Miscellaneous writings on slavery

Contents

Inquiry into the Character and Tendency of the American Colonization, and American Anti- Slavery Societies, Page 7

A View of the Action of the Federal Government, IN BEHALF OF SLAVERY, 207

I

Preface

No allusion has been made in the following pages to certain popular objections to the Colonization Society ; nor have any cases of individual cruelty been cited, to illustrate the evils of slavery. It is proper that the reasons for this departure from the ordinary mode of discussing these two subjects should be given, that they may not be misunderstood.

The objections I have omitted to notice, are, the mortality to which the emigrants are exposed in consecptence of the climate of Liberia ; the demoralizing traffic which the colonists have carried on with the natives, in rum and military stores ; and the improvident application of the funds of the Society, which has rendered it bankrupt.

These objections, serious as they are in themselves, are not inseparable from the system of Colonization. Another, and more salubrious site, may be selected ; the traffic complained of, may be discontinued ; and the fiscal affairs of the Society may be managed with prudence and economy. But there are inherent evils in the system, and it is important that the public attention should not be diverted from these evils, by the contemplation of others which are only accidental.

So, also, it is important, that the sinfulness of slavery should not be merged in that of its unauthorized abuses. Many contend for the lawfulness of slavery who readily admit the sinfulness of insulated eases of cruelty. It has, therefore, been my object to show that, admitting the slaves to be treated as a prudent farmer treats his cattle, — that they have enough to eat, are sheltered from the inclemency of the weather, and are not subjected to a greater degree of severity than is necessary to extort from them a due amount of labor, — American slavery is, nevertheless, a heinous sin, and, like every other sin, ought to be immediately abandoned.

February, 1835

Introduction

Ox the 1st of January, 1835, there were in the United States, 2,245,144 slaves* This* number about equals the population of Holland, and exceeds that of Scotland, of the Danish Dominions, of the Swiss Confederation, and of various Republics in South America. These millions of human beings are held as chattels by a people professing to acknowledge, that " all men are created equal, and endowed with certain unalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness : " they are, moreover, kept in ignorance, and compelled to live without God, and to die without hope, by a people professing to reverence the obligations of Christianity. _

But slavery has ceased in other countries, where it formerly prevailed ; and may we not hope that it is gradually expiring in this ? Such a hope is, alas, forbidden by the following statement of our slave population, at different periods:

" 182,953

" 109,631

" 24,990

Perhaps, however, the political evils of slavery may be gradually mitigated, and finally removed, by an increasing preponderance in the white population. Unfortunately, we are compelled by facts to anticipate a very different result. A comparison of the census of 1830, with

* According to the ratio of increase between 1820 and 1830.

United States,

1790,

697,697

Kentucky, u

12,430

Mississippi and ") Alabama, )

1800,

3,489

Louisiana,

1810,

34,660

Missouri,

3,011

Free.

North Carolina,

13.4 per et

South Carolina,

8.7

Alabama,

Mississippi,

66.8

Missouri,

104.3

Louisiana,

25.6

Tennessee,

59.5

Kentucky,

19.6

Arkansas Territory,

104.3 that of 1820, affords us the following ratio of increase in the free and slave population, for the intermediate ten years :

Slave.

20.2 per et.

22.1

180.4

100.1

144.7

58.7

77.7

30.4

It is obvious, from these details, that, if the present system be continued, the time cannot be far distant, when the slaves will possess a frightful numerical superiority over their masters. Already do they bear to the whites, in the slave States and Territories, the proportion of 1 to 2.79. In South Carolina and Louisiana, they are now a majority.

But in our contemplation of slaver)', the sufferings of the slaves claim our consideration, no less than the dangers to which the whites are exposed. The ordinary evils of slavery, are, in this country, greatly aggravated by a cruel and extensive slave-trade. Various circumstances have, of late years, combined to lessen the demand for slave-labor in the more northern, and to increase it in the more southern and western portions of the slave-region ; while the enlarged consumption of sugar and cotton is enhancing the market value of slaves. The most profitable employment of this species of labor, is unfortunately found in those States, which, from their recent settlement, possess immense tracts which are still to be brought into cultivation, and in which, consequently, there now is, and will long continue to be, an urgent demand for slaves. Hence has arisen a prodigious and annually increasing transportation of slaves to the south and west.

There are no official data from which the amount of this transportation can be ascertained ; but from facts that have transpired, and from estimates made at the SoutJi, there is reason to believe that it exceeds thirty thousand a year. One of the peculiar abominations of this trade, is, that its victims are almost exclusively children and youths. Instead of removing whole families and gangs of negroes, the dealers for the most part, according to their own advertisements, select individuals, " of both sexes, from twelve to twenty-five years."

He surely can have little claim to the character of a patriot or a Christian, who does not desire that his country may be delivered from the sin and curse of slavery ; or who refuses even to consider the means proposed for effecting this great object.

A powerful institution is now in operation, which professes to be, not merely a remedy for slavery, but the oxly remedy that can be devised. It appeals to religion and patriotism, for those pecuniary aids, which, it contends, are alone wanting, to enable it to transport our whole colored population to Africa, there to enjoy the freedom denied to them here ; and there to become the dispensers of religion, and the arts and sciences, to that benighted continent.

If the claims of the American Colonization Society are founded in truth, they cannot be resisted without guilt. Very many, however, who are alike distinguished for piety and talents, instead of allowing these claims, strenuously maintain, that the practical tendency of the Society, is to perpetuate the evils it professes to remove ; and to extend to Africa, the vices, but not the blessings of civilization. These conflicting opinions, on a subject so momentous, demand a calm and patient investigation ; since he who either supports or opposes the Colonization Society, without first ascertaining its true character, the results it has produced, and the influence it exerts, incurs the hazard, as far as his example and efforts extend, of increasing the wretchedness he would relieve, and of fastening upon his country, the burden under which she is struggling.

If, in a question involving the temporal and eternal happiness of unborn millions, we could satisfy our consciences by bowing to the authority of great names, we should still be painfully embarrassed in selecting those, to whose decision wc should surrender our own judgments. The excellent of the earth are to be found among the friends and enemies of this association ; and if various ecclesiastical bodies in our own country, have recommended it to the patronage of their churches, it is regarded with abhorrence by almost the whole religious community of Great Britain ; and the last effort made by "Wilberforce in the great cause of negro liberty, was, to address to the people of Great Britain his solemn protest against the doctrines and conduct of the American Colonization Society.

This Institution may have been formed by good men, and from the purest motives, yet it is possible that its operation may not have been such as they anticipated. " So many unforseen, concealed, and inappreciable causes," says a very eminent writer, " have an influence on human institutions, that it is impossible to judge a priori of their effects. Nothing but a long series of experiments can unfold these effects, and point out the means of counteracting those that are hurtful."

The following inquiry has been commenced, and pursued under a deep sense of the importance of the subject, and with a solemn recollection, that no deviation from truth can escape the notice and displeasure of Him, unto whom all hearts are open, and from whom no secrets are hid.

Chapter I

ORIGIN, CONSTITUTION, AND CHARACTER OP THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY.

On the 23d of December, 1816, the Legislature of Virginia passed a resolution requesting the Governor to correspond with the President of the United States, " for the purpose of obtaining a territory on the coast of Africa, or at some other place not within any of the States, or territorial governments of the United States, to sei-ve as an asylum for such persons of color as are now free, and may desire the same, and for those who may hereafter be emancipated within this Commonwealth."

Within a few days of the date of this resolution, a meeting was held at "Washington to take this very subject into consideration. It was composed almost entirely of southern gentlemen. Judge Washington presided: Mr. Clay, Mr. Randolph, and others, took part in the discussions which ensued, and which resulted in the organization of the American Colonization Society. Judge "Washington was chosen President, and of the seventeen Vice Presidents, only five were selected from the free States,. while the twelve managers were, it is believed, without one exception, slave-holders.

The first two articles of the constitution are the only ones relating to the object of the Society. They are as follows :

Art I. This Society shall be called the American Society for colonizing the free people of color of the United States.

Art. II. The object to which its attention is to be exclusively directed, is to promote and execute a plan for colonizing (with their consent) the free people of color residing in our country, in Africa, or such other place as Congress shall deem most expedient. And the Society shall act to effect this object in cooperation with the general government and such of the States as may adopt regulations on the subject.

It is worthy of remark, that this constitution has no preamble setting forth the motives which led to its adoption, and the sentiments entertained by its authors. There is no one single principle of duty or policy recognized in it, and the members may, without inconsistency, be Christians or infidels ; they may be the friends or enemies of slavery, and may be actuated by kindness or by hatred towards " the free people of color."

The omission of all avowal of motives was, probably, not without design, and has not been without effect. It has secured the cooperation of three distinct classes. First, such as sincerely desire to afford the free blacks an asylum from the oppression they suffer here, and by their means to extend to Africa the blessings of Christianity and civilization, and who at the same time flatter themselves that colonization will have a salutary influence in accelerating the abolition of slavery : secondly, such as expect to enhance the value and security of slave property, by removing the free blacks : and, thirdly, such as seek relief from a bad population, without -the trouble and expense of improving it.

The doors of the Society being thrown open to all, a heterogeneous multitude has entered, and within its portals men are brought into contact, who in the ordinary walks of life, are separated by a common repulsion. The devoted missionary, ready to pour out his life on the sands of Africa, is jostled by the trafficker in human flesh ; the humble, self-denying Christian, listens to the praises of the Society from the unblushing profligate ; and the friend of human rights and human happiness greets as his fellow-laborer the man whose very contribution to the cause is extorted from the unrequited labor of his fellow-men. This anomalous amalgamation of characters and motives, has necessarily led to a lamentable compromise of principle. Whatever may be the object each member proposes to himself, he is conscious it can be effected only by the harmonious cooperation of all the other members. Hence it is all important to avoid giving and taking offence ; and never was the maxim, "bear and forbear," more scrupulously obeyed. Certain irreconcilable opinions, but regarded by tlieir holders as fundamental, are, by common consent, wholly suppressed ; while in matters of less importance, the expression of opposite sentiments is freely allowed, and borne with commendable patience.

The advocates of slavery forbear shocking its opponents by justifying it in the abstract, and in return for this complaisance, those opponents forbear condemning it in particulars. Each party consents to make certain concessions to conciliate the other. The Southron admits slavery to be a political evil ; the northern member courteously replies, that under present circumstances, it is unavoidable, and therefore justifiable. The actual condition of the slave, his mental bondage, his bodily sufferings, are understood to be forbidden topics.

The oppressor of the free negro dwells on his depravity and degradation ; the friend of the free negro admits, and often aggravates the charges against him, but carefully abstains from all allusion to the true causes of that depravity and degradation, unless to excuse them as being inevitable. Both parties unite in depicting hi glowing colors, the effects of the oppression of the free negro, in order to prove the humanity of banishing him from the country ; while both refrain from all attempts to remove or lessen the oppression.

The simplicity of the object of the Society as stated in its constitution, tends in a powerful degree to encourage and enforce this compromise of principle. The constitution, in fact, vests a discretionary veto in every member on the expression of unpalatable opinions. The attention of the Society is to be " exclusively " directed to the colonization of persons of color, and the constitution contains no allusion to slavery. Hence any denunciation of slavery as sinful,* any arguments addressed to slave

* Candor requires the admission that there is at least one exception to this remark. _ At the annual meeting of the Society in 1834, the Rev. Mr. Breckenridge,in his speech, insisted on the sinfulness of slavery. A distinguished lay member of the Society, who was present, complained to the author of Mr. B.'s unconstitutional conduct, and declared that he was strongly tempted publicly to call him to order.

holders to induce them to manumit their slaves, would be unconstitutional, and are therefore carefully avoided. But the free blacks cannot be transported without money, and much money cannot be had, without the aid of the enemies of slavery. It is therefore permitted to represent the Society as an antidote to slavery, as tending to effect its abolition, anything in the constitution to the contrary notwithstanding. But then this abolition is to be brought about at some future indefinite period. True it is, that the constitution is as silent, with respect to manumission, as it is to slavery ; but by common consent, this silence is not permitted to interpose the slightest obstacle to a unanimous, vigorous, and persevering opposition to present manumission. Were the American Bible Society to deprecate the emancipation of slaves, and to censure all who proposed it, the outrage would excite the indignation of the whole community. But what would be a perversion of its avowed object in a Bible Society, is perfectly lawful in a Colonization Society, not because it is authorized by the constitution, but because it is expedient to conciliate the slave-holders.

Many of the supporters of the Society are interested in the American slave-trade* — a trade replete with cruelty and injustice. To condemn this trade, or to labor for its suppression, would be unconstitutional. The African slave-trade rather interferes with, than promotes the interests of the slave-owners, and the Society deems it unnecessary to seek for any constitutional warrant to justify the most violent denunciation of the foreign traffic ; or an application to foreign powers to declare it piratical, t

To hold up the free blacks to the detestation of the community, is unconstitutional ; to recommend them to the sympathy of Christians, to propose schools for their instruction, plans for encouraging their industry, and efforts for their moral and religious improvement, would be such a flagrant departure from the "exclusive" object of the Society, that no member has

* The first President of the Society, was, as we shall see hereafter, no inconsiderable dealer.

fSee proceedings of Am. Col. Society of 20th January, 1827.

hitherto been rash enough to make the attempt. At the same time it is quite constitutional to vindicate the cruel laws which are crushing these people in the dust, and to show that the oppression they suffer is " an ordination of Providence."

The constitution indeed forbids the transportation of the free blacks without " their consent ; " but it is very constitutional to justify and encourage such oppression of them, as shall compel them to seek in the wilds of Africa, a refuge from American cruelty.

The natural result of this compromise of principle, this suppression of truth, this sacrifice to unanimity, has been the adoption of expediency as the standard of right and wrong, in the place of the revealed will of God. Unmindful of the poet's precept,

Be virtuous ends pursued by virtuous means, ' Nor think the intention sanctifies the deed,

good men and good Christians have been tempted by their zeal for the Society, to countenance opinions and practices inconsistent with justice and humanity. Confident that their motives were good and their object important, they have been too little scrupulous of the means they employed ; and hence the Society has actually exerted a demoralizing influence over its own members, by leading them occasionally to advance in its behalf opinions at variance with truth and Christianity. Unhappily the evil influence of the Society has not been confined to its own members. It has, to a lamentable extent, vitiated the moral sense of the community, by reconciling public opinion to the continuance of slavery, and by aggravating those sinful prejudices against the free blacks, which are subjecting them to insult and persecution, and denying them the blessings of education and religious instruction.

"We are sensible that these are grave assertions, and that many will deem them very extraordinary ones. The reader's belief is not solicited for them at present, nor will it be for any assertion hereafter made, till supported by unquestionable evidence. The remarks in this chapter are intended only as a general statement of the case against the Society, and as an explanation of the process by which many excellent men belonging to it, have insensibly been seduced into conduct of at least doubtful morality. The charges now made will in due time be -substantiated by authentic facts, and by quotations from the language, both official and private, of members of the Society.

True it is, that colonizationists protest most earnestly against being judged by any but the official language of the Board of Managers. To the justice of this protest it is impossible to assent. The Society is arraigned at the bar of the public, not for the object avowed in the constitution, but for the influence it exerts in vindicating and prolonging slavery, and in augmenting the oppression of the free blacks. This influence, if exerted at all, must be exerted by individuals in the capacity of members, agents, and officers of the Society, and the only means they possess of exerting this influence, is by the expression of their sentiments. To insist, therefore, that these sentiments may not be quoted, to show what influence the Society does exert, is to contradict the plainest suggestions of common sense. Certainly the whole Society is not necessarily responsible for the sentiments of a single member ; but the question is not, whether one or two or more members have said improper things, but whether the influence generally exerted by the Society, is what it is alleged to be ; and this is a question of fact, to be decided by evidence, and that evidence necessarily consists of the opinions expressed by its officers, agents, and distinguished members, and auxiliary associations.

This protest, moreover, comes with an ill grace from a Society that has appealed to the letters and the speeches of its members, to repel the objection urged against it in certain quarters, of a desire to interfere with the rights of slave-holders.* Should the members and officers of an Anti-Slavery Society, continually, at its public meetings, deliver addresses in favor of intermarriages between whites and blacks — should auxiliaries pass resolutions approving of such marriages — should these addresses

* See Afr. Rep., YI, 198.

and resolutions be published and circulated at the expense of the Society, and should its official magazine recommend such marriages, — would it not be the excess of disingenuousness for the Society to attempt to repel the charge that its influence was exerted to bring about an amalgamation of the two races, by denying that it was responsible for the language of its members, and by appealing to its constitution and official reports, in which no allusion was made to the subject? All that can fairly be demanded, is that the quotations be honestly made, and that they be sufficiently numerous and explicit to establish the facts they are brought to prove. It must not, however, be supposed, that we intend to prove our charges against the Society, only by the declarations of individual members. On the contrary, w T e shall summon as witnesses, the Managers of the parent Society, and its auxiliaries ; and shall exhibit in evidence their official reports and addresses. In the following pages will be found numerous extracts from colonization documents ; and it is right to observe, that they are for the most part merely selections, and bearing generally but a small proportion to the whole number of extracts to the same point, that might have been adduced. Some few of the extracts have been made by other writers ; but the great mass of them have been selected by the author, and in no instance has he given a quotation which he does not believe is fairly and honestly made. To prevent mistakes, it may be well to mention, that the African Eepository is a monthly magazine, and is, as appears from the title-page, " published by order of the Managers of the American Colonization Society." The Editor is understood to be the Secretary of the Society. This periodical, together with the annual reports, and occasional official addresses, is the only publication for which the managers of the Society are responsible ; when colonization newspapers are mentioned, nothing more is intended by the expression, than that they are papers which espouse the cause of the Society.

Chapter II. Influence Of The Society On The Condition Of Free Feesons Of Color

The object of the Society is declared by the constitution, to be exclusively the colonization of free persons of color, with their own consent. Now there is nothing in this object necessarily benevolent. A colony may be established for commercial purposes, or as a military station, or as a receptacle for convicts, or to aid the diffusion of Christianity. The absence in the constitution of all avowed motive for the proposed colony, invites the cooperation of all who advocate the scheme from any motive whatever. For the purpose of raising money, it is the policy of the Society to appeal to all the various and discordant motives that can be incited in behalf of the colony. A strong and very general prejudice exists against the free blacks. It is unfortunately the policy of the Society to aggravate this prejudice, since the more we abominate these people, the more willing we shall be to pay money for the purpose of getting rid of them. The influence of the doctrine of expediency on good men, will be seen hi the unchristian language they have used in regard to this unhappy and oppressed portion of their fellow-men.

" Free blacks are a greater nuisance than even slaves themselves." Address of C. C. Harper, Afr. Rep., II, 189.

" A horde of miserable people — the objects of universal suspicion — subsisting by plunder." Speech of Gen. Mercer, Vice President.

•• Of all classes of our population, the most vicious is that of the free colored — contaminated themselves, they extend their vices to all ai-ound them." Speech of Mr. Clay, Vice President, 12th Report, p. 21.

" Averse to labor, with no incentives to industry, or motives to res] >ect, they maintain a precarious existence by petty thefts and plunder." African Rep., VI, 135.

" They are alike injurious by their conduct and example to all other classes of society." Memorial of Manchester Col. Soc. to Virginia Legislature.

" A large mass of human beings who hang as a vile excrescence upon society." Address of C. L. Mosby, before a Col. Soc. in Virginia.

•• This class of persons a curse and contagion wherever they reside." African Rep., Ill, 203.

" Of all the descriptions of our population, and of either portion of the African race, the free persons of color are by far, as a class, the most corrupt, depraved and abandoned." Speech of Mr. Clay, African Rep., VI, 12.

" An anomalous race of beings, the most depraved upon earth." African Rep., VII, 230.

" They are a mildew upon our fields, a scourge to our backs, and a stain upon our escutcheon." Memorial of Kentucky Col. Soc. to Congress.

" I will look no farther when I seek for the most degraded, the most abandoned race on the earth, but rest my eye on this people." Address before the Lynchburg Col. Society.

" There is a class (free blacks) among us, introduced by violence, notoriously ignorant, degraded and miserable, mentally diseased, broken-spirited, acted upon by no motives to honorable exertions, scarcely reached in their debasement by the heavenly light." Editorial Article, Afr. Rep., I, GS.

We may here remark, that the tone of these extracts is very different from that used when the speaker desires to excite sympathy for the wretched. We are told that these people are vicious and debased, but no hint is given that their vice and debasement are the result of sinful prejudices and cruel laws. No appeal is made to the spirit of Christianity to pour oil and wine into the wound of suffering humanity. We are not reminded that these wretches are our brethren, for whom Christ died. Nothing is omitted to impress us with a sense of the depth of the misery into which they are plunged ; but for what object are these frightful pictures presented to us ? Is it to urge us to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to instruct the ignorant, and to reform the wicked ? No, but to transport them to Africa !

To an unsophisticated Christian it would seem that the true way of relieving the wretchedness and vice of these people would be, first to protest against their unrighteous oppression, and to procure the repeal of those laws which forbid their instruction ; and then to make them partakers of the blessings of education and religion. But far from the Colonization Society are all such old-fashioned ways of doing good. Instead of protesting against the causes of all this misery, the Society excuses AND JUSTIFIES THE OrFRESSION OF THE FREE NEGROES, AND THE PREJUDICES AGAINST THEM.

" Severe necessity places them (free negroes) in a class of degraded beings." Address of Mr. Eives to Lynchburg Col. Soc, Afr. Rep., V, 238.

"The severe legislation, — I willnotsay that under all circumstances it is too severe, — the severe legislation of the slave States, which drives their emancipated blacks to the free States, and scatters the nuisance there, attests that we have a share in this evil." Speech of G. Smith, Esq., Vice President, 14th Report, p. xiii.

" This law," (a law by which a manumitted negro becomes again a slave if he remains twelve months in the State,) " odious and unjust as it may at first view appear, and hard as it may seem to bear upon the liberated negro, was doubtless dictated by sound policy, and its repeal Avould be regarded by none with more unfeigned regret than by the friends of African Colonization. It has restrained many masters from giving freedom to their slaves, and has thereby contributed to check the growth of an evil already too great and formidable." Memorial from Poichattan Col. Soc. to Virginia Legislature.

" I am clear, that whether we consider it with reference to the welfare of the State, or the happiness of the blacks, it were better to have them left in chains, than to have liberated them to receive such freedom as they enjov, and greater freedom we cannot, must not allow them." Afr. Rep., Ill, 197.

" The habits, the feelings, all the prejudices of society, prejudices which neither refinement, nor argument, nor education, nor religion itself can subdue, mark the people of color, whether bond or free, as the subjects of a degradation inevitable and incurable." Address of the Connecticut Col. Soc.

" The managers consider it clear that causes exist and are now operating to prevent their improvement and elevation to any considerable extent as a class in this country, which are fixed not only beyond the control of the friends of humanity, but of any human power; Christianity can not do for them here what it will do for them in Africa. This is not the fault of the colored man, nor of the white man, but an ordination of Providence, and no more to be changed than the laws of nature." loth Rep., p. 47.