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BRITISH AND FOREIGN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY
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SLAVERY
INTERNAL SLAVE TRADE
UNITED STATES
NORTH AMERICA.
1841.
INTERNAL SLAVE TRADE
IN THE
UNITED STATES OF NORTH AMERICA;
BE I NO
REPLIES TO QUESTIONS
TRANSMITTED BY THE COMMITTEE OF
antr Jporetp gCntusIabtrg
FOR THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE TRADE
THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
•
PRESENTED TO THE GENERAL ANTI-SLAVERY CONVENTION,
HELD IN LONDON, JUNE, 1840.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN ANTI-
SLAVERY SOCIETY."
LONDON :
THOMAS WARD AND CO., PATERNOSTER ROW;
AND TO BE HAD AT THE OFFICE OF THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN ANTI-
SLAVERY SOCIETY, 27, NEW BROAD STREET.
1841.
LONDON :
PRINTED BY J. HADDON, CASTLB STREET, FINSBCRY.
ADVERTISEMENT.
The Committee of the British and Foreign
Anti-slavery Society, with a view of obtaining
information relative to slavery and the slave trade,
transmitted, some time previous to the Anti-slavery
Convention, a list of QUERIES to various parts of
the world, and among them the following to the
. United States of America ; which, with the
REPLIES received from the Executive Committee
of the American Anti-slavery Society were laid
before the Convention, and that body, regarding
the information they contain as most important,
appointed a Committee to prepare them for the
press, under whose direction they are now
published.
British and Foreign Anti-slavery Society,
27, New Broad Street, London.
23utisf) an* Jporetgn ^ntf^slabcrg
FOB THE ABOLITION OF
SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE-TRADE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD,
ADDRESS.
Combined and strenuous efforts for the universal extinction of
Slavery and the Slave-trade having been judged needful, a meeting
of Delegates and Friends to the cause, assembled from various parts
of the United Kingdom, was held at Exeter Hall, London, on the
17th and 18th of April, 1839, at which the following resolutions
were unanimously adopted as the basis of this Society : —
I. That the name of this Society be, " The British and Foreign Anti-
slavery Society."
II. That the objects of this Society be the universal extinction of Slavery
and the Slave-trade, and the protection of the rights and interests of the
enfranchised population in the British possessions, and of all persons cap-
tured as slaves.
III. That the following be the fundamental principles of the So-
ciety— that so long as Slavery exists there is no reasonable prospect
of the annihilation of the Slave-trade, and of extinguishing the sale
and barter of human beings ; that the extinction of Slavery and the
Slave-trade will be attained most effectually by the employment of
those means which are of a moral, religious, and pacific character :
and that no measures be resorted to by this Society in the prosecu-
tion of these objects but such as are in entire accordance with these
principles.
IV. That the following be among the means to be employed by this
Society : —
1. To circulate, both at home and abroad, accurate information on the
enormities of the Slave-trade and Slavery ; to furnish evidence to the
inhabitants of Slave-holding countries not only of the practicability,
but of the pecuniary advantage of free labour ; to diffuse authentic
intelligence respecting the results of emancipation in Hayti, the
British Colonies, and elsewhere : to open a correspondence with
Abolitionists in America, France, and other countries, and to encou-
rage them in the prosecution of their objects by all methods con-
sistent with the principles of this Society.
2. To recommend the use of free -grown produce, as far as practicable,
in preference to slave-grown, and to promote the adoption of fiscal
regulations in favour of free labour.
3. To obtain the unequivocal recognition of the principle, that the
Slave, of whatever clime or colour, entering any portion of the British
Dominions, shall be free, the same as upon the shores of the United
Kingdom, and to carry this principle into full and complete effect.
4. To recommend that every suitable opportunity be embraced for
evincing, in our intercourse with Slaveholders and their apologists,
our abhorrence of the system which they uphold, and our sense of its
utter incompatibility with the spirit of the Christian religion.
V. That every person who subscribes not less than ten shillings annu-
ally, or makes a donation of five pounds or upwards, shall be a member
of this Society.
VI. That the Society be under the management of a Treasurer, a Secre-
tary, and a Committee of not less than twenty-one persons, who shall be
annually elected, and shall have power to fill up vacancies, and to add
to their number.
VII. That there be held in London a general meeting of the subscribers
once in each year, at which a report of the proceedings, and a financial
statement shall be presented, and a Committee and Officers elected.
VIII. That the Committee have power to transact all business of the
Society in the intervals of the general meetings, and to convene special
general meetings of the Society when necessary.
IX. That it be recommended to the Anti-slavery friends throughout the
world, to form Auxiliary Societies upon the principles of, and in con-
nexion with, this Society.
X. That Auxiliary Societies be empowered annually to appoint, — and
where such Auxiliaries are not formed, the Committee shall have power
annually to appoint, — one or more corresponding members, who shall be
at liberty to attend and vote at all meetings of the Committee in London ;
and that the Committee shall also be authorised to appoint annually
Honorary Corresponding members who shall have the same privileges.
XI. That the Committee do invite and encourage the formation of
Ladies' Branch Associations in furtherance of the objects of this Society.
XII. That the following gentlemen be the Committee and Officers of
this Society.
Rt. Hon. Sir S. LUSHINGTON
Sir T. F. BUXTON, Bart.
WILLIAM ALLEN
GEORGE STACET
WILLIAM BALL
ROBSRT FORSTER
JOSIAH BONDER
RICHARD PEEK
SAMUEL H. LUCAS
HENRY TUCKETT
JOHN BEAUMONT
GEOEGE BENNBT
JOSIAH FORSTER — ^
HENRY STERRY
JOSEPH COOPER
STAFFORD ALLEN
RICHARD BARRETT
SAMUEL GURNEY
Rev. JOHN WOODWARK
Rev. JOHN YOUNG
W. TAYLOR
SAMUEL Fox
L. C. LECESNE
ROBERT RUSSELL
Dr. THOMAS PRICE
JACOB POST.
Rev. J. H. HINTON
Treasurer.— G. W. ALEXANDER, Lombard Street.
Honorary Secretary.— J. H. TREDGOLD, 41, Wellclose Square.
3
The Committee, according to instruction from the same Meeting,
deem it among their first duties to issue the present address to the
public, both at home and abroad, on the formation of the Society.
The continuance of the great evil of slavery in so many countries,
in connexion with the enormities of the traffic in slaves, — enormities
proved by late official documents to be of increasing extent, induce
the belief that a strong and united effort should be made to promote
the influence of principles, subversive both of the Slave-trade and of
the system of slavery, among the people of those countries, in which
this means has been, hitherto, but partially employed.
i Having, under the blessing of Divine Providence, witnessed the
emancipation of slaves in the British colonies (Mauritius alone at
present excepted), and subsequently the termination of their appren-
ticeship, it must not be forgotten that these events were brought
about, in very great measure, by appeal to the moral and religious
principles of the nation. Neither should we forget, that slavery,
with all the demoralization, cruelty, and oppression, which have ever
marked it, exists in British India, in the colonies of several of the
nations of Europe, in the United States of America, in Texas, and in
the Empire of Brazil. The enormity of this evil in South America,
Cuba, and others of the West India Islands, is attended by a feature
which did not, within the last few years, mark the slavery in our own
colonies. In those countries, the system is kept up by a large supply
from year to year, of newly-imported Africans, introduced by a con-
traband trade in slaves carried on principally by Spaniards and Por-
tuguese.
The Slave-trade, though abolished by Great Britain more than
thirty years ago, and though during the great part of that time
British cruisers have been employed on the coast of Africa, for
its suppression, is, to the present day, prosecuted to as large an
extent, and with as many instances of atrocious barbarity, as at
any former period.
Experience has long ago proved, that whilst there continues a de-
mand for any article which can be obtained, the demand will be met
with a supply, either by lawful or unlawful means ; especially if the
trade in that article be attended with a profit covering the risk of
detection and seizure. This being pre-eminently the case in reference
to the trade in slaves, it continues unmitigated in its appalling
amount of human misery, notwithstanding all that has been done
by expenditure of treasure and of life, or by treaties and negocia-
tions. Thus there seems no other effectual means of cutting off the
supply than by extinguishing the demand ; and hence a most strong
inducement arises to aim with energy at the termination of slavery,
especially in the new world.
After what we have seen at home, why should we despair of the
same results being effected by the application of the same means—
" MEANS OF A MORAL, RELIGIOUS, AND PACIFIC CHARACTER ?" Among
those means, collateral to such as are stated under the four of the
foregoing resolutions, will be a strict inquiry into the state of those
negroes who, released from captivity by the capture of slave-ships, are
taken to Sierra Leone, or to the "West Indies ; and of all such
persons wherever they may be found. '
Although the present undertaking be thus comprehensive and ar-
duous, calling for special dependence on the Divine blessing in its
prosecution ; yet much encouragement is derived, not merely from
the recollection of what has been already accomplished in this great
cause ; but from the conviction that it is one adapted to engage the
interest and secure the co-operation of those who form the real
strength of every community and country.
At the same time the difficulties which British abolitionists have
had to contend with, in the attainment of their object, gives them a
lively sense of those which may obstruct the labourers in the same
work in foreign lands. In the sympathy which is thus awakened,
we tender them our cordial co-operation by all the means in our
power, consistent with the principles on which this Society is founded.
Free communication on their part, with information how they can
be most effectually assisted, is earnestly invited.
Correspondence, according to the suggestion of the first resolution,
with our friends abroad, is indeed highly desirable : so also in all our
own colonies, where slavery has been recently abolished, and in
Hayti; and that amongst other information, comparative notices
should be forwarded to us of the condition of the population, morally
and physically, as slaves and as freemen. With respect to auxiliary
associations in the United Kingdom, so essential to the efficiency of
the Society, we would suggest the importance of uniformity in their
foundation, upon the constitution and regulations of the Parent So-
ciety. Upon such Associations its resources must mainly depend,
and no time should be lost by our friends in the country in active
exertion for the formation of these, and of Ladies' Branch Associa-
tions.
Communications to be addressed to J. H. TREDGOLD, Honorary
Secretary of the Society, at the Office, 27, New Broad Street.
Donations and Subscriptions will be thankfully received by the Trea-
surer, or Secretary, or any member of the Committee.
J. Iladdon, Printer, Castle Street, Finsbury.
QUERIES
BRITISH AND FOREIGN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY,
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
PAGE.
I. What is the number of slaves held in the different
states of the American Union ? 1
II. From what states are slaves exported for sale ; and
what is the number from each state ? . . . 12
III. To which of the states are slaves exported; and
what is their number in each of those states ? . ib.
IV. "What proportion of them are supplied by the internal
slave trade ? 13
V. Are there any slaves imported into the United States
from Africa or any other country ; and what is
the extent of such importation ? . . 18
VI. What are the circumstances,, under which slaves are
clandestinely introduced into the United States ? 24
VII. What are the features of slavery in the states of the
Union from whence slaves are sold ? , . ib.
VIII. What are the features of the internal slave trade ? . 44
VI
RAGE.
N IX. What are the features of slavery in the consuming /
states? V/ I 71
% X. What are the disabilities and disqualifications under
which the people of colour labour ? . . . 131
*
XL How far are the professors of religion tacitly or
actively implicated in the guilt of slave-holding,
or any of its attendant evils ? . . . . ib.
XII. Could a law for the registration of slaves be passed
in the United States, or other countries, to pre-
vent the introduction of "slaves when the trade
is illegal? 162
XIII. Is any slave trade carried on with Texas ; if so, to
what extent, from whence are the slaves ob-
tained, and what is the present number of slaves
in that 'country ? . . . . . . ib.
XIV. What are the means which the abolitionists in dif-
ferent parts of the world could most effectually
use, consistently with the principles recognized
by the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society,
for the extinction of the slave trade and
slavery? . 163
XV. What is the practice of the American abolitionists, in
reference to the use of slave-grown produce ? . 168
XVI. Would the recommendation to give a preference to
the use of free instead of slave-grown produce
be likely to have an extensively practical good
effect; and if cotton, the exclusive growth of
free labour, were manufactured in England,
would it find a sale in America to any
extent ? . . . . . . . ib.
XVII. Would fiscal regulations by European countries favor-
able to the consumption of free-grown cotton,
sugar, rice, coffee, tobacco, and other tropical
productions, have a beneficial effect ? . . 169
Vll
PAGE.
XVIII. Would Denmark, France, Cuba, Porto Rico, or the
Brazils, consent to abolish slavery, if all the tro-
pical productions of these countries or their
colonies were admitted, for consumption in the
European market, on the same terms as their own
colonial produce ; — no discriminating duty being
placed against British manufactures in the coun-
tries from which such produce is admitted ? . 169
XIX. What is the number of slaves still remaining in the
(so called) free states ?...... ib.
XX. What are the laws of the northern states affecting
slaves, and the rights (so called) of slave-
masters ? V . . . . . . ib.
XXI. What are the most striking features of the laws of
slave states affecting slaves ? And what new
laws have been enacted since 1825 ? V^ . . 175
XXII. Do any means exist of ascertaining the waste of life
occasioned by the culture of any of the products
of slave labour, on the unexhausted soils of the
new states ? . . " . . . . 190
XXIII. Have American citizens any interest in slavery in
foreign countries, as owners or mortgagees ; and
to what probable extent ? 191
XXIV. Are vessels adapted only to the slave trade (or piracy)
openly built in American ports ? . . ib.
XXV. To Avhat ascertained or supposed extent are the ,
citizens and flag of the United States engaged
in the slave-carrying trade from Africa for the
supply of foreign countries ? . . . . . ib.
XXVI. What provision is made for the education of the
slaves ; and what obstacles exist to the advance-
ment of education among them ? . .194
XXVII. What number of slaves can read, in proportion to the
population ? . . 1 9(j
Vlll
PAGE.
XXVIII. Do the slaves enjoy any religious privileges ? . 196
XXIX. What number of 'slaves are members of Christian
churches? , • • • » 203
XXX. Do the inhabitants of the free states, hold by deed,
bond, or mortgage, property in slaves ; if so, to
what extent ?, ...... ib.
XXXI. Is the district of Columbia the property of the United
States, and under the government of Congress ? 204
XXXII. Does slavery actually exist in the district of Colum-
bia ; if so, what is its character, and what is the
number of slaves in it? ib.
XXXIII. Is this district a slave-mart ; if so, to what extent ;
and what is the nature of the traffic ? , . . 205
XXXIV. Has Congress, by any direct action or vote, expressed
its disapprobation of the sale of slaves in this
district? 210
TEXAS.
1. What is the number of slaves and rate of increase from all
causes ? 248
2. What is the known or probable extent of the slave trade from
the United States to Texas ? . . . . . . ib:
3. ' What is the known African slave trade to Texas ; and where
are the cargoes landed ? 249
4. Where is the Texas slave produce shipped, and to what market ? 250
Laws of Texas on Slavery and the Slave Trade ib.
APPENDIX.
British Recognition of Texas ....... 252
The condition of the free people of colour in the United States . 255
Resolutions of the Anti-slavery Convention :
Texas 275
Withholding Christian fellowship ib.
Prejudice against colour 276
The internal slave trade .... . ib.
The American Colonization Society . . . 277
List of Subscribers . 278
REPLIES TO QUERIES
ON
AMERICAN SLAVERY
AND
THE SLAVE TRADE.
FIRST QUESTION. What is the number of slaves held in the
different States of the American Union ?
As no national census of the population of the United States
has been taken since 1830, we cannot give precisely the present
number of slaves. The following estimate is near the truth,
though it probably falls below the actual number. It is based
upon the rate of increase shown in the national census of 1830,
and the later state censuses of Massachusetts, Michigan, and
Mississippi, in 1837; of New York and -Illinois in 1835; of
Missouri in 1836, and of Alabama and Georgia in 1838.
The number of slaves in the nominally free states is taken
from the national census of 1830. It must be considerably less
now than it was ten years ago, there being no additions to it by
birth or otherwise.
FREE STATES.
Number of
Slaves.
SLAVE STATES.
Number of
Slaves.
Maine
6
Delaware
2403
New Hampshire.
5
Maryland
97,433
Vermont
D^ietrict of Columbia
5,871
Massachusetts
4
V Virginia .
519 040
Rhode Island
14
\f North Carolina
294,218
Connecticut
25
VSouth Carolina
384,864
New York
76
w Georgia
279 740
* New Jersey
2,254
Kentuckv
215,378
Pensylvania
403
250 307
Ohio
6
v. Alabama
244,324
Indiana. ..
3
Mississippi
•215,742
Illinois
747
Louisiana
173,296
Michigan
32
55,396
12,946
Total ... .
3 575
Total
2,770,958
The preceding census assigns a few slaves each to the states
of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and New York.
This is a mistake. In those states no persons can be legally
held as slaves. The slaves in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and
Pensylvania consist of those born prior to the date of the Aboli-
tion Acts in those states, and who were not emancipated thereby.
Those in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan are persons legally en-
titled to their freedom. Those in Illinois are " indentured
apprentices," held very much in the condition of slaves. The
slaves in New Jersey, like those in Rhode Island, Connecticut,
and Pensylvania, are persons born before the Abolition Act
passed in that state, with the addition of such as have from time
to time been introduced by immigrants from other slave states,
removing into New Jersey to reside.
The annexed Tables exhibit the increase of the population of
the United States, white, free colored, and slave, since the first
census of 1790; the relative increase of each class, &c.
TABLE I.
o
•'
0
"SESI '"9 P«B 'KIV '9£8I 'o^
'eesi MII P|IB 'A -N 'zcsi -IJM # '"PSIV
•S(\[ 111 '/IA 'S11SII.1.) 1-MU'l .H|l III UMOtjj
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EC
^^IliilllllK
2,770,958
1
III
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TOTAL.
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o
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Colored.
** K x 5 — --o
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|p;p!llss|s=
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£
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Hi ' ^^ ^M
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3.172.551
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^
B 2
The following Tables, exhibiting the progress of the popula-
tion of the several states of the Union, and of the different
classes of the inhabitants, are taken from a " Statistical View
of the Population of the United States from 1790 to 1830
inclusive, furnished by the Department of State, in accordance
with the resolutions of the Senate 'of the United States of the
26th of February, 1833, and the 31st of March, 1834."
TABLE II.
Showing the total population of each state according to five
enumerations ; the numerical increase in each ten years and in
forty years ; and the increase per cent, in ten years and in forty
years.
States.
Yrs.
Population.
Increase each
10 years.
Increase per
cent, each
10 yean.
Increase in
40 years.
Increase per
cent, iu
40 years.
1790
96,540
1800
159,719
55,179
58'1923
1810
228,705
76,986
50-7425 }-
302,915
3137715
1820
298,335
69,630
30-4530
1830
399,455
101,120
33-8948 J
NEW HAMPSHIRE
1790
141,899
•*
1800
183,760
41,863
25-5020 j
1810
214,360
30,598
16-6509 y
127,429
89-8026
1820
244,161
29,801
13-9023 1
1830
269,328
25,167
10-3075 j
1790
1800
85,416
154,465
69,049
80-8385
1810
217,713
63,248
40-9465 I
195,236
228-5708
1820
235,764
18,051
8-2912
1830
280,652
44,888
19-0394 j
MASSACHUSETTS
1790
378,717
^
1800
423,345
'44,528
11-758 [
1810
472,040
48,795
11-5264 [-
231,691
61-1778
1820
523,287
51,247
10-8564
1830
610,408
87,121
16-6488 J
RHODE ISLAND
1790
69,110
^1
1800
69,122
12
10-0174
1810
77,031
7,909
11-4421 V
28,089
40-6439
1820
83,059
6,027
7-8254
1830
97,199
14,040
17-0240 J
CONNECTICUT . .
1790
238,141
•}
1800
251,002
12,861
5-4006 |
1810
262,042
11,040
4-3984 [
59,534
24-9995
1820
275,202
13,160
5-0221
1830
297,675
22,473
8-1660 J
Stales.
Yrs.
Population.
Increase each
1U years.
Increase per
cent, each
10 years.
Increase '"
40 years.
Increase per
cent, in
40 years.
NEW YORK ....
1790
340,120
1800
586,756
246,636
72-5144
1810
959,049
372,293
63-4494 [
1,578,488
464-0974
1820
1,372.812
413,763
43-1431 |
1830
1,918,608
545,796
39-7575 J
NEW JERSEY . .
1790
184,139
1"^
1800
211,949
27,810
1810
245,555
33,606
15-3557 i
136,684
74-2287
1820
277,575
32,020
13-0398
1830
320,823
43,248
15-5807 J
PENSVI.VANIA . .
1790
434,373
N
1800
602,365
169,992
38-6746
1810
810,091
207,726
34-4851 -
913,860
210-3860
1820
1,049,458
239,367
29-5482
1830
1,348,233
298,775
28-4695 ,
DELAWARE ....
1790
59,096
")
1800
64,273
5,177
8-7603
1810
72,674
8,401
13-0708 I
17,652
29-8700
1820
72,749
75
0-1032
1830
76,748
3,999
5-4970 J
MARYLAND ....
1790
319,728
•}
1800
341,548
21,820
6-8246
1810
380,546
38,938
11-4180 L
127,312
39-8188
1820
407,350
26,804
7-0436
1830
447,040
39,690
9-7435 J
1790
748,308
1800
880,200
131,892
1810
374,622
94,422
463,097
1820
1,065,366
90,744
1830
1,211,405
140,039
NOR. CAROLINA
1790
393,751
1
1800
478,103
84,352
21-4227 |
1810
555,500
77,379
16-1814 }-
344,236
87-4288
1820
638,829
83,329
15-0007
1830
737,987
99,158
15-5218 j
Sou. CAROLINA
1790
249,073
|
1800
345,591
96,518
35-7509
1810
415,115
69,524
20-1174 I
322,112
133-3392
1820
502,741
87,426
21-1088 1
1830
581,185
78,444
15-6033 J
1790
82,548
~\
1800
162401
79,553
96-3718
1810
252,433
90,332
55-7258 [
434,275
526-0879
1820
340,989
88,556
35-0810 |
1830
516,823
175,834
51 -5659 J
KENTUCKY . . . .
1790
73,077
1
1800
220,955
147,878
202-3592 1
1810
406,511
185,556
83-0791 J.
614,840
841-3591
1820
564,317
157,506
38-8196
1830
687,917
123,600
21-9036 j
Stales.
Yre.
Population.
Increase oarl-
10 years.
Increase per
cent, each
10 soars.
InrreaM- in
40 years.
Iiu-rrase per
i • ni. in
40 years.
TENNESSEE .
1790
35,791
N
1800
105,602
68,811
195-0518 |
1810
261,927
150,125
147-8428 '
646,113
1805-238T
1820
422,813
161,086
64-5473 |
1830
681,904
259,091
61 -2779 J
OHIO ....
1790
Increase in
Inc. per ct.
!800
45,365
30 years.
in 30 years.
I811J
230 760
-t of *>QX
AAQ-flTAI \
1820
581,234
350^674
151-9648 [
892,938
1967-4595
1830
937,903
356,459
61-3086 )
INDIANA
1790
1800
4,875
iaio
24,520
19,645
402-9744 )
1820
147,178
122,658
500-2365 \
338,156
6936-5335
1830
343,031
195,853
133-0722 )
JMlssissirri ....
1790
1800
8,850
1810
40,352
31,504
355-9548 }
1820
75,448
35,096
500-2365 \
127,771
1443-7401
1830
136,621
61,173
133-0722 )
ILLINOIS .
1790
isno
Increase in
Inc. per ct.
L(J\J\J
1810
12,282
20 years.
in 20 years.
1820
1830
55,211
157/445
42,929
102,234
349-5278 )
185-1696 f
145,163
11819166
LOUISIANA
1790
1800
1810
76,556
1820
1830
153,407
215,739
76,851
62,332
100-3853 )
40-6318 J
139,183
181-8055.
Alissoviti
1790
•
1800
1810
20,845
1820
1830
66,586
140,455
45,741
73,869
219-4339 )
1 10-9377 \
119,610
573-8067
1790
1800
1810
20,845
1820
144,317
123,472
1830
309,527
165,210
114-4772
288,682
MICHIGAN ....
1790
1800
1810
4,762
1820
1830
8,896
31,639
4,134
22,743
86-8123 I
255-6542 j
26,877
564-4507
ARKANSAS ,...
1790
1800
[ncrease in
1810
10 years
1820
14.273
1830
30,388
16,115
112-9055
16,115
States.
Yrs.
Population.
Increase each
10 years.
Increase per
cent, each
10 years.
Increase in
30 years.
Increase per
cent, in
30 years.
FLORIDA TERHI.
TORY
1790
1800
1810
1820
1830
1790
1800
1810
1820
1830
34,730
14,093
24,023
33,039
39,834
9,930
9,016
9,795
70-4605 }-
37-5307
20-5666 J
25,741
182-6510
DISTRICT OF CO-
LUMBIA
TABLE III.
Showing the total number, the numerical increase, and the
increase per cent, during each ten years, and during forty years
from 1790 to 1830, of the several classes of the population;
abstracted from the document already named.
Yrs.
Total.
Increase in
10 years.
Increase per
cent, in each
10 years.
Increase in
40 years.
Increase per
cent, in
40 years.
1790
3,172,464
-\
1800
4,304,502
1,132,038
35-6832
1810
5,862,004
1,175,502
36-1831 I
7,364,914
232-1512
1820
7,872,711
2,010,707
34-3007 1
1830
10,537,378
2,664,667
33-8469 J
SLAVES . ....
1790
697,897
1800
893,041
195,194
1810
1,191,364
298,320
1,311,146
187-8210
1820
1,543,488
352,324
1830
2,009,043
465,355
FREE COLOURED.
1790
1800
59,466
108,398
48,932
82-2857
1810
186,446
78,048
72-1858 L
260,133
437-4802
1820
238,197
51,751
27-2202
1830
319,599
81,4C2
34-1742 J
FREE COLOURED
1790
767,363
•v
AND SLAVES . .
1800
1,001,439
244,076
32-2271
1810
1,377,810
376,371
37-5830 }-
1,571,272
237-4671
1820
1,781,885
404.075
29-3273
1830
2,328,642
646,757
33-6824 j
TOTAL POPULA-
1790
3,929,827
l
TION
1800
5,305,941
1,376,114
35-0172
1810
7,239,814
1,933.873
36-4473 I
8.936,193
227-3941
1820
9,654,596
2.414,782
33-3542
1830
12,866,020
2,211,424
33,2632 J
TABLE IV.
Showing the number of slaves in each of the slaveholding
states ; the numerical increase in each ten years, and the in-
crease per cent. ; also the increase and the increase per cent, in
forty years.
States.
Yrs.
Population.
Increase each
10 years.
Increase per
cent, in each
10 years.
Increase in
40 years.
Increase per
cent, in
40 years.
MARYLAND
1790
103,636
•\
1800
105^635
2,599
2-5224
(decrease)
1810
111,502
5,867
5-5540 I
42
0-0404
1820
107,398
4,104
3-6807
1830
102,994
4,404
4-1006 J
VIRGINIA
1790
1800
293,427
347,796
52,369
17-8474
1810
392,518
46,722
13-5114 I
176,330
60-0933
1820
425.153
32,365
83143
1830
469,757
44,604
10-4993 J
NORTH CAROLINA
1790
1800
100,572
133,296
32,724
32-5379
1810
168,824
35,528
26-6535 I
145,029
144-2042
1820
205,017
36,193
21-4383
1830
245,601
40,584
19-7954 J
SOUTH CAROLINA
1790
107,094
"^
1800
146,151
39,057
36-4698
1810
196,365
50,214
34-3576 I
208,307
194-5086
1820
258,475
62,110
31-6299
1830
315,401
56,926
22-0238 J
1790
29,264
1800
59,404
30,140
102-9934
1810
105,218
45,814
72-1228 I
188,267
643-3399
1820
149,656
44,438
42-2342
1830
217,531
67,875
45-354 J
KENTUCKY
1790
11,830
-\
1800
40,343
28,613
241-0228
1810
80,561
42,218
99-6902 V
153,383
1296-5296
1820
126,732
46,171
67-3119
1830
165,213
38,481
30-3641 J
TENNESSEE.. ....
1790
3.417
1800
13,584
10,167
297-5417
1810
44,535
30,951
227-8489 I
138,186
4044-0731
1820
80,107
35,572
79-8743
1830
141,603
61,496
76-7673 j
1790
^
Increase in
[nc. percent
1800
3,489
]
30 years.
in 30 years.
1810
17,088
13,599
389-7678 I
62,170
1781-8859
1820
32,814
15,226
92-0295
1830
65,659
32,845
1 00-0945 J
LOUISIANA
MISSOURI
ALABAMA
1.
Yrs.
Population.
Increase each
10 years.
Increase per
cent, each
10 years.
Increase In
20 years.
Increase per
cent, in
20 years.
17PO
1800
1810
1820
1830
1790
34,660
69,064
109,588
34,404
40,524
74,928
216-1800
1800
1810
1820
1830
17PO
3,011
10,222
25,091
7,211
14,869
22,080
733-3112
1800
1810
1820
1830
47,439
117,549
70,110
147-7898
NOTE. The number of slaves in the states north of Maryland
in 1790, was 48,267; in 1830, only 6,066; and of these, 5,546
belonged to New Jersey and Delaware.
TABLE V.
Showing the annual rate of increase per cent., during each of
the ten years from 1790 to 1830.
Whites.
Free Coloured.
Slaves.
Total population.
1790
1800
3-0985
6-1879
2-4962
3-0478
1810
3-1364
5-5731
2-9243
3-1564
1820
2-9931
2-4798
2-6247
2-9203
1830
2-9583
2-9834
2-6700
2-9132
TABLE VI.
Showing the times of the first and second duplication of the
inhabitants. The second duplication, except with respect to the
free coloured people, is by estimate,
Whites 1st dup. 22-68 years in 1813 2nd dup. 23-66 years in 1836
Free Coloured „ 11-70 „ 1802 „ 18'20 „ 1820
Slaves „ 26-11 „ 1816 „ 26-43 „ 1843
Slaves & Free Color'd „ 23-62 „ < 1814 „ 26-12 „ 1840
Total Population „ 22-85 „ 1813 „ 24-11 „ 1837
10
In Table I. the aggregate number of inhabitants given to
each square mile is just twice as great in the free states as in
the slave states, including white, free coloured, and slaves.
Table II. is presented chiefly for the purpose of showing that
the population of the free states has increased much more
rapidly than that of the slave states. This will appear by the
following estimates, founded upon the statistics of this table.
The Total Population of the Free States in 1790, was 2,034,739.
„ of the Slave States „ 2,152,544.
The Increase in the Free States up to 1830, was 4,877,060.
„ in the Slave States „ 3,721,460.
„ in the Free States up to 1840, was 10,051,347.
„ in the Slave States „ 8,193,203.
The difference is made still more obvious by contrasting the
free and slave states severally — thus :
States.
Population
in 1790.
Increase
in 40 years.
Increase
in 50 years.
MAINE
96,540
319,899
141.899
249,073
340,120
748,308
pop. in 1800.
45,365
pop. in 1790.
73,077
pop. in 1800.
4,875
pop. in 1790.
35,791
pop. in 1810.
12,282
pop. in 1800.
8,850
pop. in 1810.
4,762
pop. in 1820.
14,273.
302,915
127,512
127,429
322,112
1,578,488
463,097
incr. in 30 years.
892,938
incr. in 40 years.
614,840
incr. in 30 years.
338,156
incr. in 40 years.
646,138
incr. in 20 years.
145,163
incr. in 30 years.
127,771
incr. in 20 years.
26,877
iucr. in 10 years.
16,115
439,039
173,763
154,776
424,992
2,124,440
429,868
incr. in 40 years.
1,527,553
incr. in 50 years.
576,729
incr. in 40 years.
794,634
incr. in 50 years.
1,066,339
incr. in 30 years.
493,884
incr. in 40 years.
402,592
incr. in 30 years.
313,339
incr. in 20 years.
55,726
MARYLAND
NEW HAMPSHIRE
SOUTH CAROLINA
OHIO .... ....
INDIANA
ILLINOIS
MISSOURI
11
Thus it appears that the ratio of increase in the free states is
much greater thau in the slave states. How is this to be
explained ? Certainly not by any advantages of soil, climate, or
productions. In all these respects the south enjoys a marked
superiority. Her soil is proverbially fertile, and her genial
clime as favourable perhaps as any in the world, both for the
rapid increase of population, and for the productions requisite
for subsistence ; while both soil and climate conspire to yield
the most profitable staples known to commerce. Many of the
free states, and those the most densely populated, are charac-
terised by the reverse of all this. With a hilly surface and a
stubborn soil, locked up by frost or covered with snow for one
half of the year, they would seem able to yield but a stinted
support to a scanty population, nor even that, without an
amount of toil unfavourable to rapid increase. To what, then,
is this striking superiority of the free over the slave states, in
point of population, to be ascribed ? To a political ascendency,
by which the energies of the south are crippled, and her pros-
perity arrested ? So far is this from being the case, as we shall
have occasion hereafter to show, that although the free states
elect a majority of the members of Congress, the slave states
have, for all practical purposes, the entire ascendency. They
have never yet failed to carry their favourite measures against
the free states, and not unfrequently have succeeded in imposing
upon the latter most disadvantageous restrictions in furtherance
of their own sectional interests. The secret of the political
power held by the slave states will be exposed in another place;
suffice it here to observe, that the fact is notorious. No ex-
planation can be given of the point in question but this — slavery
has made the difference.
In Table III. the relative increase of all classes of the popu-
lation is given, from which it appears that the increase of the
slaves during forty years was nearly fifty per cent, less than that
of the whites during the same period. This estimate embraces
the whole white population, both north and south.
The slaves increase somewhat faster than the whites of the
slave states alone. What proportion, however, of this is the
natural increase by birth, and how much is owing to foreign
importations, connot be accurately determined. Though the
12
ratio of increase is generally found to be greater among the
labouring classes than among any other, the slave increase,
compared with that of the whole white population, is greatly
inferior ; the natural effect of their excessive toil, scanty sus-
tenance, and multiform privations and inflictions.
On the other hand, the reflex' influence of slavery upon the
slaveholders is seen in the reduction of the ratio of the increase
of the white inhabitants in the slave states, even below that of
the slaves.
SECOND QUESTION. From what states are slaves exported for
sale, and what is the number from each state ?
Slaves are exported from Delaware, Maryland, Virginia,
North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, and the dis-
trict of Columbia. The states from which the largest pro-
portion are taken are Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, and
Kentucky, and of these Virginia exports most.
Of the number exported annually from each state we cannot
speak with accuracy. From the following data, however, an
estimate may be formed of the whole number, which will not
be very far from the truth.
The "Virginia Times" (a weekly newspaper published at
Wheeling, Virginia) estimates, in 1836, the number of slaves
exported for sale from that state alone, during " the twelve
I months preceding," at forty thousand, the aggregate value of
I whom is computed at twenty-four millions of dollars.
Allowing for Virginia one half of the whole exportation
during the period in question, and we have the appalling sum
total of eighty thousand slaves exported in. a single year from the
breeding states. We cannot decide with certainty what pro-
portion of the above number was furnished by each of the
breeding states, but Maryland ranks next to Virginia jn point
of numbers, North Carolina follows Maryland, Kentucky,
North Carolina, then Tennessee, Missouri, and Delaware.
THIRD QUESTION. To which of the states are slaves exported^
and what is their number in each of those states?
The states into which slaves are imported are South Carolina,
13
Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas, also
the territory of Florida. North Carolina is to some extent an
importing as well as an exporting state ; some sections export-
ing and others importing.
The same is true in a limited degree of Tennessee and Mis-
souri.
The number of slaves in each of the buying states is given
in the answer to the first Question. (See Table I.)
FOURTH QUESTION. What proportion of them are supplied by
the internal slave trade ?
By far the greater proportion, perhaps four-fifths or more.
The extent, regularity, and activity of the internal slave trade
are matter of astonishment, no less than of grief and shame.
We have estimated the exportation of a single year at eighty
thousand, on the lowest calculation ; we should, perhaps, have
been nearer the truth, had we put it at a hundred and twenty
thousand ; as will appear from the following extracts.
"'The Natchez (Mississippi) Courier' says 'that the states of Louisiana,
Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas, imported treo hundred and fifty
thousand slaves from the more northern states in the year 1836.' "
This seems absolutely incredible, but it probably includes all
the slaves introduced by the immigration of their masters. The
following, from the " Virginia Times," confirms this supposition.
In the same paragraph which is referred to under the second
query, it is said,
" We have heard intelligent men estimate the number of slaves ex-
ported from Virginia, within the last twelve months, at a hundred and
twenty thousand, each slave averaging at least 600 dollars, making an
aggregate of 72,000,000 dollars. Of the number of slaves exported, not
more than one-third have been sold, the others having been carried by
their masters, who have removed."
Assuming one-third to be the proportion of the sold, there
are more than eighty thousand imported for sale into the four
states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas. Sup-
posing one-half of eighty thousand to be sold into the other
buying states, South Carolina, Georgia, and the territory of
Florida, and we are brought to the conclusion that more than
a hundred and twenty thousand slaves were, for some years
previous to the great pecuniary pressure in 1837, exported from
the breeding to the consuming states.
The " Baltimore American" gives the following from a Mis-
sissippi paper of 1837 .
"The Report made by the Committee of the Citizens of Mobile, ap-
pointed at tbeir meeting held on the 1st instant, on the subject of the
existing pecuniary pressure, states, that so large has been the return of
slave labour, that purchases by Alabama of that species of property from
other states, since 1833, have amounted to about ten million dollars
annually."
The activity and system with which this traffic is carried on,
as well as its extent, may be learned from the following state-
ments and public advertisements, derived from southern papers.
"Dealing in s\?wes,"says zA0 BALTIMORE (MARYLAND) REGISTER o/1829,
" has become a large business ; establishments are made in several places
in Maryland and Virginia, at which they are sold like cattle; these
places of deposit are strongly built, and well supplied with iron thumb-
screws and gags, and ornamented with cowskins and other whips, often-
times bloody."
The following are specimens of the advertisements of Balti-
more traders : —
" Austin "Woolfolk, of Baltimore, wishes to inform the slaveholders of
Maryland and Virginia, that their friend still lives to give cash and the
highest price for negroes," &c.
~" General Slave Agency Office. — Gentlemen planters from the south,
and others who wish to purchase negroes, would do well to give me a
call. LEWIS SCOTT."
" Cash for two hundred Negroes. — The highest cash prices will be paid
for negroes of both sexes, by application to me or my agent at Booth's
Garden. HOPE H. SLATER."
" For Nero Orleans. — A coppered, copper-fastened packet-brig will
sail on the 1st of February from Baltimore. Those having servants to
ship will do well by making early application to James Purvis," &c.
The degree to which Virginia is implicated in this trade, may
be inferred from the open avowals of her own statesmen. In
the Legislature of that state, in 1832, Thomas Jefferson Ran-
dolph declared that Virginia had been converted into " one
15
grand menagerie, where men are reared for the market like oxen
for the shambles."
Hon. Charles Fenton Macer (a member of congress from
Virginia since 1817) asserted in the Virginia Convention in
1829,
" The tables of the natural growth of the slave population demonstrate,
when compared with the increase of its numbers in the commonwealth
for twenty years past, that an annual revenue of not less than a million
and a half of dollars is derived from the exportation of a part of this
population."
Mr. Gholson, of Virginia, in his speech in the Legislature of
that state, January 18, 1831 (see Richmond Whig), says —
" It has always (perhaps erroneously) been considered by steady and
old-fashioned people, that the owner of land had a reasonable right to its
annual profits ; the owner of orchards to their annual fruits ; the owner
of brood mares to their product ; and the owner of female slaves to their
increase. We have not the fine-spun intelligence nor legal acumen to
discover the technical distinctions drawn by gentlemen p. e. the distinc-
tion between female slaves and brood mares"]. The legal maxim of
' Partus sequitur ventrem' is coeval with the existence of the right of pro-
perty itself, and is founded in wisdom and justice. It is on the justice
and inviolability of this maxim that the master foregoes the service of the
female slave, has her nursed and attended during the period of her ges-
tation, and raises the helpless infant oifspring. The value of the pro-
perty justifies the expense, and I do not hesitate to say, that in its increase
consists much of our wealth."
We have here the assurance of a prominent slaveholder, that
the only ground on which the female slave is released from the
labour of the house or field for a single day, either before or
after her confinement, is the right of her master to dispose of
her offspring ; that the only thing which can justify the expense
of a brief discharge from toil, though God and nature alike and
aloud demand it, is the " value of the property." Of course,
in the slave-consuming states, where it is deemed more profit-
able to buy fresh supplies every few years than to raise them,
on the ground there is no consideration which can "justify"
the master in " foregoing the service of the female slave," how-
ever -delicate her situation ! We fear that this principle of slave-
holding ethics is but too faithfully carried out by the sugar and
cotton planters of the south.
16
Professor Dew, now President of the University of William
and Mary in Virginia, in his Review of the Debate in the Vir-
ginia Legislature in 1831-2, says (page 120),
" A full equivalent being left in the place of the slave [J;he purchase
money]], this emigration becomes an advantage to the state, and does not
check the black population as much afc at first view we might imagine ;
because it furnishes every inducement to the master to attend to the
negroes, to encourage breeding, and to cause the greatest number possible to
be raised." Again, " Virginia is in fact a negro-raising state for other
Mr. Goode, of Virginia, in his speech before the Virginia Le-
gislature in January, 1832, said —
" The superior usefulness of the slaves in the south will constitute an
effectual demand, which will remove them from our limits. We shall
send them from our state, because it will be our interest to do so. But
gentlemen are alarmed lest the markets of other stales be closed against the
introduction of our slaves Sir, the demand for slave labor must in-
crease" &c.
The following is an extract from the speech of Mr. Faulkner,
in the Virginia House of Delegates, 1832 (See " Richmond
Whig") :
"But he (Mr. Gholson) has labored to show that the abolition of
slavery would be impolitic, because your slaves constitute the entire
wealth of the state, all the productive capacity Virginia possesses ; and,
sir, as things are, / believe he is correct. He says that the slaves consti-
tute the entire available wealth of eastern Virginia. Is it true that for
two hundred years the only increase in the wealth and resources of Vir-
ginia has been a remnant of the natural increase of this miserable race ?
Can it be that on this increase she places her sole dependence ? Until I
heard these declarations I had not fully conceived the horrible extent of
this evil. These gentlemen state the fact, which the history and present
aspect of the commonwealth but too well sustain. What, sir, have you
lived for two hundred years without personal effort or productive indus-
try, in extravagance and indolence, sustained alone by the return from
the sales of the increase of slaves, and retaining merely such a number as
your now impoverished lands can sustain as STOCK ?"
In the debates in the Virginia Convention in 1829, Judge
Upsher said,
" The value of slaves as an article of property depends much on the
state of the market abroad. In this view, it is the value of land abroad,
17
and not of land here which furnishes the ratio. Nothing is more fluo
tuating than the value of slaves. A late law of Louisiana reduced their
value twenty-five per cent, in two hours after its passage was known. If
it should be our lot, as I trust it tvill be, to acquire the country of Texas,
their price mill rise again."
Hon. Philip Doddridge, of Virginia, in his speech in the Vir-
ginia Convention, in 1829 (Debates, p. 89), said,. —
" The acquisition of Texas will greatly enhance the value of the pro-
perty in question — (Virginia slaves)."
Rev. Dr. Graham, of Fayettville, North Carolina, at a coloni-
2ation meeting held at that place in the fall of 1837, said, —
"There were nearly seven thousand slaves offered in New Orleans
market last winter. From Virginia alone six thousand were annually
sent to the south ; and from Virginia and North Carolina there had gone
to the south, in the last twenty years, three hundred thousand slaves."
Hon. Henry Clay, of Kentucky, in his speech before the
Colonization Society in 1829, says,
" It is believed that nowhere in the farming portion of the United
States would slave labor be generally employed, if the proprietor were not
tempted to raise slaves by tfte high price of the southern markets, which keeps
it up in his own."
The " New York Journal of Commerce," of October 12th,
1835, contains a letter from a Virginian, whom the editor calls
" a very good and sensible man," asserting that twenty thousand
slaves had been driven to the south from Virginia that year,
but little more than three-fourths of which had then elapsed.
The " Maryville (Tennessee) Intelligencer," sometime in the
early part of the year 1836, says, " Sixty thousand slaves passed
through a little western town for the southern market, during
the year 1835."
We might present a variety of advertisements of Virginia
Slave-Mongers, but our space will allow us to record but one.
" Notice.— This is to inform my former acquaintances, and the public
generally, that I yet continue in the SLAVE TRADE at Richmond, Virginia,
and will at all times buy, and give a fair market price for young negroes.
Persons in this state, Maryland, or North Carolina, wishing to sell lots
of negroes, are particularly requested to forward their wishes to me at
this place. Persons wishing to purchase lots of negroes, are requested to
give me a call, as I keep constantly on hand at this place a grea,t ntany
for sale ; and have at this time the use of one hundred young negroes,
o
18
consisting of boys, young men, and girls. I will sell at all times at a
small advance on cost, to suit purchasers. I have comfortable rooms,
with a jail attached, for the reception of the negroes ; and persons coming
to this place to sell slaves can be accommodated, and every attention
necessary will be given to have them well attended to ; and, when it may
be desired, the reception of the company of gentlemen dealing in slaves
will conveniently and attentively be received. My situation is very
healthy and suitable for the business.
"LEWIS A. COLLIER."
From the nature of the foregoing evidence, all of it being
necessarily in some measure indefinite, the actual extent of the
internal slave trade can be arrived at only by approximation.
The precise number annually exported from each of the slave-
breeding states, and also the number imported into each slave-
consuming state can be found on no statistical records ; and as
we have no data for an estimate more specific than the preced-
ing facts, we present them as the best reply to the foregoing
query which we are able to furnish.
FIFTH QUESTION. Are there any slaves imported into the United
States from Africa or any other country ; and what is the extent of
such importation ?
There are frequent importations of slaves into the United
States from Africa, and occasional importations from the West
Indies. The extent cannot be stated with precision. Indeed,
our information on this point is necessarily more indefinite than
upon the foregoing, arising from the clandestine manner of con-
ducting the foreign trade, in consequence of its being contraband.
In presenting the evidence under this head, we would recur to
the fact that when in 1831 England and France made efforts to
induce all the maritime powers to adopt effectual measures for
the extinction of the African slave trade, the United States was
the only nation that positively rejected those overtures. After
repeated evasions of the proposition, and despite the urgent
solicitations of the British and French governments, it was
finally resolved that, " Under no condition, in no form, and with
no restriction will the United States enter into any convention,
or treaty, or combined efforts of any sort or kind, with other
nations for the suppression of this trade."
19
A full history of this transaction is contained in a late work
of the Hon. William Jay, entitled a " View of the Action of the
Federal Government in behalf of Slavery."
From this work we extract the following testimonies, com-
mencing on page 107 of the second edition :
" Judge Story, of the Supreme Court of the United States, in a charge
to a grand jury, in the year 1820, thus expresses himself:
" ' We have but too many proofs, from unquestionable sources, that it
(the African trade) is still carried on \vith all the implacable ferocity and
insatiable rapacity of former times. Avarice has grown more subtle in
its evasions, and watches and seizes its prey with an appetite quickened
rather than suppressed by its guilty vigils. American citizens are steeped
to their very mouths (I can hardly use too bold a figure) in this stream
of iniquity.' "
" On the 22nd January, 181 1, the Secretary of the Navy wrote to the
commanding naval officer at Charleston, ' I hear, not without great con-
cern, that the law prohibiting the importation of slaves has been violated
infrequent instances near St. Mary's, since the gun-boats have been with-
drawn from that station.' "
"On the 14th March, 1814, the collector of Darien, Georgia, thus
wrote to the Secretary of the Treasury : ' I am in possession of undoubted
information, that African and West India negroes are almost daily
illicitly introduced into Georgia, for sale or settlement, or passing through
it to the territories of the United States for similar purposes. These
facts are notorious, and it is not unusual to see such negroes in the streets
of St. Mary, and such, too, recently captured by our vessels of war, and
ordered for Savannah, were illegally bartered by hundreds in that city ;
for this bartering (or bonding as it is called, but in reality selling) actually
took place before any decision was passed by the court respecting them.
I cannot but again express to you, sir, that these irregularities and mock-
ing of the laws by men who understand them, are such that it requires
the immediate interposition of congress to effect the suppression of this
traffic ; for as things are, should a faithful officer of the government ap-
prehend such negroes, to avoid the penalties imposed by the laws, the
proprietors disclaim them, and some agent of the (state) executive
demands a delivery of the same to him, who may employ them as he
pleases, or effect a sale by way of bond for the restoration of the negroes
when legally called on so to do, which bond is understood to be forfeited,
as the amount of the bond is so much less than the value of the property.
After much fatigue, peril, and expense, eighty-eight Africans are seized,
and brought to the surveyor at Darien ; they are demanded by the
c2
20
i
governor's agent. Notwithstanding the knowledge which his excellency
had that these very Africans were some weeks within six miles of his
excellency's residence, there was no effort, no stir made hy him, his agents,
or subordinate state officers, to carry the laws into execution ; but no
sooner was it understood that a seizure had been effected by an officer
of the United States, than a demand js made for them ; and it is not
difficult to perceive that the very aggressors may, by a forfeiture of the
mock bond, be again placed in possession of the smuggled property.' "
It has already been seen how little reason there is to hope
that the Federal government would ever interfere to prevent the
introduction of foreign slaves. The foregoing communication
demonstates that, if possible, there is still less reliance to be
placed upon the executives and other authorities of the slave-
holding states. It is manifest that if the general government
were ever so desirous to arrest the foreign trade, the connivance
of the state authorities would be an ample security to the slave
merchant.
" On the 22nd May, 1817, the collector at Savannah wrote to the
Secretary of the Treasury, * I have just received information, from a
source on which I can implicitly rely, that it has already become the
practice to introduce into the state of Georgia, across St. Mary's River,
from Amelia Island and East Florida, Africans who have been carried
into the port of Fernanda. It is further understood that the evil will
not be confined altogether to Africans, but will be extended to the worst
classes of West India slaves.' "
" Captain Morris, of the navy, informed the Secretary of the Navy
(18th June, 1817), 'Slaves are smuggled in through the numerous inlets
to the westward, where the people are but too much disposed to render
every possible assistance. Several hundred slaves are now at Galveston,
and persons have gone from New Orleans to purchase them.' "
" On the 17th April, 1818, the collector at New Orleans wrote to the
Secretary of the Treasury, ' No efforts of the officers of the customs alone
can be effectual in preventing the introduction of Africans from the west-
ward ; to put a stop to that traffic, a naval force suitable to those waters
is indispensable ; and vessels captured with slaves ought not to be brought
into this port, but to some other in the United States, for adjudication.' "
We may learn the cause of this significant hint, from a com-
munication made the 9th of July, in the same year, by the col-
lector at Nova Iberia :
" Last summer I got out state warrants, and had negroes seized to
the number of eighteen, which were part of them stolen out of the custody
21
of the coroner ; the balance were condemned by the district judge, and
the informers received their part of the nett proceeds from the state
treasurer. Fire negroes that were seized about the same time were tried
at Opilousa, in May last, by the same judge. He decided that some
Spaniards, that were supposed to have set up a sham claim, stating that
the negroes had been stolen from them on the high seas, should have the
negroes, and that the persons who seized them should pay half the costs,
and the state of Louisiana the other. This decision had such an effect
as to render it almost impossible for me to obtain any assistance in that
part of the country."
Further testimony under this head is taken from the work
lately published by the American Anti-Slavery Society, entitled
" American Slavery as it is" (page 139).
" Mr. Middleton, of South Carolina, in a speech in congress, in 1819,
declared that ' thirteen thousand Africans are annually smuggled into the
southern states'
" Mr. Mucu, of Virginia, in a speech in congress about the same time,
declared that ' cargoes' of African slaves were smuggled into the south to
a deplorable extent.
" Mr. Wright, of Maryland, in a speech in congress, estimated the num-
ber annually at fifteen thousand. Miss Martineau, in her recent work
(' Society in America'), informs us that a large slaveholder in Louisiana
assured her, in 1835, that the annual importation of native Africans was
from thirteen to fifteen thousand.
" The President of the United States, in his message to congress,
December, 1837, says,
" * The large force under Commodore Dallas (on the "West India sta-
tion,) has been most actively and efficiently employed in protecting our
commerce, in preventing the importation of slaves'
"The 'New Orleans Courier,' of 15th February, 1839, has these
remarks :
" ' It is believed that African negroes have been repeatedly introduced
into the United States. The number and the proximity of the Florida
ports to the Island of Cuba, make it no difficult matter; nor is our ex-
tended frontier on the Sabine and Red rivers at all unfavorable to the
smuggler.'
"The 'Norfolk (Virginia) Beacon,' of JuneSth, 1837, has the following:
" ' Slave Trade. — Eight African negroes have been taken into custody
at Apalachicola, by the United States deputy marshal, alleged to have
been imported from Cuba, on board the schooner ' Emperor,' Captain
Cox. Indictments for piracy, under the Acts for the Suppression of the
22
Slave Trade, have been found against Captain Cox, and other parties im-
plicated. The negroes were bought in Cuba by a Frenchman named
Malherbe, formerly a resident of Tallahassee, who was drowned soon
after the arrival of the schooner.'
" The following testimony of Rev. Horace Moulton, now a member of
the Methodist episcopal church, in Marlborough, Massachusetts, who
resided some years in Georgia, reveals some of the secrets of the slave-
smugglers, and the connivance of the Georgia authorities at their doings.
It is contained in a letter, dated February 24th, 1839 :
" ' The foreign slave trade was carried on to some considerable extent
o
when I was at the south. Were you to visit all the plantations in South
Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, I think you would be con-
vinced that the horrors of the traffic in human flesh have not yet ceased.
I was surprised to find so many that could not speak English among the
slaves, until the mystery was explained. This was done, when I learned
that slave cargoes were landed on the coast of Florida. They could, and
can still, in my opinion, be landed as safely on this coast as in any part
of this continent. When landed on the coast of Florida, it is an easy '
matter to distribute them throughout the more southern states. The law
which makes it piracy to traffic in the foreign slave trade is a dead letter.
I will notice one fact which came under my own observation. It is as
follows : — A slave-ship, which I have reason to believe was employed by
southern men, came near the port of Savannah with about Jive hundred
slaves, from Guinea and Congo ; and the crew ran the ship into a bye
place, near the shore, between Tylee Light and Darien. Well, as Provi-
dence would have it, the revenue cutter, at that time taking a trip along
the coast, fell in with this slave-ship, took her as a prize, and brought
her up into the port of Savannah. The cargo of human chattels was
unloaded, and the captives were placed in an old barrack, in the port of
Savannah, under the protection of the city authorities, they pretending
that they should return them all to their native country again, as soon as
a convenient opportunity presented itself. The ship's crew were arrested,
and confined in jail. Now for the sequel of this history. About one-
third part of the negroes died in a few weeks after they Avere landed, in
seasoning, so called. Those who did not die in seasoning must be hired
out a little while to be sure, as the city authorities could not afford to keep
them on expense doing nothing. As it happened, the man in whose em-
ploy I was when the cargo of human beings arrived, hired some twenty
or thirty of them, and put them under my care. They continued with
me until the sickly season drove me off to the north. I soon returned,
but could not hear a word about the crew of pirates. They had some-
thing like a mock trial, as I should think, for no one, as I ever learned,
23
was condemned, fined, or censured. But where were the poor captives,
who were going to he returned to Africa by the city authorities, as soon
as they could make it convenient ? Oh, forsooth, those of whom I spoke,
being under my care, were tugging away for the same man ; the remainder
were scattered about among different planters. When I returned to the
north again, the next year, the city authorities had not, down to that
time, made it ' convenient' to return these poor victims. The fact is, they
belonged there ; and, in my opinion, they were designed to be landed
near the place where the 'revenue cutter seized them. Probably those
very planters for whom they were originally designed received them ;
and still there was a pretence kept up that they would be returned to
Africa. If all the facts with relation to the African slave trade, now
secretly carried on at the south, could be disclosed, the people of the free
states would be filled with amazement.'
" It is plain, from the nature of this trade, and the circumstances under
which it is carried on, that the number of slaves imported would be
likely to be estimated far beloic the truth. There can be little doubt that
the estimate of Mr. Wright, of Maryland (fifteen thousand annually,) is
some thousands too small. But even according to his estimate the
African slave trade adds one hundred and fifty thousand slaves to each
United States census."
The following extract will throw additional light upon the
shifts by which the slave traders and their allies contrive to
escape detection. It is taken from a late work entitled " Trans-
atlantic Sketches, &c., with Notes on Negro Slavery and
Canadian Emigration, by Captain J. E. Alexander, of the
British Army ; London, 1833 :"
"The most remarkable circumstance connected with slavery in America
is the following : — A planter in Louisiana, of forty years' standing,
assured me that there are a set of miscreants in the city of New Orleans
who are connected with the slave-traders of Cuba, and who at certain
periods proceed up the Mississippi river as far as the Fourche mouth,
which they descend in large row boats, and meet off the coast slave-
ships. These they relieve of their cargoes, and returning to the main
stream of the Mississippi, they drop down it in covered^ flat-bottomed
boats or arks, and dispose of the negroes to those who want them." Vol.
ii. page 26.
This testimony reveals two important facts : 1st. That the
slave traders of Cuba, who are known to be extensively engaged
in the foreign traffic, are in the habit of smuggling their 'cargoes'
by system into the United States ; 2nd. That there is a class of
24
persons in our southern ports who regularly co-operate with the
Cuba slave traders, and secretly but successfully aid in the in-
troduction of African slaves. How extensively these secret
combinations exist throughout the south cannot be known ; but
we have no reason to believe that they are confined to the city
of New Orleans.
SIXTH QUESTION. What are the circumstances under which
slaves are clandestinely introduced into the United States ?
The answer to this query has been anticipated in the foregoing
reply. It has been shown that the Florida ports afford abun-
dant facilities for the introduction of foreign slaves, and that the
Georgia ports are, by the gross connivance of the state authori-
ties, but little less accessible. We have no reason to suppose
that the ports of South Carolina, Alabama, and Louisiana are a
whit more scrupulous. Probably frequent importations are
effected by the mode described in the foregoing extract from
Captain Alexander. What mode would be peculiarly favor-
able for escaping detection ; for the slaves being dropped down
the Mississippi river, might be readily smuggled into New
Orleans as Kentucky or Virginia slaves, or they might be dis-
posed of before reaching that port to planters along the river, or
these planters might make engagements beforehand with the
traders to deliver the slaves at their plantations, and thus the
latter might sell out their cargoes without the slightest risk of
falling into the clutches of a custom house officer.
SEVENTH QUESTION. What are the features of slavery in the
states of the Union, from whence slaves are sold?
While slavery is essentially the same everywhere, in Virginia
and Louisiana, — in the United States, Cuba, and Brazil, its features
are varied aad modified by the peculiar interests it is made to
serve. In one place there will be a greater waste of life, in
another marked physical cruelty, in another special moral degra-
dation. No conditions, however, in which slavery exists are
more diverse than those which we are now considering, i. e. the
breeding and the consuming. In our replies, we shall reserve
for the latter all such observations as are common to both con-
25
ditions, excepting where the features, though alike, result from
different causes ; in which case they will be adverted to under
both heads. It may be well also to premise that the states
called breeding states are not such exclusively, neither are those
called buying or consuming states exclusively such. The former
work their slaves, as well as breed and sell them, and the latter
produce to a limited extent as well as buy ; though in both
cases these are subordinate operations.
The features of slavery naturally divide themselves into those
which respectively relate to the slave and the slaveholder. The
causes which tend to distinguish the slavery of the breeding
states from that existing elsewhere, are chiefly the breeding
system itself, and the comparative unprofitableness of slave
labor. How each of these affects the slave and the slaveholder
will be briefly illustrated.
The unprofitableness of slave labor in the northern breeding
states, which, compared with that in the more southern states,
is very striking, arises chiefly from the want of lucrative and
large staples, such as cotton and sugar, and that impoverish-
ment of the soil which has been the result of long continued
forced cultivation. Such products as corn, wheat, hemp, and
even tobacco, afford employment comparatively for few laborers,
and do not yield sufficient profit, especially on the worn-out
lands of Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina, to support a
large agricultural force, if that were needed.
The inevitable result of poor soil, poor crops, and poor staples
is the poverty of the planter, from which the slave suffers in
various ways.
1. His wants must be very inadequately supplied. Though
he is the tiller of the soil, and the cultivator of its crops, still he
is a beggar at best, dependent upon his owner for food, clothing,
and shelter. When the master's purse is stinted, the slave is
the first to feel it. When the encroachments of poverty call for
retrenchment somewhere, the knife is sure to fall first upon the
slave's supplies. He feels it in the reduction of his scanty ward-
robe and meagre table, and in his neglected crumbling hut,
while the master still maintains his state, equipage, and princely
residence. The slave women are clad in rags, and their children
stripped to nakedness, that the planter's wife and daughters may
26
flaunt in finery and revel in accustomed luxury. On this point
nothing can be more pertinent than the following, from " the
testimony of the Gradual Emancipation Society of North Caro-
lina, signed by Moses Swain, President, and William Swain,
Secretary :"
" In the eastern part of the state (Ndrth Carolina) the slaves consider-
ably out-number the free population. Their situation is wretched beyond
description. Impoverished by the mismanagement which we have already
attempted to describe, the master, unable to support his own grandeur
and maintain his slaves, puts the unfortunate wretches upon short allow-
ances, scarcely sufficient for their sustenance, so that a great part of
them go half-naked and half-starved much of the time." See "American
Slavery as it is," p. 60.
We leave you to conceive the sufferings of the slaves, when
their supplies, stinted enough at best, are restricted to the utmost
verge of endurance by the slaveholder's poverty. This is of
necessity a feature of slavery in the breeding states.
2. The slave suffers also by being severely tasked and driven.
The very sterility of his grounds tempts the planter to increase
the burthens of his slaves, in order that he may, if possible, sup-
ply by forced labor the deficiencies of the soil. Thus while in
the cotton, sugar, and rice growing states, hard driving and
overworking are the natural results of great fertility, in the
breeding states they are no less the natural consequence of ex-
treme barrenness.
3. Again, the spleen of a poverty-stricken master often wreaks
itself upon the slave. True, it is the land not the slave which is
in fault, or rather the planter himself, through his own careless-
ness and persistence in a wasteful system of forced labor. But
what of that ? The rage of mortified pride has smitten him, and
he asks not for the reasons of things, but for vengeance. If his
fields could feel his fury, he might scourge them for their bar-
renness ; but the trembling slave can feel, and he must be the
victim. Such are the aspects of slave suffering which present
themselves in connection with a wasted soil.
The evils entailed upon the master are scarcely less grievous.
1. He is involved in pecuniary embarrassments, from which
nothing can relieve him but a resort to slave selling, or a removal
from the state. Conscientious scruples remonstrate perhaps
27
against the former, and strong local attachments equally oppose
the latter ; meanwhile his embarrassments thicken apace, and
call more loudly for relief. Conscience and local attachment
still maintain their ground and advise retrenchment, but family
pride sternly forbids that. Family name and dignity must be
sustained ; the hereditary style of dress, furniture, and equipage
must be supported; the alternative therefore is thrown back
upon conscience and love of homestead. The latter, always a
powerful principle, is proverbially strong in the " Old Dominion,"
where it is blended with and nourished by an ancestral venera-
tion scarcely excelled even in the aristocratic countries of Europe.
The Virginian, in his patrimonial halls, is not the man to em-
brace the noble sentiment of Algernon Sydney — " When I can-
not live in my own country but by such means as are worse than
dying in it, I think God shows me I ought to keep myself out
of it." If in so unequal a struggle conscience should surrender,
it is what might be expected of frail human nature.
Thus it comes to pass that persons of naturally generous sen- i
timents are seduced into slave breeding and selling as a means I
of retrieving their sinking fortunes, and upholding family im- /
portance. It is doubtless by this process, operating gradually I
and for a long time, that the most odious business in which man
ever engaged, instead of being monopolized by outlawed kid-
nappers, infesting forest haunts, should be prosecuted by all
classes, all professions, both sexes, and all ages, until now it has
avowedly become the chief source of wealth in several states of
this union.
2. Another effect upon the master is the perpetual galling of
blighted fortunes ; an evil to which the habit of exercising arbi-
trary power, and the previous possession of wealth, render the
slaveholder peculiarly sensitive. Of all men in the world he is
least prepared to bear the pinch of poverty. He is exasperated,
and his family witness, if they do not like his slaves feel, the
violence of his passions. Habitual sourness or gloom corrodes
or beclouds his high spirits, and drives him perchance to dissi-
pation for relief. He plunges into the whirl, and probably a
street fight or a duel winds up the scene.
3. The entire want of agricultural enterprise characterises the
slaveholder. Disheartened by the increasing sterility of his
23
lands, he resorts to no expedients for renovating them. Field
after field is surrendered to weeds and bushes, and thus the
limits of his tillable lands are gradually contracted, unless new
lands are added to undergo the same rapid process of exhaustion
and decay. A downward destiny confronts the inefficient
planter wherever he turns. In such a crisis, where the most
elastic energies might quail, the indolent slaveholder sinks hope-
less.
4. With the extinction of personal enterprise dies all public
spirit. Public improvements are either wholly neglected or feebly
prosecuted ; charitable institutions are overlooked or wretchedly
managed; systems of general education, lyceums, mechanics'
institutes, agricultural associations, and the varied machinery
for scientific and moral improvement, so extensively sustained
in the free states, are scarcely known; the school-house and
the church, which are New England's ornament and bulwark, are
found but few and far between over the blood-cursed regions of
the breeding states; and when found, their dilapidated walls,
leaky roofs, shattered blinds, and broken windows, patched with
paper, are a standing scoff at science and religion.
The barrenness of the soil, a curse alike to the slave and his
master, is itself the consequence of slavery. The frank and
self-condemning admissions of slaveholders on this point are
most conclusive.
We quote from, some of the eminent men of Virginia :
Mr. Brodnax, in a speech in the Virginia Legislature, 1832,
made use of the following language :
" That slavery in Virginia is an evil, and a transcendent evil, it would
be more than idle for any human being to doubt, or deny. It is a mildew
which has blighted every region it has touched, from the creation of the
world. Illustrations from the history of other countries and other times
might be instructive ; but we have evidence nearer at hand, in the short
histories of the different states of this great confederacy, which are im-
pressive in their admonitions, and conclusive in their character."
The following is from Mr. George Washington Park Custis,
of Virginia :
"See the wide-spreading ruin which the avarice of our ancestral
government has produced in the south, as witnessed in a sparse popula-
tion of freemen, deserted habitations, and fields without culture. Strange
29
to tell, even the wolf, driven back long since by the approach of man,
now returns, after the lapse of a hundred years, to howl over the desola-
tions of slavery."
Mr. Faulkner thus describes the blighting effects of slavery,
in a speech in the Virginia Legislature :
" I am gratified to perceive that no gentleman has yet risen in this hall
the avowed advocate of slavery. The day has gone by when such a
voice could be listened to with patience or even forbearance. I even
regret, sir, that we should find one among us, who enters the lists as its
apologist, except on the ground of uncontrollable necessity. If there be
one who concurs with the gentleman from Brunswick (Mr. Gholson) in
the harmless character of this institution, let me request him to compare
the condition of the slaveholding portion of this commonwealth — barren,
desolate, and seared, as it were, by the avenging hand of heaven — with
the descriptions which we have of this same country from those who first
broke its virgin soil. To what is the change ascribable ? Alone to the
withering and blasting effects of slavery."
Mr. Summers thus spake in the Virginia Legislature, 1832:
" Sir, the evils of this system cannot be enumerated — it were unneces-
sary to attempt it. They glare upon us at every step. When the owner
looks to his wasted estate, he knows and feels them. When the states-
man examines the condition of his country, and finds her moral influence
gone, her physical strength diminished, her political power waning, he
sees and must confess them."
One consequence of the barrenness, pourtrayed in the pre-
ceding extracts, is that the slave-breeding states are shunned by
emigrants, whether from the northern states or the old world.
This evil is thus stated and deplored by Mr. Custis :
" Of the vast tide of emigration which now rushes like a cataract to the
west, not even a trickling rill wends its way to the ancient dominion. Of
the multitude of foreigners who daily seek an asylum and home in the
empire of liberty, how many turn their steps to the regions of the slave ?
None ; no, not one ! There is a malaria in the atmosphere of those
regions which the new comer shuns, as being deleterious to his views and
habits."
Nor is this the whole of the evil. The same causes which
divert the current of immigration from the states in question,
keep up a perpetual emigration, which threatens to drain them
of a large portion of their white population. These removals
take place among the best classes that exist in the slaveholdino-
30
communities, the small farmers, mechanics, and labouring
whites generally, to say nothing of that class which we have,
alas ! but too much reason to fear is inconsiderably small, whose
moral principles have stood proof against the seductions of the
soul traffic. These classes cannot live in the impoverished slave,
states; stern necessity drives thenvto the more fertile free states
of the west.
When these are gone, the sole representatives of free labour
and free principles have taken their departure, and the devoted
states are surrendered to the inglorious occupancy of the two
most worthless classes that ever existed, the slaveholding and
the enslaved. To this issue the slave-breeding states are now
rapidly tending ; and it requires no extraordinary discernment
to foresee that the extinction of slavery must soon follow in the
train.
This picture would still be incomplete if we failed to present
the contrast between the slave-breeding states, and the con-
tiguous free states. It is well known that the latter have no
local advantages, which the former do not equally possess.
Yet the free states have far outstripped their slaveholding neigh-
bours in population, wealth, internal improvements, and general
education. This is frankly conceded by southern men.
Governor Randolph, in an address to the Legislature of Vir-
ginia, in 1 820, says :
" The deplorable error of our ancestors in copying a civil institution
from savage Africa has affixed upon their posterity an oppressive burthen,
which nothing but the extraordinary benefits conferred by our happy
climate could have enabled us to support. We have been far outstripped
by states to whom nature has been far less bountiful. It is painful to
consider what might have been, under other circumstances, the amount
of general wealth, in Virginia, or the whole sum of comfortable subsis-
tence and happiness possessed by all her inhabitants.'"
The contrast between the slave-breeding and free states is
strikingly represented by the philosophic traveller, De Tocque-
ville, in his account of the adjoining states, Kentucky and
Ohio.
" Slavery (says this ABLE WRITER), which is cruel to the slave, is abso-
lutely prejudicial to the master. This truth was most satisfactorily
demonstrated when civilisation reached the banks of the Ohio. The
31
stream which the Indian had designated by the name of Ohio, or beauti-
ful river, waters one of the most magnificent valleys which has ever been
made the abode of man. Undulating lands extend upon both shores of
the Ohio, whose soil affords inexhaustible treasures to the labourer. On
either bank the air is wholesome, and the climate mild, and each of them
forms the extreme frontier of a vast state. That which follows the
numerous windings of the Ohio on the left is called Kentucky ; that
upon the right bears the name of the river. These two states differ only
in a single respect ; Kentucky has admitted slavery, but the state of Ohio
has prohibited the existence of slavery within its borders. Thus the
traveller who floats down the current of the Ohio to the spot where that
river falls into the Mississippi may be said to sail beticeen liberty and ser-
vitude ; and a transient inspection of the surrounding objects will con-
vince him as to which of the two is most favorable to mankind. Upon
the left bank of the stream the population is rare. From time to time
one descries a 'troop of slaves loitering in the half-desert fields. The
primeval forests recur at every turn. Society seems to be asleep, man to
be idle, and nature alone offers a scene of activity and life.
" From the right bank, on the contrary, a confused hum is heard,
which proclaims the presence of industry. The fields are covered with
abundant harvests ; the elegance of the dwellings announces the taste
and activity of the labourers ; and man appears to be in the enjoyment
of that wealth and contentment which is the* reward of labour."
We pass to consider the features which arise from the breed-
ing, rearing, and selling of slaves.
This system bears with extreme severity upon the slave.
1. It subjects him to a perpetual fear of being sold to the
" soul-driver," which to the slave is the realisation of all con-
ceivable woes and horrors, more dreaded than death. An awful
apprehension of this fate haunts the poor sufferer by day and
by night, from his cradle to his grave. SUSPENSE hangs like a
thunder-cloud over his head. He knows that there is not a
passing hour, whether he wakes or sleeps, which may not be
the last that he shall spend with his wrife and children. Every
day or week some acquaintance is snatched from his side, and
thus the consciousness of his own danger is kept continually
awake. " Surely my turn will come next," is his harrowing-
conviction ; for he knows that he was reared for this, as the ox
for the yoke, or the sheep for the slaughter. In this aspect,
the slave's condition is truly indescribable. Suspense, even when
32
it relates to an event of no great moment, and "endureth but
for a night," how hard to bear ! But when it broods over all,
absolutely all that is dear, chilling the present with its deep
shade, and casting its awful gloom over all the future, it must
break the heart ! Such is the suspense under which every slave
in the breeding states lives. It poisons all his little lot of bliss.
If a father, he cannot go forth to his toil without bidding a
mental farewell to his wife and children. He cannot return,
weary and worn, from the field, with any certainty that
he shall not find his home robbed and desolate. Nor can
he seek his bed of straw and rags without the frightful
misgiving that his wife may be torn from his arms before morn-
ing. Should a white stranger approach his master's mansion,
he fears that the soul-driver has come, and awaits in terror the
overseer's mandate, " You are sold ; follow that man." There
is no being on earth whom the slaves of the breeding states
regard with so much horror as the trader. He is to them what
the prowling kidnapper is to their less wretched brethren in
the wilds of Africa. The master knows this, and that there
is no punishment so effectual to secure labor or deter from
misconduct, as the threat of being delivered to the "soul-
driver."*
2. Another consequence of this system is the prevalence of
licentiousness. This is indeed one of the foul features of slavery
everywhere; but it is especially prevalent and indiscriminate
where slave-breeding is conducted as a business. It grows
directly out of this system, and is inseparable from it. In the
planting states, licentiousness is a passion, but in the breeding
states it is both a passion and a pursuit; in the former it is
fostered by lust, in the latter by lust and cupidity ; there it is a
mere irregularity, here it is a branch of a flourishing trade, a
trade made more flourishing by its prevalence. The pecuniary
inducement to general pollution must be very strong, since the
larger the slave increase the greater the master's gains, and
especially since the mixed blood demands a considerably higher
price than the pure black. This is a temptation which often
overcomes both the virtue and the pride of white men ; so often,
* This horribly expressive appellation is in common use among the slaves
of the breeding states.
33
that it is to be doubted whether, as touching this matter, there
be much of either left.
The following testimony is from a Methodist minister in Vir-
ginia, formerly from a New England Conference. It is taken
from a letter, dated March 13, 1835, and addressed to the Rev.
Orange Scott, editor of the Wesleyan Observer, Lowell, Mas-
sachusetts :
" There are many vices which are winked at by the good and en-
couraged by the ungodly, who hold slaves. I allude to breeding slaves.
There is a great temptation to this. No property can be vested more pro-
fitably than in young healtby negro women. They will, by breeding,
double their value in every five years. Mulattoes are surer than pure
negroes. Hence planters have no objection to any white man or boy
having free intercourse with all the females ; and it has been the case
that an overseer has been encouraged to make the whole posse his harem
and has been paid for tbe issue. This causes a general corruption of
morals."
The Rev. J. D. Paxton, a Virginian, and till recently a slave-
holder, says in his work on slavery, "the best blood in Virginia
flows in the veins of the slaves."
Dr. Tony, in his work on domestic slavery in the United
States, p. 14, says :
" While at a public-house in Frederick-town (Maryland), there came
into the bar-room on Sunday, a decently-dressed white man, of quite a
light complexion, in company with one who was totally black. After
they went away, the landlord observed that the white man was a slave.
I asked him, with some surprise, how that could be possible ? To which
he replied, that he was a descendant, by female ancestry, of an African
slave. He also stated, that not far from Frederick-town there was a
slave estate on which there were several white females of as fair and ele-
gant appearance as white ladies in general, held in legal bondage as
slaves."
It is very common to meet with advertisements of runaway
slaves, similar to the following :
" 100 dollars Reward. — The above reward will be paid for the appre-
hension of my man William. He is a very bright mulatto, straight yel-
lowish hair. I have no doubt he mil try to pass himself for a WHITE
MAN, which be may be able to do, unless to a close observer.
"T. S. PICHARD."
34
" 100 dollars Reward. — Ran away from James Heyhart, Paris, Ken-
tucky, on the 29th June last, the mulatto boy Norton, about fifteen years,
a very bright mulatto, and would be taken for a WHITE BOY, if not closely
examined. Hair black and straight.
"llth August, 1836. — New Orleans True American."
" 100 dollars Reward — Will be given for the apprehension of my
negro (!) Edmund Kennedy. He has straight hair, and complexion sp
nearly WHITE, that it is believed a stranger would suppose there was no
African blood in him. He was with my boy Dick a short time since in
Norfolk, and offered him for sale, and was apprehended, but escaped under
pretence of being a white man.
"ANDERSON BOWLES.
" Richmond (Virginia) Whig, January 6th, 1836."
It is needless to multiply testimony to a truth which is so
abundantly illustrated by the swarming tribes of light hued
slaves in city, town, and country. Extensive, however, as this
amalgamation unquestionably is, the professed ministers of the
gospel dare not expose or rebuke it any more than they dare to
denounce slave-breeding or selling. It is a part of the system,
a branch of the " institution ;" one department of the craft by
which slaveholders have their gains. If it were solely a lustful
indulgence it might be spoken against, but being a business
transaction it is unimpeachable and inviolable.
3. It might be thought that the breeding system would effec-
tually shield the slaves against bodily cruelty, and by appeals
to the master's interests, secure to them ample food, clothing,
shelter, and relief from severe labour, since these things are
favourable to rapid increase. But if interest would ensure all
this, it would equally ensure every other important blessing;
but this is found to be a poor protection to the slave, amid the
numberless and overpowering temptations to cruelty. However,
if there were any reliance to be placed upon this, it would at.
best profit only that class of slaves who were in a breeding or
saleable condition; though even in the case of these, great
cruelty, toil, and privation might be imposed, without materially
impairing their breeding or saleable qualities. But the unsale-
able and barren (whether from nature, disease, or age) could
find no security in the master's interest. The sufferings of these
large classes of slaves in the breeding states must be dreadful.
35
Of little or no value from their labour, where labour is at best
unproductive, and entirely valueless in point of increase, where
that is the great staple, they must be a burthen upon their
"owners," and of course miserably provided for and cruelly
treated. Where fruitfulness is the greatest of virtues, barren- <\
ness will be regarded as worse than a misfortune, as a crime, \
and the subjects of it will be exposed to every form of privation I
and infliction. Thus a deficiency, wholly beyond the slave's '
control, becomes the occasion of inconceivable suffering.
This representation is fully confirmed by the subjoined testi-
mony, taken from "American Slavery as it is," page 15 :
*' The following was told me by an intimate friend ; it took place on a
plantation containing about one hundred slaves. One day the owner
ordered the women into the barn ; he then went in among them, whip
in hand, and told them he meant to flog them all to death. They began
immediately to cry out, ' What have I done, massa ? what have I done T
He replied, ' d — n you, I will let you know what you have done ; you
don't breed ; I have not had a young one from one of you for several
months.'
" One of the slaves on another plantation gave birth to a child, which
lived but two or three weeks. After its death the planter called the
woman to him, and asked her how she came to let the child die ; said it
was all owing to her carelessness, and that he meant to flog her for it.
She told him, with all the feeling of a mother, the circumstances of its
death, but her story availed her nothing against the savage brutality of
her master: she was severely whipped. A healthy child, four months
old, was then considered worth one hundred dollars in North Carolina."
— NARRATIVE OF MR. CAULKLNS, WHO SPENT ELEVEN MONTHS IN
NORTH CAROLINA.
4. Another result of the breeding system is, that the slaves
very frequently run off, subjecting themselves to indescribable
sufferings in the attempt, and to tortures often worse than death
in case they are retaken. Elopements are taking place more or
less frequently from all the slave states, but the greater propor-
tion are from the breeding states. This is owing in part to the
greater facilities for escape from the latter, but chiefly to that
suspense under which the slaves there live of being sold and
sent to the south. So long as they have any prospect of
remaining among their friends and local attachments, they will
D 2
36
generally endure the evils of slavery, rather than encounter the
risk, perils, and hardships of elopement. But as soon as they
learn that they are to be sold and dragged to the south, they
break away from their "bornin-ground," sometimes taking their
families with them, but oftener compelled to go alone. Of
those who betake themselves to flight, some make no further
effort than to gain some distant forest, in whose pathless wilds
they conceal themselves, obtaining a miserable subsistence from
nuts and roots. Others aim to reach Canada. This doubtless
would be the aim of all, but many have no knowledge of such
a place, and many more have no idea in what direction it lies.
A gentleman of the north, who spent some years as a school
teacher in eastern Virginia, states, that on one occasion, when
the planter with whom he was boarding had driven off with his
family to a camp-meeting, and just as he had mounted his
horse to follow, a large number of the planter's slaves sur-
rounded him, and besought him most earnestly to tell them
which way Canada lay. Under the conflicting emotions of
fear for himself and sympathy for the slaves, he put spur to
his horse, and galloped away.
We shall not dwell here upon the sufferings which the
fugitives endure on the way, even when their attempt to
escape is successful : the consuming hunger, protracted some-
times for days, the journeyings by night in the depth of woods,
shunning with instinctive fear human habitations, public roads,
and even cultivated fields, except when driven by the last
extreme of hunger, tortured all the time with the dreadful
uncertainty whether they' are going northward, or back into the
clutches of their masters, — their concealment by day, sleepless
from fear, and trembling at every shaking leaf, — their exposure
half naked to the cold of winter, swimming rivers, and with
bleeding feet tracking their way amid snows and ice, until flesh
and heart fail them. These sufferings form a chapter in the
history of human woe, fraught with agony and blood ; but it
is yet to be written.
Contemplate the punishments which the less fortunate suffer
on being returned to their master. The chances of being ap-
prehended may be very moderately estimated at two to one of
escape. Those who seek refuge in the woods are almost sure to
37
be retaken. Very frequently they return themselves, not wil-
lingly, but driven back by the extremity of cold, hunger, or
other sufferings. Those who aim to reach Canada are more
likely to escape, though when it is considered what efforts are
made to recover them, we may well wonder that so many suc-
ceed. Advertisements are published, containing a minute de-
scription of the person, dress, scars, &c. of the fugitive, accom-
panied with a large reward, varying usually from fifty to two
hundred dollars, and these are dispatched by mail to the northern
towns and villages, where there are sure to be minions enough
ready to post them in conspicuous places, and all this, perhaps,
before the adventurer has got twenty miles from his master's
house. Zeal for the " patriarchal institution," and desire for
the lusty reward, set the man-hunters on the scent, from the
master's door to the borders of Canada.
Under these circumstances, it is indeed a marvel that a single
fugitive makes good his escape, and in every instance of success
we are constrained to acknowledge the intervention of the same
high hand and outstretched arm which led Israel out of Egypt.
What is the proportion of those who are retaken we have no
means of accurately knowing; probably from one-half to three-
fourths of the whole. On this subject we find the following
estimate in "American Slavery as it is," p. 136:
" We have before us, in the Grand Gulf (Mississippi) Advertiser for
August 2, 1838, a list of runaways that were then in the jails of the two
counties of Adams and Warren, in that state. The number of runaways
thus taken up and committed in these two counties is forty-six. The
whole number of counties in Mississippi '^fifty-six, many of them, how-
ever, are thinly populated. Now, without making this the basis of our
estimate for the whole slave population in all the state, which would
doubtless make the number much too large, we are sure no one who has
any knowledge of facts as they are in the south, will charge upon us an
over-estimate, when we say that of the present generation of slaves, pro-
bably one in thirty is of that class, i. e. has at some time, perhaps often,
run away, and been retaken ; on that supposition, the whole number
would be not far from NINETY THOUSAND."
This estimate is made for the entire south. From statements
made above, we should infer that the proportion of recovered
fugitives in the breeding states alone was greater; but as the
38
facilities for successful escape are also greater in the latter, the
proportion probably is about the same.
But there is a point on which we can speak with painful
accuracy — we mean the tortures to which all the retaken are
subjected. The master, infuriated with the " insolent miscon-
duct" of the slave in running away, and enraged by the loss
sustained in recovering him, and resolved to make him an
example which will effectually deter his other slaves from similar
misdeeds, casts about for some unwonted torture. In such
cases, the furnace of slaveholding vengeance is heated seven
times hotter than it is wont to be heated. We quote a few
examples of the dreadful punishments inflicted in such cases ;
they are taken from " American Slavery as it is."
" There was a slave on this plantation who had repeatedly run away,
and had been severely flogged every time. The last time he was caught,
a hole was dug in the ground, and he buried up to the chin, his arms
being secured down by his sides. He was kept in this situation four or
five days.
" The following fact was related to me on a plantation where I have
spent considerable time, and where the punishment was inflicted ; I have
no doubt of its truth : — A slave ran away from his master, and got as far
as Newbern (North Carolina). He took provisions that lasted him a
week, but having eaten all, he went to a house to get something to satisfy
his hunger. A white man, suspecting him to be a runaway, demanded
his pass ; as he had none, he was seized and put in Newbern jail. He
was there advertised. His master saw the advertisement, and sent for
him. When he was brought back, his wrists were tied together, and
drawn over his knees ; a stick was then passed over his arms, and under
his knees, and he secured in this manner. His trowsers were then
stripped down, and he turned over on his side, and severely beaten with
the paddle ; then turned over and severely beaten on the other side, and
then turned back again, and tortured by another bruising and beating.
He was afterwards kept in the stocks a week, and whipped every morn-
ing."— Narrative of Mr. Caulkins, pp. 15, 16.
" Punishments for runaways are usually severe : once whipping is not
sufficient. I have known runaways to be whipped for six or seven nights
in succession for one offence. I have known others who, with pinioned
hands, and a chain extending from an iron collar on their necks to the
saddle of their master's horse, have been driven at a smart trot one or two
hundred miles, being compelled to ford water-courses, their drivers,
according to their own confession, not abating a whit in the rapidity of
39
their journey for the ease of the slave. One tied a kettle of sand to his
slave, to render his journey more arduous." — Narrative of Philemon
Bliss, Esq. p. 104.
Often these ill-fated wretches are loaded with chains, or have
iron collars fastened about their necks, with long prongs and
bells, which are put on to prevent future escapes. Not unfre-
quently their ears are cropped or slit, or their front teeth are
removed, or the initials of their master's name are branded in
their flesh with red-hot iron, as a mark by which to identify
them if they should run off a second time. Those that repeat-
edly abscond are often maimed in some way, which will effec-
tually disable them. Sometimes in the attempt to escape from
their pursuers who have discovered them, they are shot dead, or
dreadfully wounded ; frequently they are hunted down by trained
dogs, which either devour them alive, or shockingly lacerate
their flesh. The advertisements frequently run — " the above
reward will be paid, whether taken dead or alive," from which
we may infer that not a few are killed. We subjoin a few illus-
trations from " American Slavery as it is," page 156.
" The Wilmington (North Carolina) Advertiser of July 13, 1838, con-
tains the following advertisement .
" One hundred dollars will he paid to any person who may safely con-
fine in any jail in this state a negro man named Alfred. And the same
reward will be paid, if evidence is given of his having been KILLED. He
has one or more scars on one of his hands, caused by his having been
shot.
" Citizens of Onslow.
" Richlands, Onslow county, May 16, 1838."
" In the same column with the above, and directly under it, is the
following :
" Ran away, my negro man Richard. A reward of twenty-five dol-
lars will be paid for his apprehension, DEAD OR ALIVE. Satisfactory proof
will only be required of his being killed. He h^as with him, in all proba-
bility, his wife Eliza.
" DURANT H. RHODES."
" In the Macon (Georgia) Telegraph, May 28, is the following :
"About the 1st of March last, the negro man, Ransom, left me. I
40
will give a reward of twenty dollars for said negro ; if taken, dead or alive,
and if killed in any attempt, an advance of five dollars will be paid.
" BRYANT JOHNSON.
" Crawford county, Georgia."
"See the Newbern (North Carolina) Spectator, January 5, 1838, for
the following :
" Ran away, from the subscriber, a negro man named Sampson. Should
he resist in being taken, so that violence is necessary to arrest him, I will
not hold any person liable for damages should the slave be killed.
"ENOCH FOY.
"Jones county, North Carolina."
" From the Charleston (South Carolina) Courier, February 20, 1836 :
" 300 dollars Reward.— Ran away, from the subscriber, in November
last, his two negro men, named Billy and Pompey. Billy in all proba-
bility may resist ; in that event, fifty dollars will be paid for his HEAD."
" From the Newbern (North Carolina) Spectator, December 2, 1836 :
" 200 dollars Reward. — Ran away, from the subscriber, negro Ben.,
also one by the name of Rigdon. I will give the reward of one hundred
dollars for each of the above negroes, or for the killing of them, so that I
can see them.
" W. D. COBB."
Sometimes, on being closely pursued, the fugitives in their
desperation destroy themselves, to escape the torments which
await them if caught. Instances often occur of their leaping
from boats and drowning themselves, of mothers killing their
children, whom they are carrying with them, and then taking
their own lives, and of suicides in every heart-rending form.
The following case is from the Rutherford Gazette, a paper
printed in the western part of North Carolina, and copied into
the Southern Citizen of September 23, 1837 : —
Suicide. — The negro woman QLucy] confined in our jail as a runaway,
put an end to her existence on the §28th ult. by hanging herself. Her
master came to this place the day on which it occurred, and going to the
jail, was recognised by the woman as her master. He had left the jail
but a short time, when it was discovered that the woman had destroyed
herself. We have never known an instance where so much firmness was
exhibited by any person as was by this negro. The place from which
41
she suspended herself was not high enough to prevent her feet from
touching the floor, and it was only by drawing her legs up, and remain-
ing in that position, that she succeeded in her determined purpose."
5. The only remaining feature which we shall notice in the
condition of the slaves of the breeding states, is expressively
announced by the single word insurrections. These are by no
means confined to the breeding states, they occur wherever
slavery exists. From no quarter, however, have proceeded
such piteous complaints about apprehended insurrections as
from Virginia, the principal breeding state. It was a Virginia
slaveholder (the Hon. John Randolph) who said, "every master
stands a sentinel at his own door." It has been, and must be
for y£ars to come, the fate of every slave insurrection in this coun-
try, to terminate fatally to the slave. It is true, many may be
massacred before the insurgents are quelled, but quelled they
must be, sooner or later, by overpowering force. They are then
doomed to a summary and signal vengeance. The ringleaders are
burned alive, all known to be concerned meet with death, or
protracted tortures worse than death, and all suspected of hav-
ing any part in the transaction are severely punished. In
short, every form of cruelty and of carnage which murderous
rage can inflict is let loose upon the wretches, for the double
purpose of wreaking vengeance upon them, and of striking
with terror all the slave population. The consequences are
no less awful when, as is often the case, a meditated insur-
rection is detected and crushed.
Our reply under this head has been already drawn out to
such length, that we forbear any extended remark upon the
effects of the slave-breeding system on the master. They may
be inferred from its effects upon the slave. It has been seen
that licentiousness is one of the prominent features of this sys-
tem, and we have had occasion incidentally to show how deeply
the slaveholding class is involved in this vice. The appalling
affirmation of the Rev. Mr. Paxton, already quoted, that " the
best blood in Virginia flows in the veins of the slaves" (which
we believe has never been denied), speaks volumes on the sub-
ject. It exposes the vice of the first families of the state. If
such is the pollution of the highest circles, what must be the
amount of corruption among the lower classes of whites ! The
42
licentiousness among slaveholders' sons is probably almost be-
yond exaggeration. Such are the facilities and temptations to
this species of vice, that it may reasonably be doubted whether
one in a thousand of the sons of slaveholders escapes pollu-
tion.
But to pass from this disgusting picture, what must be the
demoralizing, the brutalizing influence upon slaveholders, of
being habitually engaged in breeding and raising human beings
for sale ! Compared even with soul driving, it exceeds in vile-
ness. While the slave trader only buys and sells, retaining
possession no longer than till he can reach the market, the
breeder is engaged in the protracted process of raising human
stock. He selects his " breeders," he encourages licentiousness,
he rewards amalgamation, he punishes sterility, he coolly cal-
culates upon the profits of fecundity, takes vengeance for mis-
carriages, and holds mothers accountable for the continued life
and health of their offspring. On the head of the new-born
child he sets its future price. He trains it in premeditated
ignorance, he feeds it for the same purpose for which he feeds
his swine — for the shambles. From the day of its birth he
contemplates the hour when he shall separate it from the mo-
ther who bore it, for that hour of yet keener pangs did its
mother pass through the anguish of its birth. When that hour
comes, the long-determined deed is done. The master proceeds
about it deliberately • no entreaties or tears can surprise him
into pity. The mother's frenzied cry, the boy's mute look of
despair, move him not. He tears them asunder, handcuffs the
victim, and consigns him to the soul driver. Who can doubt
whether, in all this long and complicated process of villany,
there is not more to sear conscience, blunt sensibility, and trans-
-form man into a demon, far more than can be found in the slave
trade itself? Does the trader buy ? the master sells ; does the
trader drive men and women like cattle ? the master breeds them
like cattle ; does the trader separate families ? the master does
the same ; does the trader sell in lots to suit purchasers ? so
does the master : but here the parallel stops, and the transcend-
ent vileness of the master towers alone, for while the trader deals
with strangers, the master is perpetrating these outrages upon
those whom he has reared from their birth, in some cases upon
43
the companions of his own boyhood, in others on the children
of the woman, or perchance the woman herself who nursed his
infancy, and often, worst of all, on his own offspring.
Need we ask what must be the effects of such practices,
steadily pursued, upon the slaveholder's heart ? And there is his
wife, who lives in the midst of all this, connives at it, and co-
operates in it — what must she become ? And their children, who
are the playmates of the little " cattle," and yet are so accus-
tomed to seeing them torn from their parents and sold, as to be
unmoved by their cries ? What proficients must they become in
the execrable villanies of the husband and father !
But if in this aspect the slave breeder is an object of just ab-
horrence, in another view he strongly excites our pity ; for he is
himself the victim of fears scarcely less harrowing than those to
which he subjects the slave. His fears have their origin in the
danger of insurrections. " A dreadful sound is in his ears,"
which no heroism can hush, which will not be wholly silenced
by the uproar of revelry, and which breaks often upon the still-
ness of the night in tones of thunder.
We add no more under this query, save to group together
the features which, in our extended reply, have been scattered
over several pages. First, those growing out of a barren soil are,
to the slave, the inadequate supply of his wants, increased seve-
rity of labor, and inflictions of positive cruelty by an irritated
and poverty-pinched master ; to the slaveholder, great and grow-
ing pecuniary embarrassments, chagrin and exasperation arising
therefrom, and resulting in a prostration of his spirits, and ex-
tinction of the generous sentiments, and terminating perchance
in confirmed dissipation,— the death of agricultural enterprise,
which accelerates the decay of the lands, when it might have
been arrested, and the withering away of all public spirit. As
more remote consequences, the states thus impoverished are
shunned by emigrants of every grade and from every quarter of
the old world and the new, while at the same time they are fast
being drained of that class of their own population which actually
composes their life's blood ; and as the result of the whole, these
states are sinking in the scale of prosperity with a rapidity which
is made more apparent by the equally rapid rising of the adja-
cent free states. The features growing out of the breeding system
44
are, to the slaves, the incessant apprehension of sale, separation,
exile, and increased inflictions, the prevalence of licentiousness
systematized, bodily suffering, elopements with their terrible
consequences, and insurrections with their sequel of blood and
carnage. To the masters they are a deep and shameful implica-
tion in licentiousness, the hardening'and brutalizing influence of
slave breeding, and the harrowing fears of servile insurrection.
A hideous set of features truly to belong to a system softly called
a ' domestic institution,' shielded by public sentiment, sanctioned
by law, baptized by religion, and dating back its patriarchal
origin to the household of Abraham !
EIGHTH QUESTION. What are the features of the internal
slave trade?
Some idea of the nature of this trade has been incidentally
conveyed, in the account previously given of its extent. From
which it is not difficult to infer that " all unutterable woes " must
wait upon it. It is important to mention here the principal cir-
cumstances from which the internal trade has originated, and by
which it has been upheld and extended.
First among these, is doubtless the growing poverty of the
planters. We have seen how this has operated by overcoming
the scruples of conscience, and giving a sort of conventional re-
spectability to a traffic, which otherwise would have been con-
signed to the same infamy with the African slave trade. Thus
introduced into favor with the " highest classes," the slave trade,
which begun in a supposed necessity to avert the rigors of
poverty and prevent general bankruptcy, was continued as a
source of wealth. This was both inducement and justification
enough with a community of slaveholders — never remarkable for
over nicety in matters of principle — to reduce the trade to system,
and establish it as a regular branch of business. Even in those
few cases where moral or religious principle withholds masters
from selling, this protection to the slave is almost sure to fail
him at the death of his master ; for in the distribution and set-
tlement of the estate the slaves are either sold or divided among
| the heirs without regard to the ties of kindred. Mostly, how-
ever, they are sold to the highest bidder, who is commonly the
45
* soul driver.' The most heartrending scenes which attend the
slave trade, occur in the sale and separation of this class of slaves.
Accustomed, from the superior kindness of their deceased mas-
ters, to greater immunities than usually fall to the lot of slaves,
their family ties are stronger, their personal improvement greater,
and of course their susceptibility to the sufferings of separations
and to the brutal violence of the soul driver and southern over-
seer much keener. Yet they receive no additional respect, cor-
responding to their peculiar privileges ; on the contrary it is well
known that they are treated with marked contempt and rigor on
that very account, to " break their Virginia spirit," as the over-
seers say. In this cruel treatment we may see the explanation
of those tears, which we are often told are shed over the graves
of indulgent masters, and which are complacently retailed among
the beauties of slavery. Well may the poor slaves wail at the
prospect of being separated, and sold to masters, they know not
who.
In a small tract, published by the American Anti-Slavery
Society in 1838, we find the following statement :
" In seventy-two papers, printed in 1837, one thousand five hundred
and twenty-five persons, of whom one hundred and seventy-nine are said
to be females, and one hundred children, are advertised for sale, besides
forty-one lots of human beings, number not stated ; five hundred and
fifty-nine persons, and forty lots are to be sold because their masters and
mistresses have died ! A single paper f_" Columbus (Georgia) Enquirer,"
Nov. 16th, 1837] contains notices for twenty-one such sales. One man,
one woman, and one little girl, six years old, offered in three sales of this
kind, are said to be sickly, yet they must be sold to any who will buy.
In one such sale, a claim to an eighth part of five slaves is offered."
In many cases, also, the slaves, whose masters would be un-
willing to sell, are seized upon and sold at public sale to satisfy
the claims of creditors. In the advertisements of such sales or
vendues, men, women, and children are indiscriminately huddled
in the same category with waggons, barrels, boxes, poultry,
crockery, sheep, farming utensils, oxen, house furniture, and the
numberless et-cetera of live stock and moveables pertaining to a
farming establishment. A neighbour purchases the children, a
distant planter the father, and a soul driver the mother.
46
But this suggests one of the prominent features of the inter-
nal slave trade, i. e. the separations of families and kindred. In
this trade the ties of nature are wholly disregarded. This is the
rule, and the exceptions are exceedingly rare. Sometimes a
master refuses to sell unless the purchaser will consent to take
whole families unbroken ; but it is impossible that such cases
should be frequent, since the speculator cannot buy on these
terms without making a sacrifice himself in the subsequent sale,
for on whatever principle he buys, he must sell in lots to suit his
purchasers in the south, and they very seldom wish to buy whole
families. Such being the case, it is for the speculator rather
than the breeder to fix the terms, and his terms are separation or
no sale. It is but too certain that when such an alternative is
presented to the master, and the trader's gold glitters in his eyes,
he will not long hesitate. Family separations there must be,
almost as common as the trade itself, since they are essential to
its profitable continuance.
Professor E. A. Andrews, a New Englander who visited the
south, gives a conversation which he had with a trader, on board
a steam-boat, on the Potomac, in 1835.
" In selling his slaves N assures me he never separates families ;
but that in purchasing them he is often compelled to do so, for that his
business is to purchase, and he must take such as are in the market. Do
you often buy the wife without the husband ? Yes, very often ; and
frequently, too, they sell me the mother while they keep the children. I
have often known them take away the infant from the mother's breast,
and keep it while they sold her. Children from one to eighteen months
old are now worth about one hundred dollars." — " Slavery and Domestic
Slave Trade in the United States" p. 147-
The following is from the " Anti-Slavery Record," vol. i. p.
51, &c.:
" A trader was about to start from Louisville, Kentucky, with one
hundred slaves for New Orleans. Among tbem were two women with
infants at the breast. Knowing tbat these infants would depreciate the
value of the mothers, the trader sold them for one dollar each. Another
mother was separated from her sick child, about four or five years old.
Her anguish was so great that she sickened and died before reaching her
destination.
" The two following cases were communicated by James G. Birnie,
Esquire, of Kentucky :
47
" * Not very long ago, in Lincoln county, Kentucky, a female slave
was sold to a southern slaver under most afflicting circumstances. She
had at her breast an infant boy three months old. The slaver did not
want the child on any terms. The master sold the mother and retained
the child. She was hurried away immediately to the depot at Louisville,
to be sent down the river to the southern market. The last news my
informant had of her was, that she was lying sick in the most miserable
condition, her breasts having risen, inflamed, and burst.'
" ' During the winter, at Nashville, a slaver was driving his train of
fellow-beings down to the landing, to put them on board a steam-boat,
bound for New Orleans. A mother among them, having an infant,
about two months old, to carry in her arms, could not keep pace with the
rest. The slaver waited till she came up to where he was standing ; he
snatched the infant from her arms, and handing it over to a person who
stood by, made him a present of it. The mother, bereft in a single moment
of her last comfort, was driven on without delay to the boat.' "
On page 70 of the same volume may be found the following
fact, narrated by Mr. Birney :
" A member of a church, last winter, sold a woman who was soon to be
a mother. She knew nothing of the bargain, till she was bound and
seated on a horse behind the slave-trader. In her struggles she was
thrown to the ground, and much injured. This did not deter the soul-
drivers from their purpose ; they again bound the woman to the horse,
carried her eight miles, to Harrodsburgh, and threw her into a cold
room in the jail. In this forlorn situation her child was born, and died.
A burning fever came and released the mother also."
" Rev. C. S. Renshaw, of Quincy, Illinois, who resided sometime in
Kentucky, says :
" ' I was told the following fact by a young lady, daughter of a slave-
holder in Boone county, Kentucky, who lived within half-a-mile of Mr.
Hughes' farm : — Hughes and Neil traded in slaves down the river ; they
had bought up a part of their stock in the upper counties of Kentucky,
and brought them down to Louisville, where the remainder of their drove
was in jail, waiting their arrival. Just before the steam-boat put off for
the lower country, two negro women were offered for sale, each of them
having a young child at the breast. The traders bought them, took their
babes from their arms, and offered them to the highest bidder ; and they
were sold for one dollar a- piece, whilst the stricken parents were driven
on board the boat, and in an hour were on their way to the New Orleans
market. You are aware that a young babe diminishes the value of a field- /
48
Ihand in the lower country, while it enhances her value in the breeding-
states.'' — " American Slavery as it is" p. 166.
We next quote from a letter by a New England minister of
the methodist connexion, who spent some time as a preacher in
the south.
" As to the horrors of slavery, they are many every way. First, the
slave trade is the most horrible of all. Indeed this comprises the whole
in miniature. The slave-dealer goes to Virginia or Maryland, where
negroes are numerous, and slave labor not very profitable, and buying a
company, transports them to the south-west, and sells them for an advance
of fifty per cent. Here wives and husbands, parents and children, brothers
and sisters, are separated ! If any of them are refractory and at all dan-
gerous to the speculator, they are put in irons, and besides humbled by
a severe scourging."
The subjoined impressive testimony is from the Address of the
Presbyterian Synod of Kentucky, published in 1836. Kentucky,
it will be remembered, is one of the slave-breeding states.
" The members of a slave family may be forcibly separated, so that they
shall never more meet until the final judgment. And cupidity often
induced the masters to practise what the law allows. Brothers and sis-
ters, parents and children, husbands and wives, are torn asunder, and
permitted to see each other no more. These acts are daily occurring in
the midst of us. There is not a neighbourhood where these heart-rending
scenes are not displayed. There is not a village or road which does not
behold the sad processions of manacled outcasts, whose chains and mourn-
ful countenances tell that they are exiled by force from all that their
hearts held dear. Cases have occurred in our own denomination, where
professors of the religion of mercy have torn the mother from her children
and sent her into a merciless and returnless exile. Yet acts of discipline
have rarely followed such conduct."
The following is from " American Slavery as it is :"
" A non-professor of religion, in Campbell county, Kentucky, sold a
female and two children to a methodist professor, with the proviso that
they should not leave that region of country. The slave-drivers came,
and offered fifty dollars more for the woman than he (the methodist pro-
fessor) had given, and he sold her. She is now in the lower country,
and her orphan babes are in Kentucky." — Rev. Charles Stewart Renshaw,
page 180.
49
The annexed testimony is taken from a well authenticated
report on the " Condition of the People of Colour in the State of
Ohio," published originally in 1835.
"It is common for boats loaded with slaves to stop at Cincinnati, on their
way down the Ohio river, and it frequently happens that the friends and
relations of the pupils (belonging to the free coloured schools, established
a few years since in Cincinnati,) are in chains on board. A few days
since, a coloured man came into one of the schools and said, he believed
there was some person present who had friends on board a boat going
down the river. On mentioning the names of their owners, a woman on
the further side of the house immediately exclaimed, ' Oh, they have
come,' and fell senseless. A friend who sat near caught her in her arms,
and for some time she lay apparently lifeless. Then at intervals a deep
groan would burst from her agonized bosom. When she revived, a flood
of tears came to her relief. ' / must see them,' said she, and, hardly able
to support herself, she left the house.
" ' These farewell scenes are worse than funerals ; they cannot be
described,' said a man to us a few days since, whose children had been
sent down the river ; ' I'd rather have seen them die ; it broke my
heart.' This expression is common, that they had rather hear that their
friends are dead, than that they are sold down the river."
The above statements will serve to convey some idea of the
family sunderings which attend upon the internal slave trade. If
it still be asked how frequently such separations occur, we
answer they are transpiring incessantly. There is not a week,
probably not a day, during the year, and at some seasons perhaps
not an hour in the day, when some slave family in Virginia,
Maryland, North Carolina, Kentucky, or Tennessee, is not thus
broken up to be re-united no more for ever. Constantly the
horrid conscription is going forward. Among the cultivated dis-
tricts and human abodes which cover the vast region just pointed
out, from which the wolf and the panther have long since been
scared away, hordes of soul drivers, more savage than those
beasts of prey, maintain a ceaseless prowl, emboldened by suf-
ferance and doubly brutalised by habit. The life of the whole
slave population is one incessant apprehension of their ap-
proach.
We pass next to speak of the disposal which the traders make
of their gangs, while collecting them and previous to embarking
for the southern market.
50
The procurement of from fifty to three hundred slaves is a
work of days, sometimes of weeks or months. Many plantations
1 must be visited by the trader and his agents. Then a variety of
\circumstances occasions necessary delays, before the gang can
\ be put in motion for the south. During this period the slaves
are secured by handcuffs, fetters, and chains, and put into some
place of confinement. The national prison at Washington city,
and the state prisons, are prostituted to this use when occasion
requires. The more extensive slave-dealers have private prisons
constructed expressly for this purpose. " These places of de-
posit," says " Nile's (Baltimore) Weekly Register," " are strongly
built, and well supplied with thumb-screws and gags, and orna-
mented with cowskins and other whips, oftentimes bloody."
This gratuitous testimony of a southern editor reveals the
atrocities which are perpetrated in the gloomy cells of these slave-
dungeons. There the mutterings of the refractory (as the noble-
spirited are termed), and the sullen scowl of the revengeful, the
maniac shrieks of the childless mother, the groans of the broken-
hearted father, and the convulsive sobs of orphan children, still
agonized from their recent separations, are hushed into silence
by the application of the thumb-screw, gag, or bloody cowskin.
There the miserable gang receive their first lessons of absolute
submission to the soul driver, initiatory to the horrors of the
middle passage ; which forms the next link in the grand chain.
There are three principal modes by which the slaves thus pro-
cured are transported to the south. These are,
First, by vessels, coastwise, and through the Gulf of Mexico
to New Orleans, or perchance to some of the intermediate ports.
Second, by steamers or floats, procured for the purpose, by the
way of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans, or the
intermediate ports.
Third, by forced marches in coffles overland.
We will give a brief account of each of these modes of trans-
portation.
FIRST, that by vessels. The extensive merchants in Norfolk,
Petersburgh and Richmond of Virginia, in Baltimore of Mary-
land, and in Alexandria, Georgetown, and Washington City of
the district of Columbia (the latter city the seat of the national
government, and the whole district under the exclusive jurisdic-
51
tion of congress), have vessels of their own which are constantly
employed in this trade.
The following advertisements are all from slave merchants in
Petersburgh, Virginia :
Cash for Negroes. — The subscribers are particularly anxious to make a
shipment of negroes shortly. All persons who have slaves to part with
will do well to call as soon as possible.1
" OVERLY AND SAUNDERS."
" The subscriber, being desirous of making another shipment by the
brig Adelaide, to New Orleans, on the first of March, will give a good
market price for fifty negroes from ten to thirty years old.
" HENRY DAVIS."
"The subscriber wishes to purchase one hundred slaves of both sexes,
from the age of ten to thirty, for which he is disposed to give much higher
prices than have heretofore been given. He will call on those living in
the adjacent counties, to see any property.
"ANSLEY DAVIS."
We find in the " National Intelligencer," printed at Washing-
ton City, and one of the most influential newspapers in the
United States, the following announcement of the regular depar-
ture of three slavers belonging to a single factory :
" Alexandria and New Orleans packets. — Brig Tribune, Samuel C.
Bush, master, will sail as above, on the 1st of January. — Brig, Isaac
Franklin, Win. Smith, master, on the 15th of January. — Brig, Uncas,
Nathaniel Boush, master, on the 1st of February. — They will continue
to leave this port on the first and fifteenth of each month, throughout the
shipping season. Servants that are intended to be shipped, will at any
time be received for safe keeping at twenty-five cents a day.
" JOHN ARMFIELD, Alexandria."
The annexed advertisement is from a house in Baltimore.
" For New Orleans. — A coppered, copper-fastened packet brig, Isaac
Franklin, will sail on the 1st of February from Baltimore. Those having
servants to ship, will do well by making early application to James F.
Purvis & Co."
A multitude of similar advertisements might be given, but
these will suffice. When these vessels are about to sail,
the slaves are transferred from the crowded and noisome
prisons, to the more crowded and noisome holds. Here
the condition of the slaves is veiy similar to that of their
E 2
52
African brethren during the middle passage. That they are
crowded together inhumanly, may be inferred from the follow-
ing statements taken from Nile's Register (Baltimore), Decem-
ber 27, 1828 :
" The New York Gazette says, ' It is bu,t a few weeks since we observed
the arrival at New Orleans of three vessels from Norfolk (Virginia),
having on board nearly six hundred slaves' "
This gives a cargo of about two hundred slaves to each vessel.
What scenes occur from time to time on board these vessels,
during the passage, may be gathered from a statement made in
the same paper (Nile's Register), January 9, 1830.
" The schooner Lafayette, with a cargo of slaves from Norfolk, Vir-
ginia, for New Orleans, narrowly escaped being captured by them on the
voyage. They were subdued after considerable difficulty, and twenty-five
of them were bolted down to the deck, until the arrival of the vessel at New
Orleans."
SECOND, by steamers, or floats constructed for the purpose, by
I the way of the Ohio and Mississipi rivers. These floats are tem-
l porary, rude structures, designed only for making a single trip ;
they are of the same style, with the flat-bottomed boats, or arks
by which the produce of the western states was formerly, and is
still to some extent, transported to the New Orleans market.
These were more in use for conveying slaves a few years since,
than they now are; some instances of rebellion, in which the
slaves, breaking their chains, fell upon and slaughtered their
owners and the crew, favoured the resort to steamers, which
being better manned are less liable to such outbreaks, and more
able to quell them. The number of slaves annually transported
to the south-west by steamboats is very large. At certain sea-
sons of the year, there is scarcely a steamboat bound for New
Orleans, which does not take down a cargo of slaves. It is
not known that there is a single steamer on the Ohio and
Mississipi waters, which would refuse to take slaves, on appli-
cation being made, although a large majority of these boats are
owned and managed by citizens of the free states. The steam-
boats have no decks fitted specially for slaves ; hence they are
placed sometimes in one part of the boat, sometimes in another,
and frequently are suffered to wander about the decks and
53
guards at pleasure. The following is an accurate description of
this mode of conveyance.
"Those who are transported down the Mississippi river, are stowed
away on the decks of steam-boats, males and females, old and young,
usually chained, subject to the jeers and taunts of the passengers and
crew ; and often by bribes or threats, or the lash, made subject to abomi-
nations not to be named. On the same deck, you may see horses and
human beings tenants of the same apartments, and going to supply the
same market. The dumb beasts, being less manageable, are allowed the
first place ; while the human are forced into spare corners and vacant
places. My informant saw one trader, who was taking down to New
Orleans one hundred horses, several sheep, and between fifty and sixty
slaves. The sheep and slaves occupied the same deck. Many interest-
ing and intelligent females were of the number. I could tell facts con-
cerning the brutal treatment exercised toward these defenceless females,
while on the downward passage, which ought to kindle up the hot indig-
nation of every mother and daughter and sister in the land. The slaves
are taken down in companies, varying in number from twenty to five
hundred. Men of capital are engaged in the traffic." — Anti-slavery
Manual, pp. 110, 11 J.
Sometimes the slaves leap overboard in their chains, and thus
escape the rigours of southern slavery by a voluntary death.
No attempt is made while on the downward way to conceal
them from the passengers, who from every section of the union
crowd the splendid steamers of the west ; and on reaching port
they are discharged, as they were originally shipped, in broad
daylight, and in the presence of a multitude of spectators.
But so oft repeated is this transaction, that it is viewed with as
much indifference as the unlading of a cargo of flour or pork.
THIRD, by forced marches, on foot, over land. This is alto- ;
gether the most cruel mode of transportation, as well as the
most humiliating. The slaves of both sexes, and of every age
and condition, are herded together like cattle, and driven by
long and weary marches on foot for hundreds of miles. Women,
in every situation of delicacy, feebleness, and sickness, are
forced to keep pace with the rest of the gang. The drivers,
armed with pistols, dirks, and long whips, ride alongside and in
rear of the procession, whipping up the loiterers, and driving on
at a merciless rate. As if to inflict the utmost humiliation upon
54
the slaves, and to show their defiance of what remains of
humane feeling in the community, the drivers take the most
public and frequented highways, leading through the chief cities
and towns of the slaveholding states. But the spectacle of a
chained coffle of human beings attracts but little more attention
than a drove of sheep or swine. 'An expression of indignant
abhorrence on such an occasion would scarcely be tolerated in
a slave state ; and the publication of any such sentiments few
editors would have the hardihood, if they had the heart, to
make.
We will give some descriptions of the slave coffles in the
language of eye witnesses. The Rev. Mr. Dickey, a Presby-
terian clergyman, a native of South Carolina, and formerly a
slaveholder, thus describes a coffle he met on the road, near
Paris, Kentucky :
" I discovered about forty black men, all chained together in the follow-
ing manner : each of them was handcuffed, and they were arranged in
rank and file ; a chain, perhaps forty feet long, was stretched between
two ranks, to which short chains were joined, which connected with the
handcuffs. Behind them were, I suppose, thirty women, in double rank,
the couples tied hand to hand."
Hon. J. K. Paulding, the present secretary of the United
States navy, gives the following picture of a scene he witnessed
in Virginia :
" The sun was shining out very hot, and in turning an angle of the
road we encountered the following group : first, a little cart drawn by one
horse, in which five or six balf-naked black children were tumbled like
pigs together. The cart had no covering, and they seemed to have been
actually broiled to sleep. Bebind the cart, marched three black women,
with head, neck, and breasts uncovered, and without shoes or stockings ;
next came three men, bare-headed, half-naked, and chained together with
an ox-chain. Last of all came a white man, on horseback, carrying pis-
tols in his belt, and who, as we passed him, had the impudence to look us
in the face without blusbing. I should like to have seen him hunted by
blood-hounds. At a house where we stopped, a little further on, we
learned that he had bought these miserable beings in Maryland, and was
marcbing them in tbis manner to [some of the more southern states.
Shame on the state of Maryland ! I say ; and shame on the state of Vir-
ginia ! and every state through which this wretched cavalcade was per-
mitted to pass ! Do they expect that such exhibitions will not dishonour
55
them in the eyes of strangers, however they may be reconciled to them
by education and habit ?"*
We next quote from " American Slavery as it is," beginning
on the sixty-ninth page.
" The following statement is made by a young man from -western Vir-
ginia. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, and a student in
Marietta (Ohio) College. All that prevents the introduction of his name, is
the peril to his life, which would probably be the consequence on his return
to Virginia. His character for integrity and veracity is above suspicion :
" On the night of the great meteoric shower, in November, 1833, I
was at Remley's tavern, twelve miles west of Lewisburgh, Greenbriar
county, Virginia. A drove of fifty or sixty negroes stopped at the same
place that night. They usually ' camp out,' ^that is, sleep in the open
air, or under tents] but as it was excessively muddy, they were permitted
to come into the house. So far as my knowledge extends, ' droves' on
their way to the south eat but twice a day, early in the morning and at
night. Their supper was a compound of ' potatoes and meal,' and was,
without exception, the dirtiest, blackest looking mess I ever saw. I re-
marked at the time that the food was not as clean, in appearance, as
that which was given to a drove of hogs, the night before, at the same
house. Such as it was, however, a black woman brought it on her head,
in a tray or trough two and a half feet long, where the men and women
were promiscuously herded. The slaves rushed up and seized it from
the trough in handfuls, before the woman could take it off her head.
They jumped at it as if half- famished.
* " Letters from the South, written during an excursion in the summer of
1816."— New York: 1817- Vol. I. Let. xi. p. 117.
In connexion with the above extract we quote a note from Jay's View
(^second edition, p. 81), which happily illustrates, by the case of an in-
dividual, the inroads of the pro-slavery spirit upon the free states.
" It may be thought by some that the elevation to a seat in the Cabinet of
a gentleman who expresses himself with so much warmth and fearlessness
against one of the ' peculiar institutions of the south,' militates against our
idea that the influence of the federal government is exerted in behalf of
slavery. Singular as -it may appear, the appointment of Mr. Paulding is
nevertheless strongly corroborative of the opinion we have advanced ; and
the explanation is at once easy and amusing. The ' Letters from the South '
were reprinted in 1835, and form the fifth and sixth volumes of an edition of
' Pauld'ng's Works.' The letter from which we have quoted consists of four-
teen pages, devoted to the subject of slavery. On turning to the correspond-
ing letter in the recent edition, we find it shrunk to three pages, containing
no allusion to the internal trade, nor anything else that could offend the most
sensitive southerner. In the nineteenth letter, as printed in 1817, there is not
a word about slavery. In the same letter, as published in 1835, we meet
with the following most wonderful prediction ; a prediction that has lately
been cited in the newspapers as a proof of the sagacity and foresight of the
secretary of the navy : ' the second cause of disunion will be found in the
56
"• They slept on the floor of the room which they were permitted to
occupy, lying in every form imaginable, males and females promiscuously.
They were so thick on the floor, that in passing through the room it was
necessary to step over them.
" There were three drivers, one of whom stayed in the room to watch
the drove, and the other two slept in anyadjoining room. Each of the
latter took a female from the drove to lodge with him, as is the common
practice with the drivers. There is no doubt about this particular
instance, for they were seen together. The mud was so thick on the
floor where this drove slept, that it was necessary to take a shovel the
next morning and clear it out. Six or eight in this drove were chained ;
all were for the south.
" In the autumn of the same year, I saw a drove of more than a
hundred ; between forty and fifty of them were fastened to one chain,
the links being made of iron rods as thick in diameter as a man's little
finger. This drove was bound westward, to the Ohio river, to be shipped
to the south. I have seen many droves, and more or less in each, almost
without exception, were chained. They generally appear extremely
dejected. I have seen, in the course of five years, on the road near
where I reside, twelve or fifteen droves at least, passing to the south.
They would average forty in each drove. Near the first of January,
1834, I started about sunrise to go to Lewisburgh. It was a bitter cold
morning. I met a drove of negroes, thirty or forty in number, remark-
ably ragged and destitute of clothing. One little boy particularly excited
slave population of the south, whenever the misguided, or wilfully malignant
zeal of the advocates of emancipation shall institute, as it one day doubtless
will, a crusade against the constitutional rights of the slaveowners, by send-
ing among them fanatical agents and fanatical tracts, calculated to render
the slaves disaffected, and the situation of the master and his family danger-
ous ; when appeals shall be made under the sanction of religion to the pas-
sions of these ignorant and excited blacks, calculated and intended to rouse
their worst and most dangerous passions, and to place the very lives of their
masters, their wives, and their children, in the deepest peril ; when societies
are formed in the sister states for the avowed purpose of virtually destroying
the value of this principle item in the property of a southern planter ; when it
becomes a question mooted in the legislatures of the States or of the general
government, whether the rights of the master over his slave shall be any
longer recognised or maintained; and when it is at last evident that nothing
will preserve them but secession, then will certain of the stars of our beautiful
constellation ' start madly from their spheres, and jostle the others in their
wild career.'
" In the title of the new edition, the date of the ' excursion ' is modestly
omitted, but the reader is not informed that the spirit of prophecy descended
upon the writer, not while journeying at the south, but while witnessing in
New York the operations of the predicted societies, and after the city had
been convulsed by the abolition riots."
57
my sympathy. He was some distance behind the'others, not being able
to keep up with the rest. Although he was shivering with cold, and
crying, the driver was pushing him up in a trot to overtake the main
gang. All of them looked as if they were half-frozen."
From page 72 of the same work we extract the following tes-
timony of Col. Thomas Rogers, of Highland County, Ohio, a
native of Kentucky :
" In the winter of 1828-29, I travelled through part of the states of
Maryland and Virginia, to Baltimore. At Frost Town, on the national
road, I put up for the night. Soon after there came in a slaver, with his
drove of slaves ; among them were two young men chained together.
The bar-room was assigned to them for their place of lodging ; those in
chains were guarded when they had to go out. I asked the ' owner' why
he kept these men chained ; he replied, that they were stout young fel-
lows, and should they rebel, he and his son would not be able to manage
them. I then left the room, and shortly after heard a scream, and when
the landlady inquired the cause, the slaver coolly told her not to trouble
herself, he was only chastising one of his women. It appeared that three
days previously her child had died on the road, and been thrown into a
hole or crevice in the mountain, and a few stones thrown over it ; and
the mother, weeping for her child, was chastised by her master, and told
by him ' she should have something to cry for.' The name of this man
I can give if called for."
The subjoined "testimony of a Virginian" is from page 76.
" About five years ago, I remember to have passed in -a single day four
droves of slaves for the south-west ; the largest drove had three hundred
and fifty slaves, and the smallest upwards of two hundred. I counted
sixty-eight or seventy in a single coffle ! The coffle-chain is a chain fas-
tened at one end to the centre of the bar of a pair of handcuffs, which
are fastened to the right wrist of one, and the left wrist of another slave,
they standing abreast and the chain between them. These are the head
of the coifle. The other end of the chain is passed through a ring in the
bolt of the next handcuffs, and the slaves being manacled thus, two and
two together, walk up, and the coffle-chain is passed, and they go up
towards the head of the coffle. I have seen hundreds of droves and
chain-coffles of this description, and every coffle was a scene of misery
and woe, of tears and brokenness of heart."
We next give the testimony of Rev. Marius R. Robinson, of
Ohio, extracted from the "Anti-Slavery Manual," page 112.
58
" In the emigration they suffer great hardships. Those who are driven
down by land travel from two hundred to a thousand miles on foot,
through Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi. They sometimes carry
heavy chains the whole distance. These chains are very massive ; they
extend from the hands to the feet, being fastened to the wrists and ankles
by an iron ring around each. When chained, every slave carries two
chains, i. e. one from each hand to each foot. A waggon, in which rides
* the driver,' carrying coarse provisions and a few tent-coverings, generally
accompanies the drove. Men, women, and children, some of the latter
very young, walk near the waggon ; and if, through fatigue or sickness,
they falter, the application of the whip reminds them that they are slaves.
They encamp out at night ; their bed consists of a small blanket. Even
this is frequently denied them. A rude tent covers them, scarcely suffi-
cient to keep off the dew or frost, much less the rain. They frequently
remain in this situation several weeks, in the neighborhood of some slave-
trading village. The slaves are subject, while on their journeys, to severe
sickness. On such occasions the drivers manifest much anxiety lest they
should lose their property. But even sickness does not prevent them from
hurrying on their victims to market. Sick, faint, or weary, the slave
knows no relief. In the Choctaw nation, my informant met a large com-
pany of these miserable beings, following a waggon at some distance.
From their appearance, being mostly females and children, and hence
not so marketable, he supposed they must belong to some planter who
was emigrating southward. He inquired if this was so, and if their mas-
ter was taking them home. A woman, in tones of mellow despair,
answered him ; ' Oh, no, sir, we are not going home. We don't* know
where we are going. The speculators haw got us.' "
We cannot close these extended extracts without giving the
accounts respectively of a man and a woman who were driven to
the south in coffles, and afterwards, through the providence of
God, escaped to tell the story of their sufferings.
We quote first from the thrilling " Narrative of the Life and
Adventures of Charles Ball," — for forty years a slave, p. 36.
" My purchaser ordered me to cross my hands behind, which were
quickly bound with a strong cord, and he then told me that we must set
out that very day for the south. I asked him if I could not be permitted
to go to see my wife and children, or if this could not be permitted, if
they might not have leave to come and see me ; but was told that I might
be able to get another wife in Georgia.
" My new master, whose name I did not hear, took me that same day
across the Patuxent, where I joined fifty-one other slaves, whom he had
59
bougiit in Maryland ; thirty-two of these were men, and nineteen were
women. The women were merely tied together with a rope, about the
size of a bed cord, which was tied like a halter around the neck of each ;
but the men, of whom I was the stoutest and strongest, were very dif-
ferently caparisoned. A strong iron- collar was closely fitted, by means
of a padlock, around each of our necks. A chain of iron, about a
hundred feet in length, was passed through the hasp of each padlock,
except at the two ends, where the hasps of the padlock passed through a
link of the chain. In addition to this, we were handcuffed with iron
staples and bolts ; with a chain, about a foot long, uniting the handcuffs
and their wearers in pairs. In this manner we were chained alternately
by the right and left hand ; and the poor man to whom I was thus ironed
wept like an infant when the blacksmith, with his heavy hammer, fas-
tened the ends of the bolts that kept the staples from slipping from our
arms. After we were all chained and handcuffed together, we sat down
upon the ground ; and here, reflecting upon the sad reverse of fortune
that had so suddenly overtaken me, and the dreadful suffering which
awaited me, I bitterly execrated the day I was born. I longed to die,
and escape from the hands of my tormentors ; but even the wretched
privilege of destroying myself was denied me, for I could not shake off
my chains, nor move a yard without the consent of my master.
" We were soon on the south side of the river, and taking our line of
march, we travelled about five miles that evening, and stopped for the
night at one of those miserable public houses, so frequent in the lower
parts of Maryland and Virginia, called ' ordinaries!
" At night we all lay down on the naked floor to sleep, in our hand-
cuffs and chains. The women lay on one side of the room, and the men
who were chained with me occupied the other. I slept but little this
night, which I passed in thinking of my wife and little children, whom I
could not hope ever to see again. I at length fell asleep, but was distressed
with painful dreams. My wife and children seemed to be weeping and
lamenting my calamity ; and beseeching and imploring my master, on
their knees, not to carry me away from them. My little boy came and
begged me not to go and leave him, and endeavoured, as I thought, with
his little hands, to break the fetters that bound me. I awoke in agony,
and cursed my existence. I could not pray, for the measure of my woes
seemed to be full, and I felt as if there was no mercy in heaven, nor com-
passion on earth, for a man who was born a slave."
The narrative from which the above extract is taken, as may
be inferred from the style, was written by a man of education,
one who took the story from the lips of the slave, and clothed
60
it in his own phraseology. The well-known character both of
the writer and of the subject of the narrative, are ample
vouchers for the truth and authenticity of the statements.
The subjoined account is of a female, who was free born, but
kidnapped a few years since, and sent to the south in a coffle,
chained to a man slave.
" Mary Brown, a colored girl, was the daughter of free parents in
"Washington city. She lived with her parents until the death of her
mother ; she was then seized and sold. The following are the facts as
she stated them : — One day, when near the Potomac bridge, the sheriff
overtook her, and told her that she must go with him. She inquired of
him, what for ? He made no reply, hut told her to come along ; — he took
her immediately to a slave auction. Mary told him that she was free,
but he contradicted her, and the sale went on. The auctioneer soon
found a purchaser, and struck her off for three hundred and fifty dollars.
Her master was a Mississippi trader, and she was immediately taken to
the jail. After a few hours, Mary was handcuffed, chained to a man
slave, and started in a drove of about forty for New Orleans. Her hand-
cuffs made her wrists swell, so that they were obliged to take them off at
night, and put fetters on her ankles. In the morning her handcuffs were
again put on. Thus they travelled for two weeks, wading rivers, and
whipped up all day and beaten at night, if they did not get their distance.
Mary says that she frequently waded rivers in her chains, with water up
to her waist. It was in October, and the weather cold and frosty. After
travelling thus twelve or fifteen days, her arms and ankles became so
swollen, that she felt that she could go no further. Blisters would form
on her feet as large as dollars, which at night she would have to open,
while all day the shackles would cut into her lacerated wrists. They had
no beds, and usually slept in barns, or out on the naked ground ; was in
such misery when she lay down, that she could only lie and cry all night.
Still they drove them on for another week. Her spirits became so de-
pressed, and she grieved so much about leaving her friends, that she
could not eat, and every time the trader caught her crying he would beat
her, accompanying it with dreadful curses. The trader would whip and
curse any of them whom he found praying. One evening he caught one
of the men at prayer ; he took him, lashed him down to a parcel of rails,
and beat him dreadfully. He told Mary, that if he caught her praying
he would give her hell, (Mary was a member of the Methodist church in
Washington) ! There was a number of pious people in the company,
and at night, when the driver found them melancholy and disposed to
pray, he would have a fiddle brought, and make them dance in their
61
chains. It mattered not how sad or weary they were, he would whip
them till they would do it.
" Mary at length became so weak, that she could travel no farther.
Her feeble frame was exhausted, and sunk beneath her accumulated suf-
ferings. She was seized with a burning fever, and the trader, fearing he
should lose her, carried her the remainder of the way in a wagon.
" When they arrived at Natchez they were all offered for sale, and as
Mary was still sick, she begged that she might be sold to a kind master.
She would sometimes make this request in presence of purchasers, but
was always insulted for it ; and after they were gone, the trader would
punish her for such presumption. On one occasion he tied her up by her
hands, so that she could only touch the end of her toes to the floor. This
was soon after breakfast ; he kept her thus suspended, whipping her at
intervals during the day. At evening he took her down. She was so
much bruised that she could not lie down for more than a week after-
wards. He often beat and choked her for another purpose, until she was
obliged to yield to his desires.
" She was at length sold to a wealthy man of Vicksburgh, at four
hundred and fifty dollars, for a house servant ; but he had another object
in view. He compelled her to gratify his licentious passions, and had
children by her. This was the occasion of so much difficulty between
him and his wife, that he has now sent her up to Cincinnati to be
free.
" We have no reason to doubt the account of Mary, as given above.
Her manner of relating it was perfectly simple and artless, and is here
written out almost verbatim. We have also the testimony of a number
of individuals who knew her at Vicksburgh ; they have no doubt of her
integrity, and say that we may rely implicitly upon the truth of any state-
ment which she may make."—" Condition of the (free) people of colour
in the State of Ohio" p. 26, &c.
The slaves in these coffles are so firmly secured by handcuffs
and chains, that they seldom even attempt to rescue themselves.
From one to three men, armed as usual, will drive a gang of
hundreds in safety. It is not improbable, however, that diffi-
culties occur more frequently than is commonly supposed. It
would be surprising indeed if men and women, frenzied with
the loss of their relatives, goaded to desperation by the lash of
the driver, and knowing the frightful oppressions to which they
were tending on the plantations of the south, would not rise,
even in their chains, and crush their merciless tyrants. We
62
find an account of one scene of this kind in a southern paper,
Nile's (Baltimqre) Register, September 5, 1829.
"THE INTERNAL SLAVE TRADE. — A Portsmouth (Ohio) paper gives the
details of a bloody transaction that occurred between a drove of negroes
and their drivers, about eight miles from the above village, in the state
of Kentucky. It appears that the negroe's, sixty in number, were chained
and handcuffed in the usual manner of driving these poor wretches, and
that by the aid of a file, they succeeded in separating the irons which
bound them in such a way as to be able to throw them off at any moment.
In the course of the journey two of the slaves dropped their shackles and
commenced a fight, when the wagoner, Petit, rushed in with his whip,
to compel them to desist. At this moment every negro was found per-
fectly at liberty, and one of them, seizing a club, gave Petit a violent blow
on the head, and laid him dead at his feet. Allen, who came to his
assistance, met a similar fate from the contents of a pistol, fired by
another of the gang. Gordon was then attacked, seized, and held by one
of the negroes, while another fired twice at him with a pistol, the ball of
which each time grazed his head, but not proving effectual, he was beaten
with clubs, and left for dead. They then commenced pillaging the wa-
gon, and, with an axe, split open the trunk of Gordon, and rifled it of the
money, about two thousand four hundred dollars. Sixteen of the negroes
then took to the woods. Gordon, in the meantime, not materially
injured, was enabled, by the assistance of one of the women, to mount his
horse and flee ; pursued, however, by one of the gang on another horse,
with a pistol. Fortunately he escaped with his life, barely arriving at a
plantation as the negro came in sight, who then turned about and re-
treated. The neighborhood was immediately rallied, and a hot pursuit
given, which we understand has resulted in the capture of the whole gang,
and the recovery of the greater part of the money."
Such are the several modes of transporting slaves to the south.
On reaching the destined market, the slaves -are kept in chains,
and sometimes in close confinement, until the day of sale.
During the interval they are exposed to the inspection of any
who may wish to make purchases. Persons are urgently invited
to call and make their own selections. Due time having been
granted for these examinations, which are conducted with a
minuteness, as disgraceful to the examiner, as it is humiliating to
the subject, and the time and terms of sale having been made as
public as newspaper advertisements and handbills could make
them, the whole gang are knocked off one by one to the highest
63
bidder. These human auctions furnish scenes which are beyond
description — a fit winding-up of the horrible process which we
have just now traced, step by step, to its tragical close. Here
all the remaining ties of kindred, which survived the first sale
and the " middle passage," are broken up for ever. Here, too,
the last sentiments of manly respect and female delicacy, which
may have outlived the indignities of breeder and driver, are tor-
tured by brutal and licentious jests, cruel taunts, and shameful
exposures of the person before an assembled multitude. The
coarse cry of the auctioneer, the eager bidding of the emulous
purchasers, the loud shout of the rabble at the ribaldry with
which the crier intersperses his vociferations, the exulting laugh
of the successful bidder, the guillotine fall of the auction ham-
mer, the fiendish clutch of the new owners upon their trembling
prey, the groans, shrieks, tears, and last embraces of the slaves,
as they are torn violently apart by their several purchasers, form
a mixture of wickedness and woe to be found nowhere else this
side of perdition.
We quote some accounts of slave auctions given by eye-wit-
nesses.
The description of a slave auction which immediately fol-
lows was furnished by Mr. Silas Stone, treasurer of Columbia
County, New York. See "American Slavery as it is," p.
167.
" Mr. Stone witnessed a sale of slaves, in Charleston, South Carolina,
which he thus describes in a communication recently received from him.
" ' I saw droves of the poor fellows driven to the slave markets kept in
different parts of the city, one of which I visited. The arrangements of
this place appeared something like our northern horse markets, having
sheds, or barns, in the rear of a public house, where alcohol was a handy
ingredient to stimulate the spirit of jockeying. As the traders appeared,
lots of negroes were brought from the stables into the bar-room, and by
a flourish of the whip were made to assume an active appearance.
' What will you give for these fellows ?' ' Plow old are they ?' ' Are
they healthy ?' ' Are they quick ?' &c., at the same time the owner
would give them a cut with a cowhide, and tell them to dance and jump,
cursing and swearing at them if they did not move quick. In fact, all
the transactions in buying and selling slaves, partakes of jockeyship, as
much as buying and selling horses. There was as little regard paid to
the feelings of the former as we witness in the latter.
64
" ' From these scenes I turn to another, which took place in front of
the nohle * Exchange buildings,' in the heart of the city. On the left
side of the steps, as you leave the main hall, immediately under the win-
dows of that proud building, was a stage built, on which a mother with
eight children were placed, and sold at auction. I watched their emotions
closely, and saw their feelings were in accordance to human nature. The
sale began with the eldest child, who, 'being struck off to the highest
bidder, was taken from the stage or platform by the purchaser, and led
to his wagon and stowed away, to be carried into the country ; the
second and third were also sold, and so until seven of the children were
torn from their mother, while her discernment told her they were to be
separated probably for ever, causing in that mother the most agonizing
sobs and cries, in which the children seemed to share. The scene beg-
gars description ; suffice it to say, it was sufficient to cause tears from one
at least ' whose skin was not colored like their own,' and I was not
ashamed to give vent to them.' "
We quote the following description of a slave auction in
Richmond, Virginia, from the " Anti-Slavery Manual," p. 116 :
" During my sojourn in the capital of Virginia (United States), I was
a witness, for the first time in my life, of a scene as degrading to human
nature, as productive of horror and disgust to the friends of humanity.
The following advertisement having been inserted for several days suc-
cessively in the newspapers :
" ' Monday next, at 9 A. M., at public sale, the slaves whose names
follow, all negroes of the first quality, namely : Betsy, a negro-woman,
twenty-three years of age, with her child Caesar, three years old : an
excellent cook, washer, and ironer ; warranted healthy. Julia, a mulatto
girl, aged thirteen, robust and active, a good field-laborer ; with the ex-
ception of a slight defect in the left eye, she is without fault. Augustus,
a negro lad, six years of age, qualified to become an excellent domestic ;
without defect. The aforesaid slaves will be sold without reserve to the
highest bidder, and the purchaser will be able to obtain credit for two or
even four months, upon good security ;'
" I was anxious to be present at such a strange commercial transaction,
andl was there punctually. In the midst of various articles exposed for sale,
such as pots, pans, beds, chairs, books, &c. &c., were seated the unhappy
slaves, all crowded together, and all, as one would imagine, appropriately
clothed. The poor mother with her child in her arms was the first object
that drew my attention. The auctioneer had placed her in such a manner,
that she and her infant should be the first object seen by those who
entered the market. The customers, as they entered, cast their eyes
65
upon the group so worthy of pity, to satisfy their curiosity, and examined
them as if they were gazing at some chef d'ceuvre produced by the chisel
of Canova. I could not help shuddering with indignation, in consider-
ing the indifference and gross rudeness with which these insensible men
treat their slaves. Betsy was the only one who appeared to feel all the
rigours of her situation ; her eyes remained constantly fixed upon her
infant, and if she raised them for a moment, it was to obey the order of a
purchaser, who wished, probably, to assure himself that they were strong
enough to support labor by day and by night; but she had scarcely
yielded to his injunction, ere they fell again upon the miserable infant
which reposed on her bosom ; she even replied to all their questions with-
out raising her eyes to the person by whom she was addressed.
" It was not the same, however, with the other slaves ; they smiled at
every jest, and their large white eyes, like brilliants fastened to the fore-
heads, sparkled with joy at the gay conversation, and at the witty remarks
of the gentlemen who had come hither with the intention of purchas-
ing human beings at a fair price. But the moment of the sale approach-
ing, and several persons were assembled in the hall, the crier invited them
to come out, and upon a table placed before the door in the middle of
the street, was exposed one of the slaves, who were for sale.
" Betsy and her child had the honor of figuring first. The crier stood
upon a chair placed near. I discovered in the crowd a dozen negroes at
least, who, passing at the time, were drawn by curiosity to approach, and
appeared to follow with attention the progress of the sale. I could not
forbear sympathising with the unhappy beings, in reading upon their
countenances the interest with which their companions in misery inspired
them. * Let us proceed, gentlemen,' cried the seller of human flesh, in
a stentorian voice ; ' let us proceed : a woman for sale J'
" An excellent woman ; not a fault ! and a little boy in the bargain.
How much for the mother and child — 250 dollars ; very well, sir, 250 to
begin. Some one has bid 250. Truly, gentlemen, they sell cattle for a
larger price ; 250 ? look at these eyes, examine these limbs — shall I say
260 ? Thanks, gentlemen, some one has bid 260. It seems to me that
I heard 275 ; — go on, gentlemen ; I have never sold such a bargain.
How ! 280 for the best cook, the best washer, and the best dressmaker
in Virginia ? Must I sell her for the miserable price of 280 ? 300 ; two
gentlemen have.said 300. Very well, gentlemen ; I am happy to see you
begin to warm a little ; some one bid 310 — 310, going — 330 — 335 — 340
— 340, going ; upon my honor, gentlemen, it is indeed a sacrifice to lose
so good a cook ; a great bargain for 340 dollars. Reflect upon it a little,
and do not forget there is a little boy in the bargain.'
"Here our auctioneer was interrupted in his harangue by one of his
F
66
customers, a man whose appearance had inspired me, from the first
moment, with a feeling of horror, and who, with the indifference and
sang froid of an assassin, made to him the following observation : ' As
for the negro child, it is good for nothing ; it is not worth a day's nourish-
ment ; and if I have the mother, I will give away the child very quick ;
the first bidder will be able to have it at a cheap bargain.'
" I glanced at the unfortunate mother1, anxious to see what effect this
barbarous proposal would have upon her. She did not speak, but a pro-
found sadness was impressed on her countenance. The little innocent
which she held in her arms, fixed his large eyes on her, as if saying,
' mamma, why do you weep ?' Then he turned towards the witnesses
of this heart-rending scene, with an impression that seemed to ask, what
they had done to his mother to make her weep so bitterly. No, never
will this moment ever escape my memory ; it has confirmed me for all
my life in the horror that I already felt at this infamous traffic. The
auction continued, and finally the crier, striking a heavy blow with a
hammer, pronounced the award to Mr. for 360 dollars. The
victim descended from the table, and was led away by the purchaser.
The other slaves were sold in the same manner as poor Betsy. Julia
was sold at 326 dollars, and Augustus at 105. They both fell to the same
individual who had purchased the former lot." — Travels of Arforedgun.
Such is an imperfect view of the American internal slave-trade ;
a system fraught with outrages, pollutions, and woes unutterable.
The African slave trade itself was never so horrible. Eveiy
odious feature of the latter belongs to the American traffic, be-
sides some peculiar to itself of surpassing enormity. This has
been acknowledged by one of Virginia's prominent statesmen,
himself probably a slave-breeder. Thomas Jefferson Randolph,
of Virginia, thus contrasts the American slave trade with the
African :
"The trader receives the slave, a stranger in language, aspect, and
manner, from the merchant who has brought him from the interior. The
ties of father, mother, husband, and child, have all been rent in twain ;
before he receives him, his soul has become callous. But here, sir,
individuals, whom the master has known from infancy, whom he has
seen sporting in the innocent gambols of childhood, who have been accus-
tomed to look to him for protection, he tears from the mother's arms, and
sells into a strange country, among strange people, subject to cruel task-
masters."
But what gives to the American slave trade its darkest atro-
67
city is, that it enacts its tragedies on the soil of a republic, claim-
ing to be the freest on earth. Its seat is the boasted home of
freedom ; its strongholds are the pillars of American liberty ; its
throne is the nation's heart ; its minions are republican states-
men ; its victims are native-born Americans. Amidst the galaxy
of republican and religious institutions it has its sphere and its
name. The segis of republican law is its shield, and the flag of
freedom its shelter. Having its main source at the seat of the
national government, it pours thence a stream of blood, widening
and deepening by a thousand tributaries from Maryland, Vir-
ginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee, till it rolls in
a tide, vast as Mississippi's, over the far south. It seeks no sub-
terranean channels nor' sequestered vales for a secret passage,
but flows broadly under the sun-light of the nation's favor, laving
the wharfs of a hundred cities and the borders of a thousand
plantations. Legal enactments lay no arrest upon it; public
opinion rears no dams across it ; popular indignation neither
checks its current nor turns it aside; but onward it flows for
ever— America's favorite stream ; though from its bosom ascends
one ceaseless wail of woe.
Should it be asked what is the character and standing in
society of the men who are actively engaged in the slave trade,
variously called l soul-drivers,' ' slave traders,' ' speculators,' &c.,
we would reply that there are two classes of them, who are held
in very different estimation by the community generally, though
their characters and deserts are intrinsically the same.
One class is composed of the slave merchants, who have large
establishments or factories in Washington City, Alexandria,
Baltimore, Norfolk, Richmondr Petersburg!!, &c., and keep
slavers constantly plying between those ports, and Charleston or
New Orleans. Their slave advertisements are blazoned in the
most influential secular papers in the union, and to their service
the national and state prisons are most obligingly devoted, when
their private jails chance to overflow. These are men of large
capital, and conduct the traffic on the broadest scale. They
hold an honorable rank among the heavy capitalists and exten-
sive merchants of our southern cities, and move in the highest
social circles.
The other class consists of the agents and pimps of these
F2
68
gentry, who are constantly scouring the breeding states to gather
fresh supplies for the slave-prisons and slave-ships ; and also of
traders of limited capital, who buy up small gangs and drive
their own coffles. The latter class are generally despised even
in the slaveholding states, and they are doubtless horribly base
wretches of vile origin, and viler lives. That the traffic in which
they are engaged is not the ground of their low estimation in
the slave-breeding states is evident, from the fact that other
men, much more largely concerned in the traffic, are nevertheless
held in repute, as honorable merchants. This point is illustrated
in the following extract from "American Slavery as it is,"
p. 174:
•
" That they are not despised because it is their business to trade in
human leings and bring them to market, is plain from the fact that when
some ' gentleman of property and standing,' and of a ' good family,' em-
barks in a negro speculation, and employs a dozen ' soul-drivers' to
traverse the upper country, and drive to the south coffles of slaves,
expending hundreds of thousands in his wholesale purchases, he does not
lose caste. It is known in Alabama, that Mr. Erwin, son-in-law of the
Hon. Henry Clay, and brother of J. P. Erwin, formerly postmaster, and
late mayor of the city of Nashville, laid the foundation of a princely for-
tune in the slave trade, carried on from the northern slave states to the
planting south ; that the hon. H. Hitchcock, brother-in-law of Mr. E.,
and since one of the judges of the Supreme Court of Alabama, was
interested with him in the traffic ; and that a late member of the Ken-
tucky senate (Col. Wall) not only carried on the same business, a few
years ago, but accompanied his droves in person down the Mississippi.
Not as the driver, for that would be vulgar drudgery, beneath a gentle-
man, but as a nabob in state, ordering his understrappers.
xt It is also well known that President Jackson was a ' soul-driver,' and
that even so late as the year before the commencement of the last war,
he bought up a coffle of slaves, and drove them down to Louisiana for
sale.
" Thomas N. Gadsden, Esq., the principal slave-auctioneer in Charles-
ton, S. C., is of one of the first families in the state, and moves in the very
highest class of society there. He is a descendant of the distinguished
General Gadsden, of revolutionary memory, the most prominent southern
member in the continental Congress of 17t>5, and afterwards elected
lieutenant-governor, and then governor of the state. The rev. Dr.
Gadsden, rector of St. Philip's church, Charleston, now bishop of the
69
diocese of South Carolina, and the Rev. Philip Gadsden, both pro-
minent episcopal clergymen in South Carolina, and Colonel James
Gadsden, of the United States army, after whom a county in Florida
was recently named, are all brothers of this Thomas N. Gadsden, Esq.,
the largest slave-auctioneer in the state, under whose hammer, men,
women, and children go off by thousands ; its stroke probably sunders
daily, husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters,
perhaps to see each other's faces no more. Now who supply the auction-
table of this Thomas N. Gadsden, Esq. with its loads of human merchan-
dise ? These same detested ' soul-drivers' forsooth ! They prowl through
the country, buy, catch, and fetter them, and drive their chained coffles
up to his stand, where Thomas N. Gadsden, Esq. knocks them off to the
highest bidder, to Ex-governor Butler, perhaps, or to Ex-governor Hayne,
or to the hon. Robert Barnwell Rhett, or to his own reverend brother, Dr.
Gadsden. Now this high-born, wholesale soul-seller doubtless despises
the retail * soul- drivers' who give him their custom, and so does the
wholesale grocer the drizzling tapster who sneaks up to his counter for
a keg of whiskey, to dole out under a shanty in two cent glasses; and
both for the same reason."
There is one source of great wretchedness to the slaves of the
breeding states, which may be appropriately introduced in this
connexion. It is very frequently the case that slaveholders,
having worn out their lands in the breeding states, remove to
the newer and more fertile regions further south and west. We
have already alluded to the stream of emigration, especially of
the smaller slaveholders, from the older slave raising states. The
annual number of these removals cannot be accurately stated.
We have already seen, by an extract from the " Wheeling (Vir-
ginia) Times," that of one hundred and twenty thousand slaves
removed from Virginia in the year 1836, two-thirds, or eighty I
thousand, were removed by the emigration of their owners. This, »
supposing each master to have on an average twenty slaves,
would give four thousand emigrant slaveholders from the single
state of Virginia, during the year 1836. This would be, how-
ever, too high an estimate for a series of years together ; still it
enables us to form some conception of the extent of the emigra-
tion from the breeding states. Each emigrant slaveholder car-
ries with him his gang of slaves. It is almost universally the .
case that the slaves of one master form their marriage alliances/
among the slaves of other masters. Consequently in nearlji
70
every instance of removal there is a sundering of slave families.
Where an entire family goes unbroken, the bleeding fragments
often are dragged along to the distant home. The only conso-
lation that is offered to the heart-broken sufferers is, that
they will find new partners— the bitterest mockery of their woe,
Many facts might be given illustrative of the sufferings caused
by these separations. We shall mention only the following,
communicated by Rev. James A. Thorne, recently of Kentucky,
who was an eye-witness of the scene :
" George and Jane were inhabitants of the same village, in the state of
Kentucky, but belonged to different masters. They enjoyed, in an
unusual degree, the confidence of their respective 'owners' ; who were men
of the highest respectability in the community. George was the head
man in his master's tannery, and Jane was the principal servant in her
owner's establishment ; the first inn in the village. They had been mar-
ried for a number of years, and had both among blacks and whites the
credit of uncommon conjugal faithfulness. Both were professedly pious,
and possessed more than ordinary education for slaves, being able to read
fluently. Having lighter work and more indulgent masters than usually
fall to the lot of slaves, they knew comparatively little of the rigors of
bondage. Sunday was uniformly at their own .disposal, and mostly spent
in each other's society. Every evening, the work of the day being
finished, George was a punctual visitant at his wife's room. For many
years they lived in unbroken union, anticipating no fiery trials of violent
sunderings. It is true they frequently witnessed the separations of hus-
bands and wives, as the 'soul-drivers' went round upon their annual
circuits of horror and desolation ; but they felt assured that their masters
prized them too highly to sell them to the traders.
" But a dire calamity was preparing for them, and when finally it broke,
•with the suddenness of a summer's bolt, upon them, it scattered all their
social joys for ever. Jane's master had become embarrassed in his pecu-
niary affairs, and found it absolutely necessary to change his residence.
He resolved upon going to the distant state of Missouri. The prepara-
tions for removal were almost completed, before Jane was informed of
the design ; and with that information she also learned the determination
of her master to take her along with him. Tn consternation she flew
with the intelligence to her husband. Without a moment's delay, they
together hastened to the wife's ' owner,' and prostrating themselves before
him, besought that he would allow Jane to find herself a new master in
the village. He finally yielded to their entreaties and tears, but set such
an extravagant price upon her, that they felt little hope of finding any
71
person who would be willing to give it. They applied first to George's
masters. He was willing to buy Jane, but objected to her master's terms.
Applications were made to several other citizens, all of whom had the
same objection — the exorbitant price. They besought the master to con-
sent to take less, but he was inexorable ; consequently the desired change
of ownership could not be effected.
" Meanwhile the preparations for removal went forward, and the day
of departure approached. The boat Avhich was to convey the family down
the Ohio river, lay at the wharf already loaded with the master's effects.
At last the morning of departure came. The family, accompanied from
their dwelling by a numerous train of sympathising villagers, proceeded
to the boat. With the other slaves, Jane walked immediately behind
the family ; while George, not permitted to attend her, followed sadly
and slowly in the rear of the company.
" The family entered the boat, but Jane threw herself upon the deck,
a spectacle of agony. Upon the beach near by, George stood with his
arms folded before him ; not a groan broke from his lips, nor a tear from
his eye, but there were in his fixed countenance and statue-like form the
more eloquent tokens of a grief too deep for utterance. Shortly the
cables are drawn, and the boat""" is drifting down the rapid stream. As
long as the receding objects can be discerned, Jane sits motionless upon
the deck, and George as moveless stands upon the beach, each gazing
upon the other until distance closes the view for ever. What then
became of the ill-fated Jane I know not, but my eye followed George as
he turned silent and alone, and with down-cast eyes, and arms still folded
upon his breast, walked homeward a widowed man."
NINTH QUESTION. What are the features of slavery in the
consuming states ?
This inquiry opens before us a field so vast, and crowded with
such multiform scenes of horror, that both time and heart would
fail us in the attempt thoroughly to explore it. We can barely
sketch some of the prominent features which glare upon us from
every point of observation.
There are three principal conditions or modes of slavery in the
United States. The first is that where, on account of exhausted
lands, slave labor is unprofitable, and the master resorts to slave-
breeding and selling to make his slaves a source of profit. This
* A small ark formerly much used by emigrant families from Virginia and
Kentucky, going to the south-west.
72
condition has been already described in the reply to the seventh
query.
The second condition, is that of domestic slavery, includ-
ing every species of house and family servants. This condition
exists wherever slavery is found. Few of any class or profession
in the slave states dispense with domestic slaves. Not to have
from one to a dozen is almost certainly to forfeit caste in a slave-
holding state ; and, what is a more serious consequence, it is to
be without servants altogether, for where slaves are the domestics
free persons think it a degradation to be such.
The third condition is plantation slavery, or that where large
bodies of slaves are employed in the cultivation of lucrative pro-
ducts, and where labor consequently is profitable. This condi-
tion differs widely from the two former. It is a system of pro-
ductive industry, in which respect it differs from the first condi-
tion ; and it congregates large numbers under the same manage-
ment, thus differing from domestic slavery. These are not the
only points of contrast. It is necessary to discriminate between
these conditions, if we would form a correct idea of American
slavery as a whole ; and for want of such discrimination, there
has been interminable confusion. Some have considered slavery
only in its first form, others only in the second, — the mildest of
all, — others in the third only ; while others still have viewed it, as
every one should, in all its conditions. These totally different
observations of slavery have, to some extent, given rise to dis-
putes between the abolitionists on one hand, and the pro-slavery
class on the other, respecting the treatment of slaves ; and it is
plain that such disputes must be perpetual, unless the disputants
will agree to look at the same aspects of slavery. It is the
domestic condition which the apologists have in their eye, when
they deny the representations of the abolitionists ; whereas the
latter usually describe plantation slavery, the very condition of
which the apologist (who if he has ever been in the south has
been there as the planter's parlour guest, and that but for a few
days) is most likely to be ignorant.
Now while the abolitionists contend that even domestic slavery
is vastly worse than pro-slavery writers represent it, still they
maintain that it is so different from plantation slavery, as to fur-
nish little data for judging of the latter. But in forming an
73
opinion of slavery in the consuming states, which of these two
conditions should be chiefly considered ? Surely that which em-
braces the largest number of slaves ; and, at least, nine-tenths of
the slaves in the planting states are praedials.
But plantation slavery has still stronger claims to special
notice, because it gives to the whole system of slavery its import-
ance and permanence. Lop off this branch, and the whole tree
dies. Domestic slavery cannot stand alone. It was that form
chiefly which existed in the now free states, and so feeble was its
hold on life that its extinction required scarcely an effort. What
is it that has given to American slavery its gigantic form and
mighty sway ? What is it that has reared about it such massive
walls and impregnable towers ? What is it that has transformed
it in a few years from an abhorred system, into a venerated
" institution," too sacred to be spoken against with impunity ?
It is the alliance which has been formed in the planting states
between slavery and cotton, by virtue of which the most profitable
and abundant staple which our country produces is made depen-
dent for its culture exclusively upon slave labor.
But plantation slavery puts in another claim to special atten-
tion : it actually sustains slavery in the breeding states. It has
been seen that slavery could not exist in Virginia and the other
breeding states, but for the large sales of slaves which are
annually made to southern planters. Of course the American
slave trade is likewise upheld by plantation slavery. So also is
the African trade, so far as respects its market in the United
States.
Plantation slavery therefore stands before us charged with the
continuance of domestic slavery, slave-breeding, the American
slave trade, and in part the African. Surely if pre-eminence in
guilt can entitle any form of slavery to marked consideration,
plantation slavery makes good its claim.
We feel warranted therefore in taking this condition of slavery
as the basis of our remarks in reply to the question now before
us. It has been observed that the features of slavery in the
breeding states received their peculiar mould from the unprofit-
ableness of slave labor. In the consuming states the reverse is
true. The lands being fresh, and the products rich, slave labor
is exceedingly productive. We do not mean to say that it is
74
more so than free labor would be ; we merely state the fact that
it is eminently productive. The grand pursuit of the southern
planter is GAIN — gain on the broadest scale, and by the most
rapid process of accumulation. The machinery of cotton and
sugar cultivation is a means to this great end. To the same end
the slave also is made a means, and his rights and interests are
all pushed out of view by this huge overgrown interest which
quite fills up the planter's vision.
To increase the master's wealth, the slave is driven night and
day; and since his necessary supplies of food, clothing, and shelter
are to be subtracted from the master's gains, they are dispensed
with the most niggardly hand. Every thread that can be spared
from his back, every grain of corn from his mouth, and every
item of convenience from his miserable hut, are rigorously with-
held. In short there is not a jot or tittle of the slave's comforts
which can escape the all-grasping clutch of avarice. To describe
plantation slavery in a single sentence, it is that system which
degrades man not into property merely, but into an inferior spe-
cies of property, whose worth consists in its fitness to procure
that which is esteemed a far higher species of property — MONEY.
Other principles, such as pride, anger, lust, and love of power,
contribute to aggravate plantation slavery, but it is to avarice, we
must look for its most horrid features, — to avarice, pampered and
bloated by abounding wealth. Other causes operate occasion-
ally and powerfully, but irregularly, in the infliction of evil upon
the slave — this uniformly, and by rule. The inflictions of anger
are freaks, sudden outbreaks, frequent, it is true, and sometimes
violent, but usually of short duration ; those of avarice, on the
contrary, are habitual incessant and intense, toil, privations, and
inflictions without measure and without end, and all relentlessly
imposed for the acquisition of gain.%
We shall now briefly trace the operation of this principle
upon the slaves of the planting states.
The leading policy is to open immense estates for sugar and
cotton cultivation (chiefly the latter), and stock them, in planter
phrase, with large gangs of slaves. The proprietorship by
single individuals of thousands of acres, and half thousands of
o *
slaves, is quite peculiar to the planting states. This practice
operates with extreme severity upon the slaves. The congre-
75
gating of such numbers under the arbitrary control of one indi-
vidual is eminently fitted to stimulate the fiercest passions, and
transform the most humane, into monsters of cruelty. When a
man has but a single slave, he is under few temptations to be
cruel, and those few, are kept in check by a sort of personal
attachment which masters often feel for a faithful body servant.
But let the same man become the owner of a thousand slaves,
and his situation is wholly changed. His love of power, before
scarcely excited, is aroused to the energy of a master passion.
In the multitude of its^ubjects it finds new scope and wider
range. The temptations to exercise it have increased with the
number of the slaves, while the restraints from personal attach-
ment have in the same proportion diminished, or rather, wholly,
ceased to act. The result is, that the gentle master of the
single slave, becomes the haughty despot of his little empire.
Again, the object of procuring so many slaves implies a con-
dition of hardship and suffering. They are not bought, like
the house servant, for light service, quickly done and allowing
frequent intervals of leisure, but for severe unbending toil.
They were not purchased as articles of convenience, but as
beasts of burthen. A task is -assigned them, interminable as
the upheaving of Egyptian pyramids, the building of their mas-
ters' fortunes ; a task which the insatidbleness of avarice makes
endless, and its remorselessness unutterably cruel.
Again, from so large a number being employed, the comfort-
able maintenance of the whole would require no small expendi-
ture on the part of the master. This avarice cannot endure ;
consequently, all comforts are utterly denied the slaves, and
even the law of their extremest necessities receives the most
rigid construction.
From the foregoing considerations, it is plain that the policy
of overgrown estates and large labouring forces bears with a
crushing weight upon the slave. Indeed, a situation can hardly
be conceived of, more fraught with suffering than that of a field
slave in a numerous gang.
Another feature of the planting policy is to employ overseers,
and arm them with every instrument of torture necessary to
compel the utmost amount of labour. The planter, as lost to
humanity as to honesty, not only denies his slaves just wages,
76
but consigns them to the discretionary management of the vilest
monsters that ever wore human form. " Overseer" is the name
which designates the assemblage of all brutal propensities and
fiendish passions in one man. An overseer must be the lowest
of all abjects, consenting to be toathed and detested by the
master who employs him; and at the same time he must be the
most callous of all reprobates, in order to inflict tortures, from
the sight of which the planter himself sometimes recoils with
horror. He must find his supreme delight in human torture ;
groans must be his music, and the writhings of agony his reali-
sation of bliss. He must become that unspeakably vile thing,
a scullion of avarice, wielding the clotted lash for another's
wealth, contented himself to receive a petty stipend as the
reward of his execrable vocation. But a description of the
southern overseer has already been drawn by a master hand,
that of the Hon. Wm. Wirt, late attorney-general of the United
States, a Virginian and a slaveholder.
" Last and lowest, a feculum of beings, called ' overseers' — the most
abject, degraded, unprincipled race, always cap in hand to the dons who
employ them, and furnishing materials for the exercise of their pride,
insolence, and spirit of domination"
Such is the monster to whose unlimited control the planter
commits his hundreds of slaves. One injunction 'only is laid
upon him, and that is, to make the largest crops possible. The
planter himself generally resides at a distance from his estate,
or if he lives upon it, rarely interferes with the management of
affairs. He usually disregards the slaves' complaints of cruelty,
since to notice them, and interpose between the parties, would
lessen the authority of the overseer, and hazard the reduction
of his crops. Consequently, the slaves have, for the most part,
no appeal from the outrages of a brutal overseer.
It is a dreadful reflection, moreover, that the overseer is
strongly tempted to cruelty by appeals to his selfishness. His
reputation is graduated by the amount of his crops. If they
are large, his character is established, and his situation made
c? ' '
permanent, with an increase of salary. But to make great
crops he must drive the slaves. Besides, the wages of overseers
are generally either in proportion to the crop which they raise,
or a stipulated portion of the crop itself. Thus the overseer's
77
interest conspires with that of the planter to perpetuate a sys-
tem of hard driving, which is carried out by the incessant ap-
plication of the lash.
Nothing, therefore, can be plainer, than the inevitable cer-
tainty that the slaves in the planting states must be extreme
sufferers. It is the result of the end which the planter keeps
so steadily in view — gain. It is the result, likewise, of the
means to which he resorts for compassing that end, viz. large
gangs of slaves, and "unprincipled" overseers. The employ-
ment of such monsters implies a purpose to drive and torture
the slaves, and the fact that they are rarely if ever discharged
for cruel treatment, though they frequently are for failure in
hard driving, is testimony enough to the unswerving rigor with
which that purpose is executed. We repeat it, suffering is a
certain event to the field slave ; it is not a thing which may
befall him, but which must. At least there is but one alterna-
tive— a serious diminution of the master's crops, and charity
herself could hardly suspect the planter of submitting to that
alternative.
The ways in which the slaves suffer are almost innumerable :
we can specify only those which are most prominent.
They suffer from being overworked, from hunger, from want
of sleep, from insufficient clothing, from inadequate shelter,
from neglect in the various conditions of feebleness and sick-
ness, from lust, and from positive inflictions.
1. The slaves suffer from being overworked. It has been
stated that hard labour was the object for which they were ori-
ginally bought, and amassing wealth the end. Now, since the
more labour (if within the limit of human endurance) the more
wealth, overworking is in the planting states a matter of course ;
and since to the desire of wealth there is no bound, to the
exactions of toil there will be no bound but human possibility.
The feeling that would prevent the overworking of slaves in the
cotton and sugar regions, would prevent all working of them ;
and, on the contrary, the feeling which consents to enslaving
men at all will prompt to the most rigorous exactions from
them.
But to demonstrate that the planting slaves are overworked,
excessively so, we appeal to facts. In the ensuing part of our
78
reply to the present query, we shall have occasion to make fre-
quent quotations from " American Slavery as it is," a work
which contains the most ample testimony on the several points
just enumerated, and accompanies that testimony with the
names of a " thousand witnesses," living in every part of the
United States, both in the slave states and the free. If that
testimony needed any confirmation besides its own vouchers, it
would find it abundantly in the fact, that no person, north or
south, has yet ventured to call it in question, though the work
was published early in 1839, and has been circulated in every
state of the Union. The following extracts are taken from the
above-named work, pages 35 — 40.
THE SLAVES ARE OVERWORKED.
"This is abundantly proved by the number of hours that the slaves are
obliged to be in the field. But before furnishing testimony as to their hours of
labor and rest, we will present the express declarations of slaveholders and
others, that the slaves are severely driven in the field.
WITNESSES. TESTIMONY.
The Senate and House of Re- « MANY OWNERS of slaves, and others who have th?
presentatives of the state of , , , /• ,, 7 , . . ,
South Carolina. management of slaves, do confine them so closely at hard
labor that they have not sufficient time for natural rest.
— See 2 Brevard's Digest of the Laws of South Caro-
lina, 243."
History of Carolina.— Vol. i. « So laborious is the task of raising, beating, and
page I2a cleaning rice, that had it been possible to obtain
European servants in sufficient numbers, thousands
and tens of thousands MUST HAVE PERISHED."
Hon. Alexander Smyth, a " Is it not obvious that the way to render their
K^TvSSSSSS: situat,on more comfortable, is to allow them to be
on the " Missouri question," Jan. taken where there is not the same motive to force the
281 1820> slave to INCESSANT TOIL that there is in the country
where cotton, sugar, and tobacco are raised for expor-
tation. It is proposed to hem in the blacks where
they are HARD WORKED, that they may be rendered
unproductive and the race be prevented from increas-
ing. * * * The proposed measure would be-
EXTREME CRUELTY to the blacks. You
would * * * doom them to HARD LABOR."
"Travels in Louisiana," trans- " At the rolling of sugars, an interval of from two
Davi^°E^!iepagen8CihbyJon to three months, they work both night and day.
Abridged of their sleep, they scarce retire to rest
during the whole period."
The Western Review, NO. 2, " The work is admitted to be severe for the hands
—article " Agriculture of Louis- (siaves), requiring, when the process is commenced, to
be pushed night and day"
w. c Giidersieeve, Esq., a <i Overworked I know they (the slaves) are."
native of Georgia, elder of the * v
Presbyterian church, Wilkes-
barre, Penn.
79
TESTIMONY.
" Everybody Iiere knows overdriving to be one of
the most common occurrences, the planters do not
deny it, exeept, perhaps, to northerners."
" During the cotton-picking season they usually
labor in the field during the whole of the daylight, and
then spend a good part of the night in ginning and
baling. The labor required is very frequently exces-
sive, and speedily impairs the constitution."
" All the. pregnant women even, on the plantation,
ing of the harvesting of c6«on, and weak and sickly negroes incapable of other labor,
are then in requisition."
HOURS OF LABOR AND REST.
" It is a general rule on all regular plantations, that
the slaves be in the field as soon as it is light enouyh
for them to see to work, and remain there until it is so
dark that they cannot see."
" It is the common rule for the slaves to be kept at
work fifteen hours in the day,a.i\d in the time of pick-
ing cotton a certain number of pounds is required of
each. If this amount is not brought in at night, the
slave is whipped, and the number of pounds Licking
is added to the next day's job ; this course is often re-
peated from day to day."
" It was customary for the overseers to call out the
gangs long before day, say three o'clock, in the winter,
while dressing out the crops ; such work as could be
done by fire-light (pitch pine was abundant,) was pro-
vided."
" from dawn till dark, the slaves are required to
bend to their work."
WITNESSES.
Mr. Asa A. Stone, a theological
student, near Natchez, Miss., in
1834 and 1835.
Philemon Bliss, Esq., a lawyer
of Elyria. Ohio, who lived in
Florida in 1834 and 1835.
Hon. R. J. Turnbull, of South
Carolina, a slaveholder, speak-
says:
Asa A. Stone, theological stu-
dent, a classical teacher near
Natchez, Miss., 1835.
Mr. Cornelius Johnson, of
Farraingtou, Ohio, who lived in
Mississippi a part of 1837 and
1838.
W. C. Gildersleeve, Esq.,
Wilkesbarre, Penn., a native of
Georgia.
Mr. William Leftwich, a na-
tive of Virginia, and son of a
slaveholder — he has recently re-
moved to Delhi, Hamilton coun-
ty, Ohio.
Mr. Nehemiah Caulkins,
Waterford, Conn., a resident in
North Carolina eleven winters.
Mr. Eleazar Powel, Chippewa,
Beaver county, Penn., who lived
in Mississippi in 1836 and 1837.
Philemon Bliss, Esq., a lawyer
in Elyria, Ohio, who resided in
Florida hi 1834 and 1835.
" Travels in Louisiana," page
87.
Mr. Henry E. Knapp. member
of a Christian church in Farm-
ington, Ohio, who lived in Mis-
sissippi in 1837 and 1838.
" The slaves are obliged to work from daylight till
dark, as long as they can see."
" The slaves had to cook and eat their breakfast and
be in the field by daylight and continue there till dark."
"The slaves commence labor by daylight in the
morning, and do not leave the field till dark in the
evening."
" Both in summer and winter the slave must be in
thtfitld by the Jirst dawning of day."
" The slaves were made to work, from as soon as
they could see in the morning, till as late as they could
see at night. Sometimes they were made to work till
nine o'clock at night, in such work as they could do,
as burning cotton-stalks, &c."
" A New Orleans paper, dated March. 23, 1 826, says,
" To judge from the activity reigning in the cotton presses of the
suburbs of St. Mary, and the late hours during which their slaves work,
the cotton trade was never more brisk."
80
" Mr. George W. Westgate, a member of the Congregational church
at Quincy, Illinois, who lived in the south-western slave states a num-
ber of years, says,
" The slaves are driven to the field in the morning about four o'clock,
the general calculation is to get them at work by daylight : the time for
breakfast is between nine and ten o'clock ; this meal is sometimes eaten
* bite and work,' others allow fifteen minutes, and this is the only rest the
slave has while in the field. I have never known a case of stopping an
hour in Louisiana ; in Mississippi the rule is milder, though entirely sub-
ject to the will of the master. On cotton plantations, in cotton picking
time, that is, from October to Christmas, each hand has a certain quantity
to pick, and is flogged if his task is not accomplished ; their tasks are
such as to keep them all the while busy."
" The preceding testimony under this head has sole reference to the
actual labour of the slaves in thejield. In order to determine how many
hours are left for sleep, we must take into the account the time spent in
going to and from the field, which is often at a distance of one, two, and
sometimes three miles ; also the time necessary for pounding or grind-
ing their corn, and preparing, over night, their food for the next day ;
also the preparations of tools, getting fuel and preparing it, making fires
and cooking their suppers, if they have any, the occasional mending and
washing of their clothes, &c. Besides this, as every one knows who
has lived on a southern plantation, many little errands and chores are to
be done for their masters and mistresses, old and young, which have
accumulated during the day, and been kept in reserve till the slaves
return from the field at night. To this we may add that the slaves are
social beings, and that during the day silence is generally enforced by the
whip of the overseer or driver.* When they return at night, their pent-
up social feelings will seek vent, it is a law of nature, and though the
body may be greatly worn with toil, this law cannot be wholly stifled.
Sharers of the same woes, they are drawn together by strong affinities,
and seek the society and sympathy of their fellows ; even ' tired nature'
will joyfully forego for a time needful rest, to minister to a want of its
being equally permanent and imperative as the want of sleep, and as
much more profound as the yearnings of the higher nature surpass the
instincte of its animal appendage.
" All these things make drafts upon time. To show how much of the
* We do not mean that they are not suffered to speak, but that, as conver-
sation would be a hindrance to labor, they are generally permitted to indulge
in it but little.
81
slave's time which is absolutely indispensable for rest and sleep, is neces-
sarily spent in various labors after his return from the field at night, we
subjoin a few testimonies.
" Mr, Cornelius Johnson, Farmington, Ohio, who lived in Mississippi
in the years 1837 and 1838, says :
" ' On all the plantations where I was acquainted, the slaves were kept
in the field till dark ; after which, those who had to grind their own
corn, had that to attend to, get their supper, attend to other family affairs
of their own and of their master, such as bringing water, washing clothes,
&c. &c., and be in the field as soon as it was sufficiently light to com-
mence work in the morning.'
" Mr. George W. Westgate, of Quincy, Illinois, who has spent several
years in the south-western slave states, says :
" * Their time after full dark until four o'clock in the morning is their
•own ; this fact alone would seem to say they have sufficient rest, but there
are other things to be considered ; much of their making, mending, and
washing of clothes, preparing and cooking food, hauling and chopping
wood, fixing and preparing tools, and a variety of little nameless jobs
must be done between those hours.'
" Philemon Bliss, Esq. of Elyria, Ohio, who resided in Florida in
1834 and 1835, gives the following testimony :
" ' After having finished their field labours, they are occupied till nine
or ten o'clock in doing chores, such as grinding corn (as all the corn in
the vicinity is ground by hand), chopping wood, taking care of horses,
mules, &c., and a thousand things necessary to be done on a large plan-
tation. If any extra job is to be done, it must not hinder the ' niggers'
from their work, but must be done in the night.'
" W. C. Gildersleeve, Esq. a native of Georgia, an elder of the Pres-
byterian church at Wilkesbarre, Pa. says :
" ' The corn is'ground in a handmill by the slave after his task is done.
Generally there is but one mill on a plantation, and as but one can grind
at a time, the mill is going sometimes very late at night'
" We now present another class of facts and testimony, showing that
the slaves engaged in raising the large staples are overworked.
" In September, 1834, the writer of this had an interview with James
G. Birnie, Esq. who then resided in Kentucky, having removed with
his family from Alabama the year before. A few hours before that
interview, and on the morning of the same day, Mr. B. had spent a
couple of hours with Hon. Henry Clay, at his residence near Lexington.
Mr. Bimie remarked that Mr. Clay had just told him, he had been
G
82
lately led to mistrust certain estimates as to the increase of the slave
population in the far south-west—estimates which he had presented, I
think, in a speech before the Colonization Society. He now believed
that the hirths among the slaves in that quarter were not equal to the
deaths — and that, of course, the slave population, independent of immi-
gration from the slave-selling states, was not sustaining itself.
" Among other facts stated hy Mr. Clay, was the following, which we
copy verbatim from the original memorandum, made at the time by Mr,
Bimie, with which he has kindly furnished us :
" ' Sept. 16, 1834. — Hon. H. Clay, in a conversation at'his own house
on the subject of slavery, informed me, that hon. Outerbridge Horsey,
formerly a senator in congress from the state of Delaware, and the owner
of a sugar plantation in Louisiana, declared to him that his overseer
worked his hands so closely, that one of the women brought forth a child
whilst engaged in the labours of the field. Also, that a few years since
he was at a brick-yard in the environs of New Orleans, in which one
hundred hands were employed ; among them were from twenty to thirty
yo^mg women, in the prime of Kfe. He was told by the proprietor, that
there had not been a child born among them for the last two or three years,
although they all had husbands.'
"The preceding testimony of Mr. Clay is strongly corroborated by
advertisements of slaves, by courts of probate, and by executors adminis-
tering upon the estates of deceased persons. Some of those advertise-
ments for the sale of slaves contain the names, ages, accustomed employ-
ment, &c. of all the slaves upon the plantation of the deceased. These
catalogues show large numbers of young men and women, almost all of
them between twenty and thirty-eight years old, and yet the number of
young children is astonishingly small. We have laid aside many lists of
this kind, in looking over the newspapers of the sfeveholding states ;
but the two following are all we can lay our hands on at present. One
is in the ' Planter's Intelligencer,' Alexandria, La., March 22, 1837, con-
taining one hundred and thirty "slaves ; and the other in the ' New
Orleans Bee,' a few days later, April 8, 1837, containing fifty-one slaves.
The former is a * Probate sale' of the slaves belonging to the estate of
Mr. Charles S. Lee, deceased, and is advertised by G. W. Keeton, judge
of the parish of Concordia, La. The sex, name, and age of each slave
are contained in the advertisement, which fills two columns. The fol-
lowing are some of the particulars :
" The whole number of slaves is one hundred and thirty. Of these,,
only three are over forty years old. There are thirty-five females between
the ages of sixteen and thirty-three, and yet there are only THIKTEEN
children under the age of thirteen years !
83
" It is impossible satisfactorily to account for such a fact, on any other
supposition than that these thirty-five females were so over-worked, or
under-fed, or both, as to prevent child-bearing.
" The other advertisement is that of a ' Probate sale,' ordered by the
court of the parish of Jefferson, including the slaves of Mr. William
Gormley. The whole number of slaves is fifty-one ; the sex, age, and
accustomed labors of each are given. The oldest of these slaves is but
thirty-nine years of age : of the females, thirteen are between the ages of
sixteen and thirty- two, and the oldest female is but thirty-eight — and yet
there are but two children under eight years old !
" Another proof that the slaves in the south-western states are over-
worked, is the fact that so few of them live to old age. A large majority
of them are old at middle age, and few live beyond fifty-five. In one of
the preceding advertisements, out of one hundred and thirty slaves, only
three are above forty years of age ! In the other, out of fifty-one slaves,
only two are above thirty-Jive ; the oldest is but thirty-nine, and the way
in which he is designated in the advertisement is an additional proof, that
what to others is ' middle age,' is to the slaves in the south-west ' old
age' ; he is advertised as ' old Jeffrey.'
" But the proof that the slave population of the south-west is so over-
worked that it cannot supply its own tvaste, does not rest upon mere
inferential evidence. The Agricultural Society of Baton Rouge, La., in
its report, published in 1829, ftirnishes a labored estimate of the amount
of expenditure necessarily incurred in conducting ' a well regulated sugar
estate.' In this estimate, the annual net loss of slaves, over and above
the supply by propagation, is set down at TWO AND A HALF PER CENT !
The late hon. Josiah S, Johnson, a member of congress from Louisiana,
addressed a letter to the secretary of the United States' Treasury, in 1830,
containing a similar estimate, apparently made with great care, and going
into minute details. Many items in this estimate differ from the preced-
ing, but the estimate of the annual decrease of the slaves on a plantation
was the same — TWO AND A HALF PER CENT !"
" The following testimony of Rev. Dr. Channing, of Boston, who
resided some time in Virginia, shows that the overworking of slaves, to
such an extent as to abridge life and cause a decrease of population, is
not confined to the far south and south-west :
" ' I heard of an estate managed by an individual who was considered
as singularly successful, and who was able to govern the slaves without
the use of the whip, I was anxious to see him, and trusted that some
discovery had been made favourable to humanity. I asked him how he
was able to dispense with corporal punishment. He replied to me, with
a very determined look, ' The slaves know that the work must be done,
84
and that it is better to do it without punishment than with it.' In other
words, the certainty and dread of chastisement were so impressed on them,
that they never incurred it.
" I then found that the slaves on this well managed estate decreased
in number. I asked the cause. He replied, with perfect frankness and
ease, ' The gang is not large enough for the estate/ In other words, they
were not equal to the work of the plantation, and yet were made to do it,
though with the certainty of abridging life.
" On this plantation the huts were uncommonly convenient. There
was an unusual air of neatness. A superficial observer would have called
the slaves happy. Yet they were living under a severe, subduing disci-
pline, and were overworked to a degree that shortened life." — Channing on
Slavery, page 162, first edition.
" Philemon Bliss, Esq. a lawyer of Elyria, Ohio,' who spent some time
in Florida, gives the following testimony to the over-working of the
slaves :
" ' It is not uncommon for hands, in hurrying times, beside working all
day, to labour half the night. This is usually the case on sugar planta-
tions during the sugar-boiling season ; and on cotton, during its gather-
ing. Beside the regular task of picking cotton, averaging of the short
staple, when the crop is good, one hundred pounds a day to the hand, the
ginning (extracting the seed) and baleing was done in the night. Said
Mr. • to me, while conversing upon the customary labour of slaves,
' I work my niggers in a hurrying time till eleven or twelve o'clock at
night, and have them up by four in the morning.'
"'Besides the common inducement, — the desire of gain, to make a large
crop, the desire is increased by that spirit of gambling so common at the
south. It is very common to bet on the issue of a crop. A. lays a wager,
that from a given number of hands he will make more cotton than B,
The wager is accepted, and then begins the contest ; and who bears the
burden of it ? How many tears, yea, how many broken constitutions
and premature deaths, have been the effect of this spirit ? From the
desperate energy of purpose with which the gambler pursues his object,
from the passions which the practice calls into exercise, we might conjec-
ture many. Such is the fact, that in Middle Florida a broken-winded negro
is more common than a broken-winded horse ; though usually, when they
are declared unsound, or when their constitution is so broken that their
recovery is despaired of, they are exported to New Orleans, to drag out
the remainder of their days in the cane-field and sugar-house. I would
not insinuate that all planters gamble upon their crops, but 1 mention
the practice as one of the common inducements to ' push niggers.' Neither
85
would I assert that all planters drive the hands to the injury of their
health. I give it as a general ride in the district of Middle Florida, and
I have no reason to think that negroes are driven worse there than in
other fertile sections. People there told me, that the situation of the
slaves was far better than in Mississippi and Louisiana ; and from com-
paring the crops with those made in the latter states, and for other rea-
sons, I am convinced of the truth of their statements.'
" Dr. Demming, a gentleman of high respectability, residing in Ash-
land, Richland county, Ohio, stated to Professor Wright, of New York
city —
" ' That during a recent tour at the south, while ascending the Ohio
river on the steam-boat Fame, he had an opportunity of conversing with
a Mr. Dickinson, a resident of Pittsburgh, in company with a number of
cotton-planters and slave-dealers from Louisiana, Alabama, and Missis-
sippi. Mr. Dickinson stated as a fact, that the sugar-planters upon the
sugar coast in Louisiana had ascertained, that as it was usually necessary
to employ about twice the amount of labor during the boiling season,
that was required during the season of raising, they could, by excessive
driving day and night during the boiling season, accomplish the whole
labour with one set of hands. By pursuing this plan, they could afford
to sacrifice a set of hands once in seven years ! He further stated, that this
horrible system was now practised to a considerable extent ! The cor-
rectness of this statement was substantially admitted by the slaveholders
then on board.'
" The late Mr. Samuel Blackwell, a highly respected citizen of Jersey*
city, opposite the city of New York, and a member of the Presbyterian
church, visited many of the sugar plantations in Louisiana a few years
since ; and having for many years been the owner of an extensive sugar
refinery in England, and subsequently in this country, he had not only
every facility afforded him by the planters for personal inspection of all
parts of the process of sugar making, but received from them the most
unreserved communications as to the management of their slaves. Mr.
B. after his return, frequently made the following statement to gentlemen
of his acquaintance :
" ' That the planters generally declared to him, that they were obliged so
to overwork their slaves during the sugar-making season (from eight to
ten weeks), as to use them up in seven or eight years. For, said they,
after the process has commenced; it must be pushed without cessation night
* " Jersey city" is a small town on the western bank of the Hudson river
— opposite New York.
86
and day ; and we cannot afford to keep a sufficient number of slaves to
do the extra work at the time of sugar-making, as we could not profit-
ably employ them the rest of the year.'
" It is not only true of the sugar planters, but of the slaveholders
generally throughout the far south and south-west, that they believe it
for their interest to wear out the slaves t>y excessive toil in eight or ten
years after they put them into the field.*
" Rev. Dr. Reed, of London, who went through Kentucky, Virginia,
and Maryland, in the summer of 1834, gives the following testimony :
" ' I was told confidently, and from excellent authority, that recently at
a meeting of planters in South Carolina, the question was seriously dis-
cussed, whether the slave is more profitable to the owner if well fed, well
clothed, and worked lightly, or if made the most of at once, and exhausted
in some eight years. The decision was in favour of the last alternative.
That decision will perhaps make many shudder. But to my mind this is
not the chief evil ; the greater and original evil is considering the slave
as property. If he is only property, and my property, then I have some
right to ask how I may make that property most available! — Visit to the
American Churches > by Rev. Drs. Reed and Matheson, vol. ii. p. 173.
" Rev. John 0. Choules, recently pastor of a Baptist church at New
Bedford, Massachusetts, now of Buffalo, New York, made substantially
the following statement in a speech in Boston :
" ' While attending the Baptist triennial convention at Richmond, Yir-
ginia, in the spring of 1835, as a delegate from Massachusetts, I had a
conversation on slavery with an officer of the Baptist church in that city,
at whose house I was a guest. I asked my host if he did not apprehend
that the slaves would eventually rise and exterminate their masters.
* Why,' said the gentleman, * I used to apprehend such a catastrophe, but
God has made a providential opening, a merciful safety valve, and now I
do not feel alarmed in the prospect of what is coming.' ' What do you
mean (said Mr. Choules) by Providence opening a merciful safety valve ?'
* Why,' said the gentleman, ' I will tell you : the slave-traders come from
the cotton and sugar plantations of the south, and are willing to buy up
* Alexander Jones, Esq. a large planter in West Feliciana, Louisiana,
published a communication in the " North Carolina True American," Nov.
26, 1838, in which, speaking of the horses employed in the mills on the
Slantations for ginning cotton, he says, " they are much whipped and ja-
ed ;" and adds, " In fact, this service is so severe on horses, as to shorten
their lives in many instances, if not actually kill them in gear."
Those who work one kind of their " live stock" so as to " shorten their
lives," or " kill them in gear," would not stick at doing the same thing to
another kind.
87
more slaves than we can part with. We must keep a stock for the pur-
pose of rearing slaves, but we part with the most valuable, and at the
same time the most dangerous, and the demand is very constant, and
likely to be so, for when they go to these southern states, the average
existence is ONLY FIVE YEARS !' "
" Monsieur C. C. Robin, a highly intelligent French gentleman, who
resided in Louisiana from 1802 to 1806, and published a volume of
travels, gives the following testimony to the overworking of the slaves
there:
" ' I have been a witness, that after the fatigue of the day their labours
have been prolonged several hours by the light of the moon ; and then,
before they could think of rest, they must pound and cook their corn ;
and yet, long before day, an implacable scold, whip in hand, would arouse
them from their slumbers. Thus, of more than twenty negroes, who in
twenty years should have doubled, the number was reduced to four or
Jive!'
" In conclusion we add, that slaveholders have in the most public and
emphatic manner, declared themselves guilty of barbarous inhumanity
toward their slaves, in exacting from them such long continued daily labor.
The legislatures of Maryland, Virginia, and Georgia, have passed laws,
providing that convicts in their state prisons and penitentiaries ' shall be
employed in work each day in the year except Sundays, not exceeding
eight hours in the months of November, December, and January ; nine
hours uf the months of February and October, and ten hours in the rest
of the yean' Now contrast this legal exaction of labor from CONVICTS
with the exaction from slaves, as established by the preceding testimony.
The reader perceives that the amount of time in which, by the preceding
laws of Maryland, Virginia, and Georgia, the convicts in their prisons
are required to labor, is on an average during the year but little more
than NINE HOURS daily ; whereas the laws of South Carolina permit the
master to compel his slaves to work FIFTEEN HOURS in the twenty-four in
summer, and FOURTEEN in the winter — which would be in winter from
daybreak in the morning untiiyowr hours after sunset !** — See 2 Brevard's.
Digest, 243.
" The other slave states, except Louisiana, have no laws respecting the
labor of slaves, consequently if the master should work his slaves day and
night without sleep till they drop dead, he violates no law !"
" The law of Louisiana provides for the slaves but TWO AND A HALF
HOURS in the twenty-four for * rest !' — See Law of Louisiana, act of July
7, 1806, Martin s Digest, 6. 10—12."
2. The slaves suffer greatly from hunger. This is the certain
88
consequence of the planting policy, as has been shown. To
suppose an opposite effect would be wholly unreasonable.
From the following testimony it will be seen, that in respect
both to the quantity and quality of food, the planters conform
to the most rigid requirements of avarice. — See " American
Slavery as it is," pages 28—31.
'THE SLAVES SUFFER FROM HUNGER — DECLARATIONS OF SLAVEHOLDERS
AND OTHERS.
WITNESSES.
Hon. Alexander Smyth, a
slaveholder, and for ten years
Member of Congress from Vir-
ginia, in his speech on the Mis-
souri question, Jan. 28th, 1820.
TESTIMONY.
" By confining the slaves to the southern states,
where crops are raised for exportation, and bread and
meat are purchased, you doom them to scarcity and
himger. It is proposed to hem in the blacks where
they are ILL FED."
" My blood has frequently run cold within me, to
think how many of your slaves have not sufficient food
to eat ; they are scarcely permitted to pick up the
crumbs that fall from their master's table.''
"Thousands of the slaves are pressed with the
gnawings of cruel hunger during their whole lives."
Speaking of the condition of slaves, in the eastern
part of that state, the report says, — " The master puts
the unfortunate wretches upon short allowances,
scarcely sufficient for their sustenance, so that a great
part of them go half-starved much of the time."
" On almost every plantation, the hands suffer more
or less from hunger at some seasons of almost every
year. There is always a good deal of tuffering from
hunger. On many plantations, and particularly in
Louisiana, the slaves are in a condition of almost utter
famishment, during a great portion of the year."
" From various causes this (the slave's allowance of
food) is often not adequate to the support of a labor-
ing man."
" The slaves down the Mississippi are half-starved,
the boats, when they stop at night, are constantly
boarded by slaves, begging for something to eat."
" The slaves are supplied with barely enough to
keep them from starving.''
^d^Sv&S^. " As a general thing on the plantations, the slaves
Mass., who lived five yean in sufler extremely for the want of food."
Rev. George Whitefield, in his
letter to the slaveholders of Md.
Va. N. C., S. C. and Ga. pub-
lished in Georgia, just one hun-
dred years ago, 1739.
Rev. John Rankin, of Ripley,
Ohio, a native of Tennessee, and
for some years a preacher in
slave states.
Report of the Gradual Eman-
cipation Society, of North Caro-
lina, 1826. Signed Moses Swain,
President, and William Swain,
Secretary.
Mr. Asa A. Stone, a theolo-
gical student, who resided near
Natchez, Miss., la 1834-5.
Thomas Clay, Esq. of Georgia,
a slaveholder.
Mr. Tobias Boudinot, St. Al-
bans, Ohio, a member of the
Methodist church. Mr. B. for
some years navigated the Mis-
sissippi.
President Edwards, the young-
er, in a sermon before the Conn.
Abolition Society, 1791.
Georgia.
Rev. George Bourne, late edi-
tor of the Protestant Vindicator,
N. Y., who was seven years
pastor of a church in Virginia.
"The slaves are deprived of needful sustenance."
89
" 1. KINDS OF FOOD.
Hon. Robert TurnbuU,asiave- « The subsistence of the slaves consists, from March
holderofCharU.ton.Sd ,- ^ ^^ Q{ ^ ^^ .^ ^ ^ ^^ ^^
into what is called hominy, or baked into corn bread.
The other six months, they are fed upon the sweet
potatoe. Meat, when given, is only by way of indul-
gence or favor."
Mr. Eieazar Powell, Chippewa, "The food of the slaves was generally corn bread.
Beaver Co., Penn.. who resided j , ">» *
in Mississippi, in 1836-7. and sometimes meat or molasses.
Reuben G. Macy, a member " The slaves had no food allowed them besides
«,?N.KLof«SSto s^ufh corn, excepting at Christmas, when they had beef."
Carolina.
Mr. William Leftwich, a na- « On my uncle's plantation, the food of the slaves
dr y
nyow was corn pone and a small allowance of meat."
member of the Presbyterian
church, Delhi, Ohio.
" William Ladd, Esq., of Minot, Me., president of the American Peace
Society, and formerly a slaveholder of Florida, gives the following testi-
mony as to the allowance of food to slaves :
" ' The usual food of the slaves was corn, with a modicum of salt. In
some cases the master allowed no salt, but the slaves boiled the sea-water
for salt in their little pots. For about eight days near Christmas, i. e.,
from the Saturday evening before, to the Sunday evening after Christmas-
day, they were allowed some meat. They always, with one single excep-
tion, ground their corn in a hand-mill, and cooked their food them-
selves.'
" Extract of a letter from Rev. D. C. Eastman, a preacher of the
Methodist Episcopal church, in Fayette county, Ohio :
" 'In March, 1838, Mr. Thomas Larrimer, a deacon of the Presbyterian
church in Bloomingbury, Fayette county, Ohio, Mr. G. S. Fullerton,
merchant, and member of the same church, and Mr. William A. Ustick,
an elder of the same church, spent a night with a Mr. Shepherd, about
thirty miles north of Charleston, S. C., on the Monk's corner road. He
owned five families of negroes, who, he said, were fed from the same
meal and meat-tubs as himself, but that ninety-nine out of a hundred of,
all the slaves in that county saw meat but once a year, which was on
Christmas holidays.'
" As an illustration of the inhuman experiments sometimes tried upon
slaves, in respect to the kind as well as the quality and quantity of their
food, we solicit the attention of the reader to the testimony of the late
General Wade Hampton, of South Carolina. General Hampton was for
some time commander- in-chief of the army on the Canada frontier during
the last war, and at the time of his death, about three years since, was
the largest slaveholder in the United States. The General's testimony
90
is contained in the following extract of a letter, just received from a dis-
tinguished clergyman in the west, extensively known both as a preacher
and a writer. His name is with the executive committee of the American
Anti-Slavery Society :
" ' You refer in your letter to a statement made to you while in this
place, respecting the late General "Wade Hampton, of South Carolina,
and task me to write out for you the circumstances of the case, con-
sidering them, well calculated to illustrate two points in the history of
slavery : 1st. That the habit of slaveholding, dreadfully blunts the feeling
toward the slave, producing such insensibility, that his sufferings and
death are regarded with indifference. 2d. That the slave, often has insuf-
ficient food, both in quantity and quality.
" * I received my information from a lady in the west, of high respect-
ability and great moral worth, but think it best to withhold her name,
although the statement was not made in confidence.
" * My informant stated, that she sat at dinner once in company with
General Wade Hampton, and several others ; that the conversation
turned upon the treatment of their servants, &c. ; when the General
undertook to entertain the company with the relation of an experiment
he had made in the feeding of his slaves on cotton seed. He said that
he first mingled one-fourth cotton seed with three-fourths corn, on which
they seemed to thrive tolerably well ; that he then had measured out to
them equal quantities of each, which did not seem to produce any im-
portant change ; afterwards he increased the quantity of cotton seed to
three-fourths, mingled with one-fourth corn, and then he declared, with
an oath, that ' they died like, rotten sheep !' It is but justice to the lady
to state, that she spoke of his conduct with the utmost indignation ; and
she mentioned also that he received no countenance from the company
present, but that all seemed to look at each other with astonishment. I
give it to you just as I received it from one who was present, and whose
character for veracity is unquestionable.
" ' It is proper to add, that I had previously formed an acquaintance
with Dr. Witherspoon, now of Alabama, if alive, whose former residence
was in South Carolina ; from whom I received a particular account of
the manner of feeding and treating slaves on the plantations of General
Wade Hampton, and others in the same part of the state ; and certainly
no one could listen to the recital without concluding that such masters
and overseers as he described must have hearts like the nether millstone.
The cotton seed experiment I had heard of before, also, as having been
made in other parts of the south ; consequently I was prepared to receive
as true the above statement, even if I had not been so well acquainted
with the high character of my informant.' "
91
"2. QUANTITY OF FOOD.
" The legal allowance of food for slaves in North Carolina, is in the words of
the law, "a quart of corn per day." See Haywood's Manual, 525. The legal
allowance in Louisiana is more, a barrel (flour barrel) of corn (in the ear), or
its equivalent in other grain, and a pint of salt a month. In the other slave
states the amount of food for the slaves is left to the option of the master.
WITNESSES. TESTIMONY.
Thos. Clay, Esq., of Georgia, « f^e quantity allowed by custom is a peck of corn
a slaveholder, in his address be- 7 -i1 * • r J
fore the Georgia Presbytery, <* WCeK I
1833.
The Maryland journal, and " A single peck of corn a week, or the like measure
BaUimore Advertiser, May 30, oy rjCCj js the or<Hnary quantity of provision for a
hard-working slave ; to which a small quantity of meat
is occasionally, though rarely, added."
w. c. Gfldersieeve, Esq., a "The weekly allowance to grown slaves on this
^erelySVu^h,eweiL/° plantation, where I was best acquainted, was one peck
barre, Penn. of Com."
t£Z£ft£S*£ tan£ " The usual allowance of food was one quart of com
rida, ' a day, to a full task hand, wiih a modicum of salt;
kind masters allowed a peck of cern a week ; some
masters allowed no salt"
• Mr. Jarvis Brewster, in hi» « fhe allowance of provisions for the slaves, is one
" Exposition of the treatment of . - . . ». . .,
slaves in the Southern States," peck of corn, in the grain, per week.'
published in N. Jersey, 1815.
Rev. Horace Mouiton, a me- «< In Georgia the planters give each slave only one
Mast w£?£!S five^t; P «* of their gourd-teed corn per week, with a small
Georgia. quantity of salt."
Mr. F. c. Macy, Nantucket, «' The food of the slaves was three pecks of potatoes
uu820Wh0 re*ided 'm G*orsia a week during the potatoe season, and one peck of corn
during the remainder of the year."
Mr. Nehemiah Cauikins, a n jne subsistence of the slaves consists of seven
member of the Baptist church .. , ., . »j-/-
in Waterford, Conn., who re- quarts oj meal, or eight quarts of small rice for one
sided in North Carolina eleven ^gefc /"
winters.
wuiiam Savery, late of pwia- «« ^ pecfc Of corn is their (the slave's) miserable sub-
delphia, an eminent minister of . f , „
the Society of Friends, who tra- SlStenCC./Or a WCeh.
veiled extensively in the slave
states, on a religious visit,
speaking of the subsistence of
the slaves, says, in his published
Journal,
Theiate John Parrish, of Phi- « They allow them but one peck of meal, for a whole
Ipecled^nin^er^o'f Sfso^ ™ek, in some of the southern states »
of Friends, who traversed the
south, on a similar mission, in
1804 and 5, says in his " Remarks
on the slavery of Blacks :"
Richard Macy, Hudson, N .Y.i "Their usual allowance of food was one peck of
FriS^ho' ha.6 S ta corn Per week> which was dealt out to them every
Georgia. . first day of the week. They had nothing allowed them
besides the com, except one quarter of beef at Christ-
mas."
92
WITNESSES. TESTIMONY.
' Rev.c. s. Renshaw.ofQuincT, « The slaves are generally allowanced : a pint of
IILCtheterttaonyofaVirginian). ^ meal ^ a sah herring is the allowance, OF in
lieu of the herring a ' dab' of fat meat of about the
same value. I have known the sour milk, and clauber,
to be served out to the hands, when there was an
abundance of milk on the plantation. This is a luxury
not often afforded.'*
" Testimony of Mr. George W. "Westgate, member of the Congrega-
tional church, of Quincy, Illinois. Mr. W. has been engaged in the low
country trade for twelve years, more than half of each year, principally
on the Mississippi, and its tributary streams in the south-western slave
states :
" '•Feeding is not sufficient, — let facts speak. On the coast, i. e. Natchez
and the Gulf of Mexico, the allowance was one barrel of ears of corn,
and a pint of salt per month. They may cook this in what manner they
please, but it must be done after dark ; they have no daylight to prepare
it by. Some few planters, but only a few, let them prepare their corn
on Saturday afternoon. Planters, overseers, and negroes, have told me,
that in pinching times, i. e. when corn is high, — they did not get near that
quantity. In Mississippi I know some planters who allowed their hands
three and a half pounds of meat per week, when it was cheap. Many
prepare their corn on the Sabbath, when they are not worked on that day,
which, however, is frequently the case on sugar plantations. There are
very many masters on ' the coast' who will not suffer their slaves to come
to the boats, because they steal molasses to barter for meat ; indeed they
generally trade more or less with stolen property. But it is impossible
to find out what and when, as their articles of barter are of such trifling
importance. They would often come on board our boats to beg a bone,
and would tell how badly they were fed ; that they were almost starved.
Many a time I have sat up all night, to prevent them from stealing some-
thing to eat.'
" 3. QUALITY OF FOOD.
" Having ascertained the kind and quantity of food allowed to the slaves, it
is important to know something of its quality, that we may judge of the amount
of sustenance which it contains. For, if their provisions are of an inferior
quality, or in a damaged state, then, power to sustain labor must be greatly
diminished.
WITNESSES. TESTIMONY.
Thomas Clay, Esq. of Georgia, « There is often a defect here."
in an address to the Georgia
Presbytery, 1834, speaking of the
quality of the corn given to the
slaves, says,
Rev. Horace Mouiton, a me- " The food, or ' feed' of slaves is generally of the
•thodist clergyman at Marlboro*, nnnrp~t l<jml »
Mass., and fire years a resident pOOTCSt KIHU.
of Georgia.
93
WITNESSES.
The "Western Medical Re-
former," in an article on the dis-
eases peculiar to negroes, by a
Kentucky physician, says of the
diet of the slaves :
Professor A. G. Smith, of the
New York Medical College ;
formerly a physician in Louis-
ville, Kentucky.
TESTIMONY.
" They live on a coarse, crude, unwholesome diet."
" I have myself known numerous instances of large
families of badly fed negroes swept off by a prevailing
epidemic; and it is well known to many intelligent
planters in the south, that the best method of prevent-
ing that horrible malady, Chachexia Africana, is to
feed the negroes with nutritious food."
"4. NUMBER AND TIME OF MEALS EACH DAY.
" In determining whether or not the slaves suffer for want of food, the num-
ber of hours intervening, and the labor performed between their meals, and the
number of meals each day, should be taken into consideration.
WITNESSES. TESTIMONY.
. Philemon Bius, Esq., a lawyer « The slaves so to the field in the morning; they
in Elvria, Ohio, and member of • • i_ •*!_ j ^
the Presbyterian church, who carry with them corn meal wet with water, and at
1834 and noon build a fire on the ground, and bake it in the
ashes. After the labors of the day are over, they take
their second meal of ash-cake."
Edwards, the « The slaves eat twice during the day."
"The slaves received two meals during the day.
sWed^MSsippnli'isae ami Those who have their food cooked for them get their
1837. breakfast about eleven o'clock, and their other meal
after night. "
" The breakfast of the slaves was generally about
lived in
1835.
Florida
President
younger.
Mr. Eleazar Powell, Chippewa,
Mr. Nehemiah Cauikins, Wa-
terford. Conn., who spent eleven / ^ eleven
winiers in North Carolina. ten W eleven
Rev. Phineas Smith, Centre-
ville, N. Y., who has lived at the
south some years.
Rev. C. S. Reushaw, Quincy,
Illinois — the testimony of a Vir-
ginian.
" The slaves have usually two meals a day, viz., at
eleven o'clock and at night."
*' The slaves have two meals a day. They break-
fast at from ten to eleven, A. M., and eat their supper
at from six to nine or ten at night, as the season and
crops may be."
3. The slaves suffer from want of sleep.
This has already been shown under a previous head, in con-
nexion with the proof, that the slaves are overworked.
4. The slaves suffer from insufficient clothing. The kind,
amount, and quality of clothing will appear in the following tes-
timony :
WITNESSES.
TESTIMONY.
»Hon. T. T. Bouidin, a slave- ]yjr Bouldin said " he knew that many negroes had
Ider and member of Congress, ,. , - „ ,Y , f. .,
>m Virginia, in a speech in died from exposure to weather, and added, " they are
ingress, Feb. 16, 1835. cia(j in zjlimsy fabric, that will turn neither wind nor
water"
94
WITNESSES. TESTIMONY.
George Buchanan, M. D., of » The slaves, naked and starved, often fall victims
Baltimore, member of the Ame- .1 • , • « , .1 >»
rican phik ,inai Snriotv. in to the inclemencies of the weather."
rican Philosophical Society, in
an oration at Baltimore, July 4,
1791.
• Win. Savery, of Philadelphia, "We rode through many rice swamps, where the
Societm'of "Frie^ds^who^went Blacks were very numerous, great droves of these poor
through ;the southern states in slaves, working up Jo the middle in water, men and
1791, on^a religious visit ; after women nearly naked."
leaving Savannah, Ga., we find •
the following entry in his journal,
6th month, 28, 1791.
Rev. John Rankin, of Ripley, " In every slaveholding state, many slaves suffer ex-
Ohio, a native of Tennes.ee. tremely, both while they labor and while they sleep,
for want of clothing to keep them warm."
John Parrish, late of Phila- " It is shocking to the feelings of humanity, in tra-
ter^n^thehiSoci7yT friend^ vel.ling through some of those states, to see those poor
who travelled through the south objects (slaves'), especially in the inclement season, in
rags, and trembling with the. cold." *
"They suffer them, both male and female, to go
without clothing at the age of ten and twelve years."
viiueVAnhineiUI Sm'th> CentTe~ " The apparel of the slaves is of the coarsest sort,
sl. has jusTrcturned from'a K*. and exceedingly deficient in quantity. I have been on
dence of several years at the many plantations, where children of eight and ten
&UdeaflInoingVKimeLri± X^rs old, were in a state of perfect nudity. Slaves
icttlers in Texas. are in general wretchedly clad."
Wm. Ladd, Esq., of Minot, « They were allowed two suits of clothes a year, viz.
Maine, recently a slaveholder in • e A. L- /• i
Florida. one pair or trowsers with a shirt or frock of osnaburgh
for summer ; and for winter, one pair of trowsers, ai.d
a jacket of negro-cloth, with a baize shirt and a pair
of shoes. Some allowed hats, and some did not ; and
they were generally, I believe, allowed one blanket
in two years. Garments of similar materials were
allowed the women/'
^n^hIeenwt,[eP™y1Seadnic^^tRIe! ." Th,ey are imperfectly clothed both summer and
former, in 1836, on the diseases Winter."
peculiar to slaves, lays,
Mr. Stephen E. Maitby, in- " I was at Huntsville, Alabama, in 1818-19 ; I fre
spectorofprovisions,skeneateiei, quently saw slaves on and around the public square,
N. Y., who resided some time in .,, , ,, /• , .. •
Alabama. with hardly a rag of clothing on them, and in a great
many instances with but a single garment both in sum-
mer and in winter ; generally the only bedding of the
slaves was a blanket."
Reuben G. Macy, Hudson, N. " Their clothing consisted of a pair of trowsers and
Y., member of the Society of jacket, made of ' negro cloth.' The women a petti-
Fnends, who resided in South J i_ _*. « JL tj^i- 11
Carolina, in 1818 and 1819. coat, a very short ' short gown,' and nothing else, the
same kind of cloth ; some of the women had an old
pair of shoes, but they generally went barefoot."
Mr. Lemuel Sapington, of " Their clothing is often made by themselves after
Lancaster, Pa., a native of Mary- night, though sometimes assisted by ihe old women
land,andformerlya.laveholder.
quently it is harsh and uncomfortable. And I have
very frequently seen those who had not attained the
age of twelve years go
95
WITNESSES. TESTIMONY.
Philemon Bliss, E»q., a lawyer "It is very common to see the younger class of
rioridUn iKMa'ndWi835live<1 "* s^aves UP to e^ht or ten without any clothing, and
most generally the laboring men wear no shirts in the
warm season. The perfect nudity of the younger
slaves is so familiar to the whites of both sexes, that
they seem to witness it with perfect indifference. I
may add that the aged and feeble often suffer from
cold."
r Richard M.cy, a member of " For bedding each slave was allowed one blanket,
the Society of Friends, Hudson, in which they rolled themselves up. I examined their
N. Y.,wh eorgia. ^^ but coujd nQt fin(j a
w. c. Giidenieeve, Esq. " It is an every day sight to see women as well as
Wiikesbarre, Pa., a native of men, with no other covering than a few filthy rags fas-
tened above the hips, reaching midway to the ankles.
I never knew any kind of covering for the head given.
Children of both sexes, from infancy to ten years, are
seen in companies on the plantations, in a state of
perfect nudity. This was so common that the most
refined and delicate beheld them unmoved."
• Mr. waiiam Leftwich, a native "The only bedding of the slaves generally consists
of Virginia, now a member of the of two old blankets."
Presbyterian Church, in Delhi,
Ohio.
" Advertisements like the following, from the ' New Orleans Bee,'
May 31, 1837, are common in the southern papers —
" '10 Dollars Reward. — Ran away, the slave Solomon, about 28 years
of age ; BADLY CLOTHED. The above reward will be paid on application
to FERNANDEZ & WHITING, No. 20, St. Louis-st.
" * Ran away from the subscriber, the negress Fanny, always badly
dressed ; she is about 25 or 26 years old. JOHN MACOIN, 117, S. Ann-
street.'
"The Darien (Ga.) Telegraph, of Jan. 24, 1837, in an editorial arti-
cle, hitting off the aristocracy of the planters, incidentally lets out some
secrets, about the usual clothing of the slaves. The editor says, — ' The
planter looks down, with the most sovereign contempt, on the merchant
and the storekeeper. He deems himself a lord, because he gets his two
or three RAGGED servants to row him to his plantation every day, that he
may inspect the labor of his hands.'
" The following is an extract from a letter lately received from Rev.
C. S. Renshaw, of Quincy, Illinois :
" ' I am sorry to be obliged to give more testimony without the name.
An individual, in whom I have great confidence, gave me the following
facts. That I am not alone in placing confidence in him, I subjoin a
testimonial from Dr. Richard Eells, deacon of the Congregational church,
of Quincy, and Rev. Mr. Fisher, Baptist minister, of Quincy.
96
" ' We have been acquainted with the brother who has communicated
to you some facts that fell under his observation, whilst in his native
state. He is a professed follower of our Lord, and we have great confi-
dence in him as a man of integrity, discretion, and strict Christian prin-
ciple.
" ' RICHARD EELLS.
" ' EZRA FISHER.
" ' Quincy, Jan. 9th, 1839.
" ' TESTIMONY. — I lived for thirty years in Virginia, and have travelled
extensively through Fauquier, Culpepper, Jefferson, Stafford, Albemarle,
and Charlotte counties ; my remarks apply to these counties.
" ' The negro houses are miserably poor ; generally they are a shelter
from neither the wind, the rain, nor the snow, and the earth is the floor.
There are exceptions to this rule, but they are only exceptions ; you may
sometimes see puncheon floor, but never, or almost never, a plank floor.
The slaves are generally without beds or bedsteads ; some few have cribs
that they fasten up for themselves in the corner of the hut. Their bed-
clothes are a nest of rags thrown upon a crib, or in the corner ; sometimes
there are three or four families in one small cabin. Where the slave-
holders have more than one family, they put them in the same quarter
till it is filled, then build another. I have seen exceptions to this, when
only one family would occupy a hut, and where were tolerably comfort-
able bed-clothes.
" * Most of the slaves in these counties are miserably clad. I have
known slaves who went without shoes all winter, perfectly barefoot. The
feet of many of them are frozen. As a general fact, the planters do not
serve out to their slaves drawers, or any under clothing, or vests, or
over-coats. Slaves sometimes, by working at night and on Sundays, get
better things than their masters serve to them.
" ' Whilst these things are true of field-hands, it is also true that many
slaveholders clothe their waiters and coachmen like gentlemen. I do not
think there is any difference between the slaves of professing Christians
and others ; at all events, it is so small as to be scarcely noticeable.
" ' I have seen men and women at work in the field more than half-
naked : and more than once in passing, when the overseer was not near,
they would stop and draw round them a tattered coat or some ribbons of
a skirt, to hide their nakedness and shame from the stranger's eye.'
" Mr. George W. Westgate, a member of the Congregational church -
in Quincy, Illinois, who has spent the larger part of twelve years navi-
gating the rivers of the south-western slave states with keel boats, as a
trader, gives the following testimony as to the clothing and lodging of
the slaves :
97
" ' In Lower Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana, the clothing of
the slaves is wretchedly poor ; and grows worse as you go south, in the
order of the states I have named. The only material is cotton bagging,
i. e. bagging in which cotton is baled, not bagging made of cotton. In
Louisiana, especially in the lower country, I have frequently seen them
with nothing but a tattered coat, not sufficient to hide their nakedness.
In winter their clothing seldom serves the purpose of comfort, and fre-
quently not even of decent covering. In Louisiana the planters never
think of serving out shoes to slaves. In Mississippi they give one pair a
year generally. I never saw, or heard of an instance of masters allowing
them stockings. A small poor blanket is generally the only bed-clothing,
and this they frequently wear in the field when they have not sufficient
clothing to hide their nakedness or to keep them warm. Their manner
of sleeping varies with the season. In hot weather they stretch them-
selves anywhere and sleep. As it becomes cool they roll themselves in
their blankets, and lay scattered about the cabin. In cold weather they
nestle together with their feet towards the fire, promiscuously. As a
general fact, the earth is their only floor and bed — not one in ten have
anything like a bedstead, and then it is a mere bunk put up by them-
selves.'
" Mr. George A. Avery, an elder in the fourth Congregational church,
Rochester, N. Y., who spent four years in Virginia, says, 'The slave
children, very commonly of both sexes, up to the ages of eight and ten
years, and I think in some instances beyond this age, go in a state of
disgusting nudity. I have often seen them with their tow shirt (their
only article of summer clothing) which, to all human appearance, Had not
been taken off from the time it was first put on, worn off from the bottom
upwards, shred by shred, until nothing remained but the straps which
passed over their shoulders, and the less exposed portions extending a
very little way below the arms, leaving the principal part of the chest, as
well as the limbs, entirely uncovered.'
" Samuel Ellison, a member of the Society of Friends, formerly of
Southampton county, Virginia, now of Marlborough, Stark county, Ohio,
says, ' I knew a methodist who was the owner of a number of slaves.
The children of both sexes, belonging to him, under twelve years of age,
were entirely destitute of clothing. I have seen an old man compelled
to labor in the fields, not having rags enough to cover his nakedness.'
" Rev. H. Lyman, late pastor of the Free Presbyterian church, in
Buffalo, N. Y., in describing a tour down and up the Mississippi river
in the winter of 1832—3, says, ' At the wood yards where the boats stop,
it is not uncommon to see female slaves employed in carrying wood.
Their dress, which was quite uniform, was provided without any refer-
H
98
ence to comfort. They had no covering for their heads ; the stuff which
constituted the outer garment was sackcloth, similar to that in which
brown domestic goods are done up. It was then December, and I
thought that in such a dress, and being as they were, without stockings,
they must suffer from the cold.'
" Mr. Benjamin Anderson, Colerain, Lancaster county, Pa., a mem-
ber of the Society of Friends, in a recent letter describing a short tour
through the northern part of Maryland in the winter of 1836, thus speaks
of a place a few miles from Chestertown. ' About this place there were
a number of slaves ; very few, if any, had either stockings or shoes ; the
weather was intensely cold, and the ground covered with snow.'
" The late Major Stoddard, of the United States' artillery, who took
possession of Louisiana for the U. S. government, under the cession of
1804, published a book entitled, ' Sketches of Louisiana,' in which, speak-
ing of the planters of Lower Louisiana, he says, ' Few of them allow any
clothing to their slaves.'
" The following is an extract from the will of the late celebrated John
Randolph, of Virginia :
" ' To my old and faithful servants, Essex, and his wife Hetty, I give
and bequeath a pair of strong shoes, a suit of clothes, and a blanket each,
to be paid them annually ; also an annual hat to Essex.'
"No Virginia slaveholder has ever had a better name as a 'kind
master,' and ' good provider' for his slaves, than John Randolph. Essex
and Hetty were favorite servants, and the memory of the long uncom-
pensated services of those ' old and faithful servants,' seems to have
touched their master's heart. Now as this master was John Randolph,
and as those servants were * faithful,' and favorite servants, advanced in
years, and worn out in his service, and as their allowance was, in their
master's eyes, of sufficient moment to constitute a paragraph in his last
will and testament, it is fair to infer that it would be very liberal, far
better than the ordinary allowance for slaves.
" Now we leave the reader to judge what must be the usual allowance
of clothing to common field slaves in the hands of common masters,
when Essex and Hetty, the ' old' and ' faithful' slaves of John Randolph,
were provided, in his last will and testament, with but one suit of clothes
annually, with but one blanket each for bedding, with no stockings, nor
socks, nor cloaks, nor over-coats, nor handkerchiefs, nor towels, and with
no change either of under or outside garments !"
5. The slaves suffer from inadequate shelter. The testimony
under this head will show the master true to his master-passion
99
—avarice. While he rears a stately mansion for his own family,
and furnishes it with everything which can minister to ease,
appetite, or pleasure, he thrusts his toil-worn slaves into miserable
hovels, which betray within and around them even less regard
for the comfort of the inmates than his stables.
For the following testimony see " American Slavery as it is,"
page 43 :
" THE SLAVES ARE WRETCHEDLY SHELTERED AND LODGED.
WITNESSES.
Mr. Stephen E. Maltby, In-
ipector of provisions, Skanea-
teles, N. Y., who has lived in
Alabama.
Mr. George A. Avery, elder of
the 4th Preibyterian church,
Rochester, N. Y., who lived four
years in Virginia.
TESTIMONY.
William Ladd, Esq., Minot,
Maine, President of the Ame-
rican Peace Society, formerly a
slaveholder in Florida.
"The huts where the slaves slept, generally con-
tained but one apartment, and that without floor."
" Amongst all the negro cabins which I saw in Va.,
/ cannot call to mind one in which there was any other
floor than the earth ; anything that a northern laborer,
or mechanic, white or colored, would call a bed, nova
solitary partition, to separate the sexes."
" The dwellings of the slaves were palmetto huts,
built by themselves of stakes and poles, thatched with
the palmetto leaf. The door, when they had any, was
generally of the same materials, sometimes boards
found on the beach. They had no floors, no separate
apartments, except the Guinea negroes had sometimes
a small inclosure for their ' god house.' These huts
the slaves built themselves after task and on Sundays."
Rev. Joseph M. Sadd, pastor " The slaves live generally in miserable huts, which
^N'Y^oUv'dtaMs^uri are without foors, and have a single apartment only,
where both sexes are herded promiscuously together."
" On old plantations, the negro quarters are of
toQcy, frame and clapboards, seldom affording a comfortable'
has spent a number of years in shelter from wind or rain ; their size varies from 8 by
slave states. 10, to 10 by 12 feet, and six or eight feet high ; some-
times there is a hole cut for a window, but I never saw
a sash, or glass in any. In the new country, and in
the woods, the quarters arc generally built of logs, of
similar dimensions."
five' years previous to 1837.
Mr. George w. Westp-ate,
Mr. Cornelius Johnson, a
member of a Christian church in
Farmington, Ohio. Mr. J. lived
in Mississippi in 1837— 8.
The Western Medical Re-
former, in an article on the
Cachexia Africana, by a Ken-
tucky physician, thus speaks of
the huts of the slaves :
Mr. William Leftwich, a native
of Virginia, but has resided most
of his life in Madison Co. Ala-
bama.
"Their houses were commonly built of logs, some-
times they were framed, ofte? they had no floor, some
of them have two apartments, commonly but one ;
each of those apartments contained a family. Some-
times these families consisted of a man and his wife
and children, while in other instances persons of both
sexes, were thrown together without any regard to
family relationship."
" They are crowded together in a small hut, and
sometimes having an imperfect, and sometimes no
floor, and seldom raised from the ground, ill ventilated,
and surrounded with filth."
"The dwellings of the slaves are log huts, from 10
to 12 feet square, often without windows, doors, or
floors ; they have neither chairs, table, nor bedstead.''
H2
100
WITNESSES. TESTIMONY.
' Reuben L. Macy, of Hudson, « The houses for the field slaves were about 14 feet
Society of ^endV^fuvfcHu square, built in the coarsest manner, with one room,
South Carolina in 1818-19. without any chimney or flooring, with a hole in the roof
to let the smoke out.''
Mr. Lemuel Sapington, of " The descriptions generally given of negro quarters,
Lancaster, Pa., a native of Mary- are correct ; the quarters are without floors, and not
Und, formerly a, laveholder. sufficient to kefp Off the inclemency Of the weather .
they are uncomfortable both in summer and winter."
" When they return to their miserable huts at night,
Te^ee." Ra°kin> " ' * they find not there the means of comfortable rest ; but
on the cold ground they must lie without covering, and
shiver while they slumber.1'
" The dwellings of the slaves are usually small open
Philemon Bliss, Esq., Elyria, •,,. -.-, ,e. j _*
Ohio, who lived in Florida in log huts, with but one apartment, and very generally
•835. . without floors."
6. The slaves suffer from neglect in the various conditions of
feebleness and sickness incident to life. There are some in every
community who are in a dependent condition, either from
infirmity, disease, infancy, or age. By a most benign provision
of the great Father of all, these helpless ones are usually pro-
vided for, by their family friends. This arrangement slavery
utterly frustrates. The most vigorous, healthy, and industrious
slaves have nothing beyond the mere supply of their necessities.
But does the planter provide for those helpless beings, while he
deprives their friends of the power to do it ? Does he take care
of the infants whose mothers are denied the privilege of watch-
ing over them ? Does he tenderly supply to tottering age — in-
duced, perhaps, prematurely by wasting toil in his own fields —
those comforts which filial affection sighs in vain to provide ?
Alas ! avarice and oppression have qualified the planter to be
anything but a guardian and benefactor to his helpless poor.
Their helplessness commends them not to his commiseration, but
exposes them to his rage as not only unserviceable but burthen-
some.
One of the most revolting features of slavery is its neglect of
the sick and dying. Kindness to the sick is a dictate of nature
in its rudest state. It throws a halo of humanity around even
savages. The bitterest enemies forget their hatred when disease
makes its appeals to pity. The most deeply injured dismisses
his long-cherished revenge at the bedside of his smitten foe.
When sickness invades a dwelling, however humble, it calls
101
thither the extremes of society to pour their mingled sympathies
into the cup of affliction ; and the distinctions of rich and poor,
high and low, are for once forgotten in the pervading sense of a
common humanity sharing a common lot. At the sight of a
human frame writhing in pain, whether stretched upon straw
and covered with rags, or reclining upon down and canopied with
embroidery, — the sternest heart is moved. But no slaveholder
sees a human being in his slave; — the planter has no heart of
sympathy for his suffering ' chattel' : and the wretched slave
has only this consolation, that he is released for a season from
the tortures and the toils of bondage, frpm which sickness itself
is a welcome refuge.
We extract the following testimony from "American Slavery
as it is." pp. 44 — 45..
"THE SLAVCS SUFFER FROM INHUMAN NEGLECT WHEN SICK.
" In proof of this we subjoin the following testimony :
" Rev. Dr. CHANNING of Boston, who once resided in Virginia, re-
lates the following fact in his work on slavery, page 163, 1st edition :
<f ' I cannot forget my feelings on visiting a hospital belonging to'the
plantation of a gentleman highly esteemed for his virtues, and whose man-
ners and conversation expressed much benevolence and conscientiousness
When I entered with him the hospital, the first object on which my eye
fell was a young woman, very ill, probably approaching death. She was
stretched on the floor. Her head rested on something like a pillow ; but
her body and limbs were extended on the hard boards. The owner, I doubt
not, had at least as much kindness as myself; but he was so used to see
the slaves living without common comforts," that the idea of unkindness
in the present instance did not enter his mind.'
" This dyingjoung woman " was stretched on the floor" — " her body and
limbs extended upon the hard boards," — and yet her master " was highly
esteemed for his virtues," and his general demeanour produced upon
Dr. Channing the impression of " benevolence and conscientiousness."
If the sick and dying female slaves of such a master suffer such bar-
barous neglect, whose heart does not fail him, at the thought of that in-
humanity, exercised by the majority of slaveholders, towards their aged,
sick, and dying victims ?
" The following testimonies furnished by Sarah M. Grimke, a sister
of the late Hon. Thomas S. Grimke, of Charleston, South Carolina.
"' When the Ladies'^Benevolent Society in Charleston, S. C., of which I
was a visiting commissioner, first went into operation, we were applied
102
to for the relief of several sick and aged coloured persons ; one case I
particularly remember, of an aged woman who was dreadfully burnt from
having fallen into the fire ; she was living with some free blacks who had
taken her in out of compassion. On inquiry, we found that nearly all
the coloured persons who had solicited aid, were slaves, who being no
longer able to work for their " owners," were thus inhumanly cast out in
their sickness and old age, and must have perished, but for the kindness
of their friends.
" ' I was once visiting a sick slave in whose spiritual welfare peculiar
circumstances had led me to be deeply interested. I knew that she had
been early seduced from the path of virtue, asnearlyall the female slaves are.
I knew' also that her mistress, though a professor of religion, had never
taught her a single precept of Christianity, yet that she had had her se-
verely punished for this departure from them, and that the poor girl was
then ill of an incurable disease, occasioned partly by her own miscon-
duct, and partly by the cruel treatment she had received, in a situation
that called for tenderness and care. Her heart seemed truly touched
with repentance for her sins, and she was inquiring, ' What shall I do to
be saved ?' I was sitting by her as she lay on the floor upon a blanket,
and was trying to establish her trembling spirit in the fulness of Jesus,
when I heard the voice of her mistress in loud and angry tones, as she
approached the door. I read in the countenance of the prostrate suf-
ferer, the terror which she felt at the prospect of seeing her mistress.
I knew my presence would be very unwelcome, but stayed, hoping that
it might restrain, in some measure, the passions of the mistress. In this,
however, I was mistaken ; she passed me without apparently observing
that I was there, and seated herself on the other side of the sick slave.
She made no inquiry how she was, but in a tone of anger commenced
a tirade of abuse, violently reproaching her with her past misconduct,
and telling her in the most unfeeling manner, that eternal destruction
awaited her. No word of kindness escaped her. What had then roused
her temper I do not know. She continued in this strain several minutes,
when I attempted to soften her by remarking, that was very ill,
and she ought not thus to torment her, and that I believed Jesus had
granted her forgiveness. But I might as well have tried to stop the tem-
pest in its career, as to calm the infuriated passions nurtured by the ex-
ercise of arbitrary power. She looked at me with ineffable scorn, and
continued to pour forth a torrept of abuse and reproach. Her helpless
victim listened in terrified silence, until nature could endure no more,
when she uttered a wild shriek, and casting on her tormentor a look of
unutterable agony, exclaimed, ' Oh, mistress, I am dying !' This ap-
peal arrested her attention, and she soon left the room, but in the same
103
spirit with which she entered it. The girl survived but a few days, and,
I believe, saw her mistress no more'
" Mr. GEORGE A. AVERY, an elder of a presbyterian church in Ro-
chester, N. Y., who lived some years in Virginia, gives the following :
" * The manner of treating the sick slaves, and especially in chronic
cases, was to my mind peculiarly revolting. My opportunities for ob-
servation in this department were better than in, perhaps, any other, as
the friend under whose direction I commenced my medical studies en-
joyed a high reputation as a surgeon. I rode considerably with him in
his practice, and assisted in the surgical operations and dressings from
time to time. In confirmed cases of disease, it was common for the
master to place the subject under the care of a physician or surgeon, at
whose expense the patient should be kept, and if death ensued to the
patient, or the disease was not cured, no compensation was to be made,
but if cured a bonus of one, two, or three-hundred dollars was to be
given. No provision was made against the barbarity or neglect of the
physician, &c. I have seen fifteen or twenty of these helpless sufferers
crowded together in the true spirit of slaveholding inhumanity, like the
" brutes that perish," and driven from time to time like brutes into a
common yard, where they had to suffer any and every operation and ex-
periment, which interest, caprice, or professional curiosity might prompt,
— unrestrained by law, public sentiment, or the claims of common hu-
manity.'
^" Rev. William T. Allan, son of Rev. Dr. Allan, a slaveholder, of
Huntsville, Alabama, says in a letter now before us :
" ' Colonel Robert II. Watkins, of Laurence county, Alabama, who
owned about three hundred slaves, after employing a physician among
them for some time, ceased to do so, alleging as the reason, that it was
cheaper to lose a few negroes every year, than to pay a physician. This
Colonal Watkins was a Presidential elector in 1836.'
" A. A. Guthrie, Esq., elder in the Presbyterian church at Putnam,
Muskingum county, Ohio, furnishes the testimony which follows.
" ' A near female friend of mine in company with another young lady,
in attempting to visit a sick woman on Washington's Bottom, Wood
county, Virginia, missed the way, and stopping to ask directions of a
group of colored children on the outskirts of the plantation of Francis
Keen, sen., they were told to ask ' aunty, in the house.' On entering
the hut, says my informant, I beheld such a sight as I hope never to see
again ; its sole occupant was a female slave of the said Keen — her whole
wearing apparel consisted of a frock, made of the coarsest tow cloth, and
so scanty, that it could not have been made more tight around her person.
In the hut there was neither table, chair, nor chest — a stool and a rude
104
fixture in one corner, were all its furniture. On this last were a little
straw and a few old remnants of what had been bedding — all exceed-
ingly filthy.
" ' The woman thus situated had been for more than a day in travail,
without any assistance, any nurse, or any kind of proper provision — dur-
ing the night she said some fellow slave .woman would stay with her, and
the aforesaid children through the day. From a woman who was a
slave of Keen's at the same time, my informant learned, that this poor
woman suffered for three days, and then died— when too late to save
her life her master sent assistance. It was understood to be a rule of
his, to neglect his women entirely in such times of trial, unless they
previously came and informed him, and asked for aid.'"
"Rev. Phineas Smith, of Centreville, N. Y., who has resided four years
at the south, says : ' Often when the slaves are sick, their accustomed
toil is exacted from them. Physicians are rarely called for their benefit.'
"Rev. Horace Moulton, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church
in Marlborough, Mass., who resided a number of years in Georgia, says :
" ' Another dark side of slavery is the neglect of the aged and sick.
Many, when sick, are suspected by their masters of feigning sickness,
and are therefore whipped out to work after disease has got fast hold of
them ; when the masters learn that they are really sick, they are in many
instances left alone in their cabins during work hours ; not a few of the
slaves are left to die without having one friend to wipe off the sweat of
death. When the slaves are sick, the masters do not, as a general thing,
employ physicians, but " doctor" them, themselves, and their mode of
practice in almost all cases is to bleed and give salts. When women are
confined they have no physician, but are committed to the care of slave
midwives. Slaves complain very little when sick, when they die they
are frequently buried at night without much ceremony, and in many in-
stances without any ; their coffins are made by nailing together rough
boards, frequently with their feet sticking out at the end, and sometimes
they are put into the ground without a coffin or box of any kind.' "
7. The slaves suffer from the outrages of lust. The misery en-
dured from this one source must be inconceivable. It is more-
over an evil to which every slave husband, father, and brother
is subject. There is not a wife, daughter, mother, or sister who
is not completely at the disposal of the master, the master's sons,
and the overseer.
No husband can feel the least assurance that his own bed will
remain undefiled. The parents have no guarantee, that their
105
daughters will reach the earliest years of womanhood, without
falling victims to prowling lust.
Testimony*on this point is quite superfluous.
8. The slaves suffer from innumerable inflictions. In the plant-
ing states torture is the condition of labor. As the day brings its
toil so it brings its bloody inflictions ; from early dawn till dark
the sound of the lash is heard goading the wretches to their re-
luctant task. Nor is avarice the only torturer. Anger also
makes its furious onsets, revenge deals its blows, passion wields
its scorpion lash, wounded pride plies its fiery torments, tyranny
inflicts its gaping wounds, and lust riots its unhallowed tramp-
lings. • Every passion, set on fire of hell, rushes upon the de-
fenceless victim.
The following extracts from " American Slavery as it is" con-
stitute but a small portion of the testimony and facts contained
in that work exhibiting the tortures inflicted upon slaves.
" FLOGGINGS.
" The slaves are terribly lacerated with whips, paddles, &c. ; red pep-
per and salt are rubbed into their mangled flesh ; hot brine and turpen-
tine are poured into their gashes ; and innumerable other tortures inflicted
upon them.
~" We will, in the first place, prove by a cloud of witnesses, that the
slaves are whipped with such inhuman severity as to lacerate and man-
gle their flesh in the most shocking manner, leaving permanent scars and
ridges ; after establishing this, we will present a mass of testimony, con-
cerning a great variety of other tortures. The testimony, for the most
part, will be that of the slaveholders themselves, and in their own chosen
words. A large portion of it will be taken from the advertisements
which they have published in their own newspapers, describing, by the
scars on their bodies made by the whip, their own runaway slaves. To
copy these advertisements entire would require a great amount of
space, and flood the reader with a vast mass of matter irrelevant to the
point before us ; we shall therefore insert only so much of each as will
intelligibly set forth the precise point under consideration. In the co-
' lumn under the word " witnesses," will be found the name of the indi-
vidual, who signs the advertisement, or for whom it is signed, with his
or her place of residence, and the name and date of the paper, in yhich
it appeared, and generally the name of the place where it is published.
Opposite the name of each witness, will be an extract from the adver-
tisement, containing his or her testimony.
106
WITNESSES.
TESTIMONY.
Co Tenn sser "in he " Nasl ~" "" *° J3^ aS a runaway> a negro Woman
riiie Banner," Dec. loth, 1838. named Martha, 17 or 18 years of age, has numerous
scars of the whip on her back."
"Ten dollars reward for my woman Siby, very
much scarred about the neck and ears by whipping."
Mr, Robert Nicoll, Dauphin
it. between Emmanuel and Con-
ception sts. Mobile, Alabama, in
the " Mobile Commercial Ad-
vertiser."
Mr. Bryant Johnson, Fort
Valley, Houston Co., Georgia,
in the "Standard of Union,"
Milledgeville Ga. Oct. 2, 1838.
Mr. James T. De Jarnett,
Vernon, Autauga Co., Alabama,
in the "Pensacola Gazette,"
July 14, 1838.
Maurice Y. Garcia, Sheriff of
the County of Jefferson, La., in
th«'" New Orleans Bee," August
14, 1838.
R. J. Bland, Sheriff of Clai-
b»rne Co, Miss., in the " Charles-
ton (S. C.) Courier" August, 28.
1838.
Mr. James Noe, Red River
Landing, La., in the " Sentinel,"
Vicksburg, Miss., August 22,
1837.
William Craze, jailor, Alex-
andria, La. in the " Planter's In-
telligencer," Sept, 26, 1838.
John A. Rowland, jailor, Lum-
berton, North Carolina, in the
" Fayetteville (N. C.) Observer,"
June 20, 1838.
counS; Aiabe,rin the^HunSe " Committed to jail, a negro man-his back much
Democrat," Dec. 9, 1838. marked by the whip."
Mr. H. Variiiat, No. 23, Girod « Ranaway, the Negro slave named Jupiter — has a
«treet, New Orleans— in the - , , i r L- L
" Commercial BuUetin," August fresh mark of a cowsKin o.n each one ot his cheeks.
27, 1838.
Mr. Cornelius D. Tolin, Au-
gusta, Ga., in the "Chronicle
and Sentinel," Oct. 18, 1838.
W. H. Brasseale, sheriff,
Blount county, Ala., in the
" Hmntsville Democrat," June 9,
1838.
Mr. Robert Beasly, Macon,
Ga., in the "Georgia Messen-
ger," July 27, 1837.
" Ranaway, a negro woman, named Maria, some
cars on her back occasioned by the whip."
" Stolen a negro woman named Celia. On ex-
amining her back you will find marks caused by the
whip."
" Lodged in jail, a mulatto boy, having large marks
of the whip, on his shoulders and other parts of his
body."
" Was committed a negro boy, named Tom, is much
marked with the whip."
" Ranaway, a negro fellow named Dick — has many
scars on his back from being whipped.''
" Committed to jail, a negro slave — his back is
very badly scarred."
" Committed, a mulatto fellow — his back shows
lasting impressions of the whip, and leaves no doubt
of his being A SLAVE."
Mr. John Wotton, Rockville,
Montgomery county, Maryland,
in the " Baltimore Republican,"
Jan. 13, 1838.
D. S. Bennett, sheriff, Natchi-
toches, La., in the " Herald,"
July 21, 1838.
Messrs. C. C. Whitehead, and
R. A. Evans, Marion, Georgia,
in the Milledgeville (Ga.) " Stan-
dard of TJnion," June 26, 1838.
Mr Samuel Stewart, Greens-
boro', Ala., in the " Southern
Advocate," Huntsville, Jan. 6,
1838.
" Ranaway, a negro man named Johnson — he has
a great many marks of the whip on his back."
" Committed to jail, a negro slave named James —
much scarred with a whip on his back."
" Ranaway, my man Fountain — he is marked on
the back with the whip."
" Ranaway, Bill — has several LARGE SCARS on his
back from a severe whipping in early life."
" Committed to jail, a negro boy who calls himself
joe — said negro bears marks of the whip.''
" Ranaway, negro fellow John — from being whip-
ped, has scars on his back, arms, and thighs."
" Ranaway a boy named Jim — with the marks of
the whip on the small of the back, reaching round to
the flank."
107
WITNESSES. TESTIMONY.
" Mr. John Walker, NO. 6, « Ranaway, the mulatto boy Quash — considerably
Banks Arcade, New Orleans, m j , ., J , , j.u I ' -»u »i i i
the "Bulletin," August ii, 1838. marked on the back and other places with the lash.
Mr Jesse Beene, Cahawba, " Ranaway. my negro man Billy — he has the marks
Ala., in the " State Intelligen- ~ . , , . f, ' ' ° *
cer." Tuskaloosa, Dec. 25, 1837 °J tfle whip.
Mr. John Turner, Thomaston, " Left, my negro man named George — has marks
Lpson county. Geonria — in the c ti «• i • «• .t_ • i_ »
"Standard of Union?- Milled- °f the wlttP very plain on his thighs.
Seville, June 26, 1838.
James Derrah, deputy sheriff, " Committed to jail, negro man Toy — he has been
Claiborne county, ML, in the badly whipped."
"Port Gibson Correspondent, 9 ™
April 15, 1837.
s. B. Murphy, sheriff, wukin- " Brought to jail, a negro man named George — he
son sonnty, Georgia— in the },„„ a orpnf „,„„,. vrnrs frnm the Inth "
MilledgeviHe "Journal," May naS a Sreat many SCargjrom me laSfl.
IS, 1838-
Mr. L. E. cooner, Branchviiie, " One hundred dollars reward, for my negro Glas-
Sro^Sth^Sn «SM£ gow, and Kate, his wife. Glasgow is 24 years old-
•enger," May 25, 1837. has marks of the whip on his back. Kate is 26 — has
a scar on her cheek, and several marks of a whip."
f^" "; "a.nd- JaT!lor' Parish "Committed to jail, a negro boy named John,
of West Fehciana, La., m the , . -_ u u- u i L Jt i j • i_ i
"St. Francisviiie joumav July about 17 years old — his back badly marked with the
6> 1837. whip, his upper lip and chin severely bruised."
"The preceding are extracts from advertisements published in southern
papers, mostly in the year 1838. They are the mere samples of hun-
dreds of similar ones published during the same period."
" II. TORTURES, BY IRON COLLARS, CHAINS, FETTERS, HANDCUFFS, &C.
" The slaves are often tortured byiron collars, with longprongs or 'horns,'
and sometimes bells attached to them — they are made to wear chains,
handcuffs, fetters, iron clogs, bars, rings, and bands of iron upon their
limbs, iron masks upon their faces, iron gags in their mouths, &c.
" In proof of this, we give the testimony of slaveholders themselves,
under their own names ; it will be mostly in the form of extracts from
their own advertisements, in southern newspapers, in which, describing
their runaway slaves, they specify the iron collars, handcuffs, chains,
fetters, &c., which they wore upon their necks, wrists, ankles, and other
parts of their bodies. To publish the whole of each advertisement,
would needlessly occupy space and tax the reader ; we shall consequently,
as heretofore, give merely the name of the advertiser, the name and date
of the newspaper containing the advertisement, with the place of pub-
lication, and only so much of the advertisement as will give the particu-
lar fact, proving the truth of the assertion contained in the general head.
WITNESSES. TESTIMONY.
William Toier, sheriff of « Was committed to jail, a yellow boy named Jim
Mississippi, September 22, 1838.
Mr. James R. Green, in the «* Ranaway a negro man named Squire — had on a
"Beacon, Greensborough, Ala- ,. , , , -., , , ,
bama, August 23 1838 chain locked with a houselocK, around his neck.
108
WITNESSES.
Mr. Hazlet Loflano, in the
" Spectator," Stauntoii, Virgi-
nia, Sept. 27, 1838.
Mr. T. Enggy, New Orleans,
Gallatin Street, between Hos-
pital and Barracks, N. O. " Bee,"
Oct. 27, 1837.
Mr. John Henderson, Wash-
ington, county, Mi., in the
"Grand Gulf Advertiser," Au-
gust 29, 1838.
William Dyer, sheriff, Clai-
borne, Louisiana, in the " He-
rald," Natchitoches, (La.) July
26, 1837.
Mr. Owen Cooke, " Mary
street, between Common and
Jackson streets," New Orleans,
injthe N. O. " Bee," September
12, 1837.
H. W. Rice, sheriff, Colleton
district, South Carolina, in the
" Charleston Mercury," Septem-
ber 1, 1838.
W. P. Reeves, jailor, Shelby
county, Tennessee, in the "Mem-
phis Enquirer," June 17, 1837,
Mr. Francis Durett, Lexing-
toit, Lauderdale county, Ala., in
the " Huntsville Democrat,"
August 29, 1837.
Mr. A. Murat, Baton Rouge,
in the New Orleans " Bee," June
20, 1837.
Mr. Jordan Abbott, in 'the
44 Huutsville Democrat," Nov.
17, 1838.
Mr. J. Macoin, No. 177 Ann
street, New Orleans, in the
"Bee," August 11, 1838.
Menard Brothers, parish of
Bernard, Louisiana, in the N. O.
44 Bee,".August 18, 1838.
Messrs. J. L. and W. H. Bol-
ton, Shelby county, Tennessee,
in the "Memphis Enquirer,"
June 7, 1837.
H. Gridly, sheriff of AdanVs
county, ML, in the " Memphis
(Tenn.) Times," September,
1834.
Mr. Lambre, in the " Natchi-
toches (La.) Herald," March 29,
1837.
Mr. Ferdinand Lemos, New
Orleans, in the " Bee," January
29, 1838.
Mr. T. J. De Yampert, mer-
chant, Mobile, Alabama, of the
firm of De Yampert, King &
Co., in the " Mobile Chronicle,"
June 15, 1838.
J. H. Hand, jailor, 8t Francis-
ville, La, in the " Louisiana
Chronicle," July 26, 1837-
Mr. Charles Curcner, New
Orleans, iu the " Bee," July 2,
1838.
TESTIMONY.
" Ranaway, a negro named David — with some iron
hobbles around each ankle?
" Ranaway, negress Caroline — had on ^collar with
one prong turned down.'"
" Ranaway, the^black woman Betsy — had an iron
bar on her right leg."
" Was committed to jail, a negro named Ambrose
— has a ring of iron around his neck."
" Ranaway, my slave Amos, had a chain attached
to one of his legs."
Committed to jail, a negro named Patrick, about
forty -five years old, and is handcuffed"
" Committed to jail, a negro — had on his right leg
an iron band with one link of a chain."
" Ranaway, a negro man named Charles — had on
a drawing chain, fastened around his ankle with a
heuse lock."
" Ranaway, the negro Manuel, much marked with
irons.1'
" Ranaway, a negro boy named Daniel, about nine-
teen years old, and was handcuffed."
" Ranaway, the negress Fanny — had on an iron
band about her neck."
" Ranaway, a negro named John — having an iron
around his right foot."
"Absconded, a coloured boy named Peter — had an
iron round his neck when he went away."
" Was committed to jail, a negro boy — had on a
large neck iron with a huge pair of horns and a lar%e
bar or band of iron on his left leg."
" Ranaway, the Negro boy Teams — he had on his
neck an iron collar."
" Ranaway, the negro George— he had on his neck
an iron collar, the branches of which had been taken
off."
" Ranaway, a negro boy about twelve years old —
had round his neck a chain dog-collar, with * De
Yampert' engraved on it."
" Committed to jail, slave John— had several scars
on his wrists, occasioned, as he says, by handcuff's."
" Ranaway, the negro; Hown — has a ring of iron
on his left foot. Also, Grisee, his wife, having a ring
and chain on the lejt leg."
109
•Wii«i£SSES. TESTIMONY.
Mr. P. 'T. Manning:, Hunt*- " Ranaway, a negro boy "named James — said boy
was ironed when he left me.'"
Mr. William L. Lambeth, « Ranaway, Jim- — had on when he escaped a pair
"t^U^wlV^u! of chain handcuffs."
ary 30, 1836.
Mr. D. F. Guex, Secretary of " Ranaway, Edmund Coleman — it is supposed he
fefTw^JSTin0^ mast have iron shackles on his ankles."
" Commercial Bulletin," May
27, 1837.
Mr. Franci* Duret, Lexing- " Ranaway— — — , a mulatto — had on when he
£5e £±™aVVa^h"8?im left, a pair of handcuffs and a pair of drawing chains."
B. w. Hodges, jailor, Pike « Committed to jail, a man who calls his name
county, Alabama, in the " Mont- T, u u. i f • L- • T.± f ±
gomery Advertiser," Sept. .29, John — he has a clog of iron on his right foot which
1837. will weigh four or Jive pounds."
• ^"^V*^" °f f°licn' " Detained at the police jail, the negro wench
in the N. O. "Bee. June 9, „, , , r. • *« /•
1838. Myra — has several marks ot lashing, and has irons
on her feet."
i££3S£Sfff££ " Runaway, Betsey-when she left she had on her
o. " Bee," August 11, 1837. neck an iron collar.
" The foregoing advertisements are sufficient for our purpose, scores of
similar ones may be gathered from the newspapers of the slave states
every month."
" III. BRANDINGS, MAIMINGS, GUN-SHOT WOUNDS, &C.
"The slaves are often branded with hot irons, pursued with fire arms and
shotA hunted with dogs and torn by them, shockingly maimed with knives,
dirks, &c. ; have their ears cut off, their eyes knocked out, their bones
dislocated and broken with bludgeons, their fingers and toes cut off, their
faces and other parts of their persons disfigured with scars and gashes,
besides those made with the lash. "We shall adopt, under this head, the
same course as that pursued under previous ones, — first give the testi-
mony of the slaveholders themselves, to the mutilations, &c. by copying
their own graphic descriptions of them, in advertisements published
under their own names, and in newspapers published in the slave states,
and, generally, in their own immediate vicinity. "We shall, as hereto-
fore, insert only so much of each advertisement as will be necessary to
make the point intelligible.
WITNESSES. TESTIMONY.
Mr. Micajah Ricki, Nash "Ranaway, a negro woman and two children; a
RaWgh *%*££?*£ 'is! few days before she went off, I burnt her with a hot
1838. iron, on the left side of her face, 1 tried to make the
letter M."
Mr. Aia B. Metcaif, Kings- " Ranaway Mary, a black woman, has a scar on
••0N>atcldezmcouri;r^i'juLne *w her back and r'8ht arm near the staler, caused by a
1832. ' rifle ball."
110
WITNESSES.
Mr. William Overstreet, Ben-
ton, Yazoo Co. Mi. in the " Lex-
ington (Kentucky) Observer,"
July 22, 1838.
Mr. R. P. Carney, Clark Co.
Ala., in the Mobile Register,
Dec. 22, 1832.
Mr. J. Guyler, Savannah,
Georgia, in the "Republican,"
April 12, 1837-
J. A. Brown, jailor, Charles-
ton, South Carolina, in the
" Mercury," Jan. 12, 1837.
Mr. J. Scrivener, Herring Bay ,
Anne Arundel Co. Maryland, in
the Annapolis Republican, April
18, 1S37.
Madame Burvant, corner oJ
Chartres and Toulouse streets,
New Orleans, in the "Bee,"
Dec. 21, 1838.
Mr. O. W. Lains, in the " He-
lena (Ark.) Journal," June 1,
1833.
Mr. R. W. Sizer, in the
"Grand Gulf, [ML] Advertiser,"
July 8, 1837.
Mr. Nicholas Edmunds in the
«' Petersburgh [Va.] Intelligen-
cer," May 22, 1838.
Mr. J. Bishop, Bishopville,
Sumpter District, South Caro-
lina, in the "Camden [S. C.J
Journal," March 4, 1837.
Mr. S. Neyle, Little Ogeechee,
Georgia, in the " Savannah Re-
publican," July 3,1837.
Mrs. Sarah Walsh, Mobile,
Ala., in the "Georgia Journal,"
March 27, 1837.
Mr. J. P. Ashford, Adams Co.
Mi., in the " Natchez Courier,"
August 24, 1838.
" Mr. Ely Townsend, Pike Co.
Ala., in the " Pensacola Gazette,1'
Sept. 16, 1837.
S. B. Murphy, jailor, Irving-
tou, Ga., Jn the " Milledgeville
Journal," May 29, 1838.
M. A. Luminais, parish of St.
John, Louisiana, in the New
Orleans " Bee," March 3, 1838.
Mr. Isaac Johnson, Pulaski
Co., Georgia, in the " Milledge-
Yille Journal," June 19, 1838.
Rgister,1' Se
TESTIMONY.
" Ranaway a negro man named Henry, his left eye
out, some scars from a dirk on and under his left arm,
and much scarred with the whip."
One hundred dollars reward for a negro fellow
Pompey, 40 years, old, he is branded on the left jaw.
" Ranaway Laman, an old negro man, grey, has
only one eye."
" Committed to jail a negro man, has no toes on
his left foot."
" Ranaway negro man Elijah, has a scar on his
left cheek, apparently occasioned by a shot."
" Ranaway a negro woman named Rachel, has lost
all her toes except the large one."
"Ranaway Sam, he was shot a short time since,
through the hand, and lias several shots in his left
arm and side.''
" Ranaway my negro man Dennis, said negro has
been shot in the left arm between the shouldf-rs and
elbow, which has paralyzed the left hand.''
"Ranaway my negro man named Simon, he hat
been shot badly in his back and right arm."
"Ranaway, a negro named Arthur ; has a consid-
erable scar across his breast and each arm, made by a
knife ; loves to talk much of the goodness of God."
" Ranaway, George ; he has a sword cut, lately re-
ceived, on his left arm."
" Twenty-five dollars reward for my man Isaac ; he
has a scar on his forehead, caused by a blow, and one
on his back, made by a shot from a pistol."
" Ranaway, a negro girl called Mary ; has a small
scar over her eye, a good many teeth missing, the letter
A. is branded on her cheek and forehead."
tc Ranaway, negro Ben ; has a scar on his right
hand, his thumb and fore fingerjbeing injured by being
shot last fall, a part of the bone came out ; he has also
one or two large scars on his back and hips."
" Committed, a negro man ; is very badly shot in the
right side and right hand."
" Detained at the jail, a mulatto named Tom ; has
a scar on the right cheek, and appears to have been
burned with powder on the face."
" Ranaway, a negro man named Ned ; three of his
fingers are drawn into the palm of his hand by a cut,
has a scar on the back of his neck, nearly half round,
done by a knife."
" Ranawav> a negro named Hambleton, limps on
his left foot where he was shot a few weeks ago, while
runaway."
Ill
WITNESSES. TESTIMONY.
M. John McMurrain,*Co!um- ' « Ranaway, a negro boy named Mose ; he has a
August 7,i"8a\e."S°Uthern SU"'" w<>und in the right shoulder near the back bone, which
was occasioned by a rifle shot."
"Ranaway, my negro man Bill; he has afresh
wound in his head above his ear."
" Committed to jail, a negro, says his name is
shot."
" Ranaway, Joshua ; his thumb is off of his left
hand."
Mr. Moses Orme, Annapolis,
Maryland, in the " Annapolis
Republican," June 20, 1837.
William Strickland, jailor,
?c±:n?l!c.C]t'cSouri;r;"jui; Cuffee; he is lame in one knee, occasioned by a
i, 1837.
The Editor'of the "GrandGulf
Advertiser," Dec. 7, 1838.
Mr. William Bateman, in the "Ranaway, William; .-.car over his left eye, one
7Gi838d GuK AdTertiser'" Dec- between, his eyebrows, one on his breast, and his right
leg has been broken."
Mr. IB. G. Simmons, in the " Ranaway, Mark ; his left arm h is been broken."
•'Southern Argus," May 30,
1837.
Mr. James Artop, in the " Ranaway, Caleb, 50 years old, has an a%vk\vard
"Macon[Ga.] Messenger," May gait, occasioned by his being shot in the thigh."
J. L.Joiiey, sheriff of Clinton, "Was committed to jail, a negro man, says his
Co. ML, in the " Clinton Ga- name is Josiah ; his back very much scarred by the
xette," July 23, 1836. ^^ and brmded Qn the thjgh (md ^ in thrfe ^
four places, thus (J. M.), the rim of his right ear has
been bit or cut off.''1
Mr. Thomai Ledwith, Jack-
sonville, East Florida, in tha
" Fifty dollars reward, for my fellow Edward ; he
"0chariestonS[s.1' cTcourieV"," has a scar on the corner of his mouth, two cuts on and
September i, 1838. under his arm, and the letter E. on his arm."
Mr. Joseph James, sen., Plea- " Ranaway, negro boy Ellic ; has a scar on one of
sant Ridge PauldinK Co., Ga, ],is afms from fa fote Ofa fog"
in the " Milledgenille Union,' J •>
Nov^"7, 1837.
Mr. w. Riiey, Orangeburg " Ranaway, a negro man ; has a scar on the ankle,
?c7umb!Ta[Sh £rTerescnopeh" produced by a burn, and a mark on his arm resembling
Nov. H, 1837. the letter S." ,
" Ranaway, a negro man named Allen ; he has a
scar on his breast, also a scar under the left eye, and
ha< too buck shot in his right arm,:'
" Ranaway from the plantation of James Surgette,
the following negroes : Randal, has one ear cropped ;
Bob, has lost one eye; Kentucky Tom, has one jaw
broken."
" Ranaway, Anthony, one of his cars cutoff, and his
Mr. Samuel Mason, Warren
Co., Mi., in the " Vicksburg Re-
gister," July 18, 1838.
Mr. F. I* C. Edwards, in the
" Southern Telegraph," Sept.
25, 1837.
Mr. Stephen M. Jackson, in
.burg Register. -March jeft
" Was committed, a negro man ; has a scar on his
rjght gjde by & ^^ QnQ Qn his ^^ and Qne Qn th(J
calf of his leg by the bite of a dog.''
Stearns & Co., No. 28, New " Absconded, the mulatto boy Tom, his fingers
scarred on his "g111 nand> and ha* a SCar On
cheek."
Philip Homerton, deputy she-
riff of Halifax Co., Virginia, Jan.
Mr. John W. Walton, Greens-
boro1, Ala., in the* " Alabama
Beacou," Dec. 13, 1838.
Mr. R. Furman, Charleston,
S. C., in the "Charleston Mer- c ' c V »»'
cury,"Jan, 12, 1839. °' one loot-
" Ranaway, my black boy Frazier, with a scar
below and one above his right ear."
"Ranaway, Dick, about 19, has lost the small toe
112
WITNESSES.
Mr. John Tart, sen., in the
" Payetteville [N. C.] Ob-
server," Dec. 26, 1838.
Mr. Richd. Overstreet, Brook
Neal, Campbell Co.. Virginia,
in the "Danville [Va.] Re-
porter," Dec. 21, 1838.
The editor of the New Or-
leans " Bee," in that paper,
August 27, 1837.
Mr. Bryant Johnson, Fort
Valley, Houston county. Geor-
gia, in the Milledgeville
" Union," Oct. 2, 1838.
Mr. Lemuel Miles, Steen's
Creek, Rankin county, Mi., in
the "Southern Sun," Sept. 22,
1838.
Mr. Bezou, New Orleans in
the "Bee, "May 23, 1838.
Mr. James Kimborough,
Memphis, Tenn. in the " Mem-
phis Enquirer," July 13, 1838.
Mr. Robert Beasley, Macon,
Georgia, in the " Georgia Mes-
senger," July 27, 1837.
Mr. B. G. Barrer, St. Louis,
Missouri, in the " Republican,"
Sept. 6, 1837.
Mr. John D. Turner, near
Norfolk, Virginia, in the " Nor-
folk Herald," June 27, 1838.
Mr. William Stansell. Picks-
vine, Ala., in the " Huntsville
Democrat," August 29, 1837.
Hon. Ambrose H. Sevier,
senator in congress from Ark-
ansas, in the " Vicksburg Re-
gister," of Oct. 13.
Mr. R. A. Greene, Milledge-
ville Georgia, in the "Macon
Messenger," July 27, 1837.
Benjamin Russel, deputy
sheriff, Bibb county, Ga., in
the " Macon Telegraph," Dec.
25, 1837.
Hon H. Hitchcock, Mobile,
judge of the Supreme Court, in
the " Commercial Register,"
Oct. 27, 1837.
Mrs. Elizabeth L. Carter,
near Groveton, Prince William
<?ounty, Virginia, in the " Na-
tional Intelligencer," Washing-
ton, D. C., June 10, 1837.
TESTIMONY.
" Stolen, a mulatto boy,* ten years old : he has a
scar over his eye which was made by an axe."
" Absconded, my negro man Coleman ; has a very
large scar on one of his legs, also one on each arm, by
a bum, and his heels have been frosted."
" Fifty 'dollars reward, for the negro Jim Blake;
has a piece cut out of each ear, and the middle finger
of the left hand cut off to the second joint."
" Ranaway, a negro woman named Maria ; has a
scar on one side of her cheek, by a cut — some scars
on her back."
" Ranaway, Gabriel ; has two or three scars across
his neck made with a knife."
" Runaway, the mulatto wench Mary — has a cut on
the left arm, a scar on the shoulder, and two upper
teeth missing"
" Ranaway, a negro boy named Jerry ; has a scar
on his right cheek two inches lom>, from the cut of a
knife."
" Ranaway, my man Fountain ; has holes in his
ears, a. scar on the right side of his forehead- -has
been shot in the hind parts of his legs — is marked on
the back with the whip."
" Ranaway, a negro man named Jarrelt ; has a
scar on the under part of one of his arms, occasioned
by a wound from a knife."
" Ranaway, a negro by the name of Joshua; he has
a cut across one of his ears, which he will conceal as
much as possible ; one of his ankles is enlarged by an
ulcer."
" Ranaway, negro boy Harper ; has a scar on one of
his hips in the form of a G."
" Ranaway, Bob, a slave ; has a scar across his
breast, another on the right side of his head ; — his back
is muck scarred with the whip."
"Two hundred and fifty dollars reward, for my
negro man Jim ; he is much marked with shot in his
right thigh ; the shot entered on the outside, half way
between the hip and the knee joints."
" Brought to jail, John — left ear cropt."
" Ranaway, the slave Ellis ; he has lost one of his
ears."
" Ranaway, a negrd man, Moses ; he has lost a part
of one of his ears."
113
WITNESSES. TESTIMONY.
Mr. William D. Buckeis, « Taken up a negro man — is very much scarred
eerier?" ft/aiSw. a about the fa<* and body, and has the left ear bit oj."
Mr. Waiter R. Engiish.'Mon- " Ranaway, my slave Lewis ; he has lost a, piece' of
roe county. Ala. in the " Mo- one ear, and a part of one of his finsers, a part of one
bUe Chronicle," Sept. 2, 1837- rf ^ ^ jg JJ IM£,
. , a black girl named Mary; has a .car
in the "Knoxviiie Register," on her cheek, and the end of one of her toes cut off.
June 9, 1838.
*£;• i*?h" .Jeukins>. St, J?~ Ranaway, the negro boy Csesar : he has but one
seph's, Florida, captain of the » *
steamboat Ellen, " Apalachi- €}/"•
cola Gazette," June 7, 1838.
Mr. Peter Hanson, Lafayette " Ranaway, the negress Martha : she has lost her
city. La., in the New Orleans rfnj,f p..p » *
" Bee," July 28, 1838. Tt3M W6-
Mr. Orren Ems, Georgeyiiie, " Ranaway, George ; has had the lower part of
"
Mr. Zadock Sawyer, Cuth- " Ranaway, my negro Tom — has a piece bit off
to^M&£KS> tke '°P °fhis Ti9ht ear> and his Uttle finSer is *&•»
Oct 9, 1838.
Mr. Abraham Gray, Mount " Ranawav, my mulatto woman Judy— she has
S^lffigSS?' &,? had her right arm broke."
Oct. 9, 183&
s. B. Tustc-n, jailor, Adams « vVas committed to jail, a negro man named Bill
county, Mi. in the "Natchez . , , ., ,, , x, . ' , ,. ? , ...»
Courier," June 15, 1838. — has had the thumb oj MS left hand split.
Mr. Joshua Antrim, Nineveh, " Ranaway, a mulatto man named Joe j his fingers
t^wScSr vlfSan'"" on the left hand are partly amputated."
July 11, 1837.
j. B. Randall, jailor, Marietta, " Lodged in jail — a negro man named Jupiter ; is
^uthTr^cofe'' &# ve^ tome in his left hip so that he can hardly walk
1838. — has lost a joint of the middle finger of his left
hand.'*
.,. , Bill— has a scar over one eye, also
Commercial Bulletin'" July 2i, one on his leg, from the bite of a dog — has a burn on
!837. his buttock, from apiece of hot iron, in shape of a T"
William K. Ratciiffe, sheriff, " Committed to jail, a negro named Mike — his left
Franklin county, Mi. in the ._.. „#•»
" Natchez Free Trader," Aug. ea? W-
23, 1838.
wMr. Pres'on Haiiey, Bam- " Ranaway, my negro man Levi ; his left hand has
"Augusta [Ga i ° cSoiScie " been burnt, and I think the end of his fore finger is
July 27, 1838. ' ' off."
stMChar7^rtyHMo.tb Ae " Ranaway, a negro named Washbgton ; has lost
" St. Louis Republican," June a part of his middle finger and the end of his little
30,1838. finger."
David Drier ' liaS '""
-
al streets, New Orleans, in the
" Commercial Bulletin," Sept.
18, 1838.
«
" Grand
August 29, 1838.
' wiUi?mifBrA^n' ^ thf, " Ranaway, Edmund ; has a scar on his right tem-
rand Gulf Advertiser, i , <,->•••< j L i • L 11 ».
st 29, 1838. pie, and under his right eye, and holes tn both ears. '
Mr. James McDonnell, Tai- " Ranaway, a negro boy twelve or thirteen years
£%£*&' ESre'r "D J« °ld '> haS a SCar On llis left
18, 1838. ' dog."
f
114
TESTIMONY.
" Fifty dollars reward, for my negro man John ;
he has a considerable scar on his throat, done with a
knife."
a Twenty-five dollars reward, for my man John;
the tip of his nose is bit off."
s
" Ranaway, a negro fellow called Hover ; has a
cut above the right eye."
" Ranaway, the negro man Hardy ; has a scar on
the upper lip, and another made with a ktiife on his
neck."
" Ranaway, Henry ; has half of one ear bit off.1'
" Ranaway, my negro man Jacob ; he has but one
eye."
" Committed to jail, Ben"; his left thumb off at the
first joint.''
<c Twenty-five dollars reward, for the negro slave
Sally ; walks as though crippled in the back."
'• Ranaway, a negro man named Dick — has a
little finger off the right hand."
WITNESSES.
Mr. John W. Cherry, Maren-
go county, Ala. in the " Mobile
Register," June 15, 1838.
Mr. Thos. Brown, Roane
co. Tenn. in the " Knoxville
Register," Sept, 12, 1838.
Messrs. Taylor, Lawton &
Co. Charleston, South Caro-
lina, in the " Mercury," Nov.
1838.
Mr. Louis Schmidt, Fau-
bourg, Sivaudais, La. in the
New Orleans " Bee," Sept. 5,
1837.
W. M. Whitehead, Natchez,
in the "New Orleans Bulletin,"
July 21, 1837.
Mr. Conrad Salvo,Charleston,
South Carolina, in the " Mer-
cury," August 10, 1837.
William Baker, jailor, Shel-
by county, Ala., in the " Mont-
gomery (Ala.) Advertiser "
Oct. 5, 1838
Mr. S. N. Kite, Camp-street,
New Orleans, in the '' Bee,"
Feb. 19, 1838.
Mr. Stephen M. Richards,
Whitesburg, Madison county,
Alabama, in the " Huntsville
Democrat," Sept. 8, 1838.
Mr. A. Brose, parish of St. « Ranaway, the negro Patrick ; has his little finger
Charles, La., m the " New Or- . . •, • i. r j ? » . .j. i j»
leans Bee," Feb. 19, 1838. of the right hand cut close to the hand.
Mr. Needham whitefieid, " Ranaway, Joe Dennis ; has a small notch in one
Aberdeen, Mi. in the "Mem- f -L- m9
phis (Tenn.) Enquirer," June ol ms ears>
15, 1838.
Col. M. j. Keith, Charleston, « Ranaway, Dick— has lost the little toe of one of
South Carolina, in the "Mer- , . ,. . „ •"
cury," Nov. 27, 1837. hlS leet.
Mr. R. Lancette, Haywood, « Escaped, my negro man Eaton — his little finger
North Carolina, in the "Raleigh ,. A, . i,, ' _j , 6, , , „ J y
Register," April so, 1838. of the right hand has been broke.
Mr. G. c. Richardson, Owen " Ranaway, my negro man named Top — has had
ion. Mo., m t. ouis Qne Q£ ^ ^g j,.^^/
" Ranaway, negro boy Jack — has a small crop out
of his left ear."
" Was committed to jail, a negro man ; has two
scars on his forehead, and the top of his left car cut
off."
" Stolen, a negro man named Winter; has a notch
cut out of the left ear, and the mark of four or five
buck shot on his legs."
" Ranaway, a negro man ; scar back of his left eye,
as if from the cut of a knife."
" Ranaway, negro man Buck ; has a very plain
mark under his ear on his jaw, about the size of a
dollar, having been inflicted by a knife."
Mr. E. Han, La Grange,
Fayette county, Tenn. in the
" Gallatin Union,'1 June 23,
1837.
D. Herring, warden of Balti-
more city jail, in the " Mary-
lander," Oct. 6, 1837.
Mr. James Marks, near Nat-
chitoches. La. in the " Natchi-
toches Herald," July 21, 1838.
Mr. James Barr, Amelia
Court House, Virginia, in the
"Norfolk Herald," Sept. 12,
1838.
Mr. Isaac Michel), Wilkinson
county, Georgia, in the " Au-
gusta Chronicle," Sept. 21,
1837.
115
WITNESSES.
Mr. P. Bayhi, captain of the
police, Suburb Washington,
third municipality, New Or-
leans, in the " Bee," Oct. 13,
1837.
Mr. Willie Paterson, Clinton,
Jones county, Ga. in the
' Darien Telegraph," Dec. 5,
183/,
Mr. Samuel Ragland, Triana,
Madison county, Alabama, in
the " Huntsville Advocate,"
Dec. 23, 1837.
Mr. Moses E. Bush, near
Clayton, Ala. in the " Colum-
bus [Ga.] Enquirer," July 5,
C. W. Wilkins, sheriff, Bald-
win Co. Ala. in the " Mobile
Advertiser," Sept. 22, 1837.
Mr. James H. Taylor, Charles-
ton, South Carolina, in the
" Courier," August 7, 1837.
N. M. C. Robinson, jailor,
Columbus, Georgia, in the
"Columbus [Ga.] Enquirer,"
August 2, 1838.
Mr. Littlejohn Rynes, Hinds
Co. Mi. in the "Natchez
Courier," August 17, 1838.
The Heirs of J. A. Alston,
near Georgetown, South Caro-
lina, in the " Georgetown [S.C.]
Union," June 17,1837.
A. S. Ballinger, sheriff, John-
ston Co. North Carolina, in the
" Raleigh Standard," Oct. 18,
1838.
Mr. Thomas Crutchfleld,
Atkins, Ten. in the " Tennessee
Journal," Oct. 17, 1838.
J. A. Brown, jailor, Orange-
burg, South Carolina, in the
"Charleston Mercury," July
18,1838.
S. B. Turton, jailor, Adams
Co. Miss, in the « Natchez
Couiier,'' Sept. 28, 1828.
Mr. John H. King, High-
street, Georgetown, in the
" National Intelligencer," Aug.
1,1837.
Mi^rin°he"Re°*' ViC'Mwurg' " Ranaway, a yellowish negro boy named Tom;
29, 1837. h has a notch in the back of one of his ears."
Messrs/ Fernandez & Whit- « Will be sold, Martha, aged nineteen ; has one
ing, auctioneers, New Orleans, / »
In the " Bee," April 8, 183^ W6 out-
Mr. Marshall Jett Farrows- « Ranaway, negro man, Ephraim ; has a mark over
ville, Fauquier Co. Virginia, in »••• " 6 . if IT »
the » National Intelligencer," one °* "1S ejes> occasioned by a OlOW.
May 30, 1837-
S-B. Turton, jailor, Adams "Was committed, a negro, calls himself Jacob;
** --1-8' !ni2hei838.atCheZC°U~ nas been cripp^d in his right leg."
TESTIMONY.
" Detained at the jail, the negro boy Hennon ;
has a scar below his left ear, from the wound of a,
knife."
" Ranaway, a negro man by the name of John ;
he has a scar across his cheek, and one on his right
arm, apparently done with a knife.''
" Ranaway, Isham ; has a scar upon the breast
and upon the under lip, from the bite of a dog."
" Ranaway, a negro man ; has a scar on his hip
and on his breast, and two front teeth out."
" Committed to jail, a negro man ; he is crippled
in the right leg."
" Absconded, a 'colored boy, named Peter, lame
in the right leg."
" Brought to jail, a negro man ; his left ankle has
been broke.''
" Ranaway, a negro man named Jerry ; has a
small piece cut out of the top of each ear."
"Absconded, a negro named Cufiee; has lost one
finger ; has an enlarged leg."
" Committed to jail, a negro man ; has a very sore
leg."
" Ranaway, my mulatto boy Cy ; has but one
hand, all the fingers of his right hand were burnt off
when young.''
" Was committed to jail, a negro named Bob ;
appears to be crippled in the right leg."
'* Was committed to jail, a negro man ; has his
left thigh broke-"
"Ranaway, my negro man, he has the end of one
of his fingers broken.
tO
county <issip-' .
Jackson, Mi. Dec. 28, 1838. scar on hts forehead.'
maD» CaI7 '•
i2
116
WITNESSES. TESTIMONY.
E. w. Morris, sheriff of War- « Committed as a runaway, a negro man, Jack ; he
[MiTRegS er/' 7aVtbU28g, to* ***ral scars on his face."
1838.
Mr. John P. Hoicombe, in « Absented himself, his negro man Ben ; has scars
5rtTl7% JUry> on his throat, occasioned by the cut of a knife."
Mr. Geo. Kiniock, in the " Ranaway, negro boy Kitt, 15 or 16 years old ;
MajTSa LS> °'] C rier>" has a Piece taken out °J'one °f his ears'"
Wm. Magee, sheriff, Mobile " Committed to jail, a runaway slave, Alexander ;
D°ecin27ei83?0bile ****"'" a scar on his left cheek."
Mr. Henry M. McGregor « Ranaway, negro Phil ; scar through the right
land^^Sndr^: W^™' Part °f the miMle t06 OD the ^ f°Ot CUt
C.] Gazette," Feb. 6, 1838. off.1'
Green B. jpurdan, Baldwin " Ranaway, John ; has a scar on one of his hands
jSv%ruS^7Ge°rgia extending from the wrist joint to the little finger,
also a scar on one of his legs."
Messrs. Daniel and Goodman, "Absconded, mulatto slave Alick ; has a large
KSSFfc* tim6" °r" «*r <"*r one of his cheeks."
Jeremiah woodward, Gooch- "200 DOLLARS REWARD for Nelson ; has a
^\ ^r Xawhi<^f T'RIC™~ scar on his forehead occasioned by a burn, and one
mond [Va.] Whig, Jan. 30, J „'
1838. on his lower lip, and one about the knee.
Samuel Rawiins, Gwiuet Co. « Runaway, a negro man and his wife, named
Ga. in the "Columbus Sen- -vr , , n . .„ y , ,, » . i <..
tinel,"Nov.29,i838. Nat and Pnscilla ; he has a small scar on his lett
cheek, two stiff fingers on his right hand, with a
running sore on them ; his wife has a scar on her
left arm, and one upper tooth out"
" The reader perceives that we have under this head, as under previous
ones, given to the testimony of the slaveholders themselves, under their
own names, a precedence over that of all other witnesses. We now ask
the reader's attention to the testimonies which follow. They are en-
dorsed by responsible names — men who ' speak what they know, and
testify what they have seen' — testimonies which show, that the slave-
holders who wrote the preceding advertisements, describing the work of
their own hands, in branding with hot irons, maiming, mutilating, crop-
ping, shooting, knocking out the teeth and eyes of their slaves, breaking
their bones, &c., have manifested, as far as they have gone in the descrip-
tion, a commendable fidelity to truth.
" It is probable that some of the scars and maimings in the preceding
advertisements were the result of accidents ; and some may be the result
of violence inflicted hy the slaves upon each other. Without arguing
that point, we say, these are \h& facts ; whoever reads and ponders them,
will need no argument to convince him, that the proposition which they
have been employed to sustain, cannot be shaken. That any considerable
portion of them were accidental, is totally improbable, from the nature
of the case ; and is in most instances disproved by the advertisements
themselves. That they have not been produced by assaults of the slaves
117
Upon each other, is manifest from the fact, that injuries of that charac-
ter inflicted by the slaves upon each other, are, as all who are familiar
with the habits and condition of slaves well know, exceedingly rare ; and
of necessity must be so, from the constant action upon them of the
strongest dissuasives from such acts that can operate on human nature.
" Advertisements similar to the preceding may at any time be gathered
by scores from the daily and weekly newspapers of the slave states. Be-
fore presenting the reader with further testimony in proof of the propo-
sition at the head of this part of our subject, we remark, that some of
the tortures enumerated under this, and the preceding heads, are not in
all cases inflicted by slaveholders as punishments, but sometimes merely
as preventives of escape, for the greater security of their ' property.'
Iron collars, chains, &c. are put upon slaves when they are driven or
transported from one part of the country to another, in order to keep
them from running away. Similar measures are often resorted to upon
plantations. When the master or owner suspects a slave of plotting an
escape, an iron collar with long ' horns,' or a bar of iron, or a ball and
chain, are often fastened upon him, for the double purpose of retarding
his flight, should he attempt it, and of serving as an easy means of de-
tection.
" Another inhuman method of marking slaves, so that they may be
easily described and detected when they escape, is called cropping,
In the preceding advertisements, the reader will perceive a number of
cases, in which the runaway is described as ' cropt,' or a ' notch cut in
the ear,' or a ' part' or 'the whole of the ear cut off,' &c.
*' Two years and a half since, the writer of this saw a letter, then just
received by Mr. Lewis Tappan, of New York, containing a negro's ear
cut off close to the head. The writer of the letter, who signed himself
Thomas Aylethorpe, Montgomery, Alabama, sent it to Mr. Tappan as 'a
specimen of a negro's ears,' and desired him to add it to his ' collection.'
" Another method of marking slaves, is by drawing out or breaking off
one or two front teeth— commonly the upper ones, as the mark would in
that case be the more obvious. An instance of this kind is mentioned
by Sarah M. Grimke, of which she had personal knowledge; being
well acquainted both with the inhuman master, (a distinguished citizen
of South Carolina,) by whose order the brutal deed was done, and with
the poor young girl whose mouth was thus barbarously mutilated, to fur-
nish a convenient mark by which to describe her in case of her elopement,
as she had frequently run away.
" The case stated by Miss G. serves to unravel what, to one un-initiated,
seems quite a mystery : i. e, the frequency with which, in the advertise-
ments of runaway slaves published in southern papers, they are describ-
ed as having one or two front teeth out. Scores of snch advertisements
are in southern papers now on our table. We will furnish the reader
with a dozen or two.
WITNESSES. TESTIMONY.
Jes»e pebruhi, sheriff, Rich- " Committed to jail, Ned, about 25 years of age ;
land district, "Columbia (S. c.) has iost his two upper front teeth."
Mr. John Hunt, Black Water «100 DOLLARS REWARD, for Perry; one
c^'n^r1* Btte>" under front tooth missing; aged 23 years."
Mr. John Frederick, Branch- « 10 DOLLARS REWARD, for Mary : one or
S^^of^? two upper teeth out; about 25 years old."
June 12, 1837.
Mr. Egbert A. Rawprth, eight « Ranaway, Myal, 23 years old ; one of his fore
miles west of Nashville on the t , /, t >» '
Charlotte road, "Daily Repub- *<
lican Banner," Nashville, Ten-
nessee, April 30, 1838.
Benjamin Russei, deputy she- " Brought to jail, John, 23 years old ; one fore
riff, Bibb Co Ga. " Macon (Oa.) tnntli niit "
Telegraph," Dec. 25, 1837.
F.wisner, master of the work- " Committed to the Charleston workhouse, Tom ;
rier ^'oct^lT'lSsT (S' C'} C°°" tWO °f his "PP** front teetlt <>** > about 30 year8 °f
age/
Mr. s. Neyie, " Savannah « Ranaway, Peter ; has lost two front teeth in the
(Ga.) Republican," July 3, -_w nJ
1837. upper jaw.
Mr. John McMurrain, near " Ranaway, a boy named Moses ; some of his
Columbus, <• Georgia Messen- f nnt fppft, mit "
ger," August 2, 1838. Jr0nt eem OUt'
Mr. -John Kennedy, Stewart « Ranaway, Sally: her fore teeth out"
Co. La. " New Orleans Bee," " *." *
April 7, 1837.
Mr. A. J. Hutchings, near « Ranaway, George Winston ; two of his upper fore
mi^"CAugA25, w» " teeth wt immediately in front."
Mr. James Purdon, 33, Com- « Ranaway, Jackson ; has lost one of his front
mon-street, N. O. " New Or- , .. „
leans Bee," Feb. 13, 1838. eeln"
Mr. -Robert Caivert, in the « Ranaway, Jack, 25 years old ; has lost one of his
tte> g' ^e teeth."
Mr. A. G. A. Beaziey, in the " Ranaway, Abraham, 20 [or 22 years of age ; hi»
"Memphis Gazette," March 18, j^ Ueth Ofrf>,,
Mr. Samuel Townsend, in the " Ranaway, Dick, 18 or 20 years of age ; has one
"Huntsville [Ala.] Democrat," frmt fa^fr out"
May 24, 1837- '
Mr. Philip A. Dew, in the " Ranaway, Washington, about 25 years of age ;
" Virginia Herald," of May 24, has an upper front tooth out.''
1837.
j. G. Duniap, " Georgia Con- " Ranaway, negro woman Abbe ; upper front teeth
stitntionalist," April 24, 1838. OM/."
John Thomas, « Southern " Ranaway, Lewis, 25 or 26 years old ; one or two
Argus," August 7, 1838. Of his front teeth out."
M. E w. Gilbert, in the " 50 DOLLARS REWARD, for Prince, 25 or 26
"Columbus [Ga.] Enquirer," years old ; one or two teeth out in front, on the upper
00,5,1837. |aw,,
Publisher of the "Charleston <l Ranaway, Seller Saunders, one fore tooth out;
Mercury," August 31, 1838. abou, ^ yeaw of age „
119
WITNESSES. TESTIMONY.
Mr. Byrd M. Grace, in the " Ranawav, Warren, about 25 or 26 years old : has
". Macon [Ga.1 Telegraph," Oct . i , fi.-f t /..*!. »»
16, 1838. i°st some of hisjront teeth.
Mr. George w. Barnes, in the « Ranaway, Henry, about 23 years old ; has one of
" Milledgeville [Ga.] Journal" i- /• . ,f . t»
May 22, 1837. nis upper front teeth out.
D. Herring, warden of Haiti- " Committed to jail, Elizabeth Steward, 17 or 18
7!tim°reChroni~ years old; has one of her front teeth out."
Mr. J L. coiborn, in the " Ranaway, Liley, 26 years of age; one fore tooth
"Huntsnlle [Ala.] Democrat," „ " J ' '
July 4, 1837. gone.
Samuel Harroan, Jr. in the " 50 DOLLARS REWARD, for Adolphe, 28
1"1* Bee>" °Ct°ber years old ; tw° of his front teeth are missing."
" Were it 'necessary, we might easily add to the preceding list, hundreds.
The reader will remark that all the slaves, whose ages are given, are
young — not one has arrived at middle age ; consequently it can hardly
be supposed that they have lost their teeth [either from age or decay.
The probability that their teeth were taken out by force, is increased by
the fact of their being front teeth in almost every case, and from the fact
that the loss of no other is mentioned in the advertisements. It is well
known that the front teeth are not generally the first to fail. Further,
it is notorious that the teeth of the slaves are remarkably sound and ser-
viceable, that they decay far less, and at a nruch later period of life than
the teeth of the whites : owing partly, no doubt, to original constitution;
but more probably to their diet, habits, and mode of life.
" As an illustration of the horrible mutilations sometimes suffered by
them in the breaking and tearing out of their teeth, we insert the follow-
ing, from the New-Orleans Bee of May 31, 1837-
" TEN DOLL AKS REWARD. — Ranaway, Friday, May 12, JULIA, a negress,
EIGHTEEN OR TWENTY YEARS OLD. SlIE HAS LOST HER UPPER TEETH,
and the under ones ARE ALL BROKEN. Said reward will be paid to who-
ever will bring her to her master, No. 172, Barracks-street, or lodge her
in the jail.
" The following is contained in the same paper.
" RANAWAY, NELSON, 27 years old, — ' ALL HIS TEETH ARE MISSING.'
" This advertisement is signed by ' S. ELFER,' Faubourg Marigny."
To the preceding we subjoin a few testimonies from the same
work, respecting the hunting of slaves with dogs and guns. The
Rev. Horace Moulton, a minister of the Wesleyan Methodist
Church in Marlborough, Massachusets, who resided five years
in Georgia, gives the following testimony.
" Some obtain their living in hunting after lost slaves. The most com-
mon way is to train up young dogs to follow them. This can easily be
done by obliging a slave to go out into the woods, and climb a tree, and
120
then put the young dog on his track, and with a little assistance he can
be taught to follow him to the tree, and when found, of course the dog
would bark at such game as a poor negro on a tree. There was a
man living in Savannah when I was there, who kept a large number of
dogs for no other purpose than to hunt runaway negroes. And he al-
ways had enough of this work to do, for hundreds of runaways are never
found, but could he get news soon after one had fled, he was almost sure
to catch him. And this fear of the dogs restrains multitudes from run-
ning off."
" When he went out on a hunting excursion, to be gone several days,
he took several persons with him, armed generally with rifles and fol-
lowed by the dogs. The dogs were as true to the track of a negro, if
one had passed recently, as a hound is to the track of a fox when he has
found it. When the dogs draw near to their game, the slave must turn
and fight them or climb a tree. If the latter, the dogs will stay and
bark until the pursuers come. The blacks frequently deceive the dogs
by crossing and recrossing the creeks. Should the hunters who have no
dogs, start a slave from his hiding place, and the slave not stop at the
hunter's call, he will shoot at him, as soon as he would at a deer. Some
masters advertise so much for a runaway slave, dead or alive. It un-
doubtedly gives such, more satisfaction to know that their property is
dead, than to know that it is alive without being able to get it. Some
slaves run away who never mean to be taken alive. I will mention one.
He ran off and was pursued by the dogs, but having a weapon with him
he succeeded in killing two or three of the dogs; but was afterwards shot.
He had declared, that he never would be taken alive. The people re-
joiced at the death of the slave, but lamented the death of the dogs, they
were such ravenous hunters."
Rev. Francis Hawley, who was for some years the general
agent of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, gives
the following testimony.
" Runaway slaves are frequently hunted with guns and dogs. / was
once out on such an excursion, with my rifle and two dogs. I trust the
Lord has forgiven me this heinous wickedness ! We did not take the
runaways."
The following are taken from the same work, p. 159.
" The ' public opinion ' of slaveholders is illustrated by scores of an-
nouncements in southern papers, like the following, from the Raleigh,
(N.C.) Register, August 20, 1838. Joseph Gales and Son, editors and
proprietors — the father and brother of the editor of the National Intelli-
gencer, Washington city, D.C.
121
" On Saturday night, Mr. George Holmes, of this county, and some of
his friends, were in pursuit of a runaway slave (the property of Mr.
Holmes) and fell in with him in attempting to make his escape. Mr.
H. discharged a gun at his legs, for the purpose of disabling him ; hut
unfortunately, the slave stumbled, and the shot struck him near the
small of the back, of which wound he died in a short time. The slave
continued to run some distance after he was shot, until overtaken by one
of the party. "We are satisfied, from all that we can learn, that Mr. H.
had no intention of inflicting a mortal wound."
" Oh ! the gentleman, it seems, only shot at his legs, merely to ' dis-
able ' — and it must be expected that every gentleman will amuse himself
in shooting at his own property whenever the notion takes him, and if
he should happen to hit a little higher and go through the small of
the back instead of the legs, why everybody says it is ' unfortunate,' and
the whole of the editorial corps, instead of branding him as a barbarous
wretch for shooting at his slave, whatever part he aimed at, join with the
oldest editor in North Carolina, in complacently exonerating Mr. Holmes
by saying, ' We are satisfied that Mr. H. had no intention of inflicting
a mortal wound.' And so ' public opinion ' wraps it up !
" The Franklin (La.) Republican, August 19, 1837, has the following :
" ' Negroes Taken. — Four gentlemen of this vicinity, went out yester-
day for the purpose of finding the camp of some noted runaways, sup-
posed to be near this place ; the camp was discovered about 11 o'clock ;
the negroes four in number, three men and one woman, finding they
were discovered, tried to make their escape through the cane ; two of
them were fired on, one of which made his escape ; the other one fell
after running a short distance, his wounds are not supposed to be dan-
gerous ; the other man was taken without any hurt ; the woman also
made her escape.'
" Thus terminated the mornings' amusement of the '/owr gentkmenj
whose exploits are so complacently chronicled, by the editor of the Frank-
lin Republican. The three men and one woman were all fired upon, it
seems, though only one of them was shot down. The half famished run-
aways made not the least resistance, they merely rushed in panic among
the canes, at the sight of their pursuers, and the bullets whistled after
them and brought to the ground one poor fellow, who was carried back
by his captors as a trophy of the ' public opinion ' among slaveholders.
" In the Macon (Ga.) Telegraph, Nov. 27, 1838, we find the follow-
ing account of a runaway's den, and of the good luck of a ' Mr. Adams,'
in running down one of them ' with his excellent dogs.'
" ' A runaway's den was discovered'on Sunday near the Washington
Spring, in a little patch of woods, where it had been for several months
122
so artfully concealed under ground, that it was detected only by accident,
thought in the sight of two or three houses, and near the road and fields
where there has been constant daily passing. The entrance was con-
cealed by a pile of pine straw, representing a hog bed — which being re-
moved, discovered a trap door and steps that led to a room about six
feet square, comfortably ceiled with plant, containing a small fire-place,
the flue of which was ingeniously conducted above ground and concealed
by the straw. The inmates took the alarm and made their escape ; but
Mr. Adams' and his excellent dogs being put upon the trail, soon ran
down and secured one of them, which proved to be a negro fellow who
had been out about a year. He stated that the other occupant was a
woman, who had been a runaway a still longer time. In the den was
found a quantity of meal, bacon, corn, potatoes, &c., and various cook-
ing utensils and wearing apparel.'
" Yes, Mr. Adams' ' EXCELLENT DOGS ' did the work! They were well
trained, swift, fresh, keen-scented, ' excellent ' men-hunters, and though
the poor fugitive, in his frenzied rush for liberty, strained every muscle,
yet they gained upon him, and after dashing through fens, brier-beds,
and the tangled undergrowth till faint and torn, he sinks, and the blood--
hounds are upon him. What blood-vessels the poor struggler burst in
his desperate push for life — how much he was bruised and lacerated in
his plunge through the forest, or how much the dogs tore him, the Ma-
con editor has not chronicled — they are matters of no moment — but his
heart is touched with the merits of Mr. Adams' ' EXCELLENT DOGS,' that
' soon ran down and secured' a guiltless and trembling human creature!
" The Georgia Constitutionalist, of Jan. 1837, contains the following
letter from the coroner of Barnwell District, South Carolina, dated Aiken,
S.C. Dec. 20, 1836.
" ' To the Editor of the Constitutionalist : —
" * I have just returned from an inquest I held over the body of a negro
man, a runaway, that was shot near the South Edisto, in this District,
(Barnwell,) on Saturday last. He came to his death by his own reck-
lessness. He refused to be taken alive — and said that other attempts
to take him had been made, and he was determined that he would not
be taken. He was at first, (when those in pursuit of him found it abso-
lutely necessary,) shot at with small shot, with the intention of merely
crippling him. He was shot at several times, and at last he was so dis-
abled as to be compelled to surrender. He kept in the run of a creek
in a very dense swamp all the time that the neighbours were in pursuit
of him. As soon as the negro was taken, the best medical aid was pro-
cured, but he died on the same evening. One of the witnesses at the
Inquisition, stated that the negro boy said he was from Mississippi, and
123
belonged to so many persons that he did not know who his master was,
but again he said his master's name was Brown. He said his name was
Sam, and when asked by another witness, who his master was, he mut-
tered something like Augusta, or Augustine. The boy was apparently
above thirty-five or forty years of age, about six feet high, slightly yellow
in the face, very long beard or whiskers, and very stout built, and a stern
countenance ; and appeared to have been a runaway for a long time.
*' ' WILLIAM H. PRITCHARD,
" '•'Coroner (Ex-officio,) Barnwell Dist. S C'
" The Norfolk (Va.) Herald, of Feb. 1837, has the Mowing :
'" Three negroes in a ship's yawl, came on shore yesterday evening, near
New Point Comfort, and were soon afterward apprehended and lodged
in jail. Their story is, that they belonged to a brig from New York
bound to Havana, which was cast away to the southward of Cape Henry,
some day last week; that the brig was called the Maria, Captain
Whittemore. I have no doubt they are deserters from some vessel in
the bay, as their statements are very confused and inconsistent. One of
these fellows is a mulatto, and calls liimself Isaac Turner ; the other two
are quite black,' the one passing by the name of James Jones and the
other John Murray. They have all their clothing with them, and are
dressed in sea-faring apparel. They attempted to make their escape,
and it was not till a musket yeas fired at them, and one of them slightly
wounded, that they surrendered. They will be kept in jail till something
further is discovered respecting them."
"The 'St. Francisville (La.) Chronicle,' of Feb. 1, 1839, give the fol-
lowing account of a \negro hunt,' in that parish.
" * Two or three days since a gentleman of this parish,in hunting run-
away negroes, came upon a camp of them in the swamp on Cat Island.
He succeeded in arresting two of them, but the third made fight ; and
upon being shot in the shoulder, fled to a sluice, where the dogs succeeded
in drowning him before assistance could arrive.'
" ' The dogs succeeded in drowning him' ! Poor fellow ! He tried
hard for his life, plunged into the sluice, and, with a bullet in his shoul-
der, and the blood hounds unfleshing his bones, he bore up for a mo-
ment with feeble stroke as best he might, but ' public opinion' succeeded
in drowning him, and the same 4 public opinion' calls the man who
fired and crippled him, and cheered on the dogs, 'a gentleman,' and the
editor who celebrates the exploit is a ' gentleman' also ! '
'* A large number of extracts similar to the above, might here be in-
serted from southern newspapers in our possession, but the foregoing are
more than sufficient for our purpose, and we bring to a close the testi-
mony on this point, with the following :
124
" Extract of a letter, from the Rev. Samuel J. May, of South Scituate,
Mass, dated Dec. 20, 1838.
" ' You doubtless recollect the narrative given in the * Oasis,' of a slave
in Georgia, who having run away from his master, (accounted a very
hospitable and even humane gentleman,) was hunted by his master and
his retainers with horses, dogs, and rifles,, and having been driven into a
tree by the hounds, was shot down by his more cruel pursuers. All the
facts there given, and some others equally shocking, connected with the
same case, were first communicated to me in 1833, by Mr. W. Russel,
a highly respectable teacher of youth in Boston. He is doubtless ready
to vouch for them. The same gentleman informed me that he was keep-
ing school on or near the plantation of the monster who perpetrated the
above outrage upon humanity, that he was even invited by him to join
in the hunt, and when he expressed abhorrence at the thought, the plan-
ter holding up the rifle which he had in his hand said with an oath,
* d — n that rascal, this is the third time he has run away, and he shall
never run again. I'd rather put a ball into his side, than into the best
buck in the land.'
" Mr. Russell, in the account given by him of this tragedy in the
4 Oasis,' page 267, thus describes the slaveholder who made the above
expression, and was leader of the ' hunt,' and in whose family he resided
at the time as an instructor; he says of him — He was ' an opulent plan-
ter, in whose family the evils of slaveholding were palliated by every
expedient that a humane and generous disposition could suggest. He
was a man of noble and elevated character, and distinguished for his
generosity, and kindness of heart.'
" In a letter to Mr. May, dated Feb. 3, 1839, Mr. Russell, speaking
of the hunting of runaways with dogs and guns, says : ' Occurrences of
a nature similar to the one related in the * Oasis,' were not unfrequent
in the interior of Georgia and South Carolina twenty years ago. Seve-
ral such fell under my notice within the space of fifteen months. In
two such ' hunts,' I was solicited to join.' "
The subjoined extract is from a letter written from Natchez,
Mississippi, in 1833, to Arthur Tappan, Esq., New York. The
writer is a highly respectable clergyman. His name is withheld
because the publication would endanger his life.
" Not six months since, I saw a number of my Christian neighbours
packing up provisions, as I supposed for a deer hunt; but as I was
about offering myself to the party, I learned that their powder and balls
were destined to a very different purpose : it was, in short, the design of
125
the party to bring home a number of runaway slaves, or to shoot them
if they should not be able to get possession of them in any other way."
The following is taken from the New York Commercial Ad-
vertiser, of June 8, 1827.
" Hunting men with dogs. — A negro who had absconded from his
master, and for whom a reward of 100 dollars was offered, has been
apprehended and committed to prison in Savannah. The editor who
states the fact adds, with as much coolness as though there were no
barbarity in the matter, that he did not surrender till he was considera-
bly MAIMED BY THE DOGS that had been set on him."
We conclude our extracts under this head by a few addi-
tional illustrations taken principally from " American Slavery
as it is."
" The following horrible transaction took place in Perry county, Ala-
bama. We extract it from the African Observer, a monthly periodical,
published in Philadelphia, by the society of Friends. See No. for Au-
gust, 1827.
" ' Tuscaloosa, Ala. June 20, 1827.
" ' Some time during the last week a Mr. M'Neilly having lost some
clothing, or other property of no great value, the slave of a neighbour-
ing planter was charged with the theft. M'Neilly in company with his
brother, found the negro driving his master's wagon ; they seized him
and either did or were about to chastise him, when the negro stabbed
M'Neilly, so that he died in an hour afterwards. The negro was taken
before a justice of the peace, who waved his authority, perhaps through
fear, as a crowd of persons had collected to the number of seventy or
eighty, near Mr. People's (the justice) house. He acted as president of
the mob, and put the vote, when it was decided he should be immedi-
ately executed by being burnt to death. The sable culprit was led to a
tree, and tied to it, and a large quantity of pine knots collected and
placed around him, and the fatal torch applied to the pile, even against
the remonstrances of several gentlemen who were present ; and the mi-
serable being was in a short time burned to ashes.
'"This is the SECOND negro who has been THUS put to death,
without judge or jury, in this county.'
" On the 28th, of April 1836, in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, a
black man, named Mclntosh, who had stabbed an officer, that had ar-
rested him, was seized by the multitude, fastened to a tree in the midst
of the city, wood piled around him, and in open day and in the presence
126
of an immense throng of citizens, he was hurned to death. The Alton
(111.) Telegraph, in its account of the scene says ;
" ' All was silent as death while the executioners were piling wood
around their victim. He said not a word, until feeling that the flames
had seized upon him. He then uttered an awful howl, attempting to
sing and pray, then hung his head, and suffered in silence, except in the
following instance: — After the flames had surrounded their prey, his
eyes hurnt out of his head, and his mouth seemingly parched to a cinder,
some one in the crowd, more compassionate than the rest, proposed to
put an end to his misery hy shooting him, when it was replied, ' that
would he of no use, since he was already out of pain.' ' No, no,' said
the wretch, ' I am not, I am suffering as much as ever ; shoot me, shoot
me.' ' No, no,' said one of the fiends who was standing about the sacri-
fice they were roasting, ' he shall not be shot. / would sooner slacken
thejlre, if that would increase his misery ; ' and the man who said this
was, as we understand, an OFFICER OF JUSTICE ! '
" The St. Louis correspondent of a New York paper adds,
" ' The shrieks and groans of the victim were loud and piercing, and
to observe one limb after another drop into the fire was awful indeed.
He was about fifteen minutes in dying. I visited the place this morn-
ing, and saw his body, or the remains of it, at the place of execution.
He was burnt to a crump. His legs and arms were gone, and only a
part of his head and body were left.'
" Lest this demonstration of ' public opinion ' should be regarded as a
sudden impulse merely, not an index of the settled tone of feeling in
that community, it is important to add, that the Hon. Luke E. Lawless,
Judge of the Circuit Court of Missouri, at a session of that Court in
the city of St. Louis, some months after the burning of this man, decided
officially that since the burning of Mclntosh was the act, either directly
or by countenance of a majority of the citizens, it is ' a case which tran-
scends the jurisdiction,' of the Grand Jury ! Thus the state of Missouri
has proclaimed to the world, that the wretches who perpetrated that un-
speakably diabolical murder, and the thousands that stood by consenting
to it, were her representatives, and the Bench sanctifies it with the solem-
nity of a judicial decision.
" The ' New Orleans Post,' of June 7» 1836, publishes the following :
"'We understand, that a negro man was lately condemned by the
mob, to be BURNED OVER A SLOW FIRE, which was put into execution
at Grand Gulf, Mississippi, for murdering a black woman, and her
master.'
" Mr. Henry Bradley, of Penyan, N. Y., has furnished us with an
extract of a letter written by a gentleman in Mississippi to his brother
127
in that village, detailing the particulars of the preceding transaction.
The letter is dated Grand Gulf, Miss. August 15, 1836. The extract is
as follows :
" * I left Vicksburgh and came to Grand Gulf. This is a fine place
immediately on the banks of the Mississippi, of something like fifteen
hundred inhabitants in the winter, and at this time, I suppose, there are
not over two hundred white inhabitants, but in the town and its vicinity
there are negroes by thousands. The day I arrived at this place there
was a man by the name of G— — murdered by a negro man that be-
longed to him. G was born and brought up in A , state of
New York. His father and mother now live south of A . He has
left a property here, it is supposed, of forty thousand dollars, and no fa-
mily.
" ' They took the negro, mounted him on a horse, led the horse under
a tree, put a rope around his neck, raised him up by throwing the rope
over a limb ; they then got into a quarrel among themselves ; some swore
that he should be burnt alive; the rope was cut and the negro dropped to
the ground. He immediately jumped to his feet ; they then made him
walk a short distance to a tree ; he was then tied fast and a fire kindled,
when another quarrel took place ; the fire was pulled away from him
when about half dead, and a committee of twelve appointed to say in
what manner he should be disposed of. They brought in that he should
then be cut down, his head cut off, his body burned, and his head stuck
on a pole at the corner of the road in edge of the town. That was
done and all parties satisfied !
" e G owned the negro s wife, and was in the habit of sleeping with
her ! The negro said he had killed him, and he believed he should be
rewarded in heaven for it.
" ' This is but one instance among many of a similar nature.
S. S.'
" "We have received a more detailed account of this transaction from
Mr. William Armstrong, of Putnam, Ohio, through Maj. Horace Nye,
of that place. Mr. A. who has been for some years employed as captain
and supercargo of boats descending the river, was at Grand Gulf at the
time of the tragedy, and witnessed it. It was on the sabbath. From
Mr. Armstrong's statement, it appears that the slave was a man of un-
common intelligence ; had the over-sight of a large business — superin-
tended the purchase of supplies for his master, &c. — that exasperated
by the intercourse of his master with his wife, he was upbraiding her
one evening, when his master, overhearing him, went out to quell him,
was attacked by the infuriated man and killed on the spot. The name
of the master was Green ; he was a native of Auburn, New York, and
had been at the south but a few years.
" Mr. Ezekiel Birdseye, of Cornwall, Conn., a gentleman well known
and highly respected in Litchfield county, who resided a number of
years in South Carolina, gives the following testimony : —
" ' A man by the name of Waters was killed by his slaves, in New-
bury District. Three of them were tried before the court, and ordered
to be burnt. I was but a few miles distant at the time, and conversed
with those who saw the execution. The slaves were tied to a stake, and
pitch pine wood piled around them, to which the fire was communicated.
Thousands were collected to witness this barbarous transaction. Other
executions of this kind took place in various parts of the state, during my
residence in it, from 1818 to 1824. About three or four years ago, a
young negro was burnt in Abbeville District, for an attempt at rape.'
" In the fall of 1837, there was a rumour of a projected insurrection
on the Red River, in Louisiana. The citizens forthwith seized and
hanged NINE ^SLAVES, AND THREE FREE COLOURED MEN, WITHOUT TRIAL.
A few months previous to that transaction, a slave was seized in a simi-
lar manner and publicly burned to death, in Arkansas. In July, 1835,
the citizens of Madison county, Mississippi, were alarmed by rumours of
an insurrection, arrested five slaves and publicly executed them with-
out trial.
" The Missouri Republican, April 30, 1838, gives the particulars of
the deliberate murder of a negro man named Tom, a cook on board the
steamboat Pawnee, on her passage up from New Orleans to St. Louis.
Some of the facts stated by the Republican are the following ;
" ' On Friday night, about 10 o'clock, a deaf and dumb German girl
was found in the store-room with Tom. The door was locked, and at
first Tom denied she was there. The girl's father came. Tom unlocked
the door, and the girl was found secreted in the room behind a barrel.
The next morning some four or five of the deck passengers spoke to the
captain about it. This was about breakfast time. Immediately after he
left the deck, a number of the deck passengers rushed upon the negro, bound
his arms behind his back and carried him forward to the bow of the boat.
A voice cried out ' throw him overboard,' and was responded to from
every quarter of the deck — and in an instant he was plunged into the
river. The whole scene of tying him and throwing him overboard
scarcely occupied ten minutes, and was so precipitate that the officers
were unable to interfere in time to save him.
" ' There were between two hundred and fifty and three hundred pas-
sengers on board.'
" The whole process of seizing Tom, dragging him upon deck, binding
his arms behind his back, forcing him to the bow of the boat, and
throwing him overboard, occupied, the editor informs us, about TEN
NUTES ; and of the two hundred and fifty or three hundred deck pas-
129
sengers, with perhaps as many cabin passengers, it does not appear that
a single individual raised a finger to prevent this deliberate murder ; and
the ciy ' throw him overboard,' was, it seems, ' responded to from every
quarter of the deck ! ' "
A bare enumeration of the various modes of torture known to
be practised in the planting states, must convince the most in-
credulous, that our picture of slaveholding cruelty has not
been overdrawn. In contemplating the following, it is diffi-
cult to resist the conviction, that a more profound and mali-
cious cunning than belongs to mere man, has been employed in
contriving such a diversity of hellish torments to plague man-
kind ; at the same time we must confess that their invention dis-
plays no more of the fiend than their application which is daily
made by beings wearing the form of men.
J
The slaves are suspended by the wrists, with their toes just
touching the ground; their ankles having been tied, a heavy log
or fence rail is thrust between their legs. In this situation,
naked, they are flogged with a cow-hide* till their blood and bits
of mangled flesh stream from their shoulders to the ground.
Again, they are stretched at full length upon the earth, their
faces downwards, each of their wrists and ankles is lashed to a
stake driven firmly into the ground. Thus stretched so that
they cannot shrink in the least from the descending blows, they
receive sometimes hundreds of lashes on their naked backs. So
protracted is the flogging frequently that the overseer stops in
the midst of it to take breath and rest his tired muscles, only to
resume it with increased violence. In such cases the back of
the slave presents to the beholder one mass of clotted blood
and mangled flesh. Sometimes instead of lashing the ankles
and wrists to stakes, the overseer orders four strong slaves to
hold the victim. The persons selected to do this are sometimes,
through a refinement of cruelty, the relatives of the sufferer.
Again the slaves are stripped and bound upon a log, and in
this position they are tortured with heavy paddles bored full of
* This is a strip of a raw hide, .cut the whole length of the ox, and twisted
while in that state until it tapers off to a point ; when it has become dry and
hard it has somewhat the appearance of a drayman's whip, but the sharp
edges projecting at every turn, cut into the flesh at every stroke ; it is indeed
a dreadful instrument of punishment.
130
holes, each of which raises a blister at every stroke : or infuri-
ated cats are repeatedly dragged backwards from their shoulders
to their hips. After either of the foregoing modes of lacerating
the flesh, spirits of turpentine, or a solution of salt, or cayenne
pepper, or pulverized mustard is rubbed into the bleeding
wounds to aggravate and prolong the torment.
Sometimes the slaves are buried to their chins in holes dug in
the damp ground, just large enough for them to stand erect with
their arms close by their sides. They are also fastened in the
stocks for several successive nights, being released during the day
for work, or confined both night and day. Instead of stocks,
the feet are sometimes thrust between the rails of the fence.
The slaves are beaten with heavy clubs over the head, arms,
shoulders, or legs. -Walking canes are broken over their heads,
sometimes fracturing the skull, or causing permanent insanity,
or even death. In moments of passion the planter or overseer
seizes any instrument within reach, often prostrating the slave
at a blow ; and then stamps upon him till his fury is spent.
During these paroxysms of rage the slaves frequently suffer the
most frightful mutilations and fractures. Their limbs are bro-
ken, joints dislocated, faces bruised, eyes and teeth knocked out,
lips mangled, cheeks gashed, ears cropped, slit, or shaved close
to the head, fingers and toes cut off; red hot branding irons
with the initials of their masters are stamped into the cheeks,
the fleshy parts of the thighs, and legs, and shoulders. They are
maimed by gun and pistol shots, and lacerated with knives.
Again : they are handcuffed, manacled, loaded with chains and
balls; iron yokes are fastened about their necks with long
prongs extending outward and upward, or meeting above the
head, where a bell is suspended.
They are punished by confinement in loathsome dungeons,
by starvation, by nakedness, by protracted watchings, by long
separation from their companions night and day, — as husband
from wife, by being forced to flog the naked bodies of their own
relatives, — as sons their mothers, — or fathers their own daughters.
Woman in her most delicate condition is subjected to humilia-
tion and suffering, by being driven, up to the day, and sometimes
to the moment of her delivery to labor with the promiscuous
gang, and to feel the overseers lash in case she lags behind.
131
When runaways are discovered and attempt to flee they are
fired upon, and maimed or killed. They are pursued by
trained dogs, which worry them and tear their flesh, not un-
frequently taking their lives. When retaken, though worn by
their struggles and faint with the loss of blood, they are at-
tached by a long rope to their master's saddle, and furiously
dragged homeward, while an attendant, riding behind, plies the
bloody lash. They often fall dead on the road in the midst of
these forced marches.
TENTH QUESTION. What are the disabilities and disqualifi-
cations under which the people of colour labor ?
In a subsequent part of this document a number of pages are
devoted to the subject of " prejudice against colour," in which
the outrages perpetrated, upon our coloured fellow citizens by a
ferocious public sentiment are drawn out in detail. We will
therefore in reply to this query merely refer you to a pamphlet
recently published by the American Anti-Slavery Society " On
the Condition of the free people of Colour in the United States."
The Pamphlet will be forwarded herewith.
ELEVENTH QUESTION. How far are the professors of religion
tacitly, or actively, implicated in the guilt of slaveholding, or any
of its attendant evils?
The abolitionists of the United States have always insisted
that professors of religion, both in the free and slave states, are
deeply implicated in the guilt of slavery. They have been fully
convinced that the American churches were mainly answerable
for the continuance of American slavery, and it has been a pro-
minent object with them to arouse professed Christians to tes-
tify, both in their individual and associated capacities, against
the sin of oppression. The hostility which their efforts to this
end have excited within the church, has more than justified their
convictions — it has betrayed an extent and inveteracy of pro-
slavery feeling in the professed church of Christ, of which even
abolitionists had not conceived.
In making the developments which our query calls for, far
be it from us to set aught down in censoriousness against the
o o
K 2
132
professed followers of Jesus ; and as far be it from our hearts
to triumph in the exposure of their awful guilt touching the sub-
ject of slavery. Rather would we cover our faces in shame and
weep at the thought, that professing Christians sanction and up-
hold such a system of outrages upon man and God.
We will first consider how far professors of religion, living in the
slave states are implicated in the guilt of slaveholding, and sub-
sequently exhibit the implication of professors in the free states.
Professors of religion in the slave states are implicated very
extensively as a body, in the guilt of slaveholding,
1. By holding slaves themselves.
2. By vying with non-professing masters, in cruel treatment
of their slaves.
3. By selling and buying human beings, and often separating
husbands and wives, parents and children.
4. By defending slavery as a " Bible Institution."
5. By denouncing, opposing, and reviling abolitionists.
1. By actually holding slaves. Professors of religion are
slaveholders to as great an extent proportionably as the openly
irreligious. There is no obstacle whatever to church members
holding slaves. With the exception of the Friends or Quakers,
the Reformed Presbyterians or Covenanters, and three other
small sects — the United Brethren in Christ, the Primitive Metho-
dists,'and the Emancipation Baptists,* — there is not a single deno-
mination in the slave states which forbids slaveholding among its
members. So far from any obstacles being placed in the way,
there is every encouragement held out to professed Christians
to hold slaves. If any one should feel conscientious scruples
about it, the example of his pastor and the church officers amply
satisfies him that his misgivings are the result of weakness.
Or if this should not perfectly convince him, a lecture or sermon
from his "minister, proving slavery a divine institution cannot fail
to do so.
From the following testimony we learn to what extent pro-
fessed Christians are engaged in actual slaveholding. The wit-
ness is a minister of high standing in the Presbyterian denomi-
* Each of the four sects last named has not probably half a score of churches
in all the slave states ; and some of them we believe have only three or four
churches.
133
nation at the south, and has been for many years stated clerk
of a Presbytery in Mississippi.
" If slavery be a sin, and if advertising and apprehending slaves with
a view to restore them to their masters, is a direct violation of the di-
vine law, and if the buying, selling , and holding a slave FOR THE SAKE
OF GAIN, is a heinous sin and scandal, then verily, THREE FOURTHS OF
ALL THE EPISCOPALIANS, METHODISTS, BAPTISTS, AND PRESBYTERIANS,
IN ELEVEN STATES OF THE UNION, are of the devil. They HOLD, if they
do not buy and sell slaves ; and with few exceptions, they hesitate not to
apprehend and restore runaway slaves when in their power." — Quarterly
Anti-Slavery Magazine — vol. ii. p. 386.
This clerical defender of slavery informs us that THREE
FOURTHS of the members of the large denominations in the south
hold slaves for gain. So extensive is the practice of slavehold-
ing among church members, that it constitutes an argument
with this divine, and a conclusive one too, against the doctrine
that slavery is sin. What a proclamation this, of the prevalence
of slavery in the church ! Further testimony is needless. Of
the remaining one fourth, assuming the above estimate to be
correct, a very small portion refrain from slaveholding upon
principle. The great 'majority of non-slaveholding professors
are such for the same reason that often prevents non-professors
from owning slaves — inability.
2. By vying with non-professing masters, in cruel treatment
of their slaves. Slaveholding professors of religion do in the
main exact as much labor, employ as barbarous overseers, stint
the food, clothing, and sleep of their slaves, and furnish them
as wretched shelter and lodgings, as other masters. They flog
as severely and as frequently, lacerate, bruise, maim, crop, brand,
gash, kick, chain, and imprison with the same relentless barba-
rity. They allow licentiousness to as great an extent, and they
equally neglect the education and religious instruction of their
slaves.
The testimony which follows is taken from " American Sla-
very as it is." We will first present that of Rev. Francis Haw-
ley, who resided fourteen years in North and South Carolina.
Mr. H. is now pastor of the Baptist Church in Wallingford,
Connecticut.
1. " 'I WILL NOW GIVE A FEW FACTS SHOWING THE WORKINGS OF THE
SYSTEM.
134
" ' Some years since, a Presbyterian minister moved from North Caro-
lina to Georgia. He had a negro man of an uncommon mind. For some
cause, I know not what, this minister whipped him most unmercifully.
He next nearly drowned him ; he then put him in the fence ; this is done
by lifting up the corner of a ' worm ' fence, and then putting the feet
through ; the rails serve as stocks. He kept him there some time, how
long I was not informed, but the poor slave died in a few days ; and, if
I was rightly informed, nothing was done about it, either in church or
state. After some time, he moved back to North Carolina, and is now
a member of Presbytery. I have heard him preach, and have been
in the pulpit with him. May God forgive me ! '
2. "'While travelling as agent for the North Carolina Baptist State
Convention, I attended a three days' meeting in Gates County. Friday,
the first day, passed off. Saturday morning came, and the pastor of the
church, who lived a few miles off, did not make his appearance. The
day passed off and no news from the pastor. On Sabbath morning, he
came hobbling along, having but little use of one foot. He soon ex-
plained : said he had hired a negro man, who, on Saturday morning,
gave him a 'little slack jam! Not having a stick at hand, he fell upon
him with his fist and foot, and in kicking him, he injured his foot so
seriously, that he could not attend meeting on Saturday.
3. " ' Some of the slaveholding ministers at the south, put their slaves
under overseers, or hire them out, and then take the pastoral care of
churches. The Rev. Mr. B , formerly of Pennsylvania, had a plan-
tation in Marlborough District, South Carolina, and was the pastor of
a church in Darlington District. The Rev. Mr. T , of Johnson
county, North Carolina, has a plantation in Alabama.
4. '"• I was present, and saw the Rev. J. W , of Mecklenburg
county, North Carolina, hire out four slaves to work in the gold mines
in Burke county. The Rev. II. M , of Orange county, sold, for
900 dollars, a negro man to a speculator, on a Monday of a camp meeting.'
5.«" Extract from an editorial article in the 'Lowell (Mass.) Observer'
a religious paper, edited at the time (1833) by the Rev. Daniel S. South-
mayd, who recently died in Texas.
. " ' We have been among the slaves at the south. We took pains to
make discoveries in respect to the evils of slavery. We formed our sen-
timents on the subject of the cruelties exercised towards the slave from
having witnessed them. We now affirm, that we never saw a man, who
had never been at the south, who thought as much of the cruelties
practised on the slaves, as we know to be a fact.
" ' A slave whom I loved for his kindness and the amiableness of his
disposition, and who belonged to the family where I resided, happened to
stay out fifteen minutes longer than he had permission to stay. It was a
135
mistake — it was unintentional. But what was the penalty? He was
sent to the house of correction with the order that he should have thirty
lashes upon his naked body with a knotted rope ! ! ! He was brought
home and laid down in the stoop, in the back of the house, in the sun,
upon the floor. And there he lay, with more the appearance of a rotten
carcass than a living man, for four days before he could do more than
more. And who was this inhuman being, calling God's property his own,
and using it as he would not have dared to use a beast ? You may say
he was a tiger — one of the more wicked sort, and we must not judge
others by him. He was a professor of that religion which will pour upon
the willing slaveholder the retribution due to his sin.
6. " Rev. Huntington Lyman late'pastor of the Free Church in Buffalo,
New York, says :
" * "Walking one day in New Orleans with a professional gentleman,
who was educated in Connecticut, we were met by a black man ; the
gentleman was greatly incensed with the black man for passing so near
him, and turning upon him he pushed him with violence off the walk
into the street. This man was a professor of religion.'
" [[And we add, a member, and if we mistake not, an officer of the
Presbyterian Church which was established there by Rev. Joel Parker,
and which was then under his teachings. — ED.]
"Mr. Ezekiel Birdseye, a gentleman of known probity, in Cornwall,
Litchfield county, Conn, gives the testimony which follows : —
" ' A BAPTIST CLERGYMAN in Laurens district, S. C., WHIPPED HIS SLAVE
TO DEATH, whom he suspected of having stolen about sixty dollars. The
slave was in the prime of life, and was purchased a few weeks before for
800 dollars of a slave trader from. Virginia or Maryland. The coroner,
Wm. Irby, at whose house I was then boarding, told me, that on review-
ing the dead body, he found it beat to a jelly from head to foot. The mas-
ter's wife discovered the money a day or two after the death of the slave.
She had herself removed it from where it was placed, not knowing what
it was, as it was tied up in a thick envelope. I happened to be present
when the trial of this man took place, at Laurens Court-house. His
daughter testified that her father untied the slave, when he appeared to
be failing, and gave him cold water to drink, of which he took freely.
His counsel pleaded that his death might have been caused by drinking
cold water in a state of excitement. The judge charged the jury, that
it would be their duty to find the defendant guilty, if they believed the
death was caused by the whipping ; but if they were of opinion that
drinking cold water caused the death, they would find him not guilty !
The jury found him — NOT GUILTY !'
136
" Dr. Jeremiah S. "VVaugh, a physician in Somerville, Butler county,
Ohio, testifies as follows :
" ' In the year 1825, I boarded with the Rev. John Mushat, a seceder
minister, and principal of an academy in Iredel county, N. C. He had
slaves, and was in the habit of restricting them on the sabbath. One of
his slaves, however, ventured to disobey his injunctions. The offence
was, he went away on sabbath evening, and did not return till Monday
morning. About the time we were called to breakfast, the rev. gentle-
man was engaged in chastising him for breaking the sabbath. He deter-
mined not to submit — attempted to escape by flight. The master imme-
diately took down his gun and pursued him ; levelled his instrument of
death, and told him, if he did not stop instantly he mould blow him through.
" ' The poor slave returned to the house and submitted himself to the
lash ; and the good master, while YET PALE WITH RAGE, sat down to the
table, and with a trembling voice ASKED GOD'S BLESSING !'
" The following letter was sent by Capt. Jacob Dunham, of New York
city, to a slaveholder in Georgetown, D. C., more than twenty years
since :
" ' Georgetown, June 13, 1815.
" ' Dear sir, — Passing your house yesterday, I beheld a scene of cruelty
seldom witnessed ; that was the brutal chastisement of your negro girl,
lashed to a ladder and beaten in an inhuman manner, too bad to describe.
My blood chills while I contemplate the subject. This has led me to
investigate your character from your neighbours ; who inform me that
you have caused the death of one negro man, whom you struck with a
sledge for some trivial fault ; that you have beaten another black girl
with such severity that the splinters remained in her back for some weeks
after you sold her ; and many other acts of barbarity, too lengthy to
enumerate. And to my great surprise, I find you are a professor of the
Christian religion !
" ' You will naturally inquire, why I meddle with your family affairs.
My answer is, the cause of humanity and a sense of my duty requires it.
With these hasty remarks I leave you to reflect on the subject ; but wish
you to remember, that there is an all-seeing eye who knows all our faults
and will reward us according to our deeds.
" ' I remain, sir, yours, &c.
" ' JACOB DUNHAM,
" ' Master of the brig Cyrus, of N. Y.'
*' Rev. Sylvester Cowles, pastor of the Presbyterian church, in Fredo-
nia, N. Y., says :
" ' A young man, a member of the church in Conewango, went to
137
Alabama last year, to reside as a clerk in an uncle's store. When he
had been there about nine months, he wrote his father that he must
return home. To see members of the same church sit at the communion
table of our Lord one day, and the next to see one seize any weapon and
knock the other down, as he had seen, he could not live there. His good
father forthwith gave him permission to return home.'
" The following is a specimen of the shameless hardihood with which
a professed minister of the gospel, and editor of a religious paper, assumes
the right to hold God's image as a chattel. It is from the ' Southern
Christian Herald' :
" ' It is stated in the Georgetown Union, that a negro, supposed to
have died of cholera, when that disease prevailed in Charleston, was
carried to the public burying-ground to be interred ; but before interment
signs of life appeared, and, by the use of proper means, he was restored
to health. And now the man who first perceived the signs of life in the
slave, and that led to his preservation, claims the property as his own,
and is about bringing*suit for its recovery. As well might a man who
rescued his neighbour's slave, or his horse, from drowning, or who extin-
guished the flames that would otherwise soon have burnt down his
neighbor's house, claim the property as his own.'
" Rev. George Bourne, of New York city, late editor of the ' Protest-
ant Vindicator,' who was a preacher seven years in Virginia, gives the
following testimony :*
" ' Benjamin Lewis, who was an elder in the Presbyterian church,
engaged a carpenter to repair and enlarge his house. After some time
* A few years since Mr. Bourne published a work entitled " Picture of
Slavery in the United States ;" in which he describes a variety of horrid atro-
cities perpetrated upon slaves ; such as brutal scourgings and lacerations, with
the application of pepper, mustard, salt, vinegar, &c. to the bleeding gashes ;
also raaimings, cat-haulings, burnings, and other tortures similar to hundreds
described on the preceding pages. These descriptions of Mr. Bourne were
at that time thought by multitudes incredible, and probably even by some
abolitionists who had never given much reflection to the subject. We are
happy to furnish the reader with the following testimony of a Virginia slave-
holder, to the accuracy of Mr. Bourne's delineations, especially as this slave-
holder is a native of one of the counties (Culpepper) near to which the atro-
cities described by Mr. B. were committed.
Testimony of Mr. William Hansborough, of Culpepper county, Virginia,
the ' owner' of sixty slaves, to Mr. Bourne's " Picture of Slavery" as a true
delineation.
Lindley Coates, of Lancaster Co. Pa., a well known member of the late
Pennsylvania Convention for revising the constitution of the state, in a letter
now before us describing a recent interview between him and Mr. Hans-
borough, of several days continuance, says, " I handed him Bourne's ' Picture
of Slavery' to read ; after reading it, he said, that all the sufferings of slaves
therein related were true delineations, and that he had seen all those modes of
torture himself,"
138
had elapsed, Kyle, the builder, was awakened very early in the morning
by a most piteous moaning and shrieking. He arose, and following the
sound, discovered a coloured woman nearly naked, tied to a fence, while
Lewis was lacerating her. Kyle instantly commanded the slave-driver
to desist. Lewis maintained his jurisdiction over his slaves, and threat-
ened Kyle that he would punish him for'his interference. Finally Kyle
obtained the release of the victim.
" ' A second and a third scene of the same kind occurred, and on the
tliird occasion, the altercation almost produced a battle between the elder
and the carpenter.
" * Kyle immediately arranged his affairs, packed up his tools, and pre-
pared to depart. ' Where are you going ?' demanded Lewis. ' I am
going home,' said Kyle. ' Then I will pay you nothing for what you
have done,' retorted the slave-driver, ' unless you complete your contract.'
The carpenter went away with this edifying declaration, ' I will not stay
here a day longer ; for I expect the fire of God will come down and burn
you up altogether, and I do not choose to go to hell with you.' Through
hush-money and promises not to whip the women any more, I believe
Kyle returned and completed his engagement.
" ' James Kyle, of Harrisonburgh, Virginia, frequently narrated this
circumstance, and his son, the carpenter, confirmed it with all the minute
particulars combined with his temporary residence on the Shenandoah river.
" ' John M'Cue, of Augusta county, Virginia, a Presbyterian preacher,
frequently on the Lord's day morning, tied up his slaves and whipped
them ; and left them bound, while he went to the meeting-house and
preached ; and after his return home repeated his scourging. That fact,
with others more heinous, was known to all persons in his congregation
and around the vicinity ; and so far from being censured for it, he and
his brethren justified it as essential to preserve their ' domestic institu-
tions.'
" ' Mrs. Pence, of Rockingham county, Virginia, used to boast, — ' I
am the best hand to whip a wench in the whole county.' She used to
pinion the girls to a post in the yard on the Lord's day morning, scourge
them, put on the * negro plaster^ salt, pepper, and vinegar, leave them
tied, and walk away to church as demure as a nun, and after service
repeat her flaying, if she felt the whim. I once expostulated with her
upon her cruelty. ' Mrs. Pence, how can you whip your girls so pub-
licly and disturb your neighbours so, on the Lord's day morning ?' Her
answer was memorable. ' If I were to whip them on any other day I
should lose a day's work ; but by whipping them on Sunday, their backs
get well enough by Monday morning.' That woman, if alive, is doubt-
less a member of the church now, as then.
139
•
" ' Rev. Dr. Staughton, formerly of Philadelphia, often stated, that
when he lived at Georgetown, S. C., he could tell the doings of one of
the slaveholders of the Baptist church there by his prayers at the prayer
meeting. ' If,' said he, ' that man was upon good terms with his slaves,
his words were cold and heartless as frost ; if he had been whipping a
man, he would pray with life ; but if he had left a woman whom he had
been flogging, tied to a post in his cellar, with a determination to go back
and torture her again, O ! how he would pray !' The Rev. Cyrus P.
Grosvenor, of Massachusetts, can confirm the above statement by Dr.
Staughton.
" ' William Wilson, a Presbyterian preacher, of Augusta county, Vir-
ginia, had a young colored girl who was constitutionally unhealthy. As
no means to amend her were availing, he sold her to a member of his
congregation, and in the usual style of human flesh dealers, warranted
her ' sound,' &c. The fraud was instantly discovered ; but he would not
refund the amount. A suit was commenced, and was long continued,
and finally the plaintiff recovered the money out of which he had been
swindled by slave-trading with his own preacher. No Presbytery cen-
sured him, although Judge Brown, the chancellor, severely condemned
the imposition.
" 'In the year 1811, Jehab Graham, a preacher, lived with Alexander
Nelson, a Presbyterian elder, near Stanton, Virginia, and he informed
me that a man had appeared before Nelson, who was a magistrate, and
swore falsely against his slave, — that the elder ordered him thirty-nine
lashes. All that wickedness was done as an excuse for his dissipated
owner to obtain money. A negro trader had offered him a considerable
sum for the ' boy,' and under the pretence of saving him from the pun-
ishment of the law, he was trafficked away from his woman and children
to another state. The magistrate was aware of the perjury, and the
whole abomination, but all the truth uttered by every coloured person in
the southern states would not be of any avail against the notorious false
swearing of the greatest white villain who ever cursed the world. ' How,'
said Jehab Graham, ' can I preach to-morrow ?' I replied, ' Very well ;
go and thunder the doctrine of retribution in their ears, Obadiah 15, till
by the divine blessing you kill or cure them.' My friends, John M.
Nelson of Hillsborough, Ohio, Samuel Linn, and Robert Herron, and
others of the same vicinity, could ' make both the ears of every one who
heareth them tingle' with the accounts which they can give of slave-
driving by professors of religion in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia.
" 'In 1815, near Frederick, in Maryland, a most barbarous planter was
killed in a fit of desperation, by four of his slaves in self-defence. It was
declared by those slaves while in prison that, besides his atrocities among
140
their female associates, he had deliberately butchered a number of his
slaves. The four men were murdered by law to appease the popular
clamor. I saw them executed on the twenty-eighth day of Jan. 1816.
The facts I received from the Rev. Patrick Davidson of Frederick, who
constantly visited them during their imprisonment — and who became an
abolitionist in consequence of the disclosures which he heard from those
men in the jail. The name of the planter is not distinctly recollected,
but it can be known by an inspection of the record of the trial in the
clerk's office, Frederick.
" ' A minister of Virginia, still living, and whose name must not be
mentioned for fear of Nero Preston and his confederate-hanging myrmi-
dons, informed me of this fact in 1815, in his own house. ' A member
of my church, said he, lately whipped a coloured youth to death. What
shall I do ?' I answered, ' I hope you do not mean to continue him in
your church.' That minister replied, ' How can we help it !' We dare
not call him to an account. We have no legal testimony.' Their com-
munion season was then approaching. I addressed his wife, — ' Mrs.
do you mean to sit at the Lord's table with that murderer ?' — ' Not I,'
she answered : ' I would as soon commune with the devil himself.' The
slave killer was equally unnoticed by the civil and ecclesiastical au-
thority.
" ' John Baxter, a Presbyterian elder, the brother of that slaveholding
doctor in divinity, George A. Baxter, held as a slave the wife of a Bap-
tist colored preacher, familiarly called ' Uncle Jack.' In a late period
of pregnancy he scourged her so that the lives of herself and her unborn
child were considered in jeopardy. Uncle Jack was advised to obtain
the liberation of his wife. Baxter finally agreed, I think, to sell the
woman and her children, three of them, I believe, for six hundred dol-
lars, and an additional hundred if the unborn child survived a certain
period after its birth. Uncle Jack was to pay one hundred dollars per
annum for his wife and children for seven years, and Baxter held a sort
of mortgage upon them for the payment. Uncle Jack showed me his
back in furrows like a ploughed field. His master used to whip up the
flesh, then beat it downwards, and then apply the ' negro plaster J salt,
pepper, mustard, and vinegar, until all Jack's back was almost as hard
and unimpressible as the bones. There is slaveholding religion ! A
Presbyterian elder receiving from a Baptist preacher seven hundred dol-
lars for his wife and children ! James Kyle and uncle Jack used to tell
that story with great Christian sensibility ; and uncle Jack would weep
tears of anguish over his wife's piteous tale, and tears of ecstasy at the
same moment that he was free, and that soon, by the grace of God, his
wife and children, as he said, ' would be all free together.'
141
" Rev. James Nourse, a Presbyterian clergyman of Mifflin co., Penn.,
whose father is, we believe, a slaveholder in Washington city, says,
" ' The Rev. Mr. M , now of the Huntingdon Presbytery, after an
absence of many months, was about visiting his old friends on what is
commonly called the ' Eastern Shore.' Late in the afternoon, on his
journey, he called at the house of Rev. A. C., of P town, Md. With
this brother he had been long acquainted. Just at that juncture Mr. C.
was about proceeding to whip a colored female, who was his slave. She
was firmly tied to a post in FRONT of his dwelling-house. The arrival
of a clerical visitor at such a time, occasioned a temporary delay in the
execution of Mr. C.'s purpose. But the delay was only temporary ; for
not even the presence of such a guest could destroy the bloody design.
The guest interceded with all the mildness yet earnestness of a brother
and new visitor. But all in vain ; ' the woman had been SAUCY, and
must be punished.' The cowhide was accordingly produced, and the
Rev. Mr. C., a large and very stout man, applied it ' manfully' on
' woman's' bare and ' shrinking flesh.' I say bare, because you know
that the slave women generally have but three or four inches of the arm
near the shoulder covered, and the neck is left entirely exposed. As the
cowhide moved back and forward, striking right and left, on the head,
neck, and arms, at every few strokes the sympathising guest would ex-
claim, ' O, brother C. desist.' But brother C. pursued his brutal work,
till, after inflicting about sixty lashes, the woman was found to be suf-
fused with blood on the hinder part of her neck, and under her frock
between the shoulders. Yet this rev. gentleman is well esteemed in the
church ; was, three or four years since, moderator of the synod of Phila-
delphia, and yet walks abroad, feeling himself unrebuked by law or gos-
pel. Ah, sir, does not this narration give fearful force to the query —
* What has the church to do with slavery ?' Comment on the facts is
unnecessary, yet allow me to conclude by saying, that it is my opinion
such occurrences are not rare in the south. J. N.'
" Rev. Charles Stewart Renshaw, of Quincy, Illinois, in a recent letter,
speaking of his residence, for a period, in Kentucky, says,
" 'In a conversation with Mr. Robert Willis, he told me that his
negro girl had run away from him some time previous. He was con-
vinced that she was lurking round, and he watched for her. He soon
found the place of her concealment, drew her from it, got a rope, and tied
her hands across each other, then threw the rope over a beam in the kit-
chen, and hoisted her up by the wrists ; ' and,' said he, ' I whipped her
. there till I made the lint fly, I tell you.' I asked him the meaning of
making * the lint fly,' and he replied, ' till the blood, flew! I spoke of the
iniquity and cruelty of slavery, and of its immediate abandonment. He
142
confessed it an evil, but said, ' I am a colonizatwnist — I believe in that
scheme.' Mr. Willis is a teacher of sacred music, and a member of the
Presbyterian church in Lexington, Kentucky.'
" Mr. R., speaking of the PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER and church where
he resided, says,
" * The minister and all the church members held slaves. Some were
treated kindly, others harshly. There was not a shade ofdifferencel>et\veen
their slaves and those of then: infidel neighbours, either in their physical,
intellectual, or moral state : in some cases they would suffer in the com-
parison.
" ' In the kitchen of the minister of the church, a slave man was living
in open adultery with a slave woman, who was a member of the church,
with an ' assured hope' of heaven ; whilst the man's wife was on the
minister's farm in Fayette county. The minister had to bring a cook
down from his farm to the place in which he was preaching. The choice
was between the wife of the man and this church member. He left the
wife, and brought the church member to the adulterer's bed.
" ' I was much shocked once, to see a Presbyterian elder's wife call a
little slave to her to kiss her feet. At first the boy hesitated ; but the
command being repeated in tones not to be misunderstood, he approached
timidly, knelt, and kissed her foot.'
" The following communication from the Rev. William Bardwell, of
Sandwich, Massachusetts, has just been published in ' Zion's Watchman,'
New York city :
" * Mr. Editor, — The following fact was given me last evening, from
the pen of a shipmaster, who has traded in several of the principal ports
in the south. He is a man of unblemished character, a member of the
M. E. church in this place, and familiarly known in this town. The facts
were communicated to me last fall in a letter to his wife, with a request
that she would cause them to be published. I give them verbatim, as
they were written from the letter by brother Perry's own hand while I
was in his house.
" ' A Methodist preacher, Wm. Whitby by name, who married in
Bucksville, S. C., and by marriage came into possession of some slaves,
in July, 1838, was about moving to another station to preach, and wished,
also, to move his family and slaves to Tennessee, much against the will
of the slaves, one of which, to get clear from him, ran into the woods
after swimming a brook. The parson took after him with his gun, which,
however, got wet and missed fire, when he ran to a neighbour for another
gun, with the intention, as, he said, of killing him ; he did not, however,
catch or kill him ; he chained another for fear of his running away also.
143
The above particulars were related to me by William Whitby himself.
" ' THOMAS C. PERRY.
" ' March 3, 1839.'
" ' I find by examining the minutes of the S. C. Conference, that there
is such a preacher in the conference, and brother Perry further stated to
me that he was well acquainted with him, and if this statement was pub-
lished, and if it could be known where he was since the last conference,
he wished a paper to be sent him containing the whole affair. He also
stated to me, verbally, that the young man he attempted to shoot was
about nineteen years of age, and had been shut up in a corn-house, and
in the attempt of Mr. Whitby to chain him, he broke down the door and
made his escape as above-mentioned, and that Mr. W. was under the
necessity of hiring him out for one year, with the risk of his employer's
getting him. Brother Perry conversed with one of the slaves, who was
so old that he thought it not profitable to remove so far, and had been
sold ; he informed him of all the above circumstances, and said, with
tears, that he thought he had been so faithful as to be entitled to liberty,
but instead of making him free, he had sold him to another master,
besides parting one husband and wife from those ties rendered a thousand
times dearer by an infant child, which was torn for ever from the hus-
band.
" * WILLIAM BARDWELL.
" ' Sandwich, Mass., March 4, 1839.'
" Mr. Samuel Hall, a teacher in Marietta college, Ohio, says, in a
recent letter :
" ' A student in Marietta college, from Mississippi, a professor of reli-
gion, and in every way worthy of entire confidence, made to me the fol-
lowing statement. Qlf his name were published it would probably cost
him his life.]
" ' When I was in the family of the Rev. James Martin, of Louisville,
Winston county, Mississippi, in the spring of 1838, Mrs. Martin became
offended at a female slave, because she did not move faster. She com-
manded her to do so ; the girl quickened her pace ; again she was ordered
to move faster, or, Mrs. M, declared, she would break the broomstick
over her head. Again the slave quickened her pace ; but not coming up
to the maximum desired by Mrs. M., the latter declared she would see
whether she (the slave) could move or not; and, going into another
apartment, she brought in a raw hide, awaiting the return of her husband
for its application. In this instance I know not what was the final
result, but I have heard the sound of the raw hide in at least trvo other
instances, applied by this same reverend gentleman to the back of his
female servant.'
144
" Mr. Hall adds — ' The name of my informant must be suppressed, as
he says, c there are those who would cut my throat in a moment, if the
information I give were to be coupled with my name.' Suffice it to say
that he is a professor of religion, a native of Virginia, and a student of
Marietta college, whose character will bear the strictest scrutiny. He
says : —
" ' In 1838, at Charlestown, Ya., I conversed with several members
of the church under the care of the Rev. Mr. Brown, of the same place.
Taking occasion to speak of slavery, and of the sin of slaveholding, to one
of them who was a lady, she replied, ' I am a slaveholder, and I glory
in it.' I had a conversation, a few days after, with the pastor himself,
concerning the state of religion in his church, and who were the most
exemplary members in it. The pastor mentioned several of those who
were of that description ; the first of whom, however, was the identical
lady who gloried in being a slaveholder ! That church numbers nearly
two hundred members.
" ' Another lady, who was considered as devoted a Christian as any in
the same church, but who was in poor health, was accustomed to flog
some of her female domestics with a raw hide till she was exhausted, and
then go and lie down till her strength was recruited, rising again and re-
suming the flagellation. This she considered as not at all derogatory to
her Christian character.'
" Mr. Joel S. Bingham, of Cornwall, Vermont, lately a student in
Middlebury college, and a member of the Congregational church, spent a
few weeks in Kentucky, in the summer of 1 838. He relates the follow-
ing occurrence which took place in the neighbourhood where he resided,
and was a matter of perfect notoriety in the vicinity :
" ' Rev. Mr. Lewis, a Baptist minister in the vicinity of Frankfort,
Ky. had a slave that ran away, but was retaken and brought back to his
master, who threatened him with punishment for making an attempt to
escape. Though terrified, the slave immediately attempted to run away
again. Mr. L. commanded him to stop, but he did not obey. Mr. L.
then took a gun, loaded with small shot, and fired at the slave, who fell ;
but was not killed, and afterwards recovered. Mr. L. did not probably
intend to kill the slave, as it was his legs which were aimed at and
received the contents of the gun. The master asserted that he was driven
to this necessity to maintain his authority. This took place about the
first of July, 1838.'
" The following is given upon the authority of Rev. Orange Scott, of
Lowell, Mass., for many years a presiding elder in the Methodist Episco-
pal church :
" ' Rev. Joseph Hough, a Baptist minister, formerly of Springfield,
145
Mass., now of Plainfield, N. H., while travelling in the south, a few years
ago, put up one night with a Methodist family, and spent the sabbath
with them. While there, one of the female slaves did something which
displeased her mistress. She took a chisel and mallet, and very delibe-
rately cut off one of her toes !' "
3. By selling and buying human beings, and often separating
husbands and wives, parents and children. It is a notorious
fact, that professors of religion do buy and sell slaves regardless
of family ties, without losing thereby their church standing.
The practice of professing Christians is an open sanction of
the internal slave trade.
The Address of the Presbyterian Synod of Kentucky to the
churches under their care, after testifying to the prevalence of
the internal slave trade, as quoted above, thus affirms the impli-
cation of the church in it :
" Our church, years ago, raised its voice of solemn warning against
this flagrant violation of every principle of mercy, justice, and humanity.
Yet we blush to announce to you and the world, that this warning has
been often disregarded, even by those who hold to our communion.
Cases have occurred in our own denomination, where professors of the
religion of mercy have torn the mother from her children, and sent her
into a merciless and returnless exile. Yet acts of discipline have rarely
followed such conduct." — p. 14.
The address proceeds to show that discipline is almost imprac-
ticable. Lest, however, it may be supposed that church censure
falls more frequently than it really does upon the perpetrators
of such enormities, we quote the declaration of the secretary of
the American Anti-Slavery Society, contained in a note on page
53 of the Fifth Annual Report.
" After diligent inquiry, we are aware of only one church in the slave-
holding states, which has disciplined its members for wrongs which could
be legally inflicted upon the slave ; that is the Presbyterian church at
Madisonville, East Tennessee, under the pastoral care of the late Rev.
Elijah M. Eagleton (a thorough abolitionist). That church, we think,
in 1836, cut off two of its members for the crime of selling slaves."
The following testimony to slave dealing among church mem-
bers and ministers is taken from " American Slavery as it is."
146
The Rev. Francis Hawley, of Connecticut, testifies as follows :
" One of my neighbours sold to a speculator a negro boy, about 14
years old. It was more than his poor mother could bear. Her reason
fled, and she became a perfect maniac^ and had to be kept in close con-
finement. She would occasionally get out and run off to the neighbours.
On one of these occasions she came to my house. She was, indeed, a
pitiable object. With tears rolling down her cheeks, and her frame
shaking with agony, she would cry out, ' don't you hear him — they are
whipping him now, and he is calling for me !' This neighbour of mine,
who tore the boy away from his poor mother, and thus broke her heart,
was a member of the Presbyterian church.
" An elder in the Presbyterian church related to me the following : —
'* A speculator with his drove of negroes was passing my house, and I
bought a little girl, nine or ten years old. After a few months, I con-
cluded that I would rather have a plough-boy. Anotber speculator was
passing, and I sold the girl. She was much distressed, and was very un-
willing to leave/ She had been with him long enough to become
attached to his own and his negro children, and he concluded by saying,
that in view of the little girl's tears and cries, he had determined never
to do the like again. I would not trust him, for I know him to be a very
avaricious man.
" I was present, and saw the Rev. J W , of Mecklenburg
county, North Carolina, hire out four slaves to work in the gold mines in
Burke county. The Rev. H M , of Orange county, sold, for
900 dollars, a negro man to a speculator, on a Monday of a camp meet-
ing."
Testimony of the Rev. Charles Renshaw :
" A METHODIST PREACHER last fall took a load of produce down the
river. Amongst other things he took down five slaves. He sold them
at New Orleans ; he came up to Natchez ; bought seven there ; and took
them down and sold them also. Last March he came up to preach the
gospel again. A number of persons on board the steam-boat (the Tus-
carora) who had seen him in the slave-shambles in Natchez and New
Orleans, and now, for the first time, found him to be a preacher, had
much sport at the expense of * the fine old preacher who dealt in slaves.'
" Mr. William Poe, till recently a slaveholder in Virginia, now an elder
in the Presbyterian church at Delhi, Ohio, gives the following testimony :
" ' An elder in the Presbyterian church in Lynchburg had a most
faithful servant, whom he flogged severely and sent him to prison, and
had him confined as a felon a number of days, for being saucy. Another
elder of the same church, an auctioneer, habitually sold slaves at his stand
147
— very frequently parted families — would often go into the country to sell
slaves on execution, and otherwise ; when remonstrated with, he justi-
fied himself, saying, ' it was his business ;' the church also justified him
on the same ground.
<' ' A Doctor Duval, of Lynchhurg, Va., got offended with a very
faithful, worthy servant, and immediately sold him to a negro trader, to
be taken to New Orleans ; Duval still keeping the wife of the man as his
slave. ' This Duval was a professor of religion!
" Rev. W. T. Allan, of Chatham, Illinois, gives the following in a let-
ter dated Feb. 4, 1839:
" ' Mr. Peter Vanarsdale, an elder of ^the Presbyterian church in Car-
rollton, formerly from Kentucky, told me, the other day, that a Mrs.
Burford, in the neighbourhood of Harrodsburg, Kentucky, had separated
a woman and her children from their husband and father, taking them
into another state. Mrs. B. was a member of the Presbyterian church.
The bereaved husband and father was also a professor of religion.
" ' Mr. V. told me of a slave woman who had lost her son, separated
from her by public sale. In the anguish of her soul, she gave vent to
her indignation freely, and perhaps harshly. Some time after, she wished
to become a member of the church. Before they received her, she had
to make humble confession for speaking as she had done. Some of the
elders that received -her, and required the confession, mere engaged in sell-
ing the son from his mother.' "
4. Professors of religion in the south are implicated in the
guilt of slaveholding by defending slavery as a scriptural insti-
tution and a political blessing.
One of the most revolting spectacles that Christianity has ever
been called to weep over has, within a few years past, been ex-
hibited in the American church — that of a generation of gospel
ministers prostituting the BIBLE to a defence of slavery. The
pulpit and the press, the ecclesiastical meeting and the social
circle, have repeatedly been employed to vindicate slavery as a
heaven-born institution. Books, pamphlets, sermons, reviews,
letters, and newspaper articles have been most industriously mul-
tiplied to demonstrate the scriptural authority, and to illustrate
the " sublime merits" of American slavery. Religious periodicals
have of late been established in the south, avowedly and pro-
minently to maintain slavery. Ministers, doctors of divinity,
professors in theological and literary institutions have outvied
corrupt politicians, unprincipled demagogues, and infidels, in
L 2
148
fabricating ingenious sophistries to shield slavery from the
assaults of truth. Learned dissertations have been written to
prove that the patriarchs held slaves, that slavery was one of
the Jewish institutions, and that Christ and his apostles sanc-
tioned the slavery of their times. Presbyteries, Synods, Confer-
ences, and other ecclesiastical bodies in the south, have at
sundry times and places, passed resolutions approbatory of
slavery, with the view, as expressed in their preambles, of quiet-
ing the consciences of church members, who are beginning to
be disturbed by the anti-slavery sentiments of the north. The
same bodies, in reply to brotherly epistles and remonstrances,
from similar bodies in the free states, have directed to be pre-
pared, and then sanctioned and sent forth, documents vindicating
their pro-slavery course, and avowing their determination to
persist in it. They have met remonstrance with flippant and
angry retort, and often with menace and defiance. Argument
has been answered by crimination, and affectionate appeal
requited by reproach. All these things southern professors of
religion have done, and ceased not to do for these several years.
We will now present some specimens of southern ecclesiastical
action on the subject of slavery.
The Charleston, South Carolina, Baptist Association, in a
memorial to the legislature of that state, says,
"The undersigned would further represent, that the said association
does not consider that the holy scriptures have made the fact of slavery
a question of morals at all." Again, " The right of masters to dispose of
the time of their slaves, has been distinctly recognized by the Creator of all
things."
The Charleston, South Carolina, Union Presbytery, unequi-
vocally avow their opinion as follows :
" Resolved, that in the opinion of this Presbytery the holding of slaves,
so far from being a SIN in the sight of God, is nowhere condemned in
his holy word ; — that it is in accordance with the example, or consistent
with the precepts of patriarchs, prophets, and apostles ; — that it is com-
patible with the most fraternal regard to the best good of those servants
•whom God may have committed to our charge ; and that therefore they
who assume the contrary position, and lay it down as a fundamental
principle in morals and religion that slavery is wrong, proceed upon false
principles !"
149
Such extracts might be multiplied indefinitely. Indeed there
is scarcely an ecclesiastical body of any note throughout the
slaveholding states, which has not repeatedly given its sanction
to the system of slavery.
Of the general practice of southe-n ministers we are fully
informed by Miss Martineau, in her work on America.
" Of the Presbyterian, as well as other clergy of the south, some are
even planters. superintending:the toils of their slaves, and making pur-
chases, or effecting sales in the slave -markets, during the week, and
preaching on Sundays whatever they can devise that is least contradic-
tory to their daily practice. I watched closely the preaching in the south,
— that of all denominations, — to see what could be made of Christianity,
' the highest fact in the Rights of Man,' in such a region. The clergy
were pretending to find express sanctions of slavery in the bible : and
putting words to this purpose into the mouths of public men, who do not
profess to remember the existence of the bible in any other connexion.
The clergy were boasting at public meetings, that there was not a
periodical south of the Potomac which did not advocate slavery ; and
some were even setting up a magazine, whose ' fundamental principle is,
that man ought to be the property of man.' The clergy who were to be
sent as delegates to the general assembly, were receiving instructions to
leave the room, if the subject of slavery was mentioned ; and to propose
the cessation of the practice of praying for slaves."
It cannot be doubted that this ardent zeal on the part of the
southern church to defend " the domestic institution," has been
chiefly enkindled by the movements of the abolitionists. Until
they uplifted their rebuke, nothing had awakened the conscience,
or startled the fears of a slaveholding church. Professing
Christians at the south slept undisturbed, and the great body of
the northern church consented to their slumber. Alas ! that
when finally aroused, they did not " awake unto righteousness
and sin not ;" — " then had their peace been as a river, and their
righteousness as the waves of the sea." But they awoke, like
those possessed of evil spirits, to curse the light and cry, " Tor-
ment us not."
5. By denouncing abolitionists, and striving to exclude anti-
slavery publications from the south.
It cannot be denied that southern ministers have occupied the
150
front rank among the vilifiers of the abolitionists. They have
threatened their persons, impugned their motives, loaded them
with abusive epithets, assailed their characters, and denounced
their piety. At one moment they have ridiculed them as weak
enthusiasts, and the next they have anathematized them as fell
incendiaries. They have successively despised them for the small-
ness of their numbers, and hated them for their growing strength
and gathering hosts. In no cause, it is believed, have the southern
clergy ever evinced so much industry and earnestness as in con-
tending against the doctrines that slavery is a sin, and immediate
emancipation a duty. If these two propositions had embodied
the sum and substance of all " damnable heresies," they could
not have excited greater opposition.
The following resolutions and doings of southern religious
bodies in the slaveholding states, illustrate the spirit entertained
toward abolitionists and their doctrines.
The clergy of Richmond, Virginia, on the 29th of August,
1835,
" Resolved, that the suspicions that have prevailed to a considerable
extent against ministers of the gospel, and professors of religion in the
state of Virginia, as identified with abolitionists, are wholly unmerited,
believing as we do, from extensive acquaintance with our churches and
brethren, that they are unanimous in opposing the pernicious schemes of
abolitionists."
The Synod of Va. subsequently passed the following resolution :
" ' Resolved, unanimously, that we consider the dogma fiercely pro-
mulgated by said associations — that slavery, as it actually exists in our
slaveholding states, is necessarily sinful, and ought to be immediately
abolished, and the conclusions which naturally follow from that dogma,
as directly and palpably contrary to the plainest principles of common
tense, and common humanity, and to the clearest authority of the roord of
God.' "
The Edgefield (S. C.) Baptist Association,
" ' Resolved, that the practical question of slavery, in a country where
the system has obtained as a part of its stated policy, is settled in the
scriptures by Jesus Christ and his apostles.'
" ' Resolved, that these uniformly recognized the relation of master
and slave, and enjoined on both their respective duties, under a system
of servitude more degrading and absolute than that which obtains in our
country.'
151
" The same association appointed a day of fasting, not to ' undo th«
heavy burdens, and let the oppressed go free,' but to entreat God to
give to our brethren and all others at the north, who are embarked in
the unscriptural cause of the abolition of slavery among us, right views
of the course pursued by our Lord and his apostles under a similar state
of things, when they were upon the earth, in imitation of whose example
they should be found, that instead of scattering firebrands into the south-
ern portion of the Union, and stirring up a servile war, they may
' endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.' "
Surely this is fasting " to smite with the fist of wickedness."
We are told by the southern Christian Herald that the Rev.
J. H. Thornwell, and Rev. Mr. Carlisle addressed a meeting in
Lancasterville, S. C., in support of the following among other
resolutions :
" 1 . That slavery, as it exists in the south, is no evil, and is consistent
with the principles of revealed religion ; that all opposition to it arises
from a misguided and fiendish fanaticism, which we are bound to resist
in the very threshold."
" 2. That all interference with this subject by fanatics, is a violation
of our civil and social rights — is unchristian and inhuman, leading ne-
cessarily to anarchy and bloodshed ; and that the instigators are mur-
derers and assassins."
" 3. That any interference with this subject, on the part of Congress,
must lead to a dissolution of the Union."
A clergyman of Virginia closes a letter " To the Sessions of
the Presbyterian congregations, within the bounds of West
Hanover Presbytery," published in the Richmond Whig, as
follows :
" ' If there be any stray-goat of a minister among us, tainted with the
bloodhound principles of abolitionism, let him be ferreted out, silenced,
excommunicated, and left to the public to dispose of him in other respects.
" Your affectionate brother in the Lord,
"ROBERT N. ANDERSON.'"
We next present an extract of a letter from Rev. George W.
Langhorne a methodist minister, to the editor of Zion's Watch-
man, a methodist anti-slavery paper in New York, dated Raleigh,
North Carolina, June 25, 1836.
" ' I, sir, would as soon be found in the ranks of a banditti, as num-
bered with Arthur Tappan and his wanton coadjutors. Nothing is more
152
appalling to my feelings as a man, contrary to my principles as a Chris-
tian, and repugnant to my soul as a minister, than the insidious pro-
ceedings of such men.
" ' If you have not resigned your credentials, as a minister of the Me-
thodist Episcopal church, I really think that, as an honest man, you should
now do it. In your ordination vows, you solemnly promised to be obedient
to those who have the rule over you ; and since they have spoken, and
that distinctly ', too |on this subject, and disapprobate your conduct, I
conceive that you are bound to submit to their authority, or leave the
church.' "
Again, at a public meeting held at Orangeburgh, S. C., on
the 21st of July, 1836, which had been called for the purposes
of considering what should be done with a copy of Zion's Watch-
man, which had been sent to the Rev. J. C. Postell, a member
of the South Carolina Conference of the Methodist E. Church,
Mr. Postell read an address to the citizens of that place, which
was published in the Charleston Courier of August 5, 1836, and
of which the following is an extract :
"From what has been premised, the following conclusions result : I.
That slavery is a judicial visitation. 2. That it is not a moral evil. 3.
That it is supported by the bible. 4. It has existed in all ages.
" IT is NOT A MORAL EVIL. The fact, that slavery is of DIVINE APPOINT-
MENT, would be proof enough with the Christian that it cannot be a
moral evil. So far from being a moral evil, it is a MERCIFUL VISITATION
— ' IT is THE LORD'S DOINGS, AND MARVELLOUS IN OUR EYES/ And
had it not been for the best, God alone, who is able, long since would
have overruled it. IT is BY DIVINE APPOINTMENT.' "
At the same meeting, the Rev. Mr. Postell read a letter which
he had addressed to the editor of Zion's Watchman, of which
the following are extracts :
" To LA ROY SUNDERLAND, Editor of Zion's Watchman, New- York :
" Did you calculate to misrepresent the Methodist discipline, and say
it supported abolitionism, when the General Conference, in their late re-
solutions, denounced it as a libel on truth ? ' Oh, full of all subtlety,
THOU CHILD OF THE DEVIL.' ' All liars,' saith the sacred volume, ' shall
have their part in the lake of fire and brimstone.'
'" \ can only give one reason why you have not been indicted for a
libel. The law says, the greater the truth, the greater the libel ; and as
your paper has no such ingredient, it is construed but a small matter.
But if you desire to educate the slaves, I will tell you how to raise the
money, without editing Zion's Watchman : you and old Arthur Tappan
153
come out to the South this winter, and they mill raise one hundred thou-
sand dollars for you — New Orleans of herself will be pledged for it.
Desiring no further acquaintance with you, and never expecting to see
you but once in time or in eternity, which is at judgment, I subscribe
myself the friend of the bible, and the opposer of abolitionism,
" Orangelurgh, July 21, 1836. J. C. POSTELL.' "
We conclude our extracts under this head with the following
Preamble and Resolutions of the Harmony Presbytery of South
Carolina, — passed " unanimously."
" Whereas, sundry persons in Scotland and England, and others in the
north, east, and west of our country, have denounced slavery as ob-
noxious to the laws of God ; some of whom have presented before the
General Assembly of our church, and the congress of the nation, me-
morials and petitions, with the avowed object of bringing into disgrace,
slaveholders, and abolishing the relation of master and slave.
" And whereas, from the said proceedings, and the statements, reason-
ings, and circumstances connected therewith, it is most manifest that
those persons ' know not what they say nor whereof they affirm ;' and
with this ignorance discover a spirit of self-righteousness and exclusive
sanctity, while they indulge in the most reckless denunciations of their
neighbour, a*s false in fact as they are opposed to the spirit and dictates
of our holy religion.
" Therefore, Resolved,
" 1. That as the kingdom of our Lord is not of this world, his church
as such has no right to abolish, alter, or affect any institution or ordinance
of men political and civil merely : nor has the church even in our midst
the right to prescribe rules and dictate principles which can bind or af-
fect the conscience with reference to slavery, and any such attempt would
constitute ecclesiastical tyranny. Much less has any other church or
churches, or bodies of men, ecclesiastical, civil, or political under heaven,
any the slightest right to interfere in the premises.
" 2. That slavery has existed from the days of those good old slave-
holders and patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, (who are now in the
kingdom of heaven,) to the time when the apostle Paul sent a runaway
slave home to his master Philemon, and wrote a Christian and fraternal
epistle to this slaveholder, which we find still stands in the canons of
the scriptures ; and that slavery has existed ever since the days of the
apostle and does now exist.
** 3. That as the relative duties of master and slave are taught in the
scriptures, in the same manner as those of parent and child, and hus-
band and wife, the existence of slavery itself is not opposed to the will
of God ; and whosoever has a conscience too tender to recognise this re-
154
lation as lawful, is ' righteous over much,' is ' wise above what is written,
and has submitted his neck to the yoke of man, sacrificed his Christian
liberty of conscience, and leaves the infallible word of God for the fan-
cies and doctrines of men."
From this view of the pro-slavery influence of the southern
church, we turn to contemplate the'position of the church in the
free states. From the fact that slavery, as a permanent insti-
tution, does not exist in the northern or free states, a stranger
might suppose the church in these states to be clear of the guilt
of slaveholding. Facts however establish a very different con-
clusion, and demonstrate that the northern church is but little
less, if indeed not more, implicated than the southern church.
The relations of the North to the South devolve special and
weighty responsibilities upon the church in the free states touch-
ing the question of slavery. From the nature of the case the
northern church must exert a mighty influence either for the re-
moval or the continuance of slavery in the south. Its influence
over the south in all matters of a moral and religious nature is
acknowledged to be great. From the bosom of the northern church
the south receives a majority of its most influential ministers,
editors of religious papers, and teachers from the theological pro-
fessor and college president, to the village schoolmaster and
family tutor. From the north, too, the south receives many,
perhaps most, of its religious periodicals, from the Quarterly
Theological Review to the Weekly Sheet ; also by far the greater
proportion of its religious books and pamphlets. It may be as-
serted that the religious press of the north has an almost abso-
lute sway over the south. Moreover sentiments of the northern
church on slavery uttered in the pulpit, or expressed by ecclesi-
astical bodies, carry with them very great weight. If the various
denominations of the north would bear a decided and unani-
mous testimony against slavery as a sin, to be immediately re-
nounced, it could not long exist at the south, at least among pro-
fessing Christians. It would then require no mighty and ex-
pensive machinery of agencies and presses, devoted especially
to the agitation of the slavery question. Its doom would be
pronounced by the northern church.
But it may be asked, is not the church in the free states una-
nimous against slavery ? Do they not regard it as a sin of no
155
ordinary magnitude ? Do they not believe that it should be
immediately abolished ? Do they not proclaim these sentiments
from the pulpit, from the press, and from the ecclesiastical
meeting ?
We reply by stating a few facts.
First, with regard to ecclesiastical action. One of the Gene-
ral Assemblies of the Presbyterian church, at their last annual
meeting, refused to entertain the subject of slavery at all ; the
other refused to act upon it in any other way than by referring
to the lower judicatories, for such disposal as they might think
best.
The general conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, at
its last meeting, refused to sanction or renew its usual testimony
against slavery, but passed sundry resolutions bitterly denounc-
ing " modern abolitionism."
These bodies represent both the northern and southern sec-
tions of their respective churches, a large majority of which are
in the north. Let us see what the exclusively northern judica-
tories of these and other denominations have done. Of
the Presbyteries to whom the disposal of the subject was
committed by one of the General Assemblies (the New School)
a majority, we believe, have maintained entire silence. A num-
ber of them, situated in sections of the country where anti-
slavery societies have been operating most successfully, have
spoken out strongly for the slave. It is only within a few years
that these, or any of the religious bodies of the north, with very
few exceptions, have taken up their testimony against slavery.
Some of the northern conferences, (of the Methodist Episcopal
church) have prohibited their travelling ministry from meddling
with the subject of slavery, and have refused to license candi-
dates for the ministry, who are known to be abolitionists, and
who would not pledge themselves to entire silence on the subject of
slavery. There is not a single conference, with the exception of
two in New England, which has decidedly condemned slavery as
sin.
The Baptist church at the north has not been so extensively
recreant to the cause of the slave ; but still the great body of
that denomination, have thrown their influence on the side of
the oppressor. So have the Episcopal clergy, with scarcely an
156
exception, even up to the present hour ; and with a few distin-
guished exceptions, the same may be said of the laity of that
church.
The great body of the Congregational clergy of New England,
divided into those called orthodox, and the Unitarians, were for
some years after the commencement of the anti-slavery effort in
this country, among its most strenuous opposers. None per-
haps were more zealous in advancing the objects of the Coloni-
zation Society. None have contributed more powerfully to
crush the free people of colour by sanctioning and strengthen-
ing the unchristian prejudice against them. Though large num-
bers of the Congregational clergy have within the last five year?
joined the abolitionists ; yet even now the majority of them ex-
ert an influence, which countenances the slaveholder and crushes
the slave, and free people of color. This is pre-eminently true
of those who are settled in cities and large towns.
The fact that the pulpit in the free states is very extensively
closed against the advocate of the slave, plainly indicates the
position of the main body of the clergy of all denominations.
A few years ago, when the anti-slavery cause was more unpopu-
lar than it now is, there was probably not one pulpit in a hun-
dred throughout the free states which was not barred against it,
and it was obliged to resort to court houses, town houses, school
houses, bar rooms, barns, private houses, and often to the open
air. Now the cause has won its way into a large number of
churches which were formerly inaccessible ; but at the present
moment the great majority of pulpits in the free states are
closed against the advocacy of human rights. The ministers
who occupy them will not for the most part even read a notice
of an anti-slavery meeting. Still they disclaim all friendship
for slavery. But do they manifest their sincerity by preaching
on the subject themselves 1 Not they. Slavery is a topic
which they studiously avoid. True, they endeavour to justify
their silence by alleging that it is a political subject, not befit-
ting the pulpit, or that it is a matter which does not concern
them, but belongs exclusively to the south. Still the fact re-
mains that they observe a studied silence respecting the iniqui-
ties and enormities of American oppression. If they break si-
lence, as they sometimes do, it is too often to speak in extenuation
157
of the guilt of slaveholders, or to denounce the fanaticism of the
abolitionists. Large numbers of ministers in the free states add
to the sin of neglecting slavery in their ministrations, the grosser
guilt of excluding it from their public prayers. Amid the nume-
rous subjects of prayer gathered from the ends of the earth, and
from the islands of the sea, — subjects never forgotten in the great
congregation, the poor slave finds no place, though he lies bleed-
ing under the droppings of the sanctuary.
But while multitudes of the northern clergy exclude the anti-
slavery minister from their pulpits, and close their own lips in
the cause of the dumb, they welcome the slaveholding preacher
from the south. To bar him from their pulpits, though his hands
have clutched the bloody whip, would be a breach of Christian
courtesy. If the southern layman visits their parish, bringing
with him his retinue of human property, and leaving behind his
half-thousand slaves, subject to the lash and the lust of the brutal
overseer, he is invited cordially to the communion table. While
ecclesiastical chivalry is doing all these honours to the slave-
holding minister and layman, it is making a still more shocking
display of its pro-slavery sympathy in its treatment of the co-
loured members of the church. To them a seat is assigned in
an obscure corner, or in the gallery, — a seat odious not only
from its position in the house, but principally from its being a
negro seat, out of which the coloured man, however worthy or
pious, is not allowed to sit. In the very communion itself,
which should be a scene of unrestricted Christian union, and
equality, the colored brother is mortified and insulted by being
repeatedly passed by in the dispensing of the elements, until all
the whites are served ; while perhaps the slaveholding brother
from the south, is honored with the first presentation.
These are some of the ways in which the northern clergy and
churches are implicated in the guilt of slaveholding, and a fear-
ful amount of guilt have they accumulated.
We next come to speak of the position and influence of the nor-
thern religious press.
We have already alluded to its extensive circulation in
the slaveholding states. Were its attitude a manly and
upright one, it would soon subvert the foundations of slavery.
While with some editors the policy is entire silence on the
158
subject, others maintain a perpetual war against the aboli-
tionists. There are religious papers which are incessantly 'op-
posing the doctrine of immediate emancipation, as wild, vision-
ary, dangerous, and impracticable. If they speak of slavery at
all, it is to cavil about the doctrine of its being in all cases sin, and
to expose their want of sympathy- for the slave by speculating
about imaginary cases in which they suppose slaveholding would
not be sin. Meanwhile they are symphonious in the praises of
the Colonization Society — an institution whose partialities for the
oppressor, whose indifference for the fate of the slave, and ex-
terminating hatred of the free people of color, have been a thou-
sand times exposed. While they are trumpeting the honors of
this negro-hating society, they are dumb respecting the glori-
ous events which have transpired in the West Indies. For
aught the mass of northern religious papers have said about it,
their readers would scarcely have learned the fact of the eman-
cipation of 800,000 slaves in the British colonies, and would be
in utter ignorance of the happy and triumphant issue of that
great experiment. Such has been the course of the weekly press.
In unison with these the grave Quarterly publications established
at the seats of theological learning, and conducted by theologi-
cal professors, have been lending their influence to vindicate
slavery from the bible. The writers and publishers of religious
books at the north have likewise contracted the dreadful guilt
of being silent upon the abominations of slavery. The guilt of
silence is after all the most general and the most shameful guilt
of northern Christians respecting slavery. It betrays a hardness
of heart towards their poor brother in bonds, a blindness to the
ein of slavery, and a recreancy to their responsibilities in the
matter which are truly deplorable. It betrays still more, a
mqst humiliating fear of incurring southern displeasure and
losing southern patronage.
We have not yet completed the humiliating exposure of the
northern church, which faithfulness to the slave demands of us.
Professors of religion have borne no small part in the pro-sla-
very mobs which have disgraced the free states for the last seven
years. They have been known to be active in instigating them,
and they have been concerned in carrying them out ; and after
mobs have spent their fury upon abolitionists, men of grave
159
church titles have been known to give their sanction to the
deed : — " good enough for the fanatics," "just what the rascals
deserve," " the only way to deal with incendiaries," and such like
endorsements of mob violence, have fallen from the lips of many
a minister, deacon, elder, and class leader in the free states.
Again, large numbers of northern church members and not
a few northern clergymen, are actually owners of slaves in the
south.
To those ignorant of the numerous relations which subsist be-
tween northern and southern Christians, the representations we
have given above might appear incredible. What inducement,
such persons might ask, can the northern churches have to thus
favor the system of slavery ? It is far removed from them,
they are not corrupted by daily contact with oppression, they
are constantly witnessing the benign results of a system of free
labor, they see the superiority of freedom in the incomparably
greater prosperity of the free states, everything around them
condemns slavery ; and we might conclude that if the whole
population of the free states were not abolitionists, at least the
whole northern church would be. But there are very many
circumstances which connect the northern church with the
south, and give the former an interest in the continuance of
slavery, scarcely inferior to that of the southern church.
First, there are numerous ecclesiastical relations between the
north and the south.
Each of the large denominations have an extensive branch in
the south. These southern branches are very influential, and
when they threaten to secede from their brethren in the free
states in case they meddle with slavery, the northern churches
are strongly tempted to silence, for the sake'of peace, union, and
denominational power.
Again, most of the active benevolent operations of the nor-
thern church derive a part of their patronage from the south.
Such is the case with Boards for Foreign and Domestic Mis-
sions, the Bible, Tract, and Education societies. Here is ano-
ther strong inducement to the northern churches to propitiate
the favour of the south by silence upon slavery.
Again, church members at the north are connected with the
south to an unlimited extent by marriage alliances.
160
Northern ministers and theological professors .have sons and
daughters married at the south and owning large slave properties.
So with elders, deacons, class-leaders, and private members gene-
rally. There is scarcely a family in the free states which
has not some relative residing at the south, usually married.
Many a son, too, of northern religious parents is to be found on
southern plantations, flourishing the whip of the overseer. This
extensive family connexion with the south has a tendency to
make northern professing Christians very loath to speak aught
against southern "institutions."
Again, there is an almost infinite variety of business relations
between the north and the south.
Almost every trade and handicraft pursued at the north, has its
market at the south. Thus members of churches, equally with
other classes of persons in the free states, are connected in busi-
ness with the south, and are of course interested in preserving
the amicable relations between the two sections of the union,
and strongly tempted to refrain from everything that will offend
slaveholders. They are too far-sighted not to discover that any
movement at the north against slavery, must materially affect
business intercourse with the south ; and hence they are con-
stantly plied with motives urging them to be silent on the subject
of slavery, and not only to be silent themselves, but to endeavour
to keep all others so.
Besides business and other connexions already mentioned
the friendly relations and social intercourse which are constantly
maintained between the citizens of the free and the slave states
are as largely participated in by the religious as by any other class.
Thousands of Christian families at the north entertain vi-
siters from the south during the summer, many of whom are
themselves entertained in turn as visitors at the south during
the winter. The strongest social attachments not unfrequently
exist between northern and southern families, who are in no wise
related. And surely this sort of intercourse between the inha-
bitants of such widely separated portions of our common coun-
try, is, when contemplated as an illustration of human friend-
ship, a delightful spectacle. But the aspect in which we are
called to view it is certainly more painful than pleasing. Its
tendency has been to blind northern Christians to the enormities
161
and guilt of slavery, and even when not wholly blinded the en-
tanglements of social etiquette have restrained them from speak-
ing out in the language of faithful rebuke. They feel that this
would be a sort of breach of faith to their southern friends, a
betrayal of the confidence reposed in them, and an ungrateful
requital of the hospitalities which have been showered upon
them. Unworthy as such feelings are, they are entertained and
have no small influence in closing the mouths if not the minds
of professing Christians in the free states against the claims of
the slave. Strange indeed that Christians should not have
learned that first lesson of the religion of Christ, that duty
is not created by smiles nor annihilated by frowns. But
multitudes at the north who freely admit the theory of that les-
son, refuse to reduce it to practice in the case under considera-
tion. They have found it no easy task to espouse the cause of
the slave when that act severs for ever the ties which bind them
to the slaveholder. Those who are not in the habit of making
every other consideration bow before duty, are not the men to
resist so formidable a temptation.
Lastly, northern ministers have a strong interest in the slave
states. Not a few of them are natives of the slave states, some
of whom still hold slaves, others have married wives with slave
dowers, others contemplate a future settlement or sojourn there.
A variety of causes may bring about such an event. Their
health may fail, and render a visit or removal to the south in-
dispensable, or they may receive a tempting call, or from some
other cause they may one day become residents of the south.
It behoves them therefore to stand either uncommitted on the
question of slavery, or committed on the wrong side.
From these observations it is evident that there are numerous
temptations operating upon professing Christians at the north to
become implicated in the guilt of slaveholding. That they
should be so often found apologizing for the slaveholder, wel-
coming him to the communion, and inviting him to the pulpit,
while they close it against him who would plead for the slave,
can be accounted for upon the plainest principles of human
nature.
In conclusion, we would say that though a multitude of pro-
fessing Christians at the north are implicated in the guilt of
11
162
slaveholding, there is a large number of honorable exceptions
both among individuals and societies. There are ecclesiastical
bodies that dare to pronounce slaveholding in all cases a heinous
sin to be repented of, and abandoned immediately. There are not
a few pulpits that stand wide open to the advocates of the op-
pressed but close instinctively at the' approach of a clerical man-
stealer; there are many ministers who speak boldly for the slave,
and remember him in the prayers of the sanctuary ; there are
churches, very few though they be, which repudiate the God-dis-
honoring distinctions of colour in the house of worship, and
which hesitate not to debar from their communion the slave-
holding professor. There are portions of the public press who
assert their freedom, and meet their responsibilities in the cause
of human rights without shrinking.
There are Christians who are willing to forego southern trade,
favor, friendship, and marriage alliances, choosing rather to
suffer affliction with the slave, than to enjoy the pleasures of
sin for a season. And thanks be unto God, the number of these
is rapidly increasing, and will, we doubt not, continue to increase
until the whole northern church shall have cleansed its skirts
from the blood of the slave.
TWELFTH QUESTION. Could a law for the registration of
slaves be passed in the United States or other countries to prevent
the introduction of slaves when the trade is illegal ?
Such a law, if faithfully and vigorously executed, would doubt-
less accomplish much ; but we have no idea that any such law
could be passed at present in the United States, or if passed
that it would be faithfully enforced. There is so little true
respect for the principles of liberty in the nation, and so little
just appreciation of human rights, that a law of this kind could
neither be passed nor properly executed.
THIRTEENTH QUESTION. Is any slave trade carried on with
Texas ; if so, to what extent, from whence are the slaves obtained,
and what is the present number of slaves in that country?
The answer to this question will be found in connexion with
the replies to other queries upon Texas.
163
FOURTEENTH QUESTION. What are the means which the abo-
litionists in different parts of the world could most effectually use,
consistently with the principles recognized by the British and
Foreign Anti- slavery Society for the extinction of the slave trade
and slavery ?
Our suggestions under this inquiry will have reference only to
American slavery.
1. The incalculable benefits which the anti-slavery cause in
this country has already realized from the abolition of slavery
in the British West Indies, convinces us that our foreign friends
cannot in any way more effectually aid us than by laboring for
the utter extinction of slavery and the instruction and elevation
of the emancipated slaves in all their national domains. Al-
ready the abolition of slavery in the British West Indian colo-
nies has struck a decisive blow at the roots of our system. No
one event has occurred for which we have greater reason to
magnify the God of the oppressed. Let this be followed by the
abolition of slavery in the French colonies, and American sla-
very would totter to its fall. Further, let the friends of free-
dom in England redouble their efforts for the extinction of East
India slavery. The effect of emancipation in the West Indies,
as an example, is greatly counteracted in its operation upon a
large portion of our countrymen by the continuance of slavery
in the East Indies, This is seized upon as an inconsistency,
and wielded as a proof of British insincerity in the cause of hu-
man liberty. It is greatly important, therefore, that eveiy
ground and pretext of cavil against British sincerity should be
taken away, that the example of a nation of abolitionists may
bear upon us with all its weight. The eradication of slavery in
the East Indies would give the English nation just such a
power. Besides it would almost inevitably either wholly ex-
clude American slave cotton from the English market, or great-
ly reduce its price. In either case a shock would be given to
American slavery from which it could never recover.
May we not moreover rely upon the combined anti-slavery
power in England and France for effecting the abolition of sla-
very in the Spanish colonies ? The single island of Cuba wields
a greater influence over the United States than all the other
M 2
164
West India, colonies together. From its size, wealth, and con-
tiguity, and from the constant intercourse maintained between
us, it serves to keep our slaveholders in countenance. Were
slavery abolished there we should care but little for its continu-
ance in the minor Danish and Dutch colonies, so far as respects
their influence over us. But we 'feel little encouragement to
look to SPAIN for so desirable a consummation.
2. We would next mention as an auxiliary the guarding of
the great experiment in the West Indies from all adverse influ-
ences. Our countrymen are intently observing the operation
of this experiment, and they are observing it with partial and
prejudiced eyes, with the secret wish and hope that it may fail ;
at the same time they realize that if it succeeds it must go far
towards demonstrating the safety and policy of immediate
emancipation. Their readiness to seize upon every vague ru-
mour adverse to the experiment illustrates both their wishes and
their fears. Many unfavorable influences may be, and have al-
ready been brought to bear upon this experiment, and the evil re-
sults are charged, by the prejudiced here, though very unjustly,
against the cause of emancipation. We need not here specify these
influences. The friends of human rights in Great Britain have
already a painful acquaintance with them, and are well aware
that the colonies abound with agencies in the shape of unequal
laws, partial magistrates, and unprincipled planters, hostile to
the interests of freedom. Over these agencies British Aboli-
tionists may exert a control : we cannot.
3. The friends of human rights in Great Britain may further
aid in the anti-slavery work, by keeping our countrymen advi-
sed of the happy results of emancipation in the West India co-
lonies. It is true those islands are open to our inspection, and
we have not been slow to gather the results and proclaim them
in the ears of our countrymen ; but in the estimation of the pro-
slavery class we are partizans, and heated ones too, yea fanati-
cal, and our testimony is received with suspicion. The testi-
mony of Englishmen themselves relative to the working of
emancipation in the West India colonies, would we are per-
suaded claim far greater attention. But to be effectual, it should
be oft repeated. We would respectfully suggest that frequent
statements of the condition of the colonies, conduct of the peo-
165
pie, state of the crops, causes of difficulties if any, and many
other like items, carefully made out and sent to our religious
weekly, and commercial daily publications, in New York and
other cities, would be of incalculable service.
4. Another way in which our cause may be greatly furthered,
is by awakening more and more the British public to the abo-
minations of American slavery. A deep abhorrence of our op-
pressions should pervade universally the British people, so that
whenever Americans travel or tarry within the bounds of the
empire they should meet a solemn and uncompromising testi-
mony against American slavery, American " prejudice against
color," and the multiform pro-slavery spirit of the free states.
Even now the influence of such a public sentiment is beginning
to be felt by Americans who cross the Atlantic. Great Britain
is already regarded here as a nation of abolitionists and her
frown is greatly dreaded by the advocates of slavery. If the
impression could be made upon the British people at large, that
they may do much toward the removal of American slavery,
this would be a great point gained. If they could be made to
appreciate the mighty influence which they may wield by the
bare expression of their public sentiment against our slavery,
this would be a still greater gain. If also the responsibilities
of Englishmen visiting the United States were deeply felt, and
if they were in all cases faithful in condemning our slavery, and
prejudice, and all who uphold them, they would produce the hap-
piest effects. How few Englishmen, visiting the United States,
are faithful in this respect ! How few sustain the reputation
of their country as a nation of abolitionists ! How many, who
are regarded at home as abolitionists, come here only to weaken
our hands, and strengthen those of slaveholders and their
apologists !
5. Again, the cause of American emancipation might be greatly
promoted by communications from distinguished persons in Great
Britain, prepared expressly for publication under their own sig-
natures, in our most influential moral and religious periodicals.
But little has been hitherto done in this way, but still enough to
show the importance of this instrumentality. The letters of the
Rev. John AngellJames, of Birmingham, addressed to the editor
of the New York Observer, were extensively read, and produced
166
a most salutary impression. These letters were kind and cour-
teous, yet firm and faithful in their rebuke of American slavery
and prejudice, and coming as they did from one extensively
known and respected amongst us, they were most welcome aux-
iliaries. Let such letters be multiplied a hundred fold. There
are many names in Great Britain, both in church and state, that
are cherished in the hearts of multitudes of our countrymen;
and communications signed by them would secure an extensive
perusal. We need not say that the course here suggested would
be wholly unexceptionable. American slavery is a public thing
— as much so as American liberty. It stands out before the
world claiming to be " the corner stone of the Republic," " an
essential element in a free government." With such high pre-
tensions it should surely seek to attract toward it the searching
scrutiny of the master spirits of all lands. We earnestly solicit
your attention to this as an important means of promoting the
extinction of American slavery ; and trust that it will not be
found impracticable to enlist many in this most proriiising
agency.
6. The anti-slavery cause in this country may also be greatly
subserved by securing the general discussion of American slavery
by the British press — religious, literary, commercial, and political.
All your ablest reviews are reprinted and widely circulated in all
parts of the United States. Anti-slavery articles published in
them would reach every portion of the union. The friends of
human rights in Great Britain could not more essentially pro-
mote the cause in this country than by securing the co-operation
of those pre-eminently powerful instrumentalities in holding up
American slavery to the scorn and indignant reprobation of the
civilized world. The service which would hereby be rendered,
may be inferred from the loud outcry of a prominent slaveholder,
" the literature of the world is against us." There is not, per-
haps, in the world a class of persons more sensitive to public
opinion than slaveholders. Hence all their frenzied excitement
because abolitionists will discuss slavery. It is not because
they believe that their slaves will thereby be instigated to rebel-
lion, or that any compulsory measures will be used to effect the
overthrow of slavery ; but simply because they foresee that the
inevitable consequence of discussion will be the creation of a
167
strong public sentiment at the north against *their favorite
system. Regard for public favor, strong in every community,
is doubly so among slaveholders, for with them it is an indis-
pensable prop to a misgiving conscience. With the slave-
holder accredited respectability becomes a substitute for self re-
spect, which gradually abandons him amid the perpetual deve-
lopments of passion and meanness. Hitherto the slaveholder
has been living upon his respectability, and he has certainly had
an unreasonable stock of it both at home and abroad. But hi&
glory is passing away. The disguises of generosity, hospitality,
and chivalry, under which he has so long contrived to practise
his impositions upon the world, are being torn off, and he must
soon appear in his naked deformity the abhorrence of mankind.
To hasten this desirable consummation we would enlist the Bri-
tish press widely in the discussion of American slavery. Let
American slaveholders feel not merely that the literature of the
world is against them, but that the British press, with its piety,
talent, learning, eloquence, and philanthropy marshals and leads
on the host.
7. Lastly, most valuable aid may be rendered by the exten-
sive introduction into the British market of free grown cotton,,
sugar, rice, tobacco, and the other products of our slave labor.
Our slave states are so greatly dependent upon British markets
for the profitable disposal of their products that if Great Bri-
tain should give adequate encouragement to her East India pro-
ducts of the same kind, the main staff of American slavery
would be broken.
We have thus taken the liberty, in compliance with the desire
expressed in the preceding query, to make a number of sugges-
tions relative to the co-operation of British abolitionists in the
extinction of American slavery. That co-operation we most
highly appreciate and earnestly invoke. Similarity of language,
laws, manners, and pursuits, and the great and increasing in-
tercourse between the two nations, give to Britons a moral hold
upon our countrymen which no other people on the globe pos-
sess. We entreat them not to be deterred from the most active
advocacy of this cause by the consideration that Great Britain
and America are distinct nations. What though we are politi-
cally two people — are we not morally one ? Are we not one
168
brotherhood of human kind ? Is it in the nature of the geo-
graphical lines which separate the family of man into various
nations and governments, to absolve one portion of that family
from all obligation to exert a moral influence over others ? We
feel assured that such a sentiment will find no tolerance with
British abolitionists. Whether Americans desire, deprecate,
or defy their rebukes, they will be uttered, and they will be
heard.
FIFTEENTH QUESTION. What is the practice of the American
abolitionists in reference to the use of slave grown produce?
In this respect there is no uniformity in the practice of Ame-
rican abolitionists. Some abstain entirely from slave grown
produce as a matter of conscience ; others regard it as a question
of expediency merely, and abstain so far as they find it conve-
nient. Others still — and large numbers — view it neither as a
question of conscience nor expediency ; consequently they pur-
chase and use slave grown produce of all descriptions without
compunction and probably without giving a thought to the sub-
ject. It should, however, be observed that this subject has been
but little discussed among American abolitionists — far less in
our opinion than its intrinsic importance demands.
SIXTEENTH QUESTION. Would the recommendation to give a
preference to the use of free instead of slave grown produce, be
likely to have an extensively practical good effect, and if cotton,
the exclusive growth of free labor, were manufactured in England,
would it Jin d a sale in America to any extent?
Our views respecting the first part of the above query have
been already given in the remarks under the fourteenth question.
To the latter part of the question we reply that free labor cotton
fabrics would probably be bought by a majority of American
abolitionists. Beyond this we do not suppose they would find
much demand. Could it be furnished at the same prices for
which slave labor fabrics can be had, it would probably stand
in the American market on the same footing with the latter ; for
very few, we suppose, give a preference to slave grown articles on
account of their being slave grown.
169
SEVENTEENTH QUESTION. Would fiscal regulations by European
countries favorable to the consumption of free grown cotton, sugar,
rice, coffee, tobacco, and other tropical productions, have a bene-
ficial effect ?
Such regulations, if made in good faith and vigorously carried
out, would doubtless yield most happy results.
EIGHTEENTH QUESTION. Would Denmark, France, Cubaf
Porto Rico, or the Brazils, consent to abolish slavery, if all the
tropical productions of these countries or their colonies were ad-
mitted for consumption in the European market on the same terms
as their own colonial produce — no discriminating duty being placed
against British manufactures in the countries from which such
produce is admitted ?
We have not sufficient data in our possession to enable us to
furnish a satisfactory answer to this query.
NINETEENTH QUESTION. What is the number of slaves still
remaining in the so called free states ?
The answer to this query will be seen by a reference to the
statistics, and observations under the first question.
TWENTIETH QUESTION. What are the laws of the northern
states affecting slaves and the rights (so called} of slave-masters ?
These laws may be considered in two points of view — as af-
fecting the slaves still remaining in the nominally free states,
and as affecting those brought thither from slave states, for a
temporary sojourn.
In some of the states slavery was abolished by judicial deci-
sions made on the ground of express constitutional declarations
that " all men are born free and equal." The states which thu&
abolished slavery are Vermont, Massachusetts, and New Hamp-
shire. In these cases the act of abolition extended of course to
all the slaves ; though a very few aged persons may, though le-
gally free, be still held in nominal slavery, and as slaves, be enu-
merated in the national census.
170
The western free states, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan,
were rescued from slavery previous to their existence as states,
by the " ordinance for the government of the territory of the
United States, north west of the river Ohio," ratified by con-
gress July 13th, 1787.
Maine never held slaves as a state, being a part of Massa-
chusetts at the time slavery was abolished there.
In the remaining free states, slavery was abolished by acts of
their respective legislatures in a gradual way. In these cases
emancipation was secured only to those born after a fixed period.
The slaves then living were unaffected by it, and remained slaves
till death.
The act passed by the legislature of Pennsylvania, on the 1st
day of March, 1780, entitled "An act for the gradual abolition
of Slavery," provided that all coloured persons born in the state
after that date should be free. It required the owners of slaves,
i. e. of persons born previous to 1780, to register the name, age,
&c. of every such slave, with their own (the master's) name, oc-
cupation, residence &c., in a place designated, on or before the
1st day of November next ensuing the date of the act. It fur-
ther provided that all slaves not thus registered, should after the
said 1st of November be free. But to this provision there were
sundry exceptions, such as the slaves of members of congress
from other states, in attendance upon their masters during the
sessions of Congress,* the slaves of foreign ministers and con-
suls, arid of persons passing through or sojourning in the state,
but not residing therein, also seamen belonging to, and employed
on vessels belonging to the inhabitants of other states ; these
continued slaves provided they were not sold to an inhabitant of
the state " nor (except in the case of members of congress,
foreign ministers and consuls) retained in the state longer than
six months." t
The Abolition Act of Connecticut, which came next in order
of time, provided that all colored persons born in that state after
the 1st day of March, 1784, should be free on reaching the age
of twenty-five years, till which time they might be held in ser-
* At the date of this law the national congress held its sessions in Phila-
delphia, in the state of Pennsylvania,
t Stroud's " Laws of Slavery,?' chap. iv.
171
vitude. All slaves, born previous to that date, remained such
for life.
The Act of Rhode Island was substantially the same with that
of Connecticut, and came into operation on the same day, 1st
of March, 1784.
The first Act of New York bears date the 29th day of March,
1799, and provides that all born of slaves after the 4th of July,
1799, should be held as slaves by the owners of their mothers,
until the males were twenty-eight years old and the females
twenty-five.
Another Act was passed April 8th, 1801, not materially dif-
fering from the former.
By a third Act, passed March 31st, 1817, it was provided that
all descendants of slaves born after the 4th of July, 1799, should
be free, but should continue in the service of the former owner,
" as if bound to service by the overseers of the poor" — males till
twenty-eight, and females till twenty-five years old; and all
born after the date of the last Act were to remain " servants as
aforesaid until the age of twenty-one, and no longer." The Act
of 1817 declared that all slaves within the state, born before the
4th of July, 1799, should, after the 4th of July, 1827, be free.
Slavery, strictly speaking, was terminated in New York in
1827. Still, however, the descendants of slaves, born after July
4th, 1799, were continued in service, as if bound; and this
species of service exists at this time, and will not cease with
some till 1845, with others till 1848.
The following is the legal remedy provided for these bound
servants in New York, in case of misusage or violations of the
conditions of service on the part of the master :
" If any master be guilty of any cruelty, &c., or any violations of the
provisions of this title (title 7, Part 2, chap. 8th, Revised Statutes), or of
the terms of the indenture or contract, towards any person hound to con-
tract, such persons may complain to any two justices of the peace of the
county, &c., who shall summon the parties before them, &c., and may,
by certificate under their hands, discharge such person from his obliga-
tions of service." — £2 Revised Statutes, 91 ; section 32.^
The Abolition Act of New Jersey went into effect on the 4th
day of July, 1804. It provided that all who were slaves on the
14th day of March, 1798, should continue such during life.
172
That every child born of a slave after the 4th of July, 1804,
should be free, but should remain in the service of the mother's
owner, the same as if bound by the overseers of the poor ; if a
male until twenty-five, if a female until twenty-one years of age.
It made it the duty of the grand jury to indict any person for
inhumanly treating or abusing his slave; and the person so
offending was, on conviction, to be punished by a fine, not ex-
ceeding forty dollars, for the use of the poor of the township.
It further provided that no slave should be admitted a witness
in any matter, except in criminal cases, where the evidence of
one slave may be admitted for or against another slave.
This last provision makes the preceding almost wholly a dead
letter ; for in the great majority of cases the only evidence would
be that of the slave and his fellows.
The New Jersey Act forbade the introduction of slaves into
the state, either for sale or servitude, under a penalty of forty
dollars, but inserted a provision to this effect, " that this shall
not prevent any person from bringing his slaves, who shall remove
into this state to make a settled residence ; nor foreigners, nor
others having only a temporary residence for the purpose of
transacting business, or on their travels, from bringing and em-
ploying their slaves during their stay, provided each slave shall"
not be sold, or disposed of in this state."
If we understand this provision correctly, it opens the door
for any number of slaveholders to remove to this state and bring
their slaves. They may not only come from any place, but may
bring their slaves from any place. A citizen of New York or
Philadelphia may send to Washington and buy slaves, and then
remove to this state, and bring his slaves and hold them for life.
So that it does, in fact, give to citizens of other states greater
power than to its own citizens. Only that a citizen of New
Jersey, wishing to become a slaveholder, might remove to another
state, obtain his slaves, and then remove again to New Jersey
and hold them. A gentleman from Guadaloupe who brought
his servant to New York, was indicted for importing a slave, and
was obliged to declare him free. But a foreign traveller, from
Cuba, Brazil, or Africa, might bring a whole retinue of slaves to
New Jersey, and hold them under the statute during his stay.
In Illinois there is a system of indentured servitude or appren-
173
ticeship, and the constitution recognizes the masters as " owners"
of the apprentices. This system is thus described in a religious
periodical published in the state of Illinois.
" Under the territorial government, by a legislative provision, slave-
holders were permitted to emigrate with their negroes, set them free, and
immediately indenture them for a term, of years. The future progeny of
these servants may become free ; but the condition of the present race
differs not in a single particular, so far as to evils and restrictions, from
that of their colour in Missouri or Kentucky, except in one feature. There
(in Missouri or Kentucky) a slave is free at death — here he is legally
bound to serve ninety years after he is dead ! Cases existed in which
the indentures were drawn for ninety-nine years. If the ' servant' died
within nine years, the indenture law holds him still in bondage."
We will now notice the laws of free states affecting the slaves
brought thither from slave states for a temporary residence.
The Revised Statutes of the state of New York (Vol. I. pages
657, 658), provide as follows :
"Section 6th. Any person, not being an inhabitant of this state, who
shall be travelling to or from, or passing through this state, may bring
with him any person lawfully held in slavery, and may take such person
with him from this state. But the person so held in slavery shall not
reside or continue in this state more than nine months, and if such resi-
dence be continued beyond that time, such person shall be free.
" Section 7th. Any person, who, or whose family, shall reside part of
the year in this state, and part of the year in any other state, may remove
and bring with him or them, from time to time, any person lawfully held
by him in slavery, into this state, and may carry such person with him
or them out of the state."
By this statute slaves may be held in New York by non-
residents for nine months ; and if their masters choose to make
a permanent residence in the state, they can retain their slaves
perpetually by removing them once every nine months out of the
state and returning with them the next day.
In Pennsylvania and Indiana, slaves may be held in the same
way six months ; in Rhode Island indefinitely as domestics. In
New Jersey " persons making a temporary residence in the state
may bring their slaves and remove them again."
By a law of congress passed February 12th, 1793, any state
magistrate is authorized to decide in the case of persons claimed
174
as fugitives from labor, or slaves. This manifestly unconstitu-
tional law has been set aside in New Jersey, Massachusetts,
and Vermont (in 1837), and in Connecticut (in 1838), by laws
granting a jury trial. Besides these, no other free states has
borne testimony against the unconstitutionality of this law,
although the legislatures of the free states have been repeatedly
petitioned to grant the trial by jury in such cases. On the con-
trary, some of them have, with a gratuitous servility, proffered
and pledged their utmost assistance toward the arrest and return
of the fugitive to slavery. In this pro-slavery legislation, Illi-
nois, Indiana, and Ohio, have rendered themselves infamous;
Ohio pre-eminently so. At the instance of the state of Ken-
tucky the legislature of Ohio passed, February 26th, 1839, a
law containing the following remarkable provisions :
The first section enacts that any person claimed as a fugitive
from labor in any other state (meaning slaves) shall, on applica-
tion made by the master or his agent, to any judge or justice of
the peace, be delivered to the claimant; the judge or justice of
the peace being satisfied of the genuineness of the claim. A
trial by jury is in all cases denied the person claimed to be a
fugitive.
Another section makes it penal for any person or persons to
attempt to prevent the arrest of an alleged fugitive :
" Every person so offending shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined in
any sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, or be imprisoned in the jail
of the county not exceeding sixty days, at the discretion of the court ;
and shall, moreover, be liable in an action at the suit of the claimant."
The fourth section provides that in case the claimant is not
prepared for trial, it may be postponed for a time not exceeding
sixty days ; and that in the meantime the person arrested must
be committed to jail to await trial.
Section sixth we quote entire ; it is in the following words :
" If any person or persons in this state shall counsel, advise, or entice
any other person, who by the laws of another state, shall owe labor, or
service to any other person, or persons, to leave, abandon, abscond, or
escape from the person or persons to whom such labor or service accord-
ing to the laws of such other state is or may be due, or shall furnish
money or conveyance of any kind, or any other facility, with intent or
for the purpose of enabling such person, owing labor or service as afore-
175
said, to escape from or elude the claimant of such person owing labor or
service as aforesaid, knowing such person or persons to owe labor or ser-
vice as aforesaid, every person so offending shall, upon conviction thereof
by indictment, be fined in any sum not exceeding five hundred dollars,
or be imprisoned in the jail of the county not exceeding sixty days, at
the discretion of the court ; and shall, moreover, be liable in an action at
the suit of the party injured."
The next section declares that if any one in the state, who
shall " harbor or conceal any person owing labor or service, as
aforesaid, who may come into this state without the consent of
the person to whom such labor or service may be due," shall be
fined, or imprisoned as above.
Such are some of the provisions of this extraordinary Act,
which still stands unrepealed.
TWENTY-FIRST QUESTION. What are the most striking fea-
tures of the laws of slave states affecting slaves ? And what new
laws have been enacted since 1823?
Judge Stroud, in his " Sketch of the Laws relating to Slavery
in the several states of the United States of America," has em-
bodied the main features of American slavery in twelve proposi-
tions, which we insert in this place, subjoining to each such laws,
judicial decisions, &c., as may serve to establish the truth of the
proposition and illustrate the spirit of the slave codes.
PROPOSITION FIRST, The master may determine the kind and
degree, and time of labour, to which the slave shall be sub-
jected.
Most of the slave states have no law upon this subject. Con-
sequently the slaveholder violates none though he may drive the
slave to the field, and force him to work at the top of his strength
night and day, till he drops dead. In Georgia, South Carolina,
Louisiana, and Mississippi, there are laws professing to curtail
in some respects the power of the master over the duration of
the slave's labor. The law of South Carolina prohibits the
working of slaves more than fifteen hours in the twenty-four,
and fourteen in winter." — See 2 Brevard's Digest of the Laws of
South Carolina, 243.
The law of Louisiana requires the master to allow his slaves
176
TWO AND A HALF HOURS for " rest" in the twenty four. — See 1
Martins Digest of the Laws of Louisiana, 610.
PROPOSITION SECOND. The master may supply the slave with
such food and clothing only, both as to quantity and quality, as
he may think proper or find convenient.
In all the slave states except three, slaveholders would violate
no law if they forced their slaves, male and female, to go naked
or to starve. The North and South Carolina and Louisiana
codes contain provisions concerning food and clothing.
The law of North Carolina requires the master to furnish his
slave " a quart of corn per day." — See Haywood's Manual of the
Laws of North Carolina) 524.
The allowance of clothing prescribed by the law of Louisiana
is for one half the year, one linen shirt and pantaloons. — Mar-
• tins Digest, 6 1 0.
PROPOSITION THIRD. The master may, at his discretion, in-
flict any punishment upon the person of his slave.
By this it is not meant that there are no laws professing to
protect the life and limbs of the slave ; but that the slave derives
no actual protection from such laws. The following is an ^lus-
tration. Forty years since the state of North Carolina repeated
a law making imprisonment the penalty for the wilful and mali-
cious killing of a slave, and enacted in its stead a law prescrib-
ing the same penalty for the malicious killing of a slave as for
the murder of a freeman. The following comments on this law,
we quote from " American Slavery as it is," page 148 :
" After declaring that he who is ' guilty of wilfully and maliciously
killing a slave, shall suffer the same punishment as if he had killed a
freeman ;' the act concludes thus : ' Provided always, this act shall not
extend to the person killing a slave outlawed hy virtue of any act of
assembly of this state ; or to any slave in the act of resistance to his law-
ful overseer, or master, or to any slave dying under moderate correction.'
Reader, look at this proviso. 1. It gives free license to all persons to
kill outlawed slaves. Well, what is an outlawed slave ? A slave who
runs away, lurks in swamps, &c., and kills a hog or any other domestic
animal to keep himself from starving, is subject to a proclamation of out-
lanry (Hay wood's Manual, 521) ; and then whoever finds him may
shoot him, tear him in pieces with dogs, burn him to death over a slow
177
fire, or kill him by any other tortures. 2. The proviso grants full license
to a master to kill his slave, if the slave resist him. The North Carolina
bench has decided that this law contemplates not only actual resistance
to punishment, &c., but also offering to resist. (Stroud's Sketch, 37.)
If, for example, a slave undergoing the process of branding should resist
by pushing aside the burning stamp ; or if wrought up to frenzy by the
torture of the lash, he should catch and hold it fast; or if he break loose
from his master and run, refusing to stop at his command; or if he
refuse to be flogged ; or struggle to keep his clothes on while his master
is trying to strip him ; if, in these, or any one of a hundred other
ways he resist, or offer, or threaten to resist the infliction ; or, if the
master attempt the violation of the slave's wife, and the husband resist
his attempts without the least effort to injure him, but merely to shield
his wife from his assaults, this law does not merely permit, but it
authorizes the master to murder the slave on the spot.
" The brutality of these two provisos brands its authors as barbarians.
But the third cause of exemption could not be outdone by the legislation
of fiends. ' DYING under MODERATE correction !' MODERATE correction
and DEATH — cause and effect ! ' Provided ALWAYS,' says the law, ' this
act shall not extend to any slave dying under moderate correction !' Here
is a formal proclamation of impunity to murder — an express pledge of
acquittal to all slaveholders who wish to murder their slaves, a legal abso-
lution— an indulgence granted before the commission of the crime ! Look
at the phraseology. Nothing is said of maimings, dismemberments, skull
fractiires, of severe bruisings, or lacerations, or even of floggings ; but a
word is used the common-parlance import of which is, slight chastisement ;
it is not even whipping, but 'correction.' And as if hypocrisy and
malignity were on the rack to outwit each other, even that weak word
must be still farther diluted ; so ' moderate' is added : and, to crown the
climax, compounded of absurdity, hypocrisy, and cold-blooded murder,
the" legal definition of ' moderate correction' is covertly given ; which is,
any punishment that KILLS the victim. All inflictions are either moderate
or immoderate ; and the design of this law was manifestly to shield the
murderer from conviction, by carrying on its face the rule for its omn in-
terpretation ; thus advertising, beforehand, courts and juries, that the
fact of any infliction producing death, was no evidence that it was immo-
derate, and that beating a man to death came within the legal meaning
of ' moderate correction !' The design of the legislature of North Caro-
lina in framing this law is manifest ; it was to produce the impression
upon the world, that they had so high a sense of justice as voluntarily to
grant adequate protection to the lives of their slaves. This is ostentati-
ously set forth in the preamble, and in the body of the law. That this
V
178
was the most despicable hypocrisy, and that they had predetermined to
grant no such protection, notwithstanding the pains taken to get the
credit of it, is fully revealed by the proviso, which was framed in such a
way as to nullify the law, for the express accommodation of slaveholding
gentlemen murdering their slaves. All such, find in this proviso a con-
venient accomplice before the fact, and a packed jury, with a ready-made
verdict of * not guilty,' both gratuitously furnished by the government !
The preceding law and proviso are to be found in Haywood's Manual,
530 ; also in Laws of Tennessee, Act of October 23, 1791 ; and in
Stroud's Sketch, 37."
The following judicial decisions of the highest courts in North
and South Carolina will serve still further to confirm the pre-
ceding position. We quote from " American Slavery as it is,"
page 143 :
"See Devereaux's North Carolina Reports, 263. — Case of the State
vs. Mann, 1829 ; in which the Supreme Court decided, that a master who
shot at a female slave and wounded her, because she got loose from him
when he was flogging her, and started to run from him, had violated no
law, AND COULD NOT BE INDICTED. It has been decided by the highest
courts of the slave states generally, that assault and battery upon a slave
is not indictable as a criminal offence.
*' The following decision on this point was made by the Supreme
Court of South Carolina, in the case of the State vs. Cheetwood, 2 Hill's
Reports, 459 :
" ' Protection of slaves. — The criminal offence of assault and battery
cannot, at common law, be committed on the person of a slave. For, not-
withstanding-for some purposes a slave is regarded in law as a person,
yet generally he is a mere chattel personal, and his right of personal pro-
tection belongs to his master, who can maintain an action of trespass for
the battery of his slave.
" * There can be therefore no offence against the state for a mere beat-
ing of a slave, unaccompanied by any circumstances of cruelty, or an
attempt to kill and murder. The peace of the state is not thereby
broken ; for a slave is not generally regarded as legally capable of being
within the peace of the state. He is not a citizen, and it not in that
character entitled to for protection.' "
To the foregoing we add from the same work (page 144) the
following specimens of the laws of slave states, and of judicial
decisions embodying their spirit :
" ' Any person may lawfully kill a slave, who has been outlawed for
179
running away and lurking in swamps, &c/ — Law of North Carolina ;
Judge Stroud's Sketch of the Slave Laws, 103 ; Hay wood's Manual,
524. ' A slave endeavouring to entice another slave to run away, if pro-
visions, &c., be prepared for the purpose of aiding in such running away,
shall he punished with DEATH. And a slave who shall aid the slave so
endeavouring to entice another slave to run away, shall also suffer
DEATH.' — Law of South Carolina ; Stroud's Sketch of Slave Laws, 103-4 ;
2 Brevard's Digest, 233, 244. Another law of South Carolina provides
that if a slave shall, when absent from the plantation, refuse to be ex-
amined by ' any white person,' (no matter how crazy or drunk,) ' such
white person may seize and chastise him ; and if the slave shall strike
such white person, such slave may be lawfully killed.'— -2 Brevard's
Digest, 231.
" The following is a law of Georgia : ' If any slave shall presume to
strike any white person, such slave shall, upon trial and conviction before
the justice or justices, suffer such punishment for the first offence as they
shall think fit, not extending to life or limb ; and for the second offence,
DEATH.' — Prince's Digest, 450. The same law exists in South Carolina,
with this difference, that death is made the punishment for the third
offence.
" In both states, the law contains this remarkable proviso : ' Provided
always, that such striking be not done by the command and. in the
defence of the person or property of the owner, or other person having
the government of such slave, in which case the slave shall be wholly
excused.' According to this law, if a slave, by the direction of his
OVERSEER, strike a white man who is beating said overseer's dog, ' the
slave shall be wholly excused ;' but if the white man has rushed upon the
slave himself, instead of the dog, and is furiously beating him, if the slave
strike back but a single blow, the legal penalty is, ' ANY punishment not
extending to life or limb ;' and if the tortured slave has a second onset
made upon him, and, after suffering all but death, again strike back in
self-defence, the law KILLS him for it. So, if a female slave, in obedience
to her mistress, and in defence of ' her property,' strike a white man who
is kicking her mistress's pet kitten, she ' shall be wholly excused,' saith
the considerate law ; but if the unprotected girl, when beaten and kicked
herself, raise her hand against her brutal assailant, the law condemns
her to ' any punishment, not extending to life or limb ;' and if a wretch
assail her again, and attempt to violate her chastity, and the trembling
girl, in her anguish and terror, instinctively raise her hand against him
in self-defence, she shall, saith the law, ' suffer DEATH.'
" Reader, this diabolical law is the ' public opinion' of Georgia and
South Carolina toward the slaves. This is the vaunted 'protection'
afforded them by their ' high-souled chivalry.' To show that the ' public
x 2
180
opinion' of the slave states far more effectually protects the property of
the master than the person of the slave, the reader is referred to two laws
of Louisiana, passed in 1819. The one attaches a penalty ' not exceed-
ing one thousand dollars,' and ' imprisonment not exceeding two years,'
to the crime of ' cutting or breaking any iron chain or collar,' which any
master of slaves has used to prevent their running away ; the other, a
penalty ' not exceeding five hundred dollars' to ' wilfully cutting out the
tongue, putting out the eye, cruelly burning, or depriving any slave of
any limb.' Look at it— the most horrible dismemberment conceivable
cannot be punished by a fine of more than five hundred dollars. The
law expressly fixes that as the utmost limit, and it may not be half that
sum ; not a single moment's imprisonment stays the wretch in his career,
and the next hour he may cut out another slave's tongue, or burn his
hand off. But let the same man break a chain put upon a slave, to keep
him from running away, and, besides paying double the penalty that
could be exacted from him for cutting off a slave's legs, the law impri-
sons him not exceeding two years !
" This law reveals the heart of slaveholders towards their slaves, their
diabolical indifference to the most excruciating and protracted torments
inflicted on them by ' any person ;' it reveals, too, the relative protection
afforded by ' public opinion' to the person of the slave, in appalling con-
trast with the vastly surer protection which it affords to the master's pro-
perty in the slave. The wretch who cuts out the tongue, tears out the
eyes, shoots off the arms, or burns off the feet of a slave, over a slow fire,
cannot legally be fined more than five hundred dollars ; but if he should
in pity loose a chain from his galled neck, placed there by the master to
keep him from escaping, and thus put his property in some jeopardy, he
may be fined one thousand dollars, and thrust into a dungeon for two
years ! and this, be it remembered, not for stealing the slave from the
master, nor for enticing, or even advising him to run away, or giving him
any information how he can effect his escape; but merely, because,
touched with sympathy for the bleeding victim, as he sees the rough iron
chafe the torn flesh at every turn, he removes it ; — and, as escape with-
out this incumbrance would be easier than with it, the master's property
in the slave is put at some risk. For having caused this slight risk, the
law provides a punishment — fine not exceeding one thousand dollars,
and imprisonment not exceeding two years. We say slight risk, because
the slave may not be disposed to encounter the dangers, and hunger, and
other sufferings of the woods, and the certainty of terrible inflictions if
caught ; and if he should attempt it, the risk of losing him is small. An
advertisement of five lines will set the whole community howling on his
track ; and the trembling and famished fugitive is soon scented out in
his retreat, and dragged back and delivered over to his tormentors.
181
"The preceding law is another illustration of the ' protection' afforded to
the limbs and members of slaves, by ^public opinion' among slaveholders.
" Here follow two other illustrations of the brutal indifference of
' public opinion' to the torments of the slave, while Lit is full of zeal to
compensate the master, if any one disables his slave so as to lessen his
market value. The first is a law of South Carolina. It provides, that
if a slave, engaged in his owner's service, be attacked by a person * not
having sufficient cause for so doing,' and if the slave shall be ' maimed or
disabled' by him, so that the owner suffers a loss from his inability to
labor, the person maiming him shall pay for his ' lost time,' and ' also the
charges for the cure of the slave !' This Vandal law does not deign to
take the least notice of the anguish of the ' maimed' slave, made, perhaps
a groaning cripple for life ; the horrible wrong and injury done to him, is
passed over in utter silence. It is thus declared to be not a criminal act.
But the pecuniary interests of the master are not to be thus neglected by
* public opinion.' Oh, no ! its tender bowels run over with sympathy at
the master's injury in the ' lost time of his slave, and it carefully provides
that he shall have pay for the whole of it.— See 2 Brevard's Digest^
231, 232.
" A law similar to the above has been passed in Louisiana, which
contains an additional provision for the benefit of the master — ordaining,
that ' if the slave' (thus maimed and disabled,) * be for ever rendered un-
able to work,' the person maiming shall pay the master the appraised
value of the slave before the injury, and shall, in addition, take the slave,
and maintain him during life.' This ' public opinion' transfers the help-
less cripple from the hand of his master, who, as he has always had the
benefit of his services, might possibly feel some tenderness for him, and
puts him in the sole power of the wretch who has disabled him for life
— protecting the victim from the fury of his tormentor, by putting him
into his hands ! What but butchery by piecemeal can, under such cir-
cumstances, be expected from a man brutal enough at first to ' maim' and
4 disable' him, and now exasperated by being obliged to pay his full value
to the master, and to have, in addition, the daily care and expense of his
maintenance. Since writing the above, we have seen the following judi-
cial decision, in the case of Jourdan vs. Patton — 5 Martin's Louisiana
Reports, 615. A slave of the plaintiff had been deprived of his only eye
and thus rendered useless, on which account the court adjudged that the
defendant should pay the plaintiff his full value. The case went up, by
appeal, to the Supreme court. Judge Mathews, in his decision, said,
that 'when the defendant had paid the sum decreed, the slave ought to
be placed in his possession,' — adding, that ' the judgment making full
compensation to the owner operates a change of property' He adds, ' The
182
principle of humanity, which would lead us to suppose that the mistress
whom he had long served would treat her miserable blind slave with
more kindness than the defendant, to whom the judgment ought to trans-
fer him, CANNOT BE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION !' The full compensation
of the mistress for the loss of the services of the slave, is worthy of all
' consideration,' even to the uttermost farthing ; ' public opinion' is omni-
potent for her protection ; but when the food, clothing, shelter, fire and
lodging, medicine and nursing, comfort and entire condition and treat-
ment of her poor blind slave, throughout his dreary pilgrimage, is the
question-— ah ! that, says the mouth-piece of the law, and the represen-
tative of ' public opinion,' CANNOT BE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION.' Pro-
tection of slaves by ' public opinion' among slaveholders ! !
" The foregoing illustrations of southern ' public opinion,' from the laws
made by it and embodying it, are sufficient to show, that, so far from
being an efficient protection to the slaves, it is their deadliest foe, prose-
cutor, and tormentor.
" But here we shall probably be met by the legal lore of some ' Justice
Shallow,' instructing us that the life of the slave is fully protected by law,
however unprotected he may be in other respects. This assertion we
meet with a point blank denial. The law does not, in reality, protect the
life of the slave. But even if the letter of the law would fully protect
the life of the slave, ' public opinion' in the slave states would make it a
dead letter. The letter of the law would have been all-sufficient for the
protection of the lives of the miserable gamblers in Yicksburg, and other
places in Mississippi, from the rage of those whose money they had won ;
but 'gentlemen of property and standing' laughed the law to scorn,
rushed to the gamblers' house, put ropes round their necks, dragged them
through the streets, hanged them in the public square, and thus saved
the sum they had not yet paid. Thousands witnessed this wholesale
murder, yet of the scores of legal officers present, not a soul raised a fin-
ger to prevent it, the whole city consented to it, and thus aided and
abetted it. How many hundreds of them helped to commit the murders,
with their otvn hands, does not appear, but not one of them has been
indicted for it, and no one made the least effort to bring them to trial.
Thus, up to the present hour, the blood of those murdered men rests on
that whole city, and it will continue to he a CITY OF MURDERERS, so long
as its citizens agree together to shield those felons from punishment ; and
they do thus agree together so long as they encourage each other in refus-
ing to bring them to justice. Now, the laics of Mississippi were not in
fault that those men were murdered ; nor are they now in fault, that
their murderers are not punished ; the laws demand it, but the people
of Mississippi, the legal officers, the grand juries and legislature of the
183
state, with one consent agree, that the law shall be a dead letter, and thus
the whole state assumes the guilt of those murders, and in bravado,
flourishes her reeking hands in the face of the world.
" The letter of the law on the statute book is one thing, the practice of
the community under that law often a totally different thing. Each of
the slave states has laws providing that the life of no white man shall be
taken without his having first been indicted by a grand jury, allowed an
impartial trial by a petit jury, vrith the right of counsel, cross-examina-
tion of witnesses, &c. ; but who does not know that if ARTHUR TAPPAN
were pointed out in the streets of New Orleans, Mobile, Savannah,
Charleston, Natchez, or St. Louis, he would be torn in pieces by the
citizens with one accord, and that if any one should attempt to bring his
murderers to punishment, he would be torn in pieces also. The editors
of southern newspapers openly vaunt, that every abolitionist who sets
foot in their soil, shall, if he be discovered, be hung at once, without
judge or jury. What mockery to quote the letter of the law in those
states, to show that abolitionists would have secured to them the legal
protection of an impartial trial !
" Before the objector can make out his case, that the life of the slave
is protected by the law, he must not only show that the words of the law
grant him such protection, but that such a state of public sentiment
exists as will carry out the provisions of the law in their true spirit. Any-
thing short of this will be set down as mere prating, by every man of
common sense. It has been already abundantly shown in the preceding
pages, that the public sentiment of the slaveholding states toward the
slaves is diabolical. Now, if there were laws in those states, the words
of which granted to the life of the slave the same protection granted to
that of the master, what would they avail ? ACTS, constitute protection ;
and is that public sentiment which makes the slave ' property,' and per-
petrates hourly robbery and batteries upon him, so penetrated with a
sense of the sacredness of his right to life, that it will protect it at all
hazards, and drag to the gallows his OWNER, if he take the life of his own
property ?
" Enough has been said to show, that though the laws of the slave
states profess to grant adequate protection to the life of the slave, such
professions are mere empty pretence, no such protection being in reality
afforded by them. But there is still another fact, showing that all laws
which profess to protect the slaves from injury by the whites are a
mockery. It is this — that the testimony, neither of a slave nor of a free
colored person, is legal testimony against a white. To this rule there is
no exception in any of the slave states : and this, were there no other
evidence, would be sufficient to stamp, as hypocritical, all the provisions
184
of the codes which profess to protect the slaves. Professing to grant
protection, while, at the same time, it strips them of the only means by
which they can make that protection available ! Injuries must be legally
proved before they can be legally redressed : to deprive men of the power
of proving their injuries, is itself the greatest of all injuries ; for it not
only exposes to all, but invites them, by a virtual guarantee of impunity,
and is thus the author of all injuries. It matters not what other laws
exist, professing to throw safeguards round the slave — this makes them
blank paper. How can a slave prove outrages perpetrated upon him by
his master or overseer, when\his own testimony and that of all his fellow-
slaves, his kindred, associates, and acquaintances, are ruled out of court ?
and when he is entirely in the power of those who injure him, and when
the only care necessary, on their part, is, to see that no white witness is-
looking on. Ordinarily, but one white man, the overseer, is with the
slaves while they are at labor ; indeed, on most plantations, to commit
an outrage in the presence of a white witness would be more difficult
than in their absence. He who wished to commit an illegal act upon a
slave, instead of being obliged to take pains and watch for an opportunity
to do it unobserved by a white, would find it difficult to do it in the pre-
sence of a white if he wished to do so. The supreme court of Louisiana,
in their decision, in the case of Crawford vs. Cherry, 15, (Martin's La-
Rep. 142 ; also ' Law of Slavery^ 249) where the defendant was sued
for the value of a slave whom he had shot and killed, say, ' The act
charged here, is one rarely committed in the presence of witnesses
(whites). So in the case of the State vs. Mann (Devereux, N. C. Rep.
263 ; and ' Law of Slavery' 247), in which the defendant was charged
with shooting a slave girl ' belonging' to the plaintiff ; the supreme court
of North Carolina, in their decision, speaking of the provocations of the
master by the slave, and the consequent wrath of the master prompting
him to bloody vengeance, add, ' a vengeance generally practised with im-
punity, by reason of its privacy'
" Laws excluding the testimony of slaves and free colored persons,
where a white is concerned, do not exist in all the slave states. One or
two of them have no legal enactment on the subject ; but, in those,
' public opinion' acts with the force of law, and the courts invariably
reject it. This brings us back to the potency of that oft-quoted ' public
opinion,' so ready, according to our objector, to do battle for the protec-
tion of the slave 1"
PROPOSITION FOURTH. All the power of the master over his
slave may be exercised not by himself only in person, but by any
one whom he may depute as his agent.
185
This practice throughout all the slaveholding states is uniform.
The following law of the state of Louisiana is an illustration.
" The condition of a slave being merely a passive one, his subordina-
tion to his master and to all who represent him is not susceptible of any
modification or restriction (except in what can excite the slave to the
commission of crime), in such manner that he owes to his master and to
all his family a respect without bounds, and an absolute obedience, (1
Martin's Digest, 616.)
PROPOSITION FIFTH. Slaves have no legal rights of property
in things real or personal, but whatever they may acquire belongs
in point of law to their masters.
To quote in detail the laws of slaveholding states to establish
a proposition which none will question, would be useless. For
the benefit of such, however, as may have access to the legal
codes of our slaveholding states, we subjoin the following refe-
rences. James' Digest of the Laws of South Carolina, 385>
386. Prince's Digest of the Laws of Georgia, 453 and 457.
Revised Code of Mississippi, 375, 389. Laws of Tennessee,
chapter 135. Missouri Laws, 743. Haywood's Manual of the
Laws of North Carolina, 526, 534. Kitty's Laws of Mary-
land, chapter 15, section 6. Civil Code of Louisiana, article
175 945.
PROPOSITION SIXTH. The slave, being a personal chattel, is
at all times liable to be sold absolutely, or mortgaged or leased
at the will of his master.
In proof that American slaves are " Chattels personal in the
hands of their owners, possessors, executors, administrators, and
assigns, to all intents, constructions, and purposes whatsoever/'
we refer to Brevard's Digest, 229, and Prince's Digest, 446.
To make specific quotations establishing the liabilities of chat-
tels personal, as stated in the proposition, would be quite un-
necessary. The law of Louisiana is an exception, in that state
slaves are real estate, and not personal chattels.
PROPOSITION SEVENTH. The slave may also be sold by pro-
cess of law for the satisfaction of the debts of a living, or the
debts and bequests of a deceased master, at the suit of creditors
or legatees. — See Laws of American Slave States, passim.
PROPOSITION EIGHTH. A slave cannot be a party before a
judicial tribunal in any species of action against his master — no
matter how atrocious may have been the injury received from
him.
It would be needless to prove what is notoriously unquestion-
. able.
PROPOSITION NINTH. Slaves cannot redeem themselves nor
obtain a change of masters ; though cruel treatment may have
rendered such change necessary for their personal safety.
Upon this proposition Judge Stroud remarks ; " this propo-
sition holds good as to the right of redemption in all the slave-
holding states, and equally true is it as respects the right to
compel a change of masters except in Louisiana. The new civil
code of that state contains a regulation by which the latter pri-
vilege may sometimes perhaps be obtained by the slave. Yet
the conditions are such that it needs strong proof to induce the
belief that the law has ever been called into action."
PROPOSITION TENTH. Slaves being objects of property, if in-
jured by third persons, their owners may bring suit and recover
damages for the injury.
The following are Judge Stroud's remarks.
" Taken strictly, this does not operate as a shield to the slave against
corporal aggression ; unless the violence used is so great as to deteriorate
the property of the master. And so a decision of the Supreme Court
of Maryland has established the law to be in that state. ' There must
be a loss of service or at least a diminution of the faculty of the slave
for bodily labour to warrant an action by the master.' 1 Harris and
Johnson's Reports 4."
PROPOSITION ELEVENTH. Slaves can make no contract.
This follows of course from the preceding propositions.
PROPOSITION TWELFTH. Slavery is hereditary and perpetual.
Here also quotations are needless.
To the preceding propositions we add that the penal codes of
187
the slaveholding states bear much more severely upon slaves
than upon free white persons. Upon this point we quote the
following remarks from " American Slavery as It is."
" The following legal penalties are by the laws of slave states attached
to the various acts of slaves therein described. If more than seven
slaves are found together in any road without a white person in company
the penalty is twenty lashes apiece.
" For visiting a plantation without a written pass, ten lashes ; for let-
ting loose a boat from where it was made fast, thirty-nine lashes for the
first offence ; and for the second, ' shall have cut off from his head one ear;'
for keeping or carrying a club, thirty- nine lashes ; for having any article
for sale, without a ticket from his master, ten lashes ; for travelling in
any other than ' the most usual and accustomed road,' when going alone
to any place, forty lashes ; for travelling in the night, without a pass,
forty lashes ; for being found in another person's negro-quarters, forty
lashes ; for hunting with dogs in the woods, thirty lashes ; for being on
horseback without the written permission of his master, twenty-Jive
lashes ; for riding or going abroad in the night, or riding horses in the
day time, without leave, a slave may be whipped, cropped, or branded in
the cheek with the letter R, or otherwise punished, not extending to life,
or so as to render him unfit for labor. The laws referred to may be
found by consulting 2 Brevard's Digest, 228, 243, 246 ; Haywood's Ma-
nual, 78, chap. 13, pp. 518, 529 ; 1 Virginia Revised Code, 722, 723 ;
Prince's Digest, 454 ; 2 Missouri Laws, 741 ; Mississippi Revised Code.
371. Laws similar to tbese exist throughout the southern slave code.
The laws of slave states inflict capital punishment on slaves for a va-
riety of crimes, for which, if their masters commit them, the legal pe-
nalty is merely imprisonment. Judge Stroud, in his Sketch of the Laws
of Slavery, says, that, by the laws of Virginia, there are ' seventy-one
crimes for which slaves are capitally punished, though in none of these
are whites punished in a manner more severe than by imprisonment in
the penitentiary'.,, (p. 107, where the reader will find all the crimes
enumerated). It should be added, however, that though the penalty
for each of these seventy-one crimes is ' death,' yet a majority of them
are, in the words of the law, ' death within clergy;' and in Virginia,
clergyable offences, though technically capital, are not so in fact. In
Mississippi, slaves are punished capitally for more than thirty crimes,
for which whites are punished only by fine or imprisonment, or both.,
Eight of these are not recognised as crimes, either by common law or by
statute, when committed by whites. In South Carolina slaves are pun-
ished capitally for nine more crimes than the wlu'tes — in Georgia, for
188
fix — and in Kentucky, for seven more than whites, &c. We surely need
not detain the reader by comments on this monstrous inequality with
which the penal codes of slave states treat slaves and their masters.
When we consider that guilt is in proportion to intelligence, and that
these masters have by law doomed their slaves to ignorance, and then,
as they darkle and grope along their blind way, inflict penalties upon
them for a variety of acts regarded as praiseworthy in whites ; killing
them for crimes, when whites are only fined or imprisoned — to call such
a ' public opinion' inhuman, savage, murderous, diabolical, would be to
use tame words, if the English vocabulary could supply others of more
horrible import.
" But slaveholding brutality does not stop here. While punishing the
slaves for crimes with vastly greater severity than it does their masters
for the same crimes, and making a variety of acts crimes in law, which
are right, and often duties, it persists in refusing to make known to the
slaves that complicated and barbarous penal code which loads them with
such fearful liabilities. The slave is left to get a knowledge of these
laws as he can, and cases must be of constant occurrence at the south,
in which slaves get their first knowledge of the existence of a law by
suffering its penalty. Indeed, this is probably the way in which they
commonly learn what the laws are ; for how else can the slave get a
knowledge of the laws ? He cannot read — he cannot learn to read ; if
he try to master the alphabet, so that he may spell out the words of the
law, and thus avoid its penalties, the law shakes its terrors at him ; while
at the same time, those who made the laws refuse to make them known
to those for whom they are designed. The memory of Caligula will
blacken with execration while time lasts, because he hung up his laws
so high that people could not read them, and then punished them be-
cause they did not keep them. Our slaveholders aspire to blacker infa-
my. Caligula was content with hanging up his laws where his subjects
could see them ; and if they could not read them, they knew where they
were, and might get at them, if, in their zeal to learn his will, they had
used the same means to get up to them that those did who hung them
there. Even Caligula, wretch as he was, would have shuddered at cut-
ting their legs off, to prevent their climbing to them ; or, if they had
got there, at boring their eyes out, to prevent their reading them. Our
slaveholders virtually do both ; for they prohibit their slaves acquiring
that knowledge of letters which would enable them to read the laws ;
and if, by stealth, they get it in spite of them, they prohibit them books
and papers, and flog them if they are caught at them. Further — Cali-
gula merely hung up his laws so high that they could not be read — our
slaveholders have hung theirs, so high above the slave that they cannot
189
be seen — they are utterly out of sight, and he finds out that they are
there only by the falling of the penalties on his head.* Thus the ' pub-
lic opinion' of slave states protects the defenceless slave by arming a
host of legal penalties and setting them in ambush at every thicket
along his path, to spring upon him unawares.
Stroud, in his Sketch of the Laws of Slavery, page 100, thus
comments on this monstrous barbarity :
" 'The hardened convict moves their sympathy, and is to be taught the
laws before he is expected to obey them ;t yet the guiltless slave is sub-
jected to an extensive system of cruel enactments, of no part of which,
probably, has he ever heard.'
As the " most striking features of the laws of slave states affect-
ing" the moral and intellectual condition of the slaves will be
exhibited in reply to subsequent queries, we need not introduce
them here.
In reply to the inquiry respecting the new laws which have
been enacted since 1825, we remark that we know of no laws
enacted since that period which materially alter the condition of
slaves in any of the slaveholding states. In many of the states,
however, laws have been enacted since 1825, increasing the priva-
tions and disabilities of the free people of colour.
* The following extract from the Alexandria (D. C.) Gazette is an illustra-
tion. " CRIMINALS CONDEMNED. — On Monday last the Court of the borough
of Norfolk, Va. sat on the trial of four negro boys arraigned for burglary.
The first indictment charged them with breaking into the hard-ware store of
Mr. E. P. Tabb, upon which two of them were found guilty by the Court,
and condemned to suffer the penalty of the law, which, in the case of a slave,
is death. The second Friday in April is appointed for the execution of their
awful sentence. Their ages do not exceed sixteen. The first, a fine active boy,
belongs to a widow lady in Alexandria : the latter, a house servant, is owned
by a gentleman in the borough. The value of one was fixed at 1000 dollars,
and the other at 800 dollars ; which sums are to be reimbursed to their re-
spective owners out of the state treasury." In all probability these poor
boys, who are to be hung for stealing, never dreamed that death was the le-
gal penaltv of the crime.
Here is'another, from the "New Orleans Bee" of 14, 1837.— " The
slave who STRUCK some citizens in Canal street, some weeks since, has been
tried and found guilty, and is sentenced to be HUNG on the 24th."
t " It shall be the duty of the keeper [of the penitentiary] on the receipt
of each prisoner, to read to him or her such parts of the penal laws of this
state as impose penalties for escape, and to make all the prisoners in the pe-
nitentiary acquainted with the same. It shall also be his duty, on the dis-
charge of such prisoner, to read to him or her such parts of the said laws as
impose additional punishments for the repetition of offences." — Rule 12th,
for the internal government of the Penitentiary of Georgia. See 26 of the
Penitentiary Act of 1816.— Prince's Digest, 386.
190
TWENTY-SECOND QUESTION. Do any means exist of ascertain-
ing the waste of life occasioned by the culture of any of the pro-
ducts of slave labor on the unexhausted soils of the new states ?
There is abundant evidence that the waste of life is prodigious ;
though the precise amount of the waste cannot be easily ascer-
tained. The following considerations will give some conception
of the fearful expenditure of human life.
1. The testimony which has already been given respecting
the condition and treatment of the field slaves, the defective
quality and quantity of their food, their inadequate clothing,
shelter and lodging, the habitual severity of their labor, the in-
sufficiency of the time allotted for sleep, and the violent flog-
ings, long fastings, and protracted confinements inflicted as pu-
nishments, are grounds on which you may fairly conclude that
the waste of life is vast.
2. The statements made respecting the neglect of the sick, with
the testimony of unimpeachable witnesses that it is common
not to employ a physican when slaves are sick, are further evi-
dence in point. What can be the result of such utter inatten-
tion to the sick but a shocking waste of life ?
3. The immense importation of slaves into the planting states,
by means of the internal and foreign slave trades, argue a great
waste of life. What can give rise to so large and constant a
demand for slaves but an enormous consumption of them ?
What can call for such vast annual conscriptions but the mow-
ing down of whole ranks on the field of death ? Certainly the
clearing of new lands, and the settlement of new states, are
causes utterly incompetent to account for the great demand for
slaves in the far south and south-west.
4. But we have 'still more decisive proof on this point in the
declarations of planters themselves, that they consider it profita-
ble to work a gang of slaves to death every seven years, since
the extra amount of labor thereby extorted from them will much
more than pay for a new supply of hands. A variety of testi-
mony establishing this point, has been already inserted in reply
to the 9th query ; " the features of slavery in the consuming
states."
191
TWENTY-THIRD QUESTION. Have American citizens any
interest in slavery in foreign countries, as owners or mortgagees,
and to what probable extent ?
We are not able to give very definite information under this
query. It is well known, however, that merchants and others
in the free states own slaves in several of the West India islands,
especially in Cuba. The number of persons in the free states,
thus implicated in foreign slaveholding, is probably, far from
being small, and we have reason to believe is annually increasing.
TWENTY-FOURTH QUESTION. Are vessels adapted only to the
slave-trade (or piracy} openly built in American ports ?
TWENTY-FIFTH QUESTION. To what ascertained or supposed
extent are the citizens and flag of the United States, engaged in
the slave carrying trade from Africa for the supply of foreign
countries ?
We regret our inability to give more full information on the
subject embraced in these queries. What we shall furnish will
afford some insight into this mystery of abominations, and show
that the number of vessels built in American ports, and expressly
designed for the foreign slave-trade is very great.
The following testimony is quoted from Jay's View, p. 111.
"The Boston Express of 17th December, 1838, thus gives the sub-
stance of the statements made by Mr. Elliott Cresson, of the Pennsylvania
Colonization Society, in a public address delivered a few days before in
Boston : —
" 'Outof 177 slave ships which arrive at Cuba every year, five-sixths are
owned and fitted outafrom ports in the United States ; and the enormous
profits accruing from their voyages remitted to this country. One house
in New York received lately for its share alone the sum of 250,000
dollars. Baltimore is largely interested in this accursed traffic as well
as New York — and even Boston, with all her religion and morality,
does not disdain to increase her wealth by a participation in so damnable
a business. A gentleman of the highest respectability lately informed
Mr. Cresson, that a sailor in this city told him that he had received
several hundred dollars of hush money, to make him keep silent, and
192
when he mentioned the names of his employers, the gentleman says he
was actually afraid to repeat them, so high do they stand in society. A
captain in the merchant service, from New York, was lately offered his
own terms hy two different houses, provided he would undertake a slave
voyage.'
" Of the truth of these statements we know nothing."
The annexed paragraph is from the same work, p. 107.
"In 1819, Judge Story, of the Supreme Court of the United States,
in a charge to a grand jury, thus expresses himself: — ' "We have hut too
many proofs from unquestionable sources, that it (the African trade) is
still carried on with all the implacable ferocity and insatiable rapacity
of former times. Avarice has grown more subtle in its evasions, and
watches and seizes its prey with an appetite quickened rather than sup-
pressed by its guilty vigils, American citizens are steeped to their very
mouths (I can scarcely use too bold a figure,) in this stream of iniquity.' "
The subjoined statements are extracted from the " First
Annual Report of the New York Committee of Vigilance for the
year 1837," p. 33, 34.
" A gentleman in this city, whose name we are not at liberty to mention,
an owner of Texan lands, informed a member of our Executive Com-
mittee, a few months since, that another gentleman, in this city, also
an owner of Texan lands, had, a short time previous, formally pro-
posed to him to invest funds in a ship to go into the slave-trade
from Africa to Texas, assuring him that an immense profit would be
realized on the investment !
" The New Orleans Bulletin of December 10, declares ' on high
authority, that the Texan government intends entering a formal com-
plaint to the Cabinet at Washington, against the practice pursued by
American citizens, of introducing into their territory, in vessels belonging
to the United States, negroes, coming from other quarters than this Union ;
and further, that their ministers at Washington, will be instructed to
ask of our government, that a vessel be ordered to cruise along their
coast, to prevent such introduction, and also that a small force be
stationed at the mouth of the Sabine, to guard against their being landed
on the coast of the United States and immediately transferred to the Texan
I territory — thus publishing it to the world, that the foreign slave-trade is
I extensively carried on from Africa to Texas ' by AMERICAN CITIZENS,'
land ' IN VESSELS BELONGING TO THE UNITED STATES f "
193
The following is from the Emancipator (New York), Nov. 28,
1839.
(" From the Journal of Commerce.)
"Havana, Oct. 25, 1839. — By an arrival from Bahia, in a very short
passage, we learn that the slave factories at Onin, on the coast of Africa
have been destroyed by the natives, and that establishment for the pre-
sent entirely broken up. The interests destroyed, belonged to some of
our principal citizens, and from thence an immense traffic in slaves was
carried on by vessels under many flags, particularly the American. A
large amount of goods was burnt and pillaged."
A late number of the New York Commercial Advertiser
contains the following.
" GOOD. — The Baltimore Chronicle of yesterday contains this little,
but meaning paragraph :
" ' We regret to learn that three gentlemen of this city, occupying
respectable positions in society, were arrested and held to bail on Satur-
day, upon a charge of being concerned in fitting out vessels designed to
be employed in the slave-trade.'
" We call this good news — not because we hope that the three gentle-
men will be proved guilty, but simply because we are glad to find that
inquiry is to be made into the charges so frequently brought against
Baltimore, of late, imputing to her citizens an. active participation in that
' hideous traffic.' "
The following paragraphs went the round of the papers last 'Fall
(1839).
"SLAVE SHIPS. — Capt. Fitzgerald, of the British sloop of war, Buzzard,
arrived at quarantine yesterday, bringing with him from Barbados, two
prize vessels, the Eagle and the Clara, which were captured^while cruis-
ing as slavers. They were seized within three months of each other, on
the coast of Africa, before they had actually engaged in the traffic, but
on the ground that they were furnished with all the implements and
tools of the trade. Since their capture, the crews of both vessels have
admitted that their object was to procure slaves. One of the captains is
a native of New York, and the other of Philadelphia. The design of
this visit is to deliver the offenders to the American authorities for trial,
In consequence of an application made yesterday afternoon to the United
States court, the deputy United States marshal went down to quarantine
to take the officers into custody."
" The Slavers, the EAGLE and CLARA, brought to -New York a short
time since by the English brig of war, BUZZARD, are to sail in a few days
for Jamaica, the United States government having declined to exercise
O
194
any jurisdiction over them. The object of the federal authorities in neg-
lecting to bring this subject before the judicial tribunals of the United
States, is undoubtedly to prevent any light from falling upon the flagrant
proceedings of Mr. Consul Trist, in reference to the slave-trade, so exten-
sively carried on from Havana under his immediate auspices. What
cares Van Buren, for the requirements of the Constitution and the laws,
or the claims of injured humanity, when they conflict with his elec-
tioneering prospects at the South ?"
The Cincinnati (Ohio) Gazette of October, 1839, after quoting
the latter of the above paragraphs, thus comments upon it.
" The American government have, it would seem, determinately set
their faces against taking any part in suppressing the African slave-trade.
In this there is strong reason to believe that the voice of a vast majority is
ready, at this moment, to sustain them. It is a strange revulsion of public
sentiment and of public feeling. One cannot repress surprise at its univer-
sality. Nothing can be effected for good by any speculations on the
matter, we, therefore, content ourselves by merely noticing the facts."
TWENTY-SIXTH QUESTION. What provision is made for the
education of the slaves, and what obstacles exist to the advance-
ment of education among them ?
So far from any provision being made for the education of
the slaves, it is either entirely prohibited or universally dis-
couraged. In some of the states the education of the slave is
expressly forbidden by law, and any attempt made to educate
them, whether by whites or blacks, is severely punished. In
some of the less important slaveholding states, instruction in
letters is not prohibited by law ; but it is effectually prevented
by public opinion. Such is the case in Kentucky.
The following are a few specimens of the laws which forbid
the education of slaves. Jay's Inquiry — p. 136.
" A law of South Carolina passed in 1800, authorizes the infliction of
twenty lashes on every slave found in an assembly convened for the pur-
pose of * mental instruction,' held in a confined or^secret place, although
in the presence of a white. Another law imposes a fine of £100 on
any person who may teach a slave to write. An act of Virginia, of 1829,
declares every meeting of slaves at any school by day or night, for in-
itrucfion in reading or icriting, an unlawful assembly ; and any justice
may inflict twenty lashes on each slave found in such school.
195
In North Carolina, to teach a slave to read or write, or to sell or
give him any book (bible not excepted) or pamphlet, is punished with
thirty- nine lashes, or imprisonment if the offender he a free negro, but
if a white, then with a fine of 200 dollars. The reason for this law as-
signed in its preamble is, that ' teaching slaves to read and write, tends
to excite dissatisfaction in their minds, and to produce insurrection and
rebellion.'
"In Georgia, if a white teach a free negro or slave to read or write, he
is fined 500 dollars, and imprisoned at the discretion of the court ; if the
offender be a colored man, bond or free, he is to be fined or whipped at
the discretion of the court. Of course a father may be flogged for teaching
his own child. This barbarous law was enacted in 1829.
" In Louisiana, the penalty for teaching slaves to read or write, is one
year's imprisonment.
" These are specimens of the efforts made by slave legislatures, to en-
slave the minds of their victims ; and we have surely no reason to hope
that their souls are regarded with more compassion."
The reason honestly assigned in the preamble to the North
Carolina law, i. e. that " teaching slaves to read or write tends
to excite dissatisfaction in their minds, and to produce insurrec-
tion and rebellion," is doubtless the ground of all these prohi-
bitory enactments. The law of South Carolina in 1740 says,
" The allowing of slaves to read would be attended with many
inconveniences." In plain English, education is regarded as
positively inconsistent with slavery, and its prohibition as in-
dispensable to the continuance of the system.
N But let us see what is the extent of instruction in those states
which do not expressly interdict it by statute. We have speci-
fied Kentucky as an example of this nature, and she is perhaps
the fairest specimen among all the slaveholding states. The
following testimony is quoted from the address of the Kentucky
Synod already referred to.
"Slavery dooms thousands of human beings to hopeless ignorance.
Throughout our whole land,* so far as we can learn, there is but one
school in which, during the week, slaves can be taught. Here and there
a family is found, where humanity and religion impel the master, mis-
tress, or children, to the laborious task of private instruction. But after
all, what is the utmost amount of instruction given to slaves ? Those
* The state of Kentucky.
02
196
who enjoy the most of it are fed with but the crumbs of knowledge
which fall from their master's table. The impression is almost univer-
sal, that intellectual elevation unfits men for servitude, and renders it
impossible to retain them in this condition. Hence in some of our
states, laws have been enacted, prohibiting, under severe penalties, the
instruction of the blacks ; and even -where such laws do not exist, there
are formidable numbers who oppose with deep hostility every effort to en-
lighten the mind of the negro."
TWENTY-SEVENTH QUESTION. What number of slaves can read
in proportion to the population?
From the statements just made it may be inferred that the
number is very inconsiderable. In those states 'where educa-
tion is punished by fines, stripes, and imprisonment we may
conclude that none learn to read, save perhaps a few domestics,
who steal their letters from the children of their masters. Even
in Kentucky the number that can read is exceedingly small as
appears from the testimony of the Presbyterian Synod of that
state. The hostility of many whites and the indifference of the
remainder, must for ever keep the great body of slaves, even in
Kentucky, in abject ignorance.
The Western Luminary, a religious periodical, published a
few years since in Lexington, Kentucky, says,
" It is a well known fact that to meet with a black person who can
read and understand the bible is considered a phenomenon, and excites
wonder and astonishment. When it is said that Kentucky has been
supplied with the bible, let it be remembered that one fourth of her po-
pulation are as ignorant of its contents as if they were not inhabitants
of a Christian country."
TWENTY-EIGHTH QUESTION. Do the slaves enjoy any religious
privileges ?
Their religious privileges are but little superior to their edu-
cational. Religion seems to be regarded as a foe not less dan-
gerous to slavery than education itself.
We quote the following abstract of the principal laws of the
slave states pertaining to the religious privileges of the slaves
from Jay's Inquiry — pp. 136, 137.
197
" In vain has the Redeemer of the world given the command to preach
the gospel to every creature; his professed disciples in the slave states have
issued a counter order; and, as we have already seen, have, by their laws,
incapacitated 2,000,000 of their fellow-men from complying with the in-
junction, 'Search the scriptures.' Not only are the slaves debarred from
reading the wonderful things of God — they are practically prevented with
a few exceptions from even hearing of them.
" In Georgia, any justice of the peace may, at his discretion, break up
any religious assembly of slaves, and may order each slave present to be
' corrected without trial, by receiving, on the bare back, twenty-five
stripes with a whip, switch, or cow-skin.'
" In South Carolina, slaves may not meet together for the purpose of
* religious worship ' before sunrise or after sunset, unless the majority of
the meeting be composed of white persons, under the penalty of 'twenty
lashes well laid on.' As it will be rather difficult for the slave to divine,
before he goes to the meeting, how many blacks, and how many whites
will be present, and of course which color will hare the ' majority,' a
due regard for his back will keep him from the meeting.
" In Virginia, all evening meetings of slaves at any meeting house,
are unequivocally forbidden.
" In Mississippi, the law permits the master to suffer his slave to at-
tend the preaching of a white minister.
" It is very evident that when public opinion tolerates such laws, it
will not tolerate the general religious instruction of the slaves."
We quote some additional statements from the same writer.— -
pp. 137—139.
" On this, as well as on every other subject relating to slavery, we
would rather fall short of, than exceed the truth. "We will not assert
there are no Christians among the slaves, for we trust there are some.
"When, however, we recollect, that they are denied the scriptures, and all
the usual advantages of the Sunday-school, and are forbidden to unite
among themselves in acts of social worship and instruction, and that al-
most all the sermo.ns they hear, are such as are addressed to educated
Avhites, and of course above their own comprehension, we may form some
idea of the obstacles opposed to their spiritual improvement. Let it be
recollected, that every master possesses the tremendous power of keeping
his slaves in utter ignorance of their Maker's will, and of their own im-
mortal destinies. And now with all these facts and their consequences
and tendencies in remembrance, we ask, if we do not make a most abun-
dant and charitable allowance when we suppose that 245,000 slaves pos-
sess a saving knowledge of the religion of Christ ? And yet after this
198
admission, one which probably no candid person will think too limited,
there will remain in the bosom of our country TWO MILLIONS of human
beings, who, in consequence of our laws, are in a state of heathenism !
But probably many will refuse their assent to this conclusion, without
further and more satisfactory evidence of its correctness. To such per-
sons we submit the following testimony, furnished by slaveholders them-
selves. In 1831, the Rev. Charles C. Jones preached a sermon before
two associations of planters in Georgia, one of Liberty County, and the
other of Mclntosh County. This sermon is before us, and we quote
from it.
" ' Generally speaking they (the slaves) appear to us to be without
God and without hope4 in the world, a NATION OF HEATHENS in our very
midst. — We cannot cry out against the Papists for withholding the scrip-
tures from the common people, and keeping them in ignorance of the
way of life ; for we roithhold the bible from our servants, and keep them
in ignorance of it, while we will not use the means to have it read and
explained to them. The cry of our perishing servants comes up to us
from the sultry plains as they bend at their toil — it comes up to us from
their humble cottages when they return at evening to rest their weary
limbs — it comes up to us from the midst of their ignorance, and super-
stition, and adultery, and lewdness. We have manifested no emotions
of horror at abandoning the souls of our servants to the adversary, the
roaring lion that walketh about seeking whom he may devour.'
" On the 5th December, 1833, a committee of the Synod of South
Carolina and Georgia, to whom was referred the subject of the religious
instruction of the coloured population, made a report which has been
published, and in which this language is used.
" Who would credit it, that in these years of revival and benevolent
effort, in this Christian republic, there are over TWO MILLIONS of human '
beings in the* condition of HEATHEN, and in some respects in a worse
condition. From long continued and close observation, we believe that
their moral and religious condition is such that they may justly be consi-
dered the HEATHEN of this Christian country, and will bear comparison
with heathen in any country in the world. The negroes are destitute of
the gospel, and ever will be under the present state of things. In the
vast field extending from an entire state beyond the Potomac to the
Sabine river, and from the Atlantic to the Ohio, there are to the best of
our knowledge not twelve men exclusively devoted to the religious in-
struction of the negroes. In the present state of feeling in the south, a
ministry of their own color could neither be obtained NOB TOLERATED.
" But do not the negroes have access to* the gospel through the stated
ministry of the whites ? We answer NO ; the negroes have no regular
199
and efficient ministry ; as a matter of course no churches ; neither is
there sufficient room in white churches for their accommodation. "We
know of \>vAjive churches in the slaveholding states huilt expressly for
their use ; these are all in the state of Georgia. "We may now inquire
if they enjoy the privileges of the gospel in their own houses, and on our
plantations ? Again we return a negative answer. They have no bi-
bles to read by their own firesides — they have no family altars ; and
when in affliction, sickness, or death, they have no minister to address
to them the consolations of the gospel, nor to bury them with solemn
and appropriate services.
" In a late number of the Charleston (S. C.) Observer, a correspon-
dent remarked : ' Let us establish missionaries among our own negroes,
who, in view of religious knowledge, are as debasingly ignorant as any
one on the coast of Africa ; for I hazard the assertion, that throughout
the bounds of our synod, there are at least one hundred thousand slaves,
speaking the same language as ourselves, who never heard of the plan of
salvation by a Redeemer.'
" The editor, instead of contradicting this broad assertion, adds : ' We
fully concur with what our correspondent has said respecting the be-
nighted heathen among ourselves.' "
" A writer in the Lexington, (Ky.) WESTERN LUMINARY, remarks —
" ' I proclaim it abroad to the Christian world, that heathenism is as
real in the slave states as it is in the South Sea Islands, and that our
negroes are as justly objects of attention to the American and .other Boards
of foreign missions, as the Indians of the western wilds. What is it that
constitutes heathenism ? Is it to be destitute of a knowledge of God —
of his holy word — never to have heard hardly a sentence of it read
through life — to know little or nothing of the history, character, instruc-
tion, and mission of Jesus Christ — to be almost totally devoid of moral
knowledge and feeling — of sentiments and probity — truth — and of chastity ?
If this constitute heathenism, then there are thousands — millions of hea-
then in our own beloved land.
" ' Gracious God ! merciful Redeemer ! shall thy word and thy" gos-
pel be proclaimed in simplicity and truth to one portion of our popula-
tion, and shall another be born, and live, and die, where the sun of righ-
teousness shines freely and fully, and never receive more than a dim and
wandering ray of his light and glory ?' "
This testimony, it will be borne in mind, is from the heart of
Kentucky, a state which has the reputation of granting greater
religious privileges to its slaves than any other in the Union. In
this connexion we will give the sentiments of the Presbyterian
Synod of that state, contained in their address, from which
extracts have been already made.
"/£ deprives its subjects, in a great measure, of the privileges of the gospel.
You may be startled at this statement, and feel disposed to exclaim,
' our 'slaves are always permitted and, even encouraged to attend upon
the ordinances of worship.' But a candid and close examination will
show the correctness of our charge. The privileges of the gospel, as
enjoyed hy the white population in this land, consist in free access to
the scriptures, a regular gospel ministry, and domestic means of grace.
Neither of these is, to any extent worth naming, enjoyed by slaves, as a
moment's consideration will satisfactorily show. The law, as it is here,
does not prevent free access to the scriptures — but ignorance, the natu-
ral result of their condition, does. The bible is before them, but it is to
them a sealed book. ' The light shineth in the darkness, but the dark-
ness comprehendeth it not.' Like the paralytic, who lay for years by the
pool of Bethesda, the waters of healing are near them, but no kind hand
enables them to try their efficacy. Very few enjoy the advantages of a
regular gospel ministry. They are, it is true, permitted generally, and
often encouraged, to attend upon the ministrations specially designed for
their masters. But the instructions communicated on such occasions are
above the level of their capacities. They listen as to prophesyings in an
unknown tongue.
" The galleries of our own churches, which are set apart to their use,
would not hold the tenth part of their numbers — and even these few
seats are, in general, thinly occupied. So that, as a body, it is evident
that our slaves do not enjoy the public ordinances of religion. Domestic
means of grace are still more rare among them.
" We do not wish to exaggerate the description of this deplorable reli-
gious condition of our colored population. We know that instances of
true piety are frequently found among them; but these instances we
all know to be awfully disproportionate to their numbers, and to the
extent of those means of grace which exist around them. When the
missionaries of the cross enter a heathen land, their hope of fully chris-
tianizing it rests upon the fact that they can array and bring to bear
upon the minds of these children of ignorance and sin, all those varied
means which God has appointed for the reformation of man. But while
the system of slavery continues among us, these means can never be
efficiently and fully employed for the conversion of the degraded sons of
Africa. Yet ' God hath made them of one blood' with ourselves ; hath
provided for them the same redemption ; hath in his providence cast
201
souls upon our care ; and hath clearly intimated to us the doom of him
who 'seeth his brother hath need, and shutteth up his bowels of com-
passion from him.' If by our example, our silence, or our sloth, we per-
petuate a system which paralyzes our hands when we attempt to convey
to them' the bread of life, and which inevitably consigns the great mass
of them to unending perdition, can we be guiltless in the sight of him
who hath made us stewards of his grace ?"
The following testimony is taken from a tract on the moral
condition of slaves, published by the American Anti-slavery
Society, and " compiled chiefly from recent publications."
"Not many years ago a protracted meeting was held at Petersburg!),
Virginia. During the first two days, the attendance was very great.
The ministers were much encouraged. The prospect was that many
souls would be converted. It was suggested that the third day had best
be devoted entirely to the religious instruction of the coloured part of the
population. The ministers acceded to the request; notice was given
accordingly, in the church, and throughout the place, and masters were
requested to give their slaves liberty to attend the whole day, so that
the church might be filled. Great excitement prevailed. A meeting of
slaveholders was held. A threatening message was sent to the ministers.
The consequence was that the protracted meeting was broken up, there
being no meeting after the second day. In whose skirts will be found
the blood of those souls that may perish in consequence of the breaking
up of that protracted meeting ?
** A correspondent of the CHURCH ADVOCATE, published in Kentucky,
uses the following language, in relation to the blacks of that state :
" ' The poor negroes are left in the ways of spiritual darkness, no efforts
are -being made for their enlightenment, no seed is being sown in this
portion of our Lord's vineyard : here nothing but a moral wilderness is
seen, over which the soul sickens — the heart of Christian sympathy
bleeds. Here nothing is presented but a moral waste, as extensive as
our influence, as appalling as the valley of death to the repenting,
conscience-stricken sinner.'
"The following extracts are from a letter of Bishop Andrew, of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, directed to Messrs. Garrit and Maffit.
" ' Augusta, Jan. 29, 1835.
" ' The Christians of the south owe a heavy debt to slaves on their
plantations, and the ministers of Christ especially are debtors to the
whole slave population. I fear a cry goes up to heaven on this subject
against us ; and how, I ask, shall the scores who have left the ministry
202
of the Word, that they may make corn and cotton, and buy and sell, and
get gain, meet this cry at the bar of God ? and what shall the hundreds
of money-making and money-loving masters, who have grown rich by
the toil and sweat of their slaves, and left their souls to perish, say when
they go with them to the judgment of the great day ?'
The following testimony with regard to the slaves in Alabama,
is from a letter published in the Southern Religious Telegraph,
and is dated June 20, 1836:
" ' Yesterday afternoon, I attended divine service in this place. The
afternoon sermon is always intended especially for the blacks. The
number present yesterday was probably over 400. Rev. Mr. Houp in-
formed me that preaching was not kept up regularly in any other Me-
thodist church in Middle Alabama, except Montgomery. I have myself
visited all the Presbyterian churches belonging to Tuscaloosa and South
Alabama Presbyteries, except Mobile and three others, and have found
the blacks almost entirely neglected in all but two.'
"The Rev. Mr. Converse, who was at one period an agent of the
Colonization Society, and resided for some time in Virginia, states in a
discourse before the Vermont Colonization Society, that ' almost nothing
is done to instruct the slaves in the principles and duties of the Christian
religion. The laws of the south strictly forbid their being taught to
read ; and they make no provision for their being orally instructed.
Ministers sometimes preach to them under peculiar and severe restric-
tions of the law. But with all that has yet been done, the majority are
emphatically heathens, and what is very strange, heathens in the midst
of a land of sabbaths and of churches, of bibles and of Christians. . . .
Pious masters (with honorable exceptions) are criminally negligent of
giving religious instruction to their slaves. . . . They can and do instruct
their own children, and perhaps their house servants; while those called
« field hands' live, and labor, and die, without being told by their pious
masters (?) that Jesus Christ died to save sinners."
The following is the testimony of Dr. Nelson, late President
of Marion College, Missouri, a Presbyterian Clergyman of high
respectability, who was born and educated in Tennessee, and till
forty years old, a slaveholder.
" ' I have been asked concerning the religious instruction of slaves ;
and I feel safe in answering, that in general it amounts to little or no-
thing. Hundreds and thousands never heard of a Saviour ; and of those
who are familiar with his name, few have any comprehension of its
meaning. I remember one grey headed negro, with whom I tried to
203
talk concerning his immortal soul. I pointed to the hills and told him
God made them. He said he did not believe any body made the hills.
I asked another slave about Jesus Christ. I found he had heard his
name, but thought he was the son of the Governor of Kentucky.' "
To show how masters, even professedly religions ones, often
discourage attention to the subject of religion among their slaves,
we give the following extract from the " Report on the Condi-
tion of the People of Colour in the State of Ohio."
" Said a coloured woman to us the other day, ' When I was little I used
to long to read. After prayers, master would often leave the bible and
hymn book on the stand, and I would sometimes open them to see if the
letters would not tell me something. When he came and catched me
looking in them, he would always strike me and sometimes knock me
down.' "
TWENTY-NINTH QUESTION. What number of slaves are mem-
bers of Christian churches ?
The number of nominal professors among the slaves is not
far from 200,000. Of these many are habitually and openly
living in adultery, polygamy, drunkenness, lying, theft, and pro-
faneness ; although they rarely incur thereby church censure.
The great mass of these being entirely ignorant of letters, and
receiving their instruction chiefly from ministers whose style of
preaching is above their capacity, must be without the know-
ledge of that truth which maketh wise unto salvation. The
religion of slaves must, therefore, for the most part, be merely
nominal. The testimony of Dr. Nelson, from whom we have
already quoted, is melancholy enough on this point. He says,
" I have heard hundreds make such professions of love to God and
trust in a Saviour, that the church did not feel at liberty to refuse them
membership. I have reason to believe they were poor deluded mistaken
creatures. The concentrated recollection of thirty years furnishes me
with three instances only where I could say I had reason, from the
known walk of that slave, to believe him or her to be a sincere
Christian/'
THIRTIETH QUESTION. Do the inhabitants of the free state
hold, by deed, bond, or mortgage, property in slaves — if so, to
what extent?
204
We have satisfactory evidence that the inhabitants of the free
states are very extensively owners of slaves. There is hardly a
city or large town in the free states in wliich there are not living
the holders of slave property in the south. In the year 1837,
merchants and others in the single city of New York, held by
bond and mortgage, not less than ten millions of property in
southern estates and slaves together, and it is probable that
that city is at the present time equally implicated.
We would state that the Executive Committee of the American
Anti-slavery Society are now gathering a mass of authentic
materials, to be embodied in a work exhibiting the pro-slavery
of the free states, and containing a variety of details upon the
subject of this query.
THIRTY-FIRST QUESTION. Is the District of Columbia the
property of the United States, and under the Government of
Congress ?
The land in the district of Columbia is not national property,
but, like that of the different states, is owned by individuals, but
the exclusive government of the district is vested in the Con-
gress of xthe United States. Nothing can be more explicit than
the article in the constitution which relates to this point. It is
in the following language ; " The Congress shall have power to
exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such
district."
This provision, one might suppose, could not be mistaken.
Since, however, the power of Congress over the district "of
Columbia has been made of late a disputed question, even in
Congress itself, we beg leave to refer you to an argument in the
Anti-Slavery Examiner, No. 5, entitled f The Power of Con-
gress over the District of Columbia ;" also to the late speech
of Hon. Mr. Slade of Vermont, in the House of Representa-
tives of the United States, both of which may be found in the
parcel forwarded with this.
THIRTY-SECOND QUESTION. Does slavery actually exist in the
district of Columbia ; if so, what is its character, and what is the
number of slaves in it?
205
Slavery exists in the district of Columbia. Its character is
substantially the same with that of slavery in the breeding states,
already described. The number of slaves in the district is about
6000.
THIRTY-THIRD QUESTION. Is this district a slave mart, if so
to what extent, and what is the nature of the traffic ?
The district of Columbia is not only a slave mart, but the
principal slave mart in the United States. We at once refer
you to the observations and statements of Judge Jay in his
" View," pp. 92—98,—
" Let us now visit the * Metropolis of the Nation,' the very heart of
this mighty commerce in the bodies and souls of men. The district of
Columbia, from its relative situation to the breeding states, forms a con- '
venient depot for the negroes, previous to their exportation; and the
non-interference of Congress, gives the traders ' under the exclusive ju-
risdiction' of the Federal Government, as unlimited power over the treat-
ment and stowage of their human cargoes, as their brethren enjoy on
the coast of Guinea.
" Hence large establishments have grown up upon the national do-
main, provided with prisons for tbe safe-keeping of the negroes till a
full cargo is procured ; and should^at any time tbe factory prisons be in-
sufficient, the public ones, erected by Congress, are at the service of the
dealers, and tbe United States marshal becomes the agent of the slave
trader !
" It must be admitted, that the following pictures of the scenes wit-
nessed in the district of Columbia, are drawn by impartial hands So
long ago as 1 802, the grand jury of Alexandria, complaining of the
trade, remarked : ' These dealers in the persons of our fellow-men col-
lect within this district, from various parts, numbers of these victims of
slavery, and lodge them in some place of confinement until they have
completed their numbers. They are then turned out into our streets,
and exposed to view loaded with chains, as though they had committed
some heinous offence against our laws. We consider it as a grievance
that citizens from a distant part of the United States should be per-
mitted to come within the district, and pursue a traffic fraught with so
much misery to a class of beings entitled to our protection, by the laws
of justice and humanity ; and that the interposition of civil authority
cannot be had to prevent parents being wrested from their offspring, and
children from their parents, without respect to tbe ties of nature. We
206
consider these grievances demanding legislative redress' — that is, redress
by congress.
" In 1816, Judge Morell of the Circuit Court of the United States,
in his charge to the Grand Jury of Washington, observed, speaking of
the slave trade, ' The frequency with which the streets of the city had
been crowded with manacled captives, sometimes on the sabbath, could
not fail to shock the feelings of all humane persons/
" The same year, JOHN RANDOLPH moved in the House of Represen-
tatives for a committee ' to inquire into the existence of an inhuman
and illegal traffic of slaves carried on, in and through the district of
Columbia, and report whether any or what measures are necessary for
putting a stop to the same.' The motion was adopted ; had it been made
twenty years later, it would, under the rules of the House, have been
laid on the table, ' and no further action had thereon.'
"The Alexandria Gazette of June 22nd, 1827, thus describes the
scenes sanctioned by our professedly republican and Christian legislature :
' Scarcely a week passes without some of these wretched creatures being
driven through our streets. After having been confined, and sometimes
manacled in a loathsome prison, they are turned out in public view to
take their departure for the south. The children and some of the wo-
men are generally crowded into a cart or waggon, while others follow on
foot, not unfrequently handcuffed and chained together. Here you may be-
hold fathers and brothers leaving behind them the dearest objects of af-
fection, and moving slowly along in the mute agony of despair — there
the young mother sobbing over the infant whose innocent smiles seem
but to increase her misery. From some you will hear the burst of bitter
lamentation, while from others, the loud hysteric laugh breaks forth,
denoting still deeper agony.' "
" In 1828, a petition for the suppression of this trade was presented
to Congress signed by more than one thousand inhabitants of this district.
" In 1829, the Grand Jury of Washington made a communication to
Congress, in which they say, ' Provision ought to be made to prevent
purchasers, for the purpose of removal and transportation, from making
the cities of the district depots for the imprisonment of the slaves they
collect. The manner in which they are brought and confined in these
places, and carried through our streets, is necessarily such as to excite
the most painful feelings. It is believed that the whole community
would be gratified by the interference of Congress for the suppression of
these receptacles, and the exclusion of this disgusting traffic from the
district.'
" In 1830, the ' Washington Spectator' thus gave vent to its indig-
nation.
207
" * The slave trade in the Capital. — Let it be known to the citizens of
America, that at the very time when the procession which contained the
President of the United States and his cabinet was marching in triumph
to the Capitol, another kind of procession was marching another way ;
and that consisted of coloured human beings, handcuffed in pairs, and
driven along by what had the appearance of a man on horseback ! A
similar scene was repeated on Saturday last; a drove, consisting of males
and females, chained in couples, starting from Roly's tavern on foot for
Alexandria, where with others they are to embark on board a slave ship
in waiting to convey them to the south. Where is the O'Connell in this
republic that will plead for the emancipation of the district^ of Colum-
bia r
" The advertisements of the dealers indicate the extent of the traffic.
The National Intelligencer of the 28th March, 1836, printed at "Wash-
ington, contained the following advestisements.
"*• Cash for five hundred Negroes, including both sexes, from ten to
twenty-five years of age. Persons having likely servants to dispose of,
will find it their interest to give us a call, as we will give higher prices
in cash than any other purchaser who is now or may hereafter come into
the MARKET.
' FRANKLIN & AMFIELD, Alexandria.'
" ' Cash for three hundred Negroes. — The highest cash price will be
given by the subscriber, for negroes of both sexes, from the ages of twelve
to twenty- eight.
WILLIAM H. WILLIAMS, Washington.'
"' Cash for four hundred Negroes, including both sexes, from twelve
to twenty-five years of age.
' JAMES H. BIRCH, Washington City.'
" ' Cash for Negroes. — We will at all times give the highest prices in
cash for likely young negroes of both sexes, from ten to thirty years of age.
' J. W. NEAL & Co., Washington.'
" Here we find three traders in the district, advertising in one day
for twelve hundred negroes, and a fourth offering to buy an indefinite
number.
" In a later number of the Intelligencer, we find the following.
" ' Cash for Negroes. — I will give the highest price for likely negroes
from ten to twenty-five years of age.
' GEORGE KEPHART.'
" ' Cash for Negroes.— I will give cash and liberal prices for ANY num-
ber of young and likely negroes, from eight to forty years of age. Per-
208
sons having negroes to dispose of will find it to their advantage to give
me a call at my residence on the corner of Seventh-street and Maryland
Avenue, and opposite Mr. William's private jail.
'"WILLIAM H. RICHARDS.'
" ' Cash for Negroes. — The subscriber wishes to purchase a number of
negroes for the Louisiana and Mississippi market. Himself or an agent
at all times can be found at his jail on Seventh -street.
'WM. H. WILLIAMS.'
" The unhappy beings purchased by these traders in human flesh, men
and women, and children of eight years old, are sent to the south, either
over land in coffles, or by sea, in crowded slavers. Fostered by congress,
these traders lose all sense of shame ; and we have in the National In-
telligencer the following announcement of the regular departure of three
slavers, belonging to a single factory.
" ' Alexandria and New Orleans Packets. — Brig Tribune, Samuel C.
Bush, master, will sail as above on the 1st January — Brig Isaac Frank-
lin, Wm. Smith, master, on the 15th January — Brig Uncas, Nath.
Boush, master, on the 1st February. They will continue to leave this
port on the 1st and 15th of each month, throughout the shipping season.
Servants that are intended to be shipped, will at any time be received for
safe-keeping at twenty-Jive cents a day.
' JOHN AMFIELD, Alexandria.'
" This infamous advertisement of the regular sailing of three slavers,
and the offer of the use of the factory prison, appears in one of the prin-
cipal journals of the United States. Its proprietor has several times been
chosen printer to congress, and there is no reason for believing that he
has ever lost the vote of a northern member for this prostitution of his
columns.
" But the climax of infamy is still untold. This trade in blood ; this
buying, imprisoning, and exporting of boys and girls eight years old ;
this tearing asunder of husbands and wives, parents and children, is all
legalized in virtue of authority delegated by congress ! ! The 249th page
of the laws of the city of Washington, is polluted by the following enact-
ment, bearing date 28th July, 1838 :
" ' For a LICENSE to trade or traffic in slaves for profit, four hundred
dollars.' "
The following is from the "Anti-Slavery Manual," p. 114 :
" One of the private prisons in Washington used for keeping slaves, is
owned by W. Eobey, who is also engaged in the trade. In May, 1834,
a gentleman visited it, and fell into conversation with the overseer of the
pen. He heard the clanking of chains within the pen. ' O,' said the
209
overseer — himself a slave, * I have seen fifty or seventy slaves taken
out of the pen, and the males chained together in pairs, and drove off
to the south — and how they would cry, and groan, and take on, and
wring their hands, but the driver would put on. the whip, and tell them,
to shut up — so that they would go off, and bear it as well as they could.'
'"Franklin and Annfield alone shipped to New Orleans duringthe year
1835, according to their own statement, not less than 1000 slaves. They
own brigs of about 160 to 200 tons burthen, running regularly every
thirty days, during the trading season, to New Orleans, and carrying about
one slave to the ton.' "
The subjoined testimony is extracted from Jay's Inquiry, pp.
158, 159.
*' From a letter of the 23d of January, 1834, by the Rev. Mr. Leavitt,
and published in New York, it appears, that he visited the slave factory
of Franklin and Annfield at Alexandria, and ' was informed by one
of the principals, that the number of slaves carried from the district,
last year, was about one thousand, but it would be much greater this
year. He expected their house alone would ship at least eleven or twelve
hundred. They have two vessels of their own, constantly employed in
carrying slaves to New-Orleans.' One of the vessels being in port, Mr.
Leavitt went on board of her= ' Her name is the TRIBUNE. The cap-
tain very obligingly took us to all parts of the vessel. The hold is ap-
propriated to the slaves, and is divided into two apartments. The after
hold will carry about eighty women, and the other about one hundred
men. On either side were tico platforms running the whole length ; one
raised a few inches, and the other half way up to the deck. They were
about five or six feet deep. On these the slaves lie, as close as they can
stow away.' "
From the pamphlet entitled " Why work for the Slave ?" we
extract the following, p. 3, —
" The case of Burditt Washington is another among the many proofs
that all protection is withheld from our coloured brothers and sisters,
within sight of our national Capitol, while congress shout to the slave-
trader, ' Here's free plunder !'
" One of the nine children sold away from him, was a daughter about
eighteen. A slave-trader came to the house, — seized and carried her
aboard the steamboat. The aged father followed. ' I then went into
P
210
the hold,' said he, 'and found my child among the other slaves. She
threw her arms ahout my neck and said, ' Father, I'm gone, can't you do
something for me ?' I could'nt stay there any longer. I broke away
from her/ Here the old man's tears stopped his voice. After some time,
he said : ' I have not seen or heard of her since. Oh, it hurts me every
time I think of it.'
" I had this from his own lips. He was a memher of a Baptist church
in Alexandria. Rev. Spencer H. Cone, and Rev. Samuel Cornelius, his
pastor, testified to the excellence of his character."
For further exposures of these abominations in the District of
Columbia we refer you to Jay's View, commencing on page 50.
THIRTY-FOURTH QUESTION. Has congress, by any direct action
or vote, expressed its disapprobation of the sale of slaves in the
district of Columbia ?
Congress, although repeatedly petitioned and memorialized on
this subject, has never once expressed its disapprobation of the
sale of slaves in the district. It has either maintained entire
silence, or attempted to justify the traffic.
The following declarations were made on the floor of congress
by the Hon. Mr. Slade, December 20, 1837,—
" While, however, I thus speak, it is, I confess, enough to destroy all
courage in attempting anything for the suppression of this abominable
and disgraceful traffic, to recollect how abortive have proved all efforts
hitherto, to effect that object. I open the journals of this house, and
find thaf, in 1816, Mr. Randolph, of Virginia, moved a resolution pro
viding for the appointment of a special committee ' to inquire into the
existence of an inhuman and illegal traffic in slaves, carried on in, and
through, the district of Columbia, and to report whether any, and what,
measures are necessary for putting a stop to the same.'
" On the occasion of offering this resolution, it is said in the journal
of the debates of that period, that —
" ' Mr Randolph moved the [foregoing]] resolution, the necessity of
which, and of providing a remedy for a practice so heinous and abomi-
nable (making this district a depot for the slave trade of the neighbour-
ing states, and a medium for evading the laws in force by collusive sales),
he impressed by a variety of remarks, and concluded by declaring that,
if the business was declined by the house, he would undertake it him-
211
self, and ferret out of their holes and corners the villains who carried
it on.'
" This was on the 1st of March. On the 30th of April, Mr. Ran-
dolph, it appears, reported sundry depositions on the subject, taken by
the committee ; which were ordered to lie on the table — and there, Mr.
Speaker, they lie to this day ! Not another step that I can find, was
taken under the resolution. Neither congress nor the mover of the re-
solution appear to have done anything further to ' ferret out of the holes
and corners, the villains who carried on' the ' heinous and abominable*
traffic.
" Another movement was made in 1829, by an able and estimable son
of Pennsylvania (Mr. CHARLES MISER), looking to a remedy for this
evil, in regard to which he made some most astounding disclosures, and
supported a proposition for the gradual abolition of slavery, and the im-
mediate prohibition of the slave trade in this district, in an able and elo-
quent speech. If fact, and argument, and eloquence, could have effected
anything, surely it would have been effected by this effort. But it
availed nothing. The proposition went to a committee, and slept the
sleep of death ! Enormities startling enough to wake the dead, were like
galvanism upon a lifeless carcass. There was a slight convulsion, and
all was over ! "*
We find the following statement in Jay's View, p. 54, —
" On the 29th January, 1829, the committee on the district of Co-
lumbia made a report in obedience to the instructions of the House of
Representatives, ' to inquire into the slave trade as it exists in and is
carried on through the district.' The report proposes no interference on
the part of congress, but is virtually an apology for this vile traffic, as
is apparent from the following heartless sentiments and false assertions.
" * The trade alluded to, is presumed to refer more particularly to that
which is carried on with the view of transporting slaves to the south,
which is one way of gradually diminishing the evil complained of here ;
while the situation of these persons is considerably mitigated by being
transplanted to a more genial and bountiful clime. Although violence
* Since writing the above, I have found that a bill for suppressing the trade
in this district was reported by Mr. Washington, of Maryland, chairman of
the committee on the district, in April, 1830. It was read a first and second
time, and referred to the committee of the whole on the state of the union ;
and that is the last that has been heard of it ! If the committee should take
it into their heads to report such a bill now, it would not be as fortunate as
the bill of 1830, but would be nailed to the table, ' without being debated, printed,
read or referred !"
p 2
212
may sometimes be done to their feelings in the separation of families, it
is by the laws of society which operate upon them as property, and can-
not be avoided as long as they exist ; yet it should be some consolation
to those whose feelings are interested in their behalf, to know that their
condition is more frequently bettered, and their minds happier by the
exchange"*
Having now replied to the queries, we proceed in accordance
with your " suggestions," to notice some other points connected
with the general subjects of slavery and abolition.
And first we call your attention to the political power of the
slaveholding states in the Federal Government. The subjoined
.developments are taken from Jay's View — pp. 23 — 26.
"THE FEDERAL RATIO OF REPRESENTATION.
"The constitution provides that the members of the Lower House of
congress shall be proportioned to the free inhabitants of the states they
represent, except that in each state three-fifths of the slave population
shall be for this purpose considered as free inhabitants. In other words,
every five slaves are to be counted as three white persons. For exam-
ple, if by law every 60,000 free inhabitants may elect a representative, a
district containing 45,000 whites and 25,000 slaves, becomes by the fe-
deral ratio entitled to a member. This stipulation in the constitution
has from the beginning given the slaveholders an undue weight in the
national councils. A few instances will illustrate its practical effect.
The whole number of the House of Representatives is at present 242 —
sent from 26 states. Of these the following are $lave states, viz. : —
Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia,
Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Missouri, and
Arkansas. These states, with a free population of 3,823,389, have 100
members ; while the free states, with a free population nearly double,
viz. 7,003,451, have only 142 members. One representative is at present
allowed to 47,700 inhabitants. Now, were the slaves omitted in the
enumeration, the slave states would have only 75 members. Hence it
follows, that at the present moment, the slaveholding interest has a re-
presentation of TWENTY-FIVE members in addition to the fair and
equal representation of the free inhabitants. There is certainly no good
reason why the owners of human chattels should, by the fundamental
laws of a republic, have greater privileges awarded to them than to the
holders of any other kind of property whatever. But such is the com-
-* Reports of Committees, 2Sess. 20 Cong. No. 60."
213
pact ; we seek not to change or violate it, but only to explain its opera-
tion.
" Each state has as many votes for President as it has members of
congress. The rule of representation in the Lower House has already
been explained ; in the senate it is different : and each state, whatever
be its population, has two senators, and no more. The free population
of the slave states, as already stated, is half that of the others ; but
their number being equal, their representation in the senate is also
equal.
" If free population were the principle of representation in the Federal
Government, as it is with scarcely an exception in all the states, the
slave states would have
In the Senate, 13 members.
In the House, 75
Electoral votes for President, 88
26 members.
100
Electoral votes for President, 126
" Here we find the secret of the power of the south, and of the obse-
quiousness of the north. Ohio, with a population of 947,000 has 19
members ; while Virginia, with a free population of 200,000 LESS, has
two members MORE. Take another example. Pennsylvania has 30 elec-
toral votes ; the states of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi,
Louisiana, and Kentucky, with an aggregate free population of 189,791
less than Pennsylvania, have 53 electoral votes !
" It cannot be supposed that this vast and most unequal representation
and consequent political power, will be unemployed by its possessors.
On the contrary, the slaveholders in congress have uniformly succeeded
in effecting their objects, when united among themselves. In 1836,
this slave power in congress was adroitly turned to pecuniary profit.
The surplus revenue remaining in the treasury on the 1st of January,
1837, was to be distributed, and the rule of distribution became a ques-
tion. The income, it is true, had been derived chiefly from the industry
and enterprise of the north ; but the south insisted, and with her usual
success, that instead of dividing the money according to the population,
it should be apportioned among the states according to their electoral
votes. By this rule, the slave states, notwithstanding their inferiority in
population, would share alike with the free, so far as regarded the num-
ber of their senators ; and with regard to their representatives, they
214
would secure an apportionment of money on account of three -fifths of their
two millions of slaves.
" The sum allotted hy this grosa and monstrous rule to the states of
fesouth Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Ken-
tucky, was 6,754,588 dollars ; while Pennsylvania, with a free popula-
tion larger than that of all these six states together, was to receive only
3,823,353 dollars ; so that, in fact, the slaveholders of these states re-
ceived, man for man, just about twice as many dollars from the national
treasury as the hard-working citizens of Pennsylvania !
"Notwithstanding this slave representation, the free states have a
majority of members ; and hence it becomes important to investigate."
The influence of the slaveholding states in securing the ap-
pointment of their citizens to high offices in the Federal Govern-
ment is 'exhibited in the following extracts from Jay's View —
pp. 36—39.
"APPOINTMENTS TO OFFICE,
" As the citizens of the free states are nearly double in number to
those of the slave states, it might naturally be supposed that the former
would furnish the larger share of the great officers of the Union. To
such as have indulged this supposition, the following extract of a speech
lately delivered in the Senate of the United States, by Mr. Davis of
Massachusetts, will no doubt afford very startling information. ' This
interest (slavery) has ruled the destinies of the republic. For FORTY
out of FORTY-EIGHT years, it has given us a president from its own ter-
ritory and of its own selection. During all this time, it has not only had
a President, sustaining its own peculiar views of public policy, but
through him, has held and used in its own way, the whole organization
of all the departments, and all the vast and controlling patronage inci-
dent to that office, to aid it in carrying on its views and policy, as well
as to protect and secure to it every advantage.
" ' Let us explore a little further and see how the houses of congress
have been organized. For THIRTY years out of THIRTY-SIX, that in-
terest has placed its own speaker in the chair of the other House, thus
securing the organization of committees, and the great influence of that
station. And, sir, while all other interests have, during part of the time,
had the chair (vice-presidency) in which you preside assigned to them
as an equivalent for these great concessions, yet in each year, when a
President pro tern, is elected, who, upon the contingencies mentioned in
the constitution will be the President of the United States, that interest
has INVARIABLY given us that office. Look, I beseech you, through
all the places of honor, of profit, and privilege ; and there you will find
215
the representatives of this interest in numbers that indicate its influence.
Does not, then, this interest rule, guide, and adapt public policy to its
own views, and fit it to suit the action and products of its own labor ! '
" Let us see how far the present amount of slave interest in the Fede-
ral Government justifies the general statement made by Mr. Davis. The
presidential chair, it is true, is filled by a northern man ! but he is one
who pledged himself to this interest before he was elected ; who had
manifested his devotion to this interest, by giving his vote for a censor-
ship of the press, for the avowed purpose of restraining the circulation
of anti-slavery papers ; and who was elected to his present station by
southern votes ! Be it recollected, moreover, that the southern journals
have insisted that a northern man with southern principles, could more
effectually subserve this interest as President, than a slaveholder.
" In the office of Vice-President, we have a slaveholder from Kentucky,
presiding over the deliberations of the Senate.
" A slaveholder is seated in the chair of the House of Representatives,
appointing committees on the district of Columbia, enforcing gag reso-
lutions against such as would repeal or modify the laws of congress vio-
lating the rights of man, and deciding all questions of order in discus-
sions bearing upon the GREAT INTEREST.
" A desire is now manifested by the south to bring into the Supreme
Court of the United States certain questions touching the rights and
duties of the free states, relative to slaves who may come or be brought
within their limits. Since the year 1830 there have been FIVE appoint-
ments to the bench of this court, and ALL from slave states. The majo-
rity of the court, including the chief justice, are citizens of those states.
But when these questions come before the court, it may be highly im-
portant for the slaveholders to have an ATTORNEY GENERAL to argue
them, in whom they can confide. Accordingly the office is filled by
Mr. Giundy, who lately evinced his qualifications for the station, by
expressing, in his place as senator from Tennessee, his approbation of
LYNCH LAW, as applied to abolitionists. At the head of the department
of STATE, whence issue instructions for conventions and treaties, protect-
ing the African slave trade from British cruisers, and the American slave
trade from the interference of British colonial authorities ; and also for
conventions for the return of fugitive slaves, is placed a gentleman from
GEORGIA.
" At the court of Great Britain we are represented by a slaveholder
from Virginia, who, under the direction of the gentleman from Georgia,
is bargaining about the value of shipAvrecked negroes, and threatening
the British government with the vengeance of the republic, if it shall
hereafter dare to liberate slaves who may be forced into its colonies.
216
" At the head of the NAVY DEPARTMENT we behold a citizen of the
north, enjoying the reward of his labor, in concocting one of the most
virulent volumes in vindication of slavery, and vituperation of its oppo-
nents, that has ever issued from the press.
" A slaveholder from SOUTH CAROLINA, distinguished for his negotia-
tion in Mexico for the surrender of fugitive slaves, presides over the
WAR DEPARTMENT.
" KENTUCKY furnishes a POST MASTER GENERAL whose devotion to
the " interest " has led him to authorize every post master to act as
censor of the press, and to take from the mails every paper adverse to
slavery. Thus have the slaveholders seized upon the Federal Govern-
ment, and converted, as we shall presently see, what was intended as the
palladium of liberty, into the shield of despotism."
In Mrs. Child's " Appeal in favor of that class of Americans
called Africans" (page 118), we find the following summary of
favourite measures gained by the south in consequence of her
predominant political power in the national government.
** What would the south have ? They took the management at the
very threshold of our government, and, excepting the rigidly just admin-
istration of Washington, they have kept it ever since. They claimed
slave representation and obtained it. For their convenience the revenues
were raised by imposts instead of direct taxes, and thus they give little
or nothing in exchange for their excessive representation. They have
increased the slave states, till they have twenty-five votes in congress, —
they have laid the embargo, and declared war, — they have controlled
the expenditures of the nation, — they have acquired Louisiana and Flo-
rida for an eternal slave market, and perchance for the manufactory of
more slave states, — they have given five 'presidents out of seven to the
United States, — and in their attack upon manufactures, they have gained
Mr. Clay's concession bill. ' But all this availeth not, so long as Mor-
decai the Jew sitteth in the king's gate.' The free states must be kept
down. But change their policy as they will, free states cannot be kept
down."
The manner in which the slaveholding states secure this great
political influence is thus described by Judge Jay in his " View,"
—pp. 26—28.
*' These may be regarded as threefold : first, their anxiety to protect
and perpetuate slavery, renders the southern members united in what-
ever measures they consider important for this purpose, while the repre-
sentatives from the north, having no common bond of union, are divided
217
in opinion and effort. Secondly, a slave state having more votes to be-
stow on a presidential candidate, and more members in congress to sup-
port or oppose the administration than a free state of equal white popu-
lation, is of course of greater consequence in the estimation of politi-
cians; and hence arises an influence reaching to every measure, and
weighing upon every question. Thirdly, the peculiar temperament of
the southern gentlemen, together with their observation of the servilitv
of the northern politicians, have induced them to resort, and with great
success, to INTIMIDATION as a means of influence.
" The practice adopted by the slaveholders of threatening on all occa-
sions to dissolve the Union, unless they are permitted to govern it, has
been too long and firmly established to need illustration. "We will at
present merely give a few recent instances of outrageous menaces ; and
to justify what we have said of the servility of northern politicians, it is
sufficient to observe, that these menaces were unrebuked.t
" On the 18th of April, 1836, a petition against the continuance of
slavery in the district of Columbia, was presented to the House of Re-
presentatives, when Mr. Speight, of North Carolina, declared in his
place, that ' he had great respect for the chair as an officer of the House,
and a great respect for him personally : and nothing lut that respect pre-
vented him from rushing to the table and tearing that petition to pieces'
Of course it was to be understood, that the order of the house and the
rights of northern petitioners were respected, not from any constitu-
tional obligations, but solely because the speaker, himself a slaveholder,
was acceptable to southern gentlemen.
" Mr. Hammond, of South Carolina, the same session, in a speech,
used the following language : ' I warn the abolitionists — ignorant, infa-
tuated barbarians as they are, that if chance shall throw any of them into
our hands, he may expect a felon's death.'
"Mr. Lumpkin remarked in the senate, (January 1838,) 'If aboli-
tionists went to Georgia, they would be caught ; ' and Mr. Preston de-
clared in the same debate — ' Let an abolitionist come within the borders
of South Carolina, if we can catch him, we will try him, and notwith-
standing all the interference of all the governments on* earth, including
the Federal Government, we will HANG him.'
" It seems probable from these declarations that abolitionists in their
southern travels, will meet with ' barbarians ' quite as ' ignorant and in-
fatuated ' as themselves ; and also that the gibbet is to be the fate of
any member of congress, who shall by his votes or speeches dare to iden-
tify himself with the abolitionists, and afterwards enter the slave
region."
Such are the sources 01" the slaveholding influence in congress.
218
The following pages will exhibit many of the results of this
influence :
FIRST. By filling the Presidential chair with incumbents of
their own principles, and by procuring the appointment of
southern men, or " northern men with southern principles " to
the cabinet offices, the slave states manage to secure both the
aspect and spirit of a pro-slavery government at home.
By sending southern men as ambassadors to all the principal
foreign courts, they contrive to keep up pro-slavery appearances
abroad. And by effecting all their favorite measures in congress,
which they have rarely failed to do, they succeed in holding the
whole nation in a disgraceful subserviency to the slave power.
Gradually, but to a fearful extent, the anti-republican spirit of
the slaveholding states has infused itself into the entire govern-
ment, insomuch that the whole policy of the government is now
shaped in accordance with the slavery interest. So that while
slavery should be craving its last foot-hold, and obliged to sur-
render even that, and slink away into a mere nominal and tem-
porary existence on its own domain, we are compelled to ac-
knowledge it the paramount interest of the nation. The funda-
mental maxims of freedom have been sacrificed one by one, at
the shrine of this national idol. The most mournful and alarm-
ing indication of the encroachments of the slave power is, the
immolation at its nod of the right of petition. This has been
done by congress — done deliberately, done with the warnings
and remonstrances of the faithful few sounding in their ears.
This sacrilege has been repeated at each successive session
since 1836, and with aggravated atrocity at each subsequent
period ; until during the present session congress has fully con-
summated its own ignominy by embodying the shameless out-
rage among the standing rules of the House. It is in the fol-
lowing form ;
" ' Upon the presentation of any memorial or petition praying for the
abolition of slavery or the slave trade in any district, territory, or state
of the Union, and upon the presentation of any resolution or other paper
touching these subjects, the question of the reception of such memorial,
petition, resolution, or paper shall be considered as made, and the question
of its reception shall be laid upon the table without debate or further
action of the house.' "
Whether federal devotion to southern slavery will perpetrate
any grosser outrages we know not, but no violations of the
constitution, no indignities offered to inalienable rights can
hereafter surprise us.
The subject of prejudice against colour (so called) next demands
attention.
It is well known that there exists in the United States a
ferocious prejudice against the coloured population. This
feeling is, apparently, as virulent against those who have
but a slight intermixture of African blood, as against the jet
black negro ; and if possible, even more inveterate in the free,
than in the slave states. It is called by those who entertain it,
"prejudice against colour," and not without] a shrewd design.
They seek thus to justify a most unchristian scorn by represent-
ing it as the spontaneous and irrepressible sentiment of the
mind, in view of contrariety of colour. Accordingly it has been
unblushingly upheld as a proper feeling, which it was duty to
foster, and to extinguish which, if it were practicable, would be
rebellion against the will of God, by whom it has been inter-
posed as a permanent barrier between the two races. On the
contrary, the friends of the negro contend that this is not a
prejudice against colour, — that it is not an involuntary instinct of
nature, whose existence is the voice of God bespeaking its pro-
priety, and demanding its perpetuity ; but that it is an inciden-
tal feeling resulting from the enslavement of the negroes, an
aversion and disdain on account of their condition, which attach
to their colour, only because .the latter is in the mind associated
with the former, and an index of it. They contend, moreover,
that this prejudice is an outrageous insult toward a deeply
injured class, whom it reproaches and spurns for a degradation
which those who cherish the feeling, have caused ; and that
it is a heinous sin against that God, who alike ordained the
complexion of the black and the white man.
In the early days of the republic, when the national pulse
beat strongly for universal liberty, this feeling was comparatively
weak. Then slavery had but a feeble existence. Its presence
was regarded with jealousy, and tolerated only in the hope and
expectation of its speedy extinction. The generous purpose that
our land should be an asylum for the oppressed of all other
220
lands, did not at that time overlook the slave ; he was prospec-
tively, at least, included within its ample embrace.
The following are a few of a multitude of illustrations, which
might be adduced, showing that "prejudice against colour" found
slight encouragement among the fathers of the republic. Wash-
ington himself set an example of courteous respect for people of
colour, which reflects the deepest shame upon his degenerate
countrymen. The following letter, addressed to Phillis Wheatley,
a native African, and a slave, is found in his published corre-
spondence.
"CAMBRIDGE, February 28, 1776.
" Miss PHILLIS, — Your favor of the 26th of October did not reach my
hands till the middle of December. Time enough, you will say, to have
given an answer ere this. Granted. But a variety of important occur-
rences, continually interposing to distract the mind and withdraw the
attention, I hope will apologize for the delay, and plead my excuse for
the seeming, but not real neglect. I thank you most sincerely for your
polite notice of me, in the elegant lines you enclosed ; and however
undeserving I may be of such, encomium and panegyric, the style and
manner exhibit a striking proof of your poetical talents ; in honor of
which, and as a tribute justly due to you, I would have published the
poem, had I not been apprehensive, that, while I only meant to give the
world this new instance of your genius, I might have incurred the impu-
tation of vanity. This, and nothing else, determined me not to give it
place in the public prints.
" If you should ever come to Cambridge, or near head-quarters, I shall
be happy to see a person so favored by the Muses, and to whom nature
has been so liberal and beneficent in her dispensations. I am, with great
respect, your obedient humble servant, GEORGE WASHINGTON."
We have evidence of the weakness of this feeling, during the
early periods of our history, in the testimony of General Lafayette.
It is said of him,
" Lafayette, in his last visit to the United States, expressed his asto-
nishment at the increase of prejudice against colour. He remembered, he
said, how the black soldiers used to mess with the whites in the revolutionary
war. The leaders of that war are gone, where principles are all, where
prejudices are nothing. If their ghosts could arise in majestic array,
before the American nation on their great anniversary, and hold up be-
221
fore them the mirror of their constitution, in the light of its first princi-
ples, where would the people hide themselves from the blasting radiance."
The liberty feeling which carried forward the American revo-
lution to its issue, soon after began to wane, and the slavery
spirit to gather strength; "prejudice," as a consequence, increased,
insomuch that the " nation's guest," on revisiting our shores,
remarked, with grief and surprise, its fearful prevalence. That
sagacious philanthropist saw in this a result of the rapidly
growing slavery spirit, which it is well known he noticed with
still greater grief and astonishment.
That prejudice should have constantly gained force in the
south, where slavery was strengthening its stakes, can excite no
surprise ; but that it should have increased in the north, where the
little slavery that remained was fast retreating, before the advance
of free principles would seem to be unaccountable. The same
cause, however, which promoted its increase in the south, viz.,
the progressive popularity of southern slavery, fostered its growth
in the free states. Contradictory as the statement may seem
it is, nevertheless, true that a pro-slavery spirit was fast growing
at the north, while slavery itself was dying away. The same
considerations which promoted the one, abolished the other.
Slavery was a burden upon the north — its removal was foreseen
to be a pecuniary benefit. On the other hand, slavery at the
south began to be regarded as a great source of wealth, in which
the north might share as well as the south ; therefore, while
abolishing their own slavery, the free states joined league with
the slaveholding in supporting theirs. The commerce, the
manufactures, and the numerous trades of the north, became more
or less dependent upon slavery; her literary, benevolent, and
religious institutions wooed its alliance ; her colleges looked to
the south for patronage and pupils, while her educated sons
flocked thither to conduct institutions of learning, fill profes-
sions, edit newspapers, and marry fortunes. Her benevolent
societies turned to the south for money, and even her religion
clutched for its share in the emoluments of slavery, by annually
commissioning scores of her youthful ministers to officiate at its
blood stained altars.
In process of time the prejudice of which we speak, sunk so
222
deeply into the national heart, that it became the basis of a great
national institution — the American Colonization Society; one
of whose cardinal maxims was the invincibility of negro prejudice.
This society contributed greatly to augment and embolden the
feeling in which it had its origin. By asserting its invincibility,
and defending it as growing out of an " ordination of provi-
dence," and a "law of nature," it imparted to it not only a
respectability, but a sort of sacredness which added greatly to
its sway. Under such fostering influences, negro prejudice rose
to an almost incredible pitch of audacity, impiety, and power ;
and well it might. The rabble shouted its praises, " men of
property and standing" endorsed it, and the learned vindicated
it by argument. Professing Christians were its votaries, minis-
ters its priests, and temples dedicated to God its sanctuaries and
shrines. It controlled both the pulpit and the press, presided
in the halls of justice, swayed the legislative assembly, gave law
to the jury-box, expurgated the school room, governed the fes-
tive board, was omnipotent in the social circle, stereotyped regu-
lations for all public conveyances, stood door-keeper at all places
of amusement, partitioned off the house of God, and made the
communion cup a respecter of persons.
A few facts will illustrate the prevalence and inveteracy of
this feeling.
First, it excludes coloured persons of both sexes, whatever their
respectability or refinement, from the public vehicles of travel,
or thrusts them into parts of them designed expressly for the
degraded. On this point there are facts innumerable. We give
a few only.
In Mrs. Child's "Appeal," we find the following, pp. 203—205,—
" Men whose education leaves them less excuse for such illiberality,
are yet vulgar enough to join in this ridiculous prejudice. The coloured
woman, whose daughter has been mentioned as excluded from a private
school, was once smuggled into a stage, upon the supposition that she
was a white woman, with a sallow complexion. Her manners were
modest and prepossessing, and the gentlemen were very polite to her-
But when she stopped at her own door, and was handed out by her
curly-headed husband, they were at once surprised and angry to find
they had been riding with a mulatto — and had, in their ignorance, been
really civil to her !
223
" A worthy coloured woman, belonging to an adjoining town, wished
to come into Boston to attend upon a son, who was ill. She had a
trunk with her, and was too feehle to walk. She begged permission to
ride in the stage. But the passengers, with noble indignation, declared
they would get out, if she were allowed to get in. After much entreaty,
the driver suffered her to sit by him upon the box. When he entered the
city, his comrades began to point and sneer. Not having sufficient moral
courage to endure this, he left the poor woman, with her trunk, in the
middle of the street, far from the place of her destination ; telling her,
with an oath, that he would not carry her a step further.
" A friend of mine lately wished to have a coloured girl admitted into
the stage with her, to take care of her babe. The girl was very lightly
tinged with the sable hue, had handsome Indian features, and very
pleasing manners. It Avas, however, evident that she was not white ;
and therefore the passengers objected to her company. This of course,
produced a good deal of inconvenience on one side, and mortification on
the other. My friend repeated the circumstance to a ladv, who, as the
daughter and wife of a clergyman, might be supposed to have imbibed
some liberality. The lady seemed to think the experiment was very
preposterous ; but when my friend alluded to the mixed parentage of the
girl, she exclaimed, with generous enthusiasm, ; Oh, that alters the case,
Indians certainly have their rights.'
" Every year a coloured gentleman and scholar is becoming less and
less of a rarity — thanks to the existence of the Haytian republic, and
the increasing liberality of the world ! Yet if a person of refinement
from Hayti, Brazil, or other countries, which we deem less enlightened
than our own, should visit us, the very boys of this republic would dog
his footsteps with the vulgar outcry of ' Nigger ! Nigger !' I have known
this to be done, from no other provocation than the sight of a coloured man
with the dress and deportment of a gentleman. Were it not that re-
publicanism, like Christianity, "is often perverted from its true spirit by
the bad passions of mankind, such things as these would make every
honest mind disgusted with the very name of republics.
" I am acquainted with a gentleman from Brazil who is shrewd, enter-
prising, and respectable in character and manners ; yet he has experienced
almost every species of indignity on account of his colour. Not long since,
it became necessary for him to visit the southern shores of Massachusetts,
to settle certain accounts connected with his business. His wife was in
a feeble state of health, and the physicians had recommended a voyage.
For this reason, he took passage for her with himself in the steam-boat ;
and the captain, as it appears, made no objection to a coloured gentleman's
money. After remaining on deck some time, Mrs. attempted
224
to pass into the cabin ; but the captain prevented her ; saying, ' You
must go down forward.' The Brazilian urged that he had paid the
customary price, and therefore his wife and infant had a right to a place
in the ladies' cabin. The captain answered, ' Your wife a'n't a lady ;
she is a nigger.' The forward cabin was occupied by sailors — was entirely
without accommodations for women, and admitted the 'sea-water, so that
a person could not sit in it comfortably without keeping the feet raised
in a chair. The husband stated that his wife's health would not admit
of such exposure ; to which the captain still replied, ' I don't allow any
niggers in my cabin.' With natural and honest indignation, the Brazilian
exclaimed, * You Americans talk about the Poles ! You are a great deal
more Russian than the Russians.' The affair was concluded by placing
the coloured gentleman and his invalid wife on the shore, and leaving
them to provide for themselves as they could. Had the cabin been full,
there would have been some excuse ; but it was occupied only by two
sailors' wives. The same individual sent for a relative in a distant town
on account of illness in his family. After staying several weeks, it be-
came necessary for her to return ; and he procured a seat for her in the
stage. The same ridiculous scene occurred ; the passengers were afraid
of losing their dignity by riding with a neat respectable person, whose
face was darker than their own. No public vehicle could be obtained, by
which a coloured citizen could be conveyed to her home ; it therefore be-
came absolutely necessary for the gentleman to leave his business and
hire a chaise at great expense. Such proceedings are really inexcusable.
No authority can be found for them in religion, reason, or the laws."
Second, It shuts against them all places of public exhibition
and amusement, which are at all respectable. It matters not, so
far as prejudice is concerned, whether the places of amusement
be in themselves innocent or otherwise.
The proprietors of the Zoological Institute in New York, have
the following standing advertisement.
" The proprietors wish it to be understood that people of colour are not
permitted to enter, except when in attendance upon children and
families."
The manner in which this rule is carried out may be seen in
the following letter from a respectable citizen of New York,
" ' I was very desirous of taking my family to the Zoological Institute
in the Bowery, to see the specimens of wild animals. So I hired a car--
225
riage, took my family, and went up to the place. When we drove up
in front of the door, I got out and went to get a ticket. When I got to
the door a well dressed man gave me a very hard punch in the breast
with his cane, which knocked me very nearly flat upon the steps. Said
I, ' What did you do that for ?'
" 'Clear the door,' said he.
" 'I want to go in, sir,' said I.
" 'You cannot go in.'
" 'I am ready to pay,' said I.
" 'We don't admit niggers'
" 'Why did you not tell me that coloured people were not admitted
before you punched me so ?'
" 'If you don't clear out, I will put you in the watch-bouse.'
" 'Do you suppose, sir,' said I, ' that I am to be treated in this manner,
and not be permitted to speak about it ?'
" 'He then called for two officers to take me to the watch-house. I
replied, ' I think one will be enough, as I shall offer no resistance.' The
officers came — laid hold of me with great violence, and walked off with
me about a hundred yards ; leaving my wife and family in the carriage
in front of the door. The officers now said to me, ' If we will let you go
will you say no more about it ?' ' Gentlemen, do your duty, for I will
come to no such terms.'
" 'They then whispered to each other a moment, and let me go.
They returned to their employer, I suppose. I. got into my carriage
and came home, thankful for having escaped from the jaws of such
savage beasts.
" 'Yours, in the bonds of the gospel,
" ' THOMAS VAN RENNSELAER.' "
It is unnecessary to specify all the privileges from which
prejudice debars the colored man in the United States. Suffice
it to say, that there is not a single point within the entire circle
of personal, social, religious, and political privileges, where the
man of colour is allowed to occupy an equal footing with his
white brother.
We shall mention but one other instance — the existence of
caste, in the house of God.
Humbling as is the acknowledgment, truth impels us to declare
that this hideous development of prejudice is almost universal.
It is found in the city and in the country, and among all deno-
minations. A folio would not contain the disgraceful and
Q
226
monstrous facts in illustration of this point. Religion hangs
her head, and goes heart-broken from her temples, as she sees
her sable children thrust into obscure corners, and separated from
the whites as strictly as though they were infected with the
leprosy.
The following is stated by Mrs. Child, in her "Appeal"
pp. 212, 213.
" A fierce excitement prevailed, not long since, because a coloured man
had bought a pew in one of our churches. I heard a very kind-hearted
and zealous democrat declare his opinion that ' the fellow ought to be
turned out by constables, if he dared to occupy the pew he had pur-
chased.' Even at the communion-table, the mockery of human pride is
mingled with the worship of Jehovah. Again and again have I seen a
solitary negro come up to the altar meekly and timidly, after all the
white communicants bad retired. One episcopal clergyman of this city,
forms an honorable exception to this remark. When there is room at
the altar, Mr. often makes a signal to the colored members of
his church to kneel beside their white brethren ; and once, when two
white infants and one coloured one were to be baptized, and the parents
of the latter bashfully lingered far behind the others, he silently rebuked
the unchristian spirit of pride, by first administering the holy ordinance
to the little dark-skinned child of God.
" An instance of prejudice lately occurred, which I should find it hard
to believe, did I not positively know it to be a fact. A gallery pew was
purchased in one of our churches for two hundred dollars. A few sab-
baths after, an address was delivered at that church, in favour of the
Africans. Some coloured people, who very naturally wished to hear the
discourse, went into the gallery ; probably because they thought they
should be deemed less intrusive there than elsewhere. The man who
had recently bought the pew, found it occupied by coloured people, and in-
dignantly retired with his family. The next day, he purchased a pew
in another meeting-house, protesting that nothing would tempt him
again to make use of seats that had been occupied by negroes.
" A well known country representative, who makes a very loud noise
about his democracy, once attended the Catholic church. A pious negro
requested him to take off his hat, while he stood in the presence of the
Virgin Mary. The white man rudely shoved him aside, saying, ' You
son of an Ethiopian, do you dare to speak to me !' I more than once
heard the hero repeat this story ; and he seemed to take peculiar satisfac-
tion in telling it. Had he been less ignorant, he would not have chosen
* son of an Ethiopian,' as an ignoble epithet ; to have called the African
227
his own equal would have been abundantly more sarcastic. The same
republican dismissed a strong, industrious coloured man, who had been
employed on the farm during his absence. ' I am too great a democrat,'
quoth he, * to have any body in my house, who don't sit at my table ;
and I'll be hanged, if I ever eat with the son of an Ethiopian.' "
In another work by the same author — "The Oasis" — the follow-
ing fact is stated.
" The following account is a literal matter of fact. The names of
persons and places are concealed by the editor, because she wishes to
excite no angry feelings in attempting to show how many discourage-
ments are thrown in the way of coloured people who really desire to be
respectable. The letters are copied from the originals, with merely a
few alterations in the orthography of the last.
" Mr. James E was a respectable coloured man, residing in Mas-
sachusetts, in a certain town not far from Boston. He had been early
impressed with the importance of religious subjects, and at twenty-six
years of age made a public profession of his faith. He had a large
family, and when they were all old enough to attend church, it was
found difficult to accommodate them on the seats their parents had
usually occupied. Mr. E was desirous of purchasing a pew which
stood as it were by itself, being surrounded by the aisle and the stair-
case. Some difficulty occurred because a widow had a right to one
third; but this was finally arranged to the satisfaction of all parties.
Mr. E.'s eldest son paid the purchase money, and received a deed of the
pew. As soon as this became known, a member of the church called
upon Mr. E., and exhorted him not to injure the sale of the pew by
occupying it. Mr E. answered, that it had been bought for the accom-
modation of his family, and they had no wish to sell it. The church
brother answered, ' Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he
fall.'
" Private meetings were immediately held, which resulted in summon-
ing Mr. E. to appear before the church, to give an account of his pro-
ceedings. Here he was accused of a wilful and flagrant outrage upon
the church and upon the society. In reply he called their attention to
the covenant by which each church member was bound to share the
burdens of the church, and promised full enjoyment of all its privileges-
He thought this gave any member a right to own a pew, provided he
could honestly pay for one. As a citizen of a free country, he conceived
that he had a right to purchase a pew ; nor could he find anything in
the whole tenor of the bible opposed to it.
" "When requested to declare the price his son had paid for the pew,
Q2
228
he declined answering. A committee was appointed, and the meeting
adjourned.
" This committee called on Mr. E. to ' labor with him,' as they termed
it. The elder attempted to justify their proceedings hy talking of a
gradation in creation, from the highest seraph to the meanest insect.
To support this doctrine, he quoted from the fifteenth chapter of the first
Epistle to the Corinthians : ' All flesh is not the same flesh ; but there
is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes,
and another of birds.'
" On the third Sunday, a cord was observed suspended from the gal-
lery ; on examination, is was found that a jug of filthy water was tied
to it, and so arranged as to empty itself upon whoever touched the line
in entering the pew. The remainder of the seats and the walls were
soon after torn down, and thrown into an adjoining pasture. A tem-
porary seat answered the purposes of the family for a while ; but in a short
time this was demolished, and the platform itself torn up, leaving a hole
about two feet square.
"The son of Mr. E. related these facts to the editor, and added very dryly :
' When the cold weather came on, this proved a serious inconvenience
to the whole congregation ; but they bore it for some time, with Chris-
tian fortitude.' "
The subjoined fact is taken from the "Cleveland (Ohio) Mes-
senger."
" A coloured man, in the state of Ohio, at a meeting not long since,
was the first, when awakened sinners were invited to come forward for
prayer and conversation, who took the anxious seat. A leader in the
meeting went up to him and said, you must not come forward here, for
you will keep away many that we want to see amongst the anxious."
Rev. James A. Thome, recently of Kentucky, relates the fol-
lowing circumstance, of which he was an eye-witness :
" At a Methodist camp-meeting, held in Kentucky, when the Lord's
supper was being administered, the officiating preacher arose and made
the following announcement : ' As the white brethren have all partaken,
the coloured communicants can now come forward.' Several coloured
men and women approached the altar. At that moment it was discovered
that some whites had not yet received the sacrament ; whereupon the
same preacher proclaimed from the pulpit, 'The coloured people will
wait a little while, as there are some of our white brethren, who have
not yet partaken.' After these ' white brethren' had retired from the
altar, the invitation was a second time extended to the coloured people.
Some went forward, but the most withdrew in silence."
229
We conclude our extracts with the following summary of the
systematic and almost universal outrages perpetrated upon the
free people of colour in the so-called free states of the American
Union. It is taken from the American Anti-slavery Almanack
for 1839 :
"Our churches, with few exceptions, have a 'negro seat,' where
coloured persons, even clergymen in churches of their own denomination,
are compelled to sit, or leave the house. Almost all our literary institu-
tions exclude coloured applicants for admission, while the sons of slave-
holders are eagerly heckoned in. Coloured persons, whatever their
respectability, are driven from the cabins of our steamboats and packets,
from our rail-cars, stages, hotels, boarding-houses, tables, theatres, (ex-
cept the upper gallery), reading-rooms, libraries, museums, and from the
platforms of our religious anniversaries, from the learned professions,
from literary societies and corporations, from scientific and professional
lectures, from military and fire companies, from the jury-box, and from
all civil offices. They are refused all licenses in most of our cities, and,
generally, the benefit of all asylums and public charities. Merchants
will not take them as clerks, nor lawyers and physicians as students, nor
mechanics as apprentices, nor benevolent societies as agents."
It may well excite surprise that a feeling so irrational and
wicked should be vindicated by the professed disciples of him
who is no respecter of persons ; yet so it is, — and we may add,
that one of the chief grounds of the bitter hostility, both in
church and state, against the abolitionists, is their denunciation
of this unchristian prejudice. We rejoice to add that the power
of this feeling has been already perceptibly weakened by the
efforts of abolitionists.
We now turn to another topic named in your suggestions — a
brief outline of the abolition movement in the United States.
It may not be amiss to premise by glancing at the rise and pro-
gress of the pro-slavery spirit. The predominant feeling in this
country at the establishment of our independence, and for some
time afterwards, was, as we have already shown, unquestionably
favourable to universal liberty. The countenance of slavery in
the union, at the time of its formation, seems inconsistent with
this supposition; but facts innumerable, demonstrate that to have
been a misjudged measure of temporary policy, rather than the
result of a deliberate purpose to establish slavery as a permanent
230
system. True, it was both a blunder and an enormity, but that
it proceeded from a wish to perpetuate slavery is contradicted by
the entire history of the times and of the men. Such might have
been the motive with some of the southern delegation, but we
have the clearest evidence that it was only a small portion even
of them, who were prompted by such considerations. The toler-
ance of slavery as a temporary system was an expedient to con-
ciliate and secure immediate adherence to the union ; while in
all the states it was conceded, that from the time specified in the
constitution of the United States for the abolition of the African
slave trade (1 808), slavery itself would rapidly tend to extinction.
Ardent attachment to liberty, and sympathy for all who were
oppressed, which were strong feelings of the rising nation, it was
confidently anticipated, would speedily sweep away the last ves-
tige of American bondage. To the natural, and, as it was
believed, the certain operation of these sentiments, the extinction
of slavery was too securely committed. Had any other result
been anticipated, it would have found no tolerance with a large
majority of the founders of our government. Nearly all the pro-
minent statesmen of the first days of the republic have left on
record their unqualified reprobation of slavery. We should
rejoice to quote largely from their testimony, but must content
ourselves with a bare reference to a pamphlet, already mentioned,
entitled the " Power of Congress over the District of Columbia."
See especially pages 25 — 37.
A strong anti-slavery feeling pervaded at that period the vari-
ous denominations of Christians. Slavery was then the common
mark for denunciation. No one feared, as now most do, to
launch the bolts of truth against it. Statesmen could utter their
abhorrence of it boldly, without fear of losing office. Ministers
could direct against it the artillery of inspiration without incur-
ring dismission. Editors could wield the influence of the press
against it without forfeiting their lives or their living. Even in
slave states, slavery could be held up to public execration without
calling down the inflictions of lynch law.
Numerous associations were formed both in the free and slave
states, styled Abolition Societies, and expressly avowing as their
object the extinction of slavery.
Of one of these societies, formed in the state of New York, the
231
Hon. John Jay was first president ; and of another in Pennsyl-
vania, Benjamin Franklin was first president. These societies
proposed only a gradual abolition of slavery. Immediatism was
not then dreamed of. But as it was, these early associations
had a remote influence in effecting the abolition of slavery in the
northern states. We say a remote influence, because it is well
understood that the abolition in those states was dictated in the
main by mere state policy. The discussions of natural rights
which preceded the revolutionary war, contributed in the first
place to arouse public attention to the subject of slavery. This
gave rise to abolition societies and publications, by which a pub-
lic sentiment, to some extent previously formed, was greatly
strengthened. The conviction that slavery is a sin, obtained to
a considerable extent ; the conviction that it was a burthen and
a curse became in the free states nearly universal.
We will here make a brief digression to state, in accordance
with your suggestion, our views of the gradual abolition plans
adopted by the northern states.
That they were wrong in principle and disastrous in their opera-
tions we unhesitatingly affirm. Had the projectors of these plans,
recognized the invariable sinfulness of slavery ; had they been
deeply impressed with the wrongs of the slave, and imbued with a
proper sympathy for those who had been so grossly outraged,
under the influence of such sentiments they would, we doubt not,
have adopted more decisive measures. There was no serious obsta-
cle to immediate abolition. The number of their slaves was small ;
their fitness for entire freedom was, in comparison with that of any
large number of slaves that had ever been emancipated, quite con-
spicuous. The nature of their employments, and the interests
involved in their enslavement, were not such that immediate
abolition could have produced serious derangements in business
or extensive embarrassment of personal fortunes ; besides, hos-
tility to immediate emancipation was then undeveloped, and the
national prejudice had not then grown into a frightful monster.
Indeed every circumstance was favourable to a fair experiment
of immediate emancipation. It can never be forgotten, nor — we
were about to say — forgiven, to those states that when they held
in their hands the golden opportunity of demonstrating the
safety and policy of immediate emancipation, and'settling for ever
232
a question which has ever since been under controversy, they
not only allowed it to pass unimproved, but abused it to esta-
blish a precedent of gradualism, which is now in every pro-
slavery mouth as the decisive argument, against what are called
the wild and impracticable schemes of immediate abolition.
There can be no question but that the influence of abolition in
northern states has fortified southern slavery. Its influence,
moreover, upon the emancipated, has been far less benign, than
immediate emancipation would have been. In the first place,
the time intervening between the passing of the abolition acts
and the actual emancipation, afforded ample opportunity for
masters to transfer their slaves to the southern planter. How
many of the expectants of freedom were, by ingenious evasions,
thus consigned to a more merciless slavery than ever, can never
be known. But conjecture itself could hardly form an exag-
gerated estimate.
In the next place, the proposed end for which gradualism was
mainly adopted — i. e., a preparation for the rights and immunities
of freedom, — was never prosecuted.
No suitable efforts were made to instruct the slaves and qualify
them for the highest privileges of a state of freedom. In this
respect the acts of abolition we are now considering answered one
good end, and so far as we know, but one — they illustrated the im-
practicability of all plans projected to prepare slaves for freedom.
In the third place gradual abolition in the northern states,
served effectually to increase and embitter the prejudice against
the coloured race.
The very feeling in which it originated, ensured this result,
it was a' desire not so much to get rid of slavery as of the
slaves, who were considered an intolerable nuisance. It was
hoped that their emancipation would lead to their gradual
removal, but as most of them continued in the same states, they
became the objects of a far stronger hate as free men, than was
ever felt towards them as slaves — hatred which exhibited itself
in ridicule, scornful reproaches, neglect, exclusion from society,
schools, churches, and all reputable employments — and, after
thus effectually debasing them, reviled them for their degrada-
tion, and charged it upon their incapacity for improvement.
This abolition in the northern states has thus plunged large
233
numbers of the emancipated into ignorance, indolence, poverty,
and vice ; and that there are, among the free people of colour,
so many exceptions to this dreadful wreck of human intellect and
soul, must be a matter of astonishment to all who appreciate the
influences which combined to crush them.
Bad as have been the results of gradual abolition in these
cases, they must undoubtedly be far worse in the planting
states, where the slaves are very numerous, and where the busi-
ness carried on demands large bodies of labourers, with hard and
long continued labour, and special regularity in the management.
We return from this digression with the single remark, that
nothing admits of clearer demonstration, than that the superiority
of immediate, over gradual emancipation, increases with the
number of the enslaved, and the magnitude of all the interests
concerned.
In view of the strong repugnance to slavery which pervaded
our government in its infancy, the inquiry is very naturally
suggested — what could so soon have given rise to a marked
partiality for it, which has gathered strength ever since, and
threatens to extinguish in Americans all love of liberty and law ?
What could have so completely revolutionized the national
sentiments, that a system which was first regarded with jealousy,
and tolerated only on the supposition that it must soon die of
itself, should in a few years become the paramount national
interest ?
We will glance at some of the causes which have produced
this humiliating change, by which our nation has been struck
down from its sublime attitude as the asserter of human rights,
and degraded into a champion of oppression in its foulest form.
1. THE FIRST GREAT CAUSE HAS BEEN THE INCREASING PRO-
FITABLENESS OF SLAVERY.
For a time, the products of slave labour constituted a com-
paratively small item in the national wealth, and slavery
was correspondingly unimportant. But gradually the cotton
and sugar cultivation, especially the former, became the com-
manding interests of the land. The south was growing rich
apace, and the north, with characteristic eagerness for gain,
entered by every crevice through which she could thrust herself,
and began the scramble for gold. Her manufactories, her various
234
mechanical trades, and her commerce, entered the alliance.
Her adventurous sons, from the shrewd lawyer to the shrewder
pedlar, with his " notions," rushed southward. Her fair daugh-
ters, in alarming numbers, began to discover that their native
climate was too severe for their lungs, and that nothing could
rescue them from untimely graves but a residence in the sunny
south. The south soon became the centre of attraction to the
whole union. Her estates were the most splendid, her cultiva-
tion the most lucrative, her manners the most fascinating, and
her hospitalities the most princely. Of all these attractions,
slavery was seen to be the basis. This gave to the south her
resources, her leisure, her polished courtliness, and open-handed
generosity. This made her a land of princes, and a school of
Chesterfields. It was very natural to transfer the admiration
from the effects to the cause ; hence slavery came to be regarded,
by the south herself and by all her admirers, as an " institution"
most important and indispensable. It could no longer be
viewed in the light of its intrinsic attributes, but was contem-
plated through the medium of the magnificent ends wrhich it
subserved. It ceased to be beheld as the vortex of the slaves'
rights, interests, and hopes, and was seen only as the full foun-
tain, out-pouring its golden sands at the master's feet.
2. LONG FAMILIARITY WITH SLAVERY ALSO VERY NATURALLY
BEGAT FORBEARANCE FOR IT, AND FORBEARANCE AS NATURALLY
RIPENED INTO FRIENDSHIP.
3. THE SPIRIT OF SLAVERY LIVES ONLY BY AGGRESSIONS UPON
LIBERTY. IT CANNOT LIVE ON THE SOIL OF FREEDOM WITHOUT
MAKING INROADS UPON IT.
Having once obtained a foothold in the republic, it has made
steady and rapid advances, and unless speedily exterminated,
must gain sole possession.
4. VARIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES CONTRIBUTED TO MAKE THE MAS-
TER THE OBJECT OF SYMPATHY, AND THE SLAVE THE VICTIM OF
CONTEMPT AND DETESTATION.
The master was white — the slave black ; the master was ele-
vated— the slave degraded ; the master was an equal — the slave
an inferior ; the master was a fellow-countryman, a friend, a
relative, a lt Christian" — the slave was a stranger, a suspected
foe, a barbarian. Besides, the master was such, by a sort of
235
necessity, and could not get rid of his slaves without evil to
them, and peril to himself and his country ; therefore, his hold-
ing them was esteemed both patriotic and humane. Such
was the verdict of public sentiment. Sympathy was thus
entirely misplaced ; while it should have been operating
to shield the helpless against the strong, it was weaving
sophistical defences for the oppressor. This monstrous perver-
sion of sympathy sealed the fate of the slave almost beyond
redemption.
5. WE MUST NOT OMIT TO NOTICE THE AGENCY OF THE CoLO-
NIZATION SOCIETY IN EXTENDING THE INFLUENCE OF SLAVERY.
We see this imposing organization claiming to be the only prac-
ticable remedy for slavery, yet powerfully contributing to the
growth and permanence of the most hideous oppression under the
sun. Had its principles been righteous and true, its great power
would have annihilated slavery ; but with such principles as it
boldly avows, and acts upon, its influence is all on the side of the
oppressor. It acknowledges the right of property in man ; it
publicly disclaims all interference with that right ; it openly dis-
countenances emancipation on the soil, declaring slavery to be
preferable ; it reviles and traduces the free people of colour, re-
presenting them as incomparably worse off than the slaves ; it
sanctifies the ferocious prejudice against them by declaring it
" an ordination of providence," and " a law of nature ;" it urges
virtual expatriation as a condition of manumission, teaches that
slavery is not essentially a sin, contends that immediate eman-
cipation is not a duty, but an egregious folly and a wrong, and,
to crown all its pro-slavery demonstrations, it formally pledges
its opposition to all schemes of abolition which reject the barba-
rous policy of expatriation.
Nothing could more effectually lull to sleep the fears and con-
sciences of slaveholders, than such principles, urged by such a
society. The society was an imposing one. It numbered among
its officers, advocates, and members, nearly all the ministers,
churches, presses, statesmen, judges, professional men, philan-
thropists, and men of wealth in all parts of the land. It had
its head quarters at Washington city, and its auxiliaries in nearly
every state capitol, with minor branches in almost every county.
It claimed, withal, to be a religious institution, an organized
236
missionary society, for the christianization of Africa. For a
society of such pretensions and such patronage to endorse the
system of slavery — at least to assert its present rightfulness, was
reason enough, were there no other, for its growth and stability.
This was a far more effectual support to slavery than if the clergy
or the church, as a body, had sanctioned it, or than if it had the
full concurrence of congress, the judiciary, or the executive, —
for the society combined the sanction of all these, and of every
other class, rank, and condition in the community.
6. THE LAST CAUSE WHICH WE SHALL MENTION OF THE RAPID
INCREASE OF SLAVERY, WAS THE PROSCRIPTION ON ALL DISCUS-
SION OF ITS MERITS.
The causes which we have specified, very soon arrested that
spirit of inquiry into slavery, which existed at the establish-
ment of the government. This was one of their first effects, and
in turn it became a cause — a most efficient one too — of the pro-
motion of slavery. " Error, whether of opinion or practice, may
safely be tolerated so long as truth is left free to combat it ;"
and in no other way can error be effectually reached and routed.
But when error is left rampant, and truth is struck dumb,
when the foulest principles are suffered to grow under the cover
of silence, rank luxuriance is the certain result. Under just such
circumstances slavery has been growing. The south has de-
manded that it shall not be discussed, and the north has pro-
tested that it is no concern of hers. The church has called it a
political matter, and politicians have called it a domestic insti-
tution, and so all sects and parties have agreed to leave it with
the south to alter or amend, abolish or perpetuate, as in her
wisdom and mercy she might deem best.
Of course, not to discuss slavery and expose it to the public
gaze, was virtually bidding it God speed. It needs no patronage
of the rich, it craves no advocacy of the learned, it asks no
fostering hand nor watchful care, it begs only for silence — it has
obtained, not only this, but patronage, vindication, fostering, and
vigilance besides.
Considering the causes which have been enumerated, the
enormous growth of slavery is no matter of wonder. The only
wonder is that it has not wholly supplanted the love of liberty,
law, and religion throughout the land.
237
We come now to glance at the abolition movements.
Perhaps there could not be a more striking evidence of the tor-
pifying effects of slavery upon the public conscience, than the fact
that no thoroughly serious and systematic effort in the form of an
organization, was made to overthrow it until the commencement
of the year 1832. In the following year, the American Anti-
slavery Society was organized at Philadelphia. The first
anniversary of this society held in New York in May, 1834,
greatly aroused popular indignation. The daily, commercial,
and political papers, backed by religious periodicals, continued
thenceforward the most persevering attacks upon the principles
and measures of the society. These efforts to excite the mob
effected their desired object. About two months after the Anti-
slavery anniversary, an abolition meeting was held in New York.
The city papers redoubled the fury of their attack, and beckoned
on the mob to crush this " treason in the egg." The mob accord
ingly assembled, and proceeding to the place of meeting, dispersed
the assembly. Having once broken loose, they raged unchecked
for several days. They sacked churches, broke into the houses
of some of the most respectable citizens, dragged out their
furniture, and burned it in the streets. They assailed the
dwellings of the coloured people, demolished many of them, and
sought the lives of some of the most prominent abolitionists, who
were obliged to flee from the city.
The doctrines and measures of the Anti-slavery Society were
assailed unceasingly with every form of attack. How far it
gave cause for such unprecedented persecution, may be judged
from the following statement of the measures which it has
pursued from the date of its organization up to the present time.
1. The American Anti-slavery Society, and its auxiliaries, have
employed agents and established presses in the free states, to
advocate the duty and safety of immediate emancipation.
Through these organs they have constantly urged the sinfulness
of slavery, and the consequent duty of immediately abandoning it.
2. They have contended earnestly against all plans of gradual
abolition as wrong in theory, inefficient in practice, and fatally
quieting to the slaveholders' conscience. Against the Coloniza-
tion Society especially, as embodying gradualism in its most
odious form, they have always protested.
238
3. They have illustrated the safety and policy of immediate
emancipation by a multitude of well authenticated facts. Keep-
ing their eye upon the experiment in the British West Indies,
after a suitable time had elapsed, delegates were dispatched
thither by the American Anti-slavery Society, to examine
minutely into the operation of the new system. The report of
their delegates was published and has been extensively circu-
lated in the United States.
4. They have appealed to slaveholders in the language of
affectionate entreaty, and faithful warning, and rebuke, urging
them to do their duty, demonstrating, both from reason and
history, that the path of duty was to them the path of safety.
5. They have laboured to bring the testimony of the bible to
bear with its full force against the abomination of slavery — and
the more so as they have witnessed the numerous attempts to
distort it into a vindication of oppression.
6. They have sought to bring the power of religion in the
free states to bear against slavery, by urging ecclesiastical bodies
to condemn it, and by persuading churches to exclude slaveholders
from their communion, and slaveholding ministers from their
pulpits. These objects have to some extent been effected;
though still the predominant influence of the church in the north
is against the benevolent efforts of the abolitionists. We are,
however, greatly encouraged by the steady revolution which is
going on in this respect ; every year witnesses the accession or
decided approach 'of Presbyteries, Consociations, Conferences,
and other religious bodies to our principles.
7. The society has maintained an unwavering testimony
against prejudice, whether exercised toward the slave of the
south, or the free coloured man of the north. It has denounced
it as unchristian, unmanly, absurd, and cruel ; as a principal
means of riveting the fetters of the slave, and preventing the
improvement of the free.
8. A cherished object with the society has been the education
and moral improvement of the nominally free people of colour
residing in the free states. Spurned from respectable society,
debarred from schools, excluded from honorable business pur-
suits, and virtually shut out of the sanctuary, no one has cared
for their souls. Heart-sick at these horrible prejudices and im-
239
pious revilings, the abolitionists have labored to elevate this out-
cast people. They have established day, and night, and sabbath
schools for their benefit; they have formed temperance, moral
reform, and other societies among them ; they have visited them
at their houses, and freely associated with them at the table, in
the street or in the church, to obtain opportunities of benefiting
them, as well as to administer a practical rebuke to the pre-
judices of their white brethren. They have also encouraged
them to form habits of industry, by furnishing or procuring for
them respectable employments. They have, in numerous in-
stances, induced them to leave the cities (where they have
hitherto been in the habit of congregating) and become culti-
vators of the soil. In these efforts to instruct the free coloured
people, abolitionists have been actuated both by a desire to
benefit them personally, and to remove a standing argument
against the emancipation of the enslaved, viz., the degraded con-
dition of the free.
9. Besides the national society, state societies have been
formed in every free state in the Union, auxiliary to the
former ; and these have branch societies in counties and towns.
Each of the state societies, like the parent society, holds a
public anniversary ; each branch society also holds its annual
meeting. Besides these meetings, there are frequent occasional
conventions, either national, state, or county, which serve greatly
to keep the public attention awake, and to disseminate the
principles of the society.
Several of the state organizations support anti-slavery papers.
Massachusetts has two, New York two, Pennsylvania two, Maine
one, Vermont one, New Hampshire one, Connecticut one, Ohio one,
Illinois one, and Michigan one — in all thirteen periodicals devoted
exclusively to the anti-slavery cause. Most of the state societies
likewise employ lecturers within their own bounds, and sustain
depositories of anti-slavery books.
10. Within the last three or four years, the Anti-slavery Society
has effected much in the field of political action. The objects
they have sought to accomplish by this kind of action are the
abolition of slavery in the district of Columbia, and in the terri-
tories under the jurisdiction of congress ; the extinction of the
internal slave trade ; the rejection of all slaveholding territories
240
demanding admission as slave states into the union ; and the re-
cognition of the independence of Hayti. Over these subjects
congress has constitutional control, and, therefore, they are
legitimate objects of effort politically on the part of abolitionists.
Besides the above-named objects, the abolitionists have sought the
repeal of certain laws in several of the nominally free states, which
are oppressive to the coloured citizen, and to the fugitive from slavery
who may take refuge in these states, or pass through them on their
way to Canada. These ends have been sought by means of
petitions addressed to the national and state legislatures respec-
tively. Many of the latter have been induced to pass laws, secur-
ing the objects sought by the petitioners. With this mode of
action the abolitionists have connected the questioning of candi-
dates for state and national offices, respecting their views upon
the various subjects embraced in the petitions. Hitherto the
abolitionists have abstained from forming a separate political party,
though the necessity of this measure, as the only practical and
efficient one, is now strongly advocated by some of the most pro-
minent abolitionists. The friends of the slave throughout the
country are now discussing this question. What the result will
be is not yet fully developed.
11. We think we may add, without incurring the charge of self-
praise, that the abolitionists, in the prosecution of their objects,
have evinced no ordinary zeal and self-sacrifice. This has been
the legitimate and almost inevitable consequence of their situation.
If they have been distinguished for their labours and sufferings, it
is because such a necessity was laid upon them by the unpopularity,
dangers, and difficulties of their cause. To one thing, however,
they have (though for the credit of our countrymen, generally,
we blush to say it) but too exclusive a claim — i. e., to a cordial
sympathy with a despised and trampled race. We cannot avoid
the conviction that nearly all the sympathy of the country, in
behalf of the slaves, is to be found among the abolitionists. There
are, doubtless, some at the north, and we know many at the south,
who secretly remember, to some extent, them that are in bonds, but
not " as bound with them." Fear, pride, self-interest, public sentiment,
or mistaken notions of policy constrain them to hide their sympathies
in silence. Of such we have reason to believe there are many scattered
over the slave states, who are struck dumb by the threats of lynch
241
law. That there may be a considerable number likewise in the
free states, who would willingly be abolitionists if abolition were
less unpopular, we are not disposed to doubt.
But the fears and heart sinkings of the many, do but render
more conspicuous the heroism of the few, who have perilled all
personal interests in the cause of the slave.
This deep sympathy with the outcast has led to the most inde-
fatigable labours and self-denial. No opportunity of promoting
the cause of emancipation has been allowed to pass unimproved.
No plan that wisdom could devise has been left untried. No
agency nor instrumentality which money could enlist has remained
unemployed. The suggestions of friends and the censures of
enemies have alike been weighed and turned to account. When-
ever an individual, whether of the north or south, conspicuous or
obscure, has been known to be at all disposed to consider the sub-
ject candidly, suitable publications have been despatched to win
him over to the cause of the slave. Numberless private letters
have been addressed to ministers, editors, statesmen, and other
influential classes of citizens in all parts of the country, in order
to acquaint them with the principles of the Anti-slavery Society,
and to impress them with a conviction of their own obligations.
The principles, measures, and objects of the society have ever
been open to the inspection of all ; and it has repeatedly solicited
investigation into them, both from individuals and bodies of
men. They have formally and earnestly solicited an examination
by the national congress, offering to submit for inspection, all their
records, proceedings, and measures. The only step approximating
to a compliance with these solicitations, was a letter of inquiry into
the operation and extent of the American Anti-slavery Society,
addressed to James G. Birney, Esq., one of the society's secre-
taries, by the Hon. F. H. Elmore, member of congress from South
Carolina. This letter was most cordially received, and elicited an
extended reply. The entire correspondence was embodied in a
pamphlet, and very widely circulated.
The society has ever maintained the same testimony against
slavery, as sin — against gradualism, as sin — against compensation,
as sin — against prejudice, as sin — against expatriation, as sin —
against southern defences and northern apologies for slavery, as sin ;
and in favour of immediate emancipation, as duty, safety, and policy.
242
That such a society should have been popular at a time when
slavery had become the idol of the nation, was not to be expected ;
but equally far was it from rational anticipation, that it would have
encountered such lawless and ferocious opposition. No preceding
reform had excited a hundredth part of the popular odium which
this incurred ; though several reformations not dissimilar in prin-
ciple, had arisen in this country before it. It might have been
supposed that these would have so habituated the public mind to
moral agitations, and so thoroughly established the right of free
discussion, that the car of abolition would have encountered in its
progress no very serious obstructions. But the trumpet of imme-
diate emancipation was no sooner sounded than the blast of war
broke from the south, and reverberated through the nation. WAR,
WAR, was the universal outcry. All, everywhere, were ready to put
down the " fanaticism." The alarming conspiracy must be arrested,
peaceably if possible, but forcibly if necessary.
For the first time in the history of our government an emer-
gency arose so critical and imminent that the arm of law could
not be relied upon for protection ; that alarming emergency was
the discussion of slavery. For the first time it was deliberately
resolved to abandon the sacred aegis of LAW, and invoke the
aid of the mob-demon. Reason and argument likewise retired
from the field, and committed the defence of the " patriarchal
institution " to this Goliath. At every turn and step, abolition
was confronted by this omnipresent monster. Especially during
the earlier efforts in the anti-slavery, cause, furious mobs were
encountered in every place. There is scarcely a city in the free,
states, where the subject of slavery has been at all agitated, in
which there have not been most frightful scenes of violence.
And not only have cities been disgraced with these lawless out-
rages, but obscure villages and farming districts in every section
of the country have been convulsed by them. The whole num-
ber of pro-slavery mobs in the free states within the last
seven years, if it were accurately stated, would almost exceed be-
lief. For many months they were an almost daily occurrence.
Every newspaper recorded some fresh instance of these popular
outbreaks.
In speaking ot the opposition which the anti-slavery society has
encountered, it is almost needless to allude to any other than
243
mobs. Revilings, misrepresentations, and abusive epithets were
abundant indeed, but these only seemed intended as so many
excitants to the grand extinguisher* — the mob. Great " indigna-
tion meetings " were held in the principal cities at the north in
which speeches were made and resolutions passed denouncing
the " incendiary abolitionists." These also were only a means
to an end, and that end was to embolden the mob. The press
thundered its anathemas against the " fanatics and traitors ; "
but this was only to call out the vengeance of the mob. Gover-
nors gravely recommended to the legislatures of free states to
enact laws making it penal to discuss the question of slavery ;
but this was to give the high sanction of gubernatorial authority
to the more efficient enginery of the mob. Whatever else was
done or said, it is notorious that the great reliance among the
enemies of abolition was the MOB. The result has proved how
vain was the reliance.
The repeated outbreaks of popular fury have indeed shaken
most fearfully the pillars of the government, but they have given
no shock to the cause of abolition ; they have covered the Ame-
rican name with dishonour, but they have only furthered the
progress of the anti-slavery reformation ; they have exposed the
weakness of slavery which has no better arguments to support
it, but they have only developed the indomitable energy and in-
extinguishable vitality of immediate emancipation.
This document, protracted as it is, would still be deficient if
it were concluded without adverting to the effects which the
abolition movement has already produced. That its influence
must have been far from insignificant may be inferred from the
rapidity with which it has attracted to its standard vast numbers
of every rank and calling. As no benevolent society in the land
had ever before suffered so much persecution, so none ever made
such rapid progress.
In the commencement of 1832 the first anti-slavery society
was formed at Boston, in Massachusetts, and called the New
England Anti-slavery Society ; it consisted of but twelve mem-
bers. In 1833 the American Anti-slavery Society was formed.
In May, 1835, there were 225 auxiliaries. In May, 1836, 527.
In May- 1837, 1006. In May 1838, 1346. In May, 1839,
1650. The auxiliaries average not less than eighty members
R2
244
each, making an aggregate of ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-TWO
THOUSAND MEMBERS.
But the number of auxiliaries and members gives by no means
an adequate idea of the prevalence of anti-slavery principles.
In various degrees they have found a response in the minds of
multitudes beyoncl the limits of our organization. Nearly all
these acquisitions from the twelve members, in 1832, to the
scores of thousands in 1839, and the hundreds of thousands who
are beginning to favour our views, have been made out of origi-
nal opposers, revilers, and persecutors.
We will now glance at some of the principal effects which
have been produced by the abolition movement.
1. It has broken up the apathy which prevailed throughout
the free states. The absurd notion that the south is alone re-
sponsible for slavery, it has exploded, and furnished an answer
to the question, what has the north to do with slavery ? The
abolitionists have shifted the burthen of the responsibility, and
placed it where it belongs, — upon northern shoulders.
2. The labours of abolitionists have exposed the boundless par-
ticipation of the north in the guilt of southern slavery.
The people of the free states, indeed abolitionists themselves,
have been astounded at the extent of northern implication in
slave-holding and slave-trading ; and yet these shocking disclo-
sures are only beginning to open upon us.
3. The anti-slavery movements have served to arouse large
numbers of ministers and Christians in the free states, to feel,
pray, and act for the oppressed. Ecclesiastical bodies in increas-
ing numbers, have spoken out in strong condemnation of slavery,
and have repeatedly addressed letters to similar bodies in the
south filled with faithful remonstrance. The influence of the
northern church is gradually, but surely shifting ground from the
side of the oppressor to that of the slave ; yet even now it must
be confessed that the opposition of professed ministers of the
gospel in the free states is the great obstacle to the progress of
the anti-slavery cause.
4. Another result of the anti-slavery efforts has been the
awakening both of the religious and secular press, to the advo-
cacy of numan rights. In addition to the numerous papers de-
voted entirely to the anti-slavery cause, there are many that do
245
not hesitate to avow anti-slavery principles. Such are found
in various parts of the free states.
5. Another effect of the abolition movement has been the di-
rection of public attention to slavery in the district of Columbia
as a reproach and sin, in which the whole nation is involved,
and for the continuance of which the free states are especially
responsible. The foul stigma of slavery in the capital of this
republic, and of the slave trade carried on under the sanction
of congress in the district of Columbia ; the power of congress to
abolish these atrocities ; and the ability of the free states by
their superior numbers in congress, to secure such abolition —
are considerations which have been constantly pressed upon the
public mind. Large numbers of petitions have been sent to con-
gress for several successive years, praying for the abolition of
slavery and the slave trade in the district of Columbia. Not-
withstanding the contemptuous spurning of these petitions their
number has steadily increased. The petitioners show no symp-
toms of weariness in well-doing. Meanwhile the discussion of the
great question has thus been thrown into congress, and the ar-
guments on both sides have been brought before the nation. A
deep and extensive impression has been made of the monstrous
inconsistency of maintaining slavery at the seat of the federal
government ; a feeling of abhorrence has been aroused which can
never be satisfied with anything short of abolition in the district !
6. The anti-slavery enterprise has been highly useful in an
indirect way, by testing the strength of the people's attachment
to the freedom of the press, the freedom of speech, and the right
of petition. During the brief conflict which has been waged
with slavery, each of these pillars of the republic has in its turn
undergone a terrific trial, and the last of the three is at this
moment trembling on its base ; but the triumphant result in the
case of the two former encourages the hope, that, though now
jostled from its centre, it will regain its position and survive the
shock.
7. The anti-slavery efforts have done much to break the power
of negro prejudice. The thousands of abolitionists themselves
were but so many bond-servants of this despot ; and thousands
and tens of thousands out of the society have been made
ashamed of their prejudices, who once gloried in them.
246
8. Abolitionists have also been instrumental in improving the
condition of the free people of color. They have demonstrated
that the so-called coloured race are highly susceptible of intellec-
tual and moral culture (a point gravely questioned by most hi-
therto) and that kindness and respectful attentions will be pro-
perly appreciated and reciprocated by them.
9. The anti-slavery efforts have in some degree dissolved the
charm of " southern chivalry " and hospitality, by exposing
southern oppressions. Formerly the southerner was thought to
be quite above a mean act. So high was his reputation in the
free states for nobleness, generosity, and honor, that whatever
in him was inconsistent with these virtues, could hardly gain
credit.
To disabuse the public mind in this respect was indeed a
mighty task ; and after the ceaseless reiteration of incontestable
facts, and unimpeachable testimony for nearly ten years, this
witching spell of "southern chivalry" is only beginning to break.
Now when " southern chivalry " is vaunted, it is almost sure to
draw out an allusion to southern cruelties. Once the former
was alleged to disprove the latter, now the latter begins to be
urged against the pretensions of the former.
10. The anti-slavery movements have begun to emancipate
the north from its " dough-faced " submission to southern arro-
gance and intimidation. Hitherto the tone of the south toward
the north has been, you shall not discuss slavery, you shall sur-
render our fugitive slaves, &c., and the servile free states have
crouched and trembled at the feet of their haughty master.
But this base servility is beginning to give place to an honor-
able independence. Instead of demanding, the south has now
to beg; and still with all her craving, she gets fewer concessions
every year,
11. The abolitionists have been instrumental in exciting a
deep abhorrence of slavery in the minds of multitudes through-
out the free states, which slaveholders see and feel wherever
they traverse them. They can hardly travel in a stage, rail car,
or steam-boat in any of the free states, without finding aboli-
tionists, and hearing slavery rebuked.
12. Even the unexampled rage which our movements havein-
strumentally kindled in the south is an indication of good. That
247
it is not desirable in itself, is readily granted ; but that it is the
invariable first fruits of truth, and the evidence of its having
taken effect is unquestionable, and, as such, we hail it with joy.
13. But our exertions have already begun to excite other
feelings in the slave states besides " anger, wrath, and malice."
They have opened the eyes of many persons to the enormities
of slavery. Several slaveholders have already been induced to
emancipate their slaves. Many others are known to the so-
ciety's officers to adopt its sentiments and pray in secret places
for its success.
It may be added that one of the society's secretaries, James
G. BIRNEY, Esq. is a native, and was till a few years since a re-
sident of a slave state, and a slaveholder. He has manifested
the thoroughness of his devotion to anti-slavery principles, by
emancipating his slaves, nearly thirty in number. Two other
gentlemen, natives of slave states, and heirs of slave inheri-
tances, have been zealous and efficient public lecturers of the
American Anti-slavery Society. One of these, Rev. James A.
Thome, of Kentucky, now a professor in the Oberlin college in
Ohio, was one of the delegates deputed by the American Anti-
slavery Society, to visit the British West Indies in 1837, and in-
vestigate the results of emancipation there. Mr. Thome is the
author of the work entitled " Emancipation in the West Indies."
The time necessary to repair the providential loss by fire of a large
amount of materials prepared for these replies, ha# rendered it impractica-
ble to draw up the Answers icTiich were intended, to make in reply to the
Queries upon Canada, and Texas, in season for their transmission. A
friend in London, ultimately acquainted with the subject, has, however,
kindly supplied the following in respect to Texas.
248
TEXAS.
1. What is the number of slaves, and rate of increase from all
causes ?
It is impossible to state with accuracy the entire number of
slaves in Texas at the present time. It is, however, certain that
a large number have been first and last introduced into that
province. Previous to the separation of Texas from Mexico,
many were introduced as indented servants, say for ninety-nine
years, for the purpose of evading the penalties of the Mexican
laws against the slave trade and slavery ; the former having been
abolished by that Republic the 13th July, 1834; the latter the
15th September, 1829.* Three years ago the slaves in Texas
were estimated at 20,000.f
2. What is the known or probable extent of the slave trade from
the United States to Texas ?
On this point no satisfactory information can be obtained. It
is presumed, however, that the slave trade, technically so called,
has not been considerable, though the number of slaves conveyed
\ to Texas from the United States has been large. Planters from
\various parts of the southern states have emigrated to Texas,
vtaking their slaves with them ; and fraudulent debtors, especially
from Mississippi, have run a considerable number of slaves into
that province during the last two years. It is fully expected,
however, that as soon as the country is in a settled state, the
slave trade will very rapidly increase. The slave-breeders of the
United States look to it, not only as opening a vast market to
them, but as greatly increasing the value of their slave property
at home. By some it has been estimated that the acquisition of
Texas as a slave-market, would raise the price of their slaves
fifty per cent, at least.
* Since the separation has taken place the number introduced has been
very considerable.
t It is said that at various times there has been an immense mortality
among the slaves in Texas, and that they are most cruellv usoH.
249
3. What is the known African slave trade to Texas, and where
are the cargoes landed?
By some it has been estimated as high as 7,000 per annum, i
but the data has not been furnished. It is quite certain, how- I
ever, that many cargoes of Africans have been introduced into I
Texas, via Cuba. The Slave Trade papers of 1837 contain the \
following notices of the subject : — " Ir/the spring of last year, *
an American agent from Texas purchased in the Havannah 250
newly imported Africans, at 270 dollars a head, and carried them
away with him to that district in Mexico — having first procured
from the American consul here, certificates of their freedom ;"
and it is added, " within the last six weeks, considerable sums
of money have been deposited by American citizens in mercan-
tile houses here for the purpose of making purchases of bozal
negroes for Texas." Dr. Thompson, of H. M. ship Sappho, in
a communication dated 14 August, 1838, states, " Slaves are
still imported into Texas from Cuba, and the African coast ;"
and within the last few months information has been obtained
of the safe landing of two cargoes of Africans in that republic.
There can be little doubt that the African slave trade has been \
regularly carried on for some time past by the Texians; and]
when the weakness of that government is considered, and its'
utter inability to prevent it, even were it honestly desirous of
doing so, and when we add to this the facilities which its creeks
and coves, its rivers and inlets, afford for carrying it on with im-
punity, and add the fact that prime negroes can be purchased at
the Havannah from 300 to 500 dollars, which would cost, if
imported from the United States from 600 to 1,000 dollars, it
may be confidently stated that the Texian law against the
African slave trade will either be set at defiance or evaded, and
that, as is the case in the Brazils and Cuba, the authorities will
connive at it where they have neither the will nor the power to
punish its abettors.
It appears also certain that African slaves have been landed
on the territory of the United States first, and then introduced
into Texas. This can be easily done, for adjacent to the mouth
of the Sabine there are many inlets and coves, where small ves-
sels may be easily concealed, and from these points, at present
250
very remote from settlements or garrisons, it is easy, without
fear of detection, to transport slaves across the Sabine, and
thereby escape the laws of both countries.
4. Where is the Texas slave produce shipped, and to what
market ?
Galveston is one of its principal ports, and no doubt much of
the produce is finally shipped for foreign markets there. Some
of it has reached this country, and has been admitted as the pro-
duce of Mexico. Until the late commercial treaty between this
country and Texas, its flag was not recognised, and all vessels
from its ports were considered to be Mexican property, and were
treated accordingly.*
In addition to the foregoing particulars, it may be added that
Texas comprehends a large extent of territory, and that whatever
may be the disadvantages of its low, flat, alluvial lands, it pos-
sesses, in the judgment of practical men, an unrivalled soil for
the growth of the very finest kind of cotton. General Hamilton,
formerly governor of South Carolina, and who recently nego-
ciat.ed the commercial treaty referred to, with Lord Palmerston>
has given it as his opinion that cotton can be raised in Texas at
Thirty per cent, less than in the United States.
LAWS OF TEXAS ON SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE TRADE.
To mark the iniquity of the present Laws of the Republic of
Texas, they are placed in juxta-position with those of Mexico,
of which it recently formed a part.
LAWS OF MEXICO. LAWS OF TEXAS.
The Slave Trade. Slavery and the Slave Trade.
"1. The commerce and traffic in "Sec. 9. All persons of colour,
slaves, proceeding from whatever who wete slaves for life previous
power, and under whatever flag, is to their emigration to Texas, and
for ever prohibited within the terri- who are now held in bondage, shall
tories of the United Mexican States. remain in the like state of servi-
" 2. ' The slaves who may be in- tude, provided the said slave shall
* Much produce has not, however, been hitherto raised in Texas for ex-
portation. The unsettled state of the country — the exhaustion of its treasury
— the clearing of its lands, and the raising of bread stuff for the use of the
constantly arriving settlers, will account for this.
251
troduced contrary to the tenor of
the preceding article, shall remain
free in consequence of treading the
Mexican soil' — Decree of July 13,
1834.
" Slavery.
"The President of the United
Mexican States to the inhabit-
ants of the republic :
" Be it known, that in the year
1829, being desirous of signalizing
the anniversary of our indepen-
dence by an act of national justice
and beneficence, which may contri-
bute to the strength and support of
such inestimable welfare, as to
secure more and more the public
tranquillity, and reinstate an unfor-
tunate portion of our inhabitants in
the sacred rights granted them by
nature, and may be protected by
the nation under wise and just laws,
according to the provision in article
30 of the Constitutive Act ; avail-
ing myself of the extraordinary fa-
culties granted me, I have thought
proper to decree : —
" 1. THAT SLAVERY BE EXTER-
MINATED IN THE REPUBLIC.
" 2. CONSEQUENTLY THOSE ARE
FREE, WHO UP TO TUTS DAY HAVE
BEEN LOOKED UPON AS SLAVES."
"Decree of President GUERRERO,
15th September, 1829."
be the bona fide property of the
person so holding the said slave as
aforesaid. CONGRESS shall pass no
lares to prohibit emigrants from
the United States of America from
bringing t/teir slaves into the repub-
lic with them, and holding them by
the same tenure by which such
slaves were held in the United
States, nor shall CONGRESS HAVE
THE POWER TO EMANCIPATE SLAVES ;
NOR SHALL ANY SLAVE-HOLDER BE
ALLOWED TO EMANCIPATE HIS OR
HER SLAVES WITHOUT THE CONSENT
OF CONGRESS, unless he or she shall
send his or her slave or slaves with-
out the limits of the republic. No
free person of African descent,
either in whole or in part, shall be
permitted to reside permanently in
the rejmblic, without the consent of
Congress ; and the importation or
admission of Africans or negroes
into this republic, excepting from
the United States of America, is
for ever prohibited and declared to
be piracy."
" NOTE. — The'prohibition of the
African slave trade was designed
to assimilate the Texian laws to
those of the United States, and to
give the slave-breeders of the
Southern States the monopoly of
the slave-market. But notwith-
standing the prohibition, African
slaves, via Cuba, are continually
introduced."
APPENDIX.
BRITISH RECOGNITION OF TEXAS.
At an adjourned meeting of the Committee of the British and Foreign
Anti-slavery Society, held at 27, New Broad Street, London, on Wed-
nesday, the 2nd day of December, 1840; Jacob Post, Esq., in the chair — .
It was unanimously resolved,
" I. That, inasmuch as the system of slavery forms an integral part of
the constitutional law of the new republic of Texas, this committee have
heard with feelings of the deepest sorrow and humiliation, that Her
Majesty's 'government have been induced to enter into a commercial
treaty with its representative, by which act that republic has been intro-
duced to the high distinction of a place amongst the great family of
civilized nations ; and that thus the moral dignity and national honour
of this great country have been outraged, the dearest interests of multi-
tudes of human beings — their liberty and happiness — trampled under
foot, a fearful impulse given to slavery and the slave trade, and the sacred
cause of Christianity, civilization, and freedom immeasurably retarded.
" II. That, in view of the great fact that the legislature of this coun-
try, stimulated by the Christian zeal of its people, has abolished for ever
the guilty traffic in human beings, and terminated the atrocious system
of bondage which formerly existed in the British colonies ; and that the
government has perseveringly, if not hitherto successfully, sought the
entire suppression of the foreign slave trade, at an enormous cost of the
national treasure and of human life ; the committee cannot but express
their great astonishment, as well as their profound regret, that Her
Majesty's ministers should have entered into friendly relations with a
people whose first act, after a successful but wholly unjustifiable revolt,
was to engraft on their constitution the system of slavery, to create a slave
trade between the United States and themselves, as well as for the utter
expulsion of all free persons of African descent, and the final extirpation
of the aboriginal tribes from the soil ; and thus to violate every principle
of humanity and justice, and to consolidate, extend, and perpetuate
slavery and the slave trade in a country, which, as part of the Mexican
Empire, had been previously devoted to freedom.
253
" III. That, therefore, this committee, as the organ of the Anti-slavery
principles and feelings of the country, feel bound to enter their solemn
protest against the recognition of the independence of Texas as a most
immoral and impolitic act— -alike uncalled for hy the justice or the
exigency of the case — as fraught with the most injurious consequences
to mankind, and as consequently deserving the unqualified reprobation
of all good men.
" (Signed) JACOB POST, Chairman."
The preceding resolutions were transmitted to Her Majesty's Principal
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, accompanied by the following letter.
" To the Right Honourable Lord Viscount Palmerston, &c. &c.
" 27, New Broad Street, London, 7th December, 1840.
" MY LORD, — I beg to transmit to your lordship a copy of resolutions of
the Committee of the British and Foreign Anti-slavery Society of the 2nd
instant, and deeply regret the occasion which has called these resolutions
forth ; and permit me to solicit your lordship's attention to them as the
unanimous and deliberate expression of their sentiments.
" Whilst Great Britain sanctioned by her laws, or by a guilty connivance,
the system of slavery and the African slave trade which formerly pre-
vailed in her colonies, it was impossible, consistently with her own evil
practice, to have on this ground avoided the recognition of other states,
who, having followed her wicked example in this matter, had sought
commercial and political relations with her. But I humbly conceive
that, having abandoned both slavery and the slave trade, and fixed pub-
licly and for ever the brand of moral reprobation on these enormous
crimes, it became her duty thenceforward to act in conformity with her
noble decisions — and to main tain the honourable position to which she had
been exalted among the nations of the earth. It follows, therefore, in
my apprehension, that she was brought under solemn obligations to dis-
countenance slavery and the slave trade, wherever they might exist — to
foster the spirit of humanity and justice among the nations with which
she might be connected — to encourage free and liberal institutions in new
and rising states ; and to refuse friendly relations with any people who
might seek to establish slavery in countries where it had heretofore been
unknown, or to re-establish it where it had been previously abolished.
In this way she might have become the guardian of the liberties of man-
kind ; and her mighty influence have been exerted for good, and not for
•evil, in time to come.
" I need hardly state, that few indeed were the native Mexicans or
Texans engaged in the revolt which led to the formation of the Texan
254
republic, and which has terminated most unhappily in the establishment
of a wicked and cruel despotism, by the overthrow of a generous system
of government, which had secured liberty to the slave, the suppression
of the slave trade, and the protection of the aboriginal tribes. The
Americans invaded the territory, and by brute force have wrenched
Texas from the parent state, reversed the Mexican laws, established
slavery in perpetuity, and have already issued a proclamation command-
ing all free persons of African descent, whether born in the land or not,
whether possessed of property or not, to quit the republic within a given
period of time ; and an army of twelve hundred men has been levied for
the extermination of the Indian tribes. Humanity cannot but shudder
at the sufferings which must ensue from the working out of this iniquit-
ous policy ; and religion must again weep over scenes of devastation and
blood, which have too often and too long covered the name of nominal'
Christians with ignominy.
" In concluding these remarks, I cannot but contrast the painful fact of
the recognition of Texas with the non -recognition of Hayti. In the one
case, I perceive a band of marauders and slaveholders, after having de-
prived a friendly power of part of its dominions and " framed iniquity by
a law," admitted to the highest distinctions and privileges this country
can confer upon them ; whilst, in the other case, I behold a people, who
for centuries had been enslaved and oppressed, after having achieved
their liberty, and established free institutions on a firm foundation, treated
with scorn and indignity.
" I have the honour to be, my Lord, your Lordship's most obedient
humble servant.
" (Signed) J. H. TREDGOLD, Secretary."
To this communication His Lordship was pleased to forward the fol-
lowing reply : ^
"Foreign Office, December 14th, 1840.
" SIR,— -I am directed by Viscount Palmerston to acknowledge the
receipt of your letter of the 7th instant, addressed to his Lordship, trans-
mitting a copy of resolutions which the Committee of the British and
Foreign Anti-slavery Society passed on the 2nd instant, expressing their
concern that Her Majesty's government should have entered into a com-
mercial treaty with Texas, and protesting against the recognition of the
independence of that republic by Great Britain. •
" I am, in reply, directed to state to you, that Lord Palmerston very
much regrets that the committee should take this view of the measure
which has been adopted by Her Majesty's government in regard to
Texas ; but that it does not appear to Lord Palmerston, on the one hand,
255'
that the refusal of Great Britain to conclude a commercial treaty with
Texas would have had any effect in inducing the Texans to aholish slavery
within their territory ; nor, on the other hand, that the conclusion of such
a treaty can have the effect of affording the Texans any encouragement
to continue the condition of slavery as part of their law.
" It may indeed be hoped, that the greater intercourse between Great
Britain and Texas, which will probably result from the treaty, may have
the effect of mitigating, rather than of aggravating, the evils arising out
of the legal existence of slavery in that republic.
" Lord Palmerston desires me to mention, that you appear to be under
a misapprehension as to the state of the relation between Great Britain
and Hayti ; inasmuch as Great Britain has actually concluded a treaty
with Hayti, as an independent state : and I have the satisfaction to ac-
quaint you, that the specific object and purpose of that treaty is the
suppression of the slave trade.
" I am, Sir, your most obedient humble servant,
" (Signed) LEVESOX
"To J. H. Tredgold, Esq.,
" Secretary to the Anti-slavery Society."
THE CONDITION OF THE FREE PEOPLE OF COLOUR IN THE
UNITED STATES.*
IT appears from the census of 1830, that there were then 319,467
free coloured persons in the United States. At the present time the
number cannot be less than 360,000. Fifteen states of the Federal
Union have each a smaller population than this aggregate. Hence if
the whole mass of human beings inhabiting Connecticut, or New Jersey,
or any other of these fifteen states, were subjected to the ignorance,
and degradation, and persecution, and terror we are about to describe,
as the lot of this much injured people, the amount of suffering would
still be numerically less than that inflicted by a professedly Christian
and republican community upon the free negroes. Candor, however,
compels us to admit that, deplorable as is their condition, it is still not
so wretched as Colonizationists and slaveholders, for obvious reasons,
are fond of representing it. It is not true that free negroes are "more
vicious and miserable than slaves can be,"t nor that " it would be as
* Reprinted from No. XIII. of the Anti-slavery Examiner, published at
New York, 1839.
f Rev. Mr. Bacon, of New Haven, 7 Rep. Am. Col, Soc. p. 99.
256
humane to throw slaves from the decks of the middle passage, as to set
them free in this country,"* nor that " a sudden and universal emanci-
pation without colonization, would he a greater CURSE to the slaves
themselves, than the bondage in which they are held."
It is a little singular, that in utter despite of these rash assertions
slaveholders and colonizationists unite in assuring us, that the slaves are
rendered discontentedly witnessing the freedom of their coloured brethren ;
and hence we are urged to assist in banishing to Africa these sable and
dangerous mementoes of liberty.
We all know that the wife and children of the free negro are not
ordinarily sold in the market — that he himself does not toil under the
lash, and that in certain parts of our country he is permitted to acquire
some intelligence, and to enjoy some comforts, utterly and universally
denied to the slave. Still it is most unquestionable, that these people
grievously suffer from a cruel and wicked prejudice — cruel in its conse-
quences ; wicked in its voluntary adoption, and its malignant character.
Colonizationists have taken great pains to inculcate the opinion that
prejudice against colour is implanted in our nature by the Author of our
being ; and whence they infer the futility of every effort to elevate the
coloured man in this country, and consequently the duty and benevo-
lence of sending him to Africa, beyond the reach of our cruel ty.t The
theory is as false in fact as it is derogatory to the character of that God
whom we are told is LOVE. With what astonishment and disgust
should we behold an earthly parent exciting feuds and animosities
among his own children ; yet we are assured, and that too by professing
* African Repository, vol. iv. p. 226.
t " Prejudices, which neither refinement, nor argument, nor education, NOR
RELIGION ITSELF can subdue, mark the people of colour, whether bond or free,
as the subjects of a degradation inevitable and incurable." — Address of the
Connecticut Col. Society. " The managers consider it clear that causes exist,
and are now operating, to prevent their improvement and elevation to any
considerable extent as a class in this country, which are fixed, not only beyond
the control of the friends of humanity, but of any human power : CHRISTIANITY
cannot do for them here what it will do for them in Africa. This is not the
fault of the coloured man, nor of the white man, but an ORDINATION or PROVI-
DENCE, and no more to be changed than the laws of nature." 15th Report of the
American Colonization Society, page 47.
" The pi-ople of colour must, in this country, remain for ages, probably for
ever, a separate and distinct caste, weighed down \>y causes powerful, univer-
sal, invincible, which neither legislation nor CHRISTIANITY can remove." —
African Repository, vol. viii. p. 196.
" Do they (the abolitionists) not perceive that in thus confounding all the dis-
tinctions which GOD himself has made, they arraign the wisdom and goodness
of Providence itself? It has been His divine pleasure, to make the black man
black, and the white man white, and to distinguish them by other repulsive
constitutional differences.'' Speech in the Senate of the United States,
February 7th. 1839, by HENRY CLAY, PRESIDENT OF THE AM. Co;.. Soc.
257
Christians, that our heavenly Father has implanted a principle of
hatred, repulsion, and alienation between certain portions of his family
on earth, and then commanded them, as if in mockery, to " love one
another."
In vain do we seek in nature, for the origin of this prejudice. Young
children never betray it, and on the continent of Europe it is unknown.
We are not speaking of matters of taste, or of opinions of personal
beauty, but of a prejudice against complexion, leading to insult, degrada-
tion and oppression. In no country in Europe is any man excluded
from refined society, or deprived of literary, religious, or political privi-
leges on account of the tincture of his skin. If this prejudice is the
fiat of the Almighty, most wonderful is it, that of all the kindreds of the
earth, none have been found submissive to the heavenly impulse, except-
ing the white inhabitants of North America ; and of these, it is no less
strange than true, that this divine principle of repulsion is most energetic
in such persons as, in other respects, are the least observant of their
Maker's will. This prejudice is sometimes erroneously regarded as the
cause of slavery ; and some zealous advocates of emancipation have
flattered themselves that, could the prejudice be destroyed, negro slavery
would fall with it. Such persons have very inadequate ideas of the
malignity of slavery. They forget that the slaves in Greece and Rome
were of the same hue as their masters ; and that at the South, the value
of a slave, especially of a female, rises, as the complexion recedes from
the African standard.
Were we to inquire into the geography of this prejudice, we should
find that the localities in which it attains its rankest luxuriance, are not
the rice swamps of Georgia, nor the sugar fields of Louisiana, but the
hills and vallies of New England, and the prairies of Ohio ! It is a fact
of acknowledged notoriety, that however severe may be the laws against
coloured people at the south, the prejudice against their persons is far
weaker than among ourselves.
It is not necessary for our present purpose, to enter into a particular
investigation of the condition of the free negroes in the slave states.
We all know that they suffer every form of oppression which the laws
can inflict upon persons not actually slaves. That unjust and cruel
enactments should proceed from a people who keep two millions of
their fellow men in abject bondage, and who believe such enactment*
essential to the maintenance of their despotism, certainly affords no
cause for surprise.
We turn to the free states, where slavery has not directly steeled
our hearts against human suffering, and where no supposed danger of
insurrection affords a pretext for keeping the free blacks in ignorance
8
258
a
and degradation ; and we ask, what is the character of the prejudice
against colour here ? Let the Rev. Mr. Bacon, of Connecticut, answer
the question. This gentleman, in a vindication of the Colonization
Society, assures us, " The Soodra is not further separated from the Bra*
min in regard to all his privileges, civil, intellectual, and moral, than
the negro from the white man hy the prejudices which result from the
difference made between them by THE GOD OF NATURE." — (Rep. Am*
Col Soc. p. 87.)
"We may here notice the very opposite effect produced on Abolition-
ists and Colonizationists, by the consideration that this difference is
made by the GOB OP NATUKE ; leading the one to discard the prejudice*
and the other to banish its victims.
With these preliminary remarks we will now proceed to take a view
of the condition of the free people of colour in the non-slaveholding
states ; and will consider in order, the various disabilities and oppres-
sions to which they are subjected, either by law or the customs of
society.
1. «ENERAI/ EXCLUSION PROM THE ELECTIVE FRANCHISE,
Were this exclusion founded on the want of property, or any other
qualification deemed essential to the judicious exercise of the franchise,
it would afford no just cause of complaint ; but it is founded solely on
the colour of the skin, and is therefore irrational and unjust. That taxa-
tion and representation should be inseparable, was one of the axioms
of the fathers of our revolution ; and one of the reasons they assigned
for their revolt from the crown of Britain. But now, it is deemed a
mark of fanaticism to complain of the disfranchisement of a whole race,
while they remain subject to the burden of taxation. It is worthy of
remark, that of the thirteen original states, only two were so recreant
to the -principles of the revolution, as to make a white skin a qualifica-
tion for suffrage. But the prejudice has grown with our growth, and
strengthened with our strength ; and it is believed that in every state
constitution subsequently formed or revised, [^excepting Vermont and
Maine, and the Revised constitution of Massachusetts,] the crime of a
dark complexion has been punished, by debarring its possessor from all
approach to the ballot-box.* The necessary effect of this proscription
in aggravating the oppression and degradation of the coloured inhabit-
* From this remark the revised constitution of New York is nominally an
exception ; coloured citizens/possessing a freehold worth two hundred and
fifty dollars, being allowed to vote ; while suffrage is extended to white
citizens without any property qualification.
259
ants must be obvious to all who call to mind the solicitude manifested
by demagogues, office-seekers, and law makers, to propitiate the good
will of all who have votes to bestow*
2. DENIAL OF THE felGHT OF LOCOMOTION,
It is in vain that the Constitution of the United States expressly
guarantees to " the citizens of each state, all the privileges and immu-
nities of citizens in the several states :" — It is in vain that the Supreme
^Court of the United States has solemnly decided that this clause con-
fers on every citizen of one state the right to " pass through, or reside
in any other state for the purposes of trade, agriculture, professional
pursuits, or otherwise" It is in vain that " the members of the several
state legislatures" are required to *' be bound by oath or affirmation to
support" the constitution conferring this very guarantee. Constitutions,
and judicial decisions, and religious obligations are alike outraged by
our state enactments against people of colour. There is scarcely a slave
state in which a citizen of New York, with a dark skin, may visit a
dying child without subjecting himself to legal penalties. But in the
slave states we look for cruelty ; we expect the rights of humanity and
the laws of the land to be sacrificed on the altar of slavery. In the free
states we had reason to hope for a greater deference to decency and
morality. Yet even in these states we behold the effects of a miasma
wafted from the south. The Connecticut Black Act, prohibiting, under
heavy penalties, the instruction of any coloured person from another state,
is well known. It is one of the encouraging signs of the times, that
public opinion has recently compelled the repeal of this detestable law.
But among all the free states, Ohio stands pre-eminent for the wicked-
ness of her statutes against this class of our population. These statutes
•are not merely infamous outrages on every principle of justice and hu-
manity, but are gross and palpable violations of the state constitution,
and manifest an absence of moral sentiment in the Ohio legislature as
•deplorable as it is alarming. We speak the language, not of passion, but
•of sober conviction ; and for the truth of this language we appeal, first,
to the statutes themselves, and then to the consciences of our readers.
We shall have occasion to notice these laws under the several divisions
of our subject to which they belong ; at present we ask attention to the
•one intended to prevent the coloured citizens of other states from remov-
ing into Ohio. By the constitution of New York, the coloured inhabit-
ants are expressly recognized as " citizens." Let us suppose that a New
York freeholder and voter of this class, confiding in the guarantee given
fcy the Federal constitution removes into Ohio. No matter how much
•s2
260
property he takes with him ; no matter what attestations he produces to
the purity of his character, he is required, by the act of 1807, to find,
within twenty days, two freehold sureties in the sum of five hundred
dollars for his good behaviour ; and likewise for his maintenance, should
he at any future period from any cause whatever be unable to maintain
himself, and in default of procuring such sureties he is to be removed by
the overseers of the poor. The legislature well knew that it would
generally be utterly impossible for a stranger, and especially a black
stranger, to find such sureties. It was the design of the act, by impos-
ing impracticable conditions, to prevent coloured emigrants from remain-
ing within the state ; and in order more certainly to effect this object, it
imposes a pecuniary penalty on every inhabitant who shall venture to
*' harbour," that is, receive under his roof, or who shall even " employ"
an emigrant who has not given the required sureties ; and it moreover
renders such inhabitant so harbouring or employing him, legally liable for
his future maintenance ! !
We are frequently told that the efforts of the abolitionists have in
fact aggravated the condition of the coloured people, bond and free,.
The date of this law, as well as the date of most of the laws composing
the several slave codes, show what credit is to be given to the assertion.
If a barbarous enactment is recent, its odium is thrown upon the friends
of the blacks — if ancient, we are assured it is obsolete* The Ohio law
was enacted only four ye&rs after the state was admitted into the Union.
In 1800 there were only three hundred and thirty-seven free blacks in
the 'territory, and in 1830 the number in the state was nine thousand
five hundred. Of course a very large proportion of the present coloured
population of the state must have entered it in ignorance of this iniqui-
tous law, or in defiance of it. That the law has not been universally
enforced, proves only that the people of Ohio are less profligate than their
legislators — that it has remained in the statute book for thirty-two years,
proves the depraved state of public opinion and the horrible persecution
to which the coloured pec-pie are legally exposed. But let it not be sup-
posed that this vile law is in fact obsolete, and its very existence
forgotten.
In 1829, a very general effort was made to enforce this law, and about
one thousand free blacks were in consequence of it driven out of the state ;
and sought a refuge in the more free and Christian country of Canada;
Previous to their departure, they sent a deputation to the Governor of
the Upper Province, to know if they would be admitted, and received
from Sir James Colebrook this reply, — " Tell the republicans on your
side of the line, that we royalists do not know men by their colour. Should
you come to us, you will be entitled to all the privileges of the rest of his
261
majesty's subjects." This was the origin of the Wilherforce colony in
Upper Canada.
We have now before us an Ohio paper, containing a proclamation by
John S. Wiles, overseer of the poor in the town of Fairfield, dated 12th
March, 1838. In this instrument, notice is given to all " black or
mulatto persons" residing in Fairfield, to comply with the requisitions
of the act of 1807 within twenty days, or the law would be enforced
against them. The proclamation also addresses the white inhabitants
of Fairfield in the following terms — " Whites, look out ! If any person
or persons employing any black or mulatto person, contrary to the 3rd
section of the above law, you may look out for the breakers." The
extreme vulgarity and malignity of this notice indicates the spirit which
gave birth to this detestable law, and continues it in being.
Now what says the constitution of Ohio ! " ALL are born free and
independent, and have certain natural, inherent, inalienable rights ;
among which are the enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring,
possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and attaining happiness
and safety." Yet men who had called their maker to witness, that they
would obey this very constitution, require impracticable conditions, and
then impose a pecuniary penalty and grievous liabilities on every man
who shall give to an innocent fellow-countryman a night's lodging, or
even a meal of victuals in exchange for his honest labor !
3. DENIAL OP THE RIGHT OF PETITION.
We explicitly disclaim all intention to imply that the several disabili-
ties and cruelties we are specifying are of universal application. The
laws of some states in relation to people of colour are more wicked than
others ; and the spirit of persecution is not in every place equally active
and malignant. In none of the free states have these people so many
grievances to complain of as in Ohio, and for the honour of our country
we rejoice to add, that in no other state in the Union, has their right to
petition for a redress of their grievances been denied.
On the 14th January, 1839, a petition for relief from certain legal dis-
abilities, from coloured inhabitants of Ohio, was presented to the popular
branch of the legislature, and its rejection was moved by George H.
Flood.* This rejection was not a denial of the prayer, but an expu
sion of the petition itself ^ as an intruder into the house. " The question
presented for our decision," said one of the members, " is simply this —
Shall human beings, who are bound by every enactment upon our statute
book, be permitted to request the legislature to modify or soften the laws
* It is sometimes interesting to preserve the names of individuals who have
perpetrated bold and unusual enormities.
262
tinder which they live T To the Grand Sultan, crowded with petitions
as he traverses the streets of Constantinople, such a question would seem
most strange ; hut American democrats can exert a tyranny over men
mho have no votes, utterly unknown to Turkish despotism. Mr. Flood's
motion'was lost hy a majority of only four votes ; but this triumph of
humanity and republicanism was as transient as it was meagre. The
next day, the house, hy a large majority, resolved " That the blacks and
mulattoes who may be residents within this state, have no constitutional
right to present their petitions to the General Assembly for any purpose
whatsoever, and that any reception of such petitions on the part of the
General Assembly is a mere act of privilege or policy, and not imposed
by any expressed or implied power of the constitution."
The phraseology of this resolution is as clumsy as its assertions are
base and sophistical. The meaning intended to be expressed is simply
that the constitution of Ohio, neither in terms nor by implication, con-
fers on such residents as are negroes or mulattoes, any right to offer a
petition to the legislature for any object whatever ; nor imposes on that
body any obligation to notice such a petition; and whatever attention
it may please to bestow upon it, ought to be regarded as an act not of
duty, but merely of favour or expediency. Hence it is ohvious, that the
principle on which the resolution is founded is, that the reciprocal right
and duty of offering and hearing petitions rests solely on constitutional
enactment, and not on moral obligation. The reception of negro petitions
is declared to be a mere act of privilege or policy. Now it is difficult to
imagine a principle more utterly subversive of all the duties of rulers, the
rights of citizens, and the charities of private life. The victim of oppres-
sion or fraud has no right to appeal to the constituted authorities for
redress ; nor are those authorities under any obligation to consider the
appeal — the needy and unfortunate have no right to implore the assist-
ance of their more fortunate neighbours : and all are at liberty to turn a
deaf ear to the cry of distress. The eternal and immutable principles of
justice and humanity, proclaimed by Jehovah, and impressed by him on
the conscience of man, have no binding force on the legislature of Ohio,,
unless expressly adopted and enforced by the state constitution !
But as the legislature has thought proper thus to set at defiance the
moral sense of mankind, and to take refuge behind the enactments of the
constitution, let us try the strength of their entrenchments. The words
of the constitution, which it is pretended sanction the resolution we are
considering, are the following, viz. — " The people have a right to assem-
ble together in a peaceable manner to consult for their common good, to
instruct their representatives, and to apply to the legislature for a redress
of grievances." It is obvious that this clause confers no rights, but is
263
merely declaratory of existing rights. Still, as the right of the people to
apply for a redress of grievances is coupled with the right of wislruetingr
their representatives, and as negroes are not electors, and consequently are
•without representatives, it is inferred that they are not part of the people.
That Ohio legislators are not Christians would be a more rational con-
clusion. One of the members avowed his opinion that " none but voters
had a right to petition," If then, according to the principle of the reso-
lution, the constitution of Ohio denies the right of petition to all but
electors, let us consider the practical results of such a denial. In the
first place, every female in the state is placed under the same disability
with " black and mulattoes." No wife has a right to ask for a divorce —
no daughter may plead for a father's life. Next, no man under twenty-
one years — no citizen of any age, who from want of sufficient residence,
or other qualification, is not entitled to vote — no individual among the
tens of thousands of aliens in the state — however oppressed and wronged
by official tyranny or corruption, has a right to seek redress from the re-
presentatives of the people, and should he presume to do so, may be told>
that, like " blacks and mulattoes," he " has no constitutional right to pre-
sent his petition to the General Assembly for any purpose whatever."
Again — the state of Ohio is deeply indebted to the citizens of other states,
and also to the subjects of Great Britain for money borrowed to construct
her canals. Should any of these creditors lose their certificates of debt,
and ask for their renewal ; or should their interest be withheld, or paid
in depreciated currency, and were they to ask for justice at the hands of
the legislature, they might be told, that any attention paid to their request
must be regarded as a u mere act of privilege or policy, and not imposed
by any expressed or implied power of the constitution,"' for, not being
voters, they stood on the same ground as " black and mulattoes." Such
is the folly and wickedness in which prejudice against colour has involved
the legislators of a republican and professedly Christian state in the nine-
teenth century."
The Federal Government is probably the only one in the world that
forbids a portion of its subjects to participate in the national defence, not
from any doubt of their courage, loyalty, or physical strength, but merely
on account of the tincture of their skin ! To such an absurd extent is
this prejudice against colour carried, that some of our militia companies
Lave occasionally refused to march to the sound of a drum when beaten
by a black man. To declare a certain class of the community unworthy
to bear arms in defence of their native country, is necessarily to consign
that class to general contempt
264
5. EXCLUSION FROM ALL PARTICIPATION IN THE ADMINISTRATION 0#
JUSTICE.
No coloured man can be "a judge, juror, or constable. Were the
talents and acquirements of a Mansfield or a Marshall veiled in a sable
skin, they would be excluded from the bench of the humblest court in
the American republic. In the slave states generally, no black man can
enter a court of justice as a witness against a white one. Of course a
white man may, with perfect impunity, defraud or abuse a negro to any
extent, provided he is .careful to avoid the presence of any of his own
caste, at the execution of his contract, or the indulgence of his malice.
We are not aware that an outrage so flagrant is sanctioned by the laws
of any free state, with one exception. That exception the reader will
readily believe can be none other than OHIO. A statute of this state
enacts, " that no black or mulatto person or persons shall hereafter be
permitted to be sworn, or give evidence in any court of record or else-
where, in this state, in any cause depending, or matter of controversy,
when either party to the same is a WHITE person \ or in any prosecution
of the state against any WHITE person."
We have seen that on the subject of petition the legislature regards
itself as independent of all obligation except such as is imposed by the
constitution. How mindful they are of the requirements even of that
instrument, when obedience to them would check the indulgence of their
malignity to the blacks, appears from the 7th section of the 8th Article,
viz. — <{ All courts shall be open, and every person, for any injury done
him in his lands, goods, person, or reputation, shall have remedy by
due course of law, and right and justice administered without denial or
delay."
Ohio legislators may deny that negroes and mulattoes are citizens, or
people ; but they are prevented by the very words of the statute just
quoted, from denying that they are "persons." Now, by the constitu-
tion, every person, black as well as white, is to have justice administered
to him without denial or delay. But by the law, while any unknown
white vagrant may be a witness in any case whatever, no black suitor is
permitted to offer a witness of his own colour, however well established
may be his character for intelligence and veracity, to prove his rights or
his wrongs ; and hence, in a multitude of cases, justice is denied in despite
of the constitution ; and why denied ? Solely from a foolish and wicked
prejudice against colour.
6. IMPEDIMENTS TO EDUCATION.
No people have ever professed so deep a conviction of the importance
of popular education as ourselves, and no people have ever resorted to
265
such, cruel expedients to perpetuate abject ignorance. More than one-
third of the whole population of the slave states are prohibited^ irom learn-
ing even to read, and in some of them free men, if with dark complexions,
are subject to stripes for teaching their own children. If we turn to the
free states, we find that in all of them, without exception, the prejudices
and customs of society oppose almost insuperable obstacles to the acqui-
sition of a liberal education by coloured youth. Our academies and col-
leges are barred against them. "We know there are instances of young
men with dark skins having been received, under peculiar circumstances,
into northern colleges ; but we neither know nor believe, that there have
been a dozen such instances within the last thirty years.
Coloured children are very generally ex eluded from]our common schools,
in consequence of the prejudices of teachers and parents. In some of
our cities there are schools exclusively for their use, but in the country
the coloured population is usually too scanty to justify such schools ; and
white and black children are rarely seen studying under the same roof;
although such cases do sometimes occur, and then they are confined to
elementary schools. Some coloured young men, who could bear the ex-
pense, have obtained in European seminaries the education denied them
in their native land. "
It may not be useless to cite an instance of the malignity with which
the education of the blacks is opposed. The efforts made in Connecticut
to prevent the establishment of schools of a higher order than usual for
coloured pupils, are too well known to need a recital here ; and her BLACK
ACT, prohibiting the instruction of coloured children from other states,
although now expunged from her statute book through the influence of
abolitionists, will long be remembered to the opprobrium of her citizens.
We ask attention to the following illustration of public opinion in another
New England state.
In 1834 an academy was built by subscription in CANAAN, New
Hampshire, and a charter granted by the legislature ; and at a meeting
of the proprietors it was determined to receive all applicants having
" suitable moral and intellectual recommendations, without other distinc-
tions ;" in other words, without reference to complexion. When this
determination was made known, a TOWN MEETING was forthwith con~
vened, and the following resolutions adopted ;
" RESOLVED — That we view with abhorrence the attempt of the aboli-
tionists to establish in this town a school for the instruction of the sable
sons and daughters of Africa, in common with our sons and daughters.
" RESOLVED — That we will not associate with, nor in any way coun-
tenance, any man or woman who shall hereafter persist in attempting to
266
establish a school in this town for the exclusive education of blacks, or
for their education in conjunction with the whites."
The frankness of this last resolve is commendable. The inhabitants
of Canaan, assembled in a legal town meeting, determined, it seems, that
the blacks among them should in future have no education whatever—-
they should not be instructed in company with the whites, neither should
they have schools exclusively for themselves.
The proprietors of the academy supposing, in the simplicity of their
hearts, that in a free country they might use their property in any man-
ner not forbidden by law, proceeded to open their school, and in the
ensuing spring had twenty-eight white, and fourteen coloured scholars.
The crisis had now arrived when the cause of prejudice demanded the
sacrifice of constitutional liberty and of private property. Another town
meeting was convened, at which, without a shadow x>f authority, and in
utter contempt of law and decency, it was ordered, that the academy
should be forcibly removed, and a committee was appointed to execute
the abominable mandate. Due preparations were made for the occasion,
and on the 10th of August, three hundred men, with about 200 oxen,
assembled at the place, and taking the edifice from [off its foundation,
dragged it to a distance, and left it a ruin. No one of the actors in this
high-handed outrage was ever brought before a court of justice to answer
for this criminal and riotous destruction of the property of others.
The transaction we have narrated, expresses in emphatic terms the
deep and settled hostility felt in the free states to the education of the
blacks. The prejudices of the community render that hostility generally
effective without the aid of legal enactments. Indeed, some remaining
regard to decency and the opinion of the world, has restrained the legis-
latures of the free states, with one exception, from consigning these
unhappy people to ignorance by " decreeing unrighteous decrees," and
*' framing mischief by a law." Our readers, no doubt, feel that the ex-
ception must of course be OHIO.
We have seen with what deference Ohio legislators profess to regard
their constitutional obligations ; and we are now to contemplate another
instance of their shameless violation of them. The constitution which
these jnen have sworn to obey declares, " No LAWS SHALL BE PASSED to
prevent the poor of the several townships and counties in this state from
an equal participation in the schools, academies, colleges, and universities
in this state, which are endowed in whole, or in part, from the revenue
arising from donations made by the United States, for the support of col-
leges and schools — and the door of said schools, academies, and universi-
ties shall be open for the reception of scholars, students, and teachers of
every grade, without ANY DISTINCTION OB PREFERENCE WHATEVER."
267
Can language be more explicit or unequivocal ? But have any dona-
tions been made by the United States for the support of colleges and
schools in Ohio ? Yes — by an Act of Congress, the sixteenth section of
land in each originally surveyed townships in the state, was set apart as
a donation for the express purpose of endowing and supporting common
schools. And now, how have the scrupulous legislators of Ohio, who
refuse to acknowledge any other than constitutional obligations to give
ear to the cry of distress — how have they obeyed this injunction of the
constitution respecting the freedom of their schools ? They enacted a
law in 1831, declaring that, " when any appropriation shall be made by
the directors of any school district, from the treasury thereof, for the
payment of a teacher, the school in such district shall be open" — to
whom ? " to scholars, students, and teachers of every grade, without dis-
tinction or preference whatever" as commanded by the constitution ? Oh,
no ! " Shall be open to all the WHITE children residing therein ! !"
Such is the impotency of written constitutions, where a sense of moral
obligation is wanting to enforce them.
"We have now taken a review of the Ohio laws against free people of
colour. Some of them are of old/and others of recent date. The opinion
entertained of all these laws, new and old, by the present legislators of
Ohio, may be learned by a resolution adopted in January last (1839), by
both houses of the legislature. " Resolved, — That in the opinion of this
general assembly it is unwise, impolitic, and inexpedient to repeal any
law now in force imposing disabilities upon black or mulatto persons,
thus placing them upon an equality with the whites, so far as this legis-
lature can do, and indirectly inviting the black population of other states
to emigrate to this, to the manifest injury of the public interest." The
best comment on the spirit which dictated this resolve is an enactment
by the same legislature, abrogating the supreme law which requires us to
" Do unto others as we would they should do unto us," and prohibiting
every citizen of Ohio from harbouring or concealing a fugitive slave, under
the penalty of fine or imprisonment. General obedience to this vile
statute is alone wanting to fill to the brim the cup of Ohio's iniquity and
degradation. She hath done what she could to oppress and crush the
free negroes within her borders. She is now seeking to re-chain the
slave who has escaped from his fetters.
7. IMPEDIMENTS TO RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION.
It is unnecessary to dwell here on the laws of the slave states prohibit-
ing the free people of colour from learning to read the bible, and in many
instances, from assembling at discretion to Avorship their Creator. These
laws, we are assured, are indispensable to the perpetuity of that " pecu-
268
liar institution," which many masters in Israel are now teaching, enjoys
the sanction of HIM who " will have all men to he saved, and to come to
the knowledge of the truth," and who has left to his disciples the injunc-
tion, " search the scriptures." We turn to the free states, in which no
institution requires that the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should
he prevented from shining on any portion of the population, and inquire
how far prejudice here supplies the place of southern statutes.
The impediments to education already mentioned, necessarily render
the acquisition of religious knowledge difficult, and in many instances
impracticahle. In the northern cities, the hlacks have frequently churches
of their own, hut in the country they are too few, and too poor to huild
churches and maintain ministers. Of course they must remain destitute
of public worship and religious instruction, unless they can enjoy these
hlessings in company with the whites. Now there is hardly a church in
the United States, not exclusively appropriated to the hlacks, in which
one of their numher owns a pew, or has a voice in the choice of a
minister. There are usually, indeed, a few seats in a remote part of the
church, set apart for their use, and in which no white person is ever
seen. It is surely not surprising, under all the circumstances of the case,
that these seats are rarely crowded.
Coloured ministers are occasionally ordained in the different denomina-
tions, hut they are kept at a distance by their white brethren in the
ministry, and are very rarely permitted to enter their pulpits ; and still
more rarely, to sit at their tables, although acknowledged to be ambas-
sadors of Christ. The distinction of caste is not forgotten, even in the
celebration of the Lord's Supper, and seldom are coloured disciples per-
mitted to eat and drink of the memorials of the Redeemer's passion till
after every white communicant has been served.
8. IMPEDIMENTS TO HONEST INDUSTRY.
In this country ignorance and poverty are almost inseparable com-
panions ; and it is surely not strange that those should be poor whom we
compel to be ignorant. The liberal professions are virtually sealed
against the blacks, if we except the church, and even in that, admission
is rendered difficult by the obstacles placed in their way in acquiring the
requisite literary qualifications ;* and when once admitted, their admi-
* Of the truth of this remark, the trustees of the Episcopal Theological
Seminary at New York, lately (June, 1839) afforded a striking illustration.
A young man, regularly acknowledged by the bishop as a candidate for
orders, and in consequence of such acknowledgement entitled, by an express
statute of the seminary, to admission to its privileges, presented himself as a
pupil. But God had given him a dark complexion, and therefore the trustees,
regardless of the statute, barred the doors against him, by a formal and deli-
269
lustrations are confined to their own colour. Many of our most wealthy
and influential citizens have commenced life as ignorant and as penny-
less as any negro who loiters in our streets. Had their complexion been
dark, notwithstanding their talents, industry, enterprise, and probity, they
would have continued ignorant and pennyless, because the paths to learn-
ing and to wealth, would then have been closed against them. There is
a conspiracy, embracing all the departments of society, to keep the black
man ignorant and poor. As a general rule, admitting few if any excep-
tions, the schools of literature and of science reject him — the counting-
house refuses to receive him as a book-keeper, much more as a partner
— no store admits him as a clerk— no shop as an apprentice. Here and
there a black man may be found keeping a few trifles on a shelf for sale ;
and a few acquire, as if by stealth, the knowledge of some handicraft ;
but almost universally these people, both in town and country, are pre-
vented by the customs of society from maintaining themselves and their
families by any other than menial occupations.
In 1836, a black man of irreproachable character, and who by his in-
dustry and frugality had accumulated several thousand dollars, made
application in the city of New York for a carman's license, and was
refused solely and avowedly on account of his complexion ! We have
already seen the effort of the Ohio legislature, to consign the negroes to
starvation, by deterring others from employing them. Ignorance, idle-
ness, and vice, are at once the punishments we inflict upon these unfor-
tunate people for their complexion ; and the crimes with which we are
constantly reproaching them.
9. LIABILITY TO BE SEIZED, AND TREATED AS SLAVES!.
An able-bodied coloured man sells in the southern market for, from eight
hundred to a thousand dollars ; of course he is worth stealing. Coloni-
zationists and slaveholders, and many northern divines, solemnly affirm,
that the situation of a slave is far preferable to that of a free negro ;
hence it would seem an act of humanity to convert the latter into the
berate vote. As a compromise between conscience and prejudice, the pro-
fessors offered to give him private instruction — to do in secret what they were
ashamed to do openly — to confer as a favor, what he was entitled to demand
as a right. The offer was rejected.
It is worthy of remark, that of the trustees who took an active part against
the coloured candidate, one is the PRESIDENT of the New York Colonization
Society : another a MANAGER, and a third, one of its public champions ; and
that the bishop of the diocese, who wished to exclude his candidate from the
theological school of which he is both a trustee and a professor, lately headed
a recommendation in the newspapers for the purchase of a packet ship for
Liberia, as likely to " render far more efficient than heretofore, the enterprize
of colonization.'
1 270
former. Kidnapping being both a lucrative and a benevolent business^
it is not strange it should be extensively practised. In many of the states
this business is regulated by law, and there are various ways in which
the transmutation is legally effected. Thus, in South Carolina, if a free
negro " entertains" a runaway slave, it may be his own wife or child, he
himself is turned into a slave. In 1827, a, free woman and her three
•children underwent this benevolent process, for entertaining two fugitive
children of six and nine years old. In Virginia all emancipated slaves
remaining twelve months in the state, are kindly restored to their former
condition. In Maryland a free negro who marries a white woman,
thereby acquires all the privileges of a slave— and generally, throughout
the slave region, including the district of Columbia, every negro not
known to be free, is mercifully considered as a slave, and if his master
cannot be ascertained, he is thrown into a dungeon^ and there kept, till
by a public sale a master can be provided for him. But often the law
grants to coloured men, known to be free, all the advantages of slavery^
Thus, in Georgia, every free coloured man coming into the state, and
unable to pay a fine of one hundred dollars, becomes a slave for life ; in
Florida, insolvent debtors, if black, are SOLD for the benefit of their cre^
ditors ; and in the district of Columbia a free coloured man, thrown into
jail on suspicion of being a slave and proving his freedom, is required by
law to be sold as a slave, if too poor to pay his jail fees. Let it not be
Supposed that these laws are all obsolete and inoperative. They catch
many a northern negro, who, in pursuit of his own business, or on being
decoyed by others, ventures to enter the slave region ; and who, of course^
helps to augment the wealth of our southern brethren. On the 6th of
March^ 1839, a report by a committee was made to the House of Repre-
sentatives of the Massachusetts legislature, in which are given the names
of seventeen free coloured men who had been enslaved at the south. It
also states an instance in which twenty-five coloured citizens, belonging
to Massachusetts, were confined at one time in. a southern jail, and
another instance in which seventy-five free coloured persons from different
free states were confined,, all preparatory to their sale as slaves according
to law*
The facts disclosed in this report induced the Massachusetts legislature
to pass a resolution protesting against the kidnapping laws of the slave
states, " as invading the sacred rights of citizens of this commonwealth,
as contrary to the constitution of the United States, and in utter deroga-
tion of that great principle of the common law which presumes every
person to be innocent until proved to be guilty;" and ordered the protest
to be forwarded to the governors of the several states.
But it is not at the south alone that freemen may be converted into
271
slaves " according to law." The Act of Congress respecting the recovery
of fugitive slaves, affords most extraordinary facilities for this process^
through official corruption and individual perjury. By this Act, the
claimant is permitted to select a justice of the peace, before whoin he may
bring or send his alleged slave, and even to prove his property by affi-
davit. Indeed, in almost every state in the Union, a slaveholder may
recover at law a human being as his beast of burden, with far less cere-
mony than he could his pig from the possession of his neighbour. In
only three states is a man, claimed as a slave, entitled to a trial by jury*
At the last session of the New York legislature a bill allowing a jury
trial in such cases was passed by the lower House, but rejected by a
democratic vote in the Senate, democracy in that state being avowedly
only skin deep, all its principles of liberty, equality, and human rights
depending on complexion.
Considering the wonderful ease and expedition with which fugitives
may be recovered by law, it would be very strange if mistakes did not
sometimes occur. How often they occur cannot, of course, be known,
and it is only when a claim is defeated, that we are made sensible of the
exceedingly precarious tenure by which a poor friendless negro at the
north holds his personal liberty, A few years since, a girl of the name
of Mary Gilmore was arrested in Philadelphia, as a fugitive slave from
Maryland. Testimony was not wanting in support of the claim ; yet it
Was most conclusively proved that she was the daughter of poor Irish
parents — having not a drop of negro blood in her veins---that the father
had absconded, and that the mother had died a drunkard in the Phila-
delphia hospital, and that the infant had been kindly received and brought
up in a coloured family. Hence the attempt to make a slave of her, In
the spring of 1839, a coloured man was arrested in Philadelphia, on a
charge of having absconded from his owner twenty-three years before,
This man had a wife and family depending upon him, and a home where
he enjoyed their society ; and yet, unless he could find witnesses who
could prove his freedom for more than this number of years, he was to
be torn from his wife, his children, his home,' and doomed for the remain-
der of his days to toil under the lash. Four witnesses for the claimant
swore to his identity, although they had not seen him before for twenty-
three years ! By a most extraordinary coincidence, a New England
captain, with whom this negro had sailed twenty*nine years before, in a
sloop from Nantucket, happened at this very time to be confined for debt
in the same prison with the alleged slave, and the captain's testimony,
together with that of some other witnesses, who had known the man pre^
vious to his pretended elopement, so fully established his freedom, that
the court discharged him,
272
Another mode of legal kidnapping still remains to be described. By
the Federal Constitution, fugitives from justice are to be delivered up,
and under this constitutional provision, a free negro may be converted
into a slave without troubling even a Justice of the Peace to hear the
evidence of the captor's claim. A fugitive slave is, of course, a felon —
he not only steals himself, but also the rags on his back which belong to
his master. It is understood he has taken refuge in New York, and his
master naturally wishes to recover him with as little noise, trouble, and
delay as possible. The way is simple and easy. Let the grand jury
indict A. B, for stealing wearing apparel, and let the indictment, with
an affidavit of the criminal's flight, be forwarded by the governor of the
state to his excellency of New York, with a requisition for the delivery
of A. B. to the agent appointed to receive him, A warrant is, of course,
issued to " any constable of the state of New York," to arrest A. B. For
what purpose ? — to bring him before a magistrate where his identity may
be established ? — no, but to deliver him up to the foreign agent. Hence
the constable may pick up the first likely negro he finds in the street,
and ship him to the south ; and should it be found, on his arrival on the
plantation, that the wrong man has come, it will also probably be found
that the mistake is of no consequence to the planter. A few years since,
the governor of New York signed a warrant for the apprehension of
seventeen Virginia negroes, as fugitives from justice.* Under this war-
rant, a man who had lived in the neighbourhood for three years, and had
a wife and children, and who claimed to be free, was seized, on a Sun-
day evening, in the public highway, in "West Chester county, N. Y., and
without being permitted to take leave of his family, was instantly hand-
cuffed, thrown into a carriage, and hurried to New York, and the next
morning was on his voyage to Virginia.
Free coloured men are converted into slaves not only by law, but also
contrary to law. It is, of course, difficult to estimate the extent to
which illegal kidnapping is carried, since a large number of cases must
escape detection. In a work published by Judge Stroud, of Philadelphia,
in 1827, he states, that it had been ascertained that more than thirty free
coloured persons, mostly children, had been kidnapped in that city within
the last two years.t
10. SUBJECTION TO INSULT AND OUTRAGE.
The feeling of the community towards these people, and the contempt
* There is no evidence that he knew they were negroes ; or that he acted
otherwise than in perfect good faith. The alleged crime was stealing a boat.
The real crime, it is said, was stealing themselves and escaping in a boat.
The most horrible abuses of these warrants can only be prevented by requir-
ing proof of identity before delivery.
t Stroud's Sketch of the Slave Laws, p. 94.
273
with which they are treated, are indicated by the following notice, lately
published by the proprietors of a menagerie, in New York, " The pro-:
prietors wish it to be understood, that people of colour are not permitted
to enter, except ^chen in attendance upon children and families." For two
shillings, any white scavenger would be freely admitted, and so would
negroes, provided they came in a capacity that marked their dependence
— -their presence is offensive only when they come as independent spec-
tators, gratifying a laudable curiosity.
Even death, the great leveller, is not permitted to obliterate, among
Christians, the distinction of caste, or to rescue the lifeless form of the
coloured man from the insults of his white brethren. In the porch of a
Presbyterian church, in Philadelphia, in 1837, was suspended a card,
containing the form of a deed, to be given to purchasers of lots in a cer-
tain burial-ground, and to enhance the value of the property, and to
entice buyers, the following clause was inserted, " No person of colour,
nor any one who has been the subject of execution, shall be interred in
said lot."
Our coloured fellow-citizens, like others, are occasionally called to pass
from one place to another ; and in doing so are compelled to submit to
innumerable hardships and indignities. They are frequently denied seats
in our stage-coaches ; and although admitted upon the decks of our steam-
boats, are almost universally excluded from the cabins. Even women
have been forced, in cold weather, to pass the night upon deck, and in
one instance the wife of a coloured clergyman lost her life in consequence
of such an exposure.
The contempt poured upon these people by our laws, our churches,
our seminaries, and our professions, naturally invokes upon their heads the
fierce wrath of vulgar malignity. In order to exhibit the actual condi-
tion of this portion of our population, we will here insert some samples
of the outrages to which they are subjected, taken from the ordinary
public journals.
In an account of the New York riots of 1834, the ' Commercial Ad-
vertiser' says — " About twenty poor African (native American) families
have had their all destroyed, and have neither bed, clothing, nor food
remaining. Then: houses are completely eviscerated, their furniture a
wreck, and the ruined and disconsolate tenants of the devoted houses
are reduced to the necessity of applying to the corporation for bread."
The example set in New York was zealously followed in Philadelphia.
" Some arrangement, it appears, existed between the mob and the white
inhabitants, as the dwelling-houses of the latter, contiguous to the resi-
dences of the blacks, were illuminated and left undisturbed, while the
huts of the negroes were singled out with unerring certainty. The fur-
276
" 2. That this Convention cannot but deeply deplore the fact, that the
continuance and prevalence of slavery are to be attributed, in a great
degree, to the countenance afforded by many Christian churches, espe-
cially in the Western World, which have not only withheld that public
and emphatic testimony against the crime which it deserves, but have
retained in their communion without censure, those by whom it is noto-
riously perpetrated.
- " 3. That this Convention, while it disclaims the intention or desire of
dictating to Christian communities the terms of their fellowship, respect-
fully submits that it is their incumbent duty to separate from their com-
munion, all those persons who, after they have been faithfully warned in
the spirit of the gospel, continue in the sin of enslaving their fellow-
creatures, or holding them in slavery ; a sin, by the commission of which,
with whatever mitigating circumstances it may be attended in their own
particular instance, they give the support of their example to the whole
system of compulsory servitude, and the unutterable horrors of the slave
trade.
" 4. That it be recommended to the Committee of the British and
Foreign Anti-slavery Society, in the name of this Convention, to furnish
copies of the above resolutions, to the ecclesiastical authorities of the
various Christian churches throughout the world."
PREJUDICE AGAINST COLOUR.
" 1. That the practice of excluding people of colour from places of
worship, or of allotting to them separate seats therein, tends to per-
petuate the unchristian and unfounded prejudices against the 'COLOURED
PEOPLE.
" 2. That any distinction in the treatment of them, whether in schools,
colleges, houses of public worship, or in any other respect on account of
colour, is opposed to the benign spirit of Christianity.
" 3. That abolitionists, and all who assume the name of friends of the
coloured race, act inconsistently with their profession, unless they use all
their influence to put an end to such unchristian practices.
" 4. That this Convention most earnestly entreats all Christian pro-
fessors, all true abolitionists, immediately to give up all those unrighteous
distinctions, which have their origin in the prejudice against colour, and
that, in their social intercourse as citizens and as Christians, they treat
the coloured man as an equal and a brother."
THE INTERNAL SLAVE TRADE.
" That this Convention has heard with deep regret and sorrow, the
extent to which the internal slave trade is carried on, from the older to
277
the more newly settled slave- states of the American Union, to the
extent of upwards of 80,000 victims annually, to this unrighteous
traffic.
" That in expressing their detestation of this traffic, and in acknow-
ledging that it excites their deep surprise and abhorrence, that it should
be protected and cherished by a nation which has abolished the African
slave trade, and declared it to be piracy : this Convention is impressed
with the conviction, that such a systematic trade in man must be attended
with excessive cruelty and wrong to the objects of it, and involves in its
prosecution a fearful extent of barbarity and hardness of heart on the
part of the man-trader, and that effectual means ought to be forthwith
taken in the United States of America, to remove this stain from the
character of that nation."
THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY.
" That this Convention regards the scheme of African Colonization,
proposed and urged by the American Colonization Society, as not only
totally inadequate to the overthrow of slavery in the United States, but
as tending powerfully to strengthen that unrighteous system, as deeply
injurious to the best interests of the negro-race, whether bond or free,
both in America and Africa, and therefore as wholly unworthy of the
countenance and aid of the philanthropist and the Christian."
276
" 2. That this Convention cannot but deeply deplore the fact, that the
continuancfe and prevalence of slavery are to be attributed, in a great
degree, to the countenance afforded by many Christian churches, espe-
cially in the Western World, which have not only withheld that public
and emphatic testimony against the crime which it deserves, but have
retained in their communion without censure, those by whom it is noto-
riously perpetrated.
- " 3. That this Convention, while it disclaims the intention or desire of
dictating to Christian communities the terms of their fellowship, respect-
fully submits that it is their incumbent duty to separate from their com-
munion, all those persons who, after they have been faithfully warned in
the spirit of the gospel, continue in the sin of enslaving their fellow-
creatures, or holding them in slavery ; a sin, by the commission of which,
with Avhatever mitigating circumstances it may be attended in their own
particular instance, they give the support of their example to the whole
system of compulsory servitude, and the unutterable horrors of the slave
trade.
" 4. That it be recommended to the Committee of the British and
Foreign Anti-slavery Society, in the name of this Convention, to furnish
copies of the above resolutions, to the ecclesiastical authorities of the
various Christian churches throughout the world."
PREJUDICE AGAINST COLOUR.
" 1. That the practice of excluding people of colour from places of
worship, or of allotting to them separate seats therein, tends to per-
petuate the unchristian and unfounded prejudices against the 'COLOURED
PEOPLE.
" 2. That any distinction in the treatment of them, whether in schools,
colleges, houses of public worship, or in any other respect on account of
colour, is opposed to the benign spirit of Christianity.
" 3. That abolitionists, and all who assume the name of friends of the
coloured race, act inconsistently with their profession, unless they use all
their influence to put an end to such unchristian practices.
" 4. That this Convention most earnestly entreats all Christian pro-
fessors, all true abolitionists, immediately to give up all those unrighteous
distinctions, which have their origin in the prejudice against colour, and
that, in their social intercourse as citizens and as Christians, they treat
the coloured man as an equal and a brother."
THE INTERNAL SLAVE TRADE.
" That this Convention has heard with deep regret and sorrow, the
extent to which the internal slave trade is carried on, from the older to
277
the more newly settled slave-states of the American Union, to the
extent of upwards of 80,000 victims annually, to this unrighteous
traffic.
" That in expressing their detestation of this traffic, and in acknow-
ledging that it excites their deep surprise and abhorrence, that it should
be protected and cherished by a nation which has abolished the African
slave trade, and declared it to be piracy : this Convention is impressed
with the conviction, that such a systematic trade in man must be attended
with excessive cruelty and wrong to the objects of it, and involves in its
prosecution a fearful extent of barbarity and hardness of heart on the
part of the man-trader, and that effectual means ought to be forthwith
taken in the United States of America, to remove this stain from the
character of that nation."
THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY.
" That this Convention regards the scheme of African Colonization,
proposed and urged by the American Colonization Society, as not only
totally inadequate to the overthrow of slavery in the United States, but
as tending powerfully to strengthen that unrighteous system, as deeply
injurious to the best interests of the negro-race, whether bond or free,
both in America and Africa, and therefore as wholly unworthy of the
countenance and aid of the philanthropist and the Christian."
LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.
Alexander, G. "W. Esq., Stoke Newington.
Allen, Richard, Esq., 62, High Street, Dublin.
Anderson, David, Esq., Driffield, York.
Anderson, Rev. H., Maryport.
Ash, Edward, Esq., M. D., Ashley Place, Bristol.
Atkins, James, Esq., Northampton. 2 copws.
Baines, Edward, Esq., M. P., Leeds.
Bannister, Saxe, Esq., Colonial Society, 15, St. James' Square.
Barfit, Rev. John, Salisbury.
Barker, Francis, Esq., Pontefract.
Bassett, J. D., Esq., Leighton Buzzard. 2 copies.
Beaumont, Abraham, Esq., Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Beaumont, John, Esq., Northampton Square.
Belfast Anti-slavery Society.
Bell, John, Esq., Wandsworth. 2 copies.
Bell, Sheppard, Esq., Olney Mill, Bucks.
Bigg, S., Esq., Tottenham Green.
Binney, Rev. Thomas, Kennington Common.
Boyle, Robert, Esq., Handsworth, near Birmingham.
Brewin, Thomas J., Esq., Cirencester.
Budge, John, Esq., Camborne.
Clarke, C. H., Esq., Nottingham.
Clarkson, Thomas, Esq., Playford Hall, Ipswich. 2 copiet.
Close, Thomas, Esq., Nottingham.
Colver, Rev. Nathaniel, Boston, Massachusetts.
Cunliffe, James, Esq., 29, Lombard Street.
Curtis, "William, Esq., Alton, Hants.
Dean, Professor James, Burlington, Vermont, U. S. A.
Dees, R. R. Esq., Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Fenwick, John, Esq., Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Finlay, James, Esq., Ditto.
Forster, William, EarlhanTRoad, Norwich.
Forster, W. E., Esq., 6, Old Jewry.
Forster, Matthew, Esq., Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Fuller, James C,, Esq., Skaneateles, U. S. A.
279
Galusha, Rev. Elon, Penny Genesse Co., New York.
Gill, George, Esq., Nottingham.
Gray, Rev. William, Northampton.
Greville, Robert Kerr, Esq., LL.D., Edinburgh.
Anna Gurney, North Repps Cottage, Norfolk.
Grosvenor, Rev. Cyrus Pitt, Worcester, Massachusetts.
Gurney, Joseph John, Esq., Norwich. 2 copies.
Haughton, James, Esq., Dublin.
Head, George H., Esq., Carlisle. 6 copies.
Heard, John, Esq., Nottingham.
Hill, Charles, Esq., Wellingborough.
Hitchin Auxiliary Anti-slavery Society.
Humphrey, William, Esq., Worsted.
James, Rev. John Angell, Birmingham.
James, Rev. William, Bridgewater.
Jeremie, Sir John, Governor of Sierra Leone.
Johnston, Professor, Durham.
Kay, William, Esq., Grove House, near Liverpool.
Lee, William, Esq., Exeter.
Livesay, Thomas, Esq., Triangle, Hackney.
Longridge, Michael, Esq., Newcastle-on-Tyne.
McAll, Rev. Samuel, Doncaster.
Mann, John, Esq., Cottenham, Cambridge.
Marriage, Joseph, jun., Esq., Chelmsford. 10 copies.
Metcalfe, Charles J., Esq., Roxton House, St. Neots.
Metcalfe, Charles J., jun., Esq., ditto.
Miller, Joseph, Esq., Whitehaven.
Mirams, Rev. James, 6, Loughboro' Street, Kennington.
Moore, Rev. Timothy, 119, Lucas Street, Commercial Road.
Mott, James, Esq., Philadelphia, U. S. A.
Muir, Rev. J. H., Spalding.
Murch, Rev. W. H., D.D., Stepney College.
Pain, Rev. John, Horncastle.
Palk, Edward, Esq., Southampton.
Paul, T. D., Esq., St. Ives, Hunts.
Pease, Miss Elizabeth, Darlington.
Peek, Richard, Esq., Hazlewood, Kingsbridge.
Phillips, Wendell, Esq., Boston, Massachusetts.
Poile, Rev. W. F., 19, Ampton Street, Grays Inn Road.
280
Post, Jacob, Esq., Lower Road, Islington.
Priestman, Jonathan, Esq., Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Priestman, Joshua, jun., Esq., Thornton, York.
Rathbone, Richard, Esq., Liverpool.
Reynolds, Joseph, Esq., Bristol.
Rice, William, Esq., Northampton.
Richardson, Edward, Esq., Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Robinson, Rev. William, Kettering.
Seaborn, Rev. H. S., 2, Canal Terrace, Camden Town.
Sewell, Philip, Esq., Wereham, Norfolk.
Sheppard, Charles H., Esq,. Pump Court, Temple.
Smith, Miss Ann Hopkins, Olney.
Smith, Gerrit, Esq., Peterboro', U. S. A.
Soul, Mr. Joseph, 20, Brunswick Parade, Islington.
Sparkes, Miss Sarah, Exeter.
Stacey, George, Esq., Tottenham. 2 copies.
Standfield, James, Esq., Belfast.
Sterry, Henry, Esq., 42, Trinity Square, Borough.
Stewart, Alvan, Esq., TJtica, U. S. A.
Stovel, Rev. Charles, 5, Stebon Terrace, Stepney.
Struthers, William, Esq., Parliament Street.
Sturge, Joseph, Esq., Birmingham. 10 copies.
Styles, Robert, Esq., Rochester.
Tatham, William, Esq., Rochester.
Taylor, George, Esq., Wellingborough.
Taylor, Rev. Henry, A.M., Woodbridge, Suffolk.
Taylor, John, jun., Esq., Colchester.
Thomas, Samuel, Esq., Bristol.
Tomkins, Rev. S., Stepney College.
Tuckett, Henry, Esq., South Street, Finsbury.
Webb, James, H., Esq., 16, Corn Market, Dublin.
Whitehorn, James, Esq., Bristol.
Williams, John, jun., Esq., Burncoose, Truro.
Wilson, Joshua, Esq., 35, Highbury Place.
Wilson, William, Esq., Nottingham.
Wright, Miss Harriett, Heavitree, near Exeter.
nv j. HAnnoN, CASTLE STREET, FINSBURY.
E American Anti-Slavery Society,
IJ+1. Executive Committee
A 57 Slavery
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