Chapter 15

"In the eastern part of the state, the slaves considerably outnumber the free population. Their situation is there 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 allowances, scarcely sufficient for their sustenance, so that a great part of them go half naked and half starved much of the time. Generally, throughout the state, the African is an _abused, a monstrously outraged creature."--See Minutes of the American Convention, convened in Baltimore, Oct._ 25, 1826.

FROM NILES' BALTIMORE REGISTER FOR 1829, VOL 35, p. 4.

"Dealing in slaves has become a _large business_. Establishments are made at 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 _catskins and other whips--often times bloody_."

Judge RUFFIN, of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, in one of his judicial decisions, says--"The slave, to remain a slave, must feel that there is NO APPEAL FROM HIS MASTER. No man can anticipate the provocations which the slave would give, nor the consequent wrath of the master, prompting him to BLOODY VENGEANCE on the turbulent traitor, a vengeance _generally_ practiced with impunity, by reason of its PRIVACY."--See _Wheeler's Law of Slavery_ p. 247.

MR. MOORE, of VIRGINIA, in his speech before the Legislature of that state, Jan. 15, 1832, says: "It must be confessed, that although the treatment of our slaves is in the general, as mild and humane as it can be, that it must always happen, that there will be found hundreds of individuals, who, owing either to the natural ferocity of their dispositions, or to the effects of intemperance, will be guilty of cruelty and barbarity towards their slaves, which is _almost intolerable_, and at which humanity revolts."

TESTIMONY OF B. SWAIN, ESQ., OF NORTH CAROLINA.

"Let any man of spirit and feeling, for a moment cast his thoughts over this land of slavery--think of the _nakedness_ of some, the _hungry yearnings_ of others, the _flowing tears and heaving sighs_ of parting relations, the _wailings and wo, the bloody cut of the keen lash, and the frightful scream that rends the very skies_--and all this to gratify ambition, lust, pride, avarice, vanity, and other depraved feelings of the human heart.... THE WORST IS NOT GENERALLY KNOWN. Were all the miseries, the horrors of slavery, to burst at once into view, a peal of seven-fold thunder could scarce strike greater alarm."--_See "Swain's Address,"_ 1830.

TESTIMONY OF DR. JAMES C. FINLEY,

_Son of Dr. Finley, one of the founders of the Colonization Society, and brother of R.S. Finley, agent of the American Colonization Society._ Dr. J.C. Finley was formerly one of the editors of the Western Medical Journal, at Cincinnati, and is well known in the west as utterly hostile to immediate abolition.

"In almost the last conversation I had with you before I left Cincinnati, I promised to give you some account of some scenes of atrocious cruelty towards slaves, which I witnessed while I lived at the south. I almost regret having made the promise, for not only are they _so atrocious_ that you will with difficulty believe them, but I also fear that they will have the effect of driving you into that _abolitionism_, upon the borders of which you have been so long hesitating. The people of the north _are ignorant of the horrors of slavery_--of the _atrocities_ which it commits upon the unprotected slave. * * *

"I do not know that any thing could be gained by particularizing the scenes of _horrible barbarity_, which fell under my observation during my _short_ residence in one of the wealthiest, most intelligent, and most moral parts of Georgia. Their _number_ and _atrocity_ are such, that I am confident they would gain credit with none but _abolitionists_. Every thing will be conveyed in the remark, that in a state of society calculated to foster the worst passions of our nature, the slave derives _no protection_ either from _law_ or _public opinion_, and that ALL the cruelties which the Russians are reported to have acted towards the Poles, after their late subjugation, ARE SCENES OF EVERY-DAY OCCURRENCE in the southern states. This statement, incredible as it may seem, falls short, very far short of the truth."

The foregoing is extracted from a letter written by Dr. Finley to Rev. Asa Mahan, his former pastor, then of Cincinnati, now President of Oberlin Seminary.

TESTIMONY OF REV. WILLIAM T. ALLAN, OF ILLINOIS, _Son of a Slaveholder, Rev. Dr. Allan of Huntsville, Ala._

"At our house it is so common to hear their (the slaves') screams, that we think nothing of it: and lest any one should think that in _general_ the slaves are well treated, let me be distinctly understood:--_cruelty_ is the _rule_, and _kindness_ the _exception_."

Extract of a letter dated July 2d, 1834, from Mr. NATHAN COLE, of St. Louis, Missouri, to Arthur Tappan, Esq. of this city:

"I am not an advocate of the immediate and unconditional emancipation of the slaves of our country, yet _no man has ever yet depicted the wretchedness of the situation of the slaves in colors as dark for the truth_.... I know that many good people _are not aware of the treatment to which slaves are usually subjected_, nor have they any just idea of the extent of the evil."

TESTIMONY OF REV. JAMES A. THOME, _A native of Kentucky--Son of Arthur Thome Esq., till recently a Slaveholder._

"Slavery is the parent of more suffering than has flowed from any one source since the date of its existence. Such sufferings too! _Sufferings inconceivable and innumerable--unmingled wretchedness_ from the ties of nature rudely broken and destroyed, the _acutest bodily tortures, groans, tears and blood_--lying forever in weariness and painfulness, in watchings, in hunger and in thirst, in cold and nakedness.

"Brethren of the North, be not deceived. _These sufferings still exist_, and despite the efforts of their cruel authors to hush them down, and confine them within the precincts of their own plantations, they will ever and anon, struggle up and reach the ear of humanity."--_Mr. Thome's Speech at New York, May,_ 1834.

TESTIMONY OF THE MARYVILLE (TENNESSEE) INTELLIGENCER, OF OCT. 4, 1835.

The Editor, in speaking of the sufferings of the slaves which are taken by the internal trade to the South West, says:

"Place yourself in imagination, for a moment, in their condition. With _heavy galling chains_, riveted upon your person; _half-naked, half-starved_; your back _lacerated_ with the 'knotted Whip;' traveling to a region where your _condition through time will be second only to the wretched creatures in Hell_.

"This depicting is not visionary. Would to God that it was."

TESTIMONY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN SYNOD OF KENTUCKY; _A large majority of whom are slaveholders._

"This system licenses and produces _great cruelty_.

"Mangling, imprisonment, starvation, every species of torture, may be inflicted upon him, (the slave,) and he has no redress.

"There are now in our whole land two millions of human beings, exposed, defenceless, to every insult, and every injury short of maiming or death, which their fellow men may choose to inflict. _They suffer all_ that can be inflicted by wanton caprice, by grasping avarice, by brutal lust, by malignant spite, and by insane anger. Their happiness is the sport of every whim, and the prey of every passion that may, occasionally, or habitually, infest the master's bosom. If we could calculate the amount of wo endured by ill-treated slaves, it would overwhelm every compassionate heart--it would move even the obdurate to sympathy. There is also a vast sum of suffering inflicted upon the slave by humane masters, as a punishment for that idleness and misconduct which slavery naturally produces.

"_Brutal stripes_ and all the varied kinds of personal indignities, are not the only species of cruelty which slavery licenses."

TESTIMONY OF THE REV. N.H. HARDING, Pastor of the Presbyterian Church, in Oxford, North Carolina, a slaveholder.

"I am greatly surprised that you should in any form have been the apologist of a system so full of deadly poison to all holiness and benevolence as slavery, the concocted essence of fraud, selfishness, and cold hearted tyranny, and the fruitful parent of unnumbered evils, both to the oppressor and the oppressed, THE ONE THOUSANDTH PART OF WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN BROUGHT TO LIGHT."

MR. ASA A. STONE, a theological student, who lived near Natchez, (Mi.,) in 1834 and 5, sent the following with other testimony, to be published under his own name, in the N.Y. Evangelist, while he was still residing there.

"Floggings for all offences, including deficiencies in work, are _frightfully common_, and _most terribly severe._

"_Rubbing with salt and red pepper is very common after a severe whipping._"

TESTIMONY OF REV. PHINEAS SMITH, Centreville, Allegany Co., N.Y. who lived four years at the South.

"They are badly clothed, badly fed, wretchedly lodged, unmercifully whipped, from month to month, from year to year, from childhood to old age."

REV. JOSEPH M. SADD, Castile, Genessee CO. N.Y. who was till recently a preacher in Missouri, says,

"It is true that barbarous cruelties are inflicted upon them, such as terrible lacerations with the whip, and excruciating tortures are sometimes experienced from the thumb screw."

Extract of a letter from SARAH M. GRIMKÉ, dated 4th Month, 2nd, 1839

"If the following extracts from letters which I have received from South Carolina, will be of any use thou art at liberty to publish them. I need not say, that the names of the writers are withheld of necessity, because such sentiments if uttered at the south would peril their lives."

EXTRACTS

--South Carolina, 4th Month, 5th, 1835. "With regard to slavery I must confess, though we had heard a great deal on the subject, we found on coming South the _half_, the _worst_ half too, had not been told us; not that we have ourselves seen much oppression, though truly we have felt its deadening influence, but the accounts we have received from every tongue that nobly dares to speak upon the subject, are indeed _deplorable_. To quote the language of a lady, who with true Southern hospitality, received us at her mansion. "The _northern_ people don't know anything of slavery at all, they think it is _perpetual bondage merely_, but of the _depth of degradation_ that that word involves, they have no conception; if they had any just idea of it, they would I am sure use every effort until an end was put to such a shocking system.'

"Another friend writing from South Carolina, and who sustains herself the legal relation of slaveholder, in a letter dated April 4th, 1838, says--'I have some time since, given you my views on the subject of slavery, which so much engrosses your attention. I would most willingly forget what I have seen and heard in my own family, with regard to the slaves. _I shudder when I think of it_, and increasingly feel that slavery is a curse since it leads to such _cruelty_.'"

PUNISHMENTS.

I. FLOGGINGS.

The slaves are terribly lacerated with whips, paddles, &c.; red pepper and salt are rubbed into their mangled flesh; hot brine and turpentine 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 mangle their flesh in the most shocking manner, leaving permanent scars and ridges; after establishing this, we will present a mass of testimony, concerning 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 column under the word "witnesses," will be found the name of the individual, 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 which 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 advertisement, containing his or her testimony.

Mr. D. Judd, jailor, Davidson Co., Tennessee, in the "Nashville Banner," Dec. 10th, 1838.

"Committed to jail as a runaway, a negro woman named Martha, 17 or 18 years of age, has _numerous scars of the whip on her back_."

Mr. Robert Nicoll, Dauphin st. between Emmanuel and Conception st's, Mobile, Alabama, in the "Mobile Commercial Advertiser."

"Ten dollars reward for my woman Siby, _very much scarred about the neck and ears by whipping_."

Mr. Bryant Johnson, Fort Valley Houston Co., Georgia, in the "Standard of Union," Milledgeville Ga. Oct. 2, 1838. "Ranaway, a negro woman, named Maria, _some scars on her back occasioned by the whip_."

Mr. James T. De Jarnett, Vernon, Autauga Co., Alabama, in the "Pensacola Gazette," July 14, 1838.

"Stolen a negro woman, named Celia. On examining her back you will find marks _caused by the whip_."

Maurice Y. Garcia, Sheriff of the County of Jefferson, La., in the "New Orleans Bee," August, 14, 1838.

"Lodged in jail, a mulatto boy, _having large marks of the whip,_ on his shoulders and other parts of his body."

R.J. Bland, Sheriff of Claiborne Co, Miss., in the "Charleston (S.C.) Courier." August, 28, 1838.

"Was committed a negro boy, named Tom, is _much marked with the whip_."

Mr. James Noe, Red River Landing, La., in the "Sentinel," Vicksburg, Miss., August 22, 1837.

"Ranaway, a negro fellow named Dick--has _many scars on his back from being whipped."_

William Craze, jailor, Alexandria, La. in the "Planter's Intelligencer." Sept. 26, 1838.

"Committed to jail, a negro slave--his back is _very badly scarred."_

John A. Rowland, jailor, Lumberton, North Carolina, in the "Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer," June 20, 1838.

"Committed, a mulatto fellow--his back shows _lasting impressions of the whip,_ and leaves no doubt of his being A SLAVE"

J.K. Roberts, sheriff, Blount county, Ala., in the "Huntsville Democrat," Dec. 9, 1839.

"Committed to jail, a negro man--his back _much marked_ by the whip."

Mr. H. Varillat, No. 23 Girod street, New Orleans--in the "Commercial Bulletin," August 27, 1838.

"Ranaway, the negro slave named Jupiter--has a _fresh mark_ of a cowskin on one of his cheeks."

Mr. Cornelius D. Tolin, Augusta, Ga., in the "Chronicle and Sentinel," Oct. 18, 1838.

"Ranaway, a negro man named Johnson--he has a _great many marks of the whip_ on his back."

W.H. Brasseale, sheriff; Blount county, Ala., in the "Huntsville Democrat," June 9, 1838.

"Committed to jail, a negro slave named James--_much scarred_ with a whip on his back."

Mr. Robert Beasley, Macon, Ga., in the "Georgia Messenger," July 27, 1837.

"Ranaway, my man Fountain--he is marked _on the back with the whip."_

Mr. John Wotton, Rockville, Montgomery county, Maryland, in the "Baltimore Republican," Jan. 13, 1838.

"Ranaway, Bill--has _several_ LARGE SCARS on his back from a _severe_ whipping in _early life."_

D.S. Bennett, sheriff, Natchitoches, La., in the "Herald," July 21, 1838.

"Committed to jail, a negro boy who calls himself Joe--said negro bears _marks of the whip."_

Messrs. C.C. Whitehead, and R.A. Evans, Marion, Georgia, in the Milledgeville (Ga.) "Standard of Union," June 26, 1838.

"Ranaway, negro fellow John--from being whipped, has _scars on his back, arms, and thighs."_

Mr. Samuel Stewart, Greensboro', Ala., in the "Southern Advocate," Huntsville, Jan. 6, 1838.

"Ranaway, a boy named Jim--with the marks of the _whip_ on the small of the back, reaching round to the flank."

Mr. John Walker, No. 6, Banks' Arcade New Orleans, in the "Bulletin," August 11, 1838.

"Ranaway, the mulatto boy Quash--_considerably marked_ on the back and other places with the lash."

Mr. Jesse Beene, Cahawba, Ala., in the "State Intelligencer," Tuskaloosa, Dec. 25, 1837.

"Ranaway, my negro man Billy--he has the _marks of the_ whip."

Mr. John Turner, Thomaston, Upson county, Georgia--in the "Standard of Union," Milledgeville, June 26, 1838.

"Left, my negro man named George--has _marks of the whip very plain on his thighs."_

James Derrah, deputy sheriff; Claiborne county, Mi., in the "Port Gibson Correspondent," April 15, 1837.

"Committed to jail, negro man Toy--he has been _badly whipped."_

S.B. Murphy, sheriff, Wilkinson county, Georgia--in the Milledgeville "Journal," May 15, 1838.

"Brought to jail, a negro man named George--he has a _great many scars from the lash."_

Mr. L.E. Cooner, Branchville Orangeburgh District, South Carolina--in the Macon "Messenger," May 25, 1837.

"One hundred dollars reward, for my negro Glasgow, and Kate, his wife. Glasgow is 24 years old--has _marks of the whip_ on his back. Kate is 26--has a _scar_ on her cheek, _and several marks of a whip."_

John H. Hand, jailor, parish of West Feliciana, La., in the St. "Francisville Journal," July 6, 1837

"Committed to jail, a negro boy named John, about 17 years old--his back _badly marked_ with the _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 hundreds of similar ones published during the same period, with which, as the preceding are quite sufficient to show the _commonness_ of inhuman floggings in the slave states, we need not burden the reader.

The foregoing testimony is, as the reader perceives, that of the slaveholders themselves, voluntarily certifying to the outrages which their own hands have committed upon defenceless and innocent men and women, over whom they have assumed authority. We have given to _their_ testimony precedence over that of all other witnesses, for the reason that when men testify against _themselves_ they are under no temptation to exaggerate.

We will now present the testimony of a large number of individuals, with their names and residences,--persons who witnessed the inflictions to which they testify. Many of them have been slaveholders, and _all_ residents for longer or shorter periods in slave states.

Rev. JOHN H. CURTISS, a native of Deep Creek, Norfolk county, Virginia, now a local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Portage co., Ohio, testifies as follows:--

"In 1829 or 30, one of my father's slaves was accused of taking the key to the office and stealing four or five dollars: he denied it. A constable by the name of Hull was called; he took the Negro, very deliberately tied his hands, and whipped him till the blood ran freely down his legs. By this time Hull appeared tired, and stopped; he then took a rope, put a slip noose around his neck, and told the negro he was going to _kill_ him, at the same time drew the rope and began whipping: the Negro fell; his cheeks looked as though they would burst with strangulation. Hull whipped and kicked him, till I really thought he was going to kill him; when he ceased, the negro was in a complete gore of blood from head to foot."

Mr. DAVID HAWLEY, a class-leader in the Methodist Church, at St. Alban's, Licking county, Ohio, who moved from Kentucky to Ohio in 1831, testifies as follows:--

"In the year 1821 or 2, I saw a slave hung for killing his master. The master had whipped the slave's mother to DEATH, and, locking him in a room, threatened him with the same fate; and, cowhide in hand, had begun the work, when the slave joined battle and slew the master."

SAMUEL ELLISON, a member of the Society of Friends, formerly of Southampton county, Virginia, now of Marlborough, Stark county, Ohio, gives the following testimony:--

"While a resident of Southampton county, Virginia, I knew two men, after having been severely treated, endeavor to make their escape. In this they failed--were taken, tied to trees, and whipped to _death_ by their overseer. I lived a mile from the negro quarters, and, at that distance, could frequently hear the screams of the poor creatures when beaten, and could also hear the blows given by the overseer with some heavy instrument."

Major HORACE NYE, of Putnam, Ohio, gives the following testimony of Mr. Wm. Armstrong, of that place, a captain and supercargo of boats descending the Mississippi river:--

"At Bayou Sarah, I saw a slave _staked out,_ with his face to the ground, and whipped with a large whip, which laid open the flesh for about two and a half inches _every stroke._ I stayed about five minutes, but could stand it no longer, and left them whipping."

Mr. STEPHEN E. MALTBY, inspector of provisions, Skeneateles, New York, who has resided in Alabama, speaking of the condition of the slaves, says:--

"I have seen them cruelly whipped. I will relate one instance. One Sabbath morning, before I got out of my bed, I heard an outcry, and got up and went to the window, when I saw some six or eight boys, from eight to twelve years of age, near a rack (made for tying horses) on the public square. A man on horseback rode up, got off his horse, took a cord from his pocket, _tied one of the boys_ by the _thumbs_ to the rack, and with his horsewhip lashed him most severely. He then untied him and rode off without saying a word.

"It was a general practice, while I was at Huntsville, Alabama, to have a patrol every night; and, to my knowledge, this patrol was in the habit of traversing the streets with cow-skins, and, if they found any slaves out after eight o'clock without a pass, to whip them until they were out of reach, or to confine them until morning."

Mr. J.G. BALDWIN, of Middletown, Connecticut, a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, gives the following testimony:--

"I traveled at the south in 1827: when near Charlotte, N.C. a free colored man fell into the road just ahead of me, and went on peaceably.--When passing a public-house, the landlord ran out with a large cudgel, and applied it to the head and shoulders of the man with such force as to shatter it in pieces. When the reason of his conduct was asked, he replied, that he owned slaves, and he would not permit free blacks to come into his neighborhood.

"Not long after, I stopped at a public-house near Halifax, N.C., between nine and ten o'clock P.M., to stay over night. A slave sat upon a bench in the bar-room asleep. The master came in, seized a large horsewhip, and, without any warning or apparent provocation, laid it over the face and eyes of the slave. The master cursed, swore, and swung his lash--the slave cowered and trembled, but said not a word. Upon inquiry the next morning, I ascertained that the only offence was falling asleep, and this too in consequence of having been up nearly all the previous night, in attendance upon company."

Rev. JOSEPH M. SADD, of Castile, N.Y., who has lately left Missouri, where he was pastor of a church for some years, says:--

"In one case, near where we lived, a runaway slave, when brought back, was most cruelly beaten--bathed in the _usual_ liquid--laid in the sun, and a physician employed to heal his wounds:--then the same process of punishment and healing was _repeated_, _and repeated again_, and then the poor creature was sold for the New Orleans market. This account we had from the _physician himself_."