Part 1

SLAVERY:

BY

J. L. BAKER.

AUTHOR OF "EXPORTS AND IMPORTS," "MEN AND THINGS," &c.

PHILADELPHIA:

JOHN A. NORTON,

1860.

SLAVERY.

The recent attempt of John Brown to incite an insurrection at Harper's Ferry has created no little excitement throughout the country. Strange and desperate as the movement was, it seems to have been the natural and necessary result of the long twenty years' war, waged in the free States upon the institutions of the South, the culminating point, it is to be hoped, in a reform based on no sound principle, and which, like an epidemic, has swept over the land, fruitful only in bitter words, harsh recrimination, sectional hostility, and ending, like the last act of a tragedy, in violence and murder.

The scene that has been enacted at Harper's Ferry will perhaps have the effect to open the eyes of the nation, so that they can see fully the yawning gulf, the brink of which they have at last reached, and lead them to examine the ground on which they stand; inquire what they have been doing, and what good cause can be served by a course of action which has led to such fatal results. Many lives have been sacrificed. A whole family has been ruined, and an old man has been led out to suffer the last and most terrible infliction of the law. He has been but an instrument in the hands of others, who have acted, with the exception of some political leaders, from honest convictions.

The time has now come, however, for them to inquire, and for all to inquire with the utmost seriousness, if these convictions of duty have been just and commendable, or if they have been mistaken, and therefore to be condemned. Zeal without knowledge is a dangerous weapon, as all history has proved, and it is incumbent upon all, not only to do right, but to think right. It is an old maxim that ignorance of the law excuses no man, and it is equally true that we are not at liberty to follow our blind impulses, but are bound to inform ourselves, and to _know_ whether a particular course of action, however well intended, is such as will not defeat the very purposes we have in view, while it brings misery and ruin to thousands of our fellow beings.

Liberty has been in all ages of the world a most fruitful theme for the poet and the orator, and still its true nature and conditions are but imperfectly understood. Constitutional liberty, such as that of England and the United States, is possible only to a race that has a physical temperament that fits it for self-control or self-government, and to such a race only is it a blessing. But few such races have been known in history. One of them was the Grecian, and afterwards the Roman, but both became degenerated, and lost the capacity of self-government.

In modern times the English nation has exhibited the same capacity, which belongs also to ourselves, who are of the same blood. No other people have those constitutional traits which fit them for self-government, which is but another name for self-restraint. The Frenchman is volatile, fickle, and fond of glory, and less free to-day than he was under Louis the Sixteenth. He has a government which answers to his wants and his genius, which exactly represents his condition, and contributes, therefore, most to his happiness. Should he, in the course of centuries, become changed in his physical and mental constitution, he will find, necessarily, a government that corresponds to the progress he has made. Governments are but the agents and representatives of the people. They reflect very nearly the condition of the governed, and change to meet the changes of those they represent. No mortal power can prevent any people from taking and enjoying that degree of freedom they are capable of enjoying, and which would, therefore, contribute to their happiness. What is true of France, is true of the other European nations, and of all nations; so that we never deceive ourselves more completely than when we talk of political liberty as something equally applicable to all, and attainable by all.

Such liberty the Anglo-Saxon finds contributing to his happiness; but it may be the greatest curse, as it has often proved to those who have different blood in their veins, who have not the same capacity of self-control, and who enjoy, therefore, as much, if not more, under governments suited to their peculiar temperaments. An Italian Republic exists only in the dreams of Mazzini and Garibaldi, and yet if the sum of human happiness could be measured, there may be as much happiness in Italy, and perhaps more than is to be found in the two nations that are able to live under a constitutional government.

It often happens, that among those nations which require a strong government, we find a larger amount of social freedom, than among those who are politically more free. A man is more free to express an opinion in Paris, upon any matter of science or religion, or other topic, excepting politics, than he is in Boston. He stands less in awe of his neighbors, feels less the pressure of public opinion, than do we, on whom government bears lightly, but who are, to a corresponding extent, the slaves of Public Sentiment. Where laws bear lightest, Public Opinion takes their place, and becomes, often, a dreadful tyrant, as is seen frequently in our western States, and on the borders of civilization. On the other hand, where there exists the least political freedom, we find the largest social liberty, as though one was incompatible with the other, which is probably the case, and for the reason that man must be governed to a certain extent in some way, and if he becomes politically more free, he becomes by necessity, socially, more enslaved.

We shall find, if we look at the different nations of the world, that each enjoys that degree of liberty, either political or social, which most contributes to its happiness. If this were not the case with any nation, it is certain that its condition would be changed at once, to correspond to its wants and capacities. No government, however despotic, could for a moment prevent such a result; nor is it at all safe to judge of the real condition of a nation, by the excited harangues of such enthusiasts as Kossuth and Mazzini.

As fast as a people become capable of self-control or self-government, just so fast the government becomes modified to meet their wants; for they are in fact the government, and rulers are but their representatives.

This view of liberty will be considered, I am aware, by many as very heretical and not at all in accordance with the facts of history or the nature of man. To some it will, no doubt, appear new as well as strange, and very doubtful. That what we call constitutional liberty, however, depends mainly upon the peculiar physical and moral temperament of a people, I cannot doubt. Self-government is constitutional in more senses than one. Such at least is the result of my reflections upon the subject. The lesson I learn from history is, that no amount of physical or mental culture can materially change the peculiar temperament which belongs to each race. A nation may be educated to excel in all the arts and all the sciences, in oratory, philosophy, poetry, music, and painting, but not in the art of self-government, which implies a natural gift bestowed upon a very small portion of the human race. To judge of a people in this respect we must also witness their capacity at home, and not be deceived by what happens to individuals or small communities when thrown into the midst of a self-controlling or self-governing race. Such is the case with our German population which constitutes an intelligent, useful, law-abiding portion of our citizens, and to all appearance capable of exercising the functions of self-government. But we must consider that they exist here surrounded and entirely controlled by our own people, and in some parts of the Union have been born and brought up under our institutions. If we wish to know the capacity of their race for self-government, we must go to Germany, and if possible find it there. The German race comes nearest to our own and excels it in some respects, though wanting the necessary political elements with which we are gifted. For many years the profoundest scholars and the greatest musical composers have been found in Germany, which has also produced in Goethe and Schiller, names worthy to rank with the greatest of modern times. We come from the same stock and the same northern hive, but have pursued different courses, and have not now the same blood in our veins. One race takes naturally to politics, for which it has an aptitude and capacity, the other as naturally to music and painting, to science and philosophy. In the lapse of centuries, the physical constitution of both may change. The English may lose by admixture the peculiar qualities of blood which now distinguish them, and so lose their capacity of self-control. They may become degenerated, like the Romans, by the enervating influence of luxury, and like that nation lose their constitutional liberty. So on the other hand, Germany may, in the progress of time, undergo changes equally great and in precisely the opposite direction. A union of the different races of that vast kingdom may produce a new result. A new race may arise which shall excel the present race of Englishmen, in the capacity of self-government. The present English race is the work of centuries, and contains the blood of Saxons, Danes, and Normans, blended in due proportion for the production of a certain result, and such a result as can nowhere else be witnessed.

If the theory of human liberty, which I have thus so briefly and imperfectly suggested, is the true one, and is supported by the facts of history, then it will furnish us with a key to unlock some of those hard problems in human life and destiny which have so puzzled mankind, and which have resisted all attempts at solution.

If we regard all nations as moving on in the sphere designed by Providence, each seeking and finding its happiness in its own way,--some less capable of self-restraint than others, some enjoying a high degree of political liberty, and some, on the other hand, in possession of a high degree of social freedom; their happiness dependent not so much on the peculiar forms of their government as upon its adaptation to their peculiar wants and capacities,--we shall be relieved of much of that commiseration and misplaced sympathy which we have bestowed upon others, and which was, perhaps, more needed by ourselves. Viewed in the light I have suggested, and also in connection with the great facts, moral and physical, of which I am about to speak more particularly, the problem of negro slavery in the United States is not one so difficult of solution as has been generally supposed. The recent outbreak in Virginia brings home to us, with renewed and redoubled force, the question, What must become of the millions of slaves in our Southern States, could they be set free by some such movement as that of John Brown, urged on by those who have been for many years engaged in agitating the subject?

This is the important matter for our consideration, or rather it should have been the matter to have been considered many years ago. This is the problem which should have been solved by those who have been so long dealing in such extravagant language and "glittering generalities" about the natural rights of man. They should have informed us what is to become of those millions, suddenly let loose from restraint and thrown upon their own resources, no longer to be protected by the white race, but to be met by competition, by undying prejudice, extreme social hardship, and the "irrepressible conflict" of incompatible races.

Those of us who have attained to middle age have been taught by experience that no portion of those millions could exist for any length of time on the soil of Massachusetts. But for the occasional emigration from the South, a negro would now be a sight as rare in this State as that of a wild Indian, hardly a remnant being left of the families which we knew in our boyhood.

From statistics gathered by the late Dr. Jesse Chickering, it appears that the blacks die in Massachusetts in a ratio of three to one as compared with the whites. This state of things is the result of both moral and physical causes. The depressing influence of extreme social hardship, which no philanthropy can alleviate, accounts in a great measure for this unequal mortality; while physical causes operate, perhaps, still more to the same effect. Of the latter, we may learn something from a paper read a few years since before the Boston Society of Natural History, by Dr. Samuel Kneeland, Jr., from which the following is an extract:--

"The mulatto is often triumphantly appealed to as a proof that hybrid races are prolific without end. Every physician who has seen much practice among the mulattoes knows that, in the first place, they are far less prolific than the blacks or whites,--the statistics of New York State and city confirm this fact of daily observation; and in the second place, when they are prolific, the progeny is frail, diseased, short-lived, rarely arriving at robust manhood or maturity. Physicians need not be told of the comparatively enormous amount of scrofulous and deteriorated constitutions found among those hybrids.

"The Colonization Journal furnishes some statistics with regard to the colored population of New York city, which must prove painfully interesting to all reflecting people. The late census showed that, while other classes of our population in all parts of the country were increasing in an enormous ratio, the colored were decreasing. In the State of New York, in 1840, there were fifty thousand; in 1850, only forty-seven thousand. In New York city, in 1840, there were eighteen thousand; in 1850, seventeen thousand. According to the New York City Inspector's report for the four months, ending with October, 1853:--

1. The whites present marriages, 2,230 The colored " " 26 2. The whites " births, 6,780 The colored " " 70 3. The whites " deaths about 6,000 (exclusive of 2,152 among 116,000 newly-arrived emigrants, and others unacclimated.) The colored exhibit deaths, 160

giving a ratio of deaths among acclimated whites to colored persons of thirty-seven to one; while the births are ninety-seven whites to one colored. The ratio of whites to colored, is as follows:--Marriages, 140 to 1; births, 97 to 1; deaths, 37 to 1. According to the ratio of the population, the marriages among the whites, during this time, are three times greater than among the colored; the number of births among the whites is twice as great. In deaths, the colored exceed the white not only according to ratio of population, but show one hundred and sixty-five deaths to seventy-six births, or seven deaths to three births,--more than two to one.

"The same is true, of Boston, as far as the census returns will enable us to judge. In Shattuck's census of 1845, it appears that in that year there were one hundred and forty-six less colored persons in Boston than in 1840; the total number being 1842. From the same work, the deaths are given for a period of fifty years, from 1725 to 1775, showing the mortality among the blacks to have been twice that among the whites. Of late years, Boston, probably, does not differ from itself in former times, nor from New York at present. In the compendium of the United States census for 1850, p. 64, it is said that the 'declining ratio of the increase of the free colored in every section is notable. In New England, the increase is now almost nothing;' in the south-west and the Southern states, the increase is much reduced; it is only in the north-west that there is any increase, 'indicating a large emigration to that quarter.' What must become of the black population at this rate in a few years? What are the causes of this decay? They do not disregard the laws of social and physical well-being any more than, if they do as much as, the whites. It seems to me one of the necessary consequences of attempts to mix races; the hybrids cease to be prolific; the race must die out as mulatto; it must either keep black unmixed, or become extinct. Nobody doubts that a mixed offspring may be produced by intermarriage of different races,--the Griquas, the Papuas, the Cafuses of Brazil, so elaborately enumerated by Prichard, sufficiently prove this. The question is, whether they would be perpetuated if strictly confined to intermarriage among themselves? From the facts in the case of mulattoes, we say unquestionably not. The same is true, as far as has been observed, of the mixture of the white and red races, in Mexico, Central and South America. The well-known infrequency of mixed offspring between the European and Australian races, led the Colonial government to official inquiries, and to the result, that, in thirty-one districts, numbering fifteen thousand inhabitants, the half-breeds did not exceed two hundred, though the connection of the two races was very intimate.

"If any one wishes to be convinced of the inferiority and tendency to disease in the mulatto race, even with the assistance of the pure blood of the black and white race, he need only witness what I did recently, viz.: the disembarkation from a steamboat of a colored pic-nic party, of both sexes, of all ages, from the infant in arms to the aged, and of all hues, from the darkest black to a color approaching white. There was no _old mulatto_, though there were several _old negroes_; many fine-looking mulattoes of both sexes, evidently the first offspring from the pure races; then came the youths and children, and here could be read the sad truth at a glance. The little blacks were agile and healthy-looking; the little mulattoes, youths and young women, farther removed from the pure stocks, were sickly, feeble, thin, with frightful scars and skin diseases, and _scrofula_ stamped on every feature and every visible part of the body. Here was hybridity of human races, under the most favorable circumstances of worldly condition and social position."

Such are the results of an unfavorable climate and the mixture of the blood of two races that can never intermarry. The union of such races produces the results described by Dr. Kneeland. Similar results are observed when the two races differ less and where marriage is possible, as for instance in Mexico and Central America, which are in ruins from the union of the Spanish and native blood. Union of different races is, on the other hand, often highly beneficial, our own blood being a fortunate result of such a union, but such races must be similar and not like those of Europe, Africa, and the natives of this country, wholly dissimilar or repugnant. At the South, the free black would suffer less from the effects of climate; but much more from the extreme prejudice existing there towards the black, when he assumes the position of an equal. To suppose he could exist under such a state of things is to ignore all experience, and the observation of every day. In Jamaica, the English Government have troops to protect the freed slaves from the encroachments of their old masters; but there it is stated, on the authority of the London Times, that the blacks are not only falling below the point of civilization attained during their servitude, but in many cases actually returning to their native barbarism, and the worship of idols. We have no such standing army here, but the slave, when free, must be left to the tender mercies of his former master. What would be the fate of the slave is as certain as is the fate of the North American Indian, the difference being that the Indian flies from civilization, which destroys him, while the imitative and mild-tempered African cling-to civilization which as certainly destroys _him_. How far he may rise in the scale of civilization if left to himself, whether the African is a self-sustaining and progressive race, or whether it will lose, when left to itself, what has been gained, and fall back in a state of barbarism, are questions not settled as yet by experiment. The attempt is making in Liberia, and it is to be hoped successfully, to solve this question in favor of the negro; but sufficient time has not yet elapsed, nor is the testimony which comes from the West Indies by any means such as could be wished.

From some of our Western States the colored man has been entirely excluded. This is a wise provision, and a merciful one, to the blacks, who come into the free States only to drag out a few years in some menial employment, and then disappear with their families, if they have any, leaving no trace behind. If history and experience teach us anything, it is this, that two races constituted like the Anglo-Saxon and the African, can never co-exist in a state of equality, which means competition. So long as the inferior race is in a dependent condition, and can claim support and protection from the white, it remains, with rare exceptions, contented and happy, the great burden of such a relation falling, in fact, upon the master, and not upon the slave. The moment that relation is changed, the negro thrown upon his own resources, and exposed to the withering and blasting effects of that ineradicable antipathy which exists towards all of African descent, that moment his fate is sealed; he perishes like the autumn leaves when comes a killing frost, and, in course of a very few generations, not a vestige remains to show that he has ever existed.

This is a truth which experience and observation have taught us, and which could not have been taught in the same manner to Mr. Jefferson, and other founders of our government, whose opinions are quoted in favor of the abolition of slavery. That slavery was an evil, they knew, and we know it also, but that the evil is mainly to the white, and that the black could never co-exist with his master in a state of freedom, they did not know, because the experiment had not been tried. Sufficient time has now elapsed to settle that question, and in a manner which would seem to leave but small chance for doubt to a rational mind.

Such, I suppose, to be the immutable law of Providence, regulating the intercourse of those races which he has made, and given to one a white skin, and to the other a dark one. The Creator of all things could, doubtless, have made all white, or all black, but, for some purpose which we cannot fathom, he has chosen not to do so. He has created some races near akin to each other, and some entirely incompatible and repugnant, and it is not for us to say that he has done wrong. If possible, we should ascertain what are the laws, physical and moral, which _he has established_, and then we shall do well to acquiesce in them as being right, without attempting to repeal or improve upon them, or to set up in opposition our own notions about what we call _abstract right_. Right is not an abstraction, but a reality, and, to find out what it is, we have to consult our experience, observation, revelation, expediency, divine laws and human laws, and every source from which we can gather the means of directing our limited capacities to the formation of just conclusions.[1]