Chapter 2

The title of a possible discussion of the Negro in Louisiana presents difficulties, for there is no such word as Negro permissible in speaking of this State. The history of the State is filled with attempts to define, sometimes at the point of the sword, oftenest in civil or criminal courts, the meaning of the word Negro. By common consent, it came to mean in Louisiana, prior to 1865, slave, and after the war, those whose complexions were noticeably dark. As Grace King so delightfully puts it, "The pure-blooded African was never called colored, but always Negro." The _gens de couleur_, colored people, were always a class apart, separated from and superior to the Negroes, ennobled were it only by one drop of white blood in their veins. The caste seems to have existed from the first introduction of slaves. To the whites, all Africans who were not of pure blood were _gens de couleur_. Among themselves, however, there were jealous and fiercely-guarded distinctions: "griffes, briqués, mulattoes, quadroons, octoroons, each term meaning one degree's further transfiguration toward the Caucasian standard of physical perfection."[1]

Negro slavery in Louisiana seems to have been early influenced by the policy of the Spanish colonies. De las Casas, an apostle to the Indians, exclaimed against the slavery of the Indians and finding his efforts of no avail proposed to Charles V in 1517 the slavery of the Africans as a substitute.[2] The Spaniards refused at first to import slaves from Africa, but later agreed to the proposition and employed other nations to traffic in them.[3] Louisiana learned from the Spanish colonies her lessons of this traffic, took over certain parts of the slave regulations and imported bondmen from the Spanish West Indies. Others brought thither were Congo, Banbara, Yaloff, and Mandingo slaves.[4]

People of color were introduced into Louisiana early in the eighteenth century. In 1708, according to the historian, Gayarré, the little colony of Louisiana, at the point on the Gulf of Mexico now known as Biloxi, in the present State of Mississippi, had been in existence nine years. In 1708, the population of the colony did not exceed 279 persons. The land about this region is particularly sterile, and the colonists were little disposed to undertake the laborious task of tilling the soil. Indian slavery was attempted but found unprofitable and exceedingly precarious. So Bienville, lacking the sympathy of De las Casas for the Indians, wrote his government to obtain the authorization of exchanging Negroes for Indians with the French West Indian islands. "We shall give," he said, "three Indians for two Negroes. The Indians, when in the islands, will not be able to run away, the country being unknown to them, and the Negroes will not dare to become fugitives in Louisiana, because the Indians would kill them."[5]

Bienville's suggestion seems not to have met with a very favorable reception. Yet, in 1712, the King of France granted to Anthony Crozat the exclusive privilege for fifteen years of trading in all that immense territory which, with its undefined limits, France claimed as Louisiana. Among other privileges granted Crozat were those of sending, once a year, a ship to Africa for Negroes.[6] When the first came, is not known, but in 1713 twenty of these Negro slaves from Africa are recorded in the census of the little colony on the Mississippi.[7]

In 1717 John Law flashed meteor-wise across the world with his huge scheme to finance France out of difficulty with his Mississippi Bubble. Among other considerations mentioned in the charter for twenty-five years, which he obtained from the gullible French government, was the stipulation that before the expiration of the charter, he must transport to Louisiana six thousand white persons, and three thousand Negroes, not to be brought from another French colony. These slaves, so said the charter, were to be sold to those inhabitants who had been two years in the colony for one half cash and the balance on one year's credit. The new inhabitants had one or two years' credit granted them.[8] In the first year, the Law Company transported from Africa one thousand slaves, in 1720 five hundred, the same number the next March, and by 1721 the pages of legal enactments in the West Indies were being ransacked for precedents in dealing with this strange population. But of all these slaves who came to the colony by June, 1721, but six hundred remained. Many had died, some had been exported. In 1722, therefore, the Mississippi Company was under constraint to pass an edict prohibiting the inhabitants of Louisiana from selling their slaves for transportation out of the colony, to the Spaniards, or to any other foreign nation under the penalty of the fine of a thousand livres and the confiscation of the Negroes.[9]

But already the curse of slavery had begun to show its effects. The new colony was not immoral; it may best be described as unmoral. Indolence on the part of the masters was physical, mental and moral. The slave population began to lighten in color, and increase out of all proportion to the importation and natural breeding among themselves. La Harpe comments in 1724 upon the astonishing diminution of the white population and the astounding increase of the colored population.[10] Something was undoubtedly wrong, according to the Caucasian standard, and it has remained wrong to our own day.[11] The person of color was now, in Louisiana, a part of its social system, a creature to be legislated for and against, a person lending his dark shade to temper the inartistic complexion of his white master. Now he began to make history, and just as the trail of his color persisted in the complexion of Louisiana, so the trail of his personal influence continued in the history of the colony, the territory and the State.

Bienville, the man of far-reaching vision, saw the danger menacing the colony, and before his recall and disgrace before the French court, he published, in 1724, the famous Black Code.[12] This code followed the order of that of the West Indies but contains some provisions to meet local needs. The legal status of the slave was that of movable property of his master. Children born of Negro parents followed the condition of their mother. Slaves were forbidden to carry weapons. Slaves of different masters could not assemble in crowds by day or night. They were not permitted to sell "commodities, provisions, or produce" without permission from their masters, and had no property which did not belong to their masters. Neither free-born blacks nor slaves were allowed to receive gifts from whites. They could not exercise such public functions as arbitrator or expert, could not be partners to civil or criminal suits, could not give testimony except in default of white people, and could never testify against their masters. If a slave struck his master or one of the family so as to produce a bruise or shedding blood in the face, he had to be put to death. Any runaway slave who continued to be so from the day his master "denounced" him suffered the penalty of having his ears cut off and being branded on his shoulder with a fleur-de-lis. For a second offence the penalty was to hamstring the fugitive and brand him on the other shoulder. For the third such offence he suffered death. Freed or free-born Negroes who gave refuge to fugitive slaves had to pay 30 livres for each day of retention and other free persons 10 livres a day. If the freed or free-born Negroes were not able to pay the fine, they could be reduced to the condition of slaves and sold as such.

The slaves were socially ostracized. Marriage of whites with slaves was forbidden, as was also the concubinage of whites and manumitted or free-born blacks with slaves. The consent of the parents of a slave to his marriage was not required. That of the master was sufficient, but a slave could not be forced to marry against his will.

There were, however, somewhat favorable provisions which made this code seem a little less rigorous. The slaves had to be well fed and the masters could not force them to provide for themselves by working for their own account certain days of the week and slaves could give information against their owners, if not properly fed or clothed. Disabled slaves had to be sent to the hospital. Husbands, wives, and their children under the age of puberty could not be seized and sold separately when belonging to the same master. The code forbade the application of the rack to slaves, under any pretext, on private authority, or mutilation of a limb, under penalty of confiscation of the slave and criminal prosecution of the master. The master was allowed, however, to have his slave put in irons and whipped with rods or ropes. The code commanded officers or justices to prosecute masters and overseers who should kill or mutilate slaves, and to punish the murder according to the atrocity of the circumstance.

Other provisions were still more favorable. The slaves had to be instructed in the Catholic religion. Slaves appointed by their masters as tutors to their children were held set free. Moreover, manumitted slaves enjoyed the same rights, privileges and immunities that were enjoyed by those born free. "It is our pleasure," reads the document, "that their merit in having acquired their freedom shall produce in their favor, not only with regard to their persons, but also to their property, the same effects that our other subjects derive from the happy circumstance of their having been born free."[13]

From the first appearance of the _gens de couleur_ in the colony of Louisiana dates the class, the _gens de couleur libres_. The record of the legal tangles which resulted from the attempts to define this race in Louisiana is most interesting. Up to 1671, all Creoles, Mulattoes, free Negroes, etc., paid a capitation tax. In February 12 of that year, M. de Baas, Governor-General of Martinique, issued an order exempting the Creoles. Those Mulattoes who were also designated as Creoles claimed the same exemption and resisted paying the tax. M. Patoulet, Intendent, rendered a decision in 1683 and said: "The Mulattoes and free Negroes claimed to be exempt from the capitation tax: I have made them pay without difficulty. I decide that those Mulattoes born in vice should not receive the exemption, and that for the free Negro, the master could give him freedom but could not give him the exemption that attaches to the whites originally from France."[14] The next year, the Mulattoes refused to pay, and the successor of Minister Patoulet, M. Michel Begou, asked for a law to compel them.[15] In 1696, an agreement was reached exempting the Mulattoes and Creoles, leaving only the free black subject to the tax.[16] But in 1712, a M. Robert, in a decision on a subject, again included the Mulattoes, without, however, mentioning the Creoles, so that only the free Negroes and Mulattoes paid.[17] Thus they were held as a class apart. A free Negro woman, Magdelaine Debern, further contested the matter, and in 1724, in the colony of Louisiana, won a decision exempting free Negroes and Mulattoes, and again placing them on the same footing with the Creole. The Creoles had a decided advantage, however, because through the favor of those in authority, there was always a disposition to exalt them.[18]

It is in the definition of the word Creole that another great difficulty arises. The native white Louisianian will tell you that a Creole is a white man, whose ancestors contain some French or Spanish blood in their veins. But he will be disputed by others, who will gravely tell you that Creoles are to be found only in the lower Delta lands of the state, that there are no Creoles north of New Orleans; and will raise their hands in horror at the idea of being confused with the "Cajans," the descendants of those Nova Scotians whom Longfellow immortalized in Evangeline. Sifting down the mass of conflicting definitions, it appears that to a Caucasian, a Creole is a native of the lower parishes of Louisiana, in whose veins some traces of Spanish, West Indian or French blood runs.[19] The Caucasian will shudder with horror at the idea of including a person of color in the definition, and the person of color will retort with his definition that a Creole is a native of Louisiana, in whose blood runs mixed strains of everything un-American, with the African strain slightly apparent. The true Creole is like the famous gumbo of the state, a little bit of everything, making a whole, delightfully flavored, quite distinctive, and wholly unique.

From 1724 to the present time, frequent discussions as to the proper name by which to designate this very important portion of the population of Louisiana waged more or less acrimoniously.[20] It was this Creole element who in 1763 obtained a decision from Louis XV that all mixed bloods who could claim descent from an Indian ancestor in addition to a white outranked those mixed bloods who had only white and African ancestors.[21] In Jamaica, in 1733, there was passed a law that every person who could show that he was three degrees removed from a Negro ancestor should be regarded as belonging to the white race, and could sit as a member of the Jamaica Assembly.[22] In Barbadoes, any person who had a white ancestor could vote. These laws were quoted in Louisiana and influenced legislation there.[23]

Gov. Perier succeeded Bienville as Governor of Louisiana. His task was not a light one; the colony staggered under "terror of attack from the Indians, sudden alarms, false hopes, anxious suspense, militia levies, colonial paper, instead of good money, industrial stagnation, the care of homeless refugees, and worst of all, the restiveness of the slaves. The bad effects of slave-holding began to show themselves." Many of the slaves had been taken in war, and were fierce and implacable. Some were of that fiercest of African tribes, the Banbaras. A friendliness, born of common hatred and despair, began to show itself between the colored people and the fierce Choctaw Indians surrounding the colony, when Gov. Perier planned a master-stroke of diplomacy. Just above New Orleans lived a small tribe of Indians, the Chouchas, who, not particularly harmful in themselves, had succeeded in inspiring the nervous inhabitants of the city with abject fear. Perier armed a band of slaves in 1729 and sent them to the Chouchas with instructions to exterminate the tribe. They did their work with an ease and dispatch that should have been a warning to their white masters. In reporting the success of his plan Perier said: "The Negroes executed their mission with as much promptitude as secrecy. This lesson taught them by our Negroes, kept in check all the nations higher up the river."[24] Thus, by one stroke the wily Governor had intimidated the tribes of Indians, allayed the nervous fears of New Orleans, and effected a state of hostility between the Indians and the Africans, who were beginning to be entirely too friendly with each other. Then Perier used the slaves to make the entrenchments about the city. Thus we have the first instance of the arming of the Negro in Louisiana for the defense of the colony. On the 15th of January, 1730, Gov. Perier sent a boat containing twenty white men and six Africans to carry ammunition to the Illinois settlement up the Mississippi river whence tales of massacre and cruelty by the Indians filtered down.[25]

The arming of the slaves in defense of the whites gave impetus to the struggle for their own freedom. In the massacre of the French by the Natchez, at the village of that name, over three hundred women and slaves were kept as prisoners, and in January of the same year which witnessed the massacre of the Chouchas, the French surprised the Natchez Indians with the intention of recovering their women and slaves, and avenging the death of their comrades. Some of the Africans who had been promised their freedom if they allied themselves with the Natchez Indians, fought against their erstwhile masters, others were loyal, and helped the French. The battle became an issue, as it were, between the slaves. Over one hundred of them were recovered from the Indians.[26]

The first tribute we have paid to the black man as a soldier in Louisiana was paid by Gov. Perier in this war in his dispatch to the French government. "Fifteen negroes," he wrote, "in whose hands we had put weapons, performed prodigies of valor. If the blacks did not cost so much, and if their labors were not so necessary to the colony, it would be better to turn them into soldiers, and to dismiss those we have, who are so bad and so cowardly that they seem to have been manufactured purposely for this colony."[27]

But the tiger had tasted blood. Perier's cruel logic was reactionary. Since he had used blacks to murder Indians in order to make bad blood between the races, the Indians retaliated by using blacks to murder white men. In August of that same fateful year, the Chickasaws, who had given asylum to the despoiled Natchez in order to curb the encroachments of the white men, stirred the black slaves to revolt. We have noted before the prevalence of the Banbara Negroes in the colony. It was they who planned the rebellion. Their plan was, after having butchered the whites, to establish a Banbara colony, keeping as slaves for themselves all blacks not of their nation. The conspiracy was discovered by the hints of a woman in the revolt before it had time to ripen, and the head of the revolt, a powerful black named Samba with eight of his confederates was broken on the wheel, and the woman hanged.[28]

Gov. Perier's administration did not lack interest. The next year, in 1731, we find him still struggling with his old enemies, the Natchez. His dispatches mention that a crew under one De Coulanges, with Indians and free blacks had been massacred by the Indians. One dispatch has the greatest interest for us, because of the expression "free blacks"[29] used. Here is one of the great mysteries of the person of color in Louisiana. Whence the free black? We are told explicitly that up to this time all Negroes imported into Louisiana were slaves from Africa, for the West Indian migration did not occur until a half century later. This dispatch from Gov. Perier recalls articles in the Black Code of 1724, where explicit directions are given for the disposition of the children of free blacks. In the regulations of police under the governorship of the Marquis of Vandreuil, 1750, there is an article regulating the attitude of free Negroes and Negresses toward slaves. Here is the very beginning of that aristocracy of freedom so fiercely and jealously guarded until this day, a free person of color being set as far above his slave fellows as the white man sets himself above the person of color. Three explanations for this aristocracy seem highly probable: Some slaves might have been freed by their masters because of valor on the battlefield, others by buying their freedom in terms of money, and not a few slave women by their owners because of their personal attractions. It makes little difference in this story which of the three or whether all of the three were contributors to the rise of this new class. It existed as early as 1724, twelve years after the first recorded slave importation. It was in 1766 that some Acadians, complaining of their treatment to the Governor Ulloa, represented that Negroes were freemen while they were slaves.

Bienville returned to the colony as its governor in 1733, after an absence of eight years, and it is recorded that in 1735, when he reviewed his troops near Mobile while making preparations for an Indian war, he found that his army from New Orleans consisted of five hundred and forty-four white men, excluding the officers, and forty-five Negroes commanded by free blacks.[30] Here we note free black officers of Negro troops in 1735. If not actually the first regular Negro troops to appear in what is now the United States, they were certainly the first to be commanded by Negro officers.

The engagement with the Choctaw Indians was not altogether successful for the French. Disaster succeeded disaster, and the day closed with the French army deeply humiliated, and making a retreat as dignified as possible under the circumstances. A number of the French officers, as Gayarré tells us, stood under the shade of a gigantic oak discussing the defeat, and with them Simon, a free black, the commander of the troop of Negroes. He was deeply vexed because his troops had not stood fire, and expressed himself with so much freedom and disgust, that the French officers kept bantering him without mercy at the timidity of his soldiers, soothing their own wounded pride by laughing at his mortification. Stung to the heart, Simon finally exclaimed wrathfully, "A Negro is as brave as anybody and I will show it to you." Seizing a rope which was dangling from one of the tents, he rushed headlong toward one of the horses which were quietly slaking their thirst under the protection of the Indian muskets. To reach a white mare, to jump on her back with the agility of a tiger, and to twist around her head and mouth the rope with which to control her, was the affair of an instant. But that instant was enough for the apparently sleeping Indian village to show itself awake, and to flash forth into a hail of bullets. Away dashed Simon toward the Indian village, and back to the French camp where he arrived safe amid the cheering acclamations of the troops, and without having received a wound from the shots of the enemy.[31] This feat silenced at once the jests of the French officers, of which Simon thought himself the victim.[32]

The beginning of the Revolutionary war in 1776 found Louisiana a Spanish province and the natives of the colony beginning to tolerate and even to like their erstwhile hated Spanish masters. Don Bernardo de Galvez was governor of the colony. His administration has a peculiar interest to us, because it was during his rule that the Court of Madrid, fully alive to the policy of extending the agriculture of Louisiana, issued a decree permitting the introduction of Negroes into Louisiana by French vessels, from whatever ports they might come.[33] This was the beginning of the rapid migration from the West Indian islands.

While Andrew Jackson was still a child, Louisiana had a deliverer from the British in the person of this brave Gov. Galvez. The strategical importance of the Mississippi River and of New Orleans was at once apparent to the British commanders, and Louisiana, being neutral territory, offered a most fascinating field of operation. Galvez, in July, 1777, had secured declaration of neutrality from the 25,000 or more Creeks, Choctaws and Chickasaws, but even this did not seem to satisfy the combatants. New Orleans was at the mercy of first the American troops and then the British. The mediation of Spain between France and England having been rejected in the courts of Europe, Spain decided to join France in the struggle against Great Britain. So on May 8, 1779, Spain formally declared war against Great Britain, and on July 8 authorized all Spanish subjects in America to take their share in the hostilities against the English. No news could be more welcome to the dashing young Galvez, to whom a policy of neutrality was decidedly distasteful. He decided to forestall the attack on New Orleans, which he had learned was to be made by the British, by attacking first, and on August 26 gathered his little army together. From New Orleans, as Gayarré tells, were 170 veteran soldiers, 330 recruits, 20 carabiniers, 60 militiamen, and 80 free blacks and mulattoes. On the way up the river, they were reinforced by 600 men from the coast of "every condition and color," besides 160 Indians.[34]

On the march, the colored men and Indians were ordered to keep ahead of the main body of troops, at a distance of about three quarters of a mile, and closely to reconnoitre the woods. In capturing the two forts of Baton Rouge and Natchez, which were held by the British, Galvez found a considerable number of Negro slaves who had been armed by the British. Many of these he set free. In his dispatch to his government at Madrid, Galvez reports that the companies of free blacks and mulattoes, who had been employed in all the false attacks, and who, as scouts and skirmishers, had proved exceedingly useful, behaved on all occasions with as much valor and generosity as the white soldiers.[35] But not alone were the exploits of Galvez's little army celebrated in history. Poetry added her laurel wreath to its crown. Julien Poydras de Lalande, known to all Louisianians as Poydras, celebrated the victory in a poem, "The God of the Mississippi," wherein the brave deeds of the army, white and colored, are hailed in French verse, lame and halting, it may be in places, but impartial in its tribute.

The close of the Revolutionary war found the colony partially paralyzed as to industry. During the Spanish domination the indigo industry declined, tobacco was difficult to raise, and the production of cotton was not then profitable. Sugar raising was the only other industry to which they could turn. In 1751 the Jesuit fathers had received their first seed, or rather layers, from Santo Domingo and from that time sugar-cane had been grown with more or less success. But it was a strictly local industry. The Louisianians were poor sugar-makers. The stuff was badly granulated and very moist, and when in 1765 an effort was made to export some of the sugar to France, it was so wet that half of the cargo leaked out of the ship before it could make port. It was just at this psychological moment, in 1791 to 1794, when the planters of the lower Delta saw ruin staring them in the face, that there came to the rescue of the colony a man of color, one of the refugees from Santo Domingo, where the blacks had risen in 1791. From the failure of this abortive attempt to emulate the spirit of the white man, refugees flew in every direction, and Louisiana welcomed them, if not exactly with open arms, at least with more indifference than other colonies. And these black refugees were her saviors. For they had been prosperous sugar-makers, and the efforts to make marketable sugar in Louisiana, which had ceased for nearly twenty-five years, were revived. Two Spaniards, Mendez and Solis, erected on the outskirts of New Orleans, the one a distillery, the other a battery of sugar-kettles, and manufactured rum and syrup. Still, the efforts were not entirely successful, until Etienne de Boré appeared. Face to face with ruin because of the failure of the indigo crop, he staked his all on the granulation of sugar. He enlisted the services of these successful Santo Dominicans, and went to work. In all American history there can be fewer scenes more dramatic than the one described by careful historians of Louisiana, the day when the final test was made and there was passed around the electrical word, "It granulates!"[36]

That year de Boré marketed $12,000 worth of super or sugar. The agriculture of the Delta was revolutionized; seven years afterwards New Orleans marketed 2,000,000 gallons of rum, 250,000 gallons of molasses, and 5,000,000 pounds of sugar. It was the beginning of the commercial importance of one of the most progressive cities in the country. Imagination refuses to picture what would have been the case but for the refugees from San Domingo.

But the same revolution which gave to Louisiana its prestige to the commercial world, almost starved the province to death. In the year 1791, the trade, which had flourished briskly between Santo Domingo and New Orleans, was closed because of the uprising, and but for Philadelphia, famine would have decimated the city. 1,000 barrels of flour were sent in haste to the starving city by the good Quakers of Philadelphia. The members of the Cabildo, the local council, prohibited the introduction of people of color from Santo Domingo, fearing the dangerous ideas of the brotherhood of man. But it was too late. The news of the success of the slaves in Santo Domingo, and the success of the French Revolution, says Gayarré, had penetrated into the most remote cabins of Louisiana, and in April, 1795, on the plantation of the same Poydras who had sung the glory of the army of Galvez, a conspiracy was formed for a general uprising of the slaves throughout the parish of Pointe Coupée. The leaders were three white men. The conspiracy failed because one of the leaders was incensed at his advice not being heeded and through his wife the authorities were notified. A struggle ensued, and the conspiracy was strangled in its infancy by the trial and execution of the slaves most concerned in the insurrection. The three white men were exiled from the colony.[37] This finally ended the importation of slaves from the West Indies.

ALICE DUNBAR-NELSON

FOOTNOTES:

[1] King, "New Orleans, the Place and the People during the Ancien Regime," 333.

[2] De las Casas, "Historia, General," IV, 380.

[3] Herrera, "Historia General," dec. IV, libro II; dec. V, libro II; dec. VII, libro IV.

[4] French, "Historical Collections of Louisiana," Part V, 119 et seq.

[5] Gayarré, "History of Louisiana," 4th Edition, I, 242, 254.

[6] French, "Historical Collections of Louisiana," Part III, p. 42.

[7] Gayarré, "History of Louisiana," I, 102.

[8] Gayarré, "History of Louisiana," I, 242, 454.

[9] Ibid., I, 366.

[10] Ibid., I, 365-366.

[11] In 1900 a writer in Pearson's Magazine in discussing race mixture in early Louisiana made some startling statements as to the results of the miscegenation of these stocks during the colonial period.

[12] Code Noir, 1724.

[13] Code Noir.

[14] Lebeau, De la condition des gens de couleur libres sous l'ancien régime, p. 49.

[15] Ibid., 49.

[16] Ibid., 50.

[17] Ibid., 51.

[18] In the treaty of 1803 between the newly acquired territory of Louisiana and the government of the United States, they and all mixed bloods were granted full citizenship.

[19] Most writers of our day adhere to this definition. See Grace King, "New Orleans, etc.," and Gayarré, "History of Louisiana."

[20] Lebeau, De la condition des gens de couleur libres sous l'ancien régime, passim.

[21] Ibid., 60.

[22] Laws of Jamaica.

[23] Litigation on the subject of the definition of the free person of color reached its climax in the year of our Lord, 1909, when Judge Frank D. Chretien defined the word Negro as differentiated from person of color as used in Louisiana. The case, as it was argued in court, was briefly this. It was charged that one Treadway, a white man, was living in illegal relations with an octoroon, Josephine Lightell. The District Attorney claimed that any one having a trace of African blood in his veins, however slight, should be classed as a Negro. Counsel for the defence had taken the position that Josephine Lightell had so little Negro blood in her veins that she could not be classed as one. Judge Chretien held in his ruling that local opinion, custom and sentiment had previously agreed in holding that the black, and not the white blood settled the ethnological status of each person and that an octoroon, no less than a quadroon and a mulatto, had been considered a Negro. But he held that if the Caucasian wished to be considered the superior race, and that if his blood be considered the superior element in the infusion, then the Caucasian and not the Negro blood must determine the status of a person. The case went to the Supreme Court of Louisiana on an appeal from the decision of Judge Chretien who held that a mulatto is not a Negro in legal parlance. The Supreme Court in a decision handed down April 25, 1910, sustained the view of Judge Chretien. This decision was an interpretation of an act of 1908 which set forth a definition of the word Negro.--See State vs. Treadway, 126 Louisiana, 300.

[24] Gayarré, "History of Louisiana," I, 444, 448.

[25] Ibid., I, 365, 442, 454.

[26] Ibid., I, 448.

[27] Gayarré, "History of Louisiana," I, 435.

[28] Ibid., 440.

[29] Ibid., I, 444.

[30] Dumont, "Memoires Historiques sur la Louisiane," 225, 226.

[31] Another interesting story is related by Dumont, a historian of Louisiana, who published a work in 1753. The colony was then under the administration of Gov. Kerlerec, whose opinion of colonial courage was not very high. The colony was without an executioner, and no white man could be found who would be willing to accept the office. It was decided finally by the council to force it upon a Negro blacksmith belonging to the Company of the Indies, named Jeannot, renowned for his nerve and strength. He was summoned and told that he was to be appointed executioner and made a free man at the same time. The stalwart fellow started back in anguish and horror, "What! cut off the heads of people who have never done me any harm?" He prayed, he wept, but saw at last that there was no escape from the inflexible will of his masters. "Very well," he said, rising from his knees, "wait a moment." He ran to his cabin, seized a hatchet with his left hand, laid his right hand on a block of wood and cut it off. Returning, without a word he exhibited the bloody stump to the gentlemen of the council. With one cry, it is said, they sprang to his relief, and his freedom was given him.--Dumont, "Memoires Historiques sur la Louisiane," 244, 246.

The story is also told by Grace King of one slave, an excellent cook, who had once served a French governor. When, in one of her periodic transitions from one government to another, Louisiana became the property of Spain, the "Cruel" O'Reilly was made governor of the colony. He was execrated as were all things sent by Spain or pertaining to Spanish rule. However, having heard of the fame of the Negro cook, he sent for him. "You belong now," said he, "to the king of Spain, and until you are sold, I shall take you into my service." "Do not dare it;" answered the slave, "you killed my master, and I would poison you." O'Reilly dismissed him unpunished.--Gayarré, "History of Louisiana," II, 344.

[32] Gayarré, "History of Louisiana," I, 480.

[33] Ibid., III, 108.

[34] Gayarré, "History of Louisiana," III, 108.

[35] Ibid., III, 126-132.

[36] Gayarré, "History of Louisiana," III, 348.

[37] Gayarré, "History of Louisiana," III, 354.

THE DEFEAT OF THE SECESSIONISTS IN KENTUCKY IN 1861

The treatment of the Border States in the crisis of 1861 has received from historians the same attention as Saxony, the objective point between Prussia and Austria in the Seven Years' War. Directing special attention to Kentucky requires some explanation. The possession of this commonwealth was for several reasons more important than that of some other border States. The transportation facilities afforded by the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers furnished the key to carrying out the plan to divide the South. The possession of the State by the Confederates was of strategic importance for the invasion of the North too for the reason that the Ordinance of 1787 had been so interpreted as to fix the boundary of Kentucky on the north side of the Ohio River. It was, moreover, the native State of Abraham Lincoln and it was important to have that commonwealth support this untrained backwoodsman whom most statesmen considered incapable of administering the affairs of the nation.

In the beginning, the situation was not the least encouraging to the Unionists. The Breckenridge Democrats had carried the State in 1859 on a platform favoring Southern rights. Their chief spokesman had become such a defender of their faith that in 1860 he was chosen to lead the radically proslavery party which had come to the point of so doubting the orthodoxy of their Northern adherents as to deem it advisable to separate from them. Unalterably in favor of the rights of the slave States, the leaders of this persuasion had expressed themselves in terms that could not be misunderstood.[1] One of their spokesmen Humphrey Marshall contended that slavery is not a creature of municipal law. He believed that the institution followed the flag. He wanted Union but only with that equality which involved the recognition of the right of property in slaves everywhere.[2] Speaking in the House of Representatives on January 30, 1861, John W. Stephenson, another of this faction, said on the same topic: "Equality underlaid the whole Federal structure, and protection to persons and property within the Federal jurisdiction, was the price of allegiance of the States to such General Government, as delegated and prescribed in the constitution. Wherever the American banner floated upon the seas or land, all beneath it was entitled to the protection of the flag."[3]

On this question, their leader John C. Breckenridge, "a believer in the old Democratic creed and a supporter of the South and her institutions,"[4] took the same, if not higher ground. Referring to the Dred Scott decision in a speech delivered in Ashland, Kentucky, in 1859, Breckenridge said: "After this decision we had arrived at a point where we might reasonably expect tranquillity and peace. The equality of rights and property of all the states in the common Territory, having been stamped by the seal of judicial authority, all good citizens might well acquiesce."[5] When the Southern States seceded because of the threatened infringement of these rights, the President of the United States, according to Breckenridge, had no right to enlist men and no right to blockade the Southern ports, in short, no right to wage war on these commonwealths. Lincoln had thus overthrown constitutional government. If he was trying to preserve the Union, he must do it in a constitutional way. Breckenridge wanted the Union but contended that it would be no good without the Constitution.[6] To sum up, as Southern Democrats they had helped to disrupt the Charleston Convention, and developing into a strict Southern rights party, they had through bolting made possible the election of Abraham Lincoln. They then finally joined the States' rights party, which, boldly declaring the election of Lincoln a just cause for the dissolution of the Union, undertook to secede.[7]

With such radical leaders in control it might seem strange that, in a State formed from an aristocratic commonwealth like Virginia and extending into the fertile region of the Mississippi, these protagonists of States' rights did not turn Kentucky over to the Confederacy. Exactly what part did the rich slaveholders play during this crisis when the State was called upon to decide the question between the North and South? What was the position of such influential men as James B. Clay, George B. Hodge, Cerro Gordo Williams, T. P. Porter, Roger W. Hansom, and S. B. Buckner?[8]

Other representative citizens, however, had been equally outspoken in favor of the Union. Voicing the sentiment of the Union party, which on the eighth of January met in Louisville to take steps to support the Federal Government, Bell said: "Let us offer everything we can to avert the torrent of evil, but let us always stand ready to support our rights in the Union: the State is deeply and devotedly attached to the Union."[9] Garrett Davis inquired: "Will you preserve the Union or rush into the vortex of revolution under the name of secession?"[10] J. T. Boyle said in the same convention that there could be no benefit or advantage, no civil or political rights, no interest of any kind whatever, secured by government in the Southern Confederacy which the people did not then enjoy in the "blessed Union formed by our fathers." In his opinion, it was the duty of Kentuckians "to stand by the Star Spangled Banner and cling to the Union."[11] Some of the most influential newspapers were fearlessly advocating the Union cause. Among others were the Frankfort _Daily Commonwealth_, the Louisville _Courier_ and the _Democrat_.

Exactly what support these leaders of the differing factions would obtain was determined by forces for centuries at work in that State. Southerners who thought that, because Kentucky was a slave State it should go with the South, had failed to take these causes into consideration. In the first place, not every slaveholder was an ardent proslavery agitator. There were masters who like Henry Clay considered slavery an evil and hoped to see it abolished, but while the majority of their fellow countrymen held on to it they did so too. Many Kentuckians, moreover, were like that restless class of Westerners who, dissatisfied with the society based on slavery, had taken up land beyond the mountains, where the poor man could toil up from poverty.[12] Kentucky was the first section west of the Allegheny mountains settled by these daring adventurers because they were there cut off from the North by the French and from the South by the Spanish, and in Kentucky, a section hemmed in by these foreign possessions, the settlers were less liable to be disturbed. And even when the barrier of foreign claims had been removed, the movement of population from the East to the West took place along lines leading to the States later organized in the West rather than into Kentucky. The people of Kentucky, therefore, were not radically changed in a day by the influx of population. On the contrary, many of them, especially the mountaineers, have not changed since the days of Boone and Henderson. Some of them having left the uplands of the colonies because they were handicapped by slavery, were naturally opposed to the bold claims of that institution in 1861. They, like the Westerners, learned to look to the General Government for the establishment of commonwealths, the building of forts, and the maintenance of troops,[13] and, therefore, adhered to it when it was threatened with destruction.

Another cause, moreover, was equally as potential. In Kentucky as in some other Southern States, there had grown up a considerable number of prosperous country towns, where resided lawyers, merchants, bankers, teachers, and mechanics, who had little property interest in slavery, who felt their own "intellectual superiority to the country squires and their fox-hunting, horse-racing, quarrelsome sons, and who consequently asserted social independence of them and social equality with them."[14] They were hostile to the aristocratic masters, whom they generally denounced as "oligarchs," "slavocrats," "Lords of the Lash," and "Terror Engenders."[15] This mercantile and professional class, inspired by such men as Hinton Rowan Helper, contemplated the removal of the Negroes and the bringing of white laborers into the South.[16]

In view of this cleavage, it was difficult in the beginning of the struggle to characterize the situation. There were unconditional Secessionists and unconditional Union men. Judging from the condition then obtaining, no one could tell exactly which way the State would go. "Sympathy, blood, and the community of social feeling growing out of slavery," says one, "inclined her to the South; her political faith which Clay more than any other man had inspired her with and which Crittenden now loyally represented held her fast to the Union."[17] Many of the people, though believing in States' rights, did not think that the grievances of the South were such as to justify secession. At the same time they opposed "coercion," and since a reconstructed Union was impossible they would have solved the difficulty by peaceful separation. Writing to Gen. McClellan June 8, 1861, Garrett Davis said: "The sympathy for the South and the inclination to secession among our people is much stronger in the southwestern corner of the state than it is in any other part, and as you proceed toward the upper section of the Ohio and our Virginia line, it gradually becomes weaker until it is almost wholly lost.... I doubt not that two thirds of our people are unconditionally for the Union. The timid are for it and they shrink from convulsion and civil war, while all the bold, the reckless, and the bankrupt are for secession."[18] This categorical distinction, however, is hardly right. There were Kentuckians of representative families on both sides in all parts of the State except in the extreme West.[19] A careful study of the facts, however, leads one to the conclusion that even in the beginning there were more Unionists than Secessionists. The Unionists, unhappily, were not organized while the Secessionists were led by the State officials, chief among whom was Governor Magoffin.

When the Southern States began to secede Governor Magoffin called a special session of the State legislature, thinking that he could have a secession convention called. He said in part: "I therefore submit to your consideration the propriety of providing for the election of delegates to a convention to be assembled at an early day to which shall be referred for full and final determination the future of the Federal and interstate relations of Kentucky." He further said: "Kentucky will not be an indifferent observer of the force policy. The seceding States have not in their haste and inconsiderate action our approval, but their cause is our right and they have our sympathies. The people of Kentucky will never stand by with folded arms while those States are struggling for their constitutional rights and resisting oppression and being subjugated to an anti-slavery government."[20] He believed that the idea of coercion, when applied to great political communities, is revolting to a free people, contrary to the spirit of our institutions, and if successful would endanger the liberties of the people.[21] But the legislature did not provide for such a convention. On the eleventh of February this body adjourned. It reassembled on the twentieth of March and remained in session until the fourth of April, but still these important matters were not decided. Pursuant to another call of the Governor, it reassembled on the 6th of May and sat until the twenty-fourth of May when it adjourned. On the second of September the legislature elected in August came in, but still the important question as to what should be done hung in the balance. At first there came up the resolutions introduced by George W. Ewing on the twenty-first of January, expressing regret that certain States had furnished men and money for the coercion of the seceded States, and requesting the Governor of Kentucky to notify such States that should attempts be made to coerce these commonwealths, Kentucky would join the South.[22] This resolution passed the House but did not pass the whole legislature as so many have said. A resolution for calling a convention to amend the Constitution of the United States was passed.[23] Several distinguished men of Kentucky sat in this convention which was in session from the fourth to the twenty-second of February without accomplishing anything.

The majority of Kentuckians were then neutral. There were two classes of neutrals, however. This was easily possible since neutrality meant one thing to one man and a different thing to another. Each faction looked forward to the adoption of this policy as a victory over the other. The Unionists accepted it as the best policy, not knowing that, taking such a position, they would aid the Confederacy. Even John J. Crittenden had this idea. He said: "If Kentucky and the other border States should assume this attitude, war between the two sections of the country would be averted and the Confederate states after a few years' trial of their experiment would return voluntarily to the Union." [24]

Neutrality was considered a necessity for another reason; namely, the expected short duration of the war. No one believed at first that the war would last long. Even Lincoln thought that it would be over in ninety days. Some, therefore, felt that Kentucky would be foolish to cause blood to be shed on her soil when the war could easily be kept out of the State three months. This sentiment, however, must not be misunderstood as evincing a lack of interest in the Union, for in the address declaring for neutrality these same leaders said that the dismemberment of the Union was no remedy for existing evils but an aggravation of them all.[25] To many Unionists neutrality meant going slowly in the right direction. It was in keeping with Lincoln's plan not to go so rapidly toward "coercion" in Kentucky as he had in the other border States.

How then did the neutrality policy work out? On the twenty-ninth of January R. T. Jacob introduced in the lower house of the legislature a resolution declaring that the proper position of Kentucky was that of a mediator between the sections, and that as an umpire she would remain firm and impartial in that day of trial to their "beloved country that by counsel and mediation she might aid in restoring peace and harmony and brotherly love." Giving the reasons for adopting such a policy Jacob said:

"This leading sentiment of mediation was indorsed by the Union men of both Houses of the Legislature.... Some may say, why did not the Kentucky Legislature go for coercion? For two reasons: First, some States, it is true had seceded from the Union, but war had not actually commenced: second, the men at that time who would have undertaken to force coercion upon the Legislature would have been in the hopeless minority and would have immediately given a majority to the secessionists. It would have ended in total destruction to the cause of the Union in the State. Those resolutions were for two purposes. In good faith they were intended to compromise all difference between the States, and if possible to restore peace between sections. If that failed, they were intended to hold, if possible, our meagre majority until the people could act and we had no doubt that when they did speak it would be in unmistakable tones for the preservation of the Union."[26]

No action was taken on these resolutions, but on the eleventh of February there was passed a joint measure, entitled "Resolutions Declaring action by the Legislature on political affairs unnecessary and inexpedient at this time,"[27] These resolutions mentioned the great danger which environed the Union, asked the Confederates to stay the work of secession and protested against coercion. The last resolution favored the calling of a convention to amend the Constitution of the United States. Significant too for the Unionists were the last words: "It is unnecessary and inexpedient for the Legislature to take any further action on the subject at the present time, and as an evidence of the sincerity and good faith of our propositions for an adjustment and our expression of devotion to the Union and the desire for its preservation Kentucky awaits with great solicitude the responses from her sister States."[28]

Neutrality, however, became the accepted policy of so many that it proved to be dangerous. The Union State Committee, in drawing up on the eighteenth of April a resolution to please all, seemingly pledged the State to join the South. These resolutions were severely criticised by the Unionists, especially that part which says: "What the future destiny of Kentucky may be we cannot with certainty foresee. But if the enterprise announced in the proclamation of the President should at any time hereafter assume the aspect of a war for overrunning and subjugation of the seceding States, then Kentucky ought to take her stand for the South." [29] Many thought that this obligated Kentucky to go with the South. Unionists of other States considered it a victory for the Confederacy. This committee, however, stipulated this proposition to satisfy those sympathizers with the South, who believed all the bad reports concerning the functionaries of the Federal Government, circulated by the leaders of the Confederacy. Hence, they said in this proposition not that Kentucky would go with the South, but if at any time thereafter the President's proclamation should assume the aspect of war, it would do so. They evidently did not believe that it had or would assume such an aspect. They were also trying to pacify those who misunderstood the issues of "subjugation" and "coercion."[30] The relation of the States to the Union was yet a problem to many a statesman. Many thought that the colonists when in a state of nature came together and agreed to a compact, giving up some of their sovereignty and retaining the other, and, therefore, had the right to withdraw at pleasure, carrying a part of the national property with them. Such thinkers contended too that the Union had no right to "coerce" a seceded State. Calhoun had said that because the Union was a compact it could be broken; on the other hand, Jackson had said that because it was a compact it could not be broken. Now it was difficult for Kentuckians to decide who was right. That the committee had no intention of going with the Confederacy may be seen from the following declaration: "Seditious leaders in the midst of us now appeal to her (Kentucky) to furnish troops to uphold those combinations against the government of the Union. Will she comply with this appeal? Ought she to comply with it? We answer, no."[31]

While these things were going on, the great question of Fort Sumter was before the people. When the fort was finally bombarded and Lincoln called for seventy-five thousand troops Gov. Magoffin politely refused to comply. His reply was: "I say emphatically Kentucky will furnish no troops for the wicked purpose of subduing her sister Southern States."[32] He had already been much moved by the large vote given the delegates to the Border States Convention, indicating such a growth of Union sentiment that he called the legislature together, hoping to win the day for secession by changing the policy of the State from mediatorial to armed neutrality, resisting all forces, whether Confederate or Federal, which might bring war into the State. The body met on the sixteenth of May, passed a resolution of mediatorial neutrality and approved the Governor's refusal to furnish troops under the existing circumstances.[33] This, however, did not mean that the legislature was in sympathy with the efforts of the Governor to support the Southern cause. Writing to Gen. Scott, John J. Crittenden explained it thus:

"The position of Kentucky and the relation she occupies toward the government of the Union is not, I fear, understood at Washington. It ought to be well understood. Very important consequences may depend upon it and upon her proper treatment. Unfortunately for us our Governor does not sympathize with Kentucky in respect to secession. His opinions and feelings incline him strongly to the side of the South. His answer to the requisition for troops was in terms hasty and unbecoming and does not correspond with the usual and gentlemanly courtesy. But while she regretted the language of his answer, Kentucky acquiesced in his declining to furnish the troops called for, and she did so not because she loved the Union less but she feared that if she had parted with those troops and sent them to serve in your ranks, she would have been overwhelmed by secessionists at home, and severed from the Union. And it was to preserve substantially and ultimately our connection with the Union that induced us to acquiesce in the partial infraction of it by our Governor's refusal of the troops required. This was the most prevailing and general motive. To this may be added the strong indisposition of our people to a civil war with the South, and the apprehended consequences of a civil war within our state and among our people.... I think Kentucky's excuse a good one and that under all the circumstances of a complicated case she is rendering better service in her present position than she could by becoming an active party in the contest."[34]

The fact is that secession had little chance in Kentucky after public opinion found expression. Neutrality early became the order of the day. The elections of 1861 were significant in that they gave the people a chance to express their will. It should be borne in mind that the legislature of 1859 was elected when the question of union or disunion was not before the people. Now in 1861 they had to elect members to the Border State Convention, a new legislature, and congressmen to represent Kentucky at the special session called by President Lincoln. In all these elections, Unionists won. Some historians like Smith and Shaler[35] seem to think that the State had pledged itself to remain unconditionally neutral, that these elections had no particular bearing on the situation and that if a "sovereignty convention" had been called, secession would have won. These writers do not seem to see that the people of Kentucky, although nominally neutral, desired to remain with the Union. Doubtless a better statement is that, although the election of 1861 showed that a large majority of the people were in favor of the Union, the Union leaders did not show so in the early part of the year and neutrality was adopted not as an end but as a means that triumph over the enemies of the Union might finally be assured.[36] We easily see now that there was not much danger of secession, but the Unionists could not see it so well at that time. Smith and Shaler doubtless exaggerate the situation, for what danger of secession could there have been when the people had elected the Union candidates for the Border State Convention to be convened at Frankfort on May 27, when they sent nine Unionists out of the ten congressmen to represent them in the special session of Congress, and when on the 5th of the following August, after the battle of Bull Run, they elected to the State Legislature 103 Unionists out of 141 members.[37] The calling of a convention then would have made little difference, if the people had chosen a majority of Unionists to represent them in other bodies. How can one conclude then that they would have elected seceders to represent them in a "sovereignty convention"? Hodge states that the sympathizers with the Confederacy did not contest to any considerable extent the elections of August, 1861, and consequently the supporters of the Federal Government were in the ascendency in the next legislature. He seems to indicate that the Unionists used fraud, but the records show that the Secessionists, regarding it as a lost cause, in many cases withdrew their candidates. Evidently these elections showed not only that secession was impossible but that neutrality could not last.[38]

After this sentiment began to change. Men boldly took decisive positions. The unwieldy neutrality party then divided into three parts: those who went to the Confederate lines to aid the Southern cause; those who openly declared themselves in favor of the Union; and those sympathizers with the South, who although in favor of the seceding States, seeing that their cause was hopeless, advocated peaceful separation and finally, when that failed, a compromise peace between the two sections.[39] The Union party, though unalterably opposed to the abolitionists and not primarily attached to the Union because of antagonism to slavery, gradually acquiesced in the policy of the Federal Government with respect to that institution. This party first reached the position that Negroes taken from the Confederates could with propriety be disposed of as contraband of war and many of its adherents grew more favorable to the policy of general emancipation.

It was soon evident that war could not long be kept out of the State. As early as April, 1861, troops for service in the Confederacy were organized in Kentucky. This movement was somewhat accelerated by an act of the legislature providing that the arms supplied to the troops should not be used against either section and that the State companies as well as the Home Guards should take the same oath as the officers requiring fidelity to the Constitution.[40] At this point many Kentuckians of proslavery tendencies were forced out of their natural position and driven into the Confederate ranks. Among these was S. B. Buckner, who went South to command about ten thousand secessionists, recruited under the leadership of Colonels Roger W. Hanson, Lloyd Tilghman, and W. D. Lannon at Camp Boone.[41]

The Governor refused to furnish Lincoln troops but he was in touch with the Confederacy, doing all he could to equip soldiers for its service,[42] though not exactly openly, as that would have been sufficient excuse for the Unionists who desired to help the Union. The Unionists who saw all of this going on desired to arm and organize their forces but they were handicapped in that the commander of the State guard was a Secessionist and care had been taken to hold the military forces for the South. In consequence of this difficulty Lincoln was secretly appealed to for arms, which were shipped to cities on the Ohio River for secret distribution among the Unionists of Kentucky as the opportunity would permit.[43] The Secessionists had referred to these guns as the first so-called violation of neutrality. The Unionists defended themselves on the ground that since the Governor and his whole machine were about in the ranks of the Confederates they were justified in doing almost anything to defend the State. Shaler says that the action on both sides was almost simultaneous and that the actual infringement of the neutrality proclamation issued by the Governor was due to the action of Polk and Zollicoffer and the simultaneous invasion of the State some hundreds of miles apart shows that the rupture of the neutrality of Kentucky was deliberately planned by the Confederate authorities.[44]

The invasion by Polk in September produced great excitement. The legislature was then in session and passed a resolution that the invaders be expelled, and that the Governor call out the military force of the State and place the same under the command of Gen. Thomas L. Crittenden. The resolutions were vetoed by the Governor but passed by a vote of two thirds.[45] The desired proclamation was issued and soon sufficient men to form forty regiments answered the call.[46] Making further response to the invasion of the State by the Confederates, the legislature ordered that the United States flag be raised over the capitol at Frankfort, and by a resolution which "affirmed" distinctly, though not directly, the doctrine of States' rights placed Kentucky in political and military association with the North.[47]

WILLIAM T. McKINNEY

FOOTNOTES:

[1] See Debates in Congress.

[2] Marshall, Speech in Washington on the Nomination of Breckenridge and Lane, p. 3.

[3] Speech of John Stephenson on the state of the Union in the House of Representatives, January 30, 1861.

[4] Bartlett, "Presidential Candidates in 1860," pp. 344-345.

[5] Speech of Hon. J. C. Breckenridge delivered at Ashland, Kentucky, p. 9.

[6] Speech of J. C. Breckenridge on Executive Usurpation, July 16, 1861.

[7] "The Frankfort Commonwealth," August 21, 1861.

[8] These were some of the most intellectual and aristocratic men of the State. Collins exaggerates, however, when he says that few leading men opposed secession. See Collins, "History of Kentucky," I, 82.

[9] Speed, "The Union Cause in Kentucky," 36.

[10] Ibid., 36.

[11] Ibid., 37.

[12] Hart, "Slavery and Abolition," 65, 178, 234; Turner, "Rise of the New West," 77.

[13] Report of the American Historical Association, 1893, pp. 219-221.

[14] Burgess, "Civil War and the Constitution," I, 30.

[15] Ibid.

[16] McMaster, "History of the United States," VIII, 426-427.

[17] Rhodes, "History of the United States," III, 391.

[18] Rhodes, "History of the United States," VII, 392.

[19] Speed, "The Union Cause in Kentucky," 158-179.

[20] _House Journal_, 1861, Governor's Message, p. 10.

[21] Ibid., 11.

[22] _House Journal_, 1861, Governor's Message, p. 12.

[23] Ibid., 14.

[24] Letter of John J. Crittenden to Gen. McClellan.

[25] Speed, "The Union Cause in Kentucky," 42.

[26] Speed, "The Union Cause in Kentucky," p. 45.

[27] _House Journal_. 1861, p. 33.

[28] Ibid., 34.

[29] Speed, "The Union Cause in Kentucky," 57.

[30] Speed, "The Union Cause in Kentucky," 58-62.

[31] Ibid., 58.

[32] _House Journal_, 1861, p. 6.

[33] Ibid., 94.

[34] Nicolay and Hay, "Life of Lincoln," IV, 233.

[35] Smith, "History of Kentucky," 610; Shaler, "History of Kentucky," 243.

[36] Smith says in describing the period of 1861: "It were well nigh certain that if a sovereignty convention could have been called at any time before the formation of the Union sentiment and policy into action and life, the state would have been carried off into the act of secession as Virginia and Tennessee were by the sense of sympathy and kinship toward the South." Shaler thinks the same. He says: "There is reason to believe that this course (neutrality) was the only one that could have kept Kentucky from secession. If what had been unhappily named a Sovereignty Convention had been called in 1861; if the state had been compelled by the decision of a body of men who were acting under the control of no constitutional enunciation, the sense of sympathy and kinship with the Southern states, such as would easily grow up under popular oratory in a mob, would probably have precipitated action." Speed, however, is doubtless right in saying all this is mere assertion and that there was no danger of secession after the people had a chance to transfer their will to the government. Shaler, "Kentucky," p. 240; Smith, "History of Kentucky," p. 610.

[37] Speed, "The Union Cause in Kentucky," 93-98.

[38] Collins, "History of Kentucky," I, 243.

[39] _The Frankfort Commonwealth_, July 19; Aug. 19, 21, 23; Nov. 10, 20, 23; and Dec. 11, 1861; _The Yeoman Weekly_, May 10; June 21, 22; July 8, 1861; _Daily Louisville Democrat_, Sept. 7 and Oct. 8, 1861.

[40] _House Journal_, 1861, 240.

[41] Speed, "The Union Cause in Kentucky," 192.

[42] War Records, Serial 108, p. 37; Serial 127, p. 234; Serial 110, pp. 44-64, and Serial 110, p. 71.

[43] Nicolay and Hay, "Life of Lincoln," IV, 237.

[44] Shaler, "History of Kentucky," 261.

[45] _House Journal_, 1861, p. 122.

[46] Speed, "The Union Cause in Kentucky," 300 _et seq_. See despatches and letters given in same.

[47] Rhodes, "History of the United States," III, 392.

NOTES ON NEGROES IN GUATEMALA DURING THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY

The introduction of Negroes into Guatemala commenced with the year of the conquest of that country by the Spaniards in 1524, when there came several Negro slaves with the _conquistadores_ from Mexico. It seems that they soon increased in numbers, for among the decrees of the _conquistador_, Pedro de Alvarado, there is one which prohibits the selling of gunpowder to Indians and Negroes. The number of African slaves brought to Guatemala had, however, always remained relatively a very limited one, for as the Spaniards had plenty of cheap hands by means of a system of indentured labor forced upon the numerous Indian population, the importation of slaves evidently did not pay them well. It seems safe to say, that their total number never amounted to ten thousand.

The most copious, though still very sparse notices of them I have run across, are those given by Thomas Gage, an English Catholic educated in Spain, who, in the twenties and thirties of the seventeenth century, lived as a priest in the then city of Guatemala, nowadays called Antigua, and in some Indian villages not far from there.[1] One of the places where Thomas Gage observed a somewhat considerable population of Negroes was the so-called Costa del Sur, or Southern Coast, the hot land between the Andes and the Pacific, to the south of the capital. They were worked there on the indigo plantations and large cattle _haciendas_. The Negroes impressed Thomas Gage as the only courageous people in Guatemala while the Spanish Mestizos and Indians seemed to him to be very cowardly.

This writer said that if Guatemala was powerful with respect to its people, for she was not in arms nor resources, then she was so merely by virtue of a class of desperate Negroes, who were slaves living on the indigo plantations. Though they had no arms but a machete, which was their small lance used for chasing the wild cattle (nowadays, that name is given to a long and broad, sword-like knife), they were so desperate that they often caused fear to the very city of Guatemala and had made their masters tremble. "There are among them," said he, "those who have no fear to brave a wild bull, furious though he be, and to attach themselves to the crocodiles in the rivers, until they have killed them and brought them to the bank."[2]

In reading these lines, one cannot help from remembering the classical description Alexander Von Humboldt gives of the Negro boatmen of the river Dagua, in the actual republic of Colombia. The inimitable skill and unsurpassable bravery Humboldt saw them display in the midst of the ferocious currents and loud-pouring rapids of that river caused him to exclaim: "Every movement of the paddle is a wonder, and every Negro a god!" A nice monument to the fame of indomitable bravery the Negroes manifested in past times in Guatemala exists still in a saying often heard by travelers: "_Esos son negros_!" or "Those are Negroes," an exclamation which means: "Those are desperate men, who do not care for anything." One could also hear the saying: "_Esto es obra de negros_," or "that is a work of Negroes," the meaning being that it was work for bold men with iron nerves.

Another expression brings out the fact that the Negroes were considered, or forced to be, very hard workers. "_Trabaja como un negro_" or "he works like a Negro," signified doing "the most arduous labor." That the lot of the slaves was often a bitter one, though, because of the less greedy Spanish character, without doubt generally a less hard one than in North America, is shown by the fact that Guatemala had her "_Cimarrones_" just as Jamaica, and Guiana, had their Maroons.

The Spanish word "_cimarron_" signifies indiscriminately a runaway head of cattle or horses, that had become wild, or a runaway slave. The fugitive Negroes of Guatemala had their chief stronghold in the inaccessible mountain woods of the Sierra de las Minas, which lies near the Atlantic coast between the Golfo Dulce and the valley of the river Motagua. The Golfo Dulce, which is now abandoned because of lack of sufficient depth for the big vessels of to-day, was at that time the port of entry for the whole of Guatemala. From it a bridle-path ran over the Sierra de las Minas to the valley of the Motagua and further on to the capital. In speaking of this path over the mountain, Gage remarks: "What the Spaniards fear most until they get out of these mountains, are two or three hundred Negroes, Cimarrones, who for the bad treatment they received have fled from Guatemala and from other places, running away from their masters in order to resort to these woods; there they live with their wives and children and increase in numbers every year, so that the entire force of Guatemala City and its environments is not capable to subdue them."

They very often came out of the woods to attack those who drove teams of mules, and took from them wine, salt, clothes and arms to the quantity they needed. They never did any harm to the mule drivers nor to their slaves. On the contrary, the slaves amused themselves with the Cimarrones, because they were of the same color and in the same condition of servitude, and not seldom availed themselves of the opportunity to follow their example, and united with them to obtain liberty, though obliged to live in the woods and mountains.

Their arms were arrows and bows, which they carried only for the purpose of defending themselves against attacks of the Spaniards; for they did not harm those who passed by peacefully and who let them have a part of the provisions they carried. They often declared that their principal reason for resorting to these mountains was to be ready to join the English or Dutch, if these some day appeared in the Gulf, for they well knew that these, unlike the Spaniards, would let them live in peace.

Among the most remarkable facts learned by Thomas Gage in Guatemala is the story of a Negro freedman who had accumulated great wealth. This Negro lived in Agua Caliente, an Indian village, on the road to Guatemala City, or Antigua, where the natives had obtained considerable quantities of gold from some spot in the mountains only known to them. The Spaniards, not content with an annual tribute paid them by the Indians, endeavored in vain to force the natives to show them the mine, and because they refused killed them, thus gaining no knowledge of the mine for which they were still searching in vain in the times of Thomas Gage. "In that place of Agua Caliente," continues Gage, "there is a Negro who lives and receives very well the travelers who call upon him. His wealth consists in cattle, sheep, and goats, and he furnishes the city of Guatemala and the environments with the best cheese to be found in the country. But it is believed that his wealth does not come so much from the produce of his farm and his cattle and cheese, but from that hidden treasure which is believed known to him. He, therefore, has been summoned to the Royal Audience in Guatemala, but he has always denied to have any knowledge of it."

He had been suspected because he had formerly been a slave and had secured his liberty by means of a considerable sum. After that, he had bought his farm and much of the surrounding land and had considerably increased his original holdings. To his inquisitors he replied that, "when young and still a slave he had a kind master who suffered him to do what he pleased, and that by economy he had accumulated where-with to buy his liberty and afterwards a little house to live in; and God had given His blessing to that and let him have the means for increasing his funds."

Another one of Gage's accounts discloses the abuses common among the slave-holders under Spanish rule, and the silliness of the belief that the masters for their own benefit would treat their human property well. This account refers to one Juan Palomeque, a rich landowner and promoter of mule-transports, who lived in Gage's parish of Mexico, near the actual capital of Guatemala. He was believed to be worth six hundred thousand ducats, about 1,400,000 dollars. He owned about a hundred Negroes, men, women, and children, but was so stingy that, to avoid the expense of decent house-keeping, he never lived in the city, though he had several houses there. Instead, he lived in a straw-hut and feasted on hard, black bread and on _tasajo_, or thin strips of salt beef dried in the sun.

He was so cruel to his Negroes, that, when one of them behaved badly, he would whip him almost to death. He had among others a slave named Macaco, "on behalf of whom," said Gage, "I often pleaded, but in vain. At times he hung him by the hands and beat him until he had his back entirely covered with blood, and in that state, the skin being entirely torn to pieces, in order to heal up the slave's sores the master poured hot fat over them. Moreover, he had marked him with a hot iron face, hands, arms, back, belly, and legs, so that this poor slave got tired to live and intended several times to suicide himself; but I prevented him from doing so every time by remonstrances I made him."

Juan Palomeque was so sensual and voluptuous that he constantly abused the wives of his slaves as he liked, and even when he saw in the city some girl or woman of that class whom he wanted, and she was not attracted to him, he would call upon her master or mistress and buy her, "giving much more than she had cost; afterwards he boasted that he would break down her pride in one year of slavery." "In my times," said Gage, "he killed two Indians on the road to the Gulf, but by means of his money he got so easily out of that affair as if he had killed but a dog." As Gage does not tell anything of a prosecution for the crimes against the Negro, no actual law seems to have been violated.[3]

The descendants of the ancient slaves have so completely become mixed up with Spanish-Indian blood that, making exception of the valley of the Motagua River, they have practically disappeared as a race. In 1796, their number was considerably increased by the so-called Caribs, whom the English deported from the Island of St. Vincent and set ashore in Guatemala. They live now on the Atlantic coast, also on that of Honduras and Nicaragua, and are estimated to total about 20,000. They are Zambos, but the African blood seems to prevail.[4]

A MULATTO CORSAIR OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY

When on his return voyage to England, sailing down the Atlantic coast of Costa Rica, Thomas Gage's ship was intercepted by two corsairs under the Dutch flag, one of them being a man-of-war. The struggle of the Netherlands for freedom against Spain had not then come to a close. The Dutch commander was a character, of whose strange experiences Gage gives an interesting account. Much to the surprise of the traveler the captain who had caught them was a mulatto named Diaguillo, who was born and brought up at Habana (Cuba), where his mother was still living. Having been maltreated by the Governor of Campeche in whose service he had been, this mulatto in a fit of utter desperation threw himself into a boat and ventured into the sea, where he met with some Dutch ships on watch for a prize. He swam to and went aboard one of these vessels, hoping to find better treatment than among his country-men. He offered himself to the Dutch and promised to serve them loyally against those of his nation who had maltreated him. Afterwards he proved himself so loyal and reliable to the Dutch, that he won much fame among them. He was married to a girl of their nation and later made captain of a vessel under that brave and noble Dutchman, whom the Spaniards dreaded much and whom they named Pie de Palo, or Wooden-leg.

"That famous mulatto," said Gage, "was he who boarded our frigate with his soldiers. I lost four thousand pesos wealth in pearls and jewelry and about three thousand in ready money. I had still other things with me, viz., a bed, some books, pictures painted on copper, and clothes, and I asked that Mulatto captain to let me keep them. He donated me them liberally, out of consideration for my vocation, and said I must take patience, for he was not allowed to dispose in other way of my pearls and my money; moreover, he used the proverb: If fortune to-day is on my side, to-morrow it will be on yours, and what I have won to-day, that I may lose to-morrow.... He also ordered to give me back some single and double pistoles, out of generosity and respect to my garb...."

"After having searched their prize," continued the traveler, "Captain and soldiers thought of refreshing themselves on the provisions we had on board; the generous captain had a luxurious dinner and invited me to be his guest, and knowing that I was going to Habana, he drank the health of his mother and asked me to go to see her and give her his kindest regards, saying that for her sake he had treated me as kindly as was in his power. He told us, moreover, when still at table, that for my sake he would give us back our ship, so that we could get back to land, and that I might find some other and safer way to continue my voyage to Spain.... Everything taken away from the ship save my belongings, which captain Diaguillo ordered to let me out of a generosity not often to be found with a corsair, he bade us fare-well thanking us for the good luck we had procured him."

Thomas Gage reached Habana in safety and called upon the mother of the Corsair, but does not say how he found her.

J. KUNST

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Gage published in 1648 in London an account of his residence and voyages; I have only a French version of his work at hand, printed in Amsterdam, in 1721. The passages cited are re-translated from that language and, therefore, will not agree word for word with the original text.

[2] Gage's "Voyages," Part 3, Chapter II.

[3] It seems proper to add here, that three years after Guatemala had declared her independence of Spain, she abrogated slavery by decree of April 17, 1824. Thereby she got, by the way, into difficulties with Great Britain, which as late as in 1840 demanded the extradition of slaves run away from the adjacent British territory of Balize. Guatemala was by men-of-war sent to her coast forced to do so, though that was contrary to her constitution.

[4] Within the last decades, some Negroes have been brought over, from the United States, to the banana plantations of United Fruit Co., near the Atlantic coast, and occasionally, though very seldom, one meets with a black newcomer from Jamaica, Barbadoes, or other West Indian islands.

DOCUMENTS

TRAVELERS' IMPRESSIONS OF SLAVERY IN AMERICA FROM 1750 TO 1800

From these writers, almost all of whom were foreigners, one would naturally expect such a portraiture of slavery as persons unaccustomed to the institution would give. Most Americans, of course, considered the institution as belonging to the natural order of things and, therefore, hardly ever referred to it except when they mentioned it unconsciously. Foreigners, however, as soon as they came into this new world began to compare the slaves with the lowest order of society in Europe. Finding the lot of the bondmen so much inferior to that of those of low estate in European countries, these travelers frequently made some interesting comparisons. We are indebted to them for valuable information which we can never hope to obtain from the literature of an essentially slaveholding people. Here we see how the American Revolution caused a change for the better in the condition of the Negroes in certain States, and how the rigorousness of slavery continued in the others. We learn too what enlightened Negroes thought about their state and what the white man believed should be done to prevent their reaching the point of self-assertion. That a large number of anti-slavery Americans were advocating and effecting the emancipation of slaves appears throughout these documents.

BURNABY'S VIEW OF THE SITUATION IN VIRGINIA

Speaking of Virginia, he said: "Their authority over their slaves renders them vain and imperious, and entire strangers to that elegance of sentiment, which is so peculiarly characteristic of refined and polished nations. Their ignorance of mankind and of learning, exposes them to many errors and prejudices, especially in regard to Indians and Negroes, whom they scarcely consider as of human species; so that it is almost impossible in cases of violence, or even murder, committed upon those unhappy people by any of the planters, to have delinquents brought to justice: for either the grand jury refuse to find the bill, or the petit jury bring in the verdict of not guilty."--_Andrew Burnaby, "Travels_," 1759, p. 54.

GENERAL TREATMENT OF SLAVES AMONG THE ALBANIANS--CONSEQUENT ATTACHMENT OF DOMESTICS.--REFLECTIONS ON SERVITUDE BY AN AMERICAN LADY

In the society I am describing, even the dark aspect of slavery was softened into a smile. And I must, in justice to the best possible masters, say, that a great deal of that tranquility and comfort, to call it by no higher name, which distinguished this society from all others, was owing to the relation between master and servant being better understood here than in any other place. Let me not be detested as an advocate for slavery when I say that I think I have never seen people so happy in servitude as the domestics of the Albanians. One reason was, (for I do not now speak of the virtues of their masters,) that each family had a few of them, and that there were no field negroes. They would remind one of Abraham's servants, who were all born in the house, which was exactly their case. They were baptized too, and shared the same religious instruction with the children of the family; and, for the first years, there was little or no difference with regard to food or clothing between their children and those of their masters.

When a negro-woman's child attained the age of three years, the first New Year's Day after, it was solemnly presented to a son or daughter, or other young relative of the family, who was of the same sex with the child so presented. The child to whom the young negro was given immediately presented it with some piece of money and a pair of shoes; and from that day the strongest attachment subsisted between the domestic and the destined owner. I have no where met with instances of friendship more tender and generous than that which here subsisted between the slaves and their masters and mistresses. Extraordinary proofs of them have been often given in the course of hunting or Indian trading, when a young man and his slave have gone to the trackless woods, together, in the case of fits of the ague, loss of a canoe, and other casualties happening near hostile Indians. The slave has been known, at the imminent risque of his life, to carry his disabled master through trackless woods with labour and fidelity scarce credible; and the master has been equally tender on similar occasions of the humble friend who stuck closer than a brother; who was baptized with the same baptism, nurtured under the same roof, and often rocked in the same cradle with himself. These gifts of domestics to the younger members of the family, were not irrevokable: yet they were very rarely withdrawn. If the kitchen family did not increase in proportion to that of the master, young children were purchased from some family where they abounded, to furnish those attached servants to the rising progeny. They were never sold without consulting their mothers, who if expert and sagacious, had a great deal to say in the family, and would not allow her child to go into any family with whose domestics she was not acquainted. These negro-women piqued themselves on teaching their children to be excellent servants, well knowing servitude to be their lot or life, and that it could only be sweetened by making themselves particularly useful, and excellent in their departments. If they did their work well, it is astonishing, when I recollect it, what liberty of speech was allowed to those active and prudent mothers. They would chide, reprove, and expostulate in a manner that we would not endure from our hired servants; and sometimes exert fully as much authority over the children of the family as the parents, conscious that they were entirely in their power. They did not crush freedom of speech and opinion in those by whom they knew they were beloved, and who watched with incessant care over their interest and comfort. Affectionate and faithful as these home-bred servants were in general, there were some instances (but very few) of those who, through levity of mind, or a love of liquor or finery, betrayed their trust, or habitually neglected their duty. In these cases, after every means had been used to reform them, no severe punishments were inflicted at home. But the terrible sentence, which they dreaded worse than death, was past--they were sold to Jamaica. The necessity of doing this was bewailed by the whole family as a most dreadful calamity, and the culprit was carefully watched on his way to New-York, lest he should evade the sentence by self-destruction.

One must have lived among those placid and humane people to be sensible that servitude, hopeless, endless servitude, could exist with so little servility and fear on the one side, and so little harshness or even sternness of authority on the other. In Europe, the footing on which service is placed in consequence of the corruptions of society, hardens the heart, destroys confidence, and embitters life. The deceit and venality of servants not absolutely dishonest, puts it out of one's power to love or trust them. And if, in hopes of having people attached to us, who will neither betray our confidence, nor corrupt our children, we are at pains to rear them from childhood, and give them a religious and moral education; after all our labour, others of their own class seduce them away to those who can afford to pay higher for their services. This is not the case in a few remote districts. Where surrounding mountains seem to exclude the contagion of the world, some traces of fidelity and affection among domestics still remain. But it must be remarked, that, in those very districts, it is usual to treat inferiors with courtesy and kindness, and to consider those domestics who marry out of the family as holding a kind of relation to it, and still claiming protection. In short, the corruption of that class of people is, doubtless, to be attributed to the example of their superiors. But how severely are those superiors punished? Why this general indifference about home; why are the household gods, why is the sacred hearth so wantonly abandoned? Alas! the charm of home is destroyed, since our children, educated in distant seminaries, are strangers in the paternal mansion; and our servants, like mere machines, move on their mercenary track without feeling or exciting one kind or generous sentiment. Home, thus despoiled of all its charms, is no longer the scene of any enjoyments but such as wealth can purchase. At the same time we feel there a nameless cold privation, and conscious that money can coin the same enjoyments with more variety elsewhere, we substitute these futile and evanescent pleasures for that perennial spring of calm satisfaction, "without o'erflowing full," which is fed by the exercise of the kindly affections, and soon indeed must those stagnate where there are not proper objects to excite them. I have been forced into this painful digression by unavoidable comparisons. To return:--

Amidst all this mild and really tender indulgence to their negroes, these colonists had not the smallest scruple of conscience with regard to the right by which they held them in subjection. Had that been the case, their singular humanity would have been incompatible with continued injustice. But the truth is, that of law the generality of those people knew little; and of philosophy, nothing at all. They sought their code of morality in the Bible, and there imagined they found this hapless race condemned to perpetual slavery; and thought nothing remained for them but to lighten the chains of their fellow Christians, after having made them such. This I neither "extenuate" nor "set down in malice," but merely record the fact. At the same time it is but justice to record also a singular instance of moral delicacy distinguishing this settlement from every other in the like circumstances: though, from their simple and kindly modes of life, they were from infancy in habits of familiarity with these humble friends, yet being early taught that nature had placed between them a barrier, which it was in a high degree criminal and disgraceful to pass, they considered a mixture of such distinct races with abhorrence, as a violation of her laws. This greatly conduced to the preservation of family happiness and concord. An ambiguous race, which the law does not acknowledge; and who (if they have any moral sense, must be as much ashamed of their parents as these last are of them) are certainly a dangerous, because degraded part of the community. How much more so must be those unfortunate beings who stand in the predicament of the bat in the fable, whom both birds and beasts disowned? I am sorry to say that the progress of the British army, when it arrived, might be traced by a spurious and ambiguous race of this kind. But of a mulatto born before their arrival I only remember a single instance; and from the regret and wonder it occasioned, considered it as singular. Colonel Schuyler, of whom I am to speak, had a relation so weak and defective in capacity, that he never was intrusted with any thing of his own, and lived an idle bachelor about the family. In process of time a favourite negro-woman, to the great offense and scandal of the family, bore a child to him, whose colour gave testimony to the relation. The boy was carefully educated; and when he grew up, a farm was allotted to him well stocked and fertile, but "in depth of woods embraced," about two miles back from the family seat. A destitute white woman, who had somehow wandered from the older colonies, was induced to marry him; and all the branches of the family thought it incumbent on them now and then to pay a quiet visit to Chalk (for so, for some unknown reason, they always called him). I have been in Chalk's house myself, and a most comfortable abode it was; but considered him as a mysterious and anomalous being.

I have dwelt the longer on this singular instance of slavery, existing devoid of its attendant horrors, because the fidelity and affection resulting from a bond of union so early formed between master and servant, contributed so very much to the safety of individuals, as well as the general comfort of society, as will hereafter appear.--"_Memoirs of An American Lady with Sketches of Manners and Customs In America as they existed previous to the Revolution_," Chapter VII, pp. 26-32, by Mrs. Anne Grant.

IMPRESSIONS OF AN ENGLISH TRAVELER

"As I observed before, at least two thirds of the inhabitants are negroes....

"It is fortunate for humanity that these poor creatures possess such a fund of contentment and resignation in their minds; for they indeed seem to be the happiest inhabitants in America, notwithstanding the hardness of their fare, the severity of their labour, and the unkindness, ignominy, and often barbarity of their treatment."--J.F.D., "_A Tour in the United States of America, containing an account of the present situation of that country_"; London, 1784, p. 39.

ABBÉ ROBIN ON CONDITIONS IN VIRGINIA

"The population of Virginia is computed at one hundred fifty thousand whites and five hundred thousand negroes. There is a still greater disproportion between the whites and blacks in Maryland, where there are not more than twenty thousand whites and at least two hundred thousand negroes. The English imported into these two provinces between seven and eight thousand yearly. Perhaps the lot of these slaves is not quite so hard as that of the negroes in the islands; their liberty, it is true, is irreparably lost in both places, but here they are treated with more mildness, and are supported upon the same kind of food with their masters; and if the earth which they cultivate, is moistened with their sweat, it has never been known to blush with their blood. The American, not at all industrious by nature, is considerate enough not to expect too much from his slave, who in such circumstances, has fewer motives to be laborious for himself."--Abbé Robin, "_New Travels through North America in a series of letters_," Boston, 1784, p. 48.

OBSERVATIONS OF ST. JOHN DE CRÈVECOEUR

"There, arranged like horses at a fair, they are branded like cattle, and then driven to toil, to starve and to languish for a few years on the different plantations of those citizens.

"If negroes are permitted to become fathers, this fatal indulgence only tends to increase their misery.... How many have I seen cursing the irresistible propensity, and regretting that by having tasted of those joys, they had become the authors of double misery to their wives.... Their paternal fondness is embittered by considering that if their children live, they must live to be slaves like themselves: no time is allowed them to exercise their pious offices, the mothers must fasten them on their backs, and, with the double load follow their husbands in the fields, where they too often hear no other sound than that of the voice or whip of the taskmaster, and the cries of their infants, broiling in the sun.... It is said, I know, that they are much happier here than in the West Indies; because land being cheaper upon this continent than in those Islands, the field allowed them to raise their subsistence from, are in general more extensive.

"... We have slaves likewise in our northern provinces; I hope the time draws near when they will be all emancipated; but how different their lot, how different their situation, in every possible respect! They enjoy as much liberty as their masters, they are as well clad, and as well fed; in health and sickness they are tenderly taken care of; they live under the same roof, and are, truly speaking, a part of our families. Many of them are taught to read and write, and are well instructed in the principles of religion; they are the companions of our labours, and treated as such; they enjoy many perquisites, many established holidays, and are not obliged to work more than white people. They marry when their inclination leads them; visit their wives every week; are as decently clad as the common people; they are indulged in education, cherishing and chastising their children, who are taught subordination to them as to their lawful parents; in short, they participate in many of the benefits of our society without being obliged to bear any of its burdens. They are fat, healthy, and hearty, and far from repining at their fate; they think themselves happier than many of the lower class whites: they share with their master the wheat and meat provision, they help to raise; many of those whom the good Quakers have emancipated, have received that great benefit with tears of regret, and have never quitted, though free, their former masters and benefactors."--St. John de Crèvecoeur, "_Letters from an American Farmer, 1782_," pp. 226 et seq.

IMPRESSIONS OF JOHANN D. SCHOEPF

"The condition of the Carolina negro slaves is in general harder and more troublous than that of their northern brethren. On the rice plantations, with wretched food, they are allotted more work and more tedious work; and the treatment which they experience at the hands of the overseers and owners is capricious and often tyrannical. In Carolina (and in no other of the North American states) their severe handling has already caused several uprisings among them. There is less concern here as to their moral betterment, education, and instruction, and South Carolina appears little inclined to initiate the praiseworthy and benevolent ordinances of its sister states in regard to the negro. It is sufficient proof of the bad situation in which these creatures find themselves here that they do not multiply in the same proportions as the white inhabitants, although the climate is more natural to them and agrees with them better. Their numbers must be continually kept up by fresh importations; to be sure, the constant taking up of new land requires more and more working hands, and the pretended necessity of bringing in additional slaves is thus warranted in part; but close investigation makes it certain that the increase of the blacks in the northern states, where they are handled more gently, is vastly more considerable. The gentlemen in the country have among their negroes as the Russian nobility among the serfs, the most necessary handicrafts-men, cobblers, tailors, carpenters, smiths, and the like, whose work they command at the smallest possible price or for nothing almost. There is hardly any trade or craft which has not been learned and is not carried on by negroes, partly free, partly slave; the latter are hired out by their owners for day's wages. Charleston swarms with blacks, mulattoes and mestizos; their number greatly exceeds that of the whites, but they are kept under strict order and discipline, and the police has a watchful eye upon them. These may nowhere assemble more than 7 male negro slaves; their dances and other assemblies must stop at 10 o'clock in the evening; without permission of their owners none of them may sell beer or wine or brandy. There are here many free negroes and mulattoes. They get their freedom if by their own industry they earn enough to buy themselves off, or their freedom is given them at the death of their masters or in other ways. Not all of them know how to use their freedom to their own advantage; many give themselves up to idleness and dissipation which bring them finally to crafty deceptions and thievery. They are besides extraordinarily given to vanity, and love to adorn themselves as much as they can and to conduct themselves importantly."

--Johann D. Schoepf, "_Travels in the Confederation_," 1784, p. 220.

EXTRACTS FROM ANBUREY'S TRAVELS THROUGH NORTH AMERICA

"Thus the whole management of the plantation is left to the overseer, who as an encouragement to make the most of the crops, has a certain portion as his wages, but not having any interest in the negroes, any further than their labour, he drives and whips them about, and works them beyond their strength, and sometimes till they expire; he feels no loss in their death, he knows the plantation must be supplied, and his humanity is estimated by his interest, which rises always above freezing point.

"It is the poor negroes who alone work hard, and I am sorry to say, fare hard. Incredible is the fatigue which the poor wretches undergo, and that nature should be able to support it; there certainly must be something in their constitutions, as well as their color, different from us, that enables them to endure it.

"They are called up at day break, and seldom allowed to swallow a mouthful of homminy, or hoe cake, but are drawn out into the field immediately, where they continue at hard labour, without intermission, till noon, when they go to their dinners, and are seldom allowed an hour for that purpose; their meals consist of hominy and salt, and if their master is a man of humanity, touched by the finer feelings of love and sensibility, he allows them twice a week a little skimmed milk, fat rusty bacon, or salt herring, to relish this miserable and scanty fare. The man at this plantation, in lieu of these, grants his negroes an acre of ground, and all Saturday afternoon to raise grain and poultry for themselves. After they have dined, they return to labor in the field, until dusk in the evening; here one naturally imagines the daily labor of these poor creatures was over, not so, they repair to the tobacco houses, where each has a task of stripping allotted which takes them up some hours, or else they have such a quantity of Indian corn to husk, and if they neglect it, are tied up in the morning, and receive a number of lashes from those unfeeling monsters, the overseers, whose masters suffer them to exercise their brutal authority without constraint. Thus by their night task, it is late in the evening before these poor creatures return to their second scanty meal, and the time taken up at it encroaches upon their hours of sleep, which for refreshment of food and sleep together can never be reckoned to exceed eight.

"When they lay themselves down to rest, their comforts are equally miserable and limited, for they sleep on a bench, or on the ground, with an old scanty blanket, which serves them at once for bed and covering, their cloathing is not less wretched, consisting of a shirt and trowsers of coarse, thin, hard, hempen stuff, in the Summer, with an addition of a very coarse woolen jacket, breeches and shoes in Winter. But since the war, their masters, for they cannot get the cloathing as usual, suffer them to go in rags, and many in a state of nudity.

"The female slaves share labor and repose just in the same manner, except a few who are term'd house negroes, and are employed in household drugery.

"These poor creatures are all submission to injuries and insults, and are obliged to be passive, nor dare they resist or defend themselves if attacked, without the smallest provocation, by a white person, as the law directs the negroe's arm to be cut off who raises it against a white person, should it be only in defence against wanton barbarity and outrage.

"Notwithstanding this humiliating state and rigid treatment to which this wretched race are subject, they are devoid of care, and appear jovial, contented and happy. It is a fortunate circumstance that they possess, and are blessed with such an easy satisfied disposition, otherwise they must inevitably sink under such a complication of misery and wretchedness; what is singularly remarkable, they always carry out a piece of fire, and kindle one near their work, let the weather be so hot and sultry.

"As I have several times mentioned homminy and hoe-cake, it may not be amiss to explain them: the former is made of Indian corn, which is coarsely broke, and boiled with a few French beans, till it is almost a pulp. Hoe-cake is Indian corn ground into meal, kneaded into a dough, and baked before a fire, but as the negroes bake theirs on the hoes that they work with, they have the appellation of hoe-cakes. These are in common use among the inhabitants, I cannot say they are palateable, for as to flavor, one made of sawdust would be equally good, and not unlike it in appearance, but they are certainly a very strong and hearty food."

--Anburey, _"Travels through America during the War_," Vol. 2, pp. 330-5.

VINDICATION OF THE NEGROES: A CONTROVERSY

First let me repeat your longest section relative to that people.

'Below this class of inhabitants, (the whites of no property, in Virginia,) we must rank the Negroes, who would be still more to be pitied, if their _natural insensibility did not in some measure alleviate the wretchedness inseparable from slavery_. Seeing them ill lodged, ill clothed, and often overcome with labour, I concluded that their treatment had been as rigorous as it is elsewhere. Notwithstanding I have been assured that it is very mild, compared to what they suffer in the Sugar Colonies. And indeed one does not hear habitually, as at Jamaica and St. Domingo, the sound of whips, and the outcries of the wretched beings, whose bodies are torn piece meal by their strokes. It is because the people of Virginia are commonly milder than those of the Sugar Colonies, which consist chiefly of rapacious men, eager to amass fortunes, as soon as possible, and return to Europe. The produce of their labours being also less valuable, their tasks are not so rigorously exacted, and in justice to both, it must be allowed that the Negroes themselves are less treacherous and thievish, than they are in the Islands: for the propagation of the black species being very considerable here, most of them are born in the country, and it is remarked that these are in general less depraved than those imported from Africa. Besides, we must do the Virginians the justice to remark, that many of them treat their Negroes with a great deal of humanity, and what is still more to their honor, they appear sorry there are any among them, and are forever talking of abolishing slavery, and falling upon some other mode of improving their land, &c.

'However this may be, it is fortunate that different motives concur to deter mankind from exercising such tyranny, at least upon their own species, if we cannot say, strictly speaking, _their equals_; for the more we observe the Negroes, the more we are convinced that the difference between us _does not lie in the colour alone, &c._

'Enough upon this subject, which has not escaped the attention of the politicians and philosophers of the present age: I have only to apologize for treating it without declamation; but I have always thought, that eloquence can only influence the resolutions of the moment, and that every thing which requires time, must be the work of reason. And besides, it will be an easy matter to add ten or twelve pages to these few reflections, which may be considered as a concert composed only of principal parts, _con corni ad libertum_.'

Upon reading this passage attentively, I was surprised to find it contain a singular mixture of contradictory principles, and in the same breath, the sentiments of a philosopher and of a colonist; of an advocate for the Negroes, and of their enemy.

It is evident that as a philosopher, and a friend to humanity, you are inclined to alleviate the lot of the Negroes, and commend those who do so, but this tenderness itself conceals a subtile venom that ought to be exposed. For you only bestow your pity upon the Negroes, while you owe them, if you are a philosopher, vindication and defense; you wish their masters to be humane; they ought to be just. Instead of praising such humanity, you ought to have blamed them for stopping there, in short, such a contempt for the Negroes pervades this whole article, as will necessarily encourage their tormentors to rivet their chains. Is not this contempt observable, for instance in the very first period?

"Below this class of inhabitants (the meanest whites of Virginia) we must rank the Negroes, who would be still more to be pitied, if their natural insensibility did not in some measure alleviate the wretchedness inseparable from slavery."

And who told you, Sir, that nature had created the Negroes with less feeling than other men? do you judge so because they have vegetated for three centuries in European fetters, and at this day have not altogether shaken off the horrid yoke? But do not their frequent risings, and the cruelties they from time to time retaliate upon their masters, give the lie to this natural insensibility? for an insensible being has no resentment. If he does not feel, how should he remember? Do you think the wretched Indians, who, since the discovery of the New world, are burried in the mines of Peru, are also naturally insensible, because they suffer patiently?

You calumniate nature in making her grant favours to particulars; in giving her a system of inequality among her offspring. All men are cast in the same mould.--The varieties which distinguish individuals, are the sports of chance, or the result of different circumstances; but the black comes into the world with as much sensibility as the white, the Peruvian, as the European.

What then degrades this natural and moral sensibility? The greater or less privation of liberty; in proportion as man loses it, he loses the powers of sensation; he loses the man; he sickens or becomes a brute. It is slavery alone which can reduce a man to a level with the brute creation, and sometimes deprives him of all sensibility; but you blame nature, that kind parent, who would have us all equal, free and happy, for the crime of social barbarity, and you pass by this crime, to extenuate another, to extenuate the horrid torments of slavery! Not satisfied with violating nature, by abusing her offspring, even in her name, you encourage slaveholders to torment them.

Do you not arm their tyrants, when you tell them, the insensibility of the Negroes alleviates their torments?

What! because greatness of soul raised Sidney above the terrors of death, the infernal Jefferies[1] who caused his execution, was less guilty! because the Quakers appeared insensible to insults, blows, or punishments, they are less to be pitied, and it was right to martyr them! A dangerous notion, whose consequences I am sure you would disapprove. If this insensibility with which you reproach the Negroes mitigated the cruelty of their masters, it were well: but their tormentors do not wish them not to feel; they would have them all feeling, for the pleasure of torturing them; and their punishments are increased in proportion to their insensibility.

Seeing the Negroes, say you, "Ill lodged, ill cloathed, and often overcome with labour, I concluded that their treatment had been as rigorous as it is elsewhere. Notwithstanding I have been assured that it is very mild, compared to what they suffer in the Sugar Colonies."

Why this comparison, which seems to insinuate a justification of the Virginians? does a misfortune cease to be such, because there is a greater elsewhere? Was Cartouche less detestable because Brinvilliers had existed before him? Let us not weaken by comparisons the idea of criminality, nor lessen the attention due to the miserable, this were to countenance the crime. The Negroes are ill lodged, ill cloathed, oppressed with labour in Virginia: this is the fact, this is the offence. It matters not whether they are worse treated elsewhere; in whatever degree they are so in Virginia, it is still outrage and injustice.

And again, why are the Negroes of Virginia less cruelly treated? Humanity is not the motive, it is because covetousness cannot obtain so much from their labours, as in the Sugar Islands. Was it otherwise, they would be sacrificed to it here, as well as there; how can we praise such forced humanity? how, on the contrary, not give vent to all the indignation, which must naturally arise in every feeling mind?

"And to do justice to both, you add, if the Virginians are not so severe, it is because the Negroes themselves are less treacherous and thievish than in the islands, because the propagation of the black species being very considerable here, most of the Negroes are born in the country, and it is remarked, that these are in general less depraved than those imported from Africa."

Here is a strange confusion of causes and effects, and a strange abuse of words. First let us clear up the facts. Here are some valuable ones for the cause of the Negroes.

You say they are not so thievish in Virginia, propagate faster, and are less depraved: Why? Because they are less cruelly treated.--Here is the cause and the effect, you have mistaken one for the other.

We must conclude from this fact, that if the Virginians were no longer severe, and should treat the blacks like fellow-creatures, they would not be more vicious than their white servants.

The degree of oppression is the measure of what is improperly called the viciousness of the slaves.--The more cruel their tyrants, the more treacherous, villainous and cruel are the slaves in return--Can we wonder that Macronius should assassinate his master Tiberius? This viciousness is a punishment that heaven inflicts upon tyranny.

Can the efforts of a slave for the recovery of his liberty, be denominated vicious or criminal? From the moment you violate the laws of nature, in regard to them, why should not they shake them off in their relative duties to you? You rob them of liberty, and you would not have them steal your gold! You whip and cruelly torment them, and expect them not to struggle for deliverance! You assassinate them every day, and expect them not to assassinate you once! You call your outrages, rights, and the courage which repulses them, a crime! What a confusion of ideas! what horrid logic!

And you, sir, a humane philosopher! are accessory to this injustice, by describing the blacks in the style of a dealer in human flesh! You call what are no more than natural consequences of the compression of the spring of liberty--treachery, theft and depravation.[2] But can a natural consequence be criminal? Remove the cause or is it not the only crime?

For my part, sir, I firmly believe, that the barbarities committed by the Negroes, not merely against their masters, but even against others, will be attributed at the bar of eternal justice, to the slaveholders, and those infamous persons employed in the Guinea trade. I firmly believe, that no human justice has the right of putting a Negro slave to death for any crime whatever, because not being free, he is not sui juris, and should be regarded as a child or an idiot, being almost always under the lash. I believe that the real criminal, the cause of the crime, is the man who first seized him, sold him, or enslaved him.--And if ever I should fall under the knife of an unhappy runaway, I would not resent it upon him but upon those white men who keep blacks in slavery. I would tell them, your cruelty towards your Negroes, has endangered my life--they execrate you, they take me for a tyrant because I am white like you, and the vengeance due to your crimes has fallen upon me.

God forbid, however, that I should undertake to encourage the blacks to take up arms against their masters! God forbid, however, that I should undertake to justify the excesses to which their resentments have sometimes hurried them, and which have often fallen on persons who were not accessary to their wretchedness! The slavery under which they groan, must be abolished by peaceable means; and thanks to the active spirit of benevolence which animates the Quakers, the pious undertaking is already begun. In most of the United States of America, the yoke has been taken from their necks; in others the Guinea-trade has been prohibited. Societies have been formed both at Paris and London, to collect and circulate information upon this interesting subject, to induce the European governments to put a stop to the Negro trade, and provide for their gradual emancipation in the West-India islands: No doubt success will crown their views, and the friends of liberty will enjoy the satisfaction of communicating its blessings to the blacks.

But the blacks must wait for the happy moment that shall restore them to civil life, in silence and in peace; they must rely upon the unwearied diligence and zeal of the numerous writers who advocate their cause, and the efforts of the humane to second their endeavors; they must strive to justify and support the arguments that are adduced in their favour, by displaying virtue in the very bosom of slavery; they must endeavour, in a word, to render themselves worthy of liberty, that they may know how to use it when it shall be restored to them; for liberty itself is sometimes a burden, when slavery has stupefied the soul.

Such blacks, therefore, as are so inconsiderate as to be concerned in insurrections, are guilty of retarding the execution of the general plan for their emancipation; for the question is not, at the present day, whether a million of slaves ought to be set at liberty, but whether they can when free, be put into a capacity of providing for the subsistence of themselves and their families. Insurrections, far from effecting this purpose, would destroy the means. Regard, therefore, to their own interests, if there were no other motive, should therefore engage the blacks to patient submission, and no doubt but they will yield it, if their masters and the ministers of the gospel in particular, to whom the task of comforting and instructing them, is committed, endeavour to prepare them for approaching freedom.

You sir, have adopted the vulgar notion, that the Negroes born in Virginia, are less depraved than those imported from Africa. You call the firmness which is common in the early stages of their slavery _greater degeneracy;_ they are depraved, that is, in your language--they are wicked and treacherous to those who have purchased them, or brought them from their own country.--But in my mind, they are not depraved, because the acts of violence their genius inspires them to revenge themselves upon their tyrants, are justified by the rights of nature.

And why are those imported, more wicked in your opinion? In mine, more quick, more ardent in their resentments? because, not having forgotten their former situation, they feel their loss the more sensibly; and having strong ideas, their resolutions are more firm and their actions more violent, they not having yet contracted the habits of slavery.

They soon fall into that degree of apathy and insensibility, which you unjustly believe to be natural to them; that is, in your language, they become less depraved; but I would say that their depravity begins with this apathy and weakness.--For depravity is the loss of nature, and the want of those virtues inherent in man, courage and the love of liberty. Our readers may judge from this article, how strangely writers have wrested words to condemn these unhappy Negroes, and the unfortunate in general.

I do not, however, pretend to say, that the Negroes of Africa are all good, or even that many of them are not depraved. But is this fact to be imputed to them as a personal crime? Ought you not rather to have ascribed it to the foreign source by which they are corrupted. Alike in them and in the whites, the depravity of man is a consequence of his wretchedness, and the usurpation of his rights. Wherever he is free and at ease, he is good; wherever the contrary, he is wicked. Neither his nature nor the climate corrupt him, but the government of his country. Now that of the Negroes is almost universally despotic, such as must necessarily debase and corrupt the Negro.

How much is the depravity, occasioned by the government of his country, increased by his second slavery, far worse than the first--for he is no longer among friends in his native land--surrounded by the pleasing scenes of his childhood, he is among monsters who are going to live by, and trade in his blood, and has nothing before his eyes but death, or oppression equivalent to an endless punishment.

How is it possible such horrid prospects should not fire his soul? How, if chance should present him with arms and liberty, should he resist using them, to put an end to his own existence, or that of his tormentors? What white man would be less cruel in his situation? Truly I think myself of a humane disposition, that I love my fellow-creatures and detest the effusion of blood, but if ever a villain, white or black, should snatch me from my freedom, my family, and my friends, should overwhelm me with outrages and blows, to gratify his caprice, should extend his barbarities to my wife and children--my blood boils at the thought--perhaps in a transport of revenge.... If such vengeance would be lawful in me, what makes the Negro more guilty? Why should that be called wickedness and depravity in him, which would be stiled virtue in me, in you, in every white man? Are not my rights the same as his? Is not nature our common parent? God his father as well as mine? His conscience an infallible guide as well as mine? Let us then no longer make other laws for the blacks than those we are bound by ourselves, since Heaven has placed them on a level with us, has made them like us, since they are our brethren and our fellow-creatures.

Here you stop me, you say that _the Negro is not our fellow-creature, that he is below the white_.

How could so shocking an opinion escape the pen of a member of the Royal Academy, a writer who would be thought a friend of mankind!

Do not you see the tormentors of St. Domingo, avail themselves of it already, redoubling their strokes, and regarding their slaves as mere machines, like the Cartesians do the brutes? They are not our fellow-creatures will they say: a philosopher of Paris has proved it?

What! the blacks our equals! Have not they eyes, ears, a shape, and organs like ours? Does nature follow another order, other laws for them?--Have not they speech, that peculiar characteristic of humanity? But then the colour! What of that? Are the pale white Albinos, the olive or copper coloured Indians also of different species! Who does not know that colour is accidental. They are not our equals! Have not they the same faculties--reason, memory, imagination? Yes, you reply, but they have written no books. Who told you so? Who told you there were no learned blacks? And supposing it were so, if none but authors are men, the whole human race is different from us.

Shall I tell you why there are no authors or men of learning among the Negroes? What has made you what you are? Education and circumstances!--Now where are the Negroes favoured by either? Consider them wherever they are to be found.--In Africa, wretchedly enslaved by domestic tyrants; in our islands perpetual martyrs; in the southern United States, the meanest of slaves; in the northern, domestics; in Europe, universally contemned, every where proscribed, like the Jews; in a word, every where in a state of debasement.

I have been told that there are blacks of property in the northern parts of America; but these, like the other settlers, are no more than sensible farmers or traders.--There are no authors[3] among them, because there are few rich and idle people in America.

What spring of action could raise a Negro from his debased condition? the road to glory and honor is impassible to him: What then should he write for? Besides, the blacks have reason to detest the sciences, for their oppressors cultivate them but they do not make them better.

Shall we say that the Indians or Arabs are not our equals, because they despise both our arts and our sciences? or the Quakers, because they neither respect academies nor wits?

In short, if you will deny the Negroes souls, energy, sensibility, gratitude or beneficence, I oppose you to yourself, I might quote your own anecdote of Mr. Langdon's Negro, and abundance of other well known facts in favour of the blacks. You may find some striking ones in the Abbé Raynals' philosophical history. One of them would have been sufficient. The Negro who killed himself when his master who had injured him was in his power, was superior to Epictetus, and the existence of a single Negro of so sublime a character, ennobles all his kind.

But how could you judge whether the blacks were different from the whites, who saw them only in a state of slavery and wretchedness? Do we estimate beauty by the figure of a Laplander? magnanimity by the soul of a courtier? or intelligence by the stupidity of an Esquimaux?

If the traces of humanity were so much weakened and effaced in the Negroes, that you did not recognize them, I conclude not that they do not belong to our species, but that they must have been cruelly tormented to reduce them to this state of degeneracy. I do not conclude that they are not men, but that the Europeans who kidnap the blacks, are not worthy of the name.

You consider what precautions it may be necessary to take to avoid the danger which might attend a general emancipation of the Negroes.

I shall not now enter into a discussion of this nice question, but reserve it for another work: yet I must say in a word, that the Negroes will never be our friends, will never be men, until they are possessed of all our rights, until we are upon an equality. Civil liberty is the boundary between good and evil, order and disorder, happiness and misery, ignorance and knowledge. If we would make the Negroes worthy of us, we must raise them to our level by giving them this liberty.

Thus, the chief inconvenience you expect will follow the emancipation of the Negroes, may be avoided; that although free, they will remain a distinct species, a distinct and dangerous body.

This objection will vanish when we intermix with them, and boldly efface every distinction. Unless this is the case, I foresee torrents of blood spilt and the earth disputed between the whites and blacks, as America was between the Europeans and Savages.

Perhaps, and it is no extravagant idea--perhaps it might be more prudent, more humane, to send the blacks back again to their native country, settle them there, encourage their industry, and assist them to form connections with Europe and America. The celebrated doctor Fothergill conceived this plan, and the society for the abolition of slavery, at London, have carried it into execution at Sierra Leone. Time and perseverance, will discover the policy and utility of this settlement. If it should succeed, the blacks will quit America insensibly, and Sierra Leone become the centre from whence general civilization will spread over all Africa.

Perhaps, sir, you will place these thoughts upon the Negroes with those declamations you are pleased to ridicule: But what is the epithet of declaimer to me, if I am right, if I make an impression upon my readers, if I cause remorse into the breast of a single slave-holder; in a word, if I contribute to accelerate the general impulse toward liberty.

You disapprove the application of eloquence to this subject; you think nothing can affect it but exertions of cool reason. What is eloquence but the language of reason and sensibility? When man is oppressed, he struggles, he complains, he moves our passions, and bears down all opposition. Such eloquence can perform wonders, and should be employed by those who undertake to plead the cause of the unfortunate who spend their days in continual agony, or he will make no impression.--I do not conceive how any man can display wit instead of feeling, upon this distracting subject, amuse with an antithesis, instead of forcible reasoning, and only dazzle where he ought to warm. I have no conception how a sensible and thinking being, can see a fellow-creature tortured and torn to pieces, perhaps his poor wife bathed in tears, with a wretched infant sucking her shriveled breast at his side; I say I have no conception how he can behold such a sight, with indifference; how, unagonized and convulsed with rage and indignation, he can have the barbarity to descend to jesting! Notwithstanding, your observations upon the Negroes, conclude with a jest.

It will be an easy matter, say you, to add ten or twelve pages to these few reflections, which may be considered as a concert, composed only of principal parts, "con corni ad Libertum."

I hope there is nothing cruel, because there is nothing studied in this connection, this inconsiderate manner: but how could such a comparison come into the head of a man of feeling? It is the sad effect of wit, as I said before; it contracts the soul. Ever glancing over agreeable objects, it is unfeeling when intruded upon by wretchedness--uneasy to obliterate the shocking idea, and elude the groans of nature, it rids itself of both by a jest. The humane Benezet would never have connected this idea of harmony with the sound of a Negro driver's whip.

Having proved that you have wronged the Quakers and the Negroes, I shall proceed to shew that you have equally injured mankind and the people.--_Critical Examination of the Marquis de Chastellux's Travels in North-America, 1782. Translated from the French of Jean P. Verre Brissot de Warville, 1788_, pp. 51-63.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] This Jefferies was the most infamous Chief Justice that ever existed in England. Charles II. and James II. well acquainted with his talents for chicane, his debauchery and blood-thirstiness, his baseness and his crimes, made use of him to exterminate, with the sword of law, all those worthy men who defended the constitution from their tyranny.

I often quote the History of England; unhappily for us it is too little known in France.

[2] Most authors who have not studied the rights of men, fall into this error. I have remarked elsewhere (Vol. II of the _Journ. du Licee_, No. 4, page 222) that a writer, who, notwithstanding, deserves our esteem, for having written against the despotism of the Turkish government, has suffered himself to be drawn into it. M. le Baron de Tott says that the Moldavians are thievish, mean and faithless. To translate these words into the language of truth, we must say, the Turks, the masters of the Moldavians, are unjust, robbers, villains, and tyrants; and that the Moldavians revenge themselves by opposing deceit to oppression, etc. Thus, the people are almost everywhere wrongfully accused.

[3] There was, however, a Negro author at London, whose productions are not without merit, and were lately published in two volumes. His name was Ignatius Sancho. He wrote in the manner of Sterne.

SUR L'ÉTAT GÉNÉRAL, LE GENRE D'INDUSTRIE, LES MOEURS, LE CARACTÈRE, ETC. DES NOIRS, DANS LES ÉTATS-UNIS

"Dans les quatre états du nord et dans ceux du midi, les noirs libres sont, ou domestiques, ou tiennent de petites boutiques, ou cultivent la terre. Vous en voyez quelques-unes sur les bâtimens destinés au cabotage. Peu osent se hasarder sur les vaisseau employés aux voyages de long cours, parce qu'ils craignent d'être transportés et vendus dans les iles.--Au physique, tous ces noirs sont généralement vigoureux,[1] d'une forte constitution, capables des travaux les plus pénibles; ils sont généralement actifs.--Domestiques, ils sont sobres et fidèles.--Ce portrait s'applique aux femmes de cette couleur.--Je n'ai vu faire aucune distinction entr'eux à cet égard et les domestiques blancs, quoique ces derniers les traitent toujours avec mépris, comme étant d'une espèce inférieure.--Ceux qui tiennent des boutiques, vivent médiocrement, n'augmentent jamais leurs affaires au-dela d'un certain point. La raison en est simple: quoique partout on traite les noirs avec humanité, les blancs qui ont l'argent, ne sont pas disposés à faire aux noirs des avances, telles qu'elles les missent en état d'entreprendre le commerce en grand; d'ailleurs, il faut pour ce commerce quelques connoissances préliminaires, il faut faire un noviciat dans un comptoir, et la raison n'a pas encore ouvert aux noirs la porte du comptoir. On ne leur permet pas de s'y asseoir à côté des blancs.--Si donc les noirs sont bornés ici à un petit commerce de détail, n'en accusons pas leur impuissance, mais le préjugé des blancs, qui leur donnent des entraves. Les mémes causes empéchent les moirs qui vivent à la compagne d'avoir des plantations étendues; celles qu'ils cultivent sont bornées, mais généralement assez bien cultivées: de bons habits, _une log house_, ou maison de bois en bon état, des enfans plus nombreux les font remarquer des Européens voyageurs, et l'oeil du philosophe se plaît à considérer ces habitations, où la tyrannie ne fait point verser de pleurs. Dans cette partie de l'Amerique, les noirs sont certainement heureux; mais ayons le courage de l'avouer, leur bonheur et leurs talens ne sont pas encore au degré où ils pourroient atteindre.--Il existe encoure un trop grand intervalle entre eux et les blancs, sur-tout dans l'opinion publique, et cette difference humiliante arrête tous les efforts qu'ils feroient pour s'élever. Cette difference se montre par-tout. Par exemple, on admet les noirs aux écoles publiques; mais ils ne peuvent franchir le seuil d'un collège. Quoique libres, quoique indépendans, ils sont toujours eux-mêmes accoutumés à se regarder comme au-dessous du blanc; il y a des droits qu'ils n'out pas.[2] Concluons de là qu'on jugeroit mal de l'étendue, de la capacité des noirs, en prenant pour base celle des noirs libres dans les états du nord.

Mais quand on les compare aux noirs, esclaves des états du midi, quelle prodigieuse différence les sépare! Dans le midi, les noirs sont dans un état d'abjection et d'abrutissement difficile à peindre. Beaucoup sont nuds, mal nourris, logés dans de miserables huttes, couchés sur la paille.[3] On ne leur donne aucune éducation; on ne les instruit dans aucune religion; on ne les marie pas, on les accouple; aussi sont ils avilis, paresseux, sans idées, sans énergie.--Ills ne se donneroient aucune peine pour avoir des habits, ou de meilleures provisions; ils aiment mieux porter des haillons que de les raccommoder. Ills passent le dimanche, qui est le jour du repos, entièrement dans l'inaction.--L'inaction est leur souverain bonheur; aussi travaillent-ils pen et nonchalamment.

Il faut rendre justice à la vérité; les Américains du midi traitent doucement les esclaves, et c'est un des effets produits par l'extension générale des idées sur la liberté; l'esclave travaille moins par-tout; mais on s'est borné là. Il n'en est pas mieux, ni pour la mourriture, ni pour son habillement, ni pour ses moeurs, ni pour ses idées; ainsi le maître perd, sans que l'esclaves acquière; et s'il suivoit l'exemple des Americains du nord, tous deux gagneroient au changement.

On a cru généralment jusqu'à ces derniers temps, que les nègres avoient moins de capacité morale que les blancs; des auteurs même estimables l'ont imprimé.[4] Ce préjugé commence à disparoitre; les états du nord pourroient fournir des exemples du contraire. Je n'en citerai que deux frappans; le premier, prouvera, qu'avec l'instruction, on peut rendre les noirs propres à toutes les professions; le second, que la tête d'un nègre est organsée pour les calculs les plus étonans, et par conséquent pour toutes les sciences.

J'ai vu, dans mon séjour à Philadelphie, un noir, appelé Jacques Derham, médecin, qui exerce dans la Nouvelle-Orleans, sur le Mississippi; et voici son histoire, telle qu'elle m'a été attestée par plusieurs médecins.--Ce noir a été élevé dans une famille de Philadelphie, où il a appris à lire, à écrire, et où on l'a instruit dans les principes du christianisme. Dans sa jeunesse, il fut vendu au feu docteur Jean Kearsley le jeune, de cette ville, qui l'employoit pour composer des médecines, et les administrer á ses malades.

A la mort du docteur Kearsley, il passa dans différentes mains, et il devint enfin l'esclave du docteur George West, chirurgien du seizième regiment d'Angleterre, sous lequel, pendant la dernière guerre en Amérique, il remplit les fonctions les moins importantes de la médecine.

A la fin de la guerre, le docteur West le vendit au Docteur Robert Dove, de la Nouvelle-Orleans, qui l'employa comme son second. Dans cette condition, il gagna si bien la confiance et l'amité de son maître, que celui-ci consentit à l'affranchir deux ou trois ans après, et à des conditions modérées.--Derham s'étoit tellement perfectionné dans la medecine, qu'à l'époque de sa liberté, il fut en état de la pratiquer avec succès à la Nouvelle-Orleans.--Il a environ 26 ans; il est marié, mais il n'a point d'enfans; la medecine lui rapporte 3000 dollars, ou 16000 l. environ par an.

J'ai causé, m'a dit le docteur Wistar, avec lui sur les maladies aiguës et épidémiques du pays où il vit, et je l'ai trouve bien versé dans la méthode simple, usitée par les modernes pour le traitement de ces maladies.--Je croyois pouvoir lui indiquer de nouveaux remèdes; mais ce fut lui qui me les indiqua.--Il est modeste, et a des manières très-engageantes; il parle francois avec facilité et a quelques connoisances de l'espagnol. -- Qoique né dans une famille religieuse, on avoit, par accident, oublié de le faire baptiser. En conséquence, il s'est adressé au docteur Withe pour recevoir le baptême; il le lui a conféré, apres l'en avoir jugé digne, non-seulement par ses connoisances, mais par son excellente conduite.

Voice l'autre fait, tel qu'il m'a été attesté, et imprimé par le docteur Rush,[5] célèbre médecin et auteur, établi à Philadelphie et plusieurs détails m'en ont été confirmés par l'épouse de l'immortel Washington, dans le voisinage duquel ce nègre est depuis longtemps.

Son nom est Thomas Fuller; il est né en Afrique, et ne sait ni lire ni écrire; il a maintenant soixante-dix ans, et a vécu toute sa vie sur la plantation de M^{me} Cox, a quatre milles d'Alexandrie. Deux habitans respectables de Pensylvanie, MM. Hartshom et Samuel Coates, qui voyageoient en Virginie, ayant appris la facilité singuliere que ce noir avoit pour les calculus les plus compliques, l'envoyèrent chercher, et lui firent differentes questions.

Première. Etant interrogé, combien de secondes il y avoit dans une année et demie, il repondit en deux minutes, 47,304,000, en comptant 365 jours dans l'année.

Deuxième. Combien de secondes auroit vécu un homme âgé de soix-ante-dix ans dix-sept jours et douze heures? Il répondit dans une minute et demie, 2,210,500,800.

Un des Americains qui l'interrogeoit et qui vérifioit ses calculs avec la plume, lui dit qu'il se trompoit, que la somme n'étoit pas si considerable; et cela étoit vrai: c'est qu'il n'avoit pas fait attention aux années bissextiles; il corrigea le calcul avec la plus grande célérité.

Autre question. Supposez un laboureur qui a six truies, et que chaque truie en met bas six autres la première année, et qu'elles multiplient dans la même proportion jusqu'à, l' fin de la huitème année: combien alors de truies aura le laboureur, s'il n'en perd aucune? Le vieillard répondit en dix minutes, 34,588,806.

La longueur du temps ne fut occasionée que parce qu'il n'avoit pas d'abord compris la question.

Après avoir satisfait à toutes les questions, il raconta l'origine et les progrès de son talent en arithmétique.--Il compta a'abord jusqu'a 10, puis 100; et s'imaginoit alors, disoit-il, être un habile homme. Ensuite il s'amusa à compter tous les grains d'un boisseau de ble, et successivement il sut compter le nombre de rails ou morceaux de bois necessaires pour enclore un champ d'une telle étendue, ou de grains nécessaires pour le semer.--Sa maîtresse avoit tiré beaucoup d'advantages de son talen; il ne parloit d'elle qu'avec la plus grande reconnoissance, parce qu'elle ne l'avoit jamais voulu vendre, malgre les offres considerables qu'on lui avoit faites pour l'acheter.--Sa tête commençoit à foiblir.--Un des Americains lui ayant dit que c'étoit dommage qu'il n'eut pas recu de l'éducation: Non, maître, dit-il; il vaut mieux que je n'aie rien appris, car bien des savans ne sont que des sots.

Ces exemples prouveront, sans doute, que la capacité des nègres peut s'étendre a tout; ils n'ont besoin que d'instruction et de liberté.--La différence qui se remarque entre ceux qui sont libres et instruits et les autres, se montre encore dans leurs travaux.--Les terres qu'habitent et les blancs et les noirs, soumis à ce rêgime, sont infiniment mieux cultivées, produisent plus abondamment, offrent par-tout l'image de l'aisance et du bonheur; et tel est, par exemple, l'aspect du Connecticut et de la Pensylvanie.--Passez dans le Maryland ou la Virginie, encore une fois, vous croyez être dans un autre monde. Ce ne sont plus des plaines bien cultivées, des maisons de campagne, propres et meme élégantes, des vastes granges bien distribuées; ce ne sont plus des troupeaux nombreux de bestiaux gras et vigoureux: non, tout dans le Maryland et la Virginia, porte l'empreinte de l'esclavage; sol brulé, culture mal entendue, maisons délabrées, bestiaux petits et peu nombreux, cadavres noirs ambulans; en un mot, vous y voyez une misère réelle a côté de l'apparence du luxe.

On commence à s'appercevoir, même dans les états méridionaux, que nourrir mal un exclave est une chétive économie, et que le fonds placé dans l'esclavage ne rend pas son interêt. C'est peut-être plus à cette considération, plus encore à l'impossibilité pécuniaire de recruter; c'est plus, dis-je, à ces considérations qu'à l'humanité, qu'on doit l'introduction du travail libre dans une partie de la Virginie, dans celle qui avoisine la belle rivière de la Shenadore. Aussi croiroit-on, en la voyant, voir encore la Pensylvanie.

Osons l'espérer, tel sera un jour le sort de la Virginie, quand elle ne sera plus souillée par l'esclavage; et ce terme n'est peut-être pas eloigné. Il n'y a des esclaves que parce qu'on les croit nécessaires á la culture du tabac, et cette culture décline tous les jours et doit décliner. Le tabac, qui se ciiltive près de l'Ohio et du Mississippi, est infiniment plus abondant, de meilleure qualité, exige moins de travaux. Quand ce tabac se sera ouvert le chemin de l'Europe, les Virginiens seront obligés de cesser sa culture, et de demander à la terre du blé, des pommes de terre, de faire des prairies et d'élever des bestiaux. Les Virginiens judicieux prévoient cette revolution, l'anticipent, et se livrent à la culture du blé.--A leur tête, on doit mettre cet homme étonnant, qui, général adoré, eut le courage d'être republican sincère; qui, couvert de gloire, seul, ne s'en souvient plus; héros dont la destinée unique sera d'avoir sauvé deux fois sa patrie, de lui ouvrir le chemin de la prospérité, apres avoir ouvert celui de la liberté. Maintenant _entièrement_ occupé[6] du soin d'améliorer ses terres, d'en varier le produit, d'ouvrir des routes, des communications, il donne à ses compatriotes un exemple utile, et qui sans doute sera suivi. Il a cependant, dois-je, le dire? une foule nombreuse d'esclaves noirs.--Mais ils sont traites avec la plus grande humanité. Bien nourris, bien vêtus, n'ayant qu'un travail modéré à faire, ils bénissent sans cesse le maître que le Ciel leur a donné.--Il est digne sans doute d'une âme aussi élevée, aussi pure, aussi désinteressé, de commencer la révolution en Virginie, d'y preparer l'affranchissement des nègres.--Ce grand homme, lorsque j'eus le bonheur de l'entretenir, m'avoua qu'il admiroit tout ce qui se faissoit dans les autres états, qu'il en desiroit l'extension dans son propre pays; mais il ne me cacha pas que de nombreux obstacles s'y opposoient encore, qu'il seroit dangereux de heurter de front un préjugé qui commencoit à diminuer.--Du temps, de la patience, des lumières, et on le convaincra, me dit-il. Presque tous les Virginiens, ajoutoit-il, ne croyent pas que la liberté des noirs puisse sitôt devenir générale. Voilà pourquoi ils ne veulent point former de société qui puisse donner des idées dangereuses à leurs esclaves. Un autre obstacle s'y oppose. Les grandes propriétés éloignent les hommes, rendent difficiles les assemblées, et vous ne trouverez ici que de grands propriétaires.

Les Virginiens se trompent, lui disois-je; il est evident que tôt ou tard les nègres obtiendront par-tout leur liberté, que cette révolution s'étendra en Virginie. Il est done de l'intérêt de vos compatriotes de s'y préparer, de tacher de concilier la restitution des droits des nègres avec leur propriété. Les Moyens à prendre, pour cet effet, ne peuvent être l'ouvrage que d'une société, et il est digne du sauveur de l'Amerique d'en être le chef, et de rendre la liberté à 300,000 hommes malheureux dans son pays. Ce grand homme me dit qu'il en desiroit la formation, qu'il la seconderoit; mail il ne croyoit pas le moment favorable.--Sans doute des vues plus élévees absorboient alors son attention et remplissoient son âme; le destin de l'amerique étoit prêt à étre remis une seconde fois dans ses mains.

C'est un malheur, n'en doutons pas, semblable société n'existe pas dans le Maryland et dans la Virginie; car c'est au zèle constant de celles de Philadelphie et de New-Yorck qu'on doit tous les progrès de cette révolution en Amerique, et la naissance de la société de Londres.

Que ne puis-je ici vous peindre l'impression dont j'ai été frappé en assistant aux séances de ces trois sociétés!--Quelle gravité dans la contenance des membres! quelle simplicité dans leurs discours! quelle candeur dans leurs discussions! quelle bienfaisance! quelle énergie dans leur résolution! Chacun s'empressoit d'y prendre part, non pour briller, mais pour être utile.--Avec quelle joie ils apprirent qu'il s'élevoit une société semblable à la leur dans Paris, dans cette capitale immense, si célèbre en Amerique par l'opulence, le faste, l'influence sur un vaste royaume, et sur presque tous les états de l'Europe! Avec quel empressement ils publièrent cette nouvelle dans toutes leurs gazettes, et répandirent partout la traduction du premier discours lu dans cette société! Avec quelle joie ils virent dans la liste des membres de cette société, un nom cher à leurs coeurs, et qu'ils ne prononcent qu'aves attendrissement, et les noms d'autres personness connues par leur énergie et leur patriotisme! Ils ne doutoient point que si cette société s'étendoit, bravoit les obstacles, s'unissoit avec celle de Londres, les lumières repandues par elles sur le trafic des nègres et sur son infamie inutile, n'éclairassent les gouvernmens, et n'en determinassent la suppression.

Ce fut, sans doute, à cet élan de joie et d'espoir, et aux recommendations flatteuses que j'avois emportées d'Europe, plus qu'à mes foibles travaux, que je dus l'honneur qu'ils me firent de m'associer à leur rang.

Ces sociétés ne se bornèrent pas à ces démonstrations; elles nommèrent dés comités pour m'assister dans mes travaux; leurs archives me furent ouvertes.

Ces sociétés bienfaisantes s'occupent maintenant de nouveaux prospects pour consommer leur oeuvre de justice et d'humanité; elles s'occupent à creer de nouvelles sociétés dans les états qui n'en out point; c'est ainsi qu'il vient de s'en élever une dans l'état de Delaware.--Elles forment de nouveaux projets pour décourager l'esclavage et le commerce des esclaves.--Cest ainsi que, pour arrêter les ventes scandaleuses qui s'en font encore dans New Yorck,[7] à des enchères publiques, tous les membres se sont engagés à ne jamais employer l'officier public, l'huissier-priseur qui présideroit à de pareilles ventes. Mais c'est sur-tout à sauver des mains de la cupidité des esclaves, qu'elle voudroit et ne doit pas retenir, que la société de Philadelphie est ingénieuse.--Un esclave est-il maltraité, il trouve dans elle une protection assurée et gratuite.--Un autre a fini son temps, et est toujours détenu; elle reclame ses droits.--Des étrangers amènent des noirs, et ne satisfont pas à la loi; la société en procure le benefice à ces malheureux nègres.--Un des plus célèbres avocats de Philadelphie, dont j'aime à vanter les talents et l'amitié qui nous unit, M. _Myers Fisher_, lui prête son ministère, presque toujours avec succès, et tojours avec désintéressement. Cette société s'est apperçue que de nombreuses assemblées, n'avoient pas d'action, parce que le mouvement se perdoit en se divisant en trop de membres; elle a créé plusiers comités, toujours en activite; elle sollicite des créations semblables dans tous les états; afin que par-tout les loix sur l'abolition de la traite et sur l'affranchissement soient executées; afin que par-tout on presente des pétitions aux legislatures, pour obtenir de nouvelles loix pour les cas non prévus. --Enfin, c'est a cette société, sand doute, que l'on devra un jour de semblables établissemens dans le midi. J. P. Brissot, (Warville). --"_Nouveau Vouage dans les États-Unis de l'Amerique Septentrionale, 1788_," Tome Second, 31-49.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Les noirs maries font certainement autant d'enfans que les blancs; mais on a remarqué que dans les villes, il perissoit plus d'enfans noirs. Cette difference tient moins a leur nature qu'au défaut d'aisance et de soins, sur-tout des médecins et des chirurgiens.

[2] N'y eut-il que l'aversion des blancs pour le mariage de leurs filles avec les noirs, ce seul sentiment suffiroit pour avilir ces deniers. Cependant il y a quelques exemples de ces mariages.

Il existe a Pittsbourg sur l'Ohio une blanche d'origine françoise, menée a Londres, et enlevée, à l'âge de douze ans, par des corsaires qui faisoient métier d'enlever des enfans, et de les vendre en Amerique pour un temps fixé de leur travail.--Des circonstances singulieres l'engagèrent à épouser un nègre qui lui acheta sa liberté, et qui la tira des mains d'un blanc, maître barbare et libi-dineux, qui avoit tout employé pour la desuire.--Une mulâtresse, sortie de cette union, a épousé un chirurgien de Nantes, établi à Pittsburg.--Cette famille est une des plus respectables de cette ville; le nègre fait un très bon commerce, et la maîtresse se fait un devoir d'accueillir et de bien traiter les étrangers, et sur tout les François que le hasard amène de ce côté.

Mais on n'a point d'idée d'une pareille union dans le nord; elle revolteroit.--Dans les etablissemens, le long de l'Ohio il y a bien des négresses qui vivent avec des blancs non mariés.--Cependant on m'assura que cette union est regardée de mauvais oeil par les nègres mêmes. Si une négresse a une-querelle avec une mulâtresse, elle lui reproche d'être d'un sang mêlé.

[3] Le docteur Rush, qui a été portée de traiter ces noirs, m'a communiqué une observation bien importante, et qui prouve combien l'énergie morale et intellectuelle d'un individu influe sur sa santé et son état physique. Il m'a dit qu'il étoit bien plus difficile de traiter et de guérir ces noirs esclaves que les blancs; qu'ils résistoient bien moins aux maladies violentes ou longues. C'est qu'ils tiennent pen par l'âme à la vie: la vitalité ou le ressort de la vie est presque nul dans eux.

[4] J'ai deja plusieurs fois refuté cette opinion et sur-tout dans mon Examen critique des voyages de M. Chatellux. Elle a d'alleurs été détruite dans une foule d'excellens ouvrages.

[5] Ce médecin est aussi célèbre en Amerique, par de bons écrits politiques. C'est un apôtre infatigable de la liberté.

[6] Il n'étoit pas alors président des Etats-Unis. J'anticipe ici sur plusieurs conversations que j'ai eues avec ce grand homme, et dont je parlerai par la suite.

[7] A l'assemblée de la société de New-Yorck, du 9 novembre 1787, il a été arrêté qu'on donneroit une medaille d'or pour le meilleur discours qui seroit prononcé a l'ouverture du college de New-Yorck sur l'injustice et la cruaute de la traite des nègres, et sur les funestes effets de l'esclavage.

SLAVERY AS SEEN BY HENRY WANSEY

"In this state (He was then at Worcester) the Negroes are free and happy, are electors, but not elected to offices of state; their education, however, is the same as the whites. ... No negro child is suffered to be endentured beyond twenty-four years of age.

"We observe a school by the road-side in almost every parish, and out of it run negro boys and girls as well as white children, without any distinction. ... A road branched off here to our right hand, leading to Albany about 60 miles distant. I now observe six or eight negroes working together in a field, well dressed as other people. Notwithstanding, they are here free, and admitted to equal privileges with the white people, yet they love to associate with each other. It is observed that they are naturally lazier, and will not work so hard as a white servant.--Perhaps, the remembrance of former compulsive service, may make them place a luxury in idleness. Nor do they yet seem to feel their importance in society; this is a portion of inheritance reserved to the next generation of them. ...

"Came on to Hartford....

Here I staid two days that I might have time to inspect the woolen manufactory of this place, and attend the debates of the House of Representatives of this state.... Two very interesting subjects were in debate:--a bill brought in to repeal a law, passed in October last to order 'That the money arising from the sale of their lands, between the Ohio and Lake Erie, should be appropriated to increase the salaries of the ministers of the gospel and the masters of schools;' and another bill (for its second reading) 'To provide for those poor and sick negroes, who having been freed from slavery might be unprovided for; and that till the master was exculpated, by receiving a certificate from the state, that negro was discharged in perfect health, it should be incumbent on the master to continue to take care of him during sickness, or, at least, pay the expenses of his cure.' I was much pleased to see a legislature extend its humanity and care so far.

After our breakfast, which was not a very good one, we set off for Elizabeth Town, near which, on the right, is Governor Livingstone's handsome house. This is six miles from Newark....

I observed several negro houses, (low buildings of one story) detached from the family house; for the slaves (from their pilfering disposition) are not allowed to sleep in the same houses with their masters. Slavery, although many regulations have been made to moderate its severity, is not yet abolished in the New Jerseys....

"Most of the families of New York have black servants. I should suppose that nearly one fifth of the inhabitants are negroes, most of whom are free, and many in good circumstances."--Henry Wansey, F.A.S., "_The Journal of an excursion to the United States of America in the summer of 1794 (Journey from New York to Boston)_," pp. 53, 57, 58, 67, and 227.

ESCLAVAGE PAR LA ROCHEFOUCAULD-LIANCOURT

Quant à l'esclavage, l'État de New-Yorck est un de ceux où les idées m'ont paru le moins liberales. Il est donc naturel que les loix qui dans tous les pays suivent plus ou moins l'opinion générale, manquent aussi de libéralité à cet égard.

On peut concevoir comment dans les États du Sud le grand nombre des esclaves rend leur émancipation difficile, et comment cette difficulté d'émancipation donne pretexte à l'opinion de la necessité de loix extrêmement sévères contre eux. Mais dans l'État de New-Yorck, où sur une population de plus de quatre cent mille âmes on ne compte pas vingt mille nègres; il est impossible de comprendre quels si grands obstacles l'emancipation peut rencontrer, et sur quoi l'on peut fonder l'opinion qui'il faut pour ce petit nombre de nègres des loix plus sévères que pour les hommes d'une autre couleur.

Quoiqu'il en soit, une loi qui n'est pas plus ancienne que 1788, confirme l'état d'esclavage pour tout nègre, mulâtre our mêtif esclave à l'époque où elle a été rendue; déclare esclave tout enfant né ou à naître d'une femme esclave; autorise la vente des esclaves et les soumet pour les petits crimes, à un jugement, que l'on peut appeler prévotal, des juges de paix, qui peuvent les condamner à l'emprisonnement ou aux coups de fouet. Un article de cette loi les assuejétit à ce genre de jugement et à cette espèce de sentence pour avoir frappé un blanc, sans faire exception du cas où le blanc serait l'aggresseur. La faveur du jury est cependant accordée à l'esclave, si le crime dont il est accusé peut emporter peine de mort. Il est aussi admis en témoignage dans les affaires criminelles où d'autres nègres sont impliqués.

La nouvelle jurisprudence criminelle, fondée sur les principes d'humanité et de justice, ne détruit aucune des dispositions réellement injustes et barbares, contenues dans cette loi. Cependant, les esclaves sont généralement traités avec plus de douceur par leurs maîtres dans l'État de New Yorck, et moins surchargés de travail que dans les États du Midi. Les moeurs prévalent à cet égard sur la rigidité des loix; mais les moeurs y sont aussi, comme dans beaucoup d'autres États de l'Amerique, imprégnées d'avidité et d'avarice. Cette disposition seule y empêche l'abolition de l'esclavage. Elle est fréquemment proposée dans la législature, et jusqu'ici tout moyen, même préparatoire, y a été rejetté. Quoique la proportion des hommes libres aux esclaves soit telle que le plus grand nombre des habitans de l'État de New-Yorck ne possède pas d'esclaves, le petit nombre de ceux qui en possèdent sont les plus riches, les plus grands propriétaires; et, dans l'État de New-Yorck comme ailleurs, ils ont la principale influence.

Le respect dû à _la propriété_, est l'arme avec laquelle on combat toute proposition que tient à l'affranchissement. J'ai entendu un des hommes de loi les plus éclairés, et dont à tout autre égard les opinions sont libérales, soutenir que "ce serait attenter à _la propriété_ que de déclarer libres même les enfans à naître des femmes esclaves, parce que, disait-il, les maîtres qui out acheté ou hérité des esclaves, les possèdent dans la confiance que leur _issue_ sera leur propriété utile et disponible."

Ainsi, quand on dit en Virginie "qu'on ne peut y changer le sort de l'esclavage qu'en exportant a-la-fois tous les nègres de l'État"; on dit à New-Yorck "qu'on ne peut y penser à abolir l'esclage, ni rien faire de préparatoire à cette intention, sans payer à chaque possesseur d'esclaves le prix actuel de la valeur de ses nègres jeunes et vieux, et le prix estimé de leur descendance supposée." C'est sans doute opposer à l'abolition de l'esclavage tous les obstacles imaginables, c'est se montrer bien ennemi de cette abolition.

Cependant l'obstacle présenté par les citoyens de New-Yorck, est moins difficile à vaincre. En admenttant le principe de la nécessité d'un dédommagement donné aux maîtres pour les nègres à affranchir, et en évaluant chaque nègre à cent trente dollars, la somme totale ne serait que de trois millions de dollars.

Ce prix serait encore susceptible de reduction, par le puissant motif d'intérêt et d'honneur public auquel chaque membre de la société doit faire des sacrifices.

La question de la propriété des enfans à naître ne tiendrait pas à un quart-d'heure de discussion, si elle était agitée devant la legislature; enfin cet affranchissement qui ne devrait être fait que par degrés, coûterait à l'État des sacrifices moins grands encore, et dont la succession les rendrait presqu'imperceptibles aux finances de l'État, qui ne pourraient d'ailleurs avoir un plus saint emploi.

A New-Yorck comme ailleurs, l'affranchissement des nègres doit avoir pour but le bonheur de l'État, son bon ordre, le bonheur même des nègres qu'on veut affranchir. Un affranchissement trop prompt, trop subitement général, manquerait ces differens buts de premiere nécessité. Je ne répéterai pas ici ce que j'ai dit ailleurs à cet égard, et ce que tant d'autres ont dit avant moi. La dépense pour l'État serait donc réduite à de bien petites sommes, en les comparant avec l'utilité et le devoir de cette opération. Mais tant que l'État de New-Yorck, entouré des exemples du Connecticut, du Massachusetts et de Pensylvanie, ne fait rien qui conduise à cette libération, tant qu'il semble approuver par le silence ou les refus de sa legislature, la permanence de l'esclavage, il laisse sa constitution et ses loix flétries d'une tâche que l'on peut, sans exageration, dire deshonorante, puisqu'elle ne peut être excusée, ni palliée, par aucune des circonstances où se trouve cet État.

L'importation dans l'État de New-Yorck d'esclaves étrangers est prohibée par la même loi qui confirme l'esclavage de ceux qui y existaient à l'époque où elle a été rendue; ainsi cette disposition de la loi, et la manière douce dont sont traités les esclaves en général, confirment dans l'opinion que l'intérêt pécuniaire, plus qu'une véritable approbation de l'esclavage empêche la legislature de New-Yorck, de procéder à cet égard avec la justice et les lumières qui dirigent généralement ses délibérations.--"_Voyage dans Les États-Unis D'Amerique." Fait en 1795, 1796 et 1797_. Par La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt. Tome Septième, 114-119.

OBSERVATIONS SUR L'ESCLAVAGE PAR LA ROCHEFOUCAULD-LIANCOURT

Il est natural de supposer qu'un nègre esclave, fatigué de travail depuis le commencement de l'année jusqu'à la fin, obligé, sous peine du fouet, d'aller aux champs, qu'il soit où non en état de santé, ne voye dans la liberté que la faculté de ne plus travailler. Tant qu'il était esclave, il était plus ou moins mal nourri, mais il l'était sans aucun soin de sa part, et sans qu'un travail plus assidu, plus actif, lui valut une meilleure nourriture ou un meilleur nourriture ou un meilleur vêtement. Le travail n'était donc pour lui qu'une peine, sans être jamais un moyen de bien être, il est donc, il doit donc être paresseux et imprévoyant. Il jouit des premiers momens de sa liberté, en ne travaillant point, car le fouet ne claque plus à ses oreilles; les besoins se font sentir; aucune éducation ne lui a été donnée que celle de l'esclavage, qui enseigne à tromper, à voler, comme à mentir; il cherche à satisfaire ses besoins, auxquels son travail n'a pas pourvu, en dérobant quelques bleds, quelques provisions à ses voisins; il devient recéleur des nègres esclaves.

Tout cela peut et doit être, mais ne doit dégouter de l'affranchissement progressif des nègres que ceux ne veulent pas penser qu'avec des soins préparatoires, et sur-tout des soins généreux qui auraient pour objet une émancipation générale successive, appropriée au nombre des nègres dans le pays, et à plusieurs autres circonstances, la plus grande quantité de ces inconvéniens serait evitée, et le serait totalement pour la génération future si elle ne pouvait l'être pour la présente. Mais comment espérer une philanthropie si prévoyante de ceux qui ne voyent que leur intérêt du moment, et qui le croyent blessé.

Dans L'État de Maryland les esclaves sont jugés par les mêmes tribunaux que les blancs, et comme eux par l'arbitrage des juris. Les punitions pour les noirs sont plus sévères; mais les moeurs sont douces au moins dans la partie du Maryland où je suis a présent, et elles prévalent sur la rigueur des loix. J'ai été témoin d'un fait qui prouve que l'humanité des juges et le désir de rendre une exacte justice les occupent pour les accusés esclaves, comme pour les blancs. Une négresse est en prison, accusée d'avoir voulu empoisonner sa maîtresse et d'avoir empoisonné un enfant. Sa maîtresse est son accusatrice. C'est une femme d'une bonne reputation dans le pays, appartenant à une famille très-etendue dans le comté, et y ayant d'ailleurs beaucoup d'influence; les juges craignant l'effet de cette influence sur les juris, ont profité de la faculté qu'ils out de renvoyer le jugement à la cour générale du district qui se tient à soixante milles de Chester, pour donner à l'accusée toute la chance possible d'un jugement sain et impartial.

Il n'y a encore aucune mesure prise en Maryland pour l'affranchissement progressif des esclaves. Quelques hommes bien intentionnées espèrent amener la legislature dans peu de temps à une démarche à cet égard, mais l'opinion du pays n'y semble pas dispossée. --"_Voyage dans Les États-Unis D'Amerique." Par La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt. Tome Sixième, 69-71_.

Les nègres libres se trouvent assez facilement pour le travail des champs. Us coûtent quatre-vingt dollars par an. Les nègres esclaves se louent à cinquante. Quelques planteurs préfèrent des ouvriers blancs et des nègres libres aux esclaves; ils ont moins d'embarras et plus de profit. Les vaches se vendent ici de quinze à vingt dollars, les boeufs quarante, les chevaux pour le labour cent; ceux pour la voiture coutent souvent six cents dollars la paire. Le comté de Kent, dont Chester est le cheflieu, contient treize mille habitans, dont cinq mille six cents sont nègres esclaves; il fournit peu de betail aux marchés de Baltimore et de Philadelphie. Presque tout ce qu'il produit dans ce genre est consommé dans son enciente.--"_Voyage dans Les États-Unis D'Amerique_." Par La Rouchefoucauld-Liancourt. Tome Sixieme, 79-80.

WHAT ISAAC WELD OBSERVED IN SLAVE STATES

"The principal planters in Virginia have nearly every thing they can want on their estates. Amongst the slaves are found tailors, shoe-makers, carpenters, smiths, turners, wheelwrights, weavers, tanners, etc. I have seen patterns of excellent coarse woolen cloth made in the country by slaves, and a variety of cotton manufacturers, amongst the rest good nankeen. Cotton grows here extremely well; the plants are often killed by frost in winter, but they always produce abundantly the first year in which they are sown. The cotton from which nankeen is made is of a particular kind naturally of a yellowish color.

"The large estates are managed by stewards and overseers, the proprietors just amusing themselves with seeing what is going forward. The work is done wholly by slaves, whose numbers are in this part of the country more than double that of white persons. The slaves on the large plantations are in general very well provided for, and treated with mildness. During three months nearly, that I was in Virginia, but two or three instances of ill treatment towards them came under my observation. Their quarters, the name whereby their habitations are called, are usually situated one or two hundred yards from the dwelling house, which gives appearance of a village to the residence of every plantation in Virginia; when the estate, however, is so large as to be divided into several farms, then separate quarters are attached to the house of the overseer on each farm. Adjoining their little habitations, the slaves commonly have small gardens and yards of poultry, which are all of their property; they have ample time to attend to their own concerns, and their gardens are generally found well stocked, and their flocks of poultry numerous. Besides the food they raise for themselves, they are allowed liberal rations of salted pork and Indian corn. Many of their little huts are comfortably furnished, and they are themselves, in general, extremely well clothed. In short their condition is by no means so wretched as might be imagined. They are forced to work certain hours in the day; but in return they are clothed, dieted, and lodged comfortably, and saved all anxiety about provision for their offspring. Still, however, let the condition of the slave be made ever so comfortable, as long as he is conscious of being the property of another man, who has it in his power to dispose of him according to the dictates of caprice; as long as he hears people around him talking about the blessings of liberty, and considers that he is in a state of bondage, it is not to be supposed that he can feel equally happy with the freeman. It is immaterial under what form slavery presents itself, whenever it appears there is ample cause for humanity to weep at the sight, and to lament that men can be found so forgetful of their own situations, as to live regardless of the blessings of their fellow creatures.

"With respect to the policy of holding slaves in any country, on account of the depravity of morals which it necessarily occasions, besides the many other evil consequences attendant upon it, so much has already been said by others, that it is needless here to make comments on the subject.

"The number of the slaves increases most rapidly, so that there is scarcely any state but what is overstocked. This is a circumstance complained of by every planter as the maintenance of more than are requisite for the culture of the estate is attended with great expense. Motives ... of humanity deter them from selling the poor creatures, or turning them adrift from the spot where they have been born and brought up, in the midst of friends and relations.

"What I have here said, respecting the condition and treatment of slaves, appertains, it must be remembered, to those only who are upon the larger plantations in Virginia; the lot of such as are unfortunate enough to fall into the hands of the lower class of white people, and of hard task-masters in towns, is very different. In the Carolinas and Georgia again, slavery presents itself in very different colors from what it does even in its worst form in Virginia. I am told that it is no uncommon thing there, to see gangs of negroes staked at a horse race, and to see these unfortunate beings bandied about from one set of drunken gamblers to another for days together. How much to be deprecated are the laws which suffer such abuses to exist! Yet these are the laws enacted by the people who boast of their love of liberty and independence, and who presume to say, that it is in the breasts of Americans alone that the blessings of freedom are held in just estimation."--_Isaac Weld, Jr., "Travels through the States of North America and the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada," 1795, 1796, and 1797._ (London, 1799.)

JOHN DAVIS'S THOUGHTS ON SLAVERY

"The negroes on the plantation, including house-servants and children, amounted to a hundred; of whom the average price being respectively seventy pounds, made them aggregately worth seven thousand to their possessor.

"Two families lived in one hut, and such was their unconquerable propensity to steal, that they pilfered from each other. I have heard masters lament this defect in their negroes. But what else can be expected from man in so degraded a condition, that among the ancients the same word implied both a slave and a thief.

"Since the introduction of the culture of cotton in the State of South Carolina, the race of negroes has increased. Both men and women work in the field, and the labour of the rice plantation formerly prevented the pregnant negroes from bringing forth a long-lived offspring. It may be established as a maxim that on a plantation where there are many children, the work has been moderate. . . .

"Of genius in negroes many instances may be recorded. It is true that Mr. Jefferson has pronounced the Poems of Phillis Wheatley, below the dignity of criticism, and it is seldom safe to differ in judgment from the author of Notes on Virginia. But her conceptions are often lofty, and her versification often surpasses with unexpected refinement. Ladd, the Carolina poet, in enumerating the bards of his country, dwells with encomium on "Wheatley's polished verse"; nor is his praise undeserved, for often it will be found to glide in the stream of melody. Her lines on Imagination have been quoted with rapture by Imley of Kentucky, and Steadman the Guinea Traveler; but I have ever thought her happiest production the Goliath of Gath.

"Of Ignatius Sancho, Mr. Jefferson also speaks neglectingly; and remarks, that he substitutes sentiment for argumentation. But I know not that argumentation is required in a familiar epistle; and Sancho, I believe, has only published his correspondence." --John Davis, "_Travels of four years and a half in the United States of America during 1798, 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802_," p. 86.

OBSERVATIONS OF ROBERT SUTCLIFF

"I had the curiosity to look into some of their little habitations; but all that I examined were wretched in the extreme and far inferior to many Indian cottages I have seen.

"I slept at C. A.'s and this morning set out for Fredericksburg, being accompanied by his young man, our road lying through the woods the greater part of the way. At the place where we dined, we were waited on by two mulatto girls, whose only clothing appeared to be loose garments of cotton and woollen cloth, girt round the waist with a small cord. I had observed that this was the common dress of the working female negroes in the fields; but when engaged in business in the house it seemed hardly sufficient to cover them. In the yard, I observed a number of slaves engaged in the management of a still, employed in making spirits from cider. Here again I had the curiosity to look into some of the negro huts, which like those I had seen, presented little else but dirt and rags.

"We came to Fredericksburg and lodged at Fisher's Tavern. The next morning I was waked early by the cries of a poor negro, who was undergoing a severe correction, previously to his going to work. On taking a walk on the banks of the Rappahannock, the river on which the town is seated, I stepped into one of the large tobacco warehouses which are built here, for the reception and inspection of that plant before it is permitted to be exported. On entering into conversation with an inspector, as he was employed in looking over a parcel of tobacco, he lamented the licentiousness which he remarked so generally prevailed in this town. He said that in his remembrance, the principal part of the inhabitants were emigrants from Scotland, and that it was considered so reproachful to the white inhabitants, if they were found to have illicit connection with their female slaves, that their neighbors would shun the company of such, as of persons whom it was a reproach to be acquainted. The case was now so much altered that, he believed, there were but few slave holders in the place who were free from guilt in this respect: and that it was now thought but little of. Such was the brutality and hardness of heart which this evil produced, that many amongst them paid no more regard to selling their own children, by their females slaves, or even their brothers and sisters, in the same line, than they would do to the disposal of a cow or a horse, or any other property in the brute creation. To so low a degree of degradation does the system of negro slavery sink the white inhabitants, who are unhappily engaged in it."--Robert Sutcliff, _Travels in some parts of North America in Years 1804, 1805, 1806_, pp. 37-52.

SOME LETTERS OF RICHARD ALLEN AND ABSALOM JONES TO DOROTHY RIPLEY

Philadelphia, 1st, 5th month, 1803.--Naming my concern to some of my solid friends to have a meeting with the Africans, I influenced them to send for Absalom Jones, the Black Bishop, and Richard Allen, the Methodist Episcopal Preacher, who also was a coloured man, and the principal person of that congregation. A. Jones complied with my request, and appointed a meeting for me on first day evening, which was a solid time where many were deeply affected with the softening power of the Lord, who unloosed my tongue to proclaim of his love and goodness to the children of men, without respect to person or nation. There was a respectable number of coloured people, well dressed and very orderly, who conducted themselves as if they were desirous of knowing the mind of the Lord concerning them. The first and greatest commandment of Jesus Christ, the Law-giver, came before me: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy mind," which I endeavoured to enforce as their duty to their Creator who alone could make them happy by his blessing through their obedience to his lawful command. My own experience of thus loving him, I thought would illustrate it, therefore, added it to shew the possibility of pleasing him, and obtaining his divine favor, which was our interest and duty, as soon as we were able to distinguish right from wrong. To see them have this good house for worship, I told them rejoiced me much, and encouraged such as were servants present to be faithful in their situation, and seek the blessing of God, that at the last they might be happy in the enjoyment of his love forever. Supplicating the Throne of mercy in their behalf, my spirit was deeply humbled, and I felt power to plead with the Father on the account of the Africans every where, who were captivated by the oppressive power of men. When we had separated, my mind was much relieved from the weight which pressed my spirit while I had contemplated the matter, desiring to move by special direction of God.

A Letter which I received from Bethel Church.

"_Madam_,

"I have proposed to the Board of Trustees of Bethel Church your request respecting your speaking in our Church; they have candidly considered the same, and after due investigation, the board unanimously concludes, that as it is diametrically opposite to the letter and spirit of the rules of society in particular, and the discipline in general of the Methodist Episcopalian Church, They therefore are sorry to inform you, that it is not in their power to comply with your request.

"I am, madam, "With much respect, "Yours, &c. "RICHD. ALLEN."

"May 11, 1803."

After R. Allen had sent me this letter by way of denial, the Lord commanded me to "Stand still for I should most assuredly have his place to testify his goodness there." Putting the letter into my pocket, I silently waited for the answer of promise; and while I was thus watching the fulfilment of God's word, there came into my friend's house J. & P. P. two men who enquired if I could not be satisfied without an appointment with R. Allen's people, I said No: for that I believed it was required of me by God. They enquired if I had not received a letter as a denial, which I marvelled at, having shewn it to no person living. I answered their question by handing the letter to them which when they had read it they returned, and signified they would go themselves to see after an opportunity, and obtained permission after the minister had finished his sermon, he being desired to be concise to accomodate a stranger who was then concerned for them. I went to the meeting, or their church, and heard a short methodist sermon, which I thought very instructive, and added thereunto, respecting the conversion of "A man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship." This pleased them so much when it was opened, that they were willing that I should have another meeting on the second day evening at seven, which I attended, and was brought into great difficulty through an intoxicated soldier pressing by the crowd which stood without. A number of friends being there, were unsettled, fearing lest the house would come down upon us, and for my part, I was actually afraid of satan's malice, lest we should perish in this storm which he raised in a moment. The disquietude of the people made me tremble and shake every limb, not knowing what course to betake myself to for the preservation of us each. I therefore gave up speaking: but this only encouraged the accuser of the brethren, who had come there in the hearts of many, as well as in the poor drunkard, who was taken away and confined. Pouring out my soul to God, I vowed to serve him yet more faithfully, if he would quell the rage of the adversary, and cause us to depart in peace; and I was instantly directed to prostrate myself before him, in faith believing that no harm should befall any of us at that time, which doing commanded the care of Almighty God over us, and the blessing of the Most High to rest upon us, continuing wrestling for some time, knowing this was a powerful weapon against satan, for thus interrupting us in our solemn engagement with God. When I had prayed by the aid of his Holy Spirit, which calmed the minds of the people, I thought I would leave the subject until I came back again,[1] and so come suddenly upon the monster, if it was the will of God: but he pretended that he would do terrible things if I came thither again, so I suppose King Apollyon and I shall have a strong battle to combat, before I enter the house of God: for I mean to war with him on his own ground, and gain the victory before I enter there again. Concluding the meeting sooner than was expected, R. Allen stopped the congregation and told them, "It was no new thing which had happened to us then: for in the days of old, when the sons and daughters of God met together, satan presented himself also, to interrupt their peace." I was much pleased to hear what was advanced, as it shewed the preacher (although a coloured man) to have a knowledge of divine things, and able to attack the enemy of our souls in a suitable degree.

Feeling desirous to follow the Shepherd of my soul, and seeing no further work at this time for me, I leave this city in peace, requesting the Lord to bless the seed sown in great weakness, and to water it with the descending showers of his spiritual rain, that the glory may arise to him alone who is worthy to be praised by every creature, but especially by a worm whom he has preserved thus far from the destructive power of sin, and satan. I trust the Lord will repay each here who have contributed to comfort my soul in the day of distress and heavy travail, and I beseech him of his infinite mercy to forgive such as have blindly persecuted me, by saying unjust things of me, which they have reported merely to gratify the curiosity of others, without considering the waste of their precious moments, or that they will be accountable at the last for "Every idle word" that they may speak while on earth, if not repented of, by a gracious visitation of God's humbling power, which they will find painful, when his judgment, takes place in them to weigh all their words, thoughts, and actions.--Philadelphia, 5th month, 1803.

I have been five weeks and four days in New York, and the neighbouring plains, and have met with sympathizing friends to relieve my mind when full of anxious care concerning the vineyard of the Lord.--Several have told me that I was one of those strangers who should feed the flock of Israel by the appointment of God, which revives me when I consider how significant a creature I am in my own eyes.

The yearly meeting was large, and attended by some precious ministers, whose testimonies will cause them to be written on my heart as living epistles. How do I feel myself united with spiritual worshippers, who desire to ascribe all glory to the Father, through the Son's reigning power in them, by the sanctifying influence of the Holy Ghost which leads them into the depth of self-abasement, and gathers all their powers to centre them in the God of all grace and glory. I rejoice that ever I met with this people, whom I often lament for, because so many live not in the pure principle of Truth, which if they as a body did, the whole earth would soon be filled with the knowledge of the Lord. O that my advantages which I have had up and down among this people, may lead me to honor their God, whom the pure in heart are concerned to worship continually! I have had three large meetings with the Africans in this city, and have great reason to be thankful that the Lord aided me with his Spirit, helping my infirmities in the hour of necessity, when I stood in need of his assistance, standing up to exalt the great Redeemer who died for all nations, that the Lord would bless my little labour of love among this people whom I have secretly mourned for!

I cannot avoid commending the citizens of New York and Philadelphia, for their help to those that have been greatly oppressed, driving slavery out of their States, that they may have the peace of God, and his blessing upon the heads of their children, and children's children. I trust also to see the efforts of individuals crowned with a blessing in the Southern States, where barrenness of the land bespeaks the proverty and wretchedness of thousands of its inhabitants who might enjoy the smile of Heaven, if they would learn to fear God and love their neighbor.

When comparing those States one with the other, what a vast difference there is between them in the outward appearance of things: but I trust the minds of the people to the southward, are not like the barren appearance of many parts I have already travelled, or may yet have to do: for I perceive the Lord intends me to return back to discharge my duty to him, and the people up and down.

I have received the following letters from Philadelphia and think them worthy to make up a page or two in my life. Letter from Absalom Jones, Black Bishop of the Episcopal Church, in Philadelphia, addressed to Dorothy Ripley, at New York, dated Philadelphia, June 3, 1803.

_Dear Friend_,

It is with pleasure that I now sit down to inform you, that your kind and very affectionate letter came safe to hand; and am happy to hear that kind Providence has conducted you so far on your journey in health of body as well as of mind; and I trust that the Lord will continue to be your Guide, and that your labours may prove as great a blessing to the inhabitants of New-York, as they have been to numbers in this city.

Your letter I read with care and attention, as well as many others of my congregation, and I heartily thank you for your friendly advice and godly admonitions; believing them to have been given in that love which purifies the heart. I am very sensible that the charge committed to my care is very great; and am also fully convinced of my own inability for so great an undertaking. And I do assure you, that when I was called to the task, I trembled at the idea, and was ready to say, "Who am I." But when I consider that God can send by whom he will, and as you very justly have observed, he sometimes makes use of the feeblest instruments for the promotion of Truth; I say under these considerations, I was led to believe that the Lord would perfect strength in my weakness; and glory be to his ever-adorable Name for it. I have cause to believe, my labour has not been altogether in vain.

You wish to know the number I consider to be under my care. Our list of members contains about five hundred, although we have a great many more who constantly attend worship in our church, of whom I have a comfortable hope that they will be brought unto the knowledge of the Truth.

My wife joins me in love. I remain, with sentiments of high esteem and respect,

Your esteemed Friend,

Absalom Jones

LETTER FROM AN AFRICAN MINISTER, RESIDENT IN PHILADELPHIA ADDRESSED TO DOROTHY RIPLEY

Philadelphia, 24th, of 6th mo. 1803.

_Friend Ripley_,

I Received thy epistle, dated New-York, 26th of 5th month, with much joy, thanks and satisfaction; and am thankful for thy kind spiritual advice, and grateful for thy concern for me and my people.

With the assistance of the good Spirit, I will attend to thy serious admonitions in the Lord, and listen to the small still voice of Christ within, as thou dost observe in thy epistle, for it is He that must enable me to observe his holy law written on the heart by his Spirit.

I wish to take thy sisterly counsel; but O! my abounding weakness. I wish to be more sensible of it, so that I alone may feel it. I would hide it from my friends, but they are too eagle-eyed not to discover it; yet they have the charity to bear with me.--I often bow at the foot-stool of divine mercy, that I may obtain strength to overcome corrupt nature.--None knows but myself my strivings to walk in the narrow way, in which the poor worm has no desire to rob God of his honor. I see the beauty of nakedness to be far superior than to be clothed with rags of self-righteousness.

Thou enquirest how many communicants there are in our church. The precise number of my communicants is 457. All our members are communicants. There is a communion of saints which exceeds all formality, and which even the Apostles were ignorant of, when they gave an account to their Master, on their return from their mission, and told him, "We saw men casting out devils in thy name, and we forbade them, because they followed not us." Yet I still continue of the same mind, that it would be best for thee to be a member of some religious society.--The teachings of Priscilla and Aquila have been found profitable to the eloquent and wise.

The members of the African Methodist Episcopal church (called Bethel) live in love and harmony with each other.

My fellow laborer, Absalom Jones, joins me in a salutation of love to thee, with desires for thy growth and increase in the favor of God: He says he would have written to thee, had he known of thy continuance at New York.

Praying God to bless and make thee instrumental in promoting his glory and the good of souls, I remain, thine, &c.

Richard Allen

LETTER FROM AN AFRICAN, RESIDENT IN PHILADELPHIA, TO DOROTHY RIPLEY

May 17, 1803. _Respected Friend_,

I am perhaps presumptuous in troubling you to read this. But cannot let slip an opportunity of addressing you with what I wish you to know even when you have arrived at your native country, and may contemplate on a subject which I hope will not displease you, and I will thank Heaven I have it in my power to let one amongst the people called Quakers[2] see, written by the hand of an African, the sentiments of his soul. I mean only to trouble you with the obligations that race of people, myself amongst that great multitude, are to you indebted; and may the unremitting pains which have been taken not fall to the ground. We have been oppressed with cruelty and the heavy task-masters in the West Indies and the southern States of America for many centuries back, with not only the horrible weight of bondage, but have been subject to heavy iron chains, too heavy to bear, had not the Creator of all things framed our constitutions to bear them, and all the deep cuts and lashes the inhuman-hearted drivers please to mangle us with. Had not the all-directing hand of Providence made us come under the notice of the Friends, who formed an abolition society for our relief, many thousands of us would be dragging out our lives in wretchedness, like those of our brethren who have never yet tasted the sweet cup of liberty. Yet while the nations of Europe are contending to catch the draught, the African is forbidden to lift up his head towards it. Every man has a right to his liberty, and we must by the ties of nature come under the title of men: but are dragged from our native land, in our old age or in our infancy, and sold as the brute, to the planters; the infant dragged from its parents, and the husband from wife and children, and hurried into the cane field, to give independence to their owners, and annex abundance to their riches. And how is this, that God created us amongst the rest of human beings, and yet man would level us with the brute? We were not all born Christians, but many have become so; and I pray Heaven many thousands of us may be received at the bar of God amongst the righteous at his right hand, and with you glorify him in Heaven for ever. I pray that the Africans may enjoy his holy privileges, and let their light shine before men.

The cross[3] you met with in your sermon at Bethel African church grieved me much, but it originated with white men. Had it been one of my complexion, it would prey on my feelings to the very heart. But I hope you will forget it. If I was a converted soul in the Lord, I could address you on a more spiritual subject. But alas! I am an unfortunate being not born a second time. Yet weak as I am, the prayers of an unconverted African shall be offered to Heaven for your happiness on earth, and in the world to come life everlasting. And may the vessel in which you may embark for England be attended with a fair and pleasant passage, and land you safe on its shores. And when you shall lay your head on a dying pillow, to leave this troublesome world, may you be surrounded with a blessed convoy of angels to attend you to the Throne of God.

I am, Yours, Of The African Race

--"_The Extraordinary Conversion and Religious Experience of Dorothy Ripley with her First Voyage in America_," 132-144.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] From England.

[2] He expected I was a member of that society, which I never yet have been.

[3] The cross here mentioned has an allusion to an attempt made by an intoxicated soldier, to disturb our peace, who caused great confusion for a few moments; but kneeling in the midst of this tempestuous storm, God instantly caused a calm, so that no one received harm.

BOOK REVIEWS

_The Aftermath of the Civil War, in Arkansas_. By Powell Clayton, Governor of Arkansas, 1868 to 1871. Neale Publishing Company, New York, 1915. Pp. 378.

Looking at the title of this work the student of history would expect that same scientific treatment which is observed in so many of the Reconstruction studies. On the contrary, he finds in this a mere volume of memoirs of a political leader completed in his eighty-second year. The work gives an account of the author's own administration as governor of Arkansas "also of those events that commenced before and extended into it, and those that occurred during that period and continued beyond it."

In view of the fact that he, a man of well-known partisan proclivities, may be charged with criticising his defenceless and dead contemporaries the author says that he endeavored to substantiate "every controvertible and important conclusion." To do this he collected "an immense amount of documentary evidence" from which he selected the most appropriate for that purpose. The writer made use of certain documents in the Library of Congress and had frequent recourse to the _Arkansas Gazette_.

The book as a whole is essentially political history. It is chiefly concerned with "the Murphy Government," the "Organization and Operations of the Klu Klux Klan," "Martial Law," and the peculiar situation in the counties of Crittenden and Conway. The subjects of immigration, education, state aid to railroads, and the funding of the state debt are all mentioned but they suffer because of the preference given to the discussion of political questions. When one has read the book he is still uninformed as to what was the actual working of the economic and social forces in Arkansas during this period.

This work, however, is valuable for several reasons. In the first place, whether the reader agrees with the author or not he gathers from page to page facts which throw light on other conditions. Moreover, consisting mainly of a discussion of extracts from various records it is a good source book for students who have not access to the documents the author has used. Further it is important to get the viewpoint of the distinguished author who lived through what he writes of and is now sufficiently far removed from the struggle to study it somewhat sympathetically.

C. R. WILSON

_Black and White in the Southern States_. By Maurice S. Evans, C.M.G.--Longmans, Green and Company, London, 1915. Pp. 209.

This book cannot be considered an historical work. Yet when the author makes a survey of the slavery and reconstruction periods with a view to estimating what the Negro has been, what has been done for him, and what he himself has accomplished it claims the attention of historians. From this historic retrospect the author approaches such questions as the Negroes' grievances, their political rights and wrongs, blood admixture, race hostility and grounds for hope and the like.

The author has had experiences in South Africa and traveled in the United States with a view to studying the condition of the descendants of the African race in this country. His effort seems to be to write such a work as some of those of Sir H. H. Johnson or W. P. Livingstone. He justifies the writing of this work on the grounds that "the partisan spirit, partial to one race or other, permeates most of the writings on this subject." Feeling that the issues involved are too great, he hoped to avoid this "that no preconceived ideas or partiality should be allowed to cloud clarity of view, or warp the judgment."

Yet although the author speaks well of his good intentions it is apparent that he did not live up to this profession. In the first place, the work is not scientific, facts are not "observed and noted with scrupulous care," and conclusions are drawn without warranted data to support them. On the whole then, one must say that this work fails to unravel some "knots in this tangled skein of human endeavor and error." When after a survey of the history of the Negro during the last fifty years an investigator concludes that the Negro has shown an incapacity for commerce and finance, and that he must not struggle to equip himself in the same way that the white man has, one must believe that the writer has not the situation thoroughly in hand. The great difficulty of the author seems to be that he did not remain in the country long enough to know it, did not give sufficient time to the study of conditions, and based his conclusions largely on information obtained from persons who were either too prejudiced or had neither the scientific point of view nor adequate mental development to describe social conditions.

It is not surprising therefore that the author asserts that the record of the Negro during the last fifty years shows that they are chiefly valuable as laborers in drudgery, or weak in foresight and thrift, and unfit for city life. Yet he believes that there is some hope for the blacks, since they can get work and buy land and thereby become economically independent. He calls attention to such injustices as miscegenation, lynching, unfairness of the courts, and discrimination in traveling.

W. R. WARD

_Samuel Coleridge-Taylor--Musician. His Life and Letters_. By W. C. Berwick Sayers. Cassell and Company, London, 1915. Pp. 328.

In this work we have the first extensive account of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. The author of this volume has succeeded in producing a sympathetic and interesting narrative of the life of one of the greatest musicians of his time. Taking up his birth and childhood and then his college days, ending in the romance which attached him to a young Croydon girl, the author does not delay in bringing the reader to a consideration of those fundamentals which made Samuel Coleridge-Taylor famous ...

Much space is devoted to Coleridge-Taylor's achievement of success with his "Ballade in A Minor." How Sir Edward Elgar extended the promising composer a welcoming hand and arranged for him to write for a concert a short orchestral piece which turned out to be the artist's first great success is well described. The author emphasizes the barbaric strain and orchestral coloring, the prominently marked features which made the composer great.

The next task of the author is to show how the "essential beauty, naive simplicity, unaffected expression and unforced idealism," of Longfellow's "Hiawatha" stirred the artist and set him composing an unambitious cantata which resulted in "Hiawatha's Wedding Feast," and the "Song of Hiawatha." The expressions of enthusiasm and the euologies which crowned the musician as one of the greatest artists that Great Britain has produced justly constitute a large portion of the work.

His "Visit to America" is an important chapter of the volume. The manner in which the oppressed of his race received him in their troubled land is treated in detail, and the names of the persons and organizations that arose to welcome him are given honorable mention. The author brings out too that so impressed was Coleridge-Taylor with the frank recognition of pure music in America that he once "contemplated the desirability of emigrating to this land."

The book abounds with letters and extracts from publications, which enable the reader to learn for himself how the artist's work was appreciated. The volume is well illustrated. In it appear the early portraits of Coleridge-Taylor's mother, of himself, and family, and home, and of the Coleridge-Taylor Society in Washington, D.C. Not only persons who appreciate music but all who have an intelligent interest in the achievements of the Negro should read this work.

J. R. DAVIS

_Race Orthodoxy in the South and other Aspects of the Negro Problem_. By Thomas Pearce Bailey, Ph.D. The Neale Publishing Company, New York, 1914.

The author of this volume has a long intellectual pedigree. Pedigrees are important in authors who write on the race problem. This is particularly true when they attempt to tell us what the orthodox opinion of the South is regarding the Negro. Much that passes for Southern opinion on the Negro is too violent to be taken at its face value. Other interpretations of the South have too frequently been the individual views of eminent men of Southern origin who no longer hold orthodox views.

The author discusses some of these interpretations and criticises them. There are four principal types. There is the philosophical view, represented by Edgar Gardiner Murphy's "_The Basis of Ascendancy_." Mr. Murphy "is one of the choicest specimens of noble character that the South has produced," but he came under Northern influences and his book represents a struggle between Northern and Southern points of view. "The first part of his book seems to be, in the main, pro-Southern and defensive of the South, while the latter part becomes largely Northern and critical of the South." He does not succeed, in the opinion of the author, in synthesizing these two divergent views.

The second type is sociological, represented by "_The Southerner_," a novel written in the form of an autobiography or, perhaps, rather an autobiography written in the form of a novel. The author is supposed to be Walter Hines Page, at present American ambassador to Great Britain. Of this book Mr. Bailey says: "The author is not a Southerner of the spirit, whatever he may be of the flesh. There is something of North Carolina and something of Massachusetts in his attitude, but none of the all-inclusive Americanism that alone is able to write about the South with sympathy of the heart yet with balanced discrimination."

To understand the South one must have lived in South Carolina, and understand the "apparent violence" of Ben Tilman, or in Mississippi, the home of Senator Vardaman. The South, the orthodox South, is today as it was before the war, the "far South"; but the sentiments which dominate it are not now, as in slavery days, the sentiments of the "master class" but rather those of the "poor white man."

The third type of interpretation is represented here by "Uncle Tom's Cabin." The criticsm of this book is so subtle that it is difficult to indicate the outlines of it in a single paragraph. The difficulty with Mrs. Stowe's interpretation of the South and the Negro is that she, just as certain Southern humanitarians of the present day, is inclined to treat the Negroes as a class. She does not regard them as a race, a different breed, whose blood is a contamination. "No one," says the writer, "has come within shouting distance of the real Negro problem who does not appreciate this distinction. Indeed, almost everything critical that can be alleged against 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' springs from the failure of its humanitarian author to sympathize with race consciousness as such."

Finally there is the scientific interpretation of Southern sentiment, and the "race instinct" which is back of most Southern opinion in regard to the Negro. This scientific interpretation is represented by Boas, "The Mind of Primitive Man." "Ultimately," according to Professor Boas, "this phenomenon (race instinct) is a repetition of the old instinct and fear of the connubium of the patricians and the plebeians, of the European nobility and the common people, or of the castes of India. The emotions and reasoning are the same in every respect."

To this scientific exposition of the Southern attitude Mr. Bailey replies: "Even if it could be scientifically proved that an infusion of Negro blood would help the white race, the prejudice against a really great branch of the white race like the Jews is sufficient warning to us not to confine our discussion of race problems to the question of equality or inequality of physical and mental endowment."

What then is race orthodoxy? Where shall we look for a true statement of the attitude of the South on the subject of the Negro since none of these attempts at interpretation have done justice to it? The racial creed has been expressed at different times in a number of pithy expressions current in the Southern states. Here they are in order as the author gives them: "Blood will tell"; The white race must dominate; The Teutonic peoples stand for race purity. The Negro is inferior and will remain so. "This is a white man's country." Let there be no social equality; no political equality. In matters of civil rights and legal adjustments give the white man as opposed to the colored man the benefit of the doubt. In educational policy let the Negro have the crumbs that fall from the white man's table. Let there be such industrial education of the Negro as will fit him to serve the white man. Only Southerners understand the Negro question. Let the South settle the Negro question. The status of peasantry is all the Negro may hope for, if the races are to live together in peace. Let the lowest white man count for more than the highest Negro. The above statements indicate the leadings of Providence.

This statement of the Southern creed is practically the common opinion of the South. It is not the only opinion. It is not, perhaps, the "best" opinion. But is it right opinion? Mr. Bailey thinks it is, in its underlying meaning at any rate, but not in its "present shape." His book may be said, on the whole, to be an interpretation and a justification of this "underlying meaning."

Race orthodoxy in the South is, take it all in all, the most candid statement of the race problem; the most searching, suggestive and revealing interpretation of the attitude of the Southern white man that has ever been written. The book is, however, merely a statement of the problem and not a solution. Rather it is intended, as the author suggests again and again, to provoke and stimulate--not discussion, heaven forbid,--but inquiry, investigation. In spite of the fact that the author professes his personal loyalty to the dogma upon which race orthodoxy is founded, still, by stating it in the clear and candid way in which he has, in pointing out with unflinching directness the moral cul-de-sac into which it has forced the Southern people, he has at once enabled and compelled them to put their faith on rational grounds. His is the higher criticism in race creeds, and it is hard to tell where criticism once started will lead.

ROBERT E. PARK

NOTES

Mr. Monroe N. Work has brought out the _Negro Year Book for 1916-1917_. In keeping with the progress hitherto shown this edition surpasses that of last year. Here one finds an unusually large collection of statistical material as to the economic, social and religious progress of the black race; and a brief account of what exceptional Negroes have done to distinguish themselves in various fields. It contains also a brief history of the Negro given in such succinct statements as will please the hurried reader and meet the requirements of those who have not access to reference libraries.

The striking new feature of the work, however, is a brief account of what leading thinkers and the press have said about such perplexing problems as the "Birth of a Nation," "Miscegenation," and "Segregation." The editor has endeavored to present in popular style a brief account of everything of importance with which the Negro has been concerned during the year. He has done his task well. Sold at such a reasonable price as thirty-five cents a copy, this valuable book should find its way to the home of every one who desires to keep himself informed on what the Negro is actually achieving.

The United Brethren Publishing Co., Huntington, Ind., has published M. B. Butler's _My Story of the Civil War and the Underground Railroad_. A native of Vermont, where he had an opportunity to see many a fugitive on his way to freedom, the author naturally makes his narrative interesting and straightforward. He recounts his unusual experiences as a soldier in detail but does not grow tiresome.

In the Mississippi Valley, Historical Review, II, March, 1916, appeared Doctor H. N. Sherwood's _Early Negro Deportation Projects_. This is a selected part of the author's doctorate thesis. It treats of the endeavors to ameliorate the condition of emancipated slaves and the colonization plans which finally led to the establishment of the republic of Liberia.

The _Tennessee Historical Magazine_ for June contains a dissertation by Asa Earl Martin, entitled _Anti-Slavery Activities of the_ _Methodist Episcopal Church in Tennessee_. The article covers the period from 1784 to the time of the great schism of 1844.

Professor Tenny Frank has contributed to the July number of the _American Historical Review_ a valuable article entitled _Race Mixture in the Roman Empire_.

In the same number of this publication appear also twenty-three pages of documents on the _Cane Sugar Industry_ collected by Irene A. Wright. As the Negroes proved to be a great factor in the development of this industry, these documents will be helpful to those who desire to study the bearing of the Negro on its origin and early growth.

Miss Helen Nicolay has turned over to the Library of Congress some important Lincoln Manuscripts, among which are the first and second autograph copies of the Gettysburg Address, the autograph of the Second Inaugural Address, and the President's memorandum of August 23, 1864, pledging support to the next administration.

In _The Case for the Filipino_, Maximo M. Kalaw gives an account of the American occupation of the Archipelago, and in presenting his claims for independence he puts his countrymen in the attitude of an oppressed people.

Dr. C. G. Woodson delivered at the University of Chicago in July a lecture on _The varying Attitude of the White Man toward the Negro in the United States_.

A HAPPY SUGGESTION

_My dear Dr. Woodson:_ I am in receipt of the current number of THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY and am more and more delighted with it. I think it furnishes the richest source for available information on the Negro that I have yet found. The leading article in this number is inspiring as well as illuminating and the idea has come to me that it would be an excellent thing to have history reading circles organized in all our schools for the purpose of systematically reading the JOURNAL. A hundred or more such organizations with the JOURNAL as a text would accomplish two or three very valuable things, viz., promote the circulation of the JOURNAL and disseminate historical knowledge of the race so necessary to give it self-respect and pride. These historical clubs might meet monthly and include others than teachers. By all means your work should not lack for funds for keeping it going. I hope to interest the colored High School Alumni here at its annual meeting next week. I shall also call the attention of my teachers here to your publication. It is great.

Very truly yours,

J. W. SCOTT, _Principal, Douglass High School_, _Huntington, W. Va._

INDEX TO VOLUME I.

Abel, A. H. II, _The Slaveholding Indians_ of, reviewed, 339 _African Mind, The_, 42 _Aftermath of the Civil War, The_, reviewed, 444 Albany, a state convention of Colored people at, 293; slavery at, 400 Allen, Richard, letter of, 436 American Colonization Society opposed by free Negroes, 276 American lady, an, on the treatment of slaves, 400 Anburey, travels through North America, quoted, 407 Anderson, Martha E., a teacher in Ohio, 19 Andrew, one of the first Negroes to teach in Charleston, 352 Angus, Judith, the will of, 238 _Antar, the Arabian Negro Warrior, Poet and Hero_, 151 Arming the slaves, urged in South Carolina, 121; in Virginia, 119; in Rhode Island, 119; in Massachusetts, 120; in New York, 120 Astor, John Jacob, grandson of, aided slaves to purchase freedom, 252 _Attitude of the Free People of Color toward African Colonization_, 276 Auchmutty, Rev. Mr., took up the work of Elias Neau, 358 Augusta, Dr. A. T., studied medicine at Toronto, 105; surgeon in the Civil War, 107 Augusta, Negroes at the siege of, 117

Bacon, Rev. Thomas, favored the instruction of Negroes, 350 Ball, Thomas, a colored photographer, 20 Baltimore, George, on colonization, 297 Baltimore, meeting to protest against African colonization, 279; another colonization meeting in 1831, 238; a divided meeting, 298; _A Typical Colonization Meeting_, 318 Bancroft, tribute to Negro troops, 129 "Baptists, Emancipating," 143 Barclay, Rev. T., instructed Negroes at Albany, 358 Bartow, Rev. Mr., baptized Negroes, 355 Beckett, Rev. Mr., instructed Negroes, 355 Beech, Rev. J., baptized Negroes, 359 Beecham, Mrs., teacher of Negroes in Fredericksburg, 24 Beecher, Henry Ward, aided slaves to purchase freedom, 254 Berea College in anti-slavery centre, 149 Bienville, exchanged Indians for Negroes, 362; code of, 365; Negro troops under, 371 Bigham, J. A., review of Du Bois's _The Negro_, 217 Birney, James G., editor of _The Philanthropist_ destroyed by mob, 8 _Black and White in the Southern States_, reviewed, 437 Black Laws of Ohio, 2, 3, 4; repeal of 16 Black master, the existence of, 235-236 Blackburn, Miss Lucy, taught in Cincinnati, 19 Border States, position of, in 1861, 371 Boré, de Etienne, learned to granulate sugar, 375; the effects of the discovery, 375-376 Boston, anti-colonization meetings at, 284, 292 Bowen, Nathaniel, on colonization, 298 Boyd, Henry, a successful Negro business man prior to 1860, 21 Brawley, Benjamin, _Lorenzo Dow_, 265 Bray, Rev. Thomas, work of, among Negroes, 353-354; "The Associates" of, 354 "Breckinridge Democrats," in control of Kentucky, 379 Breckinridge, John, views of, 377, 378, 379 Breacroft, Dr., appeal of, in behalf of the enlightenment of the Negroes, 352 Brissot de Warville, J. P., on the condition of the slaves, 419 Brooklyn, anti-colonization meeting of, 285 Brown County, Ohio, Negroes in, 302 Brown, William Wells, an occasional physician, 106 Bryan, Andrew, letters of, 87 Buckner, S. B., joined the Confederates, 390

Calhoun, John C., refuted by Dr. James McCune Smith, 104 Casas, De las, on slavery, 361-362 Casey, Wm. R., a teacher, 19 Casor, John, a slave, 234 Cesar, cure of, 101-102 Channing, offered to aid the defense of Daniel Drayton, 251 Charleston, missionary efforts at, among Negroes, 350-352; attitude of Negroes of, toward colonization, 280-281 Charlton, Rev. Mr., a teacher of Negroes in New York, 358 Chase, Salmon P., desired to aid Daniel Drayton, 251 Chastellux, Marquis de, his observations of Negro troops, 128 critical examination of the travels of, 419 Chatham, the attitude of the Negroes of, toward colonization, 300 Chickasaws, fought with Negroes in Louisiana, 370 Chouchas, fought with Negroes in Louisiana, 369, 370 Choctaws, Negroes' troubles with, in Louisiana, 371 _Cimarrones_, in Guatemala, 393-394 Cincinnati, _The Negroes of, Prior to 1861_, 1; Lane Seminary students opposed slavery, 7-8, 10-11, 12; Negro churches of, 11 progress of the Negroes of, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13; anti-colonization meetings of, 289, 293, 294; Negroes excluded from public schools of, 17-18 Clark, F. B., _The Constitutional Doctrines of Justice Harlan_, 342 Clark, Jonathan, letters of, 79, 82 Clark, Peter H., a teacher in Ohio, 19 Clay, Henry, asked to head the anti-slavery societies of Kentucky, 144 Clayton, Powell, _The Aftermath of the Civil War_ of, reviewed, 444 Cleveland, anti-colonization meeting of, 292 Clinton, Sir Henry, appeal of, to Negroes, 116 proclamation of, 116 Code Noir, quoted, 365 Coffin, Joshua, aided fugitives to Northwest Territory, 146 Colgan, Rev. Mr., taught Negroes in New York, 358 Colonization, African, opposed, 279; supported, 280-282 _Color, People of, in Louisiana_, 362 _Colored Freemen as Slave Owners in Virginia_, 233 Columbia, anti-colonization meeting of, 287 Columbus, Negroes of, opposed to colonization, 292, 293 Conrad, Rufus, a preacher in Ohio, 20 Cook, Rev. Joseph, letter of, 69 Cooke, Stephen, letter of, 77 Cookes, moved from Fredericksburg to Detroit, 26 Cooper, Phil, chattel of his free wife, 240 Corbic, W. J., a teacher of Ohio, 19 Cornish, Samuel, opposed colonization, 294 Cornwallis, Ft., garrisoned by Negroes, 117 Corsair, a mulatto, 397 Creole, definition of, 366-368 Crittenden, John J., advocated neutrality, 383; letter of, to General Scott, 387 Crittenden, Thomas L., stood with the Union, 391 Cromwell, John W., _The Negro in American History _of, reviewed, 94 Crozat, Anthony, traffic of, in slaves, 362 Crummell, Alexander, on colonization, 296 Cutler, Rev. Dr., admitted Negroes to his congregation at Boston, 359

Dabney, Austin, remarkable soldier and man, 129-131 Dahomey, speech of the king of, 65 D'Alone, a supporter of Dr. Bray, 353 Davis, Garrett, letter of, to General MeClellan, 381 Davis, John, thoughts on slavery, 434 Dayton, meeting at, to promote colonization, 298 De Baptiste, Richard, attended school at Fredericksburg, 22; moved to Detroit, 22; a preacher, 29 Debern, Magdelaine, lawsuit of, 366 De Grasse, John V., student at Bowdoin, 105 Delany, M. R., studied at Harvard, 105; physician at Pittsburgh, 106; news on African colonization, 296; sent to Africa, 300 Depression of Louisiana, 375-376. Derham, James, a Negro physician, 103 Detroit, attitude of, toward Negroes, 27; the question of fugitives in, 27; measures unfavorable to colored people, 28; progress of the Negroes of, 29 Diggs, Judson, betrayed the fugitives of the _Pearl_, 247 Don Quixote, quoted, 43 Dorsey, Thomas, opposed colonization, 282 Dotty, Duane, Miss Fannie M. Richards's first superintendent of schools, 31 Douglass, Frederick, opposed to colonization, 295; controversy of, with the National Council, 300 Dove, Dr., owner of James Derham, 103 Dow, Lorenzo, journeys of, 266; writings of, discussed, 271; attitude of, toward slavery, 273 Drayton, Daniel, in charge of the _Pearl_, 245 Drummond, Henry, quoted, 42 Du Bois, _The Negro _of, reviewed, 217 Dunbar-Nelson, Alice, _People of Color in Louisiana _of, 361 Dunmore, Lord, issued proclamation of freedom to loyal Negroes, 115 Dyson, Walter, review of, of Ellis's _Negro Culture in West Africa, _95; of _Gouldtown_, 221

East, the attitude of, toward the West, 119 Edmondson children, the, 243; family tree of, 261 Edmondson, Hamilton, sold in New Orleans, 253 Edmondson, Richard, heroic efforts of, 248 Edmondson, Samuel, married Delia Taylor, 256 Education of the Negroes in Cincinnati, 6, 10 _Education, The, of the Negro Prior to 1861, _reviewed, 96 Edwards, Mrs., taught Negroes in South Carolina, 350-351 Effect of slaveholding in Louisiana, 368 _Eighteenth Century Slaves as advertised by their Masters, _163 Ellis, Geo. W., _Negro Culture in West Africa _of, reviewed, 95 Emancipating Baptists in Kentucky, 143 Emancipation, the, and the arming of slaves, urged, 119 English, Chester, sailor on the _Pearl_, 246 Enlisting Negroes in the American Revolution, 112, 113, 114; considered by a council of war, 114; urged and allowed, 117 Ermana, a slave owned by her husband, 241 Erroneous opinions concerning the Negro, 34 Essadi Abdurrahman, a writer of the Sudan, 41 Essays on Negro slavery, 49, 54 Established Church of England, the ministrations of, 349 Ethiopia, ruled Egypt, 37 Evans, M. S., _Black and White in Southern States _of, reviewed, 437

Fausett, Jessie, review of, of T. G. Steward's _Haitian Revolution, _93; of A. H. Abel's _The Slaveholding Indians, _339 Ferguson, Joseph, a physician, 103 Fleet, Dr., educated in Washington, 105 Fleetwood, Bishop, urged the proselyting of Negroes, 350 Foote, John P., his opinion of Negroes, 19 Foote, Senator, effect of the speech of, at the Louis-Phillipe celebration, 245 Foster, James, opposed to colonization, 290 Free Negroes, power of, to manumit limited, 241-242; transplanted to free soil, 302; litigation concerning, in Louisiana, 368; aristocracy of, 395 Free Soilers attacked "Black Laws" of Ohio, 16 Freedman, a rich one of Guatemala, 395 _Freedom in a Free State_, 311 "Friends of Humanity" organized in Kentucky, 144 Frink, Rev. Mr., toiled among Negroes of Augusta, 354 Fugitives, going to the Northwest Territory, 1; from British territory to Michigan, 27 _Fugitives of the Pearl, The_, 243 Fuller, Betsey, owned her husband, 241

Gage, Thomas, quoted, on Negroes in Guatemala, 392-398 Gaines, John L., secured writ to obtain fund for colored schools, 17 Galvez, Governor of Louisiana, who employed Negro troops, 374 Garden, Commissary, opened a colored school in Charleston, 352 Garrison, Wm. L., effects of the radicalism of, 146 Gazzan, Dr. Joseph, teacher of M. R. Delany, 106 _Gens de couleur libres, _365-366 George, James Z., _The. Political History of Slavery _of, reviewed, 340 Georgia, rise and progress of Negro Churches, 69; Negroes with the British in, 116, 117; _Reconstruction in Georgia, _reviewed, 343; missionary work in, 354 Germans, crowded the Negroes out in Cincinnati, 5; in Appalachian America, 133-134 Gibson, Bishop, address of, in behalf of Negroes, 352 Giddings, Joshua, motion for an inquiry into the detention of fugitives, 250-251 Gilmore High School founded, 19 Goldsmith, Samuel, deposition of, 234 Gordon, Robert, a successful business man, 21-22 Gordon, Virginia Ann, daughter and heir of Robert Gordon, 22 Graydon, referred to Negro troops, 129 Greeks, acquainted with Ethiopia, 39 Greene, General, learned that the British would enlist Negroes, 115 Grimké, Thomas, letter of, referred to, 281 Gromes, Frank, purchased his relatives, 239 Guy, Rev. Mr., baptized Negroes in South Carolina, 352

Haigue, Mrs., taught Negroes in South Carolina, 351 _Haitian Revolution, The_, reviewed, 93 Hale, Senator, offered resolutions concerning the fugitives of the _Pearl_, 251 Hall, Rev. C., admitted Negroes to his church in North Carolina, 353 Hamilton, Alexander, urged the emancipation and arming of slaves, 118; letter of, on conditions in South Carolina, 121 Hancock, John, member of the committee that opposed the enlistment of Negroes, -- Hanson, Roger W., went with the South, 390 Harlan, J. M., _Constitutional Doctrines_ of, reviewed, 342 Harlan, Robert, once a man of considerable wealth, 20 Harris, Dr., opinion of, of Negro troops, 128 Harry, one of the first Negro teachers in America, 352 Hartford, anti-slavery meeting at, 286 Hartgrove, W. B., _The Negro Soldier in the American Revolution_ of, 110 Hawkins, Peter, emancipated slaves, 240 Healing art among Negroes, 101-102 Henrico County, Virginia, records, 237 Henry, H. M., _Police Control of the Slave in South Carolina_ of, reviewed, 219 Henry, Patrick, influence of, in the uplands, 138 Hildreth, Richard, offered Daniel Drayton aid, 251 Hill, James H., statement of, 239 _Historic Background of the Negro Physician_, 99 Holly, James Theodore, position on African colonization, 300 Honyman, Rev. Mr., had Negroes in his congregation, 360 Hopkins, Samuel, urged the emancipation and arming of slaves, 118 _How the Public received the Journal of Negro History_, 225 Howe, Samuel, offered aid to Daniel Drayton, 251 Hubbard, Dr., a friend of Negro education, 107 Huddlestone, Rev. Mr., a successor of Neau, 358 Humboldt, Alex. Von, _Observations on Negroes_, 393 Hunt, Rev. Mr., had a Negro under probation, 352 Huntsville, Alabama, Negroes of, for colonization, 282 Husting Court of Richmond, a lawsuit in, to obtain freedom, 238

Iben Khaldun, a writer of Arabia, quoted, 39 Illinois, attitude of Negroes in, toward colonization, 300 Immigration of Negroes into Ohio, 2, 4; opposition to, aroused, 4 Impressions of an English traveler, 404 Indiana, Negroes took up land in, 8; attitude of Negroes of, toward African colonization, 300 Insurrections in Louisiana, 370, 376 Irish, crowded out the Negroes of Cincinnati, 5; the Scotch-Irish in the West, 133, 135 Iron first smelted by Negroes, 36-37

Jackson, George W., manager of Robert Gordon's estate, 22 Jacob, R. T., offered resolutions for mediatorial neutrality, 384 Jefferson County, Ohio, free Negroes of, 304 Jefferson, Thomas, influence of, on frontier, 138 Jenny, Dr., worked among Negroes, 355 Johnson, Anthony, a Negro owning slaves, 234-236 Johnson, Jerome A., remembered Judson Diggs, 247 Johnson, Rev. Mr., baptized Negroes at Stratford, 359 Jones, Absalom, letter of, --; mentioned by Dow, 274; opposed colonization, 277 Jones, David A., deposition of, 238-239 Jones, S. Wesley, letter of, quoted, 281

Kearsley, John, master of James Derham, 103 Kemps Landing, Negroes in battle of, 115 Kench, Thomas, wanted Negroes in separate regiments, 120 Kentucky, "Emancipating Baptists" of, 143 anti-slavery Presbyterians in, 143 neutrality of, 383 dangerous policy of, 385 Knight and Bell, Negro contractors in Cincinnati, 20 Kunst. J., _Notes on the Negroes in Guatemala in the Seventeenth Century_, 392

Lannon, W. D., joined the Confederates, 390 Laurens, John, urged the arming of slaves, 118 Law, John, schemes of, 362-363 Lawrence County, Ohio, Negroes in, 4, 306 Lawrence, Samuel, Negroes under, behaved well, 112, 113 Lecky, tribute of, to Negro troops, 129 Lees, migrated to Detroit, 24, 26 Leile, George, letters of, 80, 81, 84 Lemoyne, Dr. Francis J., teacher of M. R. Delany, 106 Letters on slavery by a Negro, 60; letters showing the rise and progress of Negro Churches in Georgia and the West Indies, 69 Lewiston, Pennsylvania, anti-colonization meeting of, 287 Liberia, the Republic of, discussed, 313 Lincoln, a desire of, for the support of Kentucky, 377, 384 Lindsay, Rev. Mr., baptized Negroes in New Jersey, 355 Locke, Rev. Richard, baptized Negroes in Pennsylvania, 355 Longworth, Nicholas, aided colored schools of Cincinnati, 19 Louis-Philippe, the expulsion of, celebrated in Washington, 244 Louisiana, prostration of, 374-375; relieved somewhat by Negro refugees, 375 Lowth, Bishop, urged the conversion of Negroes, 350 Lundy, Benjamin, work of, in Tennessee, 145 Lutherans, in the West, 134 Lyell, Sir Charles, on the Negroes of Cincinnati, 18 Lyme, anti-colonization meeting of, 286

Madison, James, urged the emancipation and arming of slaves, 118 Magoffin, Governor, tried to aid the Secessionists in Kentucky, 382 Mann, Horace, offered to aid Daniel Drayton, 251 Manumission Society of Tennessee, 145 Marshall, Abraham, letters of, 77, 78, 85 Marshall, Humphrey, views of, 377, 384 Maryland, the enlistment of Negroes in, 120 Maryville, Tennessee, favorable to Negroes, 147-149 Massachusetts, arming the slaves in, 120 May, Samuel, helped to furnish defense for Daniel Drayton, 251 McSparran, conducted a class of Negroes, 359 Mehlinger, Louis R., _The Attitude of the Free Negro toward African Colonization _of, 276 Mennonites in the West, 134 Mercer County, Ohio, Negroes in, 9, 306 Middletown, anti-colonization meeting at, 286 Migration of Negroes, West Indian, 370-371; to the Northwest Territory, 1 Miller, Kelly, _The Historic Background of the Negro Physician_, 99 Monmouth, Negroes in the battle of, 129 Moore, Edwin, father of Maria Louise Moore, 23 Moore, Maria Louise, her struggles and triumphs, 23 Moral Religious Manumission Society of West Tennessee, 145 Moravians, in the mountains, 134 Morris, Robert, Jr., offered to aid Daniel Drayton, 251 Mountaineers, attitude of, toward slavery, 147; their efforts to elevate the slaves, 148, 149, 150; supported the Union, 149, 150; aided the Underground Railroad, 146; attitude of, toward the American Colonization Society, 146 Mulatto corsair, a, 397 Mundin, William, declaration of, 238

Nantucket, anti-colonization meeting at, 288 Natchez, Negroes captured by, 370 National Council, 299-300 Neau, Elias, work of, 356-358; supposed connection with Negro riot, 357 _Negro, The, in American History_, reviewed, 94; _Negro Culture in West Africa_, reviewed, 95; _Negro Soldiers in the American Revolution_, 110; _What the Negro was thinking in the Eighteenth Century_, 49 Negroes, contribution of, to civilization, 36; _Notes on the Negroes of Guatemala in the Seventeenth Century_, 392 Neill, Rev. Mr., preached to Negroes at Dover, 355 Neutrality in Kentucky, 383, 385; became dangerous policy, 385; abandoned, 389 New Bedford, anti-colonization meeting at, 293 New England, work among Negroes of, 359 New Hampshire, the enlistment of Negroes in, 120 New Jersey, teaching Negroes in, 355 New York, the enlistment of Negroes in, 120; instruction of Negroes in, 356; anti-colonization meetings of, 285, 288, 289 Newman, Rev. Mr., worked among Negroes, 353 North Carolina, slavery in, 142 Northampton County, Virginia, records of black masters, 237

Ohio, Negroes owned land in, 8-9; "Black Laws" of, 4; Law of 1849, 12; Negroes transplanted to, 302; protest against, 308; Negroes an issue in the Constitutional Convention of, 4 Ordinance of 1787, interpretation of, 377 "Othello," letters of, on slavery, 49-60 Otis, James, influence of, in the uplands, 138

Palomeque, a hard master, 396 Parham, William, a teacher of Negroes, 19 Park, Dr. R. E., review of _Race Orthodoxy_ of, 439 Patoulet, M., decision of, 366 Patterson, Senator, speech at Louis-Philippe celebration, 245 Payne, Daniel A., on colonization, 296 _Pearl, The Fugitives of_, 246 Pelhams moved to Detroit, 26, 29 Pennington, J. W. C., opposed colonization, 293 _People of Color in Louisiana_, 361 Perier, Governor, fought Indians with Negroes 368, 369; tribute to Negroes Philadelphia, anti-colonization meetings of, 277, 279; Convention of Free People of Color at, 290, 291 _Philanthropist, The_, office of, destroyed, 8 Physicians, Negro, the number of, 107 Piatt, James W., efforts with Cincinnati mob, 14 Pittsburgh, anti-colonization meetings of, 287, 292 Pittsylvania County, Virginia, Negroes from, 4 Point Bridge, Negro soldiers behaved well at battle of, 129 _Political History of Slavery, The_, by James Z. George, reviewed, 340 Political theories of Appalachian America, discussed, 129 Polk, invaded Kentucky, 390 Prejudice against the colored people in Cincinnati, 12-13 Presbyterians, anti-slavery, in Kentucky, 143 Pressly, J., a colored photographer, 20 Prince William County, Virginia, a Negro of, owned his family, 241 Professions, Negroes in, 99-101 Protests against African colonization, 277-296 Providence, anti-colonization meeting of, 293 Pugh, Rev. Mr., baptized Negroes in Pennsylvania, 355 Puritan, attitude of, toward Negro, 359 Purvis, Dr. Charles B., a Negro surgeon in the Civil War, 107

Quakers, interested in colonizing Negroes in the Northwest, 3; work of, among Negroes of Appalachian America, 133, 134 Quickly, Mary, owner of slaves, 238

_Race Orthodoxy in the South_, reviewed, 447 Racial characteristics on the frontier, 135 Racial elements in Appalachian America, 133 Radford, James, sold a Negro, 238 Radford, George, purchased a Negro woman, 238 Ramsey's estimate of Negroes lost to British, 116 Randolph, John, the slaves of, sent to Ohio, 308, 310, 311, 312 Ransford, Rev. Mr., baptized Negroes in North Carolina, 353 Redpath, James, appointed commissioner of emigration of Haiti, 300 Richards, Adolph, came to Fredericksburg for his health, 23; married Maria Louise Moore, 23 Richards, Fannie M., studied in Toronto, 30; taught in Detroit, 31 Richmond, meeting of, to denounce the American Colonization Society, 277 Rider, Sidney, opinion of the services of Negro troops, 128 Ripley, Dorothy, letters received, 436 Riots, in Cincinnati, in 1836, 8; in 1841, 13-16; in New York, 357 Robert, M., decision of, with reference to Negroes, 366 Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, "l'esclavage" of, 430 Rochester, anti-colonization meeting of, 293 Roman, C. V., _The American Civilization_ of, reviewed, 218 Ross, Rev. G., commended Mr. Yeates for work among Negroes, 354, 355 Rumford, Rev. Mr., baptized Negroes, 353 Rush, Benjamin, talks with James Derham, 103 Rutledge, Governor, freed a slave for his valor in battle, 129 Ryall, Anne, teacher in Cincinnati, 19

St. John de Crèvecoeur, observations of, 404 Salem, Peter, killed Major Pitcairn, 112 Sanderson, Bishop, urged the instruction of Negroes, 350 Sankore, the university of, 40 Savannah, a freedman of, favored colonization, 280 Sayers, Captain, owner of the _Pearl_, 246 Sayers, W. Berwick, _Samuel Coleridge-Taylor_of, reviewed, 438 Sayre, Rev. J., instructed Negroes, 358 Schoepf, Johann D., impressions of, 405 Schuyler, M., opposed the instruction of Negroes, 359 Secession in Kentucky, 377, 378, 385, 389, 390 Secker, Bishop, appeal in behalf of the enlightenment of Negroes, 352 Seward, W. H., offered to aid in defending Daniel Drayton, 251 Sewell, Samuel, endeavored to aid Daniel Drayton when accused, 251 Shelby County, Ohio, Negroes in, 309 Shelton, Rev. Wallace, a preacher of Cincinnati, 20 Simon, a Negro officer in Louisiana, 391 Simon, the Negro doctor, 102 Simpson, Henry, a preacher in Ohio, 20 _Slaveholding Indians, The_, reviewed, 339 Slavery, in North Carolina, 142; in Western Virginia, 142; in Tennessee, 143; in Kentucky, 144 Slaves of the 18th century, learning a modern language, 164; learning to read and write, 175; educated ones, 185; in good circumstances, 189; brought from the West Indies, 191; various kinds of servants, 194; relations between the Negroes and the British during the Revolution, 200; relations between the blacks and the French, 201; colored Methodist preachers among the slaves, 202; slaves in other professions, 205; close relations of the slaves and indentured servants, 206 Smith, Dr. James McCune, physician in New York, 104; opposed to colonization, 293 Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, organized, 349 work of, 350 Songhay, empire of, discussed, 41 South Carolina, the enlistment of Negroes in, 122; Hamilton's letter on, 121-122; resolutions of Congress concerning, 123-124; efforts to instruct Negroes of, 350-352 Spaniards, attitude of, toward slavery, 361 Stafford, A. O., _African Proverbs_ and _Antar_ of, 42, 151 Stephenson, John W., views of, 378 Steward, T. G., _The Haitian Revolution_ of, reviewed, 93; _Gouldtown_ of, reviewed, 221 Steward, Rev. Mr., found a colored school in North Carolina, 354 Story of a Negro cook, 372 of a Negro blacksmith, 372 Stoupe, Rev. Mr., instructed Negroes in New Rochelle, 358 Stowe, H. B., inquiry of, 295 Sturgeon, Rev. W., taught Negroes in Philadelphia, 355 Sudan, the kingdoms of, 37 Sumner, Alphonso, on African colonization, 297 Sutcliff, Robert, observations of, 434 Swigle, Thomas Nichols, the letters of, 85,88

Taylor, Dr., educated in Washington, 105 Taylor, Mr. Charles, instructed blacks in New York, 358 Taylor, Rev. E., a missionary in South Carolina, 351; report of, 351

_Taylor, Samuel Coleridge-, Life of_, reviewed, 446 Tennessee, Manumission Society of, 144; Moral Religious Manumission Society of West Tennessee, 144 Thomas, General, urged the enlistment of Negro troops, 117, 129 Thomas, Rev. Mr., taught Negroes in South Carolina, 350 Thompson, C. M., _Reconstruction in Georgia_ of, reviewed, 343 Tilley, Virginia C., a teacher, 19 Timbuctoo, the university of, 40 Trades Unions against Negroes, 12 _Traveler's Impressions of Slavery in America from 1750 to 1800_, 399 Trenton, anti-colonization meeting, 288 _Typical Colonization Convention, A_, 318

Underground Railroad, in the mountains, 146 Union cause in Kentucky, the, 380, 391 Usher, Rev. J., mentioned Negroes desiring baptism, 359

Vandroffen, Petrus, opposed the education of Negroes, 359 Vesey, Rev. Mr., interested in the Negroes of New York, 356 Vindication of Negroes, 408 Virginia, laws of, to prohibit the education of Negroes, 119; slavery in the western part of, 142; colored freemen as slave owners in, 233

Wansey, Henry, on slavery, 427 Warden, D. B., observations of, 3 Warren, John, a preacher in Ohio, 8 Washington, Augustus, attitude of, toward emigration, 297 Washington, Booker T., note on, 98 Washington, George, on the enlistment of Negroes, 113, 115, 125 Wattles, Augustus, induced Negroes to go to Ohio, 8 Webster, Daniel, petition of, 241 Weld, Isaac, observations of, 432 West, Dr., master of James Derham, 103 West Indian migration, 370, 371 West, Reuben, a black master, 239 Whigs attacked "Black Laws" of Ohio, 16 Whitbeck, teacher of a colored school in Detroit, 31 White, Dr. Thomas J., student at Bowdoin, 105 Whitfield, James, defended the National Council, 300 Whitmore, Rev. Mr., taught Negroes in New York, 358 Wilcox, Samuel T., a wealthy Negro of Cincinnati, 20 Wilkins, Charles T., testimonial of, 32 Wilkins, William D., assisted Miss Fannie M. Richards, 31 Williams, Rev. Peter, troubles of, in New York, 288 Wilmington, anti-colonization meeting at, 284 Wilson, Bishop, urged the instruction of Negroes, 352 Wing, Mr., taught Negroes in Cincinnati, 7 Wood, Jannette, manumitted by her mother, 240 Woodson, C. G., _The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861_, reviewed, 96; _Freedom and Slavery in Appalachian America_, 132 Wright, Theodore, antagonistic to colonization, 294

Yeates, Rev. Mr., endeavored to instruct Negroes, 354