Part 1

A CAUTION TO _GREAT BRITAIN_ AND HER COLONIES, IN A SHORT REPRESENTATION OF THE CALAMITOUS STATE of the ENSLAVED NEGROES IN THE BRITISH DOMINIONS.

A NEW EDITION.

BY ANT. BENEZET.

PHILADELPHIA Printed: LONDON Reprinted and Sold by JAMES PHILLIPS, in GEORGE-YARD, LOMBARD-STREET. 1784.

A CAUTION, &c.

At a time when the general rights and liberties of mankind, and the preservation of those valuable privileges transmitted to us from our ancestors, are become so much the subjects of universal consideration; can it be an inquiry indifferent to any, how many of those who distinguish themselves as the Advocates of Liberty, remain insensible and inattentive to the treatment of thousands and tens of thousands of our fellow men, who, from motives of avarice, and the inexorable decree of tyrant custom, are at this very time kept in the most deplorable state of Slavery, in many parts of the _British_ Dominions?

The intent of publishing the following sheets, is more fully to make known the aggravated iniquity attending the practice of the Slave-Trade; whereby many thousands of our fellow-creatures, as free as ourselves by nature, and equally with us the subjects of Christ’s redeeming Grace, are yearly brought into inextricable and barbarous bondage; and many, very many, to miserable and untimely ends.

The Truth of this lamentable Complaint is so obvious to persons of candour, under whose notice it hath fallen, that several have lately published their sentiments thereon, as a matter which calls for the most serious consideration of all who are concerned for the civil or religious welfare of their Country. How an evil of so deep a dye, hath so long, not only passed uninterrupted by those in Power, but hath even had their Countenance, is indeed surprising; and charity would suppose, must in a great measure have arisen from this, that many persons in government, both of the Clergy and Laity, in whose power it hath been to put a stop to the Trade, have been unacquainted with the corrupt motives which gives life to it, and with the groans, the dying groans, which daily ascend to God, the common Father of mankind, from the broken hearts of those his deeply oppressed creatures: otherwise the powers of the earth would not, I think I may venture to say could not, have so long authorized a practice so inconsistent with every idea of liberty and justice, which, as the learned _James Foster_ says, _Bids that God, which is the God and Father of the_ Gentiles, _unconverted to_ Christianity, _most daring and bold defiance; and spurns at all the principles both of natural and revealed Religion_.

Much might justly be said of the temporal evils which attend this practice, as it is destructive of the welfare of human society, and of the peace and prosperity of every country, in proportion as it prevails. It might be also shewn, that it destroys the bonds of natural affection and interest, whereby mankind in general are united; that it introduces idleness, discourages marriage, corrupts the youth, ruins and debauches morals, excites continual apprehensions of dangers, and frequent alarms, to which the Whites are necessarily exposed from so great an increase of a People, that, by their Bondage and Oppressions, become natural enemies, yet, at the same time, are filling the places and eating the bread of those who would be the Support and Security of the Country. But as these and many more reflections of the same kind, may occur to a considerate mind, I shall only endeavour to shew, from the nature of the Trade, the plenty which _Guinea_ affords to its inhabitants, the barbarous Treatment of the Negroes, and the Observations made thereon by Authors of note, that it is inconsistent with the plainest Precepts of the Gospel, the dictates of reason, and every common sentiment of humanity.

In an Account of the _European_ Settlements in _America_, printed in _London_, 1757, the Author, speaking on this Subject, says: ‘The Negroes in our Colonies endure a Slavery more complete, and attended with far worse circumstances than what any people in their condition suffer in any other part of the world, or have suffered in any other period of time: Proofs of this are not wanting. The prodigious waste which we experience in this unhappy part of our Species, is a full and melancholy Evidence of this Truth. The Island of _Barbadoes_ (the Negroes upon which do not amount to eighty thousand) notwithstanding all the means which they use to encrease them by Propagation, and that the Climate is in every respect (except that of being more wholesome) exactly resembling the Climate from whence they come; notwithstanding all this, _Barbadoes_ lies under a necessity of an annual recruit of five thousand slaves, to keep up the stock at the number I have mentioned. This prodigious failure, which is at least in the same proportion in all our Islands, shews demonstratively that some uncommon and unsupportable Hardship lies upon the Negroes, which wears them down in such a surprising manner; and this, I imagine, is principally the excessive labour which they undergo.’ In an Account of part of _North-America_, published by _Thomas Jeffery_, printed 1761, speaking of the usage the Negroes receive in the _West-India_ Islands, he thus expresses himself: ‘It is impossible for a human heart to reflect upon the servitude of these dregs of mankind, without in some measure feeling for their misery, which ends but with their lives.——Nothing can be more wretched than the condition of this People. One would imagine, they were framed to be the disgrace of the human species: banished from their Country, and deprived of that blessing, Liberty, on which all other nations set the greatest value, they are in a manner reduced to the condition of beasts of burden. In general a few roots, potatoes especially, are their food; and two rags, which neither screen them from the heat of the day, nor the extraordinary coolness of the night, all their covering; their sleep very short; their labour almost continual; they receive no wages, but have twenty lashes for the smallest fault.’

A considerate young person, who was lately in one of our _West-India_ Islands, where he observed the miserable situation of the Negroes, makes the following remarks: ‘I meet with daily exercise, to see the treatment which these miserable wretches meet with from their masters, with but few exceptions. They whip them most unmercifully, on small occasions; they beat them with thick Clubs, and you will see their Bodies all whaled and scarred: in short, they seem to set no other value on their lives than as they cost them so much money; and are not retrained from killing them, when angry, by a worthier consideration than that they lose so much. They act as though they did not look upon them as a race of human creatures, who have reason, and remembrance of misfortunes; but as beasts, like oxen, who are stubborn, hardy and senseless, fit for burdens, and designed to bear them. They will not allow them to have any claim to human privileges, or scarce, indeed, to be regarded as the work of God. Though it was consistent with the justice of our Maker to pronounce the sentence on our common parent, and through him on all succeeding generations, _That he and they should eat their bread by the sweat of their brow_; yet does it not stand recorded by the same Eternal Truth, _That the Labourer is worthy of his Hire_? It cannot be allowed in natural justice, that there should be a servitude without condition: A cruel endless servitude. It cannot be reconcileable to natural justice, that whole nations, nay, whole continents of men, should be devoted to do the drudgery of life for others, be dragged away from their attachments of relations and societies, and made to serve the appetites and pleasures of a race of men, whose superiority has been obtained by an illegal force.’

A particular account of the treatment these unhappy _Africans_ receive in the _West-Indies_ was lately published, which, even by those who, blinded by interest, seek excuses for the Trade, and endeavour to palliate the cruelty exercised upon them, is allowed to be a true, though rather too favourable representation of the usage they receive, which is as follows, _viz._ ‘The iniquity of the Slave-trade is greatly aggravated by the inhumanity with which the Negroes are treated in the Plantations, as well with respect to food and clothing, as from the unreasonable labour which is commonly exacted from them. To which may be added the cruel chastisements they frequently suffer, without any other bounds than the will and wrath of their hard task-masters. In _Barbadoes_, and some other of the Islands, six pints of _Indian_ corn and three herrings are reckoned a full weeks allowance for a working slave, and in the System of Geography it is said, _That in_ Jamaica _the owners of the Negroe-slaves, set aside for each a parcel of ground, and allow them_ Sundays _to manure it, the produce of which_, with sometimes a few herrings, or other salt-fish, _is all that is allowed for their support_. Their allowance for clothing in the Islands is seldom more than six yards of osenbrigs each year: And in the more northern Colonies, where the piercing westerly winds are long and sensibly felt, these poor _Africans_ suffer much for want of sufficient clothing, indeed some have none till they are able to pay for it by their labour. The time that the Negroes work in the _West-Indies_, is from day-break till noon; then again from two o’clock till dusk: (during which time they are attended by overseers, who severely scourge those who appear to them dilatory) and before they are suffered to go to their quarters, they have still something to do, as collecting of herbage for the horses, gathering fuel for the boilers, _etc._ so that it is often half past twelve before they can get home, when they have scarce time to grind and boil their _Indian_ corn; whereby it often happens that they are called again to labour before they can satisfy their Hunger. And here no delay or excuse will avail, for if they are not in the Field immediately upon the usual notice, they must expect to feel the Overseer’s Lash. In crop-time (which lasts many months) they are obliged (by turns) to work most of the night in the boiling-house. Thus their Owners, from a desire of making the greatest gain by the labour of their slaves, lay heavy Burdens on them, and yet feed and clothe them very sparingly, and some scarce feed or clothe them at all, so that the poor creatures are obliged to shift for their living in the best manner they can, which occasions their being often killed in the neighbouring lands, stealing potatoes, or other food, to satisfy their hunger. And if they take any thing from the plantation they belong to, though under such pressing want, their owners will correct them severely, for taking a little of what they have so hardly laboured for, whilst they themselves riot in the greatest luxury and excess.—It is a matter of astonishment, how a people, who, as a nation, are looked upon as generous and humane, and so much value themselves for their uncommon sense of the Benefit of Liberty, can live in the practice of such extreme oppression and inhumanity, without seeing the inconsistency of such conduct, and without feeling great Remorse: Nor is it less amazing to hear these men calmly making calculations about the strength and lives of their fellow-men; in _Jamaica_, if six in ten, of the new imported Negroes survive the seasoning, it is looked upon as a gaining purchase: And in most of the other plantations, if the Negroes live eight or nine years, their labour is reckoned a sufficient compensation for their cost.——If calculations of this sort were made upon the strength and labour of beasts of burden, it would not appear so strange; but even then a merciful man would certainly use his beast with more mercy than is usually shewn to the poor Negroes.—Will not the groans of this deeply afflicted and oppressed people reach Heaven, and when the cup of iniquity is full, must not the inevitable consequence be pouring forth of the judgments of God upon their oppressors. But, alas! is it not too manifest that this oppression has already long been the object of the divine displeasure; for what heavier judgment, what greater calamity can befall any people, than to become a prey to that hardness of heart, that forgetfulness of God, and insensibility to every religious impression; as well as that general depravation of manners, which so much prevails in the Colonies, in proportion as they have more or less enriched themselves, at the expence of the blood and bondage of the Negroes.’

The situation of the Negroes in our Southern provinces on the Continent, is also feelingly set forth by _George Whitfield_, in a Letter from _Georgia_, to the Inhabitants of _Maryland_, _Virginia_, _North_ and _South-Carolina_, printed in the Year 1739, of which the following is an extract: ‘As I lately passed through your provinces, in my way hither, I was sensibly touched with a fellow-feeling of the miseries of the poor Negroes. Whether it be lawful for _Christians_ to buy slaves, and thereby encourage the Nations from whom they are bought, to be at perpetual war with each other, I shall not take upon me to determine; sure I am, it is sinful, when bought, to use them as bad, nay worse than as though they were brutes; and whatever particular exception there may be, (as I would charitably hope there are some) I fear the generality of you, that own Negroes, are liable to such a charge; for your slaves, I believe, work as hard, if not harder, than the horses whereon you ride. These, after they have done their work, are fed and taken proper care of; but many Negroes, when wearied with labour, in your plantations, have been obliged to grind their own corn, after they return home. Your dogs are caressed and fondled at your table; but your slaves, who are frequently stiled dogs or beasts, have not an equal privilege; they are scarce permitted to pick up the crumbs which fall from their master’s table.—Not to mention what numbers have been given up to the inhuman usage of cruel task-masters, who, by their unrelenting scourges, have ploughed their backs, and made long furrows, and at length brought them even to death. When passing along, I have viewed your plantations cleared and cultivated, many spacious houses built, and the owners of them faring sumptuously every day, my blood has frequently almost run cold within me, to consider how many of your slaves had neither convenient food to eat, or proper raiment to put on, notwithstanding most of the comforts you enjoy were solely owing to their indefatigable labours.—The Scripture says, _Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn_. Does God take care for oxen? and will he not take care of the Negroes also? undoubtedly he will.—Go to now ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you: Behold the provision of the poor Negroes, who have reaped down your fields, which is by you denied them, crieth; and the cries of them which reaped, are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabbath. We have a remarkable instance of God’s taking cognizance of, and avenging the quarrel of poor slaves, 2 Sam. xxi. 1. _There was a famine in the days of_ David _three years, year after year; and_ David _enquired of the Lord: And the Lord answered, It is for_ Saul, _and for his bloody house, because he slew the_ Gibeonites. Two things are here very remarkable: First, These _Gibeonites_ were only hewers of wood and drawers of water, or in other words, slaves like yours. Secondly, That this plague was sent by God many years after the injury, the cause of the plague, was committed. And for what end were this and such like examples recorded in holy Scriptures? without doubt, for our learning.—For God is the same to-day as he was yesterday, and will continue the same for ever. He does not reject the prayer of the poor and destitute; nor disregard the cry of the meanest Negro. The blood of them spilt for these many years in your respective provinces will ascend up to heaven against you.’

Some who have only seen Negroes in an abject state of slavery, broken-spirited and dejected, knowing nothing of their situation in their native country, may apprehend, that they are naturally insensible of the benefits of Liberty, being destitute and miserable in every respect, and that our suffering them to live amongst us (as the _Gibeonites_ of old were permitted to live with the _Israelites_) though even on more oppressive terms, is to them a favour; but these are certainly erroneous opinions, with respect to far the greatest part of them: Although it is highly probable that in a country which is more than three thousand miles in extent from north to south, and as much from east to west, there will be barren parts, and many inhabitants more uncivilized and barbarous than others; as is the case in all other countries: yet, from the most authentic accounts, the inhabitants of _Guinea_ appear, generally speaking, to be an industrious, humane, sociable people, whose capacities are naturally as enlarged, and as open to improvement, as those of the _Europeans_; and that their Country is fruitful, and in many places well improved, abounding in cattle, grain and fruits. And as the earth yields all the year round a fresh supply of food, and but little clothing is requisite, by reason of the continual warmth of the climate; the necessaries of life are much easier procured in most parts of _Africa_, than in our more northern climes. This is confirmed by many authors of note, who have resided there; among others, _M. Adanson_, in his account of _Goree_ and _Senegal_, in the year 1754, says, ‘Which way soever I turned my eyes on this pleasant spot, I beheld a perfect image of pure nature; an agreeable solitude, bounded on every side by charming landscapes, the rural situation of cottages in the midst of trees; the ease and indolence of the Negroes reclined under the shade of their spreading foliage; the simplicity of their dress and manners; the whole revived in my mind the idea of our first parents, and I seemed to contemplate the world in its primitive state: They are, generally speaking, very good-natured, sociable and obliging. I was not a little pleased with this my first reception; it convinced me, that there ought to be a considerable abatement made in the accounts I had read and heard every where of the savage character of the _Africans_. I observed, both in Negroes and Moors, great humanity and sociableness, which gave me strong hopes, that I should be very safe amongst them, and meet with the success I desired, in my inquiries after the curiosities of the country.’

_William Bosman_, a principal Factor for the _Dutch_, who resided sixteen years in _Guinea_, speaking of the natives of that part where he then was, says, ‘They are generally a good sort of people, honest in their dealings;’ others he describes as ‘being generally friendly to strangers, of a mild conversation, affable, and easy to be overcome with reason.’ He adds, ‘That some Negroes, who have had an agreeable education, have manifested a brightness of understanding equal to any of us.’ Speaking of the fruitfulness of the country, he says, ‘It was very populous, plentifully provided with corn, potatoes and fruit, which grew close to each other; in some places a foot-path is the only ground that is not covered with them; the Negroes leaving no place, which is thought fertile, uncultivated; and immediately after they have reaped, they are sure to sow again.’ Other parts he describes, as ‘being full of towns and villages; the soil very rich, and so well cultivated, as to look like an entire garden, abounding in rice, corn, oxen, and poultry, and the inhabitants laborious.’

_William Smith_, who was sent by the _African_ Company to visit their settlements on the coast of _Guinea_, in the year 1726, gives much the same account of the country of _Delmina_ and _Cape Corse_, &c. for beauty and goodness, and adds, ‘The more you come downward towards that part, called _Slave-Coast_, the more delightful and rich the soil appears.’ Speaking of their disposition, he says, ‘They were a civil, good-natured people, industrious to the last degree. It is easy to perceive what happy memories they are blessed with, and how great progress they would make in the sciences, in case their genius was cultivated with study.’ He adds, from the information he received of one of the Factors, who had resided ten years in that country, ‘That the discerning natives account it their greatest unhappiness, that they were ever visited by the _Europeans_.—That the _Christians_ introduced the traffick of Slaves; and that before our coming they lived in peace.’

_Andrew Brue_, a principal man in the _French_ Factory, in the account he gives of the great river _Senegal_, which runs many hundred miles up the country, tells his readers, ‘The farther you go from the Sea, the country on the river seems more fruitful and well improved. It abounds in _Guinea_ and _Indian_ corn, rice, pulse, tobacco, and indigo. Here are vast meadows, which feed large herds of great and small cattle; poultry are numerous, as well as wild fowl.’ The same Author, in his travels to the south of the river _Gambia_, expresses his surprize, ‘to see the land so well cultivated; scarce a spot lay unimproved; the low grounds, divided by small canals, were all sowed with rice; the higher ground planted with _Indian_ corn, millet, and peas of different sorts: beef and mutton very cheap, as well as all other necessaries of life.’ The account this Author gives of the disposition of the natives, is, ‘That they are generally good-natured and civil, and may be brought to any thing by fair and soft means.’ _Artus_, speaking of the same people, says, ‘They are a sincere, inoffensive people, and do no injustice either to one another or strangers.’