in Cromwell's "The Negro in American History,"
44.

[83] _The Liberator_, 1833.

[84] _The African Repository_, XXIII, 117.

[85] United States Census, 1850 and 1860.




DOCUMENTS



TRANSPLANTING FREE NEGROES TO OHIO FROM 1815 TO 1858[1]


Brown county was one of the first parts of Ohio to be invaded by free
Negroes. In the "Historical Collections of Ohio" Howe says:

     "In the county (Brown) there are two large settlements of colored
     persons, numbering about 500 each. One of these is 3 miles north of
     Georgetown; the other is in the NE. part of the county, about 16
     miles distant. They emigrated from Virginia, in the year 1818, and
     were originally the slaves of Samuel Gist, who manumitted and settled
     them here, upon two large surveys of land. Their situation,
     unfortunately, is not prosperous."--Howe, Historical Collections of
     Ohio, 71.

Referring to these settlements some years later another historian said:

     "The colored settlement in Eagle Township was made in 1818, by a
     number of the former slaves of Samuel Gist, a wealthy banker,
     resident of London, England, and an extensive land-owner and
     slaveholder in the United States.

     "It is not known that Gist ever visited his plantation here, or that
     he ever saw a single slave that cultivated his lands, but all was
     left to the management of resident agents appointed by him. These
     lands lay in the counties of Hanover, Amherst, Goslin (Goochland),
     and Henrico, Va., and included some of the first plantations in the
     'Old Dominion.'

     "In 1808 desiring to make ample provision for the future of those who
     had so abundantly filled his coffers by their servitude, Gist made a
     will, the intent of which was certainly benevolent, but which has been
     most wretchedly executed. This document of fifty-eight closely written
     pages is a study within itself. It begins thus: This is the last will
     and testament of me Samuel Gist, of Gower street, in the Parish of St.
     Giles, in the city of London, of the county of Middlesex, England.

     "After bequeathing various valuable estates, large sums of money to
     his only daughter, he designated what property and sums of money
     shall fall to the numerous persons who have been in his employ, and
     most explicitly does he provide for his slaves in Virginia, who
     numbered nearly one thousand souls!

     "Relative to them the will provides that at his death his 'slaves in
     Virginia shall be free.' That his lands shall be sold and comfortable
     homes in a free State be purchased for them with the proceeds. That
     the revenue from his plantations the last year of his life be applied
     in building school houses and churches for their accommodation. That
     all money coming to him in Virginia be set aside for the employment
     of ministers and teachers to instruct them. That 'care be taken to
     make them as comfortable and happy as possible.'

     "In 1815 Samuel Gist died, and Wickham of Richmond, Va. (in
     conjunction with his father-in-law, Page), who had been appointed
     Gist's agent, proceeded to execute his will. Accordingly through
     parties in Hillsboro, Ohio, 1,112 acres of land near Georgetown, and
     1,200 acres west of Fincastle, in Eagle Township, were purchased for
     homes for these slaves. These lands were covered with thickets of
     undergrowth and sloughs of stagnant water and were almost valueless
     at that time for any purpose other than pasturage. Here in June,
     1818, came nearly 900 persons, a part of whom located on the
     Georgetown lands, the remainder on the Fincastle purchase. Their
     'comfortable homes' lay in the wild region about them; the education
     they received was in the stern school of adversity. As a matter of
     course, they did not prosper. Some who were able returned to
     Virginia. Others built rude huts and began clearing away the forest.
     What little money they had was soon spent. Scheming white men planned
     to get their personal property. They became involved in numerous law
     suits among themselves, and so from various causes they were reduced
     almost to pauperism. In later years their lands have been sold, so
     that at present but few families remain as relics of this once large
     settlement. Among the first families that settled in this township
     were the following, most of whom had families:

     "Jacob Cumberland, George Cumberland, Samuel Hudson, Gabriel York,
     James Gist, Gabriel Johnson, Joseph Locust, James Cluff, ---- Davis,
     Sol Garrison, ---- Pearsons, ---- Williams, Glascow Ellis, and Tom
     Fox. 'Old Sam Hudson,' as he was familiarly known, was an odd
     character, and many anecdotes are yet related of him. At one time he
     was sent to the State Prison at Columbus for making unlawful use of
     another man's horse, and so it happened that a white man named Demitt
     accompanied him for a like offense. Upon being interrogated as to his
     occupation, Sam answered, 'Preacher ob de Gospel!' Turning to Demitt,
     the officer asked, 'What's your occupation?' 'I clerk for Sam,' was
     the shrewd reply.

     "Richmond Cumberland ('Blind Dick'), Meredith Cumberland, Taylor
     Davis, Moses Cumberland, Ephraim Johnson, and Winston Cumberland were
     also born in Virginia."--History of Brown County, Ohio (edition
     1883), p. 592.

During these years according to the letter below another group of Negroes
found their way into Jefferson County, Ohio.

     _Dear Sir:_

     Every body with whom I have talked about this colony of Negroes,
     referred me to Judge Mansfield as one knowing more about it than
     anybody else. He, therefore, is my chief informer. In 1825 a colony
     of slaves was sent up from Charles City County, Virginia, to
     Smithfield, in Jefferson County, Ohio, about twenty miles southwest
     of Steubenville. They were the slaves of Thomas Beaufort of the
     Virginia County above named. So far as I could learn not all of
     Beaufort's slaves were sent to Smithfield. Another colony I was told
     was located at Stillwater in Harrison County, Ohio, but I have not
     yet been in that community. How the slaves traveled from Virginia to
     Smithfield could not be told. The number sent up is not known--about
     thirty or forty families, they said. They were a tribe, as it were,
     Nattie Beaufort being the patriarch. They were sent in charge of a
     man named McIntyre, an overseer, who supposedly had been sent to see
     to the locating of the slaves on a tract of land which the master had
     bought for them through Benjamin Ladd, a Quaker of the Smithfield
     community. McIntyre returned to Virginia after a few days stay. He
     was never in the community again, nor was any other representative of
     the Beaufort's so far as anybody knows. The land was bought in Wayne
     Township--about 200 acres, about five miles out from Smithfield. It
     is quite rolling, of stiff clay character. There are fine farms all
     about it and coal fields not far away. It was bought of Thomas
     Mansfield whose son, a prominent lawyer in Steubenville, still owns
     land contiguous to the Beaufort tract, and owns now a part of what
     his father sold the slaves.

     According to Judge Mansfield the tract of land was laid out in
     five-acre plots. A cabin was built on each and a family placed in
     each cabin. The families were the married sons and daughters of
     Nathaniel Beaufort who had been his master's "nigger driver," was the
     way one of his granddaughters put it. The whole colony was under
     Nathaniel Beaufort's control as long as he lived, during which time
     it prospered. Two of the original colony, both women, are still
     living and own their little tracts, one residing on her property and
     the other in the infirmary. The descendants of the first settlers
     owned most of the land but some of it has been lost. Whether they had
     any teams and money to start with it is not known to Judge Mansfield,
     but he thought that they did not. Both men and women had to "work
     out" much of the time for means to go upon, the girls toiling as
     servants in the community for twenty-five to fifty cents per week and
     their keep, the men receiving forty to fifty cents per day often paid
     in such provisions as meal and meat.

     Judged by the management of their own plots they are not a success as
     farmers, most of their soil being now practically worthless. "The
     land which was bought for the slaves was never recorded in their
     names," says Judge Mansfield. It was deeded to Benjamin Ladd as
     trustee and so stands in the record now. Judge Mansfield's last words
     were: "There has been no clash over that land because of its run down
     condition, but if coal or oil should be found about there, I cannot
     tell what will happen." The financial condition of the colony is no
     better than it was seventy-five years ago, the physical condition is
     far from being as good. Two or three of these Negroes, however,
     showing evidence of thrift are very good farmers. They have increased
     their holdings and built new cabins, although most of the old
     dwellings are still there and are occupied by the descendants of the
     original settlers. They have rapidly increased in numbers and have
     extensively intermarried. From the first the people were religious,
     regular church goers. They have two churches among them, one
     Methodist and the other Baptist. Their morals have been good, having
     seldom committed crime. Officers of the law have found very little to
     do in this community. During the life of the colony there have been
     only two arrests for serious crimes, one of which was for stealing a
     horse and the other for stealing wool. Both of the accused were sent
     to the penitentiary. No other serious charge has ever been brought
     against any member of the community so far as Judge Mansfield knew.
     The original set were fine physical specimens, "as fine," says Judge
     Mansfield, "as the community ever saw."

     Separate schools for white and blacks have been maintained from the
     start. Nearly all the teachers have been white. The preachers have
     been members of the colony. None of them, however, have gained any
     particular prominence in any line. Not even any of the children, so
     far as could be learned, had ever been sent off to school. The best
     known of them now are two brothers, William and Wilson Toney, both
     preachers. Just what acreage they now own I could not learn. How much
     is owned by the best of them also could not be determined.

     The community is called by some "McIntyre" after the man who carried
     the slaves up into Ohio, and by others it is called "Haiti." The
     latter term is almost wholly used by white people throughout the
     county and has always been offensive to the Negroes. Although I went
     to "Haiti" and talked with one of the men, Judge Mansfield gave me
     practically all the information. I will send you more in a few days
     gathered at other points. I have tried to cover your questions and to
     include other vital ones. Please call my attention to anything that I
     might mention to add to the interest or thoroughness of the story. I
     have reported here almost word for word as the facts were given me by
     the Judge and hope the story will have some interest for you. I
     expect to find out a great deal more about that community.[2]

     Very truly yours,

     C. A. Powell.

Under a protest from afar a goodly number of slaves were settled in
Lawrence county in 1827.



COMMUNICATED


   "BLACKS AND MULATTOES

   "On the 14th April, seventy of this description of persons, in one
   company emigrated into and settled within Lawrence county. They were a
   part of a stock of slaves emancipated by the last will of a Mr. Ward,
   late of Pittsylvania county, Virginia, deceased. Those unfortunate
   creatures have little or no property of value--many of them ragged and
   dirty. It was expected that such a number together, in such condition
   would hardly, in Ohio, find a place where to lay their heads; yet so far
   from meeting with obstacles, facilities to settlement were extended to
   them. All of them have found places, and many of them have already
   obtained security as the law requires; and probably the balance will
   within twenty days. The writer of this note would censure none for acts
   of kindness to this unfortunate class of persons--yet as he regards the
   moral character and welfare of society, he cannot view these rapid
   accessions without some degree of alarm."--_The Ohio State Journal and
   Columbus Gazette_, May 3, 1827.

Some years later there was established in Mercer county another colony,
which because of its connection with friends in Cincinnati, then promoting
the settlement of Negroes on public land, became the most promising of
the colored communities in Ohio. Sketching the history of that county,
Howe says:

   "In the southern part of this county is a colony of colored people,
   amounting to several hundred persons. They live principally by
   agriculture, and own extensive tracts of land in the townships of
   Granville, Franklin, and Mercer. They bear a good reputation for
   morality, and manifest a laudable desire for mental improvement. This
   settlement was founded by the exertions of Mr. Augustus Wattles, a
   native of Connecticut, who, instead of merely theorizing upon the evils
   which prevent the moral and mental advancement of the colored race, has
   acted in their behalf with a philanthropic, Christian-like zeal, that
   evinces he has their real good at heart. The history of this settlement
   is given in the annexed extract of a letter from him.

      "'My early education, as you well know, would naturally lead me to
      look upon learning and good morals as of infinite importance in a
      land of liberty. In the winter of 1833-4, I providentially became
      acquainted with the colored population of Cincinnati, and found about
      4,000 totally ignorant of every thing calculated to make good
      citizens. Most of them had been slaves, shut out from every avenue of
      moral and mental improvement. I started a school for them, and kept
      it up with 200 pupils for two years. I then proposed to the colored
      people to move into the country and purchase land, and remove from
      those contaminating influences which had so long crushed them in our
      cities and villages. They promised to do so, provided I would
      accompany them and teach school. I travelled through Canada, Michigan
      and Indiana, looking for a suitable location, and finally settled
      here, thinking this place contained more natural advantages than any
      other unoccupied country within my knowledge. In 1835, I made the
      first purchase for colored people in this county. In about three
      years, they owned not far from 30,000 acres. I had travelled into
      almost every neighborhood of colored people in the State, and laid
      before them the benefits of a permanent home for themselves and of
      education for their children. In my first journey through the state,
      I established, by the assistance and cooperation of abolitionists, 25
      schools for colored children. I collected of the colored people such
      money as they had to spare, and entered land for them. Many, who had
      no money, afterwards succeeded in raising some, and brought it to me.
      With this I bought land for them.

      "'I purchased for myself 190 acres of land, to establish a manual
      labor school for colored boys. I had sustained a school on it, at my
      own expense, till the 11th of November, 1842. Being in Philadelphia
      the winter before, I became acquainted with the trustees of the late
      Samuel Emlen, of New Jersey, a Friend. He left by his will $20,000,
      for the "support and education in school learning and the mechanics
      arts and agriculture, such colored boys, of African and Indian
      descent, whose parents would give them up to the institute." We
      united our means and they purchased my farm, and appointed me the
      superintendent of the establishment, which they call the Emlen
      Institute.'

   "In 1846, Judge Leigh, of Virginia, purchased 3,200 acres of land in
   this settlement, for the freed slaves of John Randolph, of Roanoke.
   These arrived in the summer of 1846, to the number of about 400, but
   were forcibly prevented from making a settlement by a portion of the
   inhabitants of the county. Since then, acts of hostility have been
   commenced against the people of this settlement, and threats of greater
   held out, if they do not abandon their lands and homes."--Howe's
   "Historical Collections of Ohio," pp. 355-356.


Coming to Shelby county the same historian did not fail to mention a
settlement of prosperous Negroes who were keeping pace with their white
neighbors.

   "In Van Buren township is a settlement of COLORED people, numbering
   about 400. They constitute half the population of the township, and are
   as prosperous as their white neighbors. Neither are they behind them in
   religion, morals and intelligence, having churches and schools of their
   own. Their location, however, is not a good one, the land being too flat
   and wet. An attempt was made in July, 1846, to colonize with them 385 of
   the emancipated slaves of the celebrated John Randolph, of Va., after
   they were driven from Mercer county; but a considerable party of whites
   would not willingly permit it, and they were scattered by families among
   the people of Shelby and Miami who were willing to take them."--Howe's
   "Historical Collections of Ohio," pp. 465-466.

This effort at colonizing so many Negroes in the State of Ohio led to much
discussion. There arose an anti-free Negro party which sounded the alarm
against such philanthropy and undertook to frighten all blacks away. The
sentiment of such alarmists may be obtained from the following:


   "By the following letter from a gentleman on a tour through Virginia to
   the editor, it will appear that we are to have a colony of free negroes
   (no less than five hundred) planted in our adjoining county. Much as we
   commiserate the situation of those who, when emancipated, are obliged to
   leave their country or again be enslaved, we trust our constitution and
   laws are not so defective as to suffer us to be overrun by such a
   wretched population:

      "'Richmond, Va., May 10, 1819.

      "'_Dear Sir_:--Since my arrival in this county I have understood that
      a large family of negroes, consisting of about five hundred, have
      lately been liberated and are to be marched to Ohio, and there
      settled on land provided for them agreeably to the will of a Mr.
      Gess, who formerly owned them. There are persons now engaged in
      collecting the poor miserable beings from different quarters and
      driving them like cattle to Goochland county, from whence they will
      take up their line of march to Ohio. I am told that they are perhaps
      as depraved and ignorant a set of people as any of their kind and
      that their departure is hailed with joy by all those who have lived
      in their neighborhood. Ohio will suffer seriously from the iniquitous
      policy pursued by the States of Virginia and Kent. in driving all
      their free negroes upon us. The people of Ohio are bound in justice
      to themselves to adopt some counteracting measure. Many people here
      are of the opinion that we may be compelled to introduce slavery in
      Ohio in self-defense, and they appear to be gratified that we are
      suffering many of the evils attending it, without (as they call it)
      any of the benefits. I have been gratified to tell them what I
      believe to be true--that nineteen twentieths of the people of Ohio
      are so opposed to slavery that they would not consent to its
      introduction under any circumstances; and, although they commiserate
      the situation of those who have been liberated and compelled to
      abandon their country or again be made slaves, yet in justice to
      themselves and their posterity they will refuse admittance to such a
      population.

      "'Your most ob't., "'A. T.'

   "(Editor) We understand from a respectable authority that 270 of said
   negroes have landed at Ripley and are to settle near the center of Brown
   county on White Oak, the residue of 500 to follow soon
   after."--Quillin's "The Color Line in Ohio," pp. 28-29 and _The
   Supporter, Chillicothe_, June 16, 1819.


In view of this alarm aroused by the so-called Negro invasion the Ohio
colonizationists availed themselves of the opportunity to set forth their
plan as the only solution of the problem. The following articles are
interesting.


   "NEW STYLE COLONIZATION

   "It seems that our old friend Gerrit Smith is anxious to form a colony
   of colored people in the State of New York. It is not known that he pays
   the expenses of any to get to that happy spot, but he certainly offers
   them a share in the property of earth, when they arrive. Some have
   thought his effort in this respect, another proof of his great
   liberality. Perhaps it is--but of the character of those lands we know
   nothing. The _Journal of Commerce_ seems to understand the subject from
   the following, which we cut from a late number:

      "'_Bounty of Gerrit Smith_.--Some of the newspapers are eulogizing
      this once sensible man, because he is giving away deeds in any number
      to colored men, of forty acre lots of his vast tract in Hamilton
      county. The considerations in the deeds are as follows:

      "'"For and in consideration of the sum of one dollar to me, in hand
      paid, and being desirious to have all share in the subsistence and
      happiness, which a bountiful God has provided for all, has granted,
      sold, etc."

      "'If the negroes do not run away from the bears and wolves and
      climate and sterility of Hamilton county, with more anxiety than they
      ever did from Southern slavery, then we do not understand their
      character. We do not blame the negroes for getting their liberty if
      they can, but to make them take farms in Hamilton county, is too bad.
      The wild beasts up there will rejoice in a negro settlement among
      them, especially at the beginning of winter.'

   "Had Judge Leigh taken the Randolph negroes there, they might have fared
   as well as they have done in Ohio, and certainly he could have gotten
   the land much cheaper!

   "After all, 'there is no place like home!' And there is no 'home, sweet
   home,' for the colored man, but in Liberia!"

--_The African Repository_, XXII, 320-321.


   "FREEDOM IN A FREE STATE

   "Facts are almost daily transpiring which show the immense importance of
   colonization. Among them, none are more conspicuous than those which
   come to us from the free States. If the colored people cannot enjoy
   freedom in a free State, what can they do? Where shall they go? Here is
   a fact:

      "_Randolph's 'John'_.--We are told by the _Lynchburg Virginian_, that
      John, the well-known and faithful servant of the late John Randolph,
      who, with the emancipated slaves of his master, went to Ohio, and
      were there treated by the citizens in a manner of which our readers
      have been apprized, has returned to Charlotte with the intention of
      petitioning the legislature to allow him to remain in the
      commonwealth. He says, they have no feeling for colored people in
      Ohio, and, if the legislature refuse to grant his petition, he will
      submit to the penalty of remaining and be sold as a slave--preferring
      this to enjoying freedom in a free state.

   "We have been repeatedly asked, why do you not send those slaves to
   Liberia? To this question we reply, we have had nothing to do with them,
   and have reason to believe that they have been prejudiced against going
   to Liberia. And in addition to this, it is now very doubtful whether
   they have money enough left to take them to Liberia; and it would be
   impossible for us, in the present state of our finance, to give them a
   free passage and support them six months after their arrival.

   "We have been informed that many of the rest of them would come back to
   Virginia, and be slaves, rather than remain in Ohio, _if they could get
   back._ And yet they are now free and in a free state! But what does it
   all amount to?

   "Suppose western Virginia and northern Kentucky, were tomorrow to
   emancipate their slaves, what would become of them? They could not
   remain in those states. They must remove. Where shall they go? To Ohio,
   most easily, and as there are more Abolitionists in that state than any
   other, more hopefully! But would they be admitted there? Where then
   shall they go? Let those who can, answer these questions. In view of
   them, and such like, the scheme of colonization rises in magnificence
   and grandeur beyond conception.

   "This then is the time to aid this scheme, that when these thickening
   events shall turn the tide into Liberia, there may be strength and
   intelligence enough there to receive it!"

--_The African Repository_, XXII, 321-322.



   (From the Colonizationist)
   THE RANDOLPH SLAVES

   "Plattsville, Wis.,

   "August 22, 1846.

   "_Bro. Gurley:_--I have observed from time to time, with the deepest
   interest, the course pursued by the citizens of Ohio toward the
   emancipated slaves of the late John Randolph of Virginia.

   "I had repeatedly remarked in my lectures, as stated in the 'Eleventh
   Annual Report of the Indiana Colonization Society,' that when slaves
   were emancipated in the south, and by the laws of those States (as is
   the case with most of them), they are forced to leave and not permitted
   to remain in any State south, to go into the north; those northern
   States would reject them, and leave the slave the alternative, to choose
   between returning into bondage or emigrating to Liberia. In other words,
   Liberia offers the only retreat for the slave from bondage, where he is
   required to leave the south. The free States, may, for a short time,
   tolerate the migration of a few colored people among them from the
   south. Especially among the Abolitionists, where they are allowed to
   have the satisfaction of abducting them from their masters. But if the
   master comes and offers them, and especially in large numbers, they will
   be refused.

   "On my way to this place, I met with a citizen of Indiana, formerly of
   Virginia, who gave me some singular facts on this subject. There is
   living in Ohio, said he, a worthy citizen, a Mr. G., a native of
   Virginia, who, after a residence there of some eight or ten years,
   returned to Virginia, on a visit to see a brother who still remained in
   the 'Old Dominion.' Mr. G. gave his brother an interesting account of
   the prospects and policy of Ohio, with which he was much pleased. The
   Virginia brother remarked to Mr. G. that he found his slaves a great
   burden to him and requested him to take them all to Ohio and set them
   free! 'I cannot do it,' said Mr. G. 'Why?' asked his brother. 'The
   citizens of Ohio will not allow me to bring 100 negroes among them to
   settle,' said Mr. G. 'But,' said he, 'I can put you upon a plan by which
   you can get rid of them and get them into Ohio very easy. Do you take
   them to Wheeling and there place them on a steamboat for Cincinnati, and
   speak of taking them to New Orleans; and while you are looking out for
   another boat, give the chance, and the Abolitionists will steal the
   whole of them and run them off, and then celebrate a perfect triumph
   over them. But if you take them to the same men and ask them to receive
   and take care of them, they will tell you to take care of them
   yourself.'

   "The case of the Randolph slaves proves that Mr. G. was right, and that
   the view presented in our annual report is a just one. Mr. Randolph
   emancipated his slaves, and as they could not remain in Virginia, they
   were to be sent to Ohio--there they are not allowed to settle, and must
   now return to bondage, or go to Liberia.

   "As yet the burden of embarrassment of a mixed population of blacks is
   scarcely felt in the north, as it must be soon; for just as emancipation
   goes on in the south, they must increase in the north, unless our plan
   and policy prevails. I cannot say that I regret to see a test of these
   practical truths. For facts speak out loudly to prove the correctness of
   the best system of policy on these subjects. Had Mr. Randolph's slaves
   been allowed to remain in Ohio, they would have been a downtrodden and
   oppressed people for all time to come. If they go to Liberia they will
   be FREE in every sense of the term.

   "B. T. Kavanaugh."

--_The African Repository_, XXII, 322-323.


   "THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA

   "The undersigned, having been appointed agent of the American
   Colonization Society, for the State of Ohio, to solicit funds to aid its
   operations, begs leave to call attention to the statistical facts, in
   reference to the position which this State occupies, in relation to the
   free colored population of the United States, and the interest which she
   has in sustaining the Republic of Liberia.

   "From 1790 to 1810, the increase of the free colored population of the
   United States, was at the average rate of near 6 per cent. per annum.
   The average increase of the slaves has been a little over 2½ per
   cent. per annum, or exactly two and sixty-hundredths. The census tables
   for the whole period up to 1840, indicates that the natural increase of
   the free colored population is somewhat less than that of the slave. I
   shall suppose it to be 2½ per cent. per annum. The excess of increase
   over 2½ will, therefore, represent the emancipations. In applying
   this rule, it appears that the work of emancipation must have been
   actively prosecuted from 1790 to 1810.

   "From 1810 to 1820 the rate of increase was _reduced_ to a little less
   than 2½, or exactly two and forty-seven hundredths per cent. per
   annum. This indicates that emancipation had ceased to swell, in any
   appreciable degree, the number of free colored persons, unless we are
   forced to admit that there is _greater mortality amongst freedmen than
   slaves_. This cessation of emancipation was _before the organization of
   the Colonization Society_. It is supposed to have been caused by the
   conviction that emancipation upon the soil had wrought but little change
   in the colored man's condition. The sympathies of good men were
   therefore awakened in behalf of the colored man, and colonization
   proposed and adopted, as the best means of securing to him the social
   and political privileges of which he was deprived. The establishment of
   an independent republic, including a population of 80,000 souls, with
   foreign exports to the value of $100,000 a year, and the introduction of
   civilization and Christianity in Africa, with all their attendant
   blessings, furnishes an answer to the question of the success of the
   scheme.

   "The period of the greatest popularity of the Colonization Society, was
   from 1820 to 1830. During this time, the increase of the free colored
   population reached to nearly 3 per cent. or a half per cent. per annum
   over the natural increase. But from 1830 to 1840, the period when the
   Society had the least popularity, the increase was but a very small
   fraction over _two_ per cent. per annum, being two and eight hundredths,
   indicating that fewer bondmen had been liberated than during any other
   period. Indeed, the _decrease_ was so great as to reduce the rate of
   increase _more than a half per cent. per annum below the natural
   increase of the slaves_, and furnished an argument in favor of the idea,
   that freedom in this country is unfavorable to the longevity of the
   colored man. From all these facts, we may infer that colonization, while
   its object has been to benefit the free colored man, has not been
   unfavorable to emancipation.

   "But colonization has not removed the 450,000 free persons of color from
   our country. They remain as _a floating body_ in our midst, drifting, as
   the census tables show, hither and thither, as the effects of _climate_
   at the north, or _foreign emigration_ at the east, or _prejudice_ at the
   south, repel it from those points. It is an interesting subject of
   investigation to watch the movements of the colored population, and
   ascertain where they are tending and whither they will find a resting
   place.

   "In 1810, in the eastern States, they commenced a movement from north
   towards the south; and in 1820, began to diverge westward, through the
   most southern of the free States, and penetrated into Ohio, Indiana, and
   Illinois. From 1830 to 1840, Pennsylvania alone retained her natural
   increase, while the other eastern and northeastern free States, and also
   the eastern and southeastern slave States, all lost, or repelled, the
   greater part of their natural increase, and some of them a considerable
   portion, besides, of the original stock. But where have these people
   gone? That is the question which deeply interests Ohio. The census
   tables furnish the solution.

   "From 1810 to 1840, the colored population of Ohio has been increasing
   at the average rate of 20 per cent. per annum. The increase for the ten
   years from 1830 to 1840, was 91¼ per cent. Supposing the emigration
   into Ohio since 1840 to have been no greater than before that period,
   her present colored population will be 30,000. If to this we add that of
   Indiana and Illinois, allowing their increase to have been at the same
   rate, these three States will have a population of near 50,000 colored
   persons, or _one ninth of the present free colored population of the
   United States._

   "Ohio, therefore, cannot remain inactive. _She must do something._ These
   men should have all the stimulants to mental and moral action which we
   ourselves possess. But I shall leave to wiser men than myself the task
   of devising _new_ means to secure this object, while I go forward in my
   labors for the _only one_ which has yet been successful in securing to
   any portion of the colored people their just rights.

   "The Colonization Society has in its offer, generally, more _slaves_
   than its means will enable it to send to Liberia. Without a large
   increase of means, therefore, the Society cannot send out many _free
   persons of color_. Three fourths of the emigrants heretofore have been
   liberated by their masters, with a view of being sent to Liberia.

   "Perhaps it is well that events should have been thus ordered. If
   slaves, when emancipated and instructed, and made to taste of the sweets
   of liberty, and to feel the responsibilities of nationality, can
   establish a prosperous and happy republic, and exert such an extended
   moral influence as to accomplish infinitely more in removing the
   greatest curse of Africa, the slave-trade, from a large extent of her
   coast, than has been done at an expense of more than a hundred millions
   of dollars, by the fleets of England and France, _it reflects the
   greater honor upon the African race_, and may serve to stimulate the
   free people of color of this country, to make the effort to join their
   brethren in a land of freedom.

   "In addition to sending emigrants to Liberia, it is of the utmost
   importance that the Society _should purchase the greatest possible
   amount of territory, at the present moment_, and thus enlarge the sphere
   of influence which the republic exerts over the natives, and put it
   beyond the power of the nations, adverse to her interests, to
   circumscribe her in the noble efforts she is making for the redemption
   of Africa.

   "In this connection, it may be proper to say, that the gift of _one
   dime_ from each one of the 100,000 inhabitants of Cincinnati, or $10,000
   would probably purchase _fifty-six miles square of territory_ or more
   than _two millions of acres of land as good as that of Ohio_. Now,
   suppose a gift of such value were offered to the colored people of the
   city, or of the State, on condition that they would take possession of
   it and organize _a State Government for themselves_, and be admitted as
   one of the members of the new republic, who will say that they should or
   would reject the offer? Who will say that it would not be more safe and
   wise to emigrate to Africa than to Canada, Oregon, California or Mexico?
   But the decision of this question of right belongs to the colored people
   themselves. If the _foreign emigration_ continues to roll in upon us,
   the subordinate stations in society, in the west also, as is the case
   already in the east, will ere long be chiefly occupied by foreigners,
   and the colored man left, it is to be feared, without profitable
   employment. Dear as is the land of one's birth, if men's interests can
   be better promoted by a removal, the ties of country and kindred are
   bonds easily broken. The spirit of enterprise which characterizes the
   present age, if we do our duty, will in due time animate the intelligent
   colored man, as it is now stimulating the white race, and if he cannot
   secure equality of condition here, will prompt him to go where he can
   obtain it.

      "Total number of emigrants up to January, 1848.... 5,961
      Number of communicants in churches in 1843,
           were, of

        Americans........... 1,015
        Captured Africans..... 116
        Converted heathen..... 353 in all............... 1,484

      Present population estimated by President Roberts 80,000

      Of these, are emigrants, captured Africans, etc.,
           about.......................................   5,000

      "The slave trade is suppressed on 400 miles of coast, excepting at
      one point.

      "Shipping owned in the colony, 14 vessels, of from 20 to 80 tons.

      "The exports annually, from the colony, are about $100,000.

      "David Christy, "_Agent Am. Col. Society_"

--_The African Repository_, XXIV, 179-180.

OXFORD, O., April, 1848.


FOOTNOTES:

[1] For a more detailed account of these settlements see Woodson's "The
Education of the Negro, Prior to 1861," 243-244; and Hickok, "The Negro in
Ohio," 85-88.

[2] Mr. Powell, a teacher of Tuskegee, wrote this letter a few years ago
while making a study of the Negroes in Ohio.



A TYPICAL COLONIZATION CONVENTION


   CONVENTION OF FREE COLORED PEOPLE

   In another column we present a Circular Address to the free colored
   people of Maryland, calling a Convention to assemble in Baltimore the
   25th of July, to take into consideration their present condition and
   future prosperity, and compare them with the inducements held out to
   them to emigrate to Liberia. This movement may be considered indicative
   of the change that is going on in the minds of the colored people
   respecting emigration. It is well known that heretofore they have been
   almost entirely insensible to the advantages which they must necessarily
   enjoy in a land peculiarly their own. They have not been entirely free
   from the control of bad counsellors.--Now they seem resolved to take the
   matter into their own hands, and to look at their present condition and
   future prospects in this country as a matter in which they are
   personally interested. When they do this in earnest, the result can be
   easily foreseen. They will desire to escape from their present anomalous
   condition, will yearn to be free and disenthralled, to have a land of
   their own, to have rights unquestioned by any superiors, where
   character, enterprise, education, and all that is lovely and noble in
   life shall combine to elevate and improve them and their children after
   them to the latest generation.

--_African Repository_, XXVIII, 195-196.



   EMIGRATION OF THE COLORED RACE

   In presenting the circular, which will be found in another column, of
   which a committee of colored persons have undertaken the distribution,
   (and which was written by one of themselves,) it gives us pleasure to
   commend it as the evidence of a new and generally unexpected change of
   sentiment on the part of the colored population, or, at least, some
   portion of it. It is well known that for twenty-five years the
   Colonization Societies in this country have labored to present before
   that portion of our population, the advantages which must accrue to
   them, from emigration to a land where they might enjoy, undisturbed,
   those social and material privileges which it was impossible ever to
   expect they could obtain by a residence of centuries in this country,
   and that these appeals have met with comparatively little attention,
   and, in deed have been received with very bad grace by the great mass of
   those whom it was intended to benefit. The cause of this opposition was
   to be found in the steady and violent animosity of those white fanatics,
   who, setting themselves up as the peculiar friends of the blacks,
   represented that the prejudice against their color was merely an
   arbitrary sentiment, which time would weaken or entirely dissipate; and
   that they might still look forward to enjoying, in this country, an
   equality in social and political rights with the whites.

   This assumption of peculiar friendliness on the part of the
   Abolitionists, and the plausible reasonings with which they approached
   their "colored friends," have acquired the confidence of the latter, who
   are now, however, beginning to awake to a just idea of their condition
   and future prospects in this country. They have discovered that the
   loud-mouthed protestations of the Abolitionists, are the mere
   effervescence of an intermeddling and dangerous faction, against whose
   principles the whole Union--whose destruction they have meditated--has
   pronounced in tones of thunder; a faction whose baleful alliance is
   shunned most religiously, by both of the great parties of the country.
   They have discovered that underground railroads are a device to inveigle
   the slaves from a condition of comparative comfort, into the _freedom of
   starvation_, with a poor display of political privileges, which are
   mockery in view of their exercise by an ignorant and despised minority;
   that the expectations fostered in behalf of the free blacks are proved
   to be entirely futile by the continued attitude of opposition held
   towards them, when there is a question of lessening the social and
   political gulf which divides the races. They discover that the rapid
   immigration of whites from every quarter, is encroaching upon their
   employments, and lessening their chance of gaining a thrifty livelihood,
   even in those menial pursuits to which they are chiefly limited.

   With the spread of education, and the expansion of republican ideas,
   they become more sensible of their own anomalous and degraded condition,
   and the result is a yearning to be free like those around them, to have
   a land all their own, to have rights unquestioned by any superior color,
   to go wherever such privileges may be obtained. They see in the growing
   republics on the West coast of Africa, a living refutation of the
   calumnies of the Abolitionists against the colonizationists, a land
   where, from simple citizenship up to the highest post in the government,
   all is free and open to them, and where character, enterprise, education
   and honorable ambition, have all their appropriate rewards in the order
   of the State. What is better, no white man can hope to cast his lot
   there with the prospect of permanent settlement, or transmitting a
   healthy posterity. They see there such men as the late Gov. Russwurm or
   the present Gov. Roberts, sustaining their rule surrounded by their own
   race, with a distinction and dignity which would do honor to any white
   man. They see there pioneers of their own color, who in the arts of
   peace or of war, are striking examples of what the emancipation of the
   MIND can effect.

   This is a crisis full of important results to the race in this country,
   and it behooves them now to cast aside all false issues, to take into
   serious consideration (in the words of the circular) their present
   condition and future prospects in this country, and contrast them with
   the inducements and prospects opened to them in Liberia, or any other
   country.

   We have little doubt as to the quarter to which their preferences will
   be given, although that is as yet left an open question. Trinidad is a
   failure, Jamaica is a half-ruined British dependency, and in both the
   white man the sole source of authority. Liberia excepted, Haiti is the
   only point left, and here reigns a perpetual jealousy between the black
   and mulatto. Moreover, the imperial rule set up there is repugnant to
   their feelings and inclinations, for strange to say, in the midst of
   depression, this race in America has become imbued with a sentiment of
   republicanism and a love for its system, which will make them in Africa
   the sedulous imitators of ourselves, in all but in the misfortune of
   introducing another race to be perpetually subservient to themselves. In
   this career we are happy to believe they will run rejoicing, long after
   the privations of their forefathers in this country shall have been
   forgotten.

--_African Repository_, XXVIII, 196-197.


   CIRCULAR

   Pursuant to an invitation given through the columns of the Baltimore
   daily papers to the Free Colored Population of Baltimore, friendly to
   calling a State Convention, to be held in this city some time during the
   ensuing summer to take into consideration their present position and
   future prospects in this country, and to compare the same with the
   inducements and prospects held out to them to emigrate to Liberia or
   elsewhere; a respectable number assembled in the school room of St.
   James (colored) Church, corner of Saratoga and North streets.

   The meeting being duly organized, it was resolved that a Convention of
   Delegates of the Free Colored Population from each county of the State
   of Maryland and of the City of Baltimore, be held in this city on the
   25th of July next, for the purpose above stated.

   Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed to issue a circular
   addressed to the Free Colored People of the State, setting forth the
   object of the Convention, the time of its commencement and the
   conditions upon which Delegates will be entitled to a seat in the same.

   At an adjourned meeting of persons friendly to the call of the said
   Convention, held on the 4th of June 1852, in the room before referred
   to, the Committee on the Circular Address, made the following report,
   which was unanimously approved and adopted:


      ADDRESS TO THE FREE COLORED PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MARYLAND

      Brethren:--Whereas the present age is one distinguished for inquiry,
      investigation and enterprise, in physical, moral and political
      sciences above all past ages of the world, one in which the nations
      of the earth seem to have arisen from the slumber of ages, and are
      putting forth their utmost energies to obtain all those blessings,
      which nature and nature's God seem to have intended that man should
      enjoy, and the principles set forth by the American Sages, in the
      Declaration of Independence of these United States, "that all men are
      created equal, and are endowed by their Creator with certain
      inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of
      happiness," with each revolving year have extended wider and wider
      throughout the habitable globe, and sunk deeper and deeper into the
      hearts of millions of men, and as we humbly hope, are destined to
      revolutionize the civil and political conditions of all the nations
      of the earth, it would indeed be passing strange if the Free Colored
      man in this country, which gave birth to those elevated and sublime
      sentiments, should feel nothing of the force of their mighty import,
      and with anxious eye and panting heart, endeavor in this, or some
      other country, to realize the blessings so freely enjoyed by the
      white citizens of this land. Actuated by these feelings we have
      presumed to address our brethren of our native State, and we do
      hereby respectfully solicit them to assemble with us in this city, on
      the 25th of next month (July), to take into serious consideration our
      present condition and future prospects in this country, and contrast
      them with the inducements and prospects opened to us in Liberia, or
      any other country. In conformity with a resolution passed at the
      meeting held on the 24th ultimo, the Committee do hereby respectfully
      propose, that each county in the State shall have the privilege of
      sending any number of Delegates not exceeding six, as they may deem
      proper, and our brethren throughout the State are requested to hold
      meetings (by legal permission) in their several counties, for the
      purpose of selecting their Delegates, and to collect money to defray
      the expenses they may incur by attending the said Convention.

      As the object for which this Convention is called, is one of vital
      importance to the Free Colored People of Maryland, it is greatly to
      be desired, and confidently expected that a full attendance of
      Delegates will be present on the occasion, who will calmly,
      deliberately and intelligently consider the object for which they
      have been called together, and that each Delegate will come prepared
      to contribute his portion of information, and fully and freely to
      express his views on the great subject of our future destiny.

      Delegates are requested to bring credentials of their appointment
      from the chairman and secretary of the meeting at which they were
      appointed, but in counties where no formal meeting is held, Delegates
      are requested to procure a certificate from some respectable person,
      either white or colored, a well known resident of the county from
      whence he or they may come. All Delegates complying with the above
      requisitions, shall be duly admitted to the Convention.

      All communications in relation to the Convention must be directed to
      the care of H. H. Webb, St. James' School Room, corner of Saratoga
      and North streets.

      James A. Handy, _Chairman_. John H. Walker, _Secretary_.

--_The African Repository_, XXXIII, pp. 197-199.

BALTIMORE, June 4, 1852.



PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONVENTION OF FREE COLORED PEOPLE OF
THE STATE OF MARYLAND


      Held in Baltimore, July 26, 27, and 28, 1852

   In pursuance of public notice, a meeting of delegates to the Convention
   of Free Colored People of the State was held in the lower room of
   Washington Hall. The Convention was temporarily organized at 3 o'clock,
   by calling James A. Handy, of Fell's Point, to the chair, John H. Walker
   being appointed secretary. Mr. Handy returned his thanks for the honor
   conferred upon him.

   On motion of Charles O. Fisher, of Fell's Point, a committee of one from
   each delegation present was appointed to nominate permanent officers of
   the Convention.

   On motion of James F. Jackson, the credentials of the delegates were
   handed in, and the following sections of the State were found to be
   represented:

   East Baltimore--James A. Handy, James T. Jackson, Chas. O. Fisher,
   Stephen W. Hill, Daniel Koburn, David G. Bailey.

   Kent county--Jas. A. Jones, Isaac Anderson, Levi Rogers, William Perkins

   Dorchester county--B. Jenifer, C. Sinclair, S. Green, Thomas Fuller, S.
   Camper, J. Hughes.

   Caroline County--Jacob Lewis, Philip Canada, John Webb.

   Northwest Baltimore--Samuel B. Hutchings, David P. Jones, William White,
   Francis Johns, John H. Walker, Cornelius Thompson.

   Frederick County--Rev. William Tasker, Perry E. Walker, Joseph Lisles,
   Robert Troby, Ephraim Lawson, Nicholas Penn.

   Northeast Baltimore--Chas. Williamson, Rev. Darius Stokes, H. H. Webb, J.
   Forty, C. Perry, Fred. Harris.

   Hartford County--Daniel Ross, Henry Hopkins.

   Talbot County--Garrison Gibson, Charles Dobson, Joseph Bantem.

   There was considerable excitement among a number of 'outsiders,' opposed
   to the meeting and its objects, who frequently assailed the delegates
   coming to the Convention and a large number of whom, having come into
   the room, were ripe for any further opposition they could exhibit.

   The Dorchester county delegation having seen this state of things,
   several of them arose and remarked that they did not think that their
   presence here could be of any benefit, and they there proposed to
   withdraw and go home. This announcement was received with applause, and
   cries of "good" from the opponents of colonization.

   A member from Kent county begged the delegates to stand firm in their
   position, and the result of their labors would be of much benefit.
   [Applause and hisses.]

   John H. Walker of Baltimore, arose and read the circular calling the
   Convention, which was to take into consideration the present condition
   and future prospects of the colored race. He said they lived in the same
   State that their fathers had lived in, but not under the same
   Constitution--the new instrument not recognizing the colored people at
   all. They were men, but not recognized as men. He alluded to the
   legislation of the members of the Assembly, all of which resulted in
   oppression to the colored race, each consecutive session. He desired
   that the condition of the colored people should be considered by this
   convention; that they should decide on what course to take. The circular
   alluded to emigration to Liberia, or elsewhere, which he explained to
   mean that they should examine all the places and see if emigration would
   be beneficial. It was necessary for them to know the geographical
   position and resources of the different countries--of their rivers,
   mountains, harbors, climate, &c; and if the convention should determine
   on any particular place for emigration, it was necessary to ascertain
   all that would be wanted in such country. For one he intended now to
   remain where he was, but if a better place could be found why he was
   gone for it. The speaker was opposed at first, but finally gained the
   attention of the audience, and was frequently applauded.

   William Perkins, of Kent county, said he believed that much of the
   opposition and excitement which had sprung up about this convention
   within a few days, was caused by a report, falsely circulated, that the
   Colonization Society had given $700 for carrying out certain objects
   through its medium. He hoped that after the explanation that had been
   given, the Dorchester county delegation would consent to remain.

   A member from Dorchester county said that if they were assured that the
   colored people of Baltimore desired them to remain, they would do so.
   Their object was to consult for the good of the colored race.

   Perry E. Walker, of Frederick, said, they had come here supposing that
   the majority of the colored people of Baltimore were in favor of the
   call of the convention. (Cries of "no, they are not.") He and his
   associates had come to consider into the condition of their race--had no
   other object in view.

   Rev. Darius Stokes addressed the convention, the object of which, he
   said, was to consult only in reference to the condition of the colored
   people. They had been told for thirty years past of countries which were
   better for them, but they had only to depend upon the representation of
   others as to the truths of these statements. They were a people--the
   colored people of the State of Maryland--who should consult about their
   present condition and future prospects. He said their white friends were
   getting tired of helping them, because they did not seem disposed, it
   was alleged, to help themselves. He asked where were their schools,
   orphan asylums? &c. As to going to Africa he was in favor of any man
   going where he thought he could do better. (Cries of "good," "right,"
   "that's it.")

   P. Oilman (not a delegate), asked to be heard, and after a great deal of
   confusion, got the attention of the audience, and spoke in opposition to
   what Mr. Stokes had said. He remarked that he could not talk as well as
   Stokes, but he could think as well, (laughter.) As for him, he came here
   to put down and oppose this convention. [Cries of "good," and cheers
   from the audience.]

   Henry Zeddicks, of Frederick, said that they were here from pure
   motives, to consult for their good, and was received with much favor by
   the whole assemblage.

   James A. Jones, of Kent, said he was decidedly in favor of
   emigration--and emigration to Africa. They expected to be honored in
   coming into the presence of Baltimore friends, but in this, the largest
   city of the State, they found a great amount of confusion. In his
   opinion, he believed that the colored man could never rise to eminence
   except in Africa--in the land of their forefathers. [A voice--"Show it
   in Africa."] He pointed to Liberia. He believed that Africa was the only
   place where the colored man could expect to be a freeman. On taking his
   seat he was hissed by the opponents of emigration.

   The committee on nominating permanent officers, recommended the
   following, who were accepted:

   _President_--Rev. William Tasker, of Frederick; _Vice Presidents_--C.
   Sinclair of Dorchester, Levi Rogers of Kent, E. Lawson of Frederick, S.
   W. Hill of East Baltimore, Charles Dobson of Talbot, Francis Johns of
   West Baltimore, and John Webb of Caroline; _Secretaries_, John H. Walker
   of Baltimore, and Josiah Hughes of Dorchester.

   Rev. Darius Stokes addressed the convention in an eloquent and fervent
   style in reference to its objects.

   James A. Jones, of Kent, said that since he had addressed the
   convention, he had been informed that his head, if not his life, was in
   danger if he left the room. He would therefore leave under the
   protection of the police, and send in the morning his resignation.

   Rev. Darius Stokes begged Mr. Jones to remain--that the young colored
   gentlemen of Baltimore were not disposed to harm him. People had said
   that they had met here to sell their rights and liberties, but they
   would show them to-morrow that they only looked to their welfare and
   interests. This was the first time a colored convention of the whole
   State had ever assembled in the State--a remarkable era in their
   history.

   On motion of Mr. Stokes a committee of ten-were appointed to prepare a
   "platform" for the convention. The following was the Committee:--H. H.
   Webb, of Baltimore; James A. Jones, of Kent; Charles O. Fisher, of
   Baltimore; B. Jenifer and Thomas Fuller, of Dorchester; Jacob Lewis, of
   Caroline; Joseph Bantem of Talbot; Perry E. Walker, of Frederick;
   William Williams, of Baltimore; and Henry Hopkins, of Harford.

   The convention then adjourned till Tuesday morning.


   SECOND DAY'S PROCEEDINGS

   The Convention re-assembled at 10 o'clock on Tuesday the 27th, at
   Washington Hall, the Rev. William Tasker of Frederick, President, in the
   chair. The convention was opened with prayer by the president.

   A note was received from H. H. Webb, of Baltimore, declining to serve as
   a delegate to the convention, stating that he was not able to attend,
   and did not approve of the manner in which he was elected.

   In the absence of Josiah Hughes, of Dorchester, one of the Secretaries,
   Cornelius Campbell, was appointed to fill the vacancy.

   The proceedings of Monday not being ready, on motion, the report in the
   "_Sun_" was read in lieu thereof.

   William Williams, of Baltimore, arose and stated that his name appeared
   in the committee on the platform through a mistake--he was not a
   delegate to the convention.

   On motion, James A. Handy, of Baltimore, and William Perkins, of Kent,
   were appointed on the platform committee, to fill the vacancies
   occasioned by the withdrawal of Webb and Williams.

   Charles Wyman and Allen Lockerman, delegates from Caroline Co., appeared
   and took their seats.

   Several of the delegates from Dorchester county and other places were
   not present, having gone home in consequence of the disturbances on
   Monday afternoon.

   B. Jenifer, chairman of the committee on the platform, made the
   following report, which was read by Charles O. Fisher:

       WHEREAS, The present age is one distinguished for enquiry,
      investigation, enterprise and improvement in physical, political,
      intellectual and moral sciences, we hold the truths to be
      self-evident that we are, as well as all mankind, created equal, and
      are endowed by our Creator with the right to enquire into our present
      condition and future prospects; and as a crisis has arisen in our
      history presenting a bright and glorious future, may we not hope that
      ere long the energies of our people may be aroused from their
      lethargy, and seek to obtain for themselves and posterity the rights
      and privileges of freemen--therefore,

      _Resolved_, That while we appreciate and acknowledge the sincerity of
      the motives and the activity of the zeal of those who, during an
      agitation of twenty years have honestly struggled to place us on a
      footing of social and political equality with the white population of
      this country, yet we cannot conceal from ourselves the fact that no
      advance has been made towards a result to us so desirable; but that
      on the contrary, our condition as a class is less desirable than it
      was twenty years ago.

      _Resolved_, That in the face of an emigration from Europe, which is
      greater each year than it was the year before, and during the
      prevalence of a feeling in regard to us, which the very agitation
      intended for good, has only served apparently to embitter we cannot
      promise ourselves that the future will do that which the past has
      failed to accomplish.

      _Resolved_, That recognising in ourselves the capacity to conduct
      honorably, and creditably, in public affairs; to acquire knowledge,
      and to enjoy the refinements of social intercourse; and having a
      praiseworthy ambition that this capacity should be developed to its
      full extent, we are naturally led to enquire where this can best be
      done, satisfied as we are that in this country, at all events from
      present appearances, it is out of the question.

      _Resolved_, That in comparing the relative advantages of Canada, the
      West Indies and Liberia--these being the places beyond the limits of
      the United States to which circumstances have directed our
      attention--we are led to examine the claims of Liberia particularly,
      where alone, we have been told that we can exercise all the functions
      of a free republican government, and hold an honorable position among
      the nations of the earth.

      _Resolved_, That in thus expressing our opinions it is not our
      purpose to counsel emigration as either necessary or proper in every
      case. The transfer of an entire people from one country to another,
      must necessarily be the work of generations--each individual now and
      hereafter must be governed by the circumstances of his own condition,
      of which he alone can be the judge, as well in regard to the time of
      removal, as to the place to which he shall remove; but deeply
      impressed ourselves with the conviction that sooner or later removal
      must take place, we would counsel our people to accustom themselves
      to the idea of it, and in suggesting Liberia to them, we do so in the
      belief that it is there alone they can reasonably anticipate an
      independent national existence.

      _Resolved_, That as this subject is one of greatest importance to us,
      and the consideration of which, whatever may be the result, can not
      be put aside, we recommend to our people in this State to establish
      and maintain an organization in regard to it, the great object of
      which shall be enquiry and discussion, which, without committing any
      one, shall lead to accurate information, and that a convention like
      the present, composed of delegates from the counties and Baltimore
      city, be annually held at such time and place as said convention, in
      their judgment, may designate.

   A motion was made to accept the report, which led to debate, John H.
   Walker speaking at length in opposition to the resolutions, and hoped
   that they would be referred back to the committee, contending that there
   should have been a recommendation to raise a fund to fee a lawyer, or
   some influential citizen of this State, to go to Annapolis next winter
   to endeavor to obtain a change of legislation in reference to the
   colored race.

   B. Jenifer, of Dorchester, replied to Walker, urging that his views were
   in opposition to the spirit of the circular which called them together,
   and a majority of the delegates present.

   At one o'clock the convention took a recess.

   _Afternoon Session._--The convention re-assembled at 4 o'clock, the
   resolutions being again debated by various delegates--John H. Walker, B.
   Jenifer, C. Perry, and others.

   Rev. Darius Stokes moved to lay the motion to adopt the platform on the
   table, which was determined in the affirmative.

   On motion of Mr. Stokes the convention went into the committee of the
   whole, Charles Williamson in the chair, and took up the report of the
   committee in sections.

   The two first resolutions were adopted, the third referred back to the
   committee, and pending the further action on the remainder of the
   resolutions, the convention adjourned till Wednesday morning.


   THIRD DAY'S PROCEEDINGS

   The convention re-assembled at 10 o'clock on Wednesday the 28th at
   Plowman street Hall, Ephraim Lawson, Vice President, in the chair, who
   opened the proceedings with Prayer.

   A note was received from the President, Rev. William Tasker, stating
   that indisposition would prevent him from presiding over the
   deliberations of the body the remainder of its sessions.

   The attendance of the delegates was small in the morning, and very few
   lookers on were present.

   The platform being again taken up, F. Harris, of Baltimore, presented a
   protest against the adoption of the fourth resolution, which pointed out
   Liberia as the place of emigration for the colored people, because it
   recommends emigration to that place contrary to the wishes of his
   constituents, and a majority of the free colored people of the city and
   State. He contended that if they were for Liberia, they should say so at
   once, and tell the mob out doors that they were endeavoring to send them
   all there--not say one thing in the convention and another outside.

   James A. Jones, of Kent, said that Harris was endeavoring to shape his
   course the way the wind blowed. For himself, he hoped the entire
   platform would be adopted, and without further debate he moved that the
   fourth resolution be passed.

   Stephen W. Hill, of Baltimore, contended that the resolutions did not
   look to an immediate emigration to Africa--that they only recommended
   Liberia as a place where they could enjoy the blessings of liberty, and
   as the most suitable country for the colored man whenever they should be
   disposed to seek another home.

   William Perkins, of Kent, in answer to the protest of Harris, said the
   only platform they recommended for adoption, left it to every man to go
   where he pleased, or to remain here if it suited him better. Let Mr.
   Harris go to his constituents and tell them that the convention only
   recommended what it thought best; its action was binding on no man.

   F. Harris, in reply, asked if the convention had examined Liberia. They
   recommended that place for them to emigrate to, and yet they had not
   made any examination of Liberia to know whether it would suit. Did they
   know anything of the climate or agriculture of Liberia to lay before the
   people. Let them examine Canada, Jamaica, and other places, and then if
   they found Liberia the best place, why say so to the people.

   Chas. Williamson said he had had it in his power to examine most
   countries. He had been in Canada twice; in the West Indies three times,
   and, under the British government in Trinidad five years. During that
   time he had examined the countries with a view to see which was the best
   for the colored people. He was sixty-seven years of age and could expect
   little for himself. In the West Indies capital ruled the people--the
   government recognized you, but the planters, who had been accustomed to
   drive on slaves, knew you not. If they went to Canada they would not
   better their condition--he had lived there seventeen months at one time.
   It would cost money to get to Canada--money to get to the West Indies.
   The Canadas are peopled with many persons from this country. The leading
   men were principally Yankees. In the West Indies he had to take his hat
   around to get the dead out of the way of the turkey-buzzards--that
   showed their sympathy. In Canada you cannot be recognized in office--in
   the West Indies it is better, and some colored persons get into office.
   In the Canadas he never heard of but one colored man being in office.
   The Canadas are a fine country, but he asserted here that he felt there
   could be no permanent home for them except in Africa, where their
   children could enjoy all the blessings of liberty. That was the best
   country for them. In the United States they did not want the colored
   people any more, they had got the use of them, and now in this State the
   new constitution did not recognize them at all. (A voice--"Yes, as
   chattels.") The minister of Hayti to this country was not recognized by
   the President, and had to go home again. Liberia, on the west coast of
   Africa, had as fine, or better, climate, as regards atmosphere, than the
   West Indies. He wished to go where they would be free, for their moral
   culture here he considered out of the question.

   James A. Handy, of Baltimore, remarked that they lived in an interesting
   age of the world--that it was the glory of our day that assistance is
   offered to the immortal principles of man, and it struggles to free
   itself from the trammels and superstitions of the past, and of the
   oppressions and burthens of the present. We live in an age of physical,
   moral and intellectual wonders; and that man is truly fortunate who
   lives at the present, and has the privilege of aiding in carrying
   forward the great enterprise of redeeming, disenthralling and restoring
   back in all their primitive glory three millions of down trodden people
   to the land of their forefathers. On the western shore of Africa there
   was the infant republic of Liberia attracting the attention of all the
   enlightened nations of the earth. For four years she had maintained her
   position as an independent State, and today she was prosperous, happy
   and free, acknowledged by England, France, Russia and Prussia--four of
   the greatest powers of the earth; and before this year is out the United
   States will be willing, ready and anxious to cultivate friendly
   relations with that garden spot--that heritage which a kind and
   overruling Providence has prepared for us, and not only for us, but for
   all the sable sons and daughters of Ham.

   One word in relation to the inducements held out by Liberia--Asia could
   not exceed the variety of the productions of Africa--Europe with her
   numerous manufactories and internal resources, could not cope with her
   in physical greatness--America with her noble institutions, elements of
   power, facilities of improvement, promises of greatness and high hopes
   of immortality, was this day far, very far behind her in natural
   resources. Nothing can excel the value of her productions--sugar-cane
   grows rapidly, cotton is a native plant, corn and hemp flourish in great
   perfection; oranges, coffee, wild honey, lemons, limes, mahogany,
   cam-wood, satin-wood, rose-wood, &c., abound there; mules, oxen, horses,
   sheep, hogs, fowls of all kinds, are in the greatest abundance. She
   holds out a rich temptation to commerce and a strong inducement to
   emigration. To the latter the United States owed what she was, making
   her one of the most effective nations of the world. For years the
   glorious galaxy of stars which arose in the western hemisphere have been
   casting their generous, grateful light over the social, moral and
   political darkness of the East, but to-day the commanding tide of
   commerce is changing. From the Pacific shores the genius of American
   enterprise and industry has opened a nearer highway to the Celestial
   Empire, and is now, by a closer interchange of fraternal relations,
   unbolting the massive doors, and securing the commerce of China and
   Japan.

   On the lap of American civilization, and around the altars of this
   Christian land, have been born the moral elements of civil and Christian
   power, ordained by heaven for the redemption of Africa. For the last
   2,000 years, that wretched land of mystery and crime has been abandoned
   to the cupidity of most cruel barbarism, surpassing in degradation,
   guilt and woe, all other nations of the earth. Pre-eminently high on the
   page of prophetic scripture is chronicled in most unequivocal language
   the name and future redemption of Africa. For twelve centuries the
   problem "how shall Africa be redeemed?" has been unsolved, although
   earnestly sought for by the civil and religious powers of Europe; but in
   every instance it has been in vain, and the cloud of her wretchedness
   blackened on each failure. Mysterious and inscrutable are the ways of
   Providence to accomplish her restoration, lift her from the jaws of
   death, bind her as a jewel to the throne of righteousness, and give her
   a place among the civilized nations of mankind. God in his pity, wisdom
   and goodness, has opened the way for a part of her crushed children,
   predoomed by bloody superstitions to altars of death, to be delivered
   from immolation and find an asylum under a form of ameliorated service
   in the bosom of this country; and here their children have been born,
   elevated and blessed under redeeming auspices. In the lapse of time, by
   the same benevolent providence, many of this people have become free,
   and to such the voice of heaven emphatically speaks, thundering forth in
   invigorating terms, "Arise and depart for this is not your rest."

   This makes us bold in saying that emigration is the only medium by which
   the long closed doors of that continent are to be opened; by her own
   children's returning, bearing social and moral elements of civil and
   religious power, by which that continent is to be resuscitated,
   renovated and redeemed.

   Thirty-one years ago the first emigrant ship that ever sailed eastward
   from these shores to Africa, conveying to that dark land a missionary
   family of some two hundred souls--her own returning children, enriched
   with the more enduring treasures of the western world; there by them on
   the borders of that continent, overshadowed with the deepest gloom, were
   raised the first rude temples of civilization--the first halls of
   enlightened legislation--the first Christian altars to the worship of
   Almighty God that have ever proved successful, or of any permanent,
   practical utility. Then and there arose the long promised light, the
   star of hope to the benighted millions of Africa. Since that day the
   star has risen higher and higher, the light extended along the coast and
   reaching far back towards the mountains of the Moon, radiating,
   elevating and purifying; and to-day we behold a nation born on the
   western coast of Africa, respected, prosperous and happy. Here then is
   practically and beautifully solved, on the true utilitarian principles
   of this wonder-working age, the mysterious problem: By whom is Africa to
   be redeemed? The answer comes rumbling back to us, over the towering
   billows of the Atlantic, from the Republic of Liberia, with a voice that
   starts our inmost souls, falling with ponderous weight upon the ears of
   the free colored people of this Union--"thou art the man, thou art the
   woman."

   James A. Jackson, of Baltimore, eulogized Hayti as standing as high
   above the other West India islands as the United States does above the
   republic of Mexico, in the point of commercial importance. This island
   had tried the experiment of republicanism and had changed it. It was now
   a question with the colored people, in their present condition, whether
   they were more suited to a republican than monarchical government. The
   productions of the soil of Hayti and of her forests were referred to,
   and the fact alleged that she would produce more than all the other West
   India islands put together. The exports and imports of the United States
   to and from the island were cited as an illustration of her prosperity.
   A comparison was made of the commerce of Liberia and that of Hayti, the
   latter country being held up in a very favorable light.

   Nicholas Penn, of Frederick, spoke in favor of emigration to Liberia.
   They did not want an island. The colored population increased so fast
   that they needed no island but a continent for them. His constituents
   wished him to examine Africa, and he hoped it would be done. Liberia was
   the only place for them. The white man fought for and claimed this
   country, and he was now going to give it up to them. In the language of
   Patrick Henry, will we be ready tomorrow or next day to act more than
   now? No! Now was the time; and he hoped this enterprise would spread far
   and wide until the whole people should understand it and all unite in
   the glorious movement. Let us appoint men to go and examine Liberia, and
   report to us just what it is. We want a home, and we were sent here to
   examine and determine on what would be best to recommend.

   B. Jenifer, of Dorchester, said, all these statements about Africa were
   theoretical--gained through geography, and went on to state that he had
   spent nearly eleven months in Africa, had traveled it over and examined
   its productions and resources. He had been sent for that purpose by a
   colored colonization society of his county; but did not wish to discuss
   Liberia at this time. Mr. Handy had so ably discussed the subject, and
   in all of which he fully coincided with him. The true question for this
   convention to decide was whether they should remain, here, or to seek a
   home in Liberia or elsewhere.

   John H. Walker, after some difficulty, got the floor and offered a
   substitute for the report of the committee on the platform, which was
   unanimously adopted. The following is the substitute:

      WHEREAS, The present age is one eminently distinguished for inquiry,
      investigation, enterprise and improvement in physical, political,
      intellectual and moral sciences; and, whereas, among our white
      neighbors every exertion is continually being made to improve their
      social and moral condition, and develop their intellectual faculties;
      and, whereas, it is a duty which mankind, (colored as well as white,)
      owe to themselves and their Creator to embrace every opportunity for
      the accomplishment of this mental culture and intellectual
      development, and general social improvement; and, whereas, we, the
      free colored people of the State of Maryland, are conscious that we
      have made little or no progress in improvement during the past twenty
      years, but are now sunken into a condition of social degradation
      which is truly deplorable, and the continuing to live in which we
      cannot but view as a crime and transgression against our God,
      ourselves and our posterity; and, whereas, we believe that a crisis
      in our history has arrived when we may choose for ourselves
      degradation, misery and wretchedness, on the one hand, or happiness,
      honor and enlightenment, on the other, by pursuing one of two paths
      which are now laid before us for our consideration and choice; may we
      not, therefore, hope that our people will awaken from their lethargic
      slumbers, and seek for themselves that future course of conduct which
      will elevate them from their present position and place them on an
      equality with the other more advanced races of mankind--may we not
      hope that they will consider seriously the self-evident proposition
      that all men are created equal, and endowed by the Creator with the
      same privileges of exerting themselves for their own and each
      other's benefit; and, whereas, in view of these considerations, and
      in order to commence the great and glorious work of our moral
      elevation, and our social and intellectual improvement, we are of the
      opinion that an organization of the friends of this just and holy
      cause is absolutely necessary for effecting the object so much to be
      desired, and we are therefore--

      _Resolved_, That we will each and every one, here pledge ourselves to
      each other and to our God, to use on every and all occasions, our
      utmost efforts to accomplish the objects set forth in the foregoing
      preamble; and that we will, now, and forever hereafter, engraft this
      truth in our prayers, our hopes, our instructions to our brethren and
      our children--namely, that degradation is a sin and a source of
      misery, and it is a high, and honorable and a blessed privilege we
      enjoy, the right to improve ourselves and transmit to posterity
      happiness instead of our misery--knowledge instead of our ignorance.

      _Resolved_, That while we appreciate and acknowledge the sincerity of
      the motives and the activity of the zeal of those who, during an
      agitation of twenty years, have honestly struggled to place us on a
      footing of social and political equality with the white population of
      the country, yet we cannot conceal from ourselves the fact that no
      advancement has been made towards a result to us so desirable; but
      that on the contrary, our condition as a class is less desirable now
      than it was twenty years ago.

      _Resolved_, That in the face of an emigration from Europe, which is
      greater each year than it was the year preceding, and during the
      prevalence of a feeling in regard to us, which the very agitation
      intended for good has only served apparently to embitter, we cannot
      promise ourselves that the future will do that which the past has
      failed to accomplish.

      _Resolved_, That we recognize in ourselves the capacity of conducting
      our own public affairs in a manner at once creditable and well
      calculated to further among us the cause of religion, virtue,
      morality, truth and enlightenment--and to acquire for ourselves the
      possession and enjoyment of that elevated refinement which so much
      adorns and beautifies social intercourse among mankind, and leads
      them to a proper appreciation of the relations existing between man
      and Deity--man and his fellow men, and man and that companion whom
      God has bestowed upon him, to console him in the hours of trouble and
      darkness, or enjoy with him the blessings that heaven vouchsafed
      occasionally to shower upon our pathway through life.

      _Resolved_, That in a retrospective survey of the past, we see
      between the white and colored races a disparity of thought, feeling
      and intellectual advancement, which convinces us that it cannot be
      that the two races will ever overcome their natural prejudices
      towards each other sufficiently to dwell together in harmony and in
      the enjoyment of like social and political privileges, and we
      therefore hold that a separation of ourselves from our white
      neighbors, many of whom we cannot but love and admire for the
      generosity they have displayed towards us from time to time, is an
      object devoutly to be desired and the consummation of which would
      tend to the natural advantage of both races.

      _Resolved_, That comparing the relative advantages afforded us in
      Canada, the West Indies and Liberia--these being the places beyond
      the limits of the United States which circumstances have directed our
      attention--we are led to examine the claims of Liberia particularly,
      for there alone, we have been told, that we can exercise all the
      functions of a free republican government, and hold an honorable
      position among the nations of the earth.

      _Resolved_, That this Convention recommend to the colored people of
      Maryland, the formation of societies in the counties of the State and
      the city of Baltimore, who shall meet monthly, for the purpose of
      raising means to establish and support free schools for the education
      of our poor and destitute children, and for the appointment each
      month of a person whose duty it shall be to collect such information
      in relation to the condition of the colored emigrants in Canada, West
      Indies, Guiana and Liberia, as can be obtained by him from all
      available sources, which information shall be brought to these
      monthly meetings above alluded to, and read before them for the
      instruction of all, in order that when they are resolved, if they
      should so resolve, to remove from this country to any other, they may
      know what will be their wants, opportunities, prospects, &c., in
      order to provide beforehand for any emergencies that may meet them on
      their arrival in their new homes.

      _Resolved_, That as this subject is one of the greatest importance to
      us, and the consideration of which whatever may be the result, cannot
      be put aside, we recommend to our people in this State to establish
      and maintain an organization in regard to it, the great object of
      which shall be enquiry and discussion, which, without committing any,
      may lead to accurate information; and that a convention like the
      present, composed of delegates from the respective counties of the
      State and from Baltimore city, be held annually at such times and
      places as may be hereafter designated.

      _Resolved_, That in thus expressing our opinions, it is not our
      purpose to counsel emigration as either necessary or proper in every
      case. The transfer of an entire people from one country to another,
      must necessarily be the work of generations. Each individual now and
      hereafter must be governed by the circumstances of his own condition,
      of which he alone can be the judge, as well in regard to the time of
      removal as to the place to which he shall remove; but deeply
      impressed ourselves with the conviction that sooner or later removal
      must take place, we would counsel our people to accustom themselves
      to that idea.

      _Resolved_, That this Convention recommend to the ministers of the
      gospel among the free colored population of Maryland to endeavor, by
      contributions from their congregations and by other means, to raise
      funds for the purpose of forwarding the benevolent object of
      educating the children of the destitute colored persons in this
      State; and that they also impress upon the minds of their hearers the
      benefits which would necessarily result from development of their
      intellects, and the bringing into fullest use those mental powers and
      reasoning faculties which distinguish mankind from the brute
      creation; and that this be requested of them as a part of their duty
      as ministers of the religion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

   E. Harris entered his protest against the adoption of the fourth
   resolution.

   A motion made to adjourn sine die at 2 o'clock P.M., was lost; and a
   resolution restricting each speaker to five minute speeches was adopted.

   William Perkins spoke of the law enforced in Kent, by which the children
   of free colored persons, whom the officers decided the parents were
   unable to support, were bound out; and also of the law which prohibited
   a colored person returning to the State if he should happen to leave it.
   They were oppressed and borne down.

   James A. Jones, of Kent, thought his native county equal to any other in
   the State, and that colored persons were not more oppressed there than
   elsewhere in the State.

   Charles O. Fisher moved that a committee of five be appointed to draw up
   a memorial to the Legislature of Maryland, praying more indulgence to
   the colored people of the State, in order that they may have time to
   prepare themselves for a change in their condition, and for removal to
   some other land.

   Daniel Koburn, of Baltimore, in referring to the oppressive laws of the
   State, said the hog law of Baltimore was better moderated than that in
   reference to the colored people. The hog law said at certain seasons
   they should run about and at certain seasons be taken up; but the law
   referring to colored people allowed them to be taken up at any time.

   Chas. Dobson, of Talbot, said that the time had come when free colored
   men in this country had been taken up and sold for one year, and when
   that year was out, taken up and sold for another year. Who knew what the
   next Legislature would do; and if any arrangements could be made to
   better their condition, he was in favor of them. He was for the
   appointing the committee on the memorial.

   B. Jenifer, of Dorchester, opposed the resolution; he was not in favor
   of memorializing the Legislature--it had determined to carry out certain
   things, and it was a progressive work.

   Chas. Wyman, of Caroline; Jos. Bantem, of Talbot; John H. Walker, Chas.
   O. Fisher and others discussed the resolution which was finally adopted.

   The following is the committee appointed: Jno. H. Walker and Jas. A.
   Handy, of Baltimore; William Perkins, of Kent; Thomas Fuller, of
   Dorchester; and Daniel J. Ross, of Hartford county.

   A resolution of thanks to the officers of the Convention, the reporters
   of the morning papers, and authorities for their protection, was
   adopted. The proceedings were also ordered to be printed in pamphlet
   form.

   The Convention, at 3 o'clock adjourned to meet on the second Monday in
   November, 1853, at Frederick, Md.

--From the _Baltimore Sun_, July 27, 28, and 29, 1852.




REVIEWS OF BOOKS



_The Slaveholding Indians. Volume I: As Slaveholder and Secessionist._
By Annie Heloise Abel, Ph.D. The Arthur H. Clark Company, Cleveland, 1915.
Pp. 394.

This is the first of three volumes on the slaveholding Indians planned by
the author. Volume II is to treat of the Indians as participants in the
Civil War and Volume III on the Indian under Reconstruction.

The present volume deals with a phase, as the author says, "of American
Civil War history, which has heretofore been almost neglected, or where
dealt with, either misunderstood or misinterpreted." It comes as a surprise
to most of us that the Indian played a part of sufficient importance within
the Union to have the right to have something to say about secession. Yet
inconsistently enough he was considered so much a foreigner that both the
South and the North, particularly the former, found it expedient to employ
diplomacy in approaching him.

The South, we are assured, found the attitude of the Indians toward
secession of the greatest importance. Yet it was not the Indian owner so
much as the Indian country that the Confederacy wanted to be sure of
possessing, for Indian Territory occupied a position of strategic
importance from both the economic and the military point of view. "The
possession of it was absolutely necessary for the political and
institutional consolidation of the South. Texas might well think of going
her own way and of forming an independent republic once again, when between
her and Arkansas lay the immense reservations of the great tribes. They
were slave-holding tribes, too; yet were supposed by the United States
government to have no interest whatsoever in a sectional conflict that
involved the very existence of the 'peculiar institution,'"

The above quotation is practically the intent of the book and the author
has succeeded in carrying this out in four divisions entitled: I, "The
General Situation in the Indian Country, 1830-1860." II, "Indian Territory
in Its Relations with Texas and Arkansas." III, "The Confederacy in
Negotiation with the Indian Tribes." IV, "The Indian Nations in Alliance
with the Confederacy."

The book is essentially a work by a scholar for scholars. It is certainly
not for the laity. The facts are striking but well substantiated. There can
be no doubt but that much time has been spent in its compilation. The
style, however, is unusually dry. It has appendices, an invaluable
bibliography, a carefully tabulated index, four maps, and three portraits
of Indian leaders.

It is interesting to note that the author is of British birth and ancestry
and so presumably is free from sectional prejudice. Her book marks a
distinct step forward, for those who are interested in Indian affairs.

JESSIE FAUSET.



_The Political History of Slavery in the United States._ By James Z.
George, formerly Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi and
later United States Senator from that State. The Neale Publishing Company,
New York, 1915. Pp. xix, 342.

This is a discussion as well as the history of slavery and Reconstruction
from the time of the introduction of the slaves in 1619 to the break-up of
the carpet-bagger governments. "Considering the jealousies and even
animosities that are becoming more and more intensified between the North
and South, as well as the disposition that is ever increasing in the
stronger section to dominate the weaker," the author believes that "it is
becoming necessary to think over calmly and seriously the causes that have
produced these evils, and to ascertain, if we can, the remedy, if remedy
there be."

The work begins with a sketch of ancient slavery, showing that the
introduction of the institution into the Southern States was not
exceptional. He then gives an account of slavery in the colonies, and the
efforts to suppress the slave trade. The connection of slavery with the War
of 1812 and with the Hartford Convention is noted. He then takes up the
Missouri Compromise with some detail, giving almost verbatim the
proceedings of Congress relative thereto. In the same way he treats the
"Repudiation of the Missouri Compromise," the Annexation of Texas, the
Wilmot Proviso, the Kansas--Nebraska Affair, the Lincoln and Douglas
Debates, John Brown's Invasion, Secession, the Civil War, and
Reconstruction.

Throughout this treatise, he carefully notes the "jealousy of sectional
interest and power and the determination to maintain this power even at a
cost of a dissolution of the Union," In other words, the whole sectional
struggle grew out of what he calls the effort to maintain the balance of
power between two sections of the Union, with the slavery question
contributing thereto. Facts set forth bring out very clearly that the South
is not to be censured as being especially hostile to the Negro when on the
statute books of the North there are found numerous laws to show that
persons of color were not considered desirables in those States.

He raises the question as to whether the South violated the Missouri
Compromise and considers it a revolution that public functionaries
disregarded the rights of the owners of slave property when the highest
tribunal, the Supreme Court, had sanctioned these rights. The act of
secession is palliated too on the ground that the South had developed under
the influence of that peculiar political philosophy which produced there a
race that could never sanction passive obedience. In seceding the South was
not attempting to overturn the government of the United States. It was not
contemplated to interfere with the States adhering to the Union. They
sought merely to "withdraw themselves from subjection to a government which
they were convinced intended to overthrow their institutions."

The Civil War came in spite of the fact that the Convention that framed the
Constitution negatived the proposition to confer on the Federal Government
the authority to exert the force of the Union against a delinquent State.
It was, therefore, a mere act of coercing a section preparing for
self-defense. Reconstruction is treated very much in the same way. The laws
under which it was effected were unjust, the men who executed them were
harsh, and the weaker section had to pay the price.

The book cannot be classed as scientific work. The topics discussed are not
proportionately treated, the style is rendered dull by the incorporation of
undigested material, and the emphasis is placed on the political and legal
phases of history at the expense of the social and economic. In it we find
very little that is new. It merely presents the well-known political theory
of the Old South. The chief value of the work consists in its being an
expression of the opinion of a distinguished man who participated in many
of the events narrated.

J. O. BURKE.



_The Constitutional Doctrines of Justice Harlan._ By Floyd Barzilia Clark,
Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Political Science in Pennsylvania State
College. Series XXXIII, No. 4, Johns Hopkins University Studies in
Historical and Political Science under the direction of the Department of
History, Political Economy, and Political Science. The Johns Hopkins Press,
Baltimore, 1915.

This work is a legal treatise consisting of a scholarly discussion of the
doctrines advanced by Justice Harlan during his service as a member of the
Supreme Court of the United States. The book opens with a brief biography
of the jurist, emphasizing the important events of his career to furnish a
basis for the study of his theories. The author then takes up such topics
as the "Suability of States," the "Impairment of the Obligation Contracts,"
"Due Process of Law," "Interstate and Foreign Commerce," "Equal Protection
of the Laws," the "Jurisdiction of Courts," "Miscellaneous Topics," and
"Judicial Legislation."

The author finds that in the treatment of these important legal questions
Harlan measures up to the standard of an able jurist. Replying to those who
have charged him with emphasizing too greatly the letter of the law, the
writer says that such a contention is based on ignorance or prejudice. "No
one who so interpreted the Eleventh Amendment," says the author, "as to
maintain that a suit against the officer of a State in his official
capacity was not a suit against a State could have held to the strict
letter of the law." The author further contends that this criticism of the
jurist arises from the fact that he did not believe in equivocation.

The interpretation of the laws relating to the Negro, the point on which he
dissented from the majority of the members of the court, should have been
given more prominence in this discussion. The discriminations against the
Negroes are treated in connection with the chapters on "Interstate and
Foreign Commerce" and "Equal Protection of the Laws." The Fourteenth
Amendment is treated along with such miscellaneous topics as "Direct
Taxation," "Copyrights," "Insular Cases," "Interstate Comity," and "Labor
Legislation." Stating Justice Harlan's theory as to the position the Negro
should occupy in this country, however, the author writes very frankly.
Harlan, he thought, believed that they should occupy the position that
historically they were intended to occupy by the Thirteenth and Fourteenth
Amendments. He believed that the law should be interpreted as it was meant
and not as the court thought expedient and wise. "Though it may be true
that his relation to the negro in political matters may have made him more
violent in his dissents, any one who will look fairly at the question must
conclude that his doctrine was legally correct. And as time passes, and as
both classes become better educated and broader in their views, it may be
said that the tendency of the court is likely to be to interpret the laws
largely as he thought they should have been interpreted, that is, as
historically they were meant."

C. B. WALTER.



_Reconstruction in Georgia, Economic, Social, Political, 1865--1872._ By
C. Mildred Thompson, Ph.D. Longmans, Green, and Company, New York, 1915.
Pp. 418.

The appearance of C. M. Thompson's Reconstruction in Georgia arouses further
interest in the study of that period which has been attracting the
attention of various investigators in the leading universities of the
United States. These writers fall into different groups. Coming to the
defense of a section shamed with crime, some have endeavored to justify the
deeds of those who resorted to all sorts of schemes to rid the country of
the "extravagant and corrupt Reconstruction governments." Lately, however,
the tendency has been to get away from this position. Yet among these
writers we still find varying types, many of whom have for several reasons
failed to write real history. Some have not forsaken the controversial
group, not a few have tried to explain away the truth, and others going to
the past with their minds preoccupied have selected only those facts which
support their contentions.

What has this author in question done? In this readable and interesting
work the writer has shown considerable improvement upon historical writing
in this field. She has endeavored to deal not only with the political but
also with the economic and social phases of the history of this period. One
gets a glance at the State before the war, the transition from slavery to
freedom, the problems of labor and tenancy, the commercial revival, the
social readjustment, political reorganization, military rule, State
economy, reorganized Reconstruction, agriculture, education, the
administration of justice, the Ku Klux disorder, and the restoration of
home rule.

This research leads the author to conclude that the seven years of the
history of the State from 1865 to 1872 marked only the beginning of the
social and economic transformation that has taken place since the war. This
upheaval broke up the large plantation system, removed from power the
"slave oligarchy," and exalted the yeomanry of moderate means, the
uplanders now in control in the South. When the Democratic rule replaced
Republicanism "one set of abnormal influences were put at rest," economic
and social problems becoming the all-engrossing topics, and politics a
diversion rather than a matter of self-preservation. The race problem then
aroused began in another age, and not being settled, has been bequeathed to
a later generation. Emancipation itself would have aroused racial
antagonism but Republican Reconstruction increased it a hundred fold. This
was the most enduring contribution of Congressional interference.

Politically Reconstruction in Georgia was a failure. The greatest political
achievement of the period was the enfranchisement of the Negro, but this
was soon undone, the Southern white man having no freedom of choice--"he
had to be a democrat, whether or no." Although establishing the Negro in
freedom the government failed to establish him in political and social
equality with the whites. "But still," says the author, "the race problem
and the cry of Negro! Negro! the slogan of political demagogues who magnify
and distort a very real difficulty in playing upon the passions of the less
educated whites--rise to curtail freedom of thought and act."

Out of this mass of material examined one would expect a more unbiased
treatment. The work suffers from some of the defects of most Reconstruction
writers, although the author has endeavored to write with restraint and
care. One man is made almost a hero while another is found wanting. The
white Southerner could not but be a Democrat but no excuse is made for the
Negro who had no alternative but to ally himself with those who claimed to
represent his emancipator. The State was at one time bordering on economic
ruin because the Negroes became migratory and would not comply with their
labor contracts. Little is said, however, about the evils arising from the
attitude of Southern white men who have never liked to work and that of
those who during this period, according to the author, formed roving bands
for plundering and stealing. But we are too close to the history of
Reconstruction to expect better treatment. We are just now reaching the
period when we can tell the truth about the American Revolution. We must
yet wait a century before we shall find ourselves far enough removed from
the misfortunes and crimes of Reconstruction to set forth in an unbiased
way the actual deeds of those who figured conspicuously in that awful
drama.




NOTES

"That the idea of a 'Secretary of Peace' for the United States is no new
thing was brought out in the course of a paper by P. Lee Phillips, read by
President Allen C. Clark before the Columbia Historical Society, which met
at the Shoreham Hotel last night.

"In the course of the paper, entitled 'The Negro, Benjamin Banneker,
Astronomer and Mathematician,' it was brought out that Banneker, who was a
free Negro, friend of Washington and Jefferson, published a series of
almanacs, unique in that they were his own work throughout. In the almanac
for 1793 one of the articles from Banneker's pen was 'A Plan of Peace
Office for the United States,' for promoting and preserving perpetual
peace. This article was concise and well written, and contains most of the
ideas set forth today by advocates of peace. Banneker took a 'crack' at
European military ideas, and advocated the abolishment in the United States
of military dress and titles and all militia laws. He laid down laws for
the construction of a great temple of peace in which hymns were to be sung
each day.

"Mr. Phillips's paper brought out that Banneker helped in one of the early
surveys of the District of Columbia."--_Washington Star._

This dissertation will be brought out in the Annual Publication of the
Columbia Historical Society.


Professor Alain Leroy Locke, of Howard University, has published an
interesting prospectus of his lectures on the race problem.


Professor A. E. Jenks, of the University of Minnesota, has contributed to
the _American Journal of Sociology_ an elaborate paper on the legal status
of the miscegenation of the white and black races in the various
commonwealths.


Miss L. E. Wilkes, of the Washington Public Schools, has been lecturing on
"_Missing Pages of American History."_ This is a summary of her work
treating the Negro soldier from the Colonial Period through the War of
1812. The treatise will be published in the near future.


In the Church Missionary Review has appeared "_A Survey of Islam in
Africa,"_ by G. T. Manley.


An article entitled "_The Bantu Coast Tribes of East Africa Protectorate,"_
by A. Werner, has been published in the _Journal_ of the Royal
Anthropological Institute. In the same _Journal_ has appeared also "_The
Organization and Laws of Some Bantu Tribes in East Africa."_


_Ashanti Proverbs_, translated by R. Sutherland Rattray, with a preface by
Sir Hugh Clifford, has been published by Milford in London.


A. Werner has published in London "_The Language Families of Africa,"_ a
concise and valuable textbook of the classification, philology, and grammar
of the languages.


_The German African Empire_, by A. F. Calvert, has appeared over the imprint
of Werner Laurie.


_The History of South Africa from 1795 to 1872_, by G. McCall Theal, has
been published in London by Allen and Unwin. This is a fourth and revised
edition of a work to be completed in five volumes.


_"The Tropics,"_ by C. R. Enock, has been brought out by Grant Richards.
This is a description of all tropical countries. It contains some valuable
information but is chiefly concerned with advancing the theory that it is
essential to study the capabilities of a country so as to develop all of
its industries. The contention of the author is that the economic
independence of each country is its safeguard from war and that
commercialism is ruin.


The Methodist Book Concern has announced _"Pioneering on the Congo,"_ by
John Springer.


Hodder and Stoughton have published _"Mary Slessor of Calabar: Pioneer
Missionary."_ This is an account of a factory girl who distinguished
herself as a missionary and was later appointed head of a native court.


_French Memories of Eighteenth Century America_, by Charles H. Sherrill,
has been published by Scribners. He failed to take into account the many
references of French travelers to the Negroes and slavery.


In the second number of _Smith College Studies in History_ appears Laura
J. Webster's _Operations of the Freedmen's Bureau in South Carolina._


About the middle of July the Neale Publishing Company will bring out _The
New Negro, His Political, Civil and Mental Status_, by Dean William
Pickens, of Morgan College.


Professor Sherwood, of La Crosse, Wisconsin, has for some time been making
researches into _Paul Cuffee._


AN INTERESTING COMMENT

_Dear Sir:_

It was very good of you to mail me a copy of the Journal of Negro History.
I had seen a copy of this publication, I believe, at the library of the
Institute of Jamaica. The second number is certainly an impressive issue
indicative of the changed point of view. The so-called literature on
slavery and the negro is, in the main, rather a hindrance than a help. The
expression of mere personal opinion is of exceedingly slight value in the
furtherance of any good cause. What the world needs is not mere knowledge
but a better understanding of the facts and experience already available.
When a race has reached a point where it realizes its own place in history,
and the value of a critical analysis of its historical experience, a
measurable advance has been made towards the attainment of a genuine
progress. All values are relative. True history concerns itself with any
and all achievements and not merely with political changes or military
events. Most of the so-called historical disquisitions delivered annually
before the American Historical Association fall seriously short in this
respect. Ever since Green wrote his first real history of the English
people the old-time historian has lost caste among men who are seriously
concerned with the urgent solution of present-day problems. Unquestionably,
a true political history is of real value, but the social history of
mankind is infinitely more important.

The Journal of Negro History seems to meet the foregoing requirements for a
social history of the negro race rather than a mere increase in the already
voluminous so-called history of the political aspects of slavery
reconstruction or reorganization during recent times. The article on the
negro soldier in the American revolution is excellent. The prerequisite for
a genuine race progress is race pride. For this reason the past
achievements of the negro in this or any other country, individually or
collectively, are of the utmost teaching value. It is a far cry,
apparently, from the very recent high and well deserved promotion of a
negro to a commanding position in the army, back to the days of the service
rendered by negro soldiers in the Revolution, but in its final analysis it
is all a chain of connected events. Where so much has been done and is
being achieved the outlook for the future must needs be encouraging.
Progress is only made by struggling, and the best results are those
achieved against apparently insuperable difficulties. Race progress and
race pride are practically equivalent terms. Individuals and races fail in
proportion as they permit discouraging circumstances or conditions to
control their destinies. A true philosophy of history never fails to bring
home the conviction that lasting success is attained only through the ages
by persistent effort in the right direction. The negro race has reason to
be proud of its achievements, but I am sure that the future progress will
rest largely upon a better understanding of the negro's place in history.
Just as in the case of individuals, so in the case of races, it is, first
and last, a question of finding our place in the world. Variation in type
is absolutely essential to the highest development of the human species. It
is not, therefore, the duty of any one race to follow blindly in the
footsteps of another. It is for each race to seek for the best traits
peculiarly its own, and to leave absolutely nothing undone, in season and
out, to develop those particular traits to the highest possible degree. In
other words, it is not for the negro to try to be as near as he can to a
white man, even in his innermost thoughts and aspirations, but to interpret
the lessons of his own life through the philosophy of negro history and to
be true to the moral and spiritual ideals of his race and his ancestors, be
they what they may.

Very truly yours,

F. L. HOFFMAN,
_Statistician_.




       *       *       *       *       *



THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY

VOL. I--JUNE, 1916--No. 3

PUBLISHED QUARTERLY




CONTENTS



C. E. PIERRE: The Work of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in
   Foreign Parts among the Negroes in the Colonies

ALICE DUNBAR-NELSON: People of Color in Louisiana, Part I

WILLIAM T. McKINNEY: The Defeat of the Secessionists in Kentucky in 1861

J. KUNST:
  Notes on Negroes in Guatemala During the Seventeenth Century;
  A Mulatto Corsair of the Sixteenth Century

DOCUMENTS:
  TRAVELERS' IMPRESSIONS OF SLAVERY IN AMERICA FROM 1750 TO 1800:
    Burnaby's View of the Situation in Virginia;
    General Treatment of Slaves Among the Albanians--Consequent Attachment
      of Domestics.--Reflections on Servitude by an American Lady;
    Impressions of an English Traveler;
    Abbé Robin on Conditions in Virginia;
    Observations of St. John De Crèvecoeur;
    Impressions of Johann D. Schoepf;
    Extracts from Anburey's Travels Through North America;
    Vindication of the Negroes: A Controversy;
    Sur L'état Général, Le Genre D'industrie, Les Moeurs, Le Caractère,
      Etc. Des Noirs, Dans Les États-unis;
    Slavery as Seen by Henry Wansey;
    Esclavage Par La Rochefoucauld-liancourt;
    Observations Sur L'esclavage Par La Rochefoucauld-liancourt;
    What Isaac Weld Observed in Slave States;
    John Davis's Thoughts on Slavery;
    Observations of Robert Sutcliff;
  SOME LETTERS OF RICHARD ALLEN AND ABSALOM JONES TO DOROTHY RIPLEY:
    Letter from an African Minister, Resident in Philadelphia Addressed
      to Dorothy Ripley.
    Letter from an African, resident in Philadelphia, to Dorothy Ripley

REVIEWS OF BOOKS:
     CLAYTON'S _The Aftermath of the Civil War, in Arkansas_;
     EVANS'S _Black and White in the Southern States_;
     SAYERS'S _Samuel Coleridge-Taylor--Musician. His Life and Letters_;
     BAILEY'S _Race Orthodoxy in the South and Other Aspects of the Negro
       Problem_;

NOTES




THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY


VOL. I--OCTOBER, 1916--No. 4




THE WORK OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL IN FOREIGN PARTS
AMONG THE NEGROES IN THE COLONIES



The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts was
organized in London in the year 1701. During the eighteenth century the
British Colonies of the New World constituted the principal field of
missionary endeavor for this organization. There were then in North America
250,000 settlers, whole colonies of whom were living in heathenism while
others were adhering to almost every variety of strange faiths. The work of
proselyting these people was too important to be intrusted to individual
enterprise and too extensive to be successfully prosecuted by the heads of
the Church only. The ministrations of the Established Church were then
limited to a few places in Virginia, New York, Maryland and the cities of
Boston and Philadelphia. To supply this deficiency the Society endeavored
to use missionaries as a direct means to convert the heathen of all races,
whether Europeans, Indians or Negroes. There were cruel masters who
objected to the conversion of their slaves,[1] but that any race should be
denied the message of salvation because of its color was ever repudiated by
the Society. From the very beginning of this work the conversion of the
Negroes was as important to the Society as that of bringing the whites or
the Indians into the church. Such dignitaries of the church, as Rev. Thomas
Bacon and Bishops Fleetwood, Lowth, Sanderson and Wilson, ever urged this
duty upon their brethren at home and abroad.[2]

The first really effective work of the Society was done in South Carolina.
Reverend Mr. Thomas of Goose Creek Parish in that State early instructed
the Indian and Negro slaves of his vicinity. He directed his attention to
the Negroes in 1695 and ten years later counted among his communicants
twenty blacks, who with several others "well understanding the English
tongue," could read and write. He further said, in 1705: "I have here
presumed to give an account of one thousand slaves so far as they know of
it and are desirous of Christian knowledge and seem willing to prepare
themselves for it, in learning to read, for which they redeem the time
from their labor. Many of them can read the Bible distinctly and great
numbers of them were learning when I left the province."[3]

This work, however, had not proceeded without much opposition. The
sentiment as to the enlightenment of the blacks was largely that of the
youth who resolved never to go to the holy table while slaves were
received there. Others felt like the lady who inquired: "Is it possible
that any of my slaves should go to heaven, and must I see them there?"[4]
The earnest workers sent out by the Society, however, did not cease to
labor in behalf of the Negroes and the number of masters willing to have
their slaves instructed gradually increased. Among these liberal owners
were John Morris, of St. Bartholomew's, Lady Moore, Captain David Davis,
Mrs. Sarah Baker at Goose Creek, Landgrave Joseph Morton and his wife of
St. Paul's, the Governor and a member of the Assembly, Mr. and Mrs.
Skeen,[5] Mrs. Haigue and Mrs. Edwards. So successful were the efforts of
Mrs. Haigue and Mrs. Edwards that they were formally thanked by the
Society for their care and good example in instructing the Negroes of whom
no less than twenty-seven prepared by them, including those of another
planter, were baptized by the Reverend E. Taylor of St. Andrew's within
two years.[6]

Other less liberal masters refused to allow their slaves to attend Mr.
Taylor for instruction, but some of them were induced to teach the blacks
the Lord's Prayer. The result even from this was so successful that there
came to the church more Negroes than could be accommodated. So great was
their desire for instruction that had it not been for the opposition of
their owners, almost all of them would have been converted. "So far as
the missionaries were permitted," says one, "they did all that was
possible for their evangelization, and while so many professed Christians
among the planters were lukewarm, it pleased God to raise to himself
devout servants among the heathen, whose faithfulness was commended by the
masters themselves. In some of the congregations the Negroes or blacks
constituted one half of the communicants."[7]

This interest of the clergy in the Negroes of South Carolina continued in
spite of opposition. Rev. Mr. Guy, of St. Andrew's Parish, said that he
baptized "a Negro man and a Negro woman" in 1723, and Rev. Mr. Hunt,
minister of St. John's Parish, reported in that same year that "a slave, a
sensible Negro, who can read and write and comes to church, is a Catechumen
under probation for Baptism which he desires."[8] A new impetus too was
given the movement about 1740. Influenced by such urgent addresses as those
of Dr. Brearcroft, and Bishops Gibson, Wilson and Seeker, the workers of
the Society were aroused to proselyting more extensively among the Negroes.
In 1741 the Bishop of Canterbury expressed his gratification at the large
number of Negroes who were then being brought into the church.[9]

A decided step forward was noted in 1743. That year a school for Negroes
was opened by Commissary Garden and placed in charge of Harry and Andrew,
two colored youths, who had been trained as teachers at the cost of the
Society. This establishment was a sort of training school for bright young
blacks who felt called to instruct their fellow countrymen. For adults who
labored during the day it was an evening school. It was successfully
conducted for more than twenty years. In 1763 the institution was for some
unknown reason closed after being conducted in the face of many
difficulties and obstructions, although this was the only educational
institution in that colony for its 50,000 blacks.[10]

Some good results were obtained by the missionaries of the Society of
North Carolina, but difficulties were also encountered there. The chief
trouble seems to have been that missionaries of that colony were
"frustrated by the slave owners who would by no means permit" their Negroes
to be baptized, "having a false notion that a christened slave is by law
free."[11] "By much importunity," says an investigator, Mr. Ransford of
Chowan (in 1712) prevailed on Mr. Martin to let him baptize three of his
Negroes, two women and a boy. "All the arguments I could make use of,"
said he, "would scarce effect it till Bishop Fleetwood's sermon (in 1711)
... turned ye scale."[12] Mr. Rumford succeeded, however, in baptizing
upwards of forty Negroes in one year. In the course of time, when the
workers overcame the prejudice of the masters, a missionary would sometimes
baptize fifteen to twenty-four in a month, forty to fifty in six months,
and sixty to seventy in a year.[13] Reverend Mr. Newman, a minister in
North Carolina, reported in 1723 that he had baptized two Negroes who could
say the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and gave good
sureties for their further information.[14] According to the report of Rev.
C. Hall, the number of conversions there among Negroes for eight years was
355, including 112 adults, and "at Edenton the blacks generally were
induced to attend service at all these stations, where they behaved with
great decorum."[15]

In the Middle and Southern Colonies these missionaries had the cooperation
of Dr. Thomas Bray. In 1696 he was sent to Maryland by the Bishop of
London to do what he could toward the conversion of adult Negroes and the
education of their children.[16] Bray's most influential supporter was M.
D'Alone, the private secretary of King William. D'Alone gave for the
maintenance of the cause a fund, the proceeds of which were first used to
employ catechists, and later to support the Thomas Bray Mission after the
catechists had failed to give satisfaction. At the death of this
missionary the task was taken up by certain of his followers known as the
"Associates of Dr. Bray."[17] They extended their work beyond the bounds
of Maryland. These benefactors maintained two schools for the benefit of
Negroes in Philadelphia. About the close of the French and Indian War,
Rev. Mr. Stewart, a missionary in North Carolina, found there a school for
the education of Indians and Negroes conducted by "Dr. Bray's
Associates."[18]

Georgia too was not neglected. The extension of the work of Dr. Bray's
associates into the colony made an opening there for taking up the
instruction of Negroes. The Society joined with these workers for
supporting a schoolmaster for Negroes in 1751 and an improvement in the
slaves was soon admitted by their owners.[19] In 1766 Rev. S. Frink, a
missionary toiling in Augusta, found that he could neither convert the
Indians nor the whites, who seemed to be as destitute of religion as the
former, but succeeded in converting some Negroes.[20]

In Pennsylvania the missionary movement found less obstacles to the
conversion of Negroes than to that of the Indians. In fact, the
proselyting of Negroes in the colony was less difficult than in some other
parts of America. The reports of the missionaries show that slaves were
being baptized there as early as 1712.[21] About this time a Mr. Yeates,
of Chester, was commended by the Rev. G. Ross "for his endeavors to train
up the Negroes in the knowledge of religion."[22] Moved by the appeal of
the Bishop of London, other masters permitted the indoctrination of their
slaves in the principles of Christianity. At Philadelphia the Rev. G. Ross
baptized on one occasion 12 adult Negroes, "who were examined before the
congregation and answered to the admiration of all who heard them.... The
like sight had never been seen before in that church."[23] Rev. Mr.
Beckett, minister in Sussex County, Pennsylvania, said in 1723 that he had
admitted two Negro slaves and that many Negroes constantly attended his
services.[24] The same year Rev. Mr. Bartow baptized a Negro at West
Chester.[25] Rev. Mr. Pugh, a missionary at Appoquinimmick, Pennsylvania,
said, in a letter written to the Society in 1737, that he had received a
few blacks and that the masters of the Negroes were prejudiced against
their being Christians.[26] Rev. Richard Locke christened eight Negroes in
one family at Lancaster in 1747 and another Negro there the following
year.[26a] In 1774 the Rev. Mr. Jenney reported that there was "a great
and daily increase of Negroes in this city who would with joy attend upon
a catechist for instruction"; that he had baptized several, but was unable
to add to his other duties; and the Society, ever ready to lend a helping
hand to such pious undertakings, appointed the Rev. W. Sturgeon as
catechist for the Negroes at Philadelphia.[27] The next to show diligence
in the branch of the work of the Society was Mr. Neill of Dover. He
baptized as many as 162 within 18 months.[28]

The operations of the Society did not seem to cover a large part of New
Jersey. The Rev. Mr. Lindsay wrote of the baptizing of a Negro at Allerton
in 1736.[29] The reports from the missions of New Brunswick show that a
large number of Negroes had attached themselves to the church. This
condition, however, did not obtain in all parts of that colony. Yet
subsequent reports show that the missionary spirit was not wanting in that
section. The baptism of black children and the accession of Negro adults
to the church were from time to time reported from that field.[30]

The most effective work of the Society among Negroes of the Northern
colonies was accomplished in New York. In that colony, the instruction of
the Negro and Indian slaves to prepare them for conversion, baptism, and
communion was a primary charge oft repeated to every missionary and
schoolmaster of the Society. In addition to the general efforts put forth
in the colonies, there was in New York a special provision for the
employment of sixteen clergymen and thirteen lay teachers mainly for the
evangelization of the slaves and the free Indians. For the Negro slaves a
catechizing school was opened in New York City in 1704 under the charge of
Elias Neau. This benevolent man, after several years' imprisonment because
of his Protestant faith, had come to New York to try his fortunes as a
trader. As early as 1703 he called the attention of the Society to the
great number of slaves in New York "who were without God in the world, and
of whose souls there was no manner of care taken"[31] and proposed the
appointment of a catechist to undertake their instruction. He himself
finally being prevailed upon to accept this position, obtained a license
from the Governor, resigned his position as elder in the French church and
conformed to the Established Church of England, "not upon any worldly
account but through a principle of conscience and hearty approbation of
the English liturgy."[32] He was later licensed by the Bishop of London.

Neau's task was not an easy one. At first he went from house to house, but
afterwards arranged for some of the slaves to attend him. He succeeded,
however, in obtaining gratifying results. He was commended to the Society
by Rev. Mr. Vesey in 1706 as a "constant communicant of our church, and a
most zealous and prudent servant of Christ, in proselyting the miserable
Negroes and Indians among them to the Christian Religion, whereby he does
great service to God and his church."[33] Further confidence in him was
attested by an act of the Society in preparing at his request "a Bill to
be offered to Parliament for the more effectual Conversion of the Negro
and other Servants in the Plantations, to compell Owners of Slaves to
cause children to be baptized within 3 months after their birth and to
permit them when come to years of discretion to be instructed in the
Christian Religion on our Lord's day by the Missionaries under whose
ministry they live."[34]

Neau's school suffered greatly in 1712 because of the prejudice engendered
by the declaration that instruction was the main cause of the Negro riot
in that city. For some days Neau dared not show himself, so bitter was the
feeling of the masters. Upon being assured, however, that only one Negro
connected with the school had participated in the affair and that the most
criminal belonged to the masters who were openly opposed to educating
them, the institution was permitted to continue its endeavors, and the
Governor extended to it his protection and recommended that masters have
their slaves instructed.[35] Yet Neau had still to complain thereafter of
the struggle and opposition of the generality of the inhabitants, who were
strongly prejudiced with a horrid motive thinking that Christian knowledge
"would be a means to make the slave more cunning and apter to
wickedness."[36] Not so long thereafter, however, the support of the best
people and officials of the community made his task easier. Neau could say
in 1714 that "if the slaves and domestics in New York were not instructed
it was not his fault."[37] The Governor, the Council, Mayor, the Recorder
and the Chief Justice informed the Society that Neau had performed his
work "to the great advancement of religion in general and the particular
benefit of the free Indians, Negro slaves, and other Heathens in those
parts, with indefatigable zeal and application."[38]

Neau died in 1722. His work was carried on by Mr. Huddlestone, Rev. Mr.
Whitmore, Rev. Mr. Colgan, Rev. R. Charlton, and Rev. S. Auchmutty. From
1732 to 1740 Mr. Charlton baptized 219 slaves and frequently thereafter
the number admitted yearly was from 40 to 60.[39] The great care exercised
in preparing slaves for the church was rewarded by the spiritual knowledge
which in some cases was such as might have put to shame many persons who
had had greater advantages. Rev. Mr. Auchmutty, who served from 1747 to
1764, reported that there was among the Negroes an ever-increasing desire
for instruction and "not one single Black" that had been "admitted by him
to the Holy Communion" had "turned out bad or been in any shape a disgrace
to our holy Profession."[40]

The interest in the enlightenment of Negroes too extended also to other
parts of the colony. In 1737 Rev. Mr. Stoupe wrote of baptizing four black
children at New Rochelle.[41] Mr. Charlton had taken upon himself at New
Windsor the task of instructing these unfortunates before he entered upon
the work in New York City. At Staten Island too he found it both practical
and convenient "to throw into one the classes of his white and black
catechumens."[42] Rev. Charles Taylor, a schoolmaster at that place, kept
a night school "for the instruction of Negroes, and of such as" could not
"be spared from their work in the day time."[43] Rev. J. Sayre, of
Newburgh, followed the same plan of coeducation of the races in each of
the four churches under his charge.[44] Rev. T. Barclay, an earnest worker
among the slaves in Albany, reported in 1714 "a great forwardness" among
them to embrace Christianity "and a readiness to receive
instruction."[45] He found much opposition among certain masters, chief
among whom were Major M. Schuyler and his brother-in-law Petrus
Vandroffen. Sixty years later came the report from Schenectady that there
were still to be found several Negro slaves of whom 11 were sober, serious
communicants.[46]

These missionaries met with more opposition than encouragement in New
England. The Puritan had no serious objection to seeing the Negroes saved,
but when the conversion meant the incorporation of the undesirable class
into the state, then so closely connected with the church, many New
Englanders became silent. This opposition, however, was not effective
everywhere. From Bristol, Rev. J. Usher wrote in 1730 that several Negroes
desired baptism and were able "to render a very good account of the hope
that was in them," but he was forbidden by their masters to comply with
the request. Yet he reported the same year that among others he had in his
congregation "about 30 Negroes and Indians," most of whom joined "in the
public service very decently."[47] At Newtown, where greater opposition
was encountered, Rev. J. Beach seemed to have baptized by 1733 many
Indians and a few Negroes.[48] The Rev. Dr. Cutler, a missionary at
Boston, wrote to the Society in 1737 that among those he had admitted to
his church were four Negro slaves.[49] Endeavoring to do more than to
effect nominal conversions, Doctor Johnson, while at Stratford, had
catechetical lectures during the summer months of 1751, attended by many
Negroes and some Indians, as well as whites, "about 70 or 80 in all." And
said he: "As far as I can find, where the Dissenters have baptized 2, if
not 3 or 4 Negroes or Indians, I have four or five communicants."[50] Dr.
Macsparran conducted at Narragansett a class of 70 Indians and Negroes
whom he frequently catechized and instructed before the regular
service.[51] Rev. J. Honyman, of Newport, had in his congregation more
than 100 Negroes who "constantly attended the Publick Worship."[52]

It appears then that the Negroes were instructed by the missionaries in
all of the colonies except some remote parts of New England, Virginia and
Maryland. The Established Church had workers among the white persons in
those colonies but they did not always direct their attention to the
slaves. This does not mean, however, that the slaves in those parts were
entirely neglected. There were at work other agencies to bring them to
the light. And so on it continued until the outbreak of the Revolution,
when the work of these missionaries was impeded and in most cases brought
to a close.

C. E. PIERRE



FOOTNOTES:


[1] "An Account of the Endeavor Used by the S.P.G.," pp. 6-12; Meade,
"Sermons of Rev. Thomas Bacon," pp. 31 _et seq._

[2] Special Report of U. S. Commission of Ed., 1871, pp. 300 _et seq._

[3] _Journal_, Vol. I, May 30, July 18, and Aug. 15, 1707; Special Report
of the U. S. Com. of Ed., 1871, p. 363.

[4] Pascoe, "Classified Digest of the Records of the Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts," p. 15.

[5] Ibid., 15.

[6] In 1713 this churchman wrote his supporters:

     "As I am a minister of Christ and of the Church of England, and a
     Missionary of the most Christian Society in the whole world, I think
     it my indispensable and special duty to do all that in me lies to
     promote the conversion and salvation of the poor heathens here, and
     more especially of the Negro and Indian slaves in my own parish,
     which I hope I can truly say I have been sincerely and earnestly
     endeavoring ever since I was a minister here where there are many
     Negro and Indian slaves in a most pitifull deplorable and perishing
     condition tho' little pitied by many of their masters and their
     conversion and salvation little desired and endeavored by them. If
     the masters were but good Christians themselves and would but
     concurre with the ministers, we should then have good hopes of the
     conversion and salvation at least of some of their Negro and Indian
     slaves. But too many of them rather oppose than concurr with us and
     are angry with us, I am sure I may say with me for endeavouring as
     much as I doe the conversion of their slaves.... I cannot but honour
     Madame Haigue.... In my parish a very considerable number of Negroes
     ... were very loose and wicked and little inclined to Christianity
     before her coming among them I can't but honor her so much ... as to
     acquaint the Society with the extraordinary pains this gentle woman
     and one Madm. Edwards, that came with her, have taken to instruct
     those negroes in the principles of the Christian Religion and to
     instruct and reform them; And the wonderful successe they have met
     with, in about a half a year's time in this great and good work. Upon
     these gentle women's desiring me to come and examine these negroes
     ... I went and among other things I asked them, Who Christ was. They
     readily answered. He is the Son of God and Saviour of the world and
     told me that they embraced Him with all their hearts as such, and I
     desired them to rehearse the Apostles' Creed, and the Ten
     Commandments and the Lord's Prayer, which they did very distinctly
     and perfectly. 14 of them gave me so great satisfaction, and were so
     very desirous to be baptized, that I thought it my duty to baptize
     them and therefore I baptized these 14 last Lord's Day. And I doubt
     not but these gentlewomen will prepare the rest of them for Baptism
     in a short Time." _Journal_, Vol. II, Oct. 6, 1713; A. Mss., Vol.
     VIII, pp. 356-7; Pascoe, "Digest of Records of S.P.G.," p. 15.

[7] _Journal_, II, 328; XIV, 48; XX, 132-133; XVI, 165-166.

[8] _Proceedings of the S.P.G._, 1723, p. 46.

[9] Pascoe, "Digest of the Records of the S.P.G.," 16.

[10] Meriwether, "Education in South Carolina," p. 123; McCrady, "South
Carolina," etc., p. 246; Dalcho, "An Historical Account of the Protestant
Episcopal Church in South Carolina," pp. 156, 157, 164.

[11] Pascoe, "Digest of the Records of the S.P.G.," p. 22.

[12] Ibid., 22.

[13] Ibid., 23.

[14] _Proceedings of the S.P.G._, 1723, p. 47.

[15] Pascoe, "Digest of the Records of the S.P.G.," p. 22.

[16] Smyth, "Works of Franklin," V, 431.

[17] Wickersham, "History of Education in Pennsylvania," p. 249.

[18] Bassett, "Slavery and Servitude in North Carolina," p. 226.

[19] _Journal_, Vol. XI, pp. 305 and 311.

[20] Pascoe, "Digest of the Records of the S.P.G.," p. 28.

[21] _Journal_, Vol. XVII, p. 97.

[22] Ibid., II, 251.

[23] _Journal_, IX, 87.

[24] _Proceedings of the S.P.G._, 1723, p. 47.

[25] Ibid., 1737, 50.

[26] Ibid., 1737, p. 41.

[26a] Pennsylvania Magazine of History, XXIV, 467, 469.

[27] Pascoe, "Digest of the Records of the S.P.G.," p. 38.

[28] Ibid., 39.

[29] _Proceedings of the S.P.G._, 1736.

[30] Pascoe, "Digest of the Records of the S.P.G.," 55.

[31] Ibid., 56.

[32] Ibid., 57, and "Special Report of U.S. Com. of Ed.," 1871, 362;
and "An Account of the Endeavors Used by the S.P.G.," pp. 6-12.

[33] Pascoe, "Digest of the Records of the S.P.G.," p. 58.

[34] Ibid., _Journal_, I, Oct. 20, 1710.

[35] "Special Report of U.S. Com. of Ed.," 1871, p. 362.

[36] Pascoe, "Digest, etc.," p. 59.

[37] _Journal_, III, Oct. 15, 1714.

[38] Humphreys, "Historical Account of the S.P.G.," 243.

[39] Pascoe, "Digest, etc.," p. 65.

[40] Ibid., 66.

[41] _Proceedings of the S.P.G._, 1737.

[42] Pascoe, "Digest, etc.," p. 68.

[43] _Proceedings of the S.P.G._, 1723, p. 50.

[44] _Journal_, XIX, 452-453.

[45] Ibid., January 21, 1715.

[46] Pascoe, "Digest of the Records of the S.P.G.," p. 67.

[47] Ibid., 46.

[48] Ibid., 47.

[49] _Proceedings of the S.P.G._, 1737 and 1738, p. 39.

[50] Ibid., p. 40.

[51] _Proceedings of the S.P.G._, 1723, 51.

[52] Ibid., 1723, p. 52.




PEOPLE OF COLOR IN LOUISIANA



PART I


The title of a possible discussion of the Negro in Louisiana presents
difficulties, for there is no such word as Negro permissible in speaking of
this State. The history of the State is filled with attempts to define,
sometimes at the point of the sword, oftenest in civil or criminal courts,
the meaning of the word Negro. By common consent, it came to mean in
Louisiana, prior to 1865, slave, and after the war, those whose complexions
were noticeably dark. As Grace King so delightfully puts it, "The
pure-blooded African was never called colored, but always Negro." The _gens
de couleur_, colored people, were always a class apart, separated from and
superior to the Negroes, ennobled were it only by one drop of white blood
in their veins. The caste seems to have existed from the first introduction
of slaves. To the whites, all Africans who were not of pure blood were
_gens de couleur_. Among themselves, however, there were jealous and
fiercely-guarded distinctions: "griffes, briqués, mulattoes, quadroons,
octoroons, each term meaning one degree's further transfiguration toward
the Caucasian standard of physical perfection."[1]

Negro slavery in Louisiana seems to have been early influenced by the
policy of the Spanish colonies. De las Casas, an apostle to the Indians,
exclaimed against the slavery of the Indians and finding his efforts of no
avail proposed to Charles V in 1517 the slavery of the Africans as a
substitute.[2] The Spaniards refused at first to import slaves from Africa,
but later agreed to the proposition and employed other nations to traffic
in them.[3] Louisiana learned from the Spanish colonies her lessons of
this traffic, took over certain parts of the slave regulations and imported
bondmen from the Spanish West Indies. Others brought thither were Congo,
Banbara, Yaloff, and Mandingo slaves.[4]

People of color were introduced into Louisiana early in the eighteenth
century. In 1708, according to the historian, Gayarré, the little colony of
Louisiana, at the point on the Gulf of Mexico now known as Biloxi, in the
present State of Mississippi, had been in existence nine years. In 1708,
the population of the colony did not exceed 279 persons. The land about
this region is particularly sterile, and the colonists were little disposed
to undertake the laborious task of tilling the soil. Indian slavery was
attempted but found unprofitable and exceedingly precarious. So Bienville,
lacking the sympathy of De las Casas for the Indians, wrote his government
to obtain the authorization of exchanging Negroes for Indians with the
French West Indian islands. "We shall give," he said, "three Indians for
two Negroes. The Indians, when in the islands, will not be able to run
away, the country being unknown to them, and the Negroes will not dare to
become fugitives in Louisiana, because the Indians would kill them."[5]

Bienville's suggestion seems not to have met with a very favorable
reception. Yet, in 1712, the King of France granted to Anthony Crozat the
exclusive privilege for fifteen years of trading in all that immense
territory which, with its undefined limits, France claimed as Louisiana.
Among other privileges granted Crozat were those of sending, once a year, a
ship to Africa for Negroes.[6] When the first came, is not known, but in
1713 twenty of these Negro slaves from Africa are recorded in the census of
the little colony on the Mississippi.[7]

In 1717 John Law flashed meteor-wise across the world with his huge scheme
to finance France out of difficulty with his Mississippi Bubble. Among
other considerations mentioned in the charter for twenty-five years, which
he obtained from the gullible French government, was the stipulation that
before the expiration of the charter, he must transport to Louisiana six
thousand white persons, and three thousand Negroes, not to be brought from
another French colony. These slaves, so said the charter, were to be sold
to those inhabitants who had been two years in the colony for one half cash
and the balance on one year's credit. The new inhabitants had one or two
years' credit granted them.[8] In the first year, the Law Company
transported from Africa one thousand slaves, in 1720 five hundred, the same
number the next March, and by 1721 the pages of legal enactments in the
West Indies were being ransacked for precedents in dealing with this
strange population. But of all these slaves who came to the colony by June,
1721, but six hundred remained. Many had died, some had been exported. In
1722, therefore, the Mississippi Company was under constraint to pass an
edict prohibiting the inhabitants of Louisiana from selling their slaves
for transportation out of the colony, to the Spaniards, or to any other
foreign nation under the penalty of the fine of a thousand livres and the
confiscation of the Negroes.[9]

But already the curse of slavery had begun to show its effects. The new
colony was not immoral; it may best be described as unmoral. Indolence on
the part of the masters was physical, mental and moral. The slave
population began to lighten in color, and increase out of all proportion to
the importation and natural breeding among themselves. La Harpe comments in
1724 upon the astonishing diminution of the white population and the
astounding increase of the colored population.[10] Something was
undoubtedly wrong, according to the Caucasian standard, and it has remained
wrong to our own day.[11] The person of color was now, in Louisiana, a
part of its social system, a creature to be legislated for and against, a
person lending his dark shade to temper the inartistic complexion of his
white master. Now he began to make history, and just as the trail of his
color persisted in the complexion of Louisiana, so the trail of his
personal influence continued in the history of the colony, the territory
and the State.

Bienville, the man of far-reaching vision, saw the danger menacing the
colony, and before his recall and disgrace before the French court, he
published, in 1724, the famous Black Code.[12] This code followed the
order of that of the West Indies but contains some provisions to meet
local needs. The legal status of the slave was that of movable property of
his master. Children born of Negro parents followed the condition of their
mother. Slaves were forbidden to carry weapons. Slaves of different
masters could not assemble in crowds by day or night. They were not
permitted to sell "commodities, provisions, or produce" without permission
from their masters, and had no property which did not belong to their
masters. Neither free-born blacks nor slaves were allowed to receive gifts
from whites. They could not exercise such public functions as arbitrator
or expert, could not be partners to civil or criminal suits, could not
give testimony except in default of white people, and could never testify
against their masters. If a slave struck his master or one of the family
so as to produce a bruise or shedding blood in the face, he had to be put
to death. Any runaway slave who continued to be so from the day his master
"denounced" him suffered the penalty of having his ears cut off and being
branded on his shoulder with a fleur-de-lis. For a second offence the
penalty was to hamstring the fugitive and brand him on the other shoulder.
For the third such offence he suffered death. Freed or free-born Negroes
who gave refuge to fugitive slaves had to pay 30 livres for each day of
retention and other free persons 10 livres a day. If the freed or
free-born Negroes were not able to pay the fine, they could be reduced to
the condition of slaves and sold as such.

The slaves were socially ostracized. Marriage of whites with slaves was
forbidden, as was also the concubinage of whites and manumitted or
free-born blacks with slaves. The consent of the parents of a slave to his
marriage was not required. That of the master was sufficient, but a slave
could not be forced to marry against his will.

There were, however, somewhat favorable provisions which made this code
seem a little less rigorous. The slaves had to be well fed and the masters
could not force them to provide for themselves by working for their own
account certain days of the week and slaves could give information against
their owners, if not properly fed or clothed. Disabled slaves had to be
sent to the hospital. Husbands, wives, and their children under the age of
puberty could not be seized and sold separately when belonging to the same
master. The code forbade the application of the rack to slaves, under any
pretext, on private authority, or mutilation of a limb, under penalty of
confiscation of the slave and criminal prosecution of the master. The
master was allowed, however, to have his slave put in irons and whipped
with rods or ropes. The code commanded officers or justices to prosecute
masters and overseers who should kill or mutilate slaves, and to punish the
murder according to the atrocity of the circumstance.

Other provisions were still more favorable. The slaves had to be instructed
in the Catholic religion. Slaves appointed by their masters as tutors to
their children were held set free. Moreover, manumitted slaves enjoyed the
same rights, privileges and immunities that were enjoyed by those born
free. "It is our pleasure," reads the document, "that their merit in having
acquired their freedom shall produce in their favor, not only with regard
to their persons, but also to their property, the same effects that our
other subjects derive from the happy circumstance of their having been born
free."[13]

From the first appearance of the _gens de couleur_ in the colony of
Louisiana dates the class, the _gens de couleur libres_. The record of
the legal tangles which resulted from the attempts to define this race in
Louisiana is most interesting. Up to 1671, all Creoles, Mulattoes, free
Negroes, etc., paid a capitation tax. In February 12 of that year, M. de
Baas, Governor-General of Martinique, issued an order exempting the
Creoles. Those Mulattoes who were also designated as Creoles claimed the
same exemption and resisted paying the tax. M. Patoulet, Intendent,
rendered a decision in 1683 and said: "The Mulattoes and free Negroes
claimed to be exempt from the capitation tax: I have made them pay without
difficulty. I decide that those Mulattoes born in vice should not receive
the exemption, and that for the free Negro, the master could give him
freedom but could not give him the exemption that attaches to the whites
originally from France."[14] The next year, the Mulattoes refused to pay,
and the successor of Minister Patoulet, M. Michel Begou, asked for a law to
compel them.[15] In 1696, an agreement was reached exempting the Mulattoes
and Creoles, leaving only the free black subject to the tax.[16] But in
1712, a M. Robert, in a decision on a subject, again included the
Mulattoes, without, however, mentioning the Creoles, so that only the free
Negroes and Mulattoes paid.[17] Thus they were held as a class apart. A
free Negro woman, Magdelaine Debern, further contested the matter, and in
1724, in the colony of Louisiana, won a decision exempting free Negroes and
Mulattoes, and again placing them on the same footing with the Creole. The
Creoles had a decided advantage, however, because through the favor of
those in authority, there was always a disposition to exalt them.[18]

It is in the definition of the word Creole that another great difficulty
arises. The native white Louisianian will tell you that a Creole is a white
man, whose ancestors contain some French or Spanish blood in their veins.
But he will be disputed by others, who will gravely tell you that Creoles
are to be found only in the lower Delta lands of the state, that there are
no Creoles north of New Orleans; and will raise their hands in horror at
the idea of being confused with the "Cajans," the descendants of those Nova
Scotians whom Longfellow immortalized in Evangeline. Sifting down the mass
of conflicting definitions, it appears that to a Caucasian, a Creole is a
native of the lower parishes of Louisiana, in whose veins some traces of
Spanish, West Indian or French blood runs.[19] The Caucasian will shudder
with horror at the idea of including a person of color in the definition,
and the person of color will retort with his definition that a Creole is a
native of Louisiana, in whose blood runs mixed strains of everything
un-American, with the African strain slightly apparent. The true Creole is
like the famous gumbo of the state, a little bit of everything, making a
whole, delightfully flavored, quite distinctive, and wholly unique.

From 1724 to the present time, frequent discussions as to the proper name
by which to designate this very important portion of the population of
Louisiana waged more or less acrimoniously.[20] It was this Creole element
who in 1763 obtained a decision from Louis XV that all mixed bloods who
could claim descent from an Indian ancestor in addition to a white
outranked those mixed bloods who had only white and African ancestors.[21]
In Jamaica, in 1733, there was passed a law that every person who could
show that he was three degrees removed from a Negro ancestor should be
regarded as belonging to the white race, and could sit as a member of the
Jamaica Assembly.[22] In Barbadoes, any person who had a white ancestor
could vote. These laws were quoted in Louisiana and influenced legislation
there.[23]

Gov. Perier succeeded Bienville as Governor of Louisiana. His task was not
a light one; the colony staggered under "terror of attack from the Indians,
sudden alarms, false hopes, anxious suspense, militia levies, colonial
paper, instead of good money, industrial stagnation, the care of homeless
refugees, and worst of all, the restiveness of the slaves. The bad effects
of slave-holding began to show themselves." Many of the slaves had been
taken in war, and were fierce and implacable. Some were of that fiercest of
African tribes, the Banbaras. A friendliness, born of common hatred and
despair, began to show itself between the colored people and the fierce
Choctaw Indians surrounding the colony, when Gov. Perier planned a
master-stroke of diplomacy. Just above New Orleans lived a small tribe of
Indians, the Chouchas, who, not particularly harmful in themselves, had
succeeded in inspiring the nervous inhabitants of the city with abject
fear. Perier armed a band of slaves in 1729 and sent them to the Chouchas
with instructions to exterminate the tribe. They did their work with an
ease and dispatch that should have been a warning to their white masters.
In reporting the success of his plan Perier said: "The Negroes executed
their mission with as much promptitude as secrecy. This lesson taught them
by our Negroes, kept in check all the nations higher up the river."[24]
Thus, by one stroke the wily Governor had intimidated the tribes of
Indians, allayed the nervous fears of New Orleans, and effected a state of
hostility between the Indians and the Africans, who were beginning to be
entirely too friendly with each other. Then Perier used the slaves to make
the entrenchments about the city. Thus we have the first instance of the
arming of the Negro in Louisiana for the defense of the colony. On the 15th
of January, 1730, Gov. Perier sent a boat containing twenty white men and
six Africans to carry ammunition to the Illinois settlement up the
Mississippi river whence tales of massacre and cruelty by the Indians
filtered down.[25]

The arming of the slaves in defense of the whites gave impetus to the
struggle for their own freedom. In the massacre of the French by the
Natchez, at the village of that name, over three hundred women and slaves
were kept as prisoners, and in January of the same year which witnessed the
massacre of the Chouchas, the French surprised the Natchez Indians with the
intention of recovering their women and slaves, and avenging the death of
their comrades. Some of the Africans who had been promised their freedom if
they allied themselves with the Natchez Indians, fought against their
erstwhile masters, others were loyal, and helped the French. The battle
became an issue, as it were, between the slaves. Over one hundred of them
were recovered from the Indians.[26]

The first tribute we have paid to the black man as a soldier in Louisiana
was paid by Gov. Perier in this war in his dispatch to the French
government. "Fifteen negroes," he wrote, "in whose hands we had put
weapons, performed prodigies of valor. If the blacks did not cost so much,
and if their labors were not so necessary to the colony, it would be better
to turn them into soldiers, and to dismiss those we have, who are so bad
and so cowardly that they seem to have been manufactured purposely for this
colony."[27]

But the tiger had tasted blood. Perier's cruel logic was reactionary. Since
he had used blacks to murder Indians in order to make bad blood between the
races, the Indians retaliated by using blacks to murder white men. In
August of that same fateful year, the Chickasaws, who had given asylum to
the despoiled Natchez in order to curb the encroachments of the white men,
stirred the black slaves to revolt. We have noted before the prevalence of
the Banbara Negroes in the colony. It was they who planned the rebellion.
Their plan was, after having butchered the whites, to establish a Banbara
colony, keeping as slaves for themselves all blacks not of their nation.
The conspiracy was discovered by the hints of a woman in the revolt before
it had time to ripen, and the head of the revolt, a powerful black named
Samba with eight of his confederates was broken on the wheel, and the woman
hanged.[28]

Gov. Perier's administration did not lack interest. The next year, in 1731,
we find him still struggling with his old enemies, the Natchez. His
dispatches mention that a crew under one De Coulanges, with Indians and
free blacks had been massacred by the Indians. One dispatch has the
greatest interest for us, because of the expression "free blacks"[29] used.
Here is one of the great mysteries of the person of color in Louisiana.
Whence the free black? We are told explicitly that up to this time all
Negroes imported into Louisiana were slaves from Africa, for the West
Indian migration did not occur until a half century later. This dispatch
from Gov. Perier recalls articles in the Black Code of 1724, where explicit
directions are given for the disposition of the children of free blacks.
In the regulations of police under the governorship of the Marquis of
Vandreuil, 1750, there is an article regulating the attitude of free
Negroes and Negresses toward slaves. Here is the very beginning of that
aristocracy of freedom so fiercely and jealously guarded until this day, a
free person of color being set as far above his slave fellows as the white
man sets himself above the person of color. Three explanations for this
aristocracy seem highly probable: Some slaves might have been freed by
their masters because of valor on the battlefield, others by buying their
freedom in terms of money, and not a few slave women by their owners
because of their personal attractions. It makes little difference in this
story which of the three or whether all of the three were contributors to
the rise of this new class. It existed as early as 1724, twelve years after
the first recorded slave importation. It was in 1766 that some Acadians,
complaining of their treatment to the Governor Ulloa, represented that
Negroes were freemen while they were slaves.

Bienville returned to the colony as its governor in 1733, after an absence
of eight years, and it is recorded that in 1735, when he reviewed his
troops near Mobile while making preparations for an Indian war, he found
that his army from New Orleans consisted of five hundred and forty-four
white men, excluding the officers, and forty-five Negroes commanded by free
blacks.[30] Here we note free black officers of Negro troops in 1735. If
not actually the first regular Negro troops to appear in what is now the
United States, they were certainly the first to be commanded by Negro
officers.

The engagement with the Choctaw Indians was not altogether successful for
the French. Disaster succeeded disaster, and the day closed with the French
army deeply humiliated, and making a retreat as dignified as possible under
the circumstances. A number of the French officers, as Gayarré tells us,
stood under the shade of a gigantic oak discussing the defeat, and with
them Simon, a free black, the commander of the troop of Negroes. He was
deeply vexed because his troops had not stood fire, and expressed himself
with so much freedom and disgust, that the French officers kept bantering
him without mercy at the timidity of his soldiers, soothing their own
wounded pride by laughing at his mortification. Stung to the heart, Simon
finally exclaimed wrathfully, "A Negro is as brave as anybody and I will
show it to you." Seizing a rope which was dangling from one of the tents,
he rushed headlong toward one of the horses which were quietly slaking
their thirst under the protection of the Indian muskets. To reach a white
mare, to jump on her back with the agility of a tiger, and to twist around
her head and mouth the rope with which to control her, was the affair of an
instant. But that instant was enough for the apparently sleeping Indian
village to show itself awake, and to flash forth into a hail of bullets.
Away dashed Simon toward the Indian village, and back to the French camp
where he arrived safe amid the cheering acclamations of the troops, and
without having received a wound from the shots of the enemy.[31] This feat
silenced at once the jests of the French officers, of which Simon thought
himself the victim.[32]

The beginning of the Revolutionary war in 1776 found Louisiana a Spanish
province and the natives of the colony beginning to tolerate and even to
like their erstwhile hated Spanish masters. Don Bernardo de Galvez was
governor of the colony. His administration has a peculiar interest to us,
because it was during his rule that the Court of Madrid, fully alive to the
policy of extending the agriculture of Louisiana, issued a decree
permitting the introduction of Negroes into Louisiana by French vessels,
from whatever ports they might come.[33] This was the beginning of the
rapid migration from the West Indian islands.

While Andrew Jackson was still a child, Louisiana had a deliverer from the
British in the person of this brave Gov. Galvez. The strategical importance
of the Mississippi River and of New Orleans was at once apparent to the
British commanders, and Louisiana, being neutral territory, offered a most
fascinating field of operation. Galvez, in July, 1777, had secured
declaration of neutrality from the 25,000 or more Creeks, Choctaws and
Chickasaws, but even this did not seem to satisfy the combatants. New
Orleans was at the mercy of first the American troops and then the British.
The mediation of Spain between France and England having been rejected in
the courts of Europe, Spain decided to join France in the struggle against
Great Britain. So on May 8, 1779, Spain formally declared war against Great
Britain, and on July 8 authorized all Spanish subjects in America to take
their share in the hostilities against the English. No news could be more
welcome to the dashing young Galvez, to whom a policy of neutrality was
decidedly distasteful. He decided to forestall the attack on New Orleans,
which he had learned was to be made by the British, by attacking first, and
on August 26 gathered his little army together. From New Orleans, as
Gayarré tells, were 170 veteran soldiers, 330 recruits, 20 carabiniers, 60
militiamen, and 80 free blacks and mulattoes. On the way up the river, they
were reinforced by 600 men from the coast of "every condition and color,"
besides 160 Indians.[34]

On the march, the colored men and Indians were ordered to keep ahead of the
main body of troops, at a distance of about three quarters of a mile, and
closely to reconnoitre the woods. In capturing the two forts of Baton Rouge
and Natchez, which were held by the British, Galvez found a considerable
number of Negro slaves who had been armed by the British. Many of these
he set free. In his dispatch to his government at Madrid, Galvez reports
that the companies of free blacks and mulattoes, who had been employed in
all the false attacks, and who, as scouts and skirmishers, had proved
exceedingly useful, behaved on all occasions with as much valor and
generosity as the white soldiers.[35] But not alone were the exploits of
Galvez's little army celebrated in history. Poetry added her laurel
wreath to its crown. Julien Poydras de Lalande, known to all Louisianians
as Poydras, celebrated the victory in a poem, "The God of the Mississippi,"
wherein the brave deeds of the army, white and colored, are hailed in
French verse, lame and halting, it may be in places, but impartial in
its tribute.

The close of the Revolutionary war found the colony partially paralyzed as
to industry. During the Spanish domination the indigo industry declined,
tobacco was difficult to raise, and the production of cotton was not then
profitable. Sugar raising was the only other industry to which they could
turn. In 1751 the Jesuit fathers had received their first seed, or rather
layers, from Santo Domingo and from that time sugar-cane had been grown
with more or less success. But it was a strictly local industry. The
Louisianians were poor sugar-makers. The stuff was badly granulated and
very moist, and when in 1765 an effort was made to export some of the sugar
to France, it was so wet that half of the cargo leaked out of the ship
before it could make port. It was just at this psychological moment, in
1791 to 1794, when the planters of the lower Delta saw ruin staring them in
the face, that there came to the rescue of the colony a man of color, one
of the refugees from Santo Domingo, where the blacks had risen in 1791.
From the failure of this abortive attempt to emulate the spirit of the
white man, refugees flew in every direction, and Louisiana welcomed them,
if not exactly with open arms, at least with more indifference than other
colonies. And these black refugees were her saviors. For they had been
prosperous sugar-makers, and the efforts to make marketable sugar in
Louisiana, which had ceased for nearly twenty-five years, were revived. Two
Spaniards, Mendez and Solis, erected on the outskirts of New Orleans, the
one a distillery, the other a battery of sugar-kettles, and manufactured
rum and syrup. Still, the efforts were not entirely successful, until
Etienne de Boré appeared. Face to face with ruin because of the failure of
the indigo crop, he staked his all on the granulation of sugar. He enlisted
the services of these successful Santo Dominicans, and went to work. In all
American history there can be fewer scenes more dramatic than the one
described by careful historians of Louisiana, the day when the final test
was made and there was passed around the electrical word, "It
granulates!"[36]

That year de Boré marketed $12,000 worth of super or sugar. The agriculture
of the Delta was revolutionized; seven years afterwards New Orleans
marketed 2,000,000 gallons of rum, 250,000 gallons of molasses, and
5,000,000 pounds of sugar. It was the beginning of the commercial
importance of one of the most progressive cities in the country.
Imagination refuses to picture what would have been the case but for the
refugees from San Domingo.

But the same revolution which gave to Louisiana its prestige to the
commercial world, almost starved the province to death. In the year 1791,
the trade, which had flourished briskly between Santo Domingo and New
Orleans, was closed because of the uprising, and but for Philadelphia,
famine would have decimated the city. 1,000 barrels of flour were sent in
haste to the starving city by the good Quakers of Philadelphia. The members
of the Cabildo, the local council, prohibited the introduction of people of
color from Santo Domingo, fearing the dangerous ideas of the brotherhood of
man. But it was too late. The news of the success of the slaves in Santo
Domingo, and the success of the French Revolution, says Gayarré, had
penetrated into the most remote cabins of Louisiana, and in April, 1795, on
the plantation of the same Poydras who had sung the glory of the army of
Galvez, a conspiracy was formed for a general uprising of the slaves
throughout the parish of Pointe Coupée. The leaders were three white men.
The conspiracy failed because one of the leaders was incensed at his advice
not being heeded and through his wife the authorities were notified. A
struggle ensued, and the conspiracy was strangled in its infancy by the
trial and execution of the slaves most concerned in the insurrection. The
three white men were exiled from the colony.[37] This finally ended the
importation of slaves from the West Indies.

ALICE DUNBAR-NELSON



FOOTNOTES:


[1] King, "New Orleans, the Place and the People during the Ancien Regime,"
333.

[2] De las Casas, "Historia, General," IV, 380.

[3] Herrera, "Historia General," dec. IV, libro II; dec. V, libro II; dec.
VII, libro IV.

[4] French, "Historical Collections of Louisiana," Part V, 119 et seq.

[5] Gayarré, "History of Louisiana," 4th Edition, I, 242, 254.

[6] French, "Historical Collections of Louisiana," Part III, p. 42.

[7] Gayarré, "History of Louisiana," I, 102.

[8] Gayarré, "History of Louisiana," I, 242, 454.

[9] Ibid., I, 366.

[10] Ibid., I, 365-366.

[11] In 1900 a writer in Pearson's Magazine in discussing race mixture in
early Louisiana made some startling statements as to the results of the
miscegenation of these stocks during the colonial period.

[12] Code Noir, 1724.

[13] Code Noir.

[14] Lebeau, De la condition des gens de couleur libres sous l'ancien
régime, p. 49.

[15] Ibid., 49.

[16] Ibid., 50.

[17] Ibid., 51.

[18] In the treaty of 1803 between the newly acquired territory of
Louisiana and the government of the United States, they and all mixed
bloods were granted full citizenship.

[19] Most writers of our day adhere to this definition. See Grace King,
"New Orleans, etc.," and Gayarré, "History of Louisiana."

[20] Lebeau, De la condition des gens de couleur libres sous l'ancien
régime, passim.

[21] Ibid., 60.

[22] Laws of Jamaica.

[23] Litigation on the subject of the definition of the free person of
color reached its climax in the year of our Lord, 1909, when Judge Frank D.
Chretien defined the word Negro as differentiated from person of color as
used in Louisiana. The case, as it was argued in court, was briefly this.
It was charged that one Treadway, a white man, was living in illegal
relations with an octoroon, Josephine Lightell. The District Attorney
claimed that any one having a trace of African blood in his veins, however
slight, should be classed as a Negro. Counsel for the defence had taken the
position that Josephine Lightell had so little Negro blood in her veins
that she could not be classed as one. Judge Chretien held in his ruling
that local opinion, custom and sentiment had previously agreed in holding
that the black, and not the white blood settled the ethnological status of
each person and that an octoroon, no less than a quadroon and a mulatto,
had been considered a Negro. But he held that if the Caucasian wished to be
considered the superior race, and that if his blood be considered the
superior element in the infusion, then the Caucasian and not the Negro
blood must determine the status of a person. The case went to the Supreme
Court of Louisiana on an appeal from the decision of Judge Chretien who
held that a mulatto is not a Negro in legal parlance. The Supreme Court in
a decision handed down April 25, 1910, sustained the view of Judge
Chretien. This decision was an interpretation of an act of 1908 which set
forth a definition of the word Negro.--See State vs. Treadway, 126
Louisiana, 300.

[24] Gayarré, "History of Louisiana," I, 444, 448.

[25] Ibid., I, 365, 442, 454.

[26] Ibid., I, 448.

[27] Gayarré, "History of Louisiana," I, 435.

[28] Ibid., 440.

[29] Ibid., I, 444.

[30] Dumont, "Memoires Historiques sur la Louisiane," 225, 226.

[31] Another interesting story is related by Dumont, a historian of
     Louisiana, who published a work in 1753. The colony was then under
     the administration of Gov. Kerlerec, whose opinion of colonial
     courage was not very high. The colony was without an executioner, and
     no white man could be found who would be willing to accept the
     office. It was decided finally by the council to force it upon a
     Negro blacksmith belonging to the Company of the Indies, named
     Jeannot, renowned for his nerve and strength. He was summoned and
     told that he was to be appointed executioner and made a free man at
     the same time. The stalwart fellow started back in anguish and
     horror, "What! cut off the heads of people who have never done me any
     harm?" He prayed, he wept, but saw at last that there was no escape
     from the inflexible will of his masters. "Very well," he said, rising
     from his knees, "wait a moment." He ran to his cabin, seized a
     hatchet with his left hand, laid his right hand on a block of wood
     and cut it off. Returning, without a word he exhibited the bloody
     stump to the gentlemen of the council. With one cry, it is said, they
     sprang to his relief, and his freedom was given him.--Dumont,
     "Memoires Historiques sur la Louisiane," 244, 246.

     The story is also told by Grace King of one slave, an excellent cook,
     who had once served a French governor. When, in one of her periodic
     transitions from one government to another, Louisiana became the
     property of Spain, the "Cruel" O'Reilly was made governor of the
     colony. He was execrated as were all things sent by Spain or
     pertaining to Spanish rule. However, having heard of the fame of the
     Negro cook, he sent for him. "You belong now," said he, "to the king
     of Spain, and until you are sold, I shall take you into my service."
     "Do not dare it;" answered the slave, "you killed my master, and I
     would poison you." O'Reilly dismissed him unpunished.--Gayarré,
     "History of Louisiana," II, 344.

[32] Gayarré, "History of Louisiana," I, 480.

[33] Ibid., III, 108.

[34] Gayarré, "History of Louisiana," III, 108.

[35] Ibid., III, 126-132.

[36] Gayarré, "History of Louisiana," III, 348.

[37] Gayarré, "History of Louisiana," III, 354.




THE DEFEAT OF THE SECESSIONISTS IN KENTUCKY IN 1861



The treatment of the Border States in the crisis of 1861 has received from
historians the same attention as Saxony, the objective point between
Prussia and Austria in the Seven Years' War. Directing special attention
to Kentucky requires some explanation. The possession of this commonwealth
was for several reasons more important than that of some other border
States. The transportation facilities afforded by the Cumberland and
Tennessee rivers furnished the key to carrying out the plan to divide the
South. The possession of the State by the Confederates was of strategic
importance for the invasion of the North too for the reason that the
Ordinance of 1787 had been so interpreted as to fix the boundary of
Kentucky on the north side of the Ohio River. It was, moreover, the native
State of Abraham Lincoln and it was important to have that commonwealth
support this untrained backwoodsman whom most statesmen considered
incapable of administering the affairs of the nation.

In the beginning, the situation was not the least encouraging to the
Unionists. The Breckenridge Democrats had carried the State in 1859 on a
platform favoring Southern rights. Their chief spokesman had become such a
defender of their faith that in 1860 he was chosen to lead the radically
proslavery party which had come to the point of so doubting the orthodoxy
of their Northern adherents as to deem it advisable to separate from
them. Unalterably in favor of the rights of the slave States, the leaders
of this persuasion had expressed themselves in terms that could not be
misunderstood.[1] One of their spokesmen Humphrey Marshall contended
that slavery is not a creature of municipal law. He believed that the
institution followed the flag. He wanted Union but only with that
equality which involved the recognition of the right of property in slaves
everywhere.[2] Speaking in the House of Representatives on January 30,
1861, John W. Stephenson, another of this faction, said on the same topic:
"Equality underlaid the whole Federal structure, and protection to persons
and property within the Federal jurisdiction, was the price of allegiance
of the States to such General Government, as delegated and prescribed in
the constitution. Wherever the American banner floated upon the seas or
land, all beneath it was entitled to the protection of the flag."[3]

On this question, their leader John C. Breckenridge, "a believer in the old
Democratic creed and a supporter of the South and her institutions,"[4]
took the same, if not higher ground. Referring to the Dred Scott decision
in a speech delivered in Ashland, Kentucky, in 1859, Breckenridge said:
"After this decision we had arrived at a point where we might reasonably
expect tranquillity and peace. The equality of rights and property of all
the states in the common Territory, having been stamped by the seal of
judicial authority, all good citizens might well acquiesce."[5] When the
Southern States seceded because of the threatened infringement of these
rights, the President of the United States, according to Breckenridge, had
no right to enlist men and no right to blockade the Southern ports, in
short, no right to wage war on these commonwealths. Lincoln had thus
overthrown constitutional government. If he was trying to preserve the
Union, he must do it in a constitutional way. Breckenridge wanted the Union
but contended that it would be no good without the Constitution.[6] To sum
up, as Southern Democrats they had helped to disrupt the Charleston
Convention, and developing into a strict Southern rights party, they had
through bolting made possible the election of Abraham Lincoln. They then
finally joined the States' rights party, which, boldly declaring the
election of Lincoln a just cause for the dissolution of the Union,
undertook to secede.[7]

With such radical leaders in control it might seem strange that, in a
State formed from an aristocratic commonwealth like Virginia and extending
into the fertile region of the Mississippi, these protagonists of States'
rights did not turn Kentucky over to the Confederacy. Exactly what part
did the rich slaveholders play during this crisis when the State was
called upon to decide the question between the North and South? What was
the position of such influential men as James B. Clay, George B. Hodge,
Cerro Gordo Williams, T. P. Porter, Roger W. Hansom, and S. B. Buckner?[8]

Other representative citizens, however, had been equally outspoken in
favor of the Union. Voicing the sentiment of the Union party, which on the
eighth of January met in Louisville to take steps to support the Federal
Government, Bell said: "Let us offer everything we can to avert the
torrent of evil, but let us always stand ready to support our rights in
the Union: the State is deeply and devotedly attached to the Union."[9]
Garrett Davis inquired: "Will you preserve the Union or rush into the
vortex of revolution under the name of secession?"[10] J. T. Boyle said in
the same convention that there could be no benefit or advantage, no civil
or political rights, no interest of any kind whatever, secured by
government in the Southern Confederacy which the people did not then enjoy
in the "blessed Union formed by our fathers." In his opinion, it was the
duty of Kentuckians "to stand by the Star Spangled Banner and cling to the
Union."[11] Some of the most influential newspapers were fearlessly
advocating the Union cause. Among others were the Frankfort _Daily
Commonwealth_, the Louisville _Courier_ and the _Democrat_.

Exactly what support these leaders of the differing factions would obtain
was determined by forces for centuries at work in that State. Southerners
who thought that, because Kentucky was a slave State it should go with the
South, had failed to take these causes into consideration. In the first
place, not every slaveholder was an ardent proslavery agitator. There were
masters who like Henry Clay considered slavery an evil and hoped to see it
abolished, but while the majority of their fellow countrymen held on to it
they did so too. Many Kentuckians, moreover, were like that restless class
of Westerners who, dissatisfied with the society based on slavery, had
taken up land beyond the mountains, where the poor man could toil up from
poverty.[12] Kentucky was the first section west of the Allegheny mountains
settled by these daring adventurers because they were there cut off from
the North by the French and from the South by the Spanish, and in Kentucky,
a section hemmed in by these foreign possessions, the settlers were less
liable to be disturbed. And even when the barrier of foreign claims had
been removed, the movement of population from the East to the West took
place along lines leading to the States later organized in the West rather
than into Kentucky. The people of Kentucky, therefore, were not radically
changed in a day by the influx of population. On the contrary, many of
them, especially the mountaineers, have not changed since the days of Boone
and Henderson. Some of them having left the uplands of the colonies because
they were handicapped by slavery, were naturally opposed to the bold claims
of that institution in 1861. They, like the Westerners, learned to look to
the General Government for the establishment of commonwealths, the building
of forts, and the maintenance of troops,[13] and, therefore, adhered to it
when it was threatened with destruction.

Another cause, moreover, was equally as potential. In Kentucky as in some
other Southern States, there had grown up a considerable number of
prosperous country towns, where resided lawyers, merchants, bankers,
teachers, and mechanics, who had little property interest in slavery, who
felt their own "intellectual superiority to the country squires and their
fox-hunting, horse-racing, quarrelsome sons, and who consequently asserted
social independence of them and social equality with them."[14] They were
hostile to the aristocratic masters, whom they generally denounced as
"oligarchs," "slavocrats," "Lords of the Lash," and "Terror Engenders."[15]
This mercantile and professional class, inspired by such men as Hinton
Rowan Helper, contemplated the removal of the Negroes and the bringing of
white laborers into the South.[16]

In view of this cleavage, it was difficult in the beginning of the struggle
to characterize the situation. There were unconditional Secessionists and
unconditional Union men. Judging from the condition then obtaining, no one
could tell exactly which way the State would go. "Sympathy, blood, and the
community of social feeling growing out of slavery," says one, "inclined
her to the South; her political faith which Clay more than any other man
had inspired her with and which Crittenden now loyally represented held her
fast to the Union."[17] Many of the people, though believing in States'
rights, did not think that the grievances of the South were such as to
justify secession. At the same time they opposed "coercion," and since a
reconstructed Union was impossible they would have solved the difficulty by
peaceful separation. Writing to Gen. McClellan June 8, 1861, Garrett Davis
said: "The sympathy for the South and the inclination to secession among
our people is much stronger in the southwestern corner of the state than
it is in any other part, and as you proceed toward the upper section of
the Ohio and our Virginia line, it gradually becomes weaker until it is
almost wholly lost.... I doubt not that two thirds of our people are
unconditionally for the Union. The timid are for it and they shrink from
convulsion and civil war, while all the bold, the reckless, and the
bankrupt are for secession."[18] This categorical distinction, however, is
hardly right. There were Kentuckians of representative families on both
sides in all parts of the State except in the extreme West.[19] A careful
study of the facts, however, leads one to the conclusion that even in the
beginning there were more Unionists than Secessionists. The Unionists,
unhappily, were not organized while the Secessionists were led by the State
officials, chief among whom was Governor Magoffin.

When the Southern States began to secede Governor Magoffin called a
special session of the State legislature, thinking that he could have a
secession convention called. He said in part: "I therefore submit to your
consideration the propriety of providing for the election of delegates to
a convention to be assembled at an early day to which shall be referred
for full and final determination the future of the Federal and interstate
relations of Kentucky." He further said: "Kentucky will not be an
indifferent observer of the force policy. The seceding States have not in
their haste and inconsiderate action our approval, but their cause is our
right and they have our sympathies. The people of Kentucky will never
stand by with folded arms while those States are struggling for their
constitutional rights and resisting oppression and being subjugated to an
anti-slavery government."[20] He believed that the idea of coercion, when
applied to great political communities, is revolting to a free people,
contrary to the spirit of our institutions, and if successful would
endanger the liberties of the people.[21] But the legislature did not
provide for such a convention. On the eleventh of February this body
adjourned. It reassembled on the twentieth of March and remained in
session until the fourth of April, but still these important matters were
not decided. Pursuant to another call of the Governor, it reassembled on
the 6th of May and sat until the twenty-fourth of May when it adjourned.
On the second of September the legislature elected in August came in, but
still the important question as to what should be done hung in the
balance. At first there came up the resolutions introduced by George W.
Ewing on the twenty-first of January, expressing regret that certain
States had furnished men and money for the coercion of the seceded
States, and requesting the Governor of Kentucky to notify such States
that should attempts be made to coerce these commonwealths, Kentucky
would join the South.[22] This resolution passed the House but did not
pass the whole legislature as so many have said. A resolution for calling
a convention to amend the Constitution of the United States was
passed.[23] Several distinguished men of Kentucky sat in this convention
which was in session from the fourth to the twenty-second of February
without accomplishing anything.

The majority of Kentuckians were then neutral. There were two classes of
neutrals, however. This was easily possible since neutrality meant one
thing to one man and a different thing to another. Each faction looked
forward to the adoption of this policy as a victory over the other. The
Unionists accepted it as the best policy, not knowing that, taking such a
position, they would aid the Confederacy. Even John J. Crittenden had
this idea. He said: "If Kentucky and the other border States should
assume this attitude, war between the two sections of the country would
be averted and the Confederate states after a few years' trial of their
experiment would return voluntarily to the Union." [24]

Neutrality was considered a necessity for another reason; namely, the
expected short duration of the war. No one believed at first that the war
would last long. Even Lincoln thought that it would be over in ninety
days. Some, therefore, felt that Kentucky would be foolish to cause blood
to be shed on her soil when the war could easily be kept out of the State
three months. This sentiment, however, must not be misunderstood as
evincing a lack of interest in the Union, for in the address declaring for
neutrality these same leaders said that the dismemberment of the Union was
no remedy for existing evils but an aggravation of them all.[25] To many
Unionists neutrality meant going slowly in the right direction. It was in
keeping with Lincoln's plan not to go so rapidly toward "coercion" in
Kentucky as he had in the other border States.

How then did the neutrality policy work out? On the twenty-ninth of
January R. T. Jacob introduced in the lower house of the legislature a
resolution declaring that the proper position of Kentucky was that of a
mediator between the sections, and that as an umpire she would remain firm
and impartial in that day of trial to their "beloved country that by
counsel and mediation she might aid in restoring peace and harmony and
brotherly love." Giving the reasons for adopting such a policy Jacob said:

"This leading sentiment of mediation was indorsed by the Union men of both
Houses of the Legislature.... Some may say, why did not the Kentucky
Legislature go for coercion? For two reasons: First, some States, it is
true had seceded from the Union, but war had not actually commenced:
second, the men at that time who would have undertaken to force coercion
upon the Legislature would have been in the hopeless minority and would
have immediately given a majority to the secessionists. It would have
ended in total destruction to the cause of the Union in the State. Those
resolutions were for two purposes. In good faith they were intended to
compromise all difference between the States, and if possible to restore
peace between sections. If that failed, they were intended to hold, if
possible, our meagre majority until the people could act and we had no
doubt that when they did speak it would be in unmistakable tones for the
preservation of the Union."[26]

No action was taken on these resolutions, but on the eleventh of February
there was passed a joint measure, entitled "Resolutions Declaring action
by the Legislature on political affairs unnecessary and inexpedient at
this time,"[27] These resolutions mentioned the great danger which
environed the Union, asked the Confederates to stay the work of secession
and protested against coercion. The last resolution favored the calling of
a convention to amend the Constitution of the United States. Significant
too for the Unionists were the last words: "It is unnecessary and
inexpedient for the Legislature to take any further action on the subject
at the present time, and as an evidence of the sincerity and good faith of
our propositions for an adjustment and our expression of devotion to the
Union and the desire for its preservation Kentucky awaits with great
solicitude the responses from her sister States."[28]

Neutrality, however, became the accepted policy of so many that it proved
to be dangerous. The Union State Committee, in drawing up on the
eighteenth of April a resolution to please all, seemingly pledged the
State to join the South. These resolutions were severely criticised by the
Unionists, especially that part which says: "What the future destiny of
Kentucky may be we cannot with certainty foresee. But if the enterprise
announced in the proclamation of the President should at any time
hereafter assume the aspect of a war for overrunning and subjugation of
the seceding States, then Kentucky ought to take her stand for the South."
[29] Many thought that this obligated Kentucky to go with the South.
Unionists of other States considered it a victory for the Confederacy.
This committee, however, stipulated this proposition to satisfy those
sympathizers with the South, who believed all the bad reports concerning
the functionaries of the Federal Government, circulated by the leaders of
the Confederacy. Hence, they said in this proposition not that Kentucky
would go with the South, but if at any time thereafter the President's
proclamation should assume the aspect of war, it would do so. They
evidently did not believe that it had or would assume such an aspect. They
were also trying to pacify those who misunderstood the issues of
"subjugation" and "coercion."[30] The relation of the States to the Union
was yet a problem to many a statesman. Many thought that the colonists
when in a state of nature came together and agreed to a compact, giving up
some of their sovereignty and retaining the other, and, therefore, had the
right to withdraw at pleasure, carrying a part of the national property
with them. Such thinkers contended too that the Union had no right to
"coerce" a seceded State. Calhoun had said that because the Union was a
compact it could be broken; on the other hand, Jackson had said that
because it was a compact it could not be broken. Now it was difficult for
Kentuckians to decide who was right. That the committee had no intention
of going with the Confederacy may be seen from the following declaration:
"Seditious leaders in the midst of us now appeal to her (Kentucky) to
furnish troops to uphold those combinations against the government of the
Union. Will she comply with this appeal? Ought she to comply with it? We
answer, no."[31]

While these things were going on, the great question of Fort Sumter was
before the people. When the fort was finally bombarded and Lincoln called
for seventy-five thousand troops Gov. Magoffin politely refused to comply.
His reply was: "I say emphatically Kentucky will furnish no troops for the
wicked purpose of subduing her sister Southern States."[32] He had already
been much moved by the large vote given the delegates to the Border States
Convention, indicating such a growth of Union sentiment that he called the
legislature together, hoping to win the day for secession by changing the
policy of the State from mediatorial to armed neutrality, resisting all
forces, whether Confederate or Federal, which might bring war into the
State. The body met on the sixteenth of May, passed a resolution of
mediatorial neutrality and approved the Governor's refusal to furnish
troops under the existing circumstances.[33] This, however, did not mean
that the legislature was in sympathy with the efforts of the Governor to
support the Southern cause. Writing to Gen. Scott, John J. Crittenden
explained it thus:

     "The position of Kentucky and the relation she occupies toward the
     government of the Union is not, I fear, understood at Washington. It
     ought to be well understood. Very important consequences may depend
     upon it and upon her proper treatment. Unfortunately for us our
     Governor does not sympathize with Kentucky in respect to secession.
     His opinions and feelings incline him strongly to the side of the
     South. His answer to the requisition for troops was in terms hasty
     and unbecoming and does not correspond with the usual and gentlemanly
     courtesy. But while she regretted the language of his answer,
     Kentucky acquiesced in his declining to furnish the troops called
     for, and she did so not because she loved the Union less but she
     feared that if she had parted with those troops and sent them to
     serve in your ranks, she would have been overwhelmed by secessionists
     at home, and severed from the Union. And it was to preserve
     substantially and ultimately our connection with the Union that
     induced us to acquiesce in the partial infraction of it by our
     Governor's refusal of the troops required. This was the most
     prevailing and general motive. To this may be added the strong
     indisposition of our people to a civil war with the South, and the
     apprehended consequences of a civil war within our state and among
     our people.... I think Kentucky's excuse a good one and that under
     all the circumstances of a complicated case she is rendering better
     service in her present position than she could by becoming an active
     party in the contest."[34]

The fact is that secession had little chance in Kentucky after public
opinion found expression. Neutrality early became the order of the day.
The elections of 1861 were significant in that they gave the people a
chance to express their will. It should be borne in mind that the
legislature of 1859 was elected when the question of union or disunion was
not before the people. Now in 1861 they had to elect members to the Border
State Convention, a new legislature, and congressmen to represent Kentucky
at the special session called by President Lincoln. In all these
elections, Unionists won. Some historians like Smith and Shaler[35] seem
to think that the State had pledged itself to remain unconditionally
neutral, that these elections had no particular bearing on the situation
and that if a "sovereignty convention" had been called, secession would
have won. These writers do not seem to see that the people of Kentucky,
although nominally neutral, desired to remain with the Union. Doubtless a
better statement is that, although the election of 1861 showed that a
large majority of the people were in favor of the Union, the Union leaders
did not show so in the early part of the year and neutrality was adopted
not as an end but as a means that triumph over the enemies of the Union
might finally be assured.[36] We easily see now that there was not much
danger of secession, but the Unionists could not see it so well at that
time. Smith and Shaler doubtless exaggerate the situation, for what danger
of secession could there have been when the people had elected the Union
candidates for the Border State Convention to be convened at Frankfort on
May 27, when they sent nine Unionists out of the ten congressmen to
represent them in the special session of Congress, and when on the 5th of
the following August, after the battle of Bull Run, they elected to the
State Legislature 103 Unionists out of 141 members.[37] The calling of a
convention then would have made little difference, if the people had
chosen a majority of Unionists to represent them in other bodies. How can
one conclude then that they would have elected seceders to represent them
in a "sovereignty convention"? Hodge states that the sympathizers with the
Confederacy did not contest to any considerable extent the elections of
August, 1861, and consequently the supporters of the Federal Government
were in the ascendency in the next legislature. He seems to indicate that
the Unionists used fraud, but the records show that the Secessionists,
regarding it as a lost cause, in many cases withdrew their candidates.
Evidently these elections showed not only that secession was impossible
but that neutrality could not last.[38]

After this sentiment began to change. Men boldly took decisive positions.
The unwieldy neutrality party then divided into three parts: those who
went to the Confederate lines to aid the Southern cause; those who openly
declared themselves in favor of the Union; and those sympathizers with the
South, who although in favor of the seceding States, seeing that their
cause was hopeless, advocated peaceful separation and finally, when that
failed, a compromise peace between the two sections.[39] The Union party,
though unalterably opposed to the abolitionists and not primarily attached
to the Union because of antagonism to slavery, gradually acquiesced in the
policy of the Federal Government with respect to that institution. This
party first reached the position that Negroes taken from the Confederates
could with propriety be disposed of as contraband of war and many of its
adherents grew more favorable to the policy of general emancipation.

It was soon evident that war could not long be kept out of the State. As
early as April, 1861, troops for service in the Confederacy were organized
in Kentucky. This movement was somewhat accelerated by an act of the
legislature providing that the arms supplied to the troops should not
be used against either section and that the State companies as well as
the Home Guards should take the same oath as the officers requiring
fidelity to the Constitution.[40] At this point many Kentuckians of
proslavery tendencies were forced out of their natural position and
driven into the Confederate ranks. Among these was S. B. Buckner, who
went South to command about ten thousand secessionists, recruited under
the leadership of Colonels Roger W. Hanson, Lloyd Tilghman, and W. D.
Lannon at Camp Boone.[41]

The Governor refused to furnish Lincoln troops but he was in touch with
the Confederacy, doing all he could to equip soldiers for its service,[42]
though not exactly openly, as that would have been sufficient excuse for
the Unionists who desired to help the Union. The Unionists who saw all of
this going on desired to arm and organize their forces but they were
handicapped in that the commander of the State guard was a Secessionist
and care had been taken to hold the military forces for the South. In
consequence of this difficulty Lincoln was secretly appealed to for arms,
which were shipped to cities on the Ohio River for secret distribution
among the Unionists of Kentucky as the opportunity would permit.[43] The
Secessionists had referred to these guns as the first so-called violation
of neutrality. The Unionists defended themselves on the ground that since
the Governor and his whole machine were about in the ranks of the
Confederates they were justified in doing almost anything to defend the
State. Shaler says that the action on both sides was almost simultaneous
and that the actual infringement of the neutrality proclamation issued by
the Governor was due to the action of Polk and Zollicoffer and the
simultaneous invasion of the State some hundreds of miles apart shows that
the rupture of the neutrality of Kentucky was deliberately planned by the
Confederate authorities.[44]

The invasion by Polk in September produced great excitement. The
legislature was then in session and passed a resolution that the invaders
be expelled, and that the Governor call out the military force of the
State and place the same under the command of Gen. Thomas L. Crittenden.
The resolutions were vetoed by the Governor but passed by a vote of two
thirds.[45] The desired proclamation was issued and soon sufficient men to
form forty regiments answered the call.[46] Making further response to the
invasion of the State by the Confederates, the legislature ordered that
the United States flag be raised over the capitol at Frankfort, and by a
resolution which "affirmed" distinctly, though not directly, the doctrine
of States' rights placed Kentucky in political and military association
with the North.[47]

WILLIAM T. McKINNEY



FOOTNOTES:


[1] See Debates in Congress.

[2] Marshall, Speech in Washington on the Nomination of Breckenridge and
Lane, p. 3.

[3] Speech of John Stephenson on the state of the Union in the House of
Representatives, January 30, 1861.

[4] Bartlett, "Presidential Candidates in 1860," pp. 344-345.

[5] Speech of Hon. J. C. Breckenridge delivered at Ashland, Kentucky, p. 9.

[6] Speech of J. C. Breckenridge on Executive Usurpation, July 16, 1861.

[7] "The Frankfort Commonwealth," August 21, 1861.

[8] These were some of the most intellectual and aristocratic men of the
State. Collins exaggerates, however, when he says that few leading men
opposed secession. See Collins, "History of Kentucky," I, 82.

[9] Speed, "The Union Cause in Kentucky," 36.

[10] Ibid., 36.

[11] Ibid., 37.

[12] Hart, "Slavery and Abolition," 65, 178, 234; Turner, "Rise of the New
West," 77.

[13] Report of the American Historical Association, 1893, pp. 219-221.

[14] Burgess, "Civil War and the Constitution," I, 30.

[15] Ibid.

[16] McMaster, "History of the United States," VIII, 426-427.

[17] Rhodes, "History of the United States," III, 391.

[18] Rhodes, "History of the United States," VII, 392.

[19] Speed, "The Union Cause in Kentucky," 158-179.

[20] _House Journal_, 1861, Governor's Message, p. 10.

[21] Ibid., 11.

[22] _House Journal_, 1861, Governor's Message, p. 12.

[23] Ibid., 14.

[24] Letter of John J. Crittenden to Gen. McClellan.

[25] Speed, "The Union Cause in Kentucky," 42.

[26] Speed, "The Union Cause in Kentucky," p. 45.

[27] _House Journal_. 1861, p. 33.

[28] Ibid., 34.

[29] Speed, "The Union Cause in Kentucky," 57.

[30] Speed, "The Union Cause in Kentucky," 58-62.

[31] Ibid., 58.

[32] _House Journal_, 1861, p. 6.

[33] Ibid., 94.

[34] Nicolay and Hay, "Life of Lincoln," IV, 233.

[35] Smith, "History of Kentucky," 610; Shaler, "History of Kentucky," 243.

[36] Smith says in describing the period of 1861: "It were well nigh
certain that if a sovereignty convention could have been called at any time
before the formation of the Union sentiment and policy into action and
life, the state would have been carried off into the act of secession as
Virginia and Tennessee were by the sense of sympathy and kinship toward the
South." Shaler thinks the same. He says: "There is reason to believe that
this course (neutrality) was the only one that could have kept Kentucky
from secession. If what had been unhappily named a Sovereignty Convention
had been called in 1861; if the state had been compelled by the decision of
a body of men who were acting under the control of no constitutional
enunciation, the sense of sympathy and kinship with the Southern states,
such as would easily grow up under popular oratory in a mob, would probably
have precipitated action." Speed, however, is doubtless right in saying all
this is mere assertion and that there was no danger of secession after the
people had a chance to transfer their will to the government. Shaler,
"Kentucky," p. 240; Smith, "History of Kentucky," p. 610.

[37] Speed, "The Union Cause in Kentucky," 93-98.

[38] Collins, "History of Kentucky," I, 243.

[39] _The Frankfort Commonwealth_, July 19; Aug. 19, 21, 23; Nov. 10, 20,
23; and Dec. 11, 1861; _The Yeoman Weekly_, May 10; June 21, 22; July 8,
1861; _Daily Louisville Democrat_, Sept. 7 and Oct. 8, 1861.

[40] _House Journal_, 1861, 240.

[41] Speed, "The Union Cause in Kentucky," 192.

[42] War Records, Serial 108, p. 37; Serial 127, p. 234; Serial 110, pp.
44-64, and Serial 110, p. 71.

[43] Nicolay and Hay, "Life of Lincoln," IV, 237.

[44] Shaler, "History of Kentucky," 261.

[45] _House Journal_, 1861, p. 122.

[46] Speed, "The Union Cause in Kentucky," 300 _et seq_. See despatches
and letters given in same.

[47] Rhodes, "History of the United States," III, 392.




NOTES ON NEGROES IN GUATEMALA DURING THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY



The introduction of Negroes into Guatemala commenced with the year of the
conquest of that country by the Spaniards in 1524, when there came several
Negro slaves with the _conquistadores_ from Mexico. It seems that they soon
increased in numbers, for among the decrees of the _conquistador_, Pedro de
Alvarado, there is one which prohibits the selling of gunpowder to Indians
and Negroes. The number of African slaves brought to Guatemala had,
however, always remained relatively a very limited one, for as the
Spaniards had plenty of cheap hands by means of a system of indentured
labor forced upon the numerous Indian population, the importation of slaves
evidently did not pay them well. It seems safe to say, that their total
number never amounted to ten thousand.

The most copious, though still very sparse notices of them I have run
across, are those given by Thomas Gage, an English Catholic educated in
Spain, who, in the twenties and thirties of the seventeenth century, lived
as a priest in the then city of Guatemala, nowadays called Antigua, and in
some Indian villages not far from there.[1] One of the places where Thomas
Gage observed a somewhat considerable population of Negroes was the
so-called Costa del Sur, or Southern Coast, the hot land between the Andes
and the Pacific, to the south of the capital. They were worked there on the
indigo plantations and large cattle _haciendas_. The Negroes impressed
Thomas Gage as the only courageous people in Guatemala while the Spanish
Mestizos and Indians seemed to him to be very cowardly.

This writer said that if Guatemala was powerful with respect to its
people, for she was not in arms nor resources, then she was so merely by
virtue of a class of desperate Negroes, who were slaves living on the
indigo plantations. Though they had no arms but a machete, which was their
small lance used for chasing the wild cattle (nowadays, that name is given
to a long and broad, sword-like knife), they were so desperate that they
often caused fear to the very city of Guatemala and had made their masters
tremble. "There are among them," said he, "those who have no fear to brave
a wild bull, furious though he be, and to attach themselves to the
crocodiles in the rivers, until they have killed them and brought them to
the bank."[2]

In reading these lines, one cannot help from remembering the classical
description Alexander Von Humboldt gives of the Negro boatmen of the river
Dagua, in the actual republic of Colombia. The inimitable skill and
unsurpassable bravery Humboldt saw them display in the midst of the
ferocious currents and loud-pouring rapids of that river caused him to
exclaim: "Every movement of the paddle is a wonder, and every Negro a god!"
A nice monument to the fame of indomitable bravery the Negroes manifested
in past times in Guatemala exists still in a saying often heard by
travelers: "_Esos son negros_!" or "Those are Negroes," an exclamation
which means: "Those are desperate men, who do not care for anything." One
could also hear the saying: "_Esto es obra de negros_," or "that is a work
of Negroes," the meaning being that it was work for bold men with iron
nerves.

Another expression brings out the fact that the Negroes were considered, or
forced to be, very hard workers. "_Trabaja como un negro_" or "he works
like a Negro," signified doing "the most arduous labor." That the lot of
the slaves was often a bitter one, though, because of the less greedy
Spanish character, without doubt generally a less hard one than in North
America, is shown by the fact that Guatemala had her "_Cimarrones_" just as
Jamaica, and Guiana, had their Maroons.

The Spanish word "_cimarron_" signifies indiscriminately a runaway head of
cattle or horses, that had become wild, or a runaway slave. The fugitive
Negroes of Guatemala had their chief stronghold in the inaccessible
mountain woods of the Sierra de las Minas, which lies near the Atlantic
coast between the Golfo Dulce and the valley of the river Motagua. The
Golfo Dulce, which is now abandoned because of lack of sufficient depth for
the big vessels of to-day, was at that time the port of entry for the whole
of Guatemala. From it a bridle-path ran over the Sierra de las Minas to the
valley of the Motagua and further on to the capital. In speaking of this
path over the mountain, Gage remarks: "What the Spaniards fear most until
they get out of these mountains, are two or three hundred Negroes,
Cimarrones, who for the bad treatment they received have fled from
Guatemala and from other places, running away from their masters in order
to resort to these woods; there they live with their wives and children and
increase in numbers every year, so that the entire force of Guatemala City
and its environments is not capable to subdue them."

They very often came out of the woods to attack those who drove teams of
mules, and took from them wine, salt, clothes and arms to the quantity they
needed. They never did any harm to the mule drivers nor to their slaves. On
the contrary, the slaves amused themselves with the Cimarrones, because
they were of the same color and in the same condition of servitude, and not
seldom availed themselves of the opportunity to follow their example, and
united with them to obtain liberty, though obliged to live in the woods and
mountains.

Their arms were arrows and bows, which they carried only for the purpose of
defending themselves against attacks of the Spaniards; for they did not
harm those who passed by peacefully and who let them have a part of the
provisions they carried. They often declared that their principal reason
for resorting to these mountains was to be ready to join the English or
Dutch, if these some day appeared in the Gulf, for they well knew that
these, unlike the Spaniards, would let them live in peace.

Among the most remarkable facts learned by Thomas Gage in Guatemala is the
story of a Negro freedman who had accumulated great wealth. This Negro
lived in Agua Caliente, an Indian village, on the road to Guatemala City,
or Antigua, where the natives had obtained considerable quantities of gold
from some spot in the mountains only known to them. The Spaniards, not
content with an annual tribute paid them by the Indians, endeavored in vain
to force the natives to show them the mine, and because they refused killed
them, thus gaining no knowledge of the mine for which they were still
searching in vain in the times of Thomas Gage. "In that place of Agua
Caliente," continues Gage, "there is a Negro who lives and receives very
well the travelers who call upon him. His wealth consists in cattle, sheep,
and goats, and he furnishes the city of Guatemala and the environments with
the best cheese to be found in the country. But it is believed that his
wealth does not come so much from the produce of his farm and his cattle
and cheese, but from that hidden treasure which is believed known to him.
He, therefore, has been summoned to the Royal Audience in Guatemala, but he
has always denied to have any knowledge of it."

He had been suspected because he had formerly been a slave and had secured
his liberty by means of a considerable sum. After that, he had bought his
farm and much of the surrounding land and had considerably increased his
original holdings. To his inquisitors he replied that, "when young and
still a slave he had a kind master who suffered him to do what he pleased,
and that by economy he had accumulated where-with to buy his liberty and
afterwards a little house to live in; and God had given His blessing to
that and let him have the means for increasing his funds."

Another one of Gage's accounts discloses the abuses common among the
slave-holders under Spanish rule, and the silliness of the belief that the
masters for their own benefit would treat their human property well. This
account refers to one Juan Palomeque, a rich landowner and promoter of
mule-transports, who lived in Gage's parish of Mexico, near the actual
capital of Guatemala. He was believed to be worth six hundred thousand
ducats, about 1,400,000 dollars. He owned about a hundred Negroes, men,
women, and children, but was so stingy that, to avoid the expense of decent
house-keeping, he never lived in the city, though he had several houses
there. Instead, he lived in a straw-hut and feasted on hard, black bread
and on _tasajo_, or thin strips of salt beef dried in the sun.

He was so cruel to his Negroes, that, when one of them behaved badly, he
would whip him almost to death. He had among others a slave named Macaco,
"on behalf of whom," said Gage, "I often pleaded, but in vain. At times he
hung him by the hands and beat him until he had his back entirely covered
with blood, and in that state, the skin being entirely torn to pieces, in
order to heal up the slave's sores the master poured hot fat over them.
Moreover, he had marked him with a hot iron face, hands, arms, back, belly,
and legs, so that this poor slave got tired to live and intended several
times to suicide himself; but I prevented him from doing so every time by
remonstrances I made him."

Juan Palomeque was so sensual and voluptuous that he constantly abused the
wives of his slaves as he liked, and even when he saw in the city some girl
or woman of that class whom he wanted, and she was not attracted to him, he
would call upon her master or mistress and buy her, "giving much more than
she had cost; afterwards he boasted that he would break down her pride in
one year of slavery." "In my times," said Gage, "he killed two Indians on
the road to the Gulf, but by means of his money he got so easily out of
that affair as if he had killed but a dog." As Gage does not tell anything
of a prosecution for the crimes against the Negro, no actual law seems to
have been violated.[3]

The descendants of the ancient slaves have so completely become mixed up
with Spanish-Indian blood that, making exception of the valley of the
Motagua River, they have practically disappeared as a race. In 1796, their
number was considerably increased by the so-called Caribs, whom the English
deported from the Island of St. Vincent and set ashore in Guatemala. They
live now on the Atlantic coast, also on that of Honduras and Nicaragua, and
are estimated to total about 20,000. They are Zambos, but the African blood
seems to prevail.[4]



A MULATTO CORSAIR OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY


When on his return voyage to England, sailing down the Atlantic coast of
Costa Rica, Thomas Gage's ship was intercepted by two corsairs under the
Dutch flag, one of them being a man-of-war. The struggle of the Netherlands
for freedom against Spain had not then come to a close. The Dutch commander
was a character, of whose strange experiences Gage gives an interesting
account. Much to the surprise of the traveler the captain who had caught
them was a mulatto named Diaguillo, who was born and brought up at Habana
(Cuba), where his mother was still living. Having been maltreated by the
Governor of Campeche in whose service he had been, this mulatto in a fit of
utter desperation threw himself into a boat and ventured into the sea,
where he met with some Dutch ships on watch for a prize. He swam to and
went aboard one of these vessels, hoping to find better treatment than
among his country-men. He offered himself to the Dutch and promised to
serve them loyally against those of his nation who had maltreated him.
Afterwards he proved himself so loyal and reliable to the Dutch, that he
won much fame among them. He was married to a girl of their nation and
later made captain of a vessel under that brave and noble Dutchman, whom
the Spaniards dreaded much and whom they named Pie de Palo, or Wooden-leg.

"That famous mulatto," said Gage, "was he who boarded our frigate with his
soldiers. I lost four thousand pesos wealth in pearls and jewelry and about
three thousand in ready money. I had still other things with me, viz., a
bed, some books, pictures painted on copper, and clothes, and I asked that
Mulatto captain to let me keep them. He donated me them liberally, out of
consideration for my vocation, and said I must take patience, for he was
not allowed to dispose in other way of my pearls and my money; moreover, he
used the proverb: If fortune to-day is on my side, to-morrow it will be on
yours, and what I have won to-day, that I may lose to-morrow.... He also
ordered to give me back some single and double pistoles, out of generosity
and respect to my garb...."

"After having searched their prize," continued the traveler, "Captain and
soldiers thought of refreshing themselves on the provisions we had on
board; the generous captain had a luxurious dinner and invited me to be his
guest, and knowing that I was going to Habana, he drank the health of his
mother and asked me to go to see her and give her his kindest regards,
saying that for her sake he had treated me as kindly as was in his power.
He told us, moreover, when still at table, that for my sake he would give
us back our ship, so that we could get back to land, and that I might find
some other and safer way to continue my voyage to Spain.... Everything
taken away from the ship save my belongings, which captain Diaguillo
ordered to let me out of a generosity not often to be found with a corsair,
he bade us fare-well thanking us for the good luck we had procured him."

Thomas Gage reached Habana in safety and called upon the mother of the
Corsair, but does not say how he found her.

J. KUNST



FOOTNOTES:


[1] Gage published in 1648 in London an account of his residence and
voyages; I have only a French version of his work at hand, printed in
Amsterdam, in 1721. The passages cited are re-translated from that language
and, therefore, will not agree word for word with the original text.

[2] Gage's "Voyages," Part 3, Chapter II.

[3] It seems proper to add here, that three years after Guatemala had
declared her independence of Spain, she abrogated slavery by decree of
April 17, 1824. Thereby she got, by the way, into difficulties with Great
Britain, which as late as in 1840 demanded the extradition of slaves run
away from the adjacent British territory of Balize. Guatemala was by
men-of-war sent to her coast forced to do so, though that was contrary to
her constitution.

[4] Within the last decades, some Negroes have been brought over, from the
United States, to the banana plantations of United Fruit Co., near the
Atlantic coast, and occasionally, though very seldom, one meets with a
black newcomer from Jamaica, Barbadoes, or other West Indian islands.




DOCUMENTS



TRAVELERS' IMPRESSIONS OF SLAVERY IN AMERICA FROM 1750 TO 1800


From these writers, almost all of whom were foreigners, one would naturally
expect such a portraiture of slavery as persons unaccustomed to the
institution would give. Most Americans, of course, considered the
institution as belonging to the natural order of things and, therefore,
hardly ever referred to it except when they mentioned it unconsciously.
Foreigners, however, as soon as they came into this new world began to
compare the slaves with the lowest order of society in Europe. Finding the
lot of the bondmen so much inferior to that of those of low estate in
European countries, these travelers frequently made some interesting
comparisons. We are indebted to them for valuable information which we can
never hope to obtain from the literature of an essentially slaveholding
people. Here we see how the American Revolution caused a change for the
better in the condition of the Negroes in certain States, and how the
rigorousness of slavery continued in the others. We learn too what
enlightened Negroes thought about their state and what the white man
believed should be done to prevent their reaching the point of
self-assertion. That a large number of anti-slavery Americans were
advocating and effecting the emancipation of slaves appears throughout
these documents.



BURNABY'S VIEW OF THE SITUATION IN VIRGINIA


Speaking of Virginia, he said: "Their authority over their slaves renders
them vain and imperious, and entire strangers to that elegance of
sentiment, which is so peculiarly characteristic of refined and polished
nations. Their ignorance of mankind and of learning, exposes them to many
errors and prejudices, especially in regard to Indians and Negroes, whom
they scarcely consider as of human species; so that it is almost
impossible in cases of violence, or even murder, committed upon those
unhappy people by any of the planters, to have delinquents brought to
justice: for either the grand jury refuse to find the bill, or the petit
jury bring in the verdict of not guilty."--_Andrew Burnaby, "Travels_,"
1759, p. 54.



GENERAL TREATMENT OF SLAVES AMONG THE ALBANIANS--CONSEQUENT ATTACHMENT OF
DOMESTICS.--REFLECTIONS ON SERVITUDE BY AN AMERICAN LADY


In the society I am describing, even the dark aspect of slavery was
softened into a smile. And I must, in justice to the best possible masters,
say, that a great deal of that tranquility and comfort, to call it by no
higher name, which distinguished this society from all others, was owing to
the relation between master and servant being better understood here than
in any other place. Let me not be detested as an advocate for slavery when
I say that I think I have never seen people so happy in servitude as the
domestics of the Albanians. One reason was, (for I do not now speak of the
virtues of their masters,) that each family had a few of them, and that
there were no field negroes. They would remind one of Abraham's servants,
who were all born in the house, which was exactly their case. They were
baptized too, and shared the same religious instruction with the children
of the family; and, for the first years, there was little or no difference
with regard to food or clothing between their children and those of their
masters.

When a negro-woman's child attained the age of three years, the first New
Year's Day after, it was solemnly presented to a son or daughter, or other
young relative of the family, who was of the same sex with the child so
presented. The child to whom the young negro was given immediately
presented it with some piece of money and a pair of shoes; and from that
day the strongest attachment subsisted between the domestic and the
destined owner. I have no where met with instances of friendship more
tender and generous than that which here subsisted between the slaves and
their masters and mistresses. Extraordinary proofs of them have been often
given in the course of hunting or Indian trading, when a young man and his
slave have gone to the trackless woods, together, in the case of fits of
the ague, loss of a canoe, and other casualties happening near hostile
Indians. The slave has been known, at the imminent risque of his life, to
carry his disabled master through trackless woods with labour and fidelity
scarce credible; and the master has been equally tender on similar
occasions of the humble friend who stuck closer than a brother; who was
baptized with the same baptism, nurtured under the same roof, and often
rocked in the same cradle with himself. These gifts of domestics to the
younger members of the family, were not irrevokable: yet they were very
rarely withdrawn. If the kitchen family did not increase in proportion to
that of the master, young children were purchased from some family where
they abounded, to furnish those attached servants to the rising progeny.
They were never sold without consulting their mothers, who if expert and
sagacious, had a great deal to say in the family, and would not allow her
child to go into any family with whose domestics she was not acquainted.
These negro-women piqued themselves on teaching their children to be
excellent servants, well knowing servitude to be their lot or life, and
that it could only be sweetened by making themselves particularly useful,
and excellent in their departments. If they did their work well, it is
astonishing, when I recollect it, what liberty of speech was allowed to
those active and prudent mothers. They would chide, reprove, and
expostulate in a manner that we would not endure from our hired servants;
and sometimes exert fully as much authority over the children of the family
as the parents, conscious that they were entirely in their power. They did
not crush freedom of speech and opinion in those by whom they knew they
were beloved, and who watched with incessant care over their interest and
comfort. Affectionate and faithful as these home-bred servants were in
general, there were some instances (but very few) of those who, through
levity of mind, or a love of liquor or finery, betrayed their trust, or
habitually neglected their duty. In these cases, after every means had been
used to reform them, no severe punishments were inflicted at home. But the
terrible sentence, which they dreaded worse than death, was past--they were
sold to Jamaica. The necessity of doing this was bewailed by the whole
family as a most dreadful calamity, and the culprit was carefully watched
on his way to New-York, lest he should evade the sentence by
self-destruction.

One must have lived among those placid and humane people to be sensible
that servitude, hopeless, endless servitude, could exist with so little
servility and fear on the one side, and so little harshness or even
sternness of authority on the other. In Europe, the footing on which
service is placed in consequence of the corruptions of society, hardens the
heart, destroys confidence, and embitters life. The deceit and venality of
servants not absolutely dishonest, puts it out of one's power to love or
trust them. And if, in hopes of having people attached to us, who will
neither betray our confidence, nor corrupt our children, we are at pains to
rear them from childhood, and give them a religious and moral education;
after all our labour, others of their own class seduce them away to those
who can afford to pay higher for their services. This is not the case in a
few remote districts. Where surrounding mountains seem to exclude the
contagion of the world, some traces of fidelity and affection among
domestics still remain. But it must be remarked, that, in those very
districts, it is usual to treat inferiors with courtesy and kindness, and
to consider those domestics who marry out of the family as holding a kind
of relation to it, and still claiming protection. In short, the corruption
of that class of people is, doubtless, to be attributed to the example of
their superiors. But how severely are those superiors punished? Why this
general indifference about home; why are the household gods, why is the
sacred hearth so wantonly abandoned? Alas! the charm of home is destroyed,
since our children, educated in distant seminaries, are strangers in the
paternal mansion; and our servants, like mere machines, move on their
mercenary track without feeling or exciting one kind or generous sentiment.
Home, thus despoiled of all its charms, is no longer the scene of any
enjoyments but such as wealth can purchase. At the same time we feel there
a nameless cold privation, and conscious that money can coin the same
enjoyments with more variety elsewhere, we substitute these futile and
evanescent pleasures for that perennial spring of calm satisfaction,
"without o'erflowing full," which is fed by the exercise of the kindly
affections, and soon indeed must those stagnate where there are not proper
objects to excite them. I have been forced into this painful digression by
unavoidable comparisons. To return:--

Amidst all this mild and really tender indulgence to their negroes, these
colonists had not the smallest scruple of conscience with regard to the
right by which they held them in subjection. Had that been the case, their
singular humanity would have been incompatible with continued injustice.
But the truth is, that of law the generality of those people knew little;
and of philosophy, nothing at all. They sought their code of morality in
the Bible, and there imagined they found this hapless race condemned to
perpetual slavery; and thought nothing remained for them but to lighten the
chains of their fellow Christians, after having made them such. This I
neither "extenuate" nor "set down in malice," but merely record the fact.
At the same time it is but justice to record also a singular instance of
moral delicacy distinguishing this settlement from every other in the like
circumstances: though, from their simple and kindly modes of life, they
were from infancy in habits of familiarity with these humble friends, yet
being early taught that nature had placed between them a barrier, which it
was in a high degree criminal and disgraceful to pass, they considered a
mixture of such distinct races with abhorrence, as a violation of her laws.
This greatly conduced to the preservation of family happiness and concord.
An ambiguous race, which the law does not acknowledge; and who (if they
have any moral sense, must be as much ashamed of their parents as these
last are of them) are certainly a dangerous, because degraded part of the
community. How much more so must be those unfortunate beings who stand in
the predicament of the bat in the fable, whom both birds and beasts
disowned? I am sorry to say that the progress of the British army, when it
arrived, might be traced by a spurious and ambiguous race of this kind. But
of a mulatto born before their arrival I only remember a single instance;
and from the regret and wonder it occasioned, considered it as singular.
Colonel Schuyler, of whom I am to speak, had a relation so weak and
defective in capacity, that he never was intrusted with any thing of his
own, and lived an idle bachelor about the family. In process of time a
favourite negro-woman, to the great offense and scandal of the family, bore
a child to him, whose colour gave testimony to the relation. The boy was
carefully educated; and when he grew up, a farm was allotted to him well
stocked and fertile, but "in depth of woods embraced," about two miles back
from the family seat. A destitute white woman, who had somehow wandered
from the older colonies, was induced to marry him; and all the branches of
the family thought it incumbent on them now and then to pay a quiet visit
to Chalk (for so, for some unknown reason, they always called him). I have
been in Chalk's house myself, and a most comfortable abode it was; but
considered him as a mysterious and anomalous being.

I have dwelt the longer on this singular instance of slavery, existing
devoid of its attendant horrors, because the fidelity and affection
resulting from a bond of union so early formed between master and servant,
contributed so very much to the safety of individuals, as well as the
general comfort of society, as will hereafter appear.--"_Memoirs of An
American Lady with Sketches of Manners and Customs In America as they
existed previous to the Revolution_," Chapter VII, pp. 26-32, by Mrs. Anne
Grant.



IMPRESSIONS OF AN ENGLISH TRAVELER


"As I observed before, at least two thirds of the inhabitants are
negroes....

"It is fortunate for humanity that these poor creatures possess such a fund
of contentment and resignation in their minds; for they indeed seem to be
the happiest inhabitants in America, notwithstanding the hardness of their
fare, the severity of their labour, and the unkindness, ignominy, and often
barbarity of their treatment."--J.F.D., "_A Tour in the United States of
America, containing an account of the present situation of that country_";
London, 1784, p. 39.



ABBÉ ROBIN ON CONDITIONS IN VIRGINIA


"The population of Virginia is computed at one hundred fifty thousand
whites and five hundred thousand negroes. There is a still greater
disproportion between the whites and blacks in Maryland, where there are
not more than twenty thousand whites and at least two hundred thousand
negroes. The English imported into these two provinces between seven and
eight thousand yearly. Perhaps the lot of these slaves is not quite so hard
as that of the negroes in the islands; their liberty, it is true, is
irreparably lost in both places, but here they are treated with more
mildness, and are supported upon the same kind of food with their masters;
and if the earth which they cultivate, is moistened with their sweat, it
has never been known to blush with their blood. The American, not at all
industrious by nature, is considerate enough not to expect too much from
his slave, who in such circumstances, has fewer motives to be laborious for
himself."--Abbé Robin, "_New Travels through North America in a series of
letters_," Boston, 1784, p. 48.



OBSERVATIONS OF ST. JOHN DE CRÈVECOEUR


"There, arranged like horses at a fair, they are branded like cattle, and
then driven to toil, to starve and to languish for a few years on the
different plantations of those citizens.

"If negroes are permitted to become fathers, this fatal indulgence only
tends to increase their misery.... How many have I seen cursing the
irresistible propensity, and regretting that by having tasted of those
joys, they had become the authors of double misery to their wives.... Their
paternal fondness is embittered by considering that if their children live,
they must live to be slaves like themselves: no time is allowed them to
exercise their pious offices, the mothers must fasten them on their backs,
and, with the double load follow their husbands in the fields, where they
too often hear no other sound than that of the voice or whip of the
taskmaster, and the cries of their infants, broiling in the sun.... It is
said, I know, that they are much happier here than in the West Indies;
because land being cheaper upon this continent than in those Islands, the
field allowed them to raise their subsistence from, are in general more
extensive.

"... We have slaves likewise in our northern provinces; I hope the time
draws near when they will be all emancipated; but how different their lot,
how different their situation, in every possible respect! They enjoy as
much liberty as their masters, they are as well clad, and as well fed; in
health and sickness they are tenderly taken care of; they live under the
same roof, and are, truly speaking, a part of our families. Many of them
are taught to read and write, and are well instructed in the principles of
religion; they are the companions of our labours, and treated as such; they
enjoy many perquisites, many established holidays, and are not obliged to
work more than white people. They marry when their inclination leads them;
visit their wives every week; are as decently clad as the common people;
they are indulged in education, cherishing and chastising their children,
who are taught subordination to them as to their lawful parents; in short,
they participate in many of the benefits of our society without being
obliged to bear any of its burdens. They are fat, healthy, and hearty, and
far from repining at their fate; they think themselves happier than many of
the lower class whites: they share with their master the wheat and meat
provision, they help to raise; many of those whom the good Quakers have
emancipated, have received that great benefit with tears of regret, and
have never quitted, though free, their former masters and
benefactors."--St. John de Crèvecoeur, "_Letters from an American Farmer,
1782_," pp. 226 et seq.



IMPRESSIONS OF JOHANN D. SCHOEPF


"The condition of the Carolina negro slaves is in general harder and more
troublous than that of their northern brethren. On the rice plantations,
with wretched food, they are allotted more work and more tedious work; and
the treatment which they experience at the hands of the overseers and
owners is capricious and often tyrannical. In Carolina (and in no other of
the North American states) their severe handling has already caused several
uprisings among them. There is less concern here as to their moral
betterment, education, and instruction, and South Carolina appears little
inclined to initiate the praiseworthy and benevolent ordinances of its
sister states in regard to the negro. It is sufficient proof of the bad
situation in which these creatures find themselves here that they do not
multiply in the same proportions as the white inhabitants, although the
climate is more natural to them and agrees with them better. Their numbers
must be continually kept up by fresh importations; to be sure, the constant
taking up of new land requires more and more working hands, and the
pretended necessity of bringing in additional slaves is thus warranted in
part; but close investigation makes it certain that the increase of the
blacks in the northern states, where they are handled more gently, is
vastly more considerable. The gentlemen in the country have among their
negroes as the Russian nobility among the serfs, the most necessary
handicrafts-men, cobblers, tailors, carpenters, smiths, and the like, whose
work they command at the smallest possible price or for nothing almost.
There is hardly any trade or craft which has not been learned and is not
carried on by negroes, partly free, partly slave; the latter are hired out
by their owners for day's wages. Charleston swarms with blacks, mulattoes
and mestizos; their number greatly exceeds that of the whites, but they are
kept under strict order and discipline, and the police has a watchful eye
upon them. These may nowhere assemble more than 7 male negro slaves; their
dances and other assemblies must stop at 10 o'clock in the evening; without
permission of their owners none of them may sell beer or wine or brandy.
There are here many free negroes and mulattoes. They get their freedom if
by their own industry they earn enough to buy themselves off, or their
freedom is given them at the death of their masters or in other ways. Not
all of them know how to use their freedom to their own advantage; many give
themselves up to idleness and dissipation which bring them finally to
crafty deceptions and thievery. They are besides extraordinarily given to
vanity, and love to adorn themselves as much as they can and to conduct
themselves importantly."

--Johann D. Schoepf, "_Travels in the Confederation_," 1784, p. 220.



EXTRACTS FROM ANBUREY'S TRAVELS THROUGH NORTH AMERICA


"Thus the whole management of the plantation is left to the overseer, who
as an encouragement to make the most of the crops, has a certain portion as
his wages, but not having any interest in the negroes, any further than
their labour, he drives and whips them about, and works them beyond their
strength, and sometimes till they expire; he feels no loss in their death,
he knows the plantation must be supplied, and his humanity is estimated by
his interest, which rises always above freezing point.

"It is the poor negroes who alone work hard, and I am sorry to say, fare
hard. Incredible is the fatigue which the poor wretches undergo, and that
nature should be able to support it; there certainly must be something in
their constitutions, as well as their color, different from us, that
enables them to endure it.

"They are called up at day break, and seldom allowed to swallow a mouthful
of homminy, or hoe cake, but are drawn out into the field immediately,
where they continue at hard labour, without intermission, till noon, when
they go to their dinners, and are seldom allowed an hour for that purpose;
their meals consist of hominy and salt, and if their master is a man of
humanity, touched by the finer feelings of love and sensibility, he allows
them twice a week a little skimmed milk, fat rusty bacon, or salt herring,
to relish this miserable and scanty fare. The man at this plantation, in
lieu of these, grants his negroes an acre of ground, and all Saturday
afternoon to raise grain and poultry for themselves. After they have dined,
they return to labor in the field, until dusk in the evening; here one
naturally imagines the daily labor of these poor creatures was over, not
so, they repair to the tobacco houses, where each has a task of stripping
allotted which takes them up some hours, or else they have such a quantity
of Indian corn to husk, and if they neglect it, are tied up in the morning,
and receive a number of lashes from those unfeeling monsters, the
overseers, whose masters suffer them to exercise their brutal authority
without constraint. Thus by their night task, it is late in the evening
before these poor creatures return to their second scanty meal, and the
time taken up at it encroaches upon their hours of sleep, which for
refreshment of food and sleep together can never be reckoned to exceed
eight.

"When they lay themselves down to rest, their comforts are equally
miserable and limited, for they sleep on a bench, or on the ground, with
an old scanty blanket, which serves them at once for bed and covering,
their cloathing is not less wretched, consisting of a shirt and trowsers of
coarse, thin, hard, hempen stuff, in the Summer, with an addition of a very
coarse woolen jacket, breeches and shoes in Winter. But since the war,
their masters, for they cannot get the cloathing as usual, suffer them to
go in rags, and many in a state of nudity.

"The female slaves share labor and repose just in the same manner, except a
few who are term'd house negroes, and are employed in household drugery.

"These poor creatures are all submission to injuries and insults, and are
obliged to be passive, nor dare they resist or defend themselves if
attacked, without the smallest provocation, by a white person, as the law
directs the negroe's arm to be cut off who raises it against a white
person, should it be only in defence against wanton barbarity and outrage.

"Notwithstanding this humiliating state and rigid treatment to which this
wretched race are subject, they are devoid of care, and appear jovial,
contented and happy. It is a fortunate circumstance that they possess, and
are blessed with such an easy satisfied disposition, otherwise they must
inevitably sink under such a complication of misery and wretchedness; what
is singularly remarkable, they always carry out a piece of fire, and kindle
one near their work, let the weather be so hot and sultry.

"As I have several times mentioned homminy and hoe-cake, it may not be
amiss to explain them: the former is made of Indian corn, which is coarsely
broke, and boiled with a few French beans, till it is almost a pulp.
Hoe-cake is Indian corn ground into meal, kneaded into a dough, and baked
before a fire, but as the negroes bake theirs on the hoes that they work
with, they have the appellation of hoe-cakes. These are in common use among
the inhabitants, I cannot say they are palateable, for as to flavor, one
made of sawdust would be equally good, and not unlike it in appearance, but
they are certainly a very strong and hearty food."

  --Anburey, _"Travels through America during the War_," Vol. 2, pp. 330-5.



VINDICATION OF THE NEGROES: A CONTROVERSY


First let me repeat your longest section relative to that people.

'Below this class of inhabitants, (the whites of no property, in Virginia,)
we must rank the Negroes, who would be still more to be pitied, if their
_natural insensibility did not in some measure alleviate the wretchedness
inseparable from slavery_. Seeing them ill lodged, ill clothed, and often
overcome with labour, I concluded that their treatment had been as rigorous
as it is elsewhere. Notwithstanding I have been assured that it is very
mild, compared to what they suffer in the Sugar Colonies. And indeed one
does not hear habitually, as at Jamaica and St. Domingo, the sound of
whips, and the outcries of the wretched beings, whose bodies are torn piece
meal by their strokes. It is because the people of Virginia are commonly
milder than those of the Sugar Colonies, which consist chiefly of rapacious
men, eager to amass fortunes, as soon as possible, and return to Europe.
The produce of their labours being also less valuable, their tasks are not
so rigorously exacted, and in justice to both, it must be allowed that the
Negroes themselves are less treacherous and thievish, than they are in the
Islands: for the propagation of the black species being very considerable
here, most of them are born in the country, and it is remarked that these
are in general less depraved than those imported from Africa. Besides, we
must do the Virginians the justice to remark, that many of them treat their
Negroes with a great deal of humanity, and what is still more to their
honor, they appear sorry there are any among them, and are forever talking
of abolishing slavery, and falling upon some other mode of improving their
land, &c.

'However this may be, it is fortunate that different motives concur to
deter mankind from exercising such tyranny, at least upon their own
species, if we cannot say, strictly speaking, _their equals_; for the more
we observe the Negroes, the more we are convinced that the
difference between us _does not lie in the colour alone, &c._

'Enough upon this subject, which has not escaped the attention of the
politicians and philosophers of the present age: I have only to apologize
for treating it without declamation; but I have always thought, that
eloquence can only influence the resolutions of the moment, and that every
thing which requires time, must be the work of reason. And besides, it will
be an easy matter to add ten or twelve pages to these few reflections,
which may be considered as a concert composed only of principal parts, _con
corni ad libertum_.'

Upon reading this passage attentively, I was surprised to find it contain a
singular mixture of contradictory principles, and in the same breath, the
sentiments of a philosopher and of a colonist; of an advocate for the
Negroes, and of their enemy.

It is evident that as a philosopher, and a friend to humanity, you are
inclined to alleviate the lot of the Negroes, and commend those who do so,
but this tenderness itself conceals a subtile venom that ought to be
exposed. For you only bestow your pity upon the Negroes, while you owe
them, if you are a philosopher, vindication and defense; you wish their
masters to be humane; they ought to be just. Instead of praising such
humanity, you ought to have blamed them for stopping there, in short, such
a contempt for the Negroes pervades this whole article, as will necessarily
encourage their tormentors to rivet their chains. Is not this contempt
observable, for instance in the very first period?

"Below this class of inhabitants (the meanest whites of Virginia) we must
rank the Negroes, who would be still more to be pitied, if their natural
insensibility did not in some measure alleviate the wretchedness
inseparable from slavery."

And who told you, Sir, that nature had created the Negroes with less
feeling than other men? do you judge so because they have vegetated for
three centuries in European fetters, and at this day have not altogether
shaken off the horrid yoke? But do not their frequent risings, and the
cruelties they from time to time retaliate upon their masters, give the lie
to this natural insensibility? for an insensible being has no resentment.
If he does not feel, how should he remember? Do you think the wretched
Indians, who, since the discovery of the New world, are burried in the
mines of Peru, are also naturally insensible, because they suffer
patiently?

You calumniate nature in making her grant favours to particulars; in giving
her a system of inequality among her offspring. All men are cast in the
same mould.--The varieties which distinguish individuals, are the sports of
chance, or the result of different circumstances; but the black comes into
the world with as much sensibility as the white, the Peruvian, as the
European.

What then degrades this natural and moral sensibility? The greater or less
privation of liberty; in proportion as man loses it, he loses the powers of
sensation; he loses the man; he sickens or becomes a brute. It is slavery
alone which can reduce a man to a level with the brute creation, and
sometimes deprives him of all sensibility; but you blame nature, that kind
parent, who would have us all equal, free and happy, for the crime of
social barbarity, and you pass by this crime, to extenuate another, to
extenuate the horrid torments of slavery! Not satisfied with violating
nature, by abusing her offspring, even in her name, you encourage
slaveholders to torment them.

Do you not arm their tyrants, when you tell them, the insensibility of the
Negroes alleviates their torments?

What! because greatness of soul raised Sidney above the terrors of death,
the infernal Jefferies[1] who caused his execution, was less guilty!
because the Quakers appeared insensible to insults, blows, or punishments,
they are less to be pitied, and it was right to martyr them! A dangerous
notion, whose consequences I am sure you would disapprove. If this
insensibility with which you reproach the Negroes mitigated the cruelty of
their masters, it were well: but their tormentors do not wish them not to
feel; they would have them all feeling, for the pleasure of torturing them;
and their punishments are increased in proportion to their insensibility.

Seeing the Negroes, say you, "Ill lodged, ill cloathed, and often overcome
with labour, I concluded that their treatment had been as rigorous as it is
elsewhere. Notwithstanding I have been assured that it is very mild,
compared to what they suffer in the Sugar Colonies."

Why this comparison, which seems to insinuate a justification of the
Virginians? does a misfortune cease to be such, because there is a greater
elsewhere? Was Cartouche less detestable because Brinvilliers had existed
before him? Let us not weaken by comparisons the idea of criminality, nor
lessen the attention due to the miserable, this were to countenance the
crime. The Negroes are ill lodged, ill cloathed, oppressed with labour in
Virginia: this is the fact, this is the offence. It matters not whether
they are worse treated elsewhere; in whatever degree they are so in
Virginia, it is still outrage and injustice.

And again, why are the Negroes of Virginia less cruelly treated? Humanity
is not the motive, it is because covetousness cannot obtain so much from
their labours, as in the Sugar Islands. Was it otherwise, they would be
sacrificed to it here, as well as there; how can we praise such forced
humanity? how, on the contrary, not give vent to all the indignation, which
must naturally arise in every feeling mind?

"And to do justice to both, you add, if the Virginians are not so severe,
it is because the Negroes themselves are less treacherous and thievish than
in the islands, because the propagation of the black species being very
considerable here, most of the Negroes are born in the country, and it is
remarked, that these are in general less depraved than those imported from
Africa."

Here is a strange confusion of causes and effects, and a strange abuse of
words. First let us clear up the facts. Here are some valuable ones for the
cause of the Negroes.

You say they are not so thievish in Virginia, propagate faster, and are
less depraved: Why? Because they are less cruelly treated.--Here is the
cause and the effect, you have mistaken one for the other.

We must conclude from this fact, that if the Virginians were no longer
severe, and should treat the blacks like fellow-creatures, they would not
be more vicious than their white servants.

The degree of oppression is the measure of what is improperly called the
viciousness of the slaves.--The more cruel their tyrants, the more
treacherous, villainous and cruel are the slaves in return--Can we wonder
that Macronius should assassinate his master Tiberius? This viciousness is
a punishment that heaven inflicts upon tyranny.

Can the efforts of a slave for the recovery of his liberty, be denominated
vicious or criminal? From the moment you violate the laws of nature, in
regard to them, why should not they shake them off in their relative duties
to you? You rob them of liberty, and you would not have them steal your
gold! You whip and cruelly torment them, and expect them not to struggle
for deliverance! You assassinate them every day, and expect them not to
assassinate you once! You call your outrages, rights, and the courage which
repulses them, a crime! What a confusion of ideas! what horrid logic!

And you, sir, a humane philosopher! are accessory to this injustice, by
describing the blacks in the style of a dealer in human flesh! You call
what are no more than natural consequences of the compression of the spring
of liberty--treachery, theft and depravation.[2] But can a natural
consequence be criminal? Remove the cause or is it not the only crime?

For my part, sir, I firmly believe, that the barbarities committed by the
Negroes, not merely against their masters, but even against others, will be
attributed at the bar of eternal justice, to the slaveholders, and those
infamous persons employed in the Guinea trade. I firmly believe, that no
human justice has the right of putting a Negro slave to death for any crime
whatever, because not being free, he is not sui juris, and should be
regarded as a child or an idiot, being almost always under the lash. I
believe that the real criminal, the cause of the crime, is the man who
first seized him, sold him, or enslaved him.--And if ever I should fall
under the knife of an unhappy runaway, I would not resent it upon him but
upon those white men who keep blacks in slavery. I would tell them, your
cruelty towards your Negroes, has endangered my life--they execrate you,
they take me for a tyrant because I am white like you, and the vengeance
due to your crimes has fallen upon me.

God forbid, however, that I should undertake to encourage the blacks to
take up arms against their masters! God forbid, however, that I should
undertake to justify the excesses to which their resentments have sometimes
hurried them, and which have often fallen on persons who were not accessary
to their wretchedness! The slavery under which they groan, must be
abolished by peaceable means; and thanks to the active spirit of
benevolence which animates the Quakers, the pious undertaking is already
begun. In most of the United States of America, the yoke has been taken
from their necks; in others the Guinea-trade has been prohibited. Societies
have been formed both at Paris and London, to collect and circulate
information upon this interesting subject, to induce the European
governments to put a stop to the Negro trade, and provide for their gradual
emancipation in the West-India islands: No doubt success will crown their
views, and the friends of liberty will enjoy the satisfaction of
communicating its blessings to the blacks.

But the blacks must wait for the happy moment that shall restore them to
civil life, in silence and in peace; they must rely upon the unwearied
diligence and zeal of the numerous writers who advocate their cause, and
the efforts of the humane to second their endeavors; they must strive to
justify and support the arguments that are adduced in their favour, by
displaying virtue in the very bosom of slavery; they must endeavour, in a
word, to render themselves worthy of liberty, that they may know how to use
it when it shall be restored to them; for liberty itself is sometimes a
burden, when slavery has stupefied the soul.

Such blacks, therefore, as are so inconsiderate as to be concerned in
insurrections, are guilty of retarding the execution of the general plan
for their emancipation; for the question is not, at the present day,
whether a million of slaves ought to be set at liberty, but whether they
can when free, be put into a capacity of providing for the subsistence of
themselves and their families. Insurrections, far from effecting this
purpose, would destroy the means. Regard, therefore, to their own
interests, if there were no other motive, should therefore engage the
blacks to patient submission, and no doubt but they will yield it, if their
masters and the ministers of the gospel in particular, to whom the task of
comforting and instructing them, is committed, endeavour to prepare them
for approaching freedom.

You sir, have adopted the vulgar notion, that the Negroes born in Virginia,
are less depraved than those imported from Africa. You call the firmness
which is common in the early stages of their slavery _greater degeneracy;_
they are depraved, that is, in your language--they are wicked and
treacherous to those who have purchased them, or brought them from their
own country.--But in my mind, they are not depraved, because the acts of
violence their genius inspires them to revenge themselves upon their
tyrants, are justified by the rights of nature.

And why are those imported, more wicked in your opinion? In mine, more
quick, more ardent in their resentments? because, not having forgotten
their former situation, they feel their loss the more sensibly; and having
strong ideas, their resolutions are more firm and their actions more
violent, they not having yet contracted the habits of slavery.

They soon fall into that degree of apathy and insensibility, which you
unjustly believe to be natural to them; that is, in your language, they
become less depraved; but I would say that their depravity begins with this
apathy and weakness.--For depravity is the loss of nature, and the want of
those virtues inherent in man, courage and the love of liberty. Our readers
may judge from this article, how strangely writers have wrested words to
condemn these unhappy Negroes, and the unfortunate in general.

I do not, however, pretend to say, that the Negroes of Africa are all
good, or even that many of them are not depraved. But is this fact to be
imputed to them as a personal crime? Ought you not rather to have ascribed
it to the foreign source by which they are corrupted. Alike in them and in
the whites, the depravity of man is a consequence of his wretchedness, and
the usurpation of his rights. Wherever he is free and at ease, he is good;
wherever the contrary, he is wicked. Neither his nature nor the climate
corrupt him, but the government of his country. Now that of the Negroes is
almost universally despotic, such as must necessarily debase and corrupt
the Negro.

How much is the depravity, occasioned by the government of his country,
increased by his second slavery, far worse than the first--for he is no
longer among friends in his native land--surrounded by the pleasing scenes
of his childhood, he is among monsters who are going to live by, and trade
in his blood, and has nothing before his eyes but death, or oppression
equivalent to an endless punishment.

How is it possible such horrid prospects should not fire his soul? How, if
chance should present him with arms and liberty, should he resist using
them, to put an end to his own existence, or that of his tormentors? What
white man would be less cruel in his situation? Truly I think myself of a
humane disposition, that I love my fellow-creatures and detest the effusion
of blood, but if ever a villain, white or black, should snatch me from my
freedom, my family, and my friends, should overwhelm me with outrages and
blows, to gratify his caprice, should extend his barbarities to my wife and
children--my blood boils at the thought--perhaps in a transport of
revenge.... If such vengeance would be lawful in me, what makes the Negro
more guilty? Why should that be called wickedness and depravity in him,
which would be stiled virtue in me, in you, in every white man? Are not my
rights the same as his? Is not nature our common parent? God his father as
well as mine? His conscience an infallible guide as well as mine? Let us
then no longer make other laws for the blacks than those we are bound by
ourselves, since Heaven has placed them on a level with us, has made them
like us, since they are our brethren and our fellow-creatures.

Here you stop me, you say that _the Negro is not our fellow-creature, that
he is below the white_.

How could so shocking an opinion escape the pen of a member of the Royal
Academy, a writer who would be thought a friend of mankind!

Do not you see the tormentors of St. Domingo, avail themselves of it
already, redoubling their strokes, and regarding their slaves as mere
machines, like the Cartesians do the brutes? They are not our
fellow-creatures will they say: a philosopher of Paris has proved it?

What! the blacks our equals! Have not they eyes, ears, a shape, and organs
like ours? Does nature follow another order, other laws for them?--Have not
they speech, that peculiar characteristic of humanity? But then the colour!
What of that? Are the pale white Albinos, the olive or copper coloured
Indians also of different species! Who does not know that colour is
accidental. They are not our equals! Have not they the same
faculties--reason, memory, imagination? Yes, you reply, but they have
written no books. Who told you so? Who told you there were no learned
blacks? And supposing it were so, if none but authors are men, the whole
human race is different from us.

Shall I tell you why there are no authors or men of learning among the
Negroes? What has made you what you are? Education and circumstances!--Now
where are the Negroes favoured by either? Consider them wherever they are
to be found.--In Africa, wretchedly enslaved by domestic tyrants; in our
islands perpetual martyrs; in the southern United States, the meanest of
slaves; in the northern, domestics; in Europe, universally contemned, every
where proscribed, like the Jews; in a word, every where in a state of
debasement.

I have been told that there are blacks of property in the northern parts of
America; but these, like the other settlers, are no more than sensible
farmers or traders.--There are no authors[3] among them, because there are
few rich and idle people in America.

What spring of action could raise a Negro from his debased condition? the
road to glory and honor is impassible to him: What then should he write
for? Besides, the blacks have reason to detest the sciences, for their
oppressors cultivate them but they do not make them better.

Shall we say that the Indians or Arabs are not our equals, because they
despise both our arts and our sciences? or the Quakers, because they
neither respect academies nor wits?

In short, if you will deny the Negroes souls, energy, sensibility,
gratitude or beneficence, I oppose you to yourself, I might quote your own
anecdote of Mr. Langdon's Negro, and abundance of other well known facts in
favour of the blacks. You may find some striking ones in the Abbé Raynals'
philosophical history. One of them would have been sufficient. The Negro
who killed himself when his master who had injured him was in his power,
was superior to Epictetus, and the existence of a single Negro of so
sublime a character, ennobles all his kind.

But how could you judge whether the blacks were different from the whites,
who saw them only in a state of slavery and wretchedness? Do we estimate
beauty by the figure of a Laplander? magnanimity by the soul of a courtier?
or intelligence by the stupidity of an Esquimaux?

If the traces of humanity were so much weakened and effaced in the Negroes,
that you did not recognize them, I conclude not that they do not belong to
our species, but that they must have been cruelly tormented to reduce them
to this state of degeneracy. I do not conclude that they are not men, but
that the Europeans who kidnap the blacks, are not worthy of the name.

You consider what precautions it may be necessary to take to avoid the
danger which might attend a general emancipation of the Negroes.

I shall not now enter into a discussion of this nice question, but reserve
it for another work: yet I must say in a word, that the Negroes will never
be our friends, will never be men, until they are possessed of all our
rights, until we are upon an equality. Civil liberty is the boundary
between good and evil, order and disorder, happiness and misery, ignorance
and knowledge. If we would make the Negroes worthy of us, we must raise
them to our level by giving them this liberty.

Thus, the chief inconvenience you expect will follow the emancipation of
the Negroes, may be avoided; that although free, they will remain a
distinct species, a distinct and dangerous body.

This objection will vanish when we intermix with them, and boldly efface
every distinction. Unless this is the case, I foresee torrents of blood
spilt and the earth disputed between the whites and blacks, as America was
between the Europeans and Savages.

Perhaps, and it is no extravagant idea--perhaps it might be more prudent,
more humane, to send the blacks back again to their native country, settle
them there, encourage their industry, and assist them to form connections
with Europe and America. The celebrated doctor Fothergill conceived this
plan, and the society for the abolition of slavery, at London, have carried
it into execution at Sierra Leone. Time and perseverance, will discover the
policy and utility of this settlement. If it should succeed, the blacks
will quit America insensibly, and Sierra Leone become the centre from
whence general civilization will spread over all Africa.

Perhaps, sir, you will place these thoughts upon the Negroes with those
declamations you are pleased to ridicule: But what is the epithet of
declaimer to me, if I am right, if I make an impression upon my readers, if
I cause remorse into the breast of a single slave-holder; in a word, if I
contribute to accelerate the general impulse toward liberty.

You disapprove the application of eloquence to this subject; you think
nothing can affect it but exertions of cool reason. What is eloquence but
the language of reason and sensibility? When man is oppressed, he
struggles, he complains, he moves our passions, and bears down all
opposition. Such eloquence can perform wonders, and should be employed by
those who undertake to plead the cause of the unfortunate who spend their
days in continual agony, or he will make no impression.--I do not conceive
how any man can display wit instead of feeling, upon this distracting
subject, amuse with an antithesis, instead of forcible reasoning, and only
dazzle where he ought to warm. I have no conception how a sensible and
thinking being, can see a fellow-creature tortured and torn to pieces,
perhaps his poor wife bathed in tears, with a wretched infant sucking her
shriveled breast at his side; I say I have no conception how he can behold
such a sight, with indifference; how, unagonized and convulsed with rage
and indignation, he can have the barbarity to descend to jesting!
Notwithstanding, your observations upon the Negroes, conclude with a jest.

It will be an easy matter, say you, to add ten or twelve pages to these few
reflections, which may be considered as a concert, composed only of
principal parts, "con corni ad Libertum."

I hope there is nothing cruel, because there is nothing studied in this
connection, this inconsiderate manner: but how could such a comparison come
into the head of a man of feeling? It is the sad effect of wit, as I said
before; it contracts the soul. Ever glancing over agreeable objects, it is
unfeeling when intruded upon by wretchedness--uneasy to obliterate the
shocking idea, and elude the groans of nature, it rids itself of both by a
jest. The humane Benezet would never have connected this idea of harmony
with the sound of a Negro driver's whip.

Having proved that you have wronged the Quakers and the Negroes, I shall
proceed to shew that you have equally injured mankind and the
people.--_Critical Examination of the Marquis de Chastellux's Travels in
North-America, 1782. Translated from the French of Jean P. Verre Brissot de
Warville, 1788_, pp. 51-63.



FOOTNOTES:


[1] This Jefferies was the most infamous Chief Justice that ever existed in
England. Charles II. and James II. well acquainted with his talents for
chicane, his debauchery and blood-thirstiness, his baseness and his crimes,
made use of him to exterminate, with the sword of law, all those worthy men
who defended the constitution from their tyranny.

I often quote the History of England; unhappily for us it is too little
known in France.

[2] Most authors who have not studied the rights of men, fall into this
error. I have remarked elsewhere (Vol. II of the _Journ. du Licee_, No. 4,
page 222) that a writer, who, notwithstanding, deserves our esteem, for
having written against the despotism of the Turkish government, has
suffered himself to be drawn into it. M. le Baron de Tott says that the
Moldavians are thievish, mean and faithless. To translate these words into
the language of truth, we must say, the Turks, the masters of the
Moldavians, are unjust, robbers, villains, and tyrants; and that the
Moldavians revenge themselves by opposing deceit to oppression, etc. Thus,
the people are almost everywhere wrongfully accused.

[3] There was, however, a Negro author at London, whose productions are not
without merit, and were lately published in two volumes. His name was
Ignatius Sancho. He wrote in the manner of Sterne.



SUR L'ÉTAT GÉNÉRAL, LE GENRE D'INDUSTRIE, LES MOEURS, LE CARACTÈRE, ETC.
DES NOIRS, DANS LES ÉTATS-UNIS


"Dans les quatre états du nord et dans ceux du midi, les noirs libres sont,
ou domestiques, ou tiennent de petites boutiques, ou cultivent la terre.
Vous en voyez quelques-unes sur les bâtimens destinés au cabotage. Peu
osent se hasarder sur les vaisseau employés aux voyages de long cours,
parce qu'ils craignent d'être transportés et vendus dans les iles.--Au
physique, tous ces noirs sont généralement vigoureux,[1] d'une forte
constitution, capables des travaux les plus pénibles; ils sont généralement
actifs.--Domestiques, ils sont sobres et fidèles.--Ce portrait s'applique
aux femmes de cette couleur.--Je n'ai vu faire aucune distinction entr'eux
à cet égard et les domestiques blancs, quoique ces derniers les traitent
toujours avec mépris, comme étant d'une espèce inférieure.--Ceux qui
tiennent des boutiques, vivent médiocrement, n'augmentent jamais leurs
affaires au-dela d'un certain point. La raison en est simple: quoique
partout on traite les noirs avec humanité, les blancs qui ont l'argent, ne
sont pas disposés à faire aux noirs des avances, telles qu'elles les
missent en état d'entreprendre le commerce en grand; d'ailleurs, il faut
pour ce commerce quelques connoissances préliminaires, il faut faire un
noviciat dans un comptoir, et la raison n'a pas encore ouvert aux noirs la
porte du comptoir. On ne leur permet pas de s'y asseoir à côté des
blancs.--Si donc les noirs sont bornés ici à un petit commerce de détail,
n'en accusons pas leur impuissance, mais le préjugé des blancs, qui leur
donnent des entraves. Les mémes causes empéchent les moirs qui vivent à la
compagne d'avoir des plantations étendues; celles qu'ils cultivent sont
bornées, mais généralement assez bien cultivées: de bons habits, _une log
house_, ou maison de bois en bon état, des enfans plus nombreux les font
remarquer des Européens voyageurs, et l'oeil du philosophe se plaît à
considérer ces habitations, où la tyrannie ne fait point verser de pleurs.
Dans cette partie de l'Amerique, les noirs sont certainement heureux; mais
ayons le courage de l'avouer, leur bonheur et leurs talens ne sont pas
encore au degré où ils pourroient atteindre.--Il existe encoure un trop
grand intervalle entre eux et les blancs, sur-tout dans l'opinion publique,
et cette difference humiliante arrête tous les efforts qu'ils feroient pour
s'élever. Cette difference se montre par-tout. Par exemple, on admet les
noirs aux écoles publiques; mais ils ne peuvent franchir le seuil d'un
collège. Quoique libres, quoique indépendans, ils sont toujours eux-mêmes
accoutumés à se regarder comme au-dessous du blanc; il y a des droits
qu'ils n'out pas.[2] Concluons de là qu'on jugeroit mal de l'étendue, de la
capacité des noirs, en prenant pour base celle des noirs libres dans les
états du nord.

Mais quand on les compare aux noirs, esclaves des états du midi, quelle
prodigieuse différence les sépare! Dans le midi, les noirs sont dans un
état d'abjection et d'abrutissement difficile à peindre. Beaucoup sont
nuds, mal nourris, logés dans de miserables huttes, couchés sur la
paille.[3] On ne leur donne aucune éducation; on ne les instruit dans
aucune religion; on ne les marie pas, on les accouple; aussi sont ils
avilis, paresseux, sans idées, sans énergie.--Ills ne se donneroient
aucune peine pour avoir des habits, ou de meilleures provisions;
ils aiment mieux porter des haillons que de les raccommoder. Ills
passent le dimanche, qui est le jour du repos, entièrement dans
l'inaction.--L'inaction est leur souverain bonheur; aussi travaillent-ils
pen et nonchalamment.

Il faut rendre justice à la vérité; les Américains du midi traitent
doucement les esclaves, et c'est un des effets produits par l'extension
générale des idées sur la liberté; l'esclave travaille moins par-tout; mais
on s'est borné là. Il n'en est pas mieux, ni pour la mourriture, ni pour
son habillement, ni pour ses moeurs, ni pour ses idées; ainsi le maître
perd, sans que l'esclaves acquière; et s'il suivoit l'exemple des
Americains du nord, tous deux gagneroient au changement.

On a cru généralment jusqu'à ces derniers temps, que les nègres avoient
moins de capacité morale que les blancs; des auteurs même estimables l'ont
imprimé.[4] Ce préjugé commence à disparoitre; les états du nord pourroient
fournir des exemples du contraire. Je n'en citerai que deux frappans; le
premier, prouvera, qu'avec l'instruction, on peut rendre les noirs propres
à toutes les professions; le second, que la tête d'un nègre est organsée
pour les calculs les plus étonans, et par conséquent pour toutes les
sciences.

J'ai vu, dans mon séjour à Philadelphie, un noir, appelé Jacques Derham,
médecin, qui exerce dans la Nouvelle-Orleans, sur le Mississippi; et voici
son histoire, telle qu'elle m'a été attestée par plusieurs médecins.--Ce
noir a été élevé dans une famille de Philadelphie, où il a appris à lire, à
écrire, et où on l'a instruit dans les principes du christianisme. Dans sa
jeunesse, il fut vendu au feu docteur Jean Kearsley le jeune, de cette
ville, qui l'employoit pour composer des médecines, et les administrer á
ses malades.

A la mort du docteur Kearsley, il passa dans différentes mains, et il
devint enfin l'esclave du docteur George West, chirurgien du seizième
regiment d'Angleterre, sous lequel, pendant la dernière guerre en Amérique,
il remplit les fonctions les moins importantes de la médecine.

A la fin de la guerre, le docteur West le vendit au Docteur Robert Dove, de
la Nouvelle-Orleans, qui l'employa comme son second. Dans cette condition,
il gagna si bien la confiance et l'amité de son maître, que celui-ci
consentit à l'affranchir deux ou trois ans après, et à des conditions
modérées.--Derham s'étoit tellement perfectionné dans la medecine, qu'à
l'époque de sa liberté, il fut en état de la pratiquer avec succès à la
Nouvelle-Orleans.--Il a environ 26 ans; il est marié, mais il n'a point
d'enfans; la medecine lui rapporte 3000 dollars, ou 16000 l. environ par
an.

J'ai causé, m'a dit le docteur Wistar, avec lui sur les maladies aiguës et
épidémiques du pays où il vit, et je l'ai trouve bien versé dans la méthode
simple, usitée par les modernes pour le traitement de ces maladies.--Je
croyois pouvoir lui indiquer de nouveaux remèdes; mais ce fut lui qui me
les indiqua.--Il est modeste, et a des manières très-engageantes; il parle
francois avec facilité et a quelques connoisances de l'espagnol. -- Qoique
né dans une famille religieuse, on avoit, par accident, oublié de le faire
baptiser. En conséquence, il s'est adressé au docteur Withe pour recevoir
le baptême; il le lui a conféré, apres l'en avoir jugé digne, non-seulement
par ses connoisances, mais par son excellente conduite.

Voice l'autre fait, tel qu'il m'a été attesté, et imprimé par le docteur
Rush,[5] célèbre médecin et auteur, établi à Philadelphie et plusieurs
détails m'en ont été confirmés par l'épouse de l'immortel Washington, dans
le voisinage duquel ce nègre est depuis longtemps.

Son nom est Thomas Fuller; il est né en Afrique, et ne sait ni lire ni
écrire; il a maintenant soixante-dix ans, et a vécu toute sa vie sur la
plantation de M^{me} Cox, a quatre milles d'Alexandrie. Deux habitans
respectables de Pensylvanie, MM. Hartshom et Samuel Coates, qui
voyageoient en Virginie, ayant appris la facilité singuliere que ce noir
avoit pour les calculus les plus compliques, l'envoyèrent chercher, et lui
firent differentes questions.

Première. Etant interrogé, combien de secondes il y avoit dans une année et
demie, il repondit en deux minutes, 47,304,000, en comptant 365 jours dans
l'année.

Deuxième. Combien de secondes auroit vécu un homme âgé de soix-ante-dix ans
dix-sept jours et douze heures? Il répondit dans une minute et demie,
2,210,500,800.

Un des Americains qui l'interrogeoit et qui vérifioit ses calculs avec la
plume, lui dit qu'il se trompoit, que la somme n'étoit pas si considerable;
et cela étoit vrai: c'est qu'il n'avoit pas fait attention aux années
bissextiles; il corrigea le calcul avec la plus grande célérité.

Autre question. Supposez un laboureur qui a six truies, et que chaque
truie en met bas six autres la première année, et qu'elles multiplient dans
la même proportion jusqu'à, l' fin de la huitème année: combien alors de
truies aura le laboureur, s'il n'en perd aucune? Le vieillard répondit en
dix minutes, 34,588,806.

La longueur du temps ne fut occasionée que parce qu'il n'avoit pas d'abord
compris la question.

Après avoir satisfait à toutes les questions, il raconta l'origine et les
progrès de son talent en arithmétique.--Il compta a'abord jusqu'a 10, puis
100; et s'imaginoit alors, disoit-il, être un habile homme. Ensuite il
s'amusa à compter tous les grains d'un boisseau de ble, et successivement
il sut compter le nombre de rails ou morceaux de bois necessaires pour
enclore un champ d'une telle étendue, ou de grains nécessaires pour le
semer.--Sa maîtresse avoit tiré beaucoup d'advantages de son talen; il ne
parloit d'elle qu'avec la plus grande reconnoissance, parce qu'elle ne
l'avoit jamais voulu vendre, malgre les offres considerables qu'on lui
avoit faites pour l'acheter.--Sa tête commençoit à foiblir.--Un des
Americains lui ayant dit que c'étoit dommage qu'il n'eut pas recu de
l'éducation: Non, maître, dit-il; il vaut mieux que je n'aie rien appris,
car bien des savans ne sont que des sots.

Ces exemples prouveront, sans doute, que la capacité des nègres peut
s'étendre a tout; ils n'ont besoin que d'instruction et de liberté.--La
différence qui se remarque entre ceux qui sont libres et instruits et les
autres, se montre encore dans leurs travaux.--Les terres qu'habitent et les
blancs et les noirs, soumis à ce rêgime, sont infiniment mieux cultivées,
produisent plus abondamment, offrent par-tout l'image de l'aisance et du
bonheur; et tel est, par exemple, l'aspect du Connecticut et de la
Pensylvanie.--Passez dans le Maryland ou la Virginie, encore une fois, vous
croyez être dans un autre monde. Ce ne sont plus des plaines bien
cultivées, des maisons de campagne, propres et meme élégantes, des vastes
granges bien distribuées; ce ne sont plus des troupeaux nombreux de
bestiaux gras et vigoureux: non, tout dans le Maryland et la Virginia,
porte l'empreinte de l'esclavage; sol brulé, culture mal entendue, maisons
délabrées, bestiaux petits et peu nombreux, cadavres noirs ambulans; en un
mot, vous y voyez une misère réelle a côté de l'apparence du luxe.

On commence à s'appercevoir, même dans les états méridionaux, que nourrir
mal un exclave est une chétive économie, et que le fonds placé dans
l'esclavage ne rend pas son interêt. C'est peut-être plus à cette
considération, plus encore à l'impossibilité pécuniaire de recruter; c'est
plus, dis-je, à ces considérations qu'à l'humanité, qu'on doit
l'introduction du travail libre dans une partie de la Virginie, dans celle
qui avoisine la belle rivière de la Shenadore. Aussi croiroit-on, en la
voyant, voir encore la Pensylvanie.

Osons l'espérer, tel sera un jour le sort de la Virginie, quand elle ne
sera plus souillée par l'esclavage; et ce terme n'est peut-être pas
eloigné. Il n'y a des esclaves que parce qu'on les croit nécessaires á la
culture du tabac, et cette culture décline tous les jours et doit décliner.
Le tabac, qui se ciiltive près de l'Ohio et du Mississippi, est infiniment
plus abondant, de meilleure qualité, exige moins de travaux. Quand ce tabac
se sera ouvert le chemin de l'Europe, les Virginiens seront obligés de
cesser sa culture, et de demander à la terre du blé, des pommes de terre,
de faire des prairies et d'élever des bestiaux. Les Virginiens judicieux
prévoient cette revolution, l'anticipent, et se livrent à la culture du
blé.--A leur tête, on doit mettre cet homme étonnant, qui, général adoré,
eut le courage d'être republican sincère; qui, couvert de gloire, seul, ne
s'en souvient plus; héros dont la destinée unique sera d'avoir sauvé deux
fois sa patrie, de lui ouvrir le chemin de la prospérité, apres avoir
ouvert celui de la liberté. Maintenant _entièrement_ occupé[6] du soin
d'améliorer ses terres, d'en varier le produit, d'ouvrir des routes, des
communications, il donne à ses compatriotes un exemple utile, et qui sans
doute sera suivi. Il a cependant, dois-je, le dire? une foule nombreuse
d'esclaves noirs.--Mais ils sont traites avec la plus grande humanité. Bien
nourris, bien vêtus, n'ayant qu'un travail modéré à faire, ils bénissent
sans cesse le maître que le Ciel leur a donné.--Il est digne sans doute
d'une âme aussi élevée, aussi pure, aussi désinteressé, de commencer la
révolution en Virginie, d'y preparer l'affranchissement des nègres.--Ce
grand homme, lorsque j'eus le bonheur de l'entretenir, m'avoua qu'il
admiroit tout ce qui se faissoit dans les autres états, qu'il en desiroit
l'extension dans son propre pays; mais il ne me cacha pas que de nombreux
obstacles s'y opposoient encore, qu'il seroit dangereux de heurter de front
un préjugé qui commencoit à diminuer.--Du temps, de la patience, des
lumières, et on le convaincra, me dit-il. Presque tous les Virginiens,
ajoutoit-il, ne croyent pas que la liberté des noirs puisse sitôt devenir
générale. Voilà pourquoi ils ne veulent point former de société qui puisse
donner des idées dangereuses à leurs esclaves. Un autre obstacle s'y
oppose. Les grandes propriétés éloignent les hommes, rendent difficiles les
assemblées, et vous ne trouverez ici que de grands propriétaires.

Les Virginiens se trompent, lui disois-je; il est evident que tôt ou tard
les nègres obtiendront par-tout leur liberté, que cette révolution
s'étendra en Virginie. Il est done de l'intérêt de vos compatriotes de s'y
préparer, de tacher de concilier la restitution des droits des nègres avec
leur propriété. Les Moyens à prendre, pour cet effet, ne peuvent être
l'ouvrage que d'une société, et il est digne du sauveur de l'Amerique d'en
être le chef, et de rendre la liberté à 300,000 hommes malheureux dans son
pays. Ce grand homme me dit qu'il en desiroit la formation, qu'il la
seconderoit; mail il ne croyoit pas le moment favorable.--Sans doute des
vues plus élévees absorboient alors son attention et remplissoient son âme;
le destin de l'amerique étoit prêt à étre remis une seconde fois dans ses
mains.

C'est un malheur, n'en doutons pas, semblable société n'existe pas dans le
Maryland et dans la Virginie; car c'est au zèle constant de celles de
Philadelphie et de New-Yorck qu'on doit tous les progrès de cette
révolution en Amerique, et la naissance de la société de Londres.

Que ne puis-je ici vous peindre l'impression dont j'ai été frappé en
assistant aux séances de ces trois sociétés!--Quelle gravité dans la
contenance des membres! quelle simplicité dans leurs discours! quelle
candeur dans leurs discussions! quelle bienfaisance! quelle énergie dans
leur résolution! Chacun s'empressoit d'y prendre part, non pour briller,
mais pour être utile.--Avec quelle joie ils apprirent qu'il s'élevoit une
société semblable à la leur dans Paris, dans cette capitale immense, si
célèbre en Amerique par l'opulence, le faste, l'influence sur un vaste
royaume, et sur presque tous les états de l'Europe! Avec quel empressement
ils publièrent cette nouvelle dans toutes leurs gazettes, et répandirent
partout la traduction du premier discours lu dans cette société! Avec
quelle joie ils virent dans la liste des membres de cette société, un nom
cher à leurs coeurs, et qu'ils ne prononcent qu'aves attendrissement, et
les noms d'autres personness connues par leur énergie et leur patriotisme!
Ils ne doutoient point que si cette société s'étendoit, bravoit les
obstacles, s'unissoit avec celle de Londres, les lumières repandues par
elles sur le trafic des nègres et sur son infamie inutile, n'éclairassent
les gouvernmens, et n'en determinassent la suppression.

Ce fut, sans doute, à cet élan de joie et d'espoir, et aux recommendations
flatteuses que j'avois emportées d'Europe, plus qu'à mes foibles travaux,
que je dus l'honneur qu'ils me firent de m'associer à leur rang.

Ces sociétés ne se bornèrent pas à ces démonstrations; elles nommèrent dés
comités pour m'assister dans mes travaux; leurs archives me furent
ouvertes.

Ces sociétés bienfaisantes s'occupent maintenant de nouveaux prospects pour
consommer leur oeuvre de justice et d'humanité; elles s'occupent à creer de
nouvelles sociétés dans les états qui n'en out point; c'est ainsi qu'il
vient de s'en élever une dans l'état de Delaware.--Elles forment de
nouveaux projets pour décourager l'esclavage et le commerce des
esclaves.--Cest ainsi que, pour arrêter les ventes scandaleuses qui s'en
font encore dans New Yorck,[7] à des enchères publiques, tous les membres
se sont engagés à ne jamais employer l'officier public, l'huissier-priseur
qui présideroit à de pareilles ventes. Mais c'est sur-tout à sauver des
mains de la cupidité des esclaves, qu'elle voudroit et ne doit pas retenir,
que la société de Philadelphie est ingénieuse.--Un esclave est-il
maltraité, il trouve dans elle une protection assurée et gratuite.--Un
autre a fini son temps, et est toujours détenu; elle reclame ses
droits.--Des étrangers amènent des noirs, et ne satisfont pas à la loi; la
société en procure le benefice à ces malheureux nègres.--Un des plus
célèbres avocats de Philadelphie, dont j'aime à vanter les talents et
l'amitié qui nous unit, M. _Myers Fisher_, lui prête son ministère, presque
toujours avec succès, et tojours avec désintéressement. Cette société s'est
apperçue que de nombreuses assemblées, n'avoient pas d'action, parce que le
mouvement se perdoit en se divisant en trop de membres; elle a créé
plusiers comités, toujours en activite; elle sollicite des créations
semblables dans tous les états; afin que par-tout les loix sur l'abolition
de la traite et sur l'affranchissement soient executées; afin que par-tout
on presente des pétitions aux legislatures, pour obtenir de nouvelles loix
pour les cas non prévus. --Enfin, c'est a cette société, sand doute, que
l'on devra un jour de semblables établissemens dans le midi. J. P. Brissot,
(Warville). --"_Nouveau Vouage dans les États-Unis de l'Amerique
Septentrionale, 1788_," Tome Second, 31-49.



FOOTNOTES:


[1] Les noirs maries font certainement autant d'enfans que les blancs; mais
on a remarqué que dans les villes, il perissoit plus d'enfans noirs. Cette
difference tient moins a leur nature qu'au défaut d'aisance et de soins,
sur-tout des médecins et des chirurgiens.

[2] N'y eut-il que l'aversion des blancs pour le mariage de leurs filles
avec les noirs, ce seul sentiment suffiroit pour avilir ces deniers.
Cependant il y a quelques exemples de ces mariages.

Il existe a Pittsbourg sur l'Ohio une blanche d'origine françoise, menée a
Londres, et enlevée, à l'âge de douze ans, par des corsaires qui faisoient
métier d'enlever des enfans, et de les vendre en Amerique pour un temps
fixé de leur travail.--Des circonstances singulieres l'engagèrent à épouser
un nègre qui lui acheta sa liberté, et qui la tira des mains d'un blanc,
maître barbare et libi-dineux, qui avoit tout employé pour la desuire.--Une
mulâtresse, sortie de cette union, a épousé un chirurgien de Nantes, établi
à Pittsburg.--Cette famille est une des plus respectables de cette ville;
le nègre fait un très bon commerce, et la maîtresse se fait un devoir
d'accueillir et de bien traiter les étrangers, et sur tout les François que
le hasard amène de ce côté.

Mais on n'a point d'idée d'une pareille union dans le nord; elle
revolteroit.--Dans les etablissemens, le long de l'Ohio il y a bien des
négresses qui vivent avec des blancs non mariés.--Cependant on m'assura que
cette union est regardée de mauvais oeil par les nègres mêmes. Si une
négresse a une-querelle avec une mulâtresse, elle lui reproche d'être d'un
sang mêlé.

[3] Le docteur Rush, qui a été portée de traiter ces noirs, m'a communiqué
une observation bien importante, et qui prouve combien l'énergie morale et
intellectuelle d'un individu influe sur sa santé et son état physique. Il
m'a dit qu'il étoit bien plus difficile de traiter et de guérir ces noirs
esclaves que les blancs; qu'ils résistoient bien moins aux maladies
violentes ou longues. C'est qu'ils tiennent pen par l'âme à la vie: la
vitalité ou le ressort de la vie est presque nul dans eux.

[4] J'ai deja plusieurs fois refuté cette opinion et sur-tout dans mon
Examen critique des voyages de M. Chatellux. Elle a d'alleurs été détruite
dans une foule d'excellens ouvrages.

[5] Ce médecin est aussi célèbre en Amerique, par de bons écrits
politiques. C'est un apôtre infatigable de la liberté.

[6] Il n'étoit pas alors président des Etats-Unis. J'anticipe ici sur
plusieurs conversations que j'ai eues avec ce grand homme, et dont je
parlerai par la suite.

[7] A l'assemblée de la société de New-Yorck, du 9 novembre 1787, il a été arrêté qu'on
donneroit une medaille d'or pour le meilleur discours qui seroit prononcé a
l'ouverture du college de New-Yorck sur l'injustice et la cruaute de la
traite des nègres, et sur les funestes effets de l'esclavage.



SLAVERY AS SEEN BY HENRY WANSEY


"In this state (He was then at Worcester) the Negroes are free and happy,
are electors, but not elected to offices of state; their education,
however, is the same as the whites. ... No negro child is suffered to be
endentured beyond twenty-four years of age.

"We observe a school by the road-side in almost every parish, and out of it
run negro boys and girls as well as white children, without any
distinction. ... A road branched off here to our right hand, leading to
Albany about 60 miles distant. I now observe six or eight negroes working
together in a field, well dressed as other people. Notwithstanding, they
are here free, and admitted to equal privileges with the white people, yet
they love to associate with each other. It is observed that they are
naturally lazier, and will not work so hard as a white servant.--Perhaps,
the remembrance of former compulsive service, may make them place a luxury
in idleness. Nor do they yet seem to feel their importance in society; this
is a portion of inheritance reserved to the next generation of them. ...

  "Came on to Hartford....

Here I staid two days that I might have time to inspect the woolen
manufactory of this place, and attend the debates of the House of
Representatives of this state.... Two very interesting subjects were in
debate:--a bill brought in to repeal a law, passed in October last to
order 'That the money arising from the sale of their lands, between the
Ohio and Lake Erie, should be appropriated to increase the salaries of the
ministers of the gospel and the masters of schools;' and another bill (for
its second reading) 'To provide for those poor and sick negroes, who
having been freed from slavery might be unprovided for; and that till the
master was exculpated, by receiving a certificate from the state, that
negro was discharged in perfect health, it should be incumbent on the
master to continue to take care of him during sickness, or, at least, pay
the expenses of his cure.' I was much pleased to see a legislature extend
its humanity and care so far.

After our breakfast, which was not a very good one, we set off for
Elizabeth Town, near which, on the right, is Governor Livingstone's
handsome house. This is six miles from Newark....

I observed several negro houses, (low buildings of one story) detached from
the family house; for the slaves (from their pilfering disposition) are not
allowed to sleep in the same houses with their masters. Slavery, although
many regulations have been made to moderate its severity, is not yet
abolished in the New Jerseys....

"Most of the families of New York have black servants. I should suppose
that nearly one fifth of the inhabitants are negroes, most of whom are
free, and many in good circumstances."--Henry Wansey, F.A.S., "_The Journal
of an excursion to the United States of America in the summer of 1794
(Journey from New York to Boston)_," pp. 53, 57, 58, 67, and 227.



ESCLAVAGE PAR LA ROCHEFOUCAULD-LIANCOURT


Quant à l'esclavage, l'État de New-Yorck est un de ceux où les idées m'ont
paru le moins liberales. Il est donc naturel que les loix qui dans tous les
pays suivent plus ou moins l'opinion générale, manquent aussi de libéralité
à cet égard.

On peut concevoir comment dans les États du Sud le grand nombre des
esclaves rend leur émancipation difficile, et comment cette difficulté
d'émancipation donne pretexte à l'opinion de la necessité de loix
extrêmement sévères contre eux. Mais dans l'État de New-Yorck, où sur une
population de plus de quatre cent mille âmes on ne compte pas vingt mille
nègres; il est impossible de comprendre quels si grands obstacles
l'emancipation peut rencontrer, et sur quoi l'on peut fonder l'opinion
qui'il faut pour ce petit nombre de nègres des loix plus sévères que pour
les hommes d'une autre couleur.

Quoiqu'il en soit, une loi qui n'est pas plus ancienne que 1788, confirme
l'état d'esclavage pour tout nègre, mulâtre our mêtif esclave à l'époque où
elle a été rendue; déclare esclave tout enfant né ou à naître d'une femme
esclave; autorise la vente des esclaves et les soumet pour les petits
crimes, à un jugement, que l'on peut appeler prévotal, des juges de paix,
qui peuvent les condamner à l'emprisonnement ou aux coups de fouet. Un
article de cette loi les assuejétit à ce genre de jugement et à cette
espèce de sentence pour avoir frappé un blanc, sans faire exception du cas
où le blanc serait l'aggresseur. La faveur du jury est cependant accordée à
l'esclave, si le crime dont il est accusé peut emporter peine de mort. Il
est aussi admis en témoignage dans les affaires criminelles où d'autres
nègres sont impliqués.

La nouvelle jurisprudence criminelle, fondée sur les principes d'humanité
et de justice, ne détruit aucune des dispositions réellement injustes et
barbares, contenues dans cette loi. Cependant, les esclaves sont
généralement traités avec plus de douceur par leurs maîtres dans l'État de
New Yorck, et moins surchargés de travail que dans les États du Midi. Les
moeurs prévalent à cet égard sur la rigidité des loix; mais les moeurs y
sont aussi, comme dans beaucoup d'autres États de l'Amerique, imprégnées
d'avidité et d'avarice. Cette disposition seule y empêche l'abolition de
l'esclavage. Elle est fréquemment proposée dans la législature, et
jusqu'ici tout moyen, même préparatoire, y a été rejetté. Quoique la
proportion des hommes libres aux esclaves soit telle que le plus grand
nombre des habitans de l'État de New-Yorck ne possède pas d'esclaves, le
petit nombre de ceux qui en possèdent sont les plus riches, les plus grands
propriétaires; et, dans l'État de New-Yorck comme ailleurs, ils ont la
principale influence.

Le respect dû à _la propriété_, est l'arme avec laquelle on combat toute
proposition que tient à l'affranchissement. J'ai entendu un des hommes de
loi les plus éclairés, et dont à tout autre égard les opinions sont
libérales, soutenir que "ce serait attenter à _la propriété_ que de
déclarer libres même les enfans à naître des femmes esclaves, parce que,
disait-il, les maîtres qui out acheté ou hérité des esclaves, les possèdent
dans la confiance que leur _issue_ sera leur propriété utile et
disponible."

Ainsi, quand on dit en Virginie "qu'on ne peut y changer le sort de
l'esclavage qu'en exportant a-la-fois tous les nègres de l'État"; on dit à
New-Yorck "qu'on ne peut y penser à abolir l'esclage, ni rien faire de
préparatoire à cette intention, sans payer à chaque possesseur d'esclaves
le prix actuel de la valeur de ses nègres jeunes et vieux, et le prix
estimé de leur descendance supposée." C'est sans doute opposer à
l'abolition de l'esclavage tous les obstacles imaginables, c'est se montrer
bien ennemi de cette abolition.

Cependant l'obstacle présenté par les citoyens de New-Yorck, est moins
difficile à vaincre. En admenttant le principe de la nécessité d'un
dédommagement donné aux maîtres pour les nègres à affranchir, et en
évaluant chaque nègre à cent trente dollars, la somme totale ne serait que
de trois millions de dollars.

Ce prix serait encore susceptible de reduction, par le puissant motif
d'intérêt et d'honneur public auquel chaque membre de la société doit faire
des sacrifices.

La question de la propriété des enfans à naître ne tiendrait pas à un
quart-d'heure de discussion, si elle était agitée devant la legislature;
enfin cet affranchissement qui ne devrait être fait que par degrés,
coûterait à l'État des sacrifices moins grands encore, et dont la
succession les rendrait presqu'imperceptibles aux finances de l'État, qui
ne pourraient d'ailleurs avoir un plus saint emploi.

A New-Yorck comme ailleurs, l'affranchissement des nègres doit avoir pour
but le bonheur de l'État, son bon ordre, le bonheur même des nègres qu'on
veut affranchir. Un affranchissement trop prompt, trop subitement général,
manquerait ces differens buts de premiere nécessité. Je ne répéterai pas
ici ce que j'ai dit ailleurs à cet égard, et ce que tant d'autres ont dit
avant moi. La dépense pour l'État serait donc réduite à de bien petites
sommes, en les comparant avec l'utilité et le devoir de cette opération.
Mais tant que l'État de New-Yorck, entouré des exemples du Connecticut, du
Massachusetts et de Pensylvanie, ne fait rien qui conduise à cette
libération, tant qu'il semble approuver par le silence ou les refus de sa
legislature, la permanence de l'esclavage, il laisse sa constitution et ses
loix flétries d'une tâche que l'on peut, sans exageration, dire
deshonorante, puisqu'elle ne peut être excusée, ni palliée, par aucune des
circonstances où se trouve cet État.

L'importation dans l'État de New-Yorck d'esclaves étrangers est prohibée
par la même loi qui confirme l'esclavage de ceux qui y existaient à
l'époque où elle a été rendue; ainsi cette disposition de la loi, et la
manière douce dont sont traités les esclaves en général, confirment dans
l'opinion que l'intérêt pécuniaire, plus qu'une véritable approbation de
l'esclavage empêche la legislature de New-Yorck, de procéder à cet égard
avec la justice et les lumières qui dirigent généralement ses
délibérations.--"_Voyage dans Les États-Unis D'Amerique." Fait en 1795,
1796 et 1797_. Par La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt. Tome Septième, 114-119.



OBSERVATIONS SUR L'ESCLAVAGE PAR LA ROCHEFOUCAULD-LIANCOURT


Il est natural de supposer qu'un nègre esclave, fatigué de travail depuis
le commencement de l'année jusqu'à la fin, obligé, sous peine du fouet,
d'aller aux champs, qu'il soit où non en état de santé, ne voye dans la
liberté que la faculté de ne plus travailler. Tant qu'il était esclave, il
était plus ou moins mal nourri, mais il l'était sans aucun soin de sa part,
et sans qu'un travail plus assidu, plus actif, lui valut une meilleure
nourriture ou un meilleur nourriture ou un meilleur vêtement. Le travail
n'était donc pour lui qu'une peine, sans être jamais un moyen de bien être,
il est donc, il doit donc être paresseux et imprévoyant. Il jouit des
premiers momens de sa liberté, en ne travaillant point, car le fouet ne
claque plus à ses oreilles; les besoins se font sentir; aucune éducation ne
lui a été donnée que celle de l'esclavage, qui enseigne à tromper, à
voler, comme à mentir; il cherche à satisfaire ses besoins, auxquels son
travail n'a pas pourvu, en dérobant quelques bleds, quelques provisions à
ses voisins; il devient recéleur des nègres esclaves.

Tout cela peut et doit être, mais ne doit dégouter de l'affranchissement
progressif des nègres que ceux ne veulent pas penser qu'avec des soins
préparatoires, et sur-tout des soins généreux qui auraient pour objet une
émancipation générale successive, appropriée au nombre des nègres dans le
pays, et à plusieurs autres circonstances, la plus grande quantité de ces
inconvéniens serait evitée, et le serait totalement pour la génération
future si elle ne pouvait l'être pour la présente. Mais comment espérer une
philanthropie si prévoyante de ceux qui ne voyent que leur intérêt du
moment, et qui le croyent blessé.

Dans L'État de Maryland les esclaves sont jugés par les mêmes tribunaux que
les blancs, et comme eux par l'arbitrage des juris. Les punitions pour les
noirs sont plus sévères; mais les moeurs sont douces au moins dans la
partie du Maryland où je suis a présent, et elles prévalent sur la rigueur
des loix. J'ai été témoin d'un fait qui prouve que l'humanité des juges et
le désir de rendre une exacte justice les occupent pour les accusés
esclaves, comme pour les blancs. Une négresse est en prison, accusée
d'avoir voulu empoisonner sa maîtresse et d'avoir empoisonné un enfant. Sa
maîtresse est son accusatrice. C'est une femme d'une bonne reputation dans
le pays, appartenant à une famille très-etendue dans le comté, et y ayant
d'ailleurs beaucoup d'influence; les juges craignant l'effet de cette
influence sur les juris, ont profité de la faculté qu'ils out de renvoyer
le jugement à la cour générale du district qui se tient à soixante milles
de Chester, pour donner à l'accusée toute la chance possible d'un jugement
sain et impartial.

Il n'y a encore aucune mesure prise en Maryland pour l'affranchissement
progressif des esclaves. Quelques hommes bien intentionnées espèrent amener
la legislature dans peu de temps à une démarche à cet égard, mais l'opinion
du pays n'y semble pas dispossée. --"_Voyage dans Les États-Unis
D'Amerique." Par La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt. Tome Sixième, 69-71_.

Les nègres libres se trouvent assez facilement pour le travail des champs.
Us coûtent quatre-vingt dollars par an. Les nègres esclaves se louent à
cinquante. Quelques planteurs préfèrent des ouvriers blancs et des nègres
libres aux esclaves; ils ont moins d'embarras et plus de profit. Les vaches
se vendent ici de quinze à vingt dollars, les boeufs quarante, les chevaux
pour le labour cent; ceux pour la voiture coutent souvent six cents
dollars la paire. Le comté de Kent, dont Chester est le cheflieu, contient
treize mille habitans, dont cinq mille six cents sont nègres esclaves; il
fournit peu de betail aux marchés de Baltimore et de Philadelphie. Presque
tout ce qu'il produit dans ce genre est consommé dans son
enciente.--"_Voyage dans Les États-Unis D'Amerique_." Par La
Rouchefoucauld-Liancourt. Tome Sixieme, 79-80.



WHAT ISAAC WELD OBSERVED IN SLAVE STATES


"The principal planters in Virginia have nearly every thing they can want
on their estates. Amongst the slaves are found tailors, shoe-makers,
carpenters, smiths, turners, wheelwrights, weavers, tanners, etc. I have
seen patterns of excellent coarse woolen cloth made in the country by
slaves, and a variety of cotton manufacturers, amongst the rest good
nankeen. Cotton grows here extremely well; the plants are often killed by
frost in winter, but they always produce abundantly the first year in which
they are sown. The cotton from which nankeen is made is of a particular
kind naturally of a yellowish color.

"The large estates are managed by stewards and overseers, the proprietors
just amusing themselves with seeing what is going forward. The work is done
wholly by slaves, whose numbers are in this part of the country more than
double that of white persons. The slaves on the large plantations are in
general very well provided for, and treated with mildness. During three
months nearly, that I was in Virginia, but two or three instances of ill
treatment towards them came under my observation. Their quarters, the name
whereby their habitations are called, are usually situated one or two
hundred yards from the dwelling house, which gives appearance of a village
to the residence of every plantation in Virginia; when the estate, however,
is so large as to be divided into several farms, then separate quarters are
attached to the house of the overseer on each farm. Adjoining their little
habitations, the slaves commonly have small gardens and yards of poultry,
which are all of their property; they have ample time to attend to their
own concerns, and their gardens are generally found well stocked, and their
flocks of poultry numerous. Besides the food they raise for themselves,
they are allowed liberal rations of salted pork and Indian corn. Many of
their little huts are comfortably furnished, and they are themselves, in
general, extremely well clothed. In short their condition is by no means so
wretched as might be imagined. They are forced to work certain hours in the
day; but in return they are clothed, dieted, and lodged comfortably, and
saved all anxiety about provision for their offspring. Still, however, let
the condition of the slave be made ever so comfortable, as long as he is
conscious of being the property of another man, who has it in his power to
dispose of him according to the dictates of caprice; as long as he hears
people around him talking about the blessings of liberty, and considers
that he is in a state of bondage, it is not to be supposed that he can feel
equally happy with the freeman. It is immaterial under what form slavery
presents itself, whenever it appears there is ample cause for humanity to
weep at the sight, and to lament that men can be found so forgetful of
their own situations, as to live regardless of the blessings of their
fellow creatures.

"With respect to the policy of holding slaves in any country, on account of
the depravity of morals which it necessarily occasions, besides the many
other evil consequences attendant upon it, so much has already been said by
others, that it is needless here to make comments on the subject.

"The number of the slaves increases most rapidly, so that there is scarcely
any state but what is overstocked. This is a circumstance complained of by
every planter as the maintenance of more than are requisite for the culture
of the estate is attended with great expense. Motives ... of humanity deter
them from selling the poor creatures, or turning them adrift from the spot
where they have been born and brought up, in the midst of friends and
relations.

"What I have here said, respecting the condition and treatment of slaves,
appertains, it must be remembered, to those only who are upon the larger
plantations in Virginia; the lot of such as are unfortunate enough to fall
into the hands of the lower class of white people, and of hard task-masters
in towns, is very different. In the Carolinas and Georgia again, slavery
presents itself in very different colors from what it does even in its
worst form in Virginia. I am told that it is no uncommon thing there, to
see gangs of negroes staked at a horse race, and to see these unfortunate
beings bandied about from one set of drunken gamblers to another for days
together. How much to be deprecated are the laws which suffer such abuses
to exist! Yet these are the laws enacted by the people who boast of their
love of liberty and independence, and who presume to say, that it is in the
breasts of Americans alone that the blessings of freedom are held in just
estimation."--_Isaac Weld, Jr., "Travels through the States of North
America and the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada," 1795, 1796, and
1797._ (London, 1799.)



JOHN DAVIS'S THOUGHTS ON SLAVERY


"The negroes on the plantation, including house-servants and children,
amounted to a hundred; of whom the average price being respectively seventy
pounds, made them aggregately worth seven thousand to their possessor.

"Two families lived in one hut, and such was their unconquerable propensity
to steal, that they pilfered from each other. I have heard masters lament
this defect in their negroes. But what else can be expected from man in so
degraded a condition, that among the ancients the same word implied both a
slave and a thief.

"Since the introduction of the culture of cotton in the State of South
Carolina, the race of negroes has increased. Both men and women work in the
field, and the labour of the rice plantation formerly prevented the
pregnant negroes from bringing forth a long-lived offspring. It may be
established as a maxim that on a plantation where there are many children,
the work has been moderate. . . .

"Of genius in negroes many instances may be recorded. It is true that Mr.
Jefferson has pronounced the Poems of Phillis Wheatley, below the dignity
of criticism, and it is seldom safe to differ in judgment from the author
of Notes on Virginia. But her conceptions are often lofty, and her
versification often surpasses with unexpected refinement. Ladd, the
Carolina poet, in enumerating the bards of his country, dwells with
encomium on "Wheatley's polished verse"; nor is his praise undeserved, for
often it will be found to glide in the stream of melody. Her lines on
Imagination have been quoted with rapture by Imley of Kentucky, and
Steadman the Guinea Traveler; but I have ever thought her happiest
production the Goliath of Gath.

"Of Ignatius Sancho, Mr. Jefferson also speaks neglectingly; and remarks,
that he substitutes sentiment for argumentation. But I know not that
argumentation is required in a familiar epistle; and Sancho, I believe, has
only published his correspondence." --John Davis, "_Travels of four years
and a half in the United States of America during 1798, 1799, 1800, 1801,
1802_," p. 86.



OBSERVATIONS OF ROBERT SUTCLIFF


"I had the curiosity to look into some of their little habitations; but all
that I examined were wretched in the extreme and far inferior to many
Indian cottages I have seen.

"I slept at C. A.'s and this morning set out for Fredericksburg, being
accompanied by his young man, our road lying through the woods the greater
part of the way. At the place where we dined, we were waited on by two
mulatto girls, whose only clothing appeared to be loose garments of cotton
and woollen cloth, girt round the waist with a small cord. I had observed
that this was the common dress of the working female negroes in the fields;
but when engaged in business in the house it seemed hardly sufficient to
cover them. In the yard, I observed a number of slaves engaged in the
management of a still, employed in making spirits from cider. Here again I
had the curiosity to look into some of the negro huts, which like those I
had seen, presented little else but dirt and rags.

"We came to Fredericksburg and lodged at Fisher's Tavern. The next morning
I was waked early by the cries of a poor negro, who was undergoing a severe
correction, previously to his going to work. On taking a walk on the banks
of the Rappahannock, the river on which the town is seated, I stepped into
one of the large tobacco warehouses which are built here, for the reception
and inspection of that plant before it is permitted to be exported. On
entering into conversation with an inspector, as he was employed in looking
over a parcel of tobacco, he lamented the licentiousness which he remarked
so generally prevailed in this town. He said that in his remembrance, the
principal part of the inhabitants were emigrants from Scotland, and that it
was considered so reproachful to the white inhabitants, if they were found
to have illicit connection with their female slaves, that their neighbors
would shun the company of such, as of persons whom it was a reproach to be
acquainted. The case was now so much altered that, he believed, there were
but few slave holders in the place who were free from guilt in this
respect: and that it was now thought but little of. Such was the brutality
and hardness of heart which this evil produced, that many amongst them paid
no more regard to selling their own children, by their females slaves, or
even their brothers and sisters, in the same line, than they would do to
the disposal of a cow or a horse, or any other property in the brute
creation. To so low a degree of degradation does the system of negro
slavery sink the white inhabitants, who are unhappily engaged in
it."--Robert Sutcliff, _Travels in some parts of North America in Years
1804, 1805, 1806_, pp. 37-52.



SOME LETTERS OF RICHARD ALLEN AND ABSALOM JONES TO DOROTHY RIPLEY


Philadelphia, 1st, 5th month, 1803.--Naming my concern to some of my solid
friends to have a meeting with the Africans, I influenced them to send for
Absalom Jones, the Black Bishop, and Richard Allen, the Methodist Episcopal
Preacher, who also was a coloured man, and the principal person of that
congregation. A. Jones complied with my request, and appointed a meeting
for me on first day evening, which was a solid time where many were deeply
affected with the softening power of the Lord, who unloosed my tongue to
proclaim of his love and goodness to the children of men, without respect
to person or nation. There was a respectable number of coloured people,
well dressed and very orderly, who conducted themselves as if they were
desirous of knowing the mind of the Lord concerning them. The first and
greatest commandment of Jesus Christ, the Law-giver, came before me: "Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and
with all thy mind," which I endeavoured to enforce as their duty to their
Creator who alone could make them happy by his blessing through their
obedience to his lawful command. My own experience of thus loving him, I
thought would illustrate it, therefore, added it to shew the possibility of
pleasing him, and obtaining his divine favor, which was our interest and
duty, as soon as we were able to distinguish right from wrong. To see them
have this good house for worship, I told them rejoiced me much, and
encouraged such as were servants present to be faithful in their situation,
and seek the blessing of God, that at the last they might be happy in the
enjoyment of his love forever. Supplicating the Throne of mercy in their
behalf, my spirit was deeply humbled, and I felt power to plead with the
Father on the account of the Africans every where, who were captivated by
the oppressive power of men. When we had separated, my mind was much
relieved from the weight which pressed my spirit while I had contemplated
the matter, desiring to move by special direction of God.

A Letter which I received from Bethel Church.

  "_Madam_,

  "I have proposed to the Board of Trustees of Bethel Church your request
  respecting your speaking in our Church; they have candidly considered
  the same, and after due investigation, the board unanimously concludes,
  that as it is diametrically opposite to the letter and spirit of the
  rules of society in particular, and the discipline in general of the
  Methodist Episcopalian Church, They therefore are sorry to inform you,
  that it is not in their power to comply with your request.

  "I am, madam,
  "With much respect,
  "Yours, &c.
  "RICHD. ALLEN."

  "May 11, 1803."


After R. Allen had sent me this letter by way of denial, the Lord commanded
me to "Stand still for I should most assuredly have his place to testify
his goodness there." Putting the letter into my pocket, I silently waited
for the answer of promise; and while I was thus watching the fulfilment of
God's word, there came into my friend's house J. & P. P. two men who
enquired if I could not be satisfied without an appointment with R. Allen's
people, I said No: for that I believed it was required of me by God. They
enquired if I had not received a letter as a denial, which I marvelled at,
having shewn it to no person living. I answered their question by handing
the letter to them which when they had read it they returned, and signified
they would go themselves to see after an opportunity, and obtained
permission after the minister had finished his sermon, he being desired to
be concise to accomodate a stranger who was then concerned for them. I went
to the meeting, or their church, and heard a short methodist sermon, which
I thought very instructive, and added thereunto, respecting the conversion
of "A man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace, Queen of
the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to
Jerusalem for to worship." This pleased them so much when it was opened,
that they were willing that I should have another meeting on the second day
evening at seven, which I attended, and was brought into great difficulty
through an intoxicated soldier pressing by the crowd which stood without. A
number of friends being there, were unsettled, fearing lest the house would
come down upon us, and for my part, I was actually afraid of satan's
malice, lest we should perish in this storm which he raised in a moment.
The disquietude of the people made me tremble and shake every limb, not
knowing what course to betake myself to for the preservation of us each. I
therefore gave up speaking: but this only encouraged the accuser of the
brethren, who had come there in the hearts of many, as well as in the poor
drunkard, who was taken away and confined. Pouring out my soul to God, I
vowed to serve him yet more faithfully, if he would quell the rage of the
adversary, and cause us to depart in peace; and I was instantly directed to
prostrate myself before him, in faith believing that no harm should befall
any of us at that time, which doing commanded the care of Almighty God over
us, and the blessing of the Most High to rest upon us, continuing wrestling
for some time, knowing this was a powerful weapon against satan, for thus
interrupting us in our solemn engagement with God. When I had prayed by the
aid of his Holy Spirit, which calmed the minds of the people, I thought I
would leave the subject until I came back again,[1] and so come suddenly
upon the monster, if it was the will of God: but he pretended that he would
do terrible things if I came thither again, so I suppose King Apollyon and
I shall have a strong battle to combat, before I enter the house of God:
for I mean to war with him on his own ground, and gain the victory before I
enter there again. Concluding the meeting sooner than was expected, R.
Allen stopped the congregation and told them, "It was no new thing which
had happened to us then: for in the days of old, when the sons and
daughters of God met together, satan presented himself also, to interrupt
their peace." I was much pleased to hear what was advanced, as it shewed
the preacher (although a coloured man) to have a knowledge of divine
things, and able to attack the enemy of our souls in a suitable degree.

Feeling desirous to follow the Shepherd of my soul, and seeing no further
work at this time for me, I leave this city in peace, requesting the Lord
to bless the seed sown in great weakness, and to water it with the
descending showers of his spiritual rain, that the glory may arise to him
alone who is worthy to be praised by every creature, but especially by a
worm whom he has preserved thus far from the destructive power of sin, and
satan. I trust the Lord will repay each here who have contributed to
comfort my soul in the day of distress and heavy travail, and I beseech him
of his infinite mercy to forgive such as have blindly persecuted me, by
saying unjust things of me, which they have reported merely to gratify the
curiosity of others, without considering the waste of their precious
moments, or that they will be accountable at the last for "Every idle word"
that they may speak while on earth, if not repented of, by a gracious
visitation of God's humbling power, which they will find painful, when his
judgment, takes place in them to weigh all their words, thoughts, and
actions.--Philadelphia, 5th month, 1803.

I have been five weeks and four days in New York, and the neighbouring
plains, and have met with sympathizing friends to relieve my mind when full
of anxious care concerning the vineyard of the Lord.--Several have told me
that I was one of those strangers who should feed the flock of Israel by
the appointment of God, which revives me when I consider how significant a
creature I am in my own eyes.

The yearly meeting was large, and attended by some precious ministers,
whose testimonies will cause them to be written on my heart as living
epistles. How do I feel myself united with spiritual worshippers, who
desire to ascribe all glory to the Father, through the Son's reigning power
in them, by the sanctifying influence of the Holy Ghost which leads them
into the depth of self-abasement, and gathers all their powers to centre
them in the God of all grace and glory. I rejoice that ever I met with this
people, whom I often lament for, because so many live not in the pure
principle of Truth, which if they as a body did, the whole earth would soon
be filled with the knowledge of the Lord. O that my advantages which I have
had up and down among this people, may lead me to honor their God, whom the
pure in heart are concerned to worship continually! I have had three large
meetings with the Africans in this city, and have great reason to be
thankful that the Lord aided me with his Spirit, helping my infirmities in
the hour of necessity, when I stood in need of his assistance, standing up
to exalt the great Redeemer who died for all nations, that the Lord would
bless my little labour of love among this people whom I have secretly
mourned for!

I cannot avoid commending the citizens of New York and Philadelphia, for
their help to those that have been greatly oppressed, driving slavery out
of their States, that they may have the peace of God, and his blessing upon
the heads of their children, and children's children. I trust also to see
the efforts of individuals crowned with a blessing in the Southern States,
where barrenness of the land bespeaks the proverty and wretchedness of
thousands of its inhabitants who might enjoy the smile of Heaven, if they
would learn to fear God and love their neighbor.

When comparing those States one with the other, what a vast difference
there is between them in the outward appearance of things: but I trust the
minds of the people to the southward, are not like the barren appearance of
many parts I have already travelled, or may yet have to do: for I perceive
the Lord intends me to return back to discharge my duty to him, and the
people up and down.

I have received the following letters from Philadelphia and think them
worthy to make up a page or two in my life. Letter from Absalom Jones,
Black Bishop of the Episcopal Church, in Philadelphia, addressed to Dorothy
Ripley, at New York, dated Philadelphia, June 3, 1803.

_Dear Friend_,

It is with pleasure that I now sit down to inform you, that your kind and
very affectionate letter came safe to hand; and am happy to hear that kind
Providence has conducted you so far on your journey in health of body as
well as of mind; and I trust that the Lord will continue to be your Guide,
and that your labours may prove as great a blessing to the inhabitants of
New-York, as they have been to numbers in this city.

Your letter I read with care and attention, as well as many others of my
congregation, and I heartily thank you for your friendly advice and godly
admonitions; believing them to have been given in that love which purifies
the heart. I am very sensible that the charge committed to my care is very
great; and am also fully convinced of my own inability for so great an
undertaking. And I do assure you, that when I was called to the task, I
trembled at the idea, and was ready to say, "Who am I." But when I consider
that God can send by whom he will, and as you very justly have observed, he
sometimes makes use of the feeblest instruments for the promotion of Truth;
I say under these considerations, I was led to believe that the Lord would
perfect strength in my weakness; and glory be to his ever-adorable Name for
it. I have cause to believe, my labour has not been altogether in vain.

You wish to know the number I consider to be under my care. Our list of
members contains about five hundred, although we have a great many more
who constantly attend worship in our church, of whom I have a comfortable
hope that they will be brought unto the knowledge of the Truth.

My wife joins me in love. I remain, with sentiments of high esteem and
respect,

Your esteemed Friend,

Absalom Jones



LETTER FROM AN AFRICAN MINISTER, RESIDENT IN PHILADELPHIA ADDRESSED TO
DOROTHY RIPLEY


Philadelphia, 24th, of 6th mo. 1803.

_Friend Ripley_,

I Received thy epistle, dated New-York, 26th of 5th month, with much joy,
thanks and satisfaction; and am thankful for thy kind spiritual advice, and
grateful for thy concern for me and my people.

With the assistance of the good Spirit, I will attend to thy serious
admonitions in the Lord, and listen to the small still voice of Christ
within, as thou dost observe in thy epistle, for it is He that must enable
me to observe his holy law written on the heart by his Spirit.

I wish to take thy sisterly counsel; but O! my abounding weakness. I wish
to be more sensible of it, so that I alone may feel it. I would hide it
from my friends, but they are too eagle-eyed not to discover it; yet they
have the charity to bear with me.--I often bow at the foot-stool of divine
mercy, that I may obtain strength to overcome corrupt nature.--None knows
but myself my strivings to walk in the narrow way, in which the poor worm
has no desire to rob God of his honor. I see the beauty of nakedness to be
far superior than to be clothed with rags of self-righteousness.

Thou enquirest how many communicants there are in our church. The precise
number of my communicants is 457. All our members are communicants. There
is a communion of saints which exceeds all formality, and which even the
Apostles were ignorant of, when they gave an account to their Master, on
their return from their mission, and told him, "We saw men casting out
devils in thy name, and we forbade them, because they followed not us." Yet
I still continue of the same mind, that it would be best for thee to be a
member of some religious society.--The teachings of Priscilla and Aquila
have been found profitable to the eloquent and wise.

The members of the African Methodist Episcopal church (called Bethel) live
in love and harmony with each other.

My fellow laborer, Absalom Jones, joins me in a salutation of love to thee,
with desires for thy growth and increase in the favor of God: He says he
would have written to thee, had he known of thy continuance at New York.

Praying God to bless and make thee instrumental in promoting his glory and
the good of souls, I remain, thine, &c.

Richard Allen



LETTER FROM AN AFRICAN, RESIDENT IN PHILADELPHIA, TO DOROTHY RIPLEY


May 17, 1803.
_Respected Friend_,

I am perhaps presumptuous in troubling you to read this. But cannot let
slip an opportunity of addressing you with what I wish you to know even
when you have arrived at your native country, and may contemplate on a
subject which I hope will not displease you, and I will thank Heaven I have
it in my power to let one amongst the people called Quakers[2] see, written
by the hand of an African, the sentiments of his soul. I mean only to
trouble you with the obligations that race of people, myself amongst that
great multitude, are to you indebted; and may the unremitting pains which
have been taken not fall to the ground. We have been oppressed with cruelty
and the heavy task-masters in the West Indies and the southern States of
America for many centuries back, with not only the horrible weight of
bondage, but have been subject to heavy iron chains, too heavy to bear, had
not the Creator of all things framed our constitutions to bear them, and
all the deep cuts and lashes the inhuman-hearted drivers please to mangle
us with. Had not the all-directing hand of Providence made us come under
the notice of the Friends, who formed an abolition society for our relief,
many thousands of us would be dragging out our lives in wretchedness, like
those of our brethren who have never yet tasted the sweet cup of liberty.
Yet while the nations of Europe are contending to catch the draught, the
African is forbidden to lift up his head towards it. Every man has a right
to his liberty, and we must by the ties of nature come under the title of
men: but are dragged from our native land, in our old age or in our
infancy, and sold as the brute, to the planters; the infant dragged from
its parents, and the husband from wife and children, and hurried into the
cane field, to give independence to their owners, and annex abundance to
their riches. And how is this, that God created us amongst the rest of
human beings, and yet man would level us with the brute? We were not all
born Christians, but many have become so; and I pray Heaven many thousands
of us may be received at the bar of God amongst the righteous at his right
hand, and with you glorify him in Heaven for ever. I pray that the Africans
may enjoy his holy privileges, and let their light shine before men.

The cross[3] you met with in your sermon at Bethel African church grieved
me much, but it originated with white men. Had it been one of my
complexion, it would prey on my feelings to the very heart. But I hope you
will forget it. If I was a converted soul in the Lord, I could address you
on a more spiritual subject. But alas! I am an unfortunate being not born a
second time. Yet weak as I am, the prayers of an unconverted African shall
be offered to Heaven for your happiness on earth, and in the world to come
life everlasting. And may the vessel in which you may embark for England be
attended with a fair and pleasant passage, and land you safe on its shores.
And when you shall lay your head on a dying pillow, to leave this
troublesome world, may you be surrounded with a blessed convoy of angels to
attend you to the Throne of God.

I am, Yours,
Of The African Race

--"_The Extraordinary Conversion and Religious Experience of Dorothy Ripley
with her First Voyage in America_," 132-144.


FOOTNOTES:

[1] From England.

[2] He expected I was a member of that society, which I never yet have
been.

[3] The cross here mentioned has an allusion to an attempt made by an
intoxicated soldier, to disturb our peace, who caused great confusion for a
few moments; but kneeling in the midst of this tempestuous storm, God
instantly caused a calm, so that no one received harm.




BOOK REVIEWS



_The Aftermath of the Civil War, in Arkansas_. By Powell Clayton, Governor
of Arkansas, 1868 to 1871. Neale Publishing Company, New York, 1915.
Pp. 378.

Looking at the title of this work the student of history would expect that
same scientific treatment which is observed in so many of the
Reconstruction studies. On the contrary, he finds in this a mere volume of
memoirs of a political leader completed in his eighty-second year. The work
gives an account of the author's own administration as governor of Arkansas
"also of those events that commenced before and extended into it, and those
that occurred during that period and continued beyond it."

In view of the fact that he, a man of well-known partisan proclivities, may
be charged with criticising his defenceless and dead contemporaries the
author says that he endeavored to substantiate "every controvertible and
important conclusion." To do this he collected "an immense amount of
documentary evidence" from which he selected the most appropriate for that
purpose. The writer made use of certain documents in the Library of
Congress and had frequent recourse to the _Arkansas Gazette_.

The book as a whole is essentially political history. It is chiefly
concerned with "the Murphy Government," the "Organization and Operations of
the Klu Klux Klan," "Martial Law," and the peculiar situation in the
counties of Crittenden and Conway. The subjects of immigration, education,
state aid to railroads, and the funding of the state debt are all mentioned
but they suffer because of the preference given to the discussion of
political questions. When one has read the book he is still uninformed as
to what was the actual working of the economic and social forces in
Arkansas during this period.

This work, however, is valuable for several reasons. In the first place,
whether the reader agrees with the author or not he gathers from page to
page facts which throw light on other conditions. Moreover, consisting
mainly of a discussion of extracts from various records it is a good source
book for students who have not access to the documents the author has used.
Further it is important to get the viewpoint of the distinguished author
who lived through what he writes of and is now sufficiently far removed
from the struggle to study it somewhat sympathetically.

C. R. WILSON



_Black and White in the Southern States_. By Maurice S. Evans,
C.M.G.--Longmans, Green and Company, London, 1915. Pp. 209.

This book cannot be considered an historical work. Yet when the author
makes a survey of the slavery and reconstruction periods with a view to
estimating what the Negro has been, what has been done for him, and what he
himself has accomplished it claims the attention of historians. From this
historic retrospect the author approaches such questions as the Negroes'
grievances, their political rights and wrongs, blood admixture, race
hostility and grounds for hope and the like.

The author has had experiences in South Africa and traveled in the United
States with a view to studying the condition of the descendants of the
African race in this country. His effort seems to be to write such a work
as some of those of Sir H. H. Johnson or W. P. Livingstone. He justifies
the writing of this work on the grounds that "the partisan spirit, partial
to one race or other, permeates most of the writings on this subject."
Feeling that the issues involved are too great, he hoped to avoid this
"that no preconceived ideas or partiality should be allowed to cloud
clarity of view, or warp the judgment."

Yet although the author speaks well of his good intentions it is apparent
that he did not live up to this profession. In the first place, the work is
not scientific, facts are not "observed and noted with scrupulous care,"
and conclusions are drawn without warranted data to support them. On the
whole then, one must say that this work fails to unravel some "knots in
this tangled skein of human endeavor and error." When after a survey of the
history of the Negro during the last fifty years an investigator concludes
that the Negro has shown an incapacity for commerce and finance, and that
he must not struggle to equip himself in the same way that the white man
has, one must believe that the writer has not the situation thoroughly in
hand. The great difficulty of the author seems to be that he did not remain
in the country long enough to know it, did not give sufficient time to the
study of conditions, and based his conclusions largely on information
obtained from persons who were either too prejudiced or had neither the
scientific point of view nor adequate mental development to describe
social conditions.

It is not surprising therefore that the author asserts that the record of
the Negro during the last fifty years shows that they are chiefly valuable
as laborers in drudgery, or weak in foresight and thrift, and unfit for
city life. Yet he believes that there is some hope for the blacks, since
they can get work and buy land and thereby become economically independent.
He calls attention to such injustices as miscegenation, lynching,
unfairness of the courts, and discrimination in traveling.

W. R. WARD



_Samuel Coleridge-Taylor--Musician. His Life and Letters_. By W. C.
Berwick Sayers. Cassell and Company, London, 1915. Pp. 328.

In this work we have the first extensive account of Samuel
Coleridge-Taylor. The author of this volume has succeeded in producing a
sympathetic and interesting narrative of the life of one of the greatest
musicians of his time. Taking up his birth and childhood and then his
college days, ending in the romance which attached him to a young Croydon
girl, the author does not delay in bringing the reader to a consideration
of those fundamentals which made Samuel Coleridge-Taylor famous ...

Much space is devoted to Coleridge-Taylor's achievement of success with his
"Ballade in A Minor." How Sir Edward Elgar extended the promising composer
a welcoming hand and arranged for him to write for a concert a short
orchestral piece which turned out to be the artist's first great success is
well described. The author emphasizes the barbaric strain and orchestral
coloring, the prominently marked features which made the composer great.

The next task of the author is to show how the "essential beauty, naive
simplicity, unaffected expression and unforced idealism," of Longfellow's
"Hiawatha" stirred the artist and set him composing an unambitious cantata
which resulted in "Hiawatha's Wedding Feast," and the "Song of Hiawatha."
The expressions of enthusiasm and the euologies which crowned the musician
as one of the greatest artists that Great Britain has produced justly
constitute a large portion of the work.

His "Visit to America" is an important chapter of the volume. The manner in
which the oppressed of his race received him in their troubled land is
treated in detail, and the names of the persons and organizations that
arose to welcome him are given honorable mention. The author brings out too
that so impressed was Coleridge-Taylor with the frank recognition of pure
music in America that he once "contemplated the desirability of emigrating
to this land."

The book abounds with letters and extracts from publications, which enable
the reader to learn for himself how the artist's work was appreciated. The
volume is well illustrated. In it appear the early portraits of
Coleridge-Taylor's mother, of himself, and family, and home, and of the
Coleridge-Taylor Society in Washington, D.C. Not only persons who
appreciate music but all who have an intelligent interest in the
achievements of the Negro should read this work.

J. R. DAVIS



_Race Orthodoxy in the South and other Aspects of the Negro Problem_. By
Thomas Pearce Bailey, Ph.D. The Neale Publishing Company, New York, 1914.

The author of this volume has a long intellectual pedigree. Pedigrees are
important in authors who write on the race problem. This is particularly
true when they attempt to tell us what the orthodox opinion of the South is
regarding the Negro. Much that passes for Southern opinion on the Negro is
too violent to be taken at its face value. Other interpretations of the
South have too frequently been the individual views of eminent men of
Southern origin who no longer hold orthodox views.

The author discusses some of these interpretations and criticises them.
There are four principal types. There is the philosophical view,
represented by Edgar Gardiner Murphy's "_The Basis of Ascendancy_." Mr.
Murphy "is one of the choicest specimens of noble character that the South
has produced," but he came under Northern influences and his book
represents a struggle between Northern and Southern points of view. "The
first part of his book seems to be, in the main, pro-Southern and defensive
of the South, while the latter part becomes largely Northern and critical
of the South." He does not succeed, in the opinion of the author, in
synthesizing these two divergent views.

The second type is sociological, represented by "_The Southerner_," a novel
written in the form of an autobiography or, perhaps, rather an
autobiography written in the form of a novel. The author is supposed to be
Walter Hines Page, at present American ambassador to Great Britain. Of
this book Mr. Bailey says: "The author is not a Southerner of the spirit,
whatever he may be of the flesh. There is something of North Carolina and
something of Massachusetts in his attitude, but none of the all-inclusive
Americanism that alone is able to write about the South with sympathy of
the heart yet with balanced discrimination."

To understand the South one must have lived in South Carolina, and
understand the "apparent violence" of Ben Tilman, or in Mississippi, the
home of Senator Vardaman. The South, the orthodox South, is today as it was
before the war, the "far South"; but the sentiments which dominate it are
not now, as in slavery days, the sentiments of the "master class" but
rather those of the "poor white man."

The third type of interpretation is represented here by "Uncle Tom's
Cabin." The criticsm of this book is so subtle that it is difficult to
indicate the outlines of it in a single paragraph. The difficulty with Mrs.
Stowe's interpretation of the South and the Negro is that she, just as
certain Southern humanitarians of the present day, is inclined to treat the
Negroes as a class. She does not regard them as a race, a different breed,
whose blood is a contamination. "No one," says the writer, "has come within
shouting distance of the real Negro problem who does not appreciate this
distinction. Indeed, almost everything critical that can be alleged against
'Uncle Tom's Cabin' springs from the failure of its humanitarian author to
sympathize with race consciousness as such."

Finally there is the scientific interpretation of Southern sentiment, and
the "race instinct" which is back of most Southern opinion in regard to the
Negro. This scientific interpretation is represented by Boas, "The Mind of
Primitive Man." "Ultimately," according to Professor Boas, "this phenomenon
(race instinct) is a repetition of the old instinct and fear of the
connubium of the patricians and the plebeians, of the European nobility and
the common people, or of the castes of India. The emotions and reasoning
are the same in every respect."

To this scientific exposition of the Southern attitude Mr. Bailey replies:
"Even if it could be scientifically proved that an infusion of Negro blood
would help the white race, the prejudice against a really great branch of
the white race like the Jews is sufficient warning to us not to confine our
discussion of race problems to the question of equality or inequality of
physical and mental endowment."

What then is race orthodoxy? Where shall we look for a true statement of
the attitude of the South on the subject of the Negro since none of these
attempts at interpretation have done justice to it? The racial creed has
been expressed at different times in a number of pithy expressions current
in the Southern states. Here they are in order as the author gives them:
"Blood will tell"; The white race must dominate; The Teutonic peoples stand
for race purity. The Negro is inferior and will remain so. "This is a white
man's country." Let there be no social equality; no political equality. In
matters of civil rights and legal adjustments give the white man as opposed
to the colored man the benefit of the doubt. In educational policy let the
Negro have the crumbs that fall from the white man's table. Let there be
such industrial education of the Negro as will fit him to serve the white
man. Only Southerners understand the Negro question. Let the South settle
the Negro question. The status of peasantry is all the Negro may hope for,
if the races are to live together in peace. Let the lowest white man count
for more than the highest Negro. The above statements indicate the leadings
of Providence.

This statement of the Southern creed is practically the common opinion of
the South. It is not the only opinion. It is not, perhaps, the "best"
opinion. But is it right opinion? Mr. Bailey thinks it is, in its
underlying meaning at any rate, but not in its "present shape." His book
may be said, on the whole, to be an interpretation and a justification of
this "underlying meaning."

Race orthodoxy in the South is, take it all in all, the most candid
statement of the race problem; the most searching, suggestive and revealing
interpretation of the attitude of the Southern white man that has ever been
written. The book is, however, merely a statement of the problem and not a
solution. Rather it is intended, as the author suggests again and again, to
provoke and stimulate--not discussion, heaven forbid,--but inquiry,
investigation. In spite of the fact that the author professes his personal
loyalty to the dogma upon which race orthodoxy is founded, still, by
stating it in the clear and candid way in which he has, in pointing out
with unflinching directness the moral cul-de-sac into which it has forced
the Southern people, he has at once enabled and compelled them to put their
faith on rational grounds. His is the higher criticism in race creeds, and
it is hard to tell where criticism once started will lead.

ROBERT E. PARK




NOTES


Mr. Monroe N. Work has brought out the _Negro Year Book for 1916-1917_. In
keeping with the progress hitherto shown this edition surpasses that of
last year. Here one finds an unusually large collection of statistical
material as to the economic, social and religious progress of the black
race; and a brief account of what exceptional Negroes have done to
distinguish themselves in various fields. It contains also a brief history
of the Negro given in such succinct statements as will please the hurried
reader and meet the requirements of those who have not access to reference
libraries.

The striking new feature of the work, however, is a brief account of what
leading thinkers and the press have said about such perplexing problems as
the "Birth of a Nation," "Miscegenation," and "Segregation." The editor has
endeavored to present in popular style a brief account of everything of
importance with which the Negro has been concerned during the year. He has
done his task well. Sold at such a reasonable price as thirty-five cents a
copy, this valuable book should find its way to the home of every one who
desires to keep himself informed on what the Negro is actually achieving.

The United Brethren Publishing Co., Huntington, Ind., has published M. B.
Butler's _My Story of the Civil War and the Underground Railroad_. A native
of Vermont, where he had an opportunity to see many a fugitive on his way
to freedom, the author naturally makes his narrative interesting and
straightforward. He recounts his unusual experiences as a soldier in detail
but does not grow tiresome.

In the Mississippi Valley, Historical Review, II, March, 1916, appeared
Doctor H. N. Sherwood's _Early Negro Deportation Projects_. This is a
selected part of the author's doctorate thesis. It treats of the endeavors
to ameliorate the condition of emancipated slaves and the colonization
plans which finally led to the establishment of the republic of Liberia.

The _Tennessee Historical Magazine_ for June contains a dissertation by Asa
Earl Martin, entitled _Anti-Slavery Activities of the_ _Methodist
Episcopal Church in Tennessee_. The article covers the period from 1784 to
the time of the great schism of 1844.

Professor Tenny Frank has contributed to the July number of the _American
Historical Review_ a valuable article entitled _Race Mixture in the Roman
Empire_.

In the same number of this publication appear also twenty-three pages of
documents on the _Cane Sugar Industry_ collected by Irene A. Wright. As the
Negroes proved to be a great factor in the development of this industry,
these documents will be helpful to those who desire to study the bearing of
the Negro on its origin and early growth.

Miss Helen Nicolay has turned over to the Library of Congress some
important Lincoln Manuscripts, among which are the first and second
autograph copies of the Gettysburg Address, the autograph of the Second
Inaugural Address, and the President's memorandum of August 23, 1864,
pledging support to the next administration.

In _The Case for the Filipino_, Maximo M. Kalaw gives an account of the
American occupation of the Archipelago, and in presenting his claims for
independence he puts his countrymen in the attitude of an oppressed people.

Dr. C. G. Woodson delivered at the University of Chicago in July a lecture
on _The varying Attitude of the White Man toward the Negro in the United
States_.



A HAPPY SUGGESTION


_My dear Dr. Woodson:_ I am in receipt of the current number of THE JOURNAL
OF NEGRO HISTORY and am more and more delighted with it. I think it
furnishes the richest source for available information on the Negro that I
have yet found. The leading article in this number is inspiring as well as
illuminating and the idea has come to me that it would be an excellent
thing to have history reading circles organized in all our schools for the
purpose of systematically reading the JOURNAL. A hundred or more such
organizations with the JOURNAL as a text would accomplish two or three very
valuable things, viz., promote the circulation of the JOURNAL and
disseminate historical knowledge of the race so necessary to give it
self-respect and pride. These historical clubs might meet monthly and
include others than teachers. By all means your work should not lack for
funds for keeping it going. I hope to interest the colored High School
Alumni here at its annual meeting next week. I shall also call the
attention of my teachers here to your publication. It is great.

Very truly yours,

J. W. SCOTT, _Principal, Douglass High School_, _Huntington, W. Va._




INDEX TO VOLUME I.


Abel, A. H. II, _The Slaveholding Indians_ of, reviewed, 339
_African Mind, The_, 42
_Aftermath of the Civil War, The_, reviewed, 444
Albany,
   a state convention of Colored people at, 293;
   slavery at, 400
Allen, Richard, letter of, 436
American Colonization Society opposed by free Negroes, 276
American lady, an, on the treatment of slaves, 400
Anburey, travels through North America, quoted, 407
Anderson, Martha E., a teacher in Ohio, 19
Andrew, one of the first Negroes to teach in Charleston, 352
Angus, Judith, the will of, 238
_Antar, the Arabian Negro Warrior, Poet and Hero_, 151
Arming the slaves,
   urged in South Carolina, 121;
   in Virginia, 119;
   in Rhode Island, 119;
   in Massachusetts, 120;
   in New York, 120
Astor, John Jacob, grandson of, aided slaves to purchase freedom, 252
_Attitude of the Free People of Color toward African Colonization_, 276
Auchmutty, Rev. Mr., took up the work of Elias Neau, 358
Augusta, Dr. A. T.,
   studied medicine at Toronto, 105;
   surgeon in the Civil War, 107
Augusta, Negroes at the siege of, 117


Bacon, Rev. Thomas, favored the instruction of Negroes, 350
Ball, Thomas, a colored photographer, 20
Baltimore, George, on colonization, 297
Baltimore,
  meeting to protest against African colonization, 279;
  another colonization meeting in 1831, 238;
  a divided meeting, 298;
  _A Typical Colonization Meeting_, 318
Bancroft, tribute to Negro troops, 129
"Baptists, Emancipating," 143
Barclay, Rev. T., instructed Negroes at Albany, 358
Bartow, Rev. Mr., baptized Negroes, 355
Beckett, Rev. Mr., instructed Negroes, 355
Beech, Rev. J., baptized Negroes, 359
Beecham, Mrs., teacher of Negroes in Fredericksburg, 24
Beecher, Henry Ward, aided slaves to purchase freedom, 254
Berea College in anti-slavery centre, 149
Bienville,
  exchanged Indians for Negroes, 362;
  code of, 365;
  Negro troops under, 371
Bigham, J. A., review of Du Bois's _The Negro_, 217
Birney, James G., editor of _The Philanthropist_ destroyed by mob, 8
_Black and White in the Southern States_, reviewed, 437
Black Laws of Ohio, 2, 3, 4;
  repeal of 16
Black master, the existence of, 235-236
Blackburn, Miss Lucy, taught in Cincinnati, 19
Border States, position of, in 1861, 371
Boré, de Etienne,
  learned to granulate sugar, 375;
  the effects of the discovery, 375-376
Boston, anti-colonization meetings at, 284, 292
Bowen, Nathaniel, on colonization, 298
Boyd, Henry, a successful Negro business man prior to 1860, 21
Brawley, Benjamin, _Lorenzo Dow_, 265
Bray, Rev. Thomas, work of,
  among Negroes, 353-354;
  "The Associates" of, 354
"Breckinridge Democrats," in control of Kentucky, 379
Breckinridge, John, views of, 377, 378, 379
Breacroft, Dr., appeal of, in behalf of the enlightenment of the Negroes, 352
Brissot de Warville, J. P., on the condition of the slaves, 419
Brooklyn, anti-colonization meeting of, 285
Brown County, Ohio, Negroes in, 302
Brown, William Wells, an occasional physician, 106
Bryan, Andrew, letters of, 87
Buckner, S. B., joined the Confederates, 390


Calhoun, John C., refuted by Dr. James McCune Smith, 104
Casas, De las, on slavery, 361-362
Casey, Wm. R., a teacher, 19
Casor, John, a slave, 234
Cesar, cure of, 101-102
Channing, offered to aid the defense of Daniel Drayton, 251
Charleston, missionary efforts at,
  among Negroes, 350-352;
  attitude of Negroes of, toward colonization, 280-281
Charlton, Rev. Mr., a teacher of Negroes in New York, 358
Chase, Salmon P., desired to aid Daniel Drayton, 251
Chastellux, Marquis de,
  his observations of Negro troops, 128
  critical examination of the travels of, 419
Chatham, the attitude of the Negroes of, toward colonization, 300
Chickasaws, fought with Negroes in Louisiana, 370
Chouchas, fought with Negroes in Louisiana, 369, 370
Choctaws, Negroes' troubles with, in Louisiana, 371
_Cimarrones_, in Guatemala, 393-394
Cincinnati,
  _The Negroes of, Prior to 1861_, 1;
  Lane Seminary students opposed slavery, 7-8, 10-11, 12;
  Negro churches of, 11
  progress of the Negroes of, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13;
  anti-colonization meetings of, 289, 293, 294;
  Negroes excluded from public schools of, 17-18
Clark, F. B., _The Constitutional Doctrines of Justice Harlan_, 342
Clark, Jonathan, letters of, 79, 82
Clark, Peter H., a teacher in Ohio, 19
Clay, Henry, asked to head the anti-slavery societies of Kentucky, 144
Clayton, Powell, _The Aftermath of the Civil War_ of, reviewed, 444
Cleveland, anti-colonization meeting of, 292
Clinton, Sir Henry,
  appeal of, to Negroes, 116
  proclamation of, 116
Code Noir, quoted, 365
Coffin, Joshua, aided fugitives to Northwest Territory, 146
Colgan, Rev. Mr., taught Negroes in New York, 358
Colonization, African,
  opposed, 279;
  supported, 280-282
_Color, People of, in Louisiana_, 362
_Colored Freemen as Slave Owners in Virginia_, 233
Columbia, anti-colonization meeting of, 287
Columbus, Negroes of, opposed to colonization, 292, 293
Conrad, Rufus, a preacher in Ohio, 20
Cook, Rev. Joseph, letter of, 69
Cooke, Stephen, letter of, 77
Cookes, moved from Fredericksburg to Detroit, 26
Cooper, Phil, chattel of his free wife, 240
Corbic, W. J., a teacher of Ohio, 19
Cornish, Samuel, opposed colonization, 294
Cornwallis, Ft., garrisoned by Negroes, 117
Corsair, a mulatto, 397
Creole, definition of, 366-368
Crittenden, John J.,
  advocated neutrality, 383;
  letter of, to General Scott, 387
Crittenden, Thomas L., stood with the Union, 391
Cromwell, John W., _The Negro in American History _of, reviewed, 94
Crozat, Anthony, traffic of, in slaves, 362
Crummell, Alexander, on colonization, 296
Cutler, Rev. Dr., admitted Negroes to his congregation at Boston, 359


Dabney, Austin, remarkable soldier and man, 129-131
Dahomey, speech of the king of, 65
D'Alone, a supporter of Dr. Bray, 353
Davis, Garrett, letter of, to General MeClellan, 381
Davis, John, thoughts on slavery, 434
Dayton, meeting at, to promote colonization, 298
De Baptiste, Richard,
  attended school at Fredericksburg, 22;
  moved to Detroit, 22; a preacher, 29
Debern, Magdelaine, lawsuit of, 366
De Grasse, John V., student at Bowdoin, 105
Delany, M. R.,
  studied at Harvard, 105;
  physician at Pittsburgh, 106;
  news on African colonization, 296;
  sent to Africa, 300
Depression of Louisiana, 375-376.
Derham, James, a Negro physician, 103
Detroit, attitude of,
  toward Negroes, 27;
  the question of fugitives in, 27;
  measures unfavorable to colored people, 28;
  progress of the Negroes of, 29
Diggs, Judson, betrayed the fugitives of the _Pearl_, 247
Don Quixote, quoted, 43
Dorsey, Thomas, opposed colonization, 282
Dotty, Duane, Miss Fannie M. Richards's first superintendent of
  schools, 31
Douglass, Frederick,
  opposed to colonization, 295;
  controversy of, with the National Council, 300
Dove, Dr., owner of James Derham, 103
Dow, Lorenzo,
  journeys of, 266;
  writings of, discussed, 271;
  attitude of, toward slavery, 273
Drayton, Daniel, in charge of the _Pearl_, 245
Drummond, Henry, quoted, 42
Du Bois, _The Negro _of, reviewed, 217
Dunbar-Nelson, Alice, _People of Color in Louisiana _of, 361
Dunmore, Lord, issued proclamation of freedom to loyal Negroes, 115
Dyson, Walter,
  review of, of Ellis's _Negro Culture in West Africa, _95;
  of _Gouldtown_, 221


East, the attitude of, toward the West, 119
Edmondson children, the, 243; family tree of, 261
Edmondson, Hamilton, sold in New Orleans, 253
Edmondson, Richard, heroic efforts of, 248
Edmondson, Samuel, married Delia Taylor, 256
Education of the Negroes in Cincinnati, 6, 10
_Education, The, of the Negro Prior to 1861, _reviewed, 96
Edwards, Mrs., taught Negroes in South Carolina, 350-351
Effect of slaveholding in Louisiana, 368
_Eighteenth Century Slaves as advertised by their Masters, _163
Ellis, Geo. W., _Negro Culture in West Africa _of, reviewed, 95
Emancipating Baptists in Kentucky, 143
Emancipation, the, and the arming of slaves, urged, 119
English, Chester, sailor on the _Pearl_, 246
Enlisting Negroes in the American Revolution, 112, 113, 114;
  considered by a council of war, 114;
  urged and allowed, 117
Ermana, a slave owned by her husband, 241
Erroneous opinions concerning the Negro, 34
Essadi Abdurrahman, a writer of the Sudan, 41
Essays on Negro slavery, 49, 54
Established Church of England, the ministrations of, 349
Ethiopia, ruled Egypt, 37
Evans, M. S., _Black and White in Southern States _of, reviewed, 437


Fausett, Jessie, review of,
  of T. G. Steward's _Haitian Revolution, _93;
  of A. H. Abel's _The Slaveholding Indians, _339
Ferguson, Joseph, a physician, 103
Fleet, Dr., educated in Washington, 105
Fleetwood, Bishop, urged the proselyting of Negroes, 350
Foote, John P., his opinion of Negroes, 19
Foote, Senator, effect of the speech of, at the Louis-Phillipe
  celebration, 245
Foster, James, opposed to colonization, 290
Free Negroes,
  power of, to manumit limited, 241-242;
  transplanted to free soil, 302;
  litigation concerning, in Louisiana, 368;
  aristocracy of, 395
Free Soilers attacked "Black Laws" of Ohio, 16
Freedman, a rich one of Guatemala, 395
_Freedom in a Free State_, 311
"Friends of Humanity" organized in Kentucky, 144
Frink, Rev. Mr., toiled among Negroes of Augusta, 354
Fugitives,
  going to the Northwest Territory, 1;
  from British territory to Michigan, 27
_Fugitives of the Pearl, The_, 243
Fuller, Betsey, owned her husband, 241


Gage, Thomas, quoted, on Negroes in Guatemala, 392-398
Gaines, John L., secured writ to obtain fund for colored schools, 17
Galvez, Governor of Louisiana, who employed Negro troops, 374
Garden, Commissary, opened a colored school in Charleston, 352
Garrison, Wm. L., effects of the radicalism of, 146
Gazzan, Dr. Joseph, teacher of M. R. Delany, 106
_Gens de couleur libres, _365-366
George, James Z., _The. Political History of Slavery _of, reviewed, 340
Georgia,
  rise and progress of Negro Churches, 69;
  Negroes with the British in, 116, 117;
  _Reconstruction in Georgia, _reviewed, 343;
  missionary work in, 354
Germans,
  crowded the Negroes out in Cincinnati, 5;
  in Appalachian America, 133-134
Gibson, Bishop, address of, in behalf of Negroes, 352
Giddings, Joshua, motion for an inquiry into the detention of fugitives,
  250-251
Gilmore High School founded, 19
Goldsmith, Samuel, deposition of, 234
Gordon, Robert, a successful business man, 21-22
Gordon, Virginia Ann, daughter and heir of Robert Gordon, 22
Graydon, referred to Negro troops, 129
Greeks, acquainted with Ethiopia, 39
Greene, General, learned that the British would enlist Negroes, 115
Grimké, Thomas, letter of, referred to, 281
Gromes, Frank, purchased his relatives, 239
Guy, Rev. Mr., baptized Negroes in South Carolina, 352


Haigue, Mrs., taught Negroes in South Carolina, 351
_Haitian Revolution, The_, reviewed, 93
Hale, Senator, offered resolutions concerning the fugitives of the _Pearl_,
  251
Hall, Rev. C., admitted Negroes to his church in North Carolina, 353
Hamilton, Alexander,
  urged the emancipation and arming of slaves, 118;
  letter of, on conditions in South Carolina, 121
Hancock, John, member of the committee that opposed the enlistment of
  Negroes, --
Hanson, Roger W., went with the South, 390
Harlan, J. M., _Constitutional Doctrines_ of, reviewed, 342
Harlan, Robert, once a man of considerable wealth, 20
Harris, Dr., opinion of, of Negro troops, 128
Harry, one of the first Negro teachers in America, 352
Hartford, anti-slavery meeting at, 286
Hartgrove, W. B., _The Negro Soldier in the American Revolution_ of, 110
Hawkins, Peter, emancipated slaves, 240
Healing art among Negroes, 101-102
Henrico County, Virginia, records, 237
Henry, H. M., _Police Control of the Slave in South Carolina_ of, reviewed,
  219
Henry, Patrick, influence of, in the uplands, 138
Hildreth, Richard, offered Daniel Drayton aid, 251
Hill, James H., statement of, 239
_Historic Background of the Negro Physician_, 99
Holly, James Theodore, position on African colonization, 300
Honyman, Rev. Mr., had Negroes in his congregation, 360
Hopkins, Samuel, urged the emancipation and arming of slaves, 118
_How the Public received the Journal of Negro History_, 225
Howe, Samuel, offered aid to Daniel Drayton, 251
Hubbard, Dr., a friend of Negro education, 107
Huddlestone, Rev. Mr., a successor of Neau, 358
Humboldt, Alex. Von, _Observations on Negroes_, 393
Hunt, Rev. Mr., had a Negro under probation, 352
Huntsville, Alabama, Negroes of, for colonization, 282
Husting Court of Richmond, a lawsuit in, to obtain freedom, 238


Iben Khaldun, a writer of Arabia, quoted, 39
Illinois, attitude of Negroes in, toward colonization, 300
Immigration of Negroes into Ohio, 2, 4; opposition to, aroused, 4
Impressions of an English traveler, 404
Indiana,
  Negroes took up land in, 8;
  attitude of Negroes of, toward African colonization, 300
Insurrections in Louisiana, 370, 376
Irish,
  crowded out the Negroes of Cincinnati, 5;
  the Scotch-Irish in the West, 133, 135
Iron first smelted by Negroes, 36-37


Jackson, George W., manager of Robert Gordon's estate, 22
Jacob, R. T., offered resolutions for mediatorial neutrality, 384
Jefferson County, Ohio, free Negroes of, 304
Jefferson, Thomas, influence of, on frontier, 138
Jenny, Dr., worked among Negroes, 355
Johnson, Anthony, a Negro owning slaves, 234-236
Johnson, Jerome A., remembered Judson Diggs, 247
Johnson, Rev. Mr., baptized Negroes at Stratford, 359
Jones, Absalom,
  letter of, --;
  mentioned by Dow, 274;
  opposed colonization, 277
Jones, David A., deposition of, 238-239
Jones, S. Wesley, letter of, quoted, 281


Kearsley, John, master of James Derham, 103
Kemps Landing, Negroes in battle of, 115
Kench, Thomas, wanted Negroes in separate regiments, 120
Kentucky,
  "Emancipating Baptists" of, 143
  anti-slavery Presbyterians in, 143
  neutrality of, 383
  dangerous policy of, 385
Knight and Bell, Negro contractors in Cincinnati, 20
Kunst. J., _Notes on the Negroes in Guatemala in the Seventeenth
  Century_, 392


Lannon, W. D., joined the Confederates, 390
Laurens, John, urged the arming of slaves, 118
Law, John, schemes of, 362-363
Lawrence County, Ohio, Negroes in, 4, 306
Lawrence, Samuel, Negroes under, behaved well, 112, 113
Lecky, tribute of, to Negro troops, 129
Lees, migrated to Detroit, 24, 26
Leile, George, letters of, 80, 81, 84
Lemoyne, Dr. Francis J., teacher of M. R. Delany, 106
Letters on slavery by a Negro, 60;
  letters showing the rise and progress of Negro Churches in Georgia
  and the West Indies, 69
Lewiston, Pennsylvania, anti-colonization meeting of, 287
Liberia, the Republic of, discussed, 313
Lincoln, a desire of, for the support of Kentucky, 377, 384
Lindsay, Rev. Mr., baptized Negroes in New Jersey, 355
Locke, Rev. Richard, baptized Negroes in Pennsylvania, 355
Longworth, Nicholas, aided colored schools of Cincinnati, 19
Louis-Philippe, the expulsion of, celebrated in Washington, 244
Louisiana,
  prostration of, 374-375;
  relieved somewhat by Negro refugees, 375
Lowth, Bishop, urged the conversion of Negroes, 350
Lundy, Benjamin, work of, in Tennessee, 145
Lutherans, in the West, 134
Lyell, Sir Charles, on the Negroes of Cincinnati, 18
Lyme, anti-colonization meeting of, 286


Madison, James, urged the emancipation and arming of slaves, 118
Magoffin, Governor, tried to aid the Secessionists in Kentucky, 382
Mann, Horace, offered to aid Daniel Drayton, 251
Manumission Society of Tennessee, 145
Marshall, Abraham, letters of, 77, 78, 85
Marshall, Humphrey, views of, 377, 384
Maryland, the enlistment of Negroes in, 120
Maryville, Tennessee, favorable to Negroes, 147-149
Massachusetts, arming the slaves in, 120
May, Samuel, helped to furnish defense for Daniel Drayton, 251
McSparran, conducted a class of Negroes, 359
Mehlinger, Louis R., _The Attitude of the Free Negro toward African
  Colonization _of, 276
Mennonites in the West, 134
Mercer County, Ohio, Negroes in, 9, 306
Middletown, anti-colonization meeting at, 286
Migration of Negroes,
  West Indian, 370-371;
  to the Northwest Territory, 1
Miller, Kelly, _The Historic Background of the Negro Physician_, 99
Monmouth, Negroes in the battle of, 129
Moore, Edwin, father of Maria Louise Moore, 23
Moore, Maria Louise, her struggles and triumphs, 23
Moral Religious Manumission Society of West Tennessee, 145
Moravians, in the mountains, 134
Morris, Robert, Jr., offered to aid Daniel Drayton, 251
Mountaineers,
  attitude of, toward slavery, 147;
  their efforts to elevate the slaves, 148, 149, 150;
  supported the Union, 149, 150;
  aided the Underground Railroad, 146;
  attitude of, toward the American Colonization Society, 146
Mulatto corsair, a, 397
Mundin, William, declaration of, 238


Nantucket, anti-colonization meeting at, 288
Natchez, Negroes captured by, 370
National Council, 299-300
Neau, Elias,
  work of, 356-358;
  supposed connection with Negro riot, 357
_Negro,
  The, in American History_, reviewed, 94;
  _Negro Culture in West Africa_, reviewed, 95;
  _Negro Soldiers in the American Revolution_, 110;
  _What the Negro was thinking in the Eighteenth Century_, 49
Negroes,
  contribution of, to civilization, 36;
  _Notes on the Negroes of Guatemala in the Seventeenth Century_, 392
Neill, Rev. Mr., preached to Negroes at Dover, 355
Neutrality in Kentucky, 383, 385;
  became dangerous policy, 385;
  abandoned, 389
New Bedford, anti-colonization meeting at, 293
New England, work among Negroes of, 359
New Hampshire, the enlistment of Negroes in, 120
New Jersey, teaching Negroes in, 355
New York,
  the enlistment of Negroes in, 120;
  instruction of Negroes in, 356;
  anti-colonization meetings of, 285, 288, 289
Newman, Rev. Mr., worked among Negroes, 353
North Carolina, slavery in, 142
Northampton County, Virginia, records of black masters, 237


Ohio, Negroes owned land in, 8-9;
  "Black Laws" of, 4;
  Law of 1849, 12;
  Negroes transplanted to, 302;
  protest against, 308;
  Negroes an issue in the Constitutional Convention of, 4
Ordinance of 1787, interpretation of, 377
"Othello," letters of, on slavery, 49-60
Otis, James, influence of, in the uplands, 138


Palomeque, a hard master, 396
Parham, William, a teacher of Negroes, 19
Park, Dr. R. E., review of _Race Orthodoxy_ of, 439
Patoulet, M., decision of, 366
Patterson, Senator, speech at Louis-Philippe celebration, 245
Payne, Daniel A., on colonization, 296
_Pearl, The Fugitives of_, 246
Pelhams moved to Detroit, 26, 29
Pennington, J. W. C., opposed colonization, 293
_People of Color in Louisiana_, 361
Perier, Governor,
  fought Indians with Negroes 368, 369;
  tribute to Negroes
Philadelphia,
  anti-colonization meetings of, 277, 279;
  Convention of Free People of Color at, 290, 291
_Philanthropist, The_, office of, destroyed, 8
Physicians, Negro, the number of, 107
Piatt, James W., efforts with Cincinnati mob, 14
Pittsburgh, anti-colonization meetings of, 287, 292
Pittsylvania County, Virginia, Negroes from, 4
Point Bridge, Negro soldiers behaved well at battle of, 129
_Political History of Slavery, The_, by James Z. George, reviewed, 340
Political theories of Appalachian America, discussed, 129
Polk, invaded Kentucky, 390
Prejudice against the colored people in Cincinnati, 12-13
Presbyterians, anti-slavery, in Kentucky, 143
Pressly, J., a colored photographer, 20
Prince William County, Virginia, a Negro of, owned his family, 241
Professions, Negroes in, 99-101
Protests against African colonization, 277-296
Providence, anti-colonization meeting of, 293
Pugh, Rev. Mr., baptized Negroes in Pennsylvania, 355
Puritan, attitude of, toward Negro, 359
Purvis, Dr. Charles B., a Negro surgeon in the Civil War, 107


Quakers,
  interested in colonizing Negroes in the Northwest, 3;
  work of, among Negroes of Appalachian America, 133, 134
Quickly, Mary, owner of slaves, 238


_Race Orthodoxy in the South_, reviewed, 447
Racial characteristics on the frontier, 135
Racial elements in Appalachian America, 133
Radford, James, sold a Negro, 238
Radford, George, purchased a Negro woman, 238
Ramsey's estimate of Negroes lost to British, 116
Randolph, John, the slaves of, sent to Ohio, 308, 310, 311, 312
Ransford, Rev. Mr., baptized Negroes in North Carolina, 353
Redpath, James, appointed commissioner of emigration of Haiti, 300
Richards, Adolph,
  came to Fredericksburg for his health, 23;
  married Maria Louise Moore, 23
Richards, Fannie M.,
  studied in Toronto, 30;
  taught in Detroit, 31
Richmond, meeting of, to denounce the American Colonization Society, 277
Rider, Sidney, opinion of the services of Negro troops, 128
Ripley, Dorothy, letters received, 436
Riots,
  in Cincinnati, in 1836, 8;
  in 1841, 13-16;
  in New York, 357
Robert, M., decision of, with reference to Negroes, 366
Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, "l'esclavage" of, 430
Rochester, anti-colonization meeting of, 293
Roman, C. V., _The American Civilization_ of, reviewed, 218
Ross, Rev. G., commended Mr. Yeates for work among Negroes, 354, 355
Rumford, Rev. Mr., baptized Negroes, 353
Rush, Benjamin, talks with James Derham, 103
Rutledge, Governor, freed a slave for his valor in battle, 129
Ryall, Anne, teacher in Cincinnati, 19


St. John de Crèvecoeur, observations of, 404
Salem, Peter, killed Major Pitcairn, 112
Sanderson, Bishop, urged the instruction of Negroes, 350
Sankore, the university of, 40
Savannah, a freedman of, favored colonization, 280
Sayers, Captain, owner of the _Pearl_, 246
Sayers, W. Berwick, _Samuel Coleridge-Taylor_of, reviewed, 438
Sayre, Rev. J., instructed Negroes, 358
Schoepf, Johann D., impressions of, 405
Schuyler, M., opposed the instruction of Negroes, 359
Secession in Kentucky, 377, 378, 385, 389, 390
Secker, Bishop, appeal in behalf of the enlightenment of Negroes, 352
Seward, W. H., offered to aid in defending Daniel Drayton, 251
Sewell, Samuel, endeavored to aid Daniel Drayton when accused, 251
Shelby County, Ohio, Negroes in, 309
Shelton, Rev. Wallace, a preacher of Cincinnati, 20
Simon, a Negro officer in Louisiana, 391
Simon, the Negro doctor, 102
Simpson, Henry, a preacher in Ohio, 20
_Slaveholding Indians, The_, reviewed, 339
Slavery,
  in North Carolina, 142;
  in Western Virginia, 142;
  in Tennessee, 143;
  in Kentucky, 144
Slaves of the 18th century,
  learning a modern language, 164;
  learning to read and write, 175;
  educated ones, 185;
  in good circumstances, 189;
  brought from the West Indies, 191;
  various kinds of servants, 194;
  relations between the Negroes and the British during the Revolution, 200;
  relations between the blacks and the French, 201;
  colored Methodist preachers among the slaves, 202;
  slaves in other professions, 205;
  close relations of the slaves and indentured servants, 206
Smith, Dr. James McCune,
  physician in New York, 104;
  opposed to colonization, 293
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts,
  organized, 349
  work of, 350
Songhay, empire of, discussed, 41
South Carolina,
  the enlistment of Negroes in, 122;
  Hamilton's letter on, 121-122;
  resolutions of Congress concerning, 123-124;
  efforts to instruct Negroes of, 350-352
Spaniards, attitude of, toward slavery, 361
Stafford, A. O., _African Proverbs_ and _Antar_ of, 42, 151
Stephenson, John W., views of, 378
Steward, T. G.,
  _The Haitian Revolution_ of, reviewed, 93;
  _Gouldtown_ of, reviewed, 221
Steward, Rev. Mr., found a colored school in North Carolina, 354
Story
  of a Negro cook, 372
  of a Negro blacksmith, 372
Stoupe, Rev. Mr., instructed Negroes in New Rochelle, 358
Stowe, H. B., inquiry of, 295
Sturgeon, Rev. W., taught Negroes in Philadelphia, 355
Sudan, the kingdoms of, 37
Sumner, Alphonso, on African colonization, 297
Sutcliff, Robert, observations of, 434
Swigle, Thomas Nichols, the letters of, 85,88


Taylor, Dr., educated in Washington, 105
Taylor, Mr. Charles, instructed blacks in New York, 358
Taylor, Rev. E.,
  a missionary in South Carolina, 351;
  report of, 351

_Taylor, Samuel Coleridge-, Life of_, reviewed, 446
Tennessee, Manumission Society of, 144;
  Moral Religious Manumission Society of West Tennessee, 144
Thomas, General, urged the enlistment of Negro troops, 117, 129
Thomas, Rev. Mr., taught Negroes in South Carolina, 350
Thompson, C. M., _Reconstruction in Georgia_ of, reviewed, 343
Tilley, Virginia C., a teacher, 19
Timbuctoo, the university of, 40
Trades Unions against Negroes, 12
_Traveler's Impressions of Slavery in America from 1750 to 1800_, 399
Trenton, anti-colonization meeting, 288
_Typical Colonization Convention, A_, 318


Underground Railroad, in the mountains, 146
Union cause in Kentucky, the, 380, 391
Usher, Rev. J., mentioned Negroes desiring baptism, 359


Vandroffen, Petrus, opposed the education of Negroes, 359
Vesey, Rev. Mr., interested in the Negroes of New York, 356
Vindication of Negroes, 408
Virginia, laws of, to prohibit the education of Negroes, 119;
  slavery in the western part of, 142;
  colored freemen as slave owners in, 233


Wansey, Henry, on slavery, 427
Warden, D. B., observations of, 3
Warren, John, a preacher in Ohio, 8
Washington, Augustus, attitude of, toward emigration, 297
Washington, Booker T., note on, 98
Washington, George, on the enlistment of Negroes, 113, 115, 125
Wattles, Augustus, induced Negroes to go to Ohio, 8
Webster, Daniel, petition of, 241
Weld, Isaac, observations of, 432
West, Dr., master of James Derham, 103
West Indian migration, 370, 371
West, Reuben, a black master, 239
Whigs attacked "Black Laws" of Ohio, 16
Whitbeck, teacher of a colored school in Detroit, 31
White, Dr. Thomas J., student at Bowdoin, 105
Whitfield, James, defended the National Council, 300
Whitmore, Rev. Mr., taught Negroes in New York, 358
Wilcox, Samuel T., a wealthy Negro of Cincinnati, 20
Wilkins, Charles T., testimonial of, 32
Wilkins, William D., assisted Miss Fannie M. Richards, 31
Williams, Rev. Peter, troubles of, in New York, 288
Wilmington, anti-colonization meeting at, 284
Wilson, Bishop, urged the instruction of Negroes, 352
Wing, Mr., taught Negroes in Cincinnati, 7
Wood, Jannette, manumitted by her mother, 240
Woodson, C. G., _The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861_, reviewed, 96;
  _Freedom and Slavery in Appalachian America_, 132
Wright, Theodore, antagonistic to colonization, 294


Yeates, Rev. Mr., endeavored to instruct Negroes, 354