Slavery and Slave Life in the American South, 1619-1865.
Tutor: Dr Tim Lockley
Room 339
Tel: x 24764
Email: t.j.lockley@warwick.ac.uk
'The Old Plantation' Anon, Virginia c.1800.
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Aims & Objectives: The module is a Special Subject, involving the intensive
study of a tightly focused set of topics or problems using a large quantity of
primary sources. It is, above all, through the Special Subject that you will acquire
hands-on experience of the skills involved in working with primary sources.
Context: This course is a special subject for final-year students taking degrees in
Comparative American Studies and History. It builds on core courses given in the
first year, and complements second-year modules offered on colonial and
nineteenth century North American history, as well as modules on early Latin
American and Caribbean history.
Syllabus: This course examines the institution of slavery in the southern United
States. It allows students to study racism and slavery in America, from the early
colonial period through to the mature plantation society which existed before the
Civil War. Through the study of contemporary documents, students will explore
the interaction between race, class and gender in a slave society and gain an
appreciation of the experiences of the slave population held in bondage. They will
be enabled through the use of written evidence and quantitative data to understand
why Americans turned to slavery, why some elements of the white population
supported slavery and why others did not. Students will also learn the different
social, cultural, religious and economic techniques used by African-Americans to
survive the institution of slavery.
Teaching & Learning: The module will be taught through seminar discussion of a
set topic, focusing mainly on the selected primary sources. In addition students
will receive individual tutorial feedback on non-assessed essays. As final-year
students are expected to organise their learning more independently than hitherto,
there are no lectures in the module.
Assessment: Students attaching their dissertation to this module will be examined
in a compulsory three-hour exam paper. Students not attaching their dissertation to
this module take a 2-hr exam paper and complete a 4,500 essay. Exam format:
Q1 comment separately on 4 from 7 gobbets (extracts with a maximum overall
length of 1200 words); Q2 answer one out of three questions centred on a
particular set or type of primary sources, or primary sources on a particular theme;
Q3 answer one out of three questions centred on module themes and
historiography. Those taking a 2 hr paper do Q1 and one other.
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Expected Learning Outcomes
a) the further development of essay-writing and seminar participation skills
b) an understanding of how the critical analysis of sources contributes to historical
debate, and a capacity to undertake such analysis.
c) to develop the capacities needed to carry through a project of independent
research. This will involve digesting existing historical knowledge, formulating
research questions, locating relevant material, handling significant quantities of
information, and writing up research findings in a form similar to that employed by
articles prepared for academic journals. This exercise not only provides invaluable
preparation for students intending to proceed to postgraduate work, it also fosters
skills highly relevant to the future careers of most History students.
d) a capacity to handle a variety of cultural evidence (music, fiction, art) as well as
more conventional historical sources
Essays
You should submit two un-assessed essays (c.3,000 words), by Friday 10am in
Week 8 of both terms. Essays questions will be decided individually with the
tutor.
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Reading List
Abbreviations
WMQ = William and Mary Quarterly
S&A = Slavery & Abolition
JNH = Journal of Negro History
JSH = Journal of Southern History
JEcH = Journal of Economic History
JsocH = Journal of Social History
AHR = American Historical Review
JMF = Journal of Marriage and the Family
NEQ = New England Quarterly
JAS = Journal of American Studies
JIH = Journal of Interdisciplinary History
AJLH = American Journal of Legal History
PAH = Perspectives in American History
PSQ = Political Science Quarterly
JAfH = Journal of African History
Online list of Primary Source Materials is here:
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/cas/undergraduate/modules/am407/primarysources/
LONGER READINGS LISTS ARE ONLINE ON THE MODULE WEBSITE.
Seminars are weekly, Fridays 10-12, in H303.
Term 1
Week 1: African society and the Atlantic slave trade
Gobbets:
The Life of Gustavus Vassa
Letters of Henry Laurens
Other Sources:
Donnan, Elizabeth, Documents illustrative of the slave trade 4 vols
Questions:
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Why did Europeans take slaves from Africa instead of elsewhere? Why did the
English get involved? Which was more important – European demand or African
supply?
Reading
Paul E. Lovejoy, "Autobiography and Memory: Gustavus Vassa, alias Olaudah
Equiano, the African" S & A 27.3 (Dec 2006)
Vincent Caretta, "Reposnse to Paul Lovejoy" S&A 28.1 (April 2007)
Paul Lovejoy "Issues of motivation" S&A 28.1 (April 2007
▪ Fage, J, 'Slavery & the slave trade in the context of W. African history' JAfH
10 (1969) 393-404
Stephanie E. Smallwood “African Guardians, European Slave Ships, and the
Changing Dynamics of Power in the Early Modern Atlantic” WMQ (2007)
▪ Curtin, Philip D, The Atlantic Slave Trade
▪ Thomas, Hugh, The story of the Atlantic slave trade
▪ Rawley, James A., The transatlantic slave trade
▪ Reynolds, Edward, Stand the storm: a history of the Atlantic slave trade
▪ Lovejoy, Paul E., 'Unfree labour in the development of the Atlantic World'. S&A
15.2 (1994)
▪ Vincent Carretta, 'Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa? New light on an 18thC
question of identity' S&A (1999) 96-105
▪ McGowan, W, 'African Resistance to the Atlantic slave trade in W. Africa' S&A
11 (1990), 5-29
▪ Richardson, D, 'The British slave trade to colonial South Carolina' S&A 12.2
(1991), 125-172
▪ Garland C., & Klein H., 'The allotment of space for slaves aboard 18thC British
slave ships' WMQ 42 (1985) 238-248
▪ Elbl, Irgana, 'The volume of the early Atlantic slave trade, 1450-1521' JAfH 38
(1997)
Week 2: The Origins and codification of slavery
Gobbets:
AN ACT FOR THE BETTER ORDERING AND GOVERNING NEGROES AND
OTHER SLAVES IN THIS PROVINCE. South Carolina 1740
Questions
What was the prevailing English attitude toward Africans before 1607? Were the
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English inherently racist? Why did Africans become enslaved in British America?
How and why did the definition of American slavery come about?
Reading
▪ Jordan, Winthrop D., White over black: American attitudes towards the Negro
▪ Jordan, Winthrop, White man's burden ch 1 & 2
▪ Wood, Betty, The Origins of American Slavery
▪ Fredrickson, G. M., The black image in the white mind.(ch2-4)
▪ Walvin, J. Black and White; the Negro and English society, 1555-1945
▪ Starr, Raymond, Race prejudice & the origins of slavery in America
▪ Fredrickson, G. M., The arrogance of race
▪ Genovese, Eugene, The world the slaveholders made
▪ Watson, Alan, Slave law in the Americas
▪ Bartour, Ron, 'Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be unto his
brethren: American views on biblical slavery 1835-1865, a comparative study'
S&A, 4 (1983), 41-55
▪ O & M.Handlin, 'Origins of the Southern Labour system' WMQ (1950)
▪ C.Degler, 'Slavery and the Genesis of American Race Prejudice' Comparative
Studies in History and Society (1959)
▪ G.Nash, 'From Freedom to Bondage in seventeenth century Virgina' Reviews in
American History (1982)
▪ Winthrop D Jordan, 'Modern tensions and the origins of American slavery' JSH
(1962)
▪ Alpert, Jonathan, 'The origins of slavery in the United States: the Maryland
precedent' AJLH (1970)
▪ Kulikoff, Alan 'The origins of African American society in tidewater Maryland
and Virginia 1700-1790' WMQ 35 (1978) 226-259
▪ Morris, Thomas, Southern Slavery and the Law, 1619-1860
▪ Schwarz, Philip, Twice Condemned: Slaves and the Criminal Laws of Virginia,
1705-1865
Week 3: Colonial Slavery: Challenge and Response
Gobbets:

George Whitefield, Three letters from the Reverend Mr. G. Whitefield

Alexander Garden, Six letters to the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield
Questions
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Why did some people oppose the use of slaves? How widespread was anti-slavery
sentiment? Why did others support slavery?
Reading
▪ Wood, Betty, Slavery in colonial Georgia.(in SRC)
▪ Gray, Ralph & Wood, Betty, 'The transformation from indentured to involuntary
servitude in colonial Georgia', Explorations in Economic History, XIII, (1976),
353-370.
▪ Knee, Stuart, 'The Quaker petition of 1790, a challenge to democracy in early
America' S&A 6 (1985), 151-159
▪ Hall, Gwendolyn, Africans in Colonial Louisiana
▪ Morgan, Philip, Slave Counterpoint
▪ Kulikoff, Alan, Tobacco & slaves: the development of Southern cultures in the
Chesapeake, 1680-1800.
▪ Essah, Patience, A house divided: slavery and emancipation in Delaware, 16381865
▪ Gary Nash, 'Slaves and slaveowners in colonial Philadelphia' WMQ (1973)
▪ Russel Menard, 'The Maryland slave population, 1658-1730' WMQ (1975)
▪ Jackson, Harvey, 'The Darien Anti-Slavery Petition of 1739' WMQ (1977)
Dinah Mayo-Bobee Servile Discontents: Slavery and Resistance in Colonial
New Hampshire, 1645–1785 S&A (Sept 2009)
Parent Jr, Anthony S., Foul Means: The formation of a slave society in Virginia,
1660-1740
Hatfield, April Lee, Atlantic Virginia: Intercolonial relations in the 17thC
Hoffer, Peter C., The Great New York conspiracy of 1741: Slavery, Crime &
Colonial Law
Foote, Thelma Wills. Black and White Manhattan: The History of Racial
Formation in Colonial New York City.
Week 4: The Impact of the Revolution
Gobbets:
Declaration by the residents of St Andrew's Parish, Georgia
Governor Dunmore's Proclamation and the Virginia Assembly's response
Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia ch.14
Questions
What impact did the struggle against Britain have on American slavery? What was
the impact of the revolution on American slaves? Why were the slaves not
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emancipated? How did Jefferson reconcile his racist views and his anti-slavery
stance?
Reading
▪ Berlin, Ira [ed], Slavery and Freedom in the era of the American Revolution
(articles by Nash, Dunn, Morgan, Kulikoff, Norton, Raboteau, Macleod, Knight,
Davis, Quarles)
▪ Goldwin, Robert & Kaufman, Art, Slavery and its consequence: the constitution,
equality and race
▪ Miller, John Chester, The wolf by the ears: Thomas Jefferson and Slavery
▪ MacLeod, Duncan, Slavery, race and the American revolution
▪ Frey, Sylvia R., Water from the rock: black resistance in a revolutionary age.
▪ Kenneth Morgan, 'Slavery and the debate over the ratification of the United
States Constitution' S& A (Dec 2001) 40-65
▪ Frey, Sylvia, 'Between slavery and freedom: Virginia blacks in the American
revolution' JSH 49 (1983) 375-398
▪ Ohline, Howard, 'Slavery, economics and congressional politics, 1790' JSH 46
(1980) 335-360
▪ Ohline, Howard, 'Republicanism and slavery: the origins of the three-fifths
clause in the United States constitution' WMQ (1971)
▪ Olwell, Robert, 'Domestick enemies: slavery and political independence in South
Carolina, May 1775-March 1776' JSH 55 (1989), 21-48
▪ Mintz, Steven, 'Models of Emancipation during the age of Revolution' S&A 17.2
(1996), 1-21
Olwell, Robert, 'Becoming free: manumission and the genesis of a free black
community in South Carolina, 1740-1790' S&A, 17 (1996), 1-19
▪ Gregory D. Massey, 'The limits of antislavery thought in the revolutionary lower
South: John Laurens and Henry Laurens' JSH LXIII (1997)
Pybus, Cassandra, Epic Journeys of Freedom: Runaway Slaves of the American
Revolution and their Global Quest for Liberty
Week 5: Internal slave trade
Gobbets:
Ball chs 1 & 2
Northup ch 6
Olmsted pp30-40
Questions
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How was it possible for an internal slave trade to emerge? How did white
Americans view those who traded in slaves? What was the prevailing slave attitude
towards slave traders and slave trading?
Reading
▪ Tadman, Michael, Speculators and slaves: masters, traders and slaves in the old
South.
▪ Bancroft, Frederic Slave trading in the Old South
▪ Johnson, Walter, Soul by Soul: Life inside the Antebellum Slave Market
Rothman, Adam Slave Country: American Expansion and the Origins of the Deep
South.
▪ Brady, Patrick S., 'The slave trade and sectionalism in South Carolina', JSH,
XXXVIII, (1972), 601-620.
▪ Baptist, Edward, 'The migration of planters to antebellum Florida' JSH 62
(1996), 527-554
▪ Chaplin, Joyce E., 'Creating a cotton South in Georgia and South Carolina, 17601815', JSH, LVII, (1991), 171-200.
▪ Chaplin, Joyce E., 'Tidal rice cultivation and the problem of slavery in South
Carolina and Georgia, 1760-1815', WMQ, XLIX, (1992), 29-62
▪ Lightner, David, 'The interstate slave trade in antislavery politics' CWH 36
(1990) 119-136
▪ Lightner, David, 'The door to the slave Bastille: the abolitionist assault on the
interstate slave trade, 1833-1839' CWH 34 (1988) 235-252
▪ Calderhead, William, 'The professional slave trader in a slave economy: Austin
Woolfolk, a case study' CWH 23 (1977) 195-211
▪ Calderhead, William, 'How extensive was the border state slave trade? A new
look' CWH 18 (1972) 42-110
▪ Johnson, Walter, 'The slave trader, the white slave and the politics of racial
determination in the 1850s' JAH 87 (June 2000) 13-38
▪ Baptist, Edward E, ' 'Cuffy', 'Fancy maids' and 'one-eyed-men': Rape,
commodification and the domestic slave trade in the United States' AHR 106.5
(2001), 1619-1650
▪ Pritchett, Jonathan, 'The inter-regional slave trade and the selection of slaves for
the New Orleans market' JIH (1997)
▪ Freudenberger, Herman & Pritchett, Jonathan, 'The domestic United States Slave
trade: New evidence' JIH (1991)
Week 7: The spread of slavery to the towns
Gobbets:
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Douglass, chs 5, 6, 10
Charleston & Savannah Grand Jury Presentments
Questions
Why did slavery spread to the towns? How different was urban or industrial
slavery compared to plantation slavery? What did slaves think of urban slavery?
Was urban slavery in decline or stable in the late antebellum era?
Reading
▪ Wade, Richard C., Slavery in the cities: the South, 1820-1860.
▪ Goldin, Claudia D., Urban slavery in the American South.
▪ Phillips, Christopher , Freedom's Port: The African American Community of
Baltimore, 1790-1860
▪ Johnson, Whittington , Black Savannah, 1788-1864
▪ Fraser, Walter, Savannah in the Old South
▪ Lewis, Ronald, Coal, Iron and slaves: industrial slavery in Maryland and
Virginia, 1715-1865
▪ Schweniger, Loren, 'The free-slave phenomenon James P. Thomas and the black
community in ante-bellum Nashville', Civil War History, XXII, (1976), 293-307
▪ Fields, Barbara, Slavery and Freedom on the middle ground, Maryland during
the nineteenth century (ch 3)
▪ Miller E, & Genovese, E, Plantation, town and county (pt 3)
▪ Schafer, Judith, 'New Orleans slavery in 1850 as seen in advertisements' JSH 47
(1981) 52-56
▪ Sheldon, Marianne, 'Black-white relations in Richmond Virginia, 1782-1820'
JSH 45 (1979) 27-44
▪ Marks, Bayly, 'Skilled blacks in antebellum St Mary's County, Maryland' JSH
53, (1987) 537-564
▪ Whitman, Stephen, 'Industrial slavery at the margins: the Maryland chemical
works' JSH 59 (1993) 31-62
▪ Dew, Charles, Bond of Iron: Masters and Slaves at Buffalo Forge
▪ Dew Charles, 'David Ross and the Oxford Iron Works: A Study of Industrial
Slavery in the early 19thC South' WMQ (1974)
Week 8: Rebellions
Gobbets:
The Confession, trial and execution of Nat Turner
The Southampton County Court Record
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Questions
What caused slave rebellions? Why were slave rebellions so few and far between?
What was the white response to such events? What were the consequences of
revolts for slaves?
Reading
▪ Pearson, Edward, 'A countryside full of slaves: a reconsideration of the Stono
rebellion and slave rebelliousness in the early 18thC South Carolina lowcountry'
S&A 17.2 (1996), 22-30
▪ Crow, Jeffrey, 'Slave rebelliousness and social conflict in North Carolina 17751802' WMQ 37 (1980) 79-102
▪ John Thornton, 'African dimensions of the Stono Rebellion' AHR (1991)
▪ Darold Wax, 'The great risque we run: the aftermath of slave rebellion at Stono,
South Carolina, 1739-1745' JNH (1982)
▪ Mark Smith, 'Remembering Mary, shaping revolt: reconsidering the Stono
Rebellion' JSH (2001)
▪ Wood, Peter, Black Majority: negroes in colonial South Carolina from 1670
through the Stono Rebellion
▪ Gaspar, David Bondsmen and rebels
▪ Egerton, Douglas, Gabriel's Rebellion: The Virginia slave conspiracies of 1800
and 1802
▪ Herbert, Shapiro, 'Historiography and slave revolt and rebelliousness in the
United States: a class approach', in In resistance: studies in African Caribbean
and Afro-American history. Okihiro, Gary Y., [ed.], 133-142.
▪ Sidbury, James, Ploughshares into Swords: Race Rebellions and Identity in
Gabriel's Virginia, 1730-1840
▪ Michael P Johnson, ' Denmark Vesey and his co-conspirators' WMQ (2001)
▪ The making of a slave conspiracy: forum WMQ (2002)
▪ Pearson, Edward, Designs against Charleston
▪ Duff, John B, The Nat Turner Rebellion
Smith, Mark, ed., Stono: Documenting and Interpreting a Southern Slave Revolt
Lepore, Jill, New York Burning: Liberty, Slavery, and Conspiracy in EighteenthCentury Manhattan
Week 9: Abolitionism & The End of Slavery
Gobbets:
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The Liberator
Declaration of Sentiments of the American Anti-Slavery Society
Emancipation Proclamation
Pro-slavery defence
Questions
What was the impact of northern Abolitionism on southern slaves and
slaveholders? How coherent was proslavery ideology? Why were slaves sometimes
emancipated from slavery? What was life like for free blacks in the south? Would
slavery have been abolished without the Civil War?
Reading
▪ Tise, Larry, Proslavery
▪ Jenkins, William, Pro-slavery thought in the Old South (esp chs 1 & 2)
▪ McKittrick, Eric, Slavery defended, the views of the Old South
▪ Kraditor, Aileen, Means and ends in American abolitionism
▪ Sorin, G, New York Abolitionists
▪ Purry, Lewis [ed], Anti-slavery reconsidered - new perspectives on the
abolitionists
▪ Fitter, Louis, The crusade against slavery
▪ Soderlund, Jean, Quakers and slavery
▪ Berlin, Ira, Slaves without masters
▪ Ransom, Roger, Conflict and compromise ( ch5-7)
▪ Fehrenbacher, Don, The slaveholding republic: An account of the US
government's relations to slavery
▪ Cooper, William, Liberty and slavery: Southern politics to 1860
▪ Donald, David, 'The proslavery argument reconsidered' JSH 37 (1971) 3-18
▪ Hickin, Patricia, 'Gentle Agitator: Samuel Janney and the antislavery movement
in Virginia' JSH 37 (1971) 59-110
▪ Allen, Jeffrey, 'Were Southern white critics of slavery racists' JSH 44 (1978)
169-190
▪ Greenberg, D, 'Revolutionary ideology and the proslavery argument' JSH 42
(1976) 365-384
▪ Carey, Anthony, 'Too Southern to be Americans: proslavery politics and the
future of the know-nothing party in Georgia 1854-1856' CWH 41 (1995) 22-40
Rugemer, Edward B. “The Southern Response to British Abolitionism: The
Maturation of Proslavery Apologetics,” Journal of Southern History, 70, 2 (2004),
pp. 221–48.
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Irons, Charles F. The Origins of Proslavery Christianity White and Black
Evangelicals in Colonial and Antebellum Virginia
Young, Jeffrey Robert (ed.) Proslavery and Sectional Thought in the Early South,
1740-1829: An Anthology
Week 10 Dissertation Workshop
This is a chance to talk through some early ideas about dissertations.
Term 2
Week 1: The work of the slave
Gobbets:
Kemble chs 4, 5, 16, 20, 30
Northup ch 12
Ball Ch 4
Questions
What was the normal work routine of the slave? How did it differ from region to
region? How did slaves view their normal workload?
Reading
▪ Miller E, & Genovese, E, Plantation town and county, (pt 2)
▪ Syndor, C. S. Slavery in Mississippi (ch 1)
▪ Moody, V A, Slavery on Louisiana Sugar Plantations (ch 4)
▪ Morgan, Philip, Slave Counterpoint (pt 1) (SRC)
▪ Carney, Judith, Black Rice: The origins of rice cultivation in the Americas
▪ Johnson, Michael P., 'Work, culture and the slave community: slave occupations
in the cotton belt in 1860', Labor History, XXVII, (1986), 325-355.
▪ Lander, E. M., 'Slave labour in South Carolina cotton mills', JNH, XXXVIII,
(1953), 161-73.
▪ Morgan, Philip D., 'Work and culture: the task system and the world of
lowcountry blacks, 1700-1880', WMQ, XXXIX, (1982), 563-599.
▪ Durrill, Wayne K, 'Routine of seasons: labor regimes & social ritual in an
antebellum plantation community' S&A 16 (1995), 161-187
▪ Warren, Christian, 'Northern chills, southern fevers: race-specific mortality in
American cities' JSH 63 (1997) 23-57
▪ Outland, Robert B., 'Slavery, work, and the geography of the North Carolina
naval stores industry, 1835-1860' JSH 62 (1996), 27-56
▪ House, Albert, 'Labor-management problems in Georgia rice plantation, 18441860' AgHist 28 (1954) 149-155
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▪ Clifton, James, 'The Rice industry in colonial America' Ag Hist (1981)
▪ Walsh, Lorena, 'Plantation management in the Chesapeake 1620-1820' JEcH
(1989)
Week 2: The informal economy
Gobbets:
Kemble extract
Olmsted pp153-155
Ball Chs 10-11
Questions
What was the informal or internal economy? How and where did it arise? How did
it alter the perception of work among slaves? How did it change the material
standard of living among slaves?
Reading
▪ Berlin, Ira & Morgan, Philip, The slaves' economy: independent production by
slaves in the Americas. (Also published as Cultivation and Culture)
▪ Morgan, Philip, Slave Counterpoint (pt 1)
▪ Wood, Betty, '"White society" and the "informal" economies of lowcountry
Georgia c.1763-1830', S&A, XI, (1990), 313-331.
▪ Wood, Betty, 'Women's work, men's work': the informal slave economies of
lowcountry Georgia, 1750-1830
Penningroth, Dylan C., The claims of Kinfolk: African American Property and
community
Martin, Jonathan D., Divided Mastery: Slave Hiring in the American South
▪ Morgan, Philip D., 'The ownership of property by slaves in the mid-nineteenth
century lowcountry', JSH, XLIX, (1983), 399-420.
▪ Parish, Peter, 'The edges of slavery in the Old South: or do exceptions prove
rules?" S&A 4 (1983) 106-125
▪ Schweniger, Loren, 'The underside of slavery: the internal economy, self hire
and quasi freedom in Virginia' S&A 12.2 (1991) 1-22
▪ Walvin, James, 'Slaves, free time and the question of leisure' S&A 16 (1995) 113
▪ Hughes, Sarah S., 'Slaves for hire: the allocation of black labor in Elizabeth
County Virginia 1782-1810' WMQ 35 (1978) 260-286
▪ Schweniger, Loren, 'John H Rapier Sr: a slave and freedman in the antebellum
South' CWH 20 (1974) 23-34
▪ Eaton, Clement, 'Slave hiring in the Upper South: a step toward freedom' MVHR
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46 (1959-60) 603-678
▪ Bolland, O. Nigel, 'Proto-Proletarians: Slave wages in the Americas' in Turner
(ed), From chattel slaves to wage slaves
Lockley, T, 'Trading encounters between non-elite whites and African Americans
in Savannah, 1790-1860' , JSH, LXVI, (2000), 25-48
Forret, Jeff. “Slaves, Poor Whites, and the Underground Economy of the Rural
Carolinas,” Journal of Southern History, 70, 4 (2004), pp. 783–824.
Week 3: Slave family life and death
Gobbets:
Kemble extracts
Douglass (1845) ch 1
Douglass (1892) ch 1 & 3
Questions
How did the slave family survive slavery? What techniques were employed by
slaves to maintain family links? What was the reaction when those links were
severed? What were the common causes of death among American slaves?
Reading
▪ Gutman, Herbert G., The black family in slavery and freedom.(4 copies in SRC)
▪ Jones, Jacqueline, Labor of love, labor of sorrow: black women, work and the
family from slavery to the present.(in SRC)
▪ Malone, Ann, Sweet chariot: slave family & household structure in 19thC
Louisiana (pt 1)
▪ Dusinberre, William, Them Dark Days: Slavery in the American Rice Swamps
(ch3,4 & 8)
▪ Hudson, Larry, To have and to hold: slave work and family life in antebellum
South Carolina
▪ Stevenson, Brenda, Life in Black and White: Family and Community In the Slave
South
▪ King, Wilma, Stolen childhood: slave youth in 19thC America
West, Emily, Chains of Love: Slave couples on antebellum South Carolina
Morgan, Jennifer L, Laboring women : Reproduction & gender in New World
Slavery
▪ Schwartz, Marie, Born in bondage : growing up enslaved in the antebellum
South
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▪ Cody, Cheryll Ann, 'Naming, kinship and estate dispersal: notes on slave family
life on a South Carolina plantation, 1786-1833', WMQ, XXXIX, (1982), 192211.
▪ Cody, Cheryll Ann, 'There was no "absalom" on the Ball plantations: slave
naming practices in the South Carolina lowcountry, 1720-1865', AHR, XCII,
(1987), 563-596.
▪ Crowley, John E., 'The importance of kinship: testamentary evidence from South
Carolina', JIH, XVI, (1986), 559-577.
▪ Savitt, Todd, Medicine and slavery
▪ Postell, W D, Health of slaves on southern plantations
▪ Young, Jeffrey R., 'Ideology and death on a Savannah River rice plantation,
1835-1867: paternalism amidst "a good supply of disease and pain"', JSH, LIX,
(1993), 673-706.
▪ Steckel, Richard, 'A peculiar population: the nutrition, health and mortality of
American slaves from childhood to maturity' JecH 46 (1986) 721-41
▪ Kiple Kenneth & Virginia, 'Slave child mortality: some nutritional answers to a
perennial puzzle' JsocH 10 (1977) 284-309
▪ Inscoe, John ,'Carolina slave names: an index to acculturation' JSH 49 (1985)
527-554
▪ West, Emily, 'The debate on the strength of slave families' JAS (1999)
▪ West, Emily, 'Surviving separation: cross plantation marriages and the slave
trade in antebellum South Carolina ' Journal of Family History (1999)
▪ West, Emily, 'Slave-owners' perspectives on cross-plantation unions in
antebellum South Carolina' S & A (2000)
Griffin, Rebecca J. “‘Goin’ back over there to see that girl’: Competing Social
Spaces in the Lives of the Enslaved in Antebellum North Carolina,” Slavery and
Abolition, 25, 1 (2004), pp. 94–113.
Week 4: Slave religion
Gobbets:
Douglass ch 10
Ball Ch 10
Church discipline records
Missionary records
Kemble extract
Other Sources:
Rose p27-36; 457-499
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Questions
How much of their African religious practices did slaves retain in the Americas?
Why did slaves come to accept Christianity? What part did evangelical Christianity
play in everyday slave life?
Reading
▪ Frey, Sylvia R., Water from the rock: back resistance in a revolutionary age.
▪ Raboteau, Albert J., Slave religion: the invisible institution in the antebellum
South
▪ Little, Thomas J., 'George Liele and the rise of independent black Baptist
churches in the lower South and Jamaica', S&A, XVI, (1995), 188-204.
▪ Sobel, Mechal, Trabelin' on: the slave journey to an Afro-Baptist faith.
▪ Sobel, Mechal, The world they made together pt 3
▪ Boles, John B., The great revival, 1787-1805.
▪ Bruce, Dickson D., And they all sang hallelujah: plain-folk camp-meeting
religion, 1800-1845.
▪ Frey, Sylvia & Wood, Betty, Come Shouting to Zion:African American
Protestantism in the American South and British Caribbean to 1830
▪ Mathews, Donald, Slavery & Methodism (pt 1)
▪ Snay, Mitchell, Gospel of Disunion: Religion and Separatism in the antebellum
South
▪ Cornelius, Janet, Slave Missions and the black church in the Antebellum South
▪ McKivigan, John & Snay, Mitchel, Religion and the Antebellum Debate over
slavery
▪ Lyerly, Cynthia, Methodism and the Southern Mind
▪ Lambert, Frank 'I saw the book talk: slave readings of the first great awakening'
JNH 67.4 (1992) 185-198.
▪ Bailey, Kenneth, 'Protestantism and Afro-Americans in the old South: another
look' JSH 41 (1987) 451-472
▪ Wood, Betty, 'For their satisfaction or redress: African Americans and church
discipline in the early South' in Clinton & Gillespie (eds), The Devil's Lane
▪ Frazier, E. Franklin, The Negro church in America
Week 5: Slave culture
Gobbets:
Kemble extracts
Northup Ch 15
Ball Ch 9 & 14
17
Questions
How much slave culture was permissible on the plantations? How did slaves
defend their culture from whites? What was the meaning of slave songs? Why
were dances and parties so important to slave life?
Reading
▪ Blassingame, John W., The slave community: plantation life in the antebellum
South.
▪ Owens, L., This species of property: slave life and culture in the old South.(1
copy in SRC)
▪ Levine, Lawrence W., Black culture and black consciousness: Afro-American
thought from slavery to freedom. (3 copies in SRC)
▪ Stuckey, Sterling, Slave culture, nationalist theory and the foundations of black
America
▪ Gomez, Michael, Exchanging our Country Marks: The Transformation of
African Identities in the Colonial and Antebellum South
▪ Joyner, Charles, Down by the riverside: a South Carolina slave community.
▪ Abrahams, Roger, Singing the master, the emergence of African American
culture in the plantation South
▪ Abrahams, Roger, Afro-American folktale: stories from black traditions in the
New World
▪ Fisher, Miles, Negro slave songs in the US
▪ Work, John, American negro songs and spirituals
▪ Crowley, Daniel, African folklore in the New World
▪ Dorson, Richard, American Folklore
▪ Small, C, Music of the Common Tongue: Survival & Celebration in African
American Music
▪ Harris, Joel Chandler, Brer Rabbit
▪ Harris, Joel Chandler, Nights with Uncle Remus
▪ White, Shane and Graham 'Slave hair and African American culture in the 18th
& 19thC' JSH 61 (1995), 45-76
▪ Stampp, K, 'Rebels and sambos: the search for the Negro's personality' JSH 37
(1971) 367-192
▪ Cimbala, Paul 'Black musicians from slavery to freedom' JNH 80 (1995), 15-29
▪ Berlin, I, 'Time, space, and the evolution of Afro-American society', AHR, 85,
(1980), 44-78.
▪ White, Shane and Graham, ' "Us likes and Mixtery": Listening to American
American Slave Music' S & A, 20 (1999) 22-48
Kaye, Anthony E., Joining Places: Slave Neighborhoods in the Old South
18
Week 7: Slave Gender
Gobbets:
Kemble extracts
Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl chs 5 & 6
Northup Chs 13, 14 & 18
Ball Ch 14
Questions
How did the female slave’s experience differ to that of the male? How did slave
women respond to sexual advances by white men? How did slave women balance
the needs of husband, children and owner?
Reading
▪ Fox-Genovese, Elizabeth, Within the plantation household: black and white
women of the old South.
▪ Clinton, Catherine, The plantation mistress: the women's world in the Old South
▪ White, Deborah, Ar'n't I a woman?: female slaves in the plantation South. (2
copies in SRC)
▪ Jones, Jacqueline, Labor of love, labor of sorrow: black women, work and the
family from slavery to the present.
▪ McMillen, Sally, Motherhood in the old south: pregnancy, childbirth and infant
rearing
▪ Fraser, Gertrude, African American Midwifery in the South: Dialogues of Birth,
Race and Memory
▪ Johnston, James Hugo, Race relations in Virginia and miscegenation in the
south
▪ Hodes, Martha, White women, black men: illicit sex in the 19thC south
▪ Bynum, Victoria, Unruly Women
▪ hooks, b, Arn't I a woman? Black women and feminism
▪ Garfield, Deborah, Harriet Jacobs and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: New
Critical Essays
▪ Sterling, D., We are your sisters: black women in the 19thC
Camp, Stephanie M. H. Closer to Freedom: Enslaved Women and Everyday
Resistance in the Plantation South.
Sommerville, Diane Miller. Rape and Race in the Nineteenth-Century South.
▪ Ellison, Mary, 'Resistance to oppression: black women's responses to slavery in
the United States' S&A 4(1983), 56-63
▪ Wood, Betty, 'Some aspects of female resistance to chattel slavery in lowcountry
19
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
Georgia, 1763-1815', Historical Journal, XXX, (1987), 603-622.
Gundersen, Joan, 'The double bonds of race & sex: black and white women in a
colonial Virginia parish' JSH 52 (1986) 352-372
Lockley, Tim, 'Crossing the Race Divide: Interracial sex in antebellum
Savannah' S&A, 18, (1997), 159-173.
Perrin, Liese, 'Resisting Reproduction: Reconsidering slave contraception in the
Old South' JAS 35.2 (2001), 255-274
Stephanie Camp, 'The pleasures of resistance: enslaved women and body politics
in the plantation south, 1830-1861' JSH 68 (Aug 2002) 533-72
Steckel, R, 'Miscegenation and the American Slave Schedules' JIH (1980)
Week 8: Race relations: The Elite
Gobbets:
Slave Interviews
Olmsted, pp692-699
Questions
What is paternalism? Did slaves internalise the concepts of paternalism? How did
owners exercise psychological control over slaves?
Reading
▪ Genovese, Eugene D., The world the slaveholders made: two essays in
interpretation
▪ Genovese, Eugene D., Roll, Jordan, roll: the world the slaves made
▪ Hoetink, H., Slavery and race relations in the Americas
▪ Oakes, James, The Ruling Race ch 6 & 7
▪ Oakes, James, Slavery and freedom: an interpretation of the old South.
▪ Parish, P. Slavery, History and Historians
▪ Sobel, Mechal, The world they made together
▪ Dusinberre, William, Them Dark Days, ( ch6, 11, 12, 14-17)
▪ Scott, Anne, The Southern lady from pedestal to politics
▪ Johnson, Michael P., 'Planters and patriarchy: Charleston, 1800-1860', JSH,
XLVI, (1980), 45-72.
▪ Greenberg, Kenneth, Honor and Slavery
▪ May, Robert, 'John A Quitman and his slaves: reconciling slave resistance with
the proslavery defense' JSH 46 (1980) 551-570
▪ Johnson, Kenneth, 'Slavery and racism in Florence, Alabama 1841-1862' CWH
27 (1981) 155-171
20
▪ Brown, Thomas 'The miscegenation of Richard Mentor Jackson as an issue in
the national election campaign of 1835-1836' CWH 39 (1993) 5-30
▪ Smith, Mark, 'Time, slavery and plantation capitalism in the antebellum south'
Past & Present 15 (1996) 142-168
▪ Shalhope, Robert E., 'Race, class, slavery and the antebellum Southern mind',
JSH, XXXVII, (1971), 557-574.
▪ Chaplin, Joyce E., 'Slavery and the principle of humanity: a modern idea in the
early lower South', JSocH, XXIV, (1990), 299-316.
▪ Elizabeth Varon, We mean to be counted: white women and politics in
antebellum Virginia
▪ Bardaglio, Peter, Reconstructing the Household: Families, Sexand the Law in the
NineteenthCentury South
Wood, Kirsten E. Masterful Women: Slaveholding Widows from the American
Revolution through the Civil War.
Young, Jeffrey Robert, Domesticating slavery : the master class in Georgia and
South Carolina, 1607-1837
Week 9: Race Relations: The Non-Elite
Gobbets:
Kemble, extracts
Ball Ch 15
Northup Ch 19
Kollock Plantation Papers
Grimball Diary
Questions
How did slaves view poor whites and vice versa? Did poor whites share the racial
ideology of owners? How did relationships between poor whites and slaves change
over time? Was there a class alliance between poor whites and slaves? What made
a good overseer?
Reading
▪ Berlin, Ira, & Gutman, Herbert, 'Natives and immigrants, free men and slaves:
urban workingmen in the antebellum American South', AHR, LXXXVIII, (1983),
1175-1200.
▪ Buck, Paul H., 'Poor whites of the ante-bellum South', AHR, XXXI, (1925), 4154.
▪ Genovese, E., 'Yeoman farmers in a slaveholders democracy', Ag. Hist, XLIX,
(1975), 331-342.
21
▪ Harris, J. W., 'The organisation of work on a yeoman slaveholder’s farm', Ag
Hist, LXIV, (1990), 39-52.
▪ Morgan, Philip, Slave Counterpoint (pt2)
▪ Bolton, Charles C., Poor whites of the antebellum South: tenants and labourers
in central North Carolina and northeast Mississippi
▪ Delfino, Susanna and Gillespie, Michele (eds), Neither lady nor slave: working
women of the old south
▪ Owsley, Frank Lawrence, Plain folk of the old South.
▪ McCurry, Stephanie, Masters of Small Worlds: yeoman households, gender
relations, and the political culture of the antebellum South Carolina lowcountry.
▪ Hyde, Samuel (Ed), Plain Folk of the South Revisited
▪ Hodes, Martha, White women, black men
▪ Lockley, Tim, Lines in the Sand: Race and Class in Lowcountry Georgia
▪ Siegel, Fred, 'Artisans and immigrants in the politics of late antebellum Georgia',
Civil War History, XXVII, (1981), 221-230.
▪ Lockley, Tim, 'Partners in Crime: African Americans and non-slaveholding
whites in antebellum Georgia' in Wray and Newitz eds., White trash
▪ Lockley, Tim, 'A struggle for survival: non-elite white women in lowcountry
Georgia' in Farnham ed., Women of the American South
▪ Lockley, Tim, 'Crossing the Race Divide: Interracial sex in antebellum
Savannah' S&A, 18, (1997), 159-173.
▪ Lockley, T, 'Trading encounters between non-elite whites and African
Americans in Savannah, 1790-1860' , JSH, LXVI, (2000), 25-48
Forret, Jeff. “Slaves, Poor Whites, and the Underground Economy of the Rural
Carolinas,” Journal of Southern History, 70, 4 (2004), pp. 783–824.
Forret, Jeffrey, Race Relations at the Margins: Slaves and Poor Whites in the
Antebellum Southern Countryside
▪ Scarborough, William Kauffman, The overseer: plantation management in the
old South.
▪ Gillespie, Michele, Free labor in an unfree world : white artisans in
slaveholding Georgia, 1789-1860
Week 10: Runaways and Resistance
Gobbets:
Maroon reports
Douglass ch 10
Ball Ch 26
22
Questions
How did slaves resist slavery? Was running away a viable method of resistance?
Were other methods of resistance more successful? What was the reaction of
whites towards slave resistance?
Reading
▪ Johnson, Michael P., 'Runaway slaves and the slave communities in South
Carolina, 1799-1830', WMQ, XXXVIII, (1981), 418-441.
▪ Meaders, Daniel E., 'South Carolina fugitives as viewed through local colonial
newspapers with emphasis on runaway notices, 1732-1801', JNH, XL, (1975),
288-317.
▪ Morgan, Philip D., 'Colonial South Carolina runaways: their significance for
slave culture', S&A, VI, (1985), 57-78.
▪ Lichtenstein, Alex, 'That disposition to theft, with which they have been
branded: moral economy, slave management and the law', JSocH, XXI, (1988),
413-440.
▪ Kay, Marvin & Cary, Lorin, 'They are indeed the constant plague of their tyrants:
slave defence of a moral economy in colonial North Carolina, 1748-1772' S&A
6.3 (1985) 37-56
▪ Bauer, Raymond & Alice, ''Day to day resistance to slavery' JNH (1942)
▪ Wood, Betty, 'Some aspects of female resistance to chattel slavery in lowcountry
Georgia, 1763-1815', Historical Journal, XXX, (1987), 603-622.
▪ Walsh, Lorena, 'Work and resistance in the Americas: the case of the
Chesapeake, 1770-1820' in Turner (ed), From Chattel slaves to wage slaves
▪ Stephanie Camp, '"I could not stay there": Enslaved women, truancy and the
geography of everyday forms of resistance in the antebellum plantation South'
S&A (Dec 2002)
▪ Schweninger, L & Franklin, J, Runaway Slaves
Lockley, Tim, Maroon Communities in South Carolina
Lockley, Tim "Runaway Slave Communities in South Carolina" for History in
Focus Issue 12 (Spring 2007) ONLINE ARTICLE
Week 10 Dissertation Workshop
Those submitting dissertations in this module will do short presentations on
their topics for the class.
23
GOBBETS
Term 1 Week 1
An African’s Experience of the Slave Trade
That part of Africa, known by the name of Guinea, to which the trade for slaves is
carried on, extends along the coast above 3400 miles, from the Senegal to Angola,
and includes a variety of kingdoms. Of these the most considerable is the kingdom
of Benin, both as to extent and wealth, the richness and cultivation of the soil, the
power of its king, and the number and warlike disposition of the inhabitants. It is
situated nearly under the line, and extends along the coast about 170 miles, but
runs back into the interior part of Africa to a distance hitherto I believe unexplored
by any traveller; and seems only terminated at length by the empire of Abyssinia,
near 1500 miles from its beginning. This kingdom is divided into many provinces
or districts: in one of the most remote and fertile of which, called Eboe, I was born,
in the year 1745, in a charming fruitful vale, named Essaka. The distance of this
province from the capital of Benin and the sea coast must be very considerable; for
I had never heard of white men or Europeans, nor of the sea: and our subjection to
the king of Benin was little more than nominal; for every transaction of the
government, as far as my slender observation extended, was conducted by the
chiefs or elders of the place. The manners and government of a people who have
little commerce with other countries are generally very simple; and the history of
what passes in one family or village may serve as a specimen of a nation. My
father was one of those elders or chiefs I have spoken of, and was styled
Embrenche; a term, as I remember, importing the highest distinction, and
signifying in our language a mark of grandeur. This mark is conferred on the
person entitled to it, by cutting the skin across at the top of the forehead, and
drawing it down to the eye-brows; and while it is in this situation applying a warm
hand, and rubbing it until it shrinks up into a thick weal across the lower part of
the forehead. Most of the judges and senators were thus marked; my father had
long born it: I had seen it conferred on one of my brothers, and I was also destined
to receive it by my parents. Those Embrence, or chief men, decided disputes and
punished crimes; for which purpose they always assembled together. The
proceedings were generally short; and in most cases the law of retaliation
prevailed. I remember a man was brought before my father, and the other judges,
for kidnapping a boy; and, although he was the son of a chief or senator, he was
condemned to make recompense by a man or woman slave. Adultery, however,
was sometimes punished with slavery or death; a punishment which I believe is
inflicted on it throughout most of the nations of Africa. So sacred among them is
24
the honour of the marriage bed, and so jealous are they of the fidelity of their
wives. Of this I recollect an instance: --a woman was convicted
before the judges of adultery, and delivered over, as the custom was, to her
husband to be punished. Accordingly he determined to put her to death: but it
being found, just before her execution, that she had an infant at her breast; and no
woman being prevailed on to perform the part of a nurse, she was spared on
account of the child. The men, however, do not preserve the same constancy to
their wives, which they expect from them; for they indulge in a plurality, though
seldom in more than two. Their mode of marriage is thus: - both parties are usually
betrothed when young by their parents, (though I have known the males to betroth
themselves). On this occasion a feast is prepared, and the bride and bridegroom
stand up in the midst of all their friends, who are assembled for the purpose, while
he declares she is thenceforth to be looked upon as his wife, and that no other
person is to pay any addresses to her. This is also immediately proclaimed in the
vicinity, on which the bride retires from the assembly. Some time after she is
brought home to her husband, and then another feast is made, to which the
relations of both parties are invited: her parents then deliver her to the bridegroom,
accompanied with a number of blessings, and at the same time they tie round her
waist a cotton string of the thickness of a goose-quill, which none but married
women are permitted to wear: she is now considered as completely his wife; and at
this time the dowry is given to the new married pair, which generally consists of
portions of land, slaves, and cattle, household goods, and implements of
husbandry. These are offered by the friends of both parties; besides which the
parents of the bridegroom present gifts to those of the bride, whose property she is
looked upon before marriage; but after it she is esteemed the sole property of her
husband. The ceremony being now ended the festival begins, which is celebrated
with bonfires, and loud acclamations of joy, accompanied with music and dancing.
We are almost a nation of dancers, musicians, and poets. Thus every great event,
such as a triumphant return from battle, or other cause of public rejoicing is
celebrated in public dances, which are accompanied with songs and music suited to
the occasion. The assembly is separated into four divisions, which dance either
apart or in succession, and each with a character peculiar to itself. The first
division contains the married men, who in their dances frequently exhibit feats of
arms, and the
representation of a battle. To these succeed the married women, who dance in the
second division. The young men occupy the third; and the maidens the fourth.
Each represents some interesting scene of real life, such as a great achievement,
domestic employment, a pathetic story, or some rural sport; and as the subject is
25
generally founded on some recent event, it is therefore ever new. This gives our
dances a spirit and variety which I have scarcely seen elsewhere. We have many
musical
instruments, particularly drums of different kinds, a piece of music which
resembles a guitar, and another much like a stickado. These last are chiefly used by
betrothed virgins, who play on them on all grand festivals.
As our manners are simple, our luxuries are few. The dress of both sexes is nearly
the same. It generally consists of a long piece of callico, or muslin, wrapped
loosely round the body, somewhat in the form of a highland plaid. This is usually
dyed blue, which is our favourite colour. It is extracted from a berry, and is
brighter and richer than any I have seen in Europe. Besides this, our women of
distinction wear golden ornaments; which they dispose with some profusion on
their arms and legs. When our women are not employed with the men in tillage,
their usual occupation is spinning and weaving cotton, which they afterwards dye,
and make it into garments. They also manufacture earthen vessels, of which we
have many kinds. Among the rest tobacco pipes, made after the same fashion, and
used in the same manner, as those in Turkey.
Our manner of living is entirely plain; for as yet the natives are unacquainted with
those refinements in cookery which debauch the taste: bullocks, goats, and poultry,
supply the greatest part of their food. These constitute likewise the principal
wealth of the country, and the chief articles of its commerce. The flesh is usually
stewed in a pan; to make it savoury we sometimes use also pepper, and other
spices, and we have salt made of wood ashes. Our vegetables are mostly plantains,
eadas, yams, beans, and Indian corn. The head of the family usually eats alone; his
wives and slaves have also their separate tables. Before we taste food we always
wash our hands: indeed our cleanliness on all occasions is extreme; but on this it is
an indispensable ceremony. After washing, libation is made, by pouring out a small
portion of the food, in a certain place, for the spirits of departed relations, which
the natives suppose to preside over their conduct, and guard them from evil. They
are totally unacquainted with strong or spirituous liquors; and their principal
beverage is palm wine. This is gotten from a tree of that name by tapping it at the
top, and fastening a large gourd to it; and sometimes one tree will yield three or
four gallons in a night. When just drawn it is of a most delicious sweetness; but in
a few days it acquires a tartish and more spirituous flavour though I never saw
anyone intoxicated by it. The same tree also produces nuts and oil. Our principal
luxury is in perfumes; one sort of these is an odoriferous wood of delicious
26
fragrance: the other a kind of earth; a small portion of which thrown into the fire
diffuses a most powerful odour. We beat this wood into
powder, and mix it with palm oil; with which both men and women perfume
themselves.
In our buildings we study convenience rather than ornament. Each master of a
family has a large square piece of ground, surrounded with a moat or fence, or
enclosed with a wall made of red earth tempered; which, when dry, is as hard as
brick. Within this are his houses to accommodate his family and slaves; which, if
numerous, frequently present the appearance of a village. In the middle stands the
principal building, appropriated to the sole use of the master, and consisting of two
apartments; in one of which he sits in the day with his family, the other is left apart
for the reception of his friends. He has besides these a distinct apartment in which
he sleeps, together with his male children. On each side are the apartments of his
wives, who have also their separate day and night houses. The habitations of the
slaves and their families are distributed throughout the rest of the enclosure. These
houses never exceed one story in height: they are always built of wood, or stakes
driven into the ground, crossed with wattles, and neatly plastered within, and
without. The roof is thatched with reeds. Our day-houses are left open at the sides;
but those in which we sleep are always covered, and plastered in the inside, with a
composition mixed with cow-dung, to keep off the different insects, which annoy
us during the night. The walls and floors also of these are generally covered with
mats. Our beds consist of a platform, raised three or four feet from the ground, on
which are laid skins, and different parts of a spungy tree called plaintain. Our
covering is calico or muslin, the same as our dress. The usual seats are a few logs
of wood; but we have benches, which are generally perfumed, to accommodate
strangers: these compose the greater part of our household furniture. Houses so
constructed and furnished require but little skill to erect them. Every man is
sufficient architect for the purpose. The whole neighbourhood afford their
unanimous assistance in building them and in return receive, and expect no other
recompense than a feast.
As we live in a country where nature is prodigal of her favours, our wants are few
and easily supplied; of course we have few manufactures. They consist for the
most part of calicoes, earthen ware, ornaments, and instruments of war and
husbandry. But these make no part of our commerce, the principal articles of
which, as I have observed, are provisions. In such a state money is of little use;
however we have some small pieces of coin, if I may call them such. They are
made something like an anchor; but I do not remember either their value or
27
denomination. We have also markets, at which I have been frequently with my
mother. There are sometimes visited by stout mahogany-coloured men from the
south west of us: we call them Oye-Eboe, which term signifies red men living at a
distance. They generally bring us fire-arms, gunpowder, hats, beads, and dried fish.
The last we esteemed a great rarity, as our waters were only brooks and springs.
These articles they barter with us for odoriferous woods and earth, and our salt of
wood ashes. They always carry slaves through our land; but the strictest account is
exacted of their manner of procuring them before they are suffered to pass.
Sometimes indeed we sold slaves to them, but they were only prisoners of war, or
such among us as had been convicted of kidnapping, or adultery, and some other
crimes, which we esteemed heinous. This practice of kidnapping induces me to
think, that, notwithstanding all our strictness, their principal business among us
was to trepan our people. I remember too they carried great sacks along with them,
which not long after I had an opportunity of fatally seeing applied to that infamous
purpose.
Our land is uncommonly rich and fruitful, and produces all kinds of vegetables in
great abundance. We have plenty of Indian corn, and vast quantities of cotton and
tobacco. Our pineapples grow without culture; they are about the size of the largest
sugar-loaf, and finely flavoured. We have also spices of different kinds,
particularly pepper; and a variety of delicious fruits which I have never seen in
Europe; together with gums of various kinds, and honey in abundance. All our
industry is exerted to improve those blessings of nature. Agriculture is our chief
employment; and every one, even the children and women, are engaged in it. Thus
we are all habituated to labour from our earliest years. Everyone contributes
something to the common stock; and as we are unacquainted with idleness, we
have no beggars. The benefits of
such a mode of living are obvious. The West India planters prefer the slaves of
Benin or Eboe to those of any other part of Guinea, for their hardiness,
intelligence, integrity, and zeal. Those benefits are felt by us in the general
healthiness of the people, and in their vigour and activity; I might have added too
in their comeliness. Deformity is indeed unknown amongst us, I mean that of
shape. Numbers of the natives of Eboe now in London might be brought in support
of this assertion: for, in regard to complexion, ideas of beauty are wholly relative. I
remember while in Africa to have seen three negro children, who were tawny, and
another quite white, who were universally regarded by myself, and the natives in
general, as far as related to their complexions, as deformed. Our women too were
in my eyes at least uncommonly graceful, alert, and modest to a degree of
bashfulness; nor do I remember to have ever heard of an instance of incontinence
28
amongst them before marriage. They are also remarkably cheerful. Indeed
cheerfulness and affability are two of the leading characteristics of our nation.
Our tillage is exercised in a large plain or common, some hours walk from our
dwellings, and all the neighbours resort thither in a body. They use no beasts of
husbandry; and their only instruments are hoes, axes, shovels, and beaks, -or
pointed iron to dig with. Sometimes we are visited by locusts, which come in large
clouds, so as to darken the air, and destroy our harvest. This however happens
rarely, but when it does, a famine is produced by it. I remember an instance or two
wherein this happened. This common is often the theatre of war; and therefore
when our people go out to till their land, they not only go in a body, but generally
take their arms with them for fear of a surprise; and when they apprehend an
invasion they guard the avenues to their dwellings, by driving sticks into the
ground, which are so sharp at one end as to pierce the foot, and are generally dipt
in poison. From what I can recollect of these battles, they appear to have been
irruptions of one little state or district on the other, to obtain prisoners or booty.
Perhaps they were incited to this by those traders who brought the European goods
I mentioned amongst us. Such a mode of obtaining slaves in Africa is common;
and I believe more are procured this way, and by kidnapping, than any other. When
a trader wants slaves, he applies to a chief for them, and tempts him with his wares.
It is not extraordinary, if on this occasion he yields to the temptation with as little
firmness, and accepts the price of his fellow creatures liberty with as little
reluctance as the enlightened merchant. Accordingly he falls on his neighbours,
and a desperate battle ensues. If he prevails and takes prisoners, he gratifies his
avarice by selling them; but, if his party be vanquished, and he falls into the hands
of the enemy, he is put to death: for, as he has been known to foment their quarrels,
it is thought dangerous to let him survive, and no ransom can save him, though all
other prisoners may be redeemed. We have fire-arms, bows and arrows, broad twoedged swords and javelins: we have shields also which cover a man from head to
foot. All are taught the use of these weapons; even our women are warriors, and
march boldly out to fight along with the men. Our whole district is a kind of
militia: on a certain signal given, such as the firing of a gun at night, they all rise in
arms and rush upon their enemy. It is perhaps something remarkable, that when our
people march to the field a red flag or banner is borne before them. I was once a
witness to a battle in our common. We had been all at work in it one day as usual,
when our people were suddenly attacked. I climbed a tree at some distance, from
which I beheld the fight. There were many women as well as men on both sides;
among others my mother was there, and armed with a broad sword. After fighting
for a considerable time with great fury, and after many had been killed our people
29
obtained the victory, and took their enemy's Chief prisoner. He was carried off in
great triumph, and, though he offered a large ransom for his life, he was put to
death. A virgin of note among our enemies had been slain in the battle, and her arm
was exposed in our market-place, where our trophies were always exhibited. The
spoils were divided according to the merit of the warriors. Those prisoners which
were not sold or redeemed we kept as slaves: but how different was their condition
from that of the slaves in the West Indies! With us they do no more work than
other members of the community, even their masters; their food, clothing and
lodging were nearly the same as theirs, (except that they were not permitted to eat
with those who were free-born); and there was scarce any other difference between
them, than a superior degree of importance which the head of a family possesses in
our state, and that authority which, as such, he exercises over every part of his
household. Some of these slaves have even slaves under them as their own
property, and for their own use.
As to religion, the natives believe that there is one Creator of all things, and that he
lives in the sun, and is girted round with a belt that he may never eat or drink; but,
according to some, he smokes a pipe, which is our own favourite luxury. They
believe he governs events, especially our deaths or captivity; but, as for the
doctrine of eternity; I do not remember to have ever heard of it: some however
believe in the transmigration of souls in a certain degree. Those spirits, which are
not transmigrated, such as our dear friends or relations, they believe always attend
them, and guard them from the bad spirits or their foes. For this reason they always
before eating, as I have observed, put some small portion of the meat, and pour
some of their drink, on the ground for them; and they often make oblations of the
blood of beasts or fowls at
their graves. I was very fond of my mother, and almost constantly with her. When
she went to make these oblations at her mother's tomb, which was a kind of small
solitary thatched house, I sometimes attended her. There she made her libations,
and spent most of the night in cries and lamentations. I have been often extremely
terrified on these occasions. The loneliness of the place, the darkness of the night,
and the ceremony of libation, naturally awful and gloomy, were heightened by my
mother's lamentations; and there, concurring with the cries of doleful birds, by
which these places were frequented, gave an inexpressible terror to the scene.
We compute the year from the day on which the sun crosses the line, and on its
setting that evening there is a general shout throughout the land; at least I can
speak from my own knowledge throughout our vicinity. The people at the same
time make a great noise with rattles, not unlike the basket rattles used by children
30
here, though much larger, and hold up their hands to heaven for a blessing. It is
then the greatest offerings are made; and those children whom our wise men foretel
will be fortunate are then presented to different people. I remember many used to
come to see me, and I was carried about to others for that purpose. They have
many offerings, particularly at full moons; generally two at harvest before the
fruits are taken out of the ground: and when any young animals are killed,
sometimes they offer up part of them as a sacrifice. These offerings, when made by
one of the heads of a family, serve for the whole. I remember we often had them at
my father's and my uncle's, and their families have been present. Some of our
offerings are eaten with bitter herbs. We had a saying among us to any one of a
cross temper, ' That 'if they were to be eaten, they should be eaten with bitter
herbs.'
We practised circumcision like the Jews, and made offerings and feasts on that
occasion in the same manner as they did. Like them also, our children were named
from some event; some circumstance, or fancied foreboding at the time of their
birth. I was named Olaudah, which, in our language, signifies vicissitude or
fortune also; one favoured, and having a loud voice and well spoken. I remember
we never polluted the name of the object of our adoration; on the contrary, it was
always mentioned with the greatest reverence; and we were totally unacquainted
with swearing, and all those terms of abuse and reproach which find their way so
readily and copiously into the languages of more civilized people. The only
expressions of that kind I remember were ' May you rot, or may you swell, or may
a beast take you.'
I have before remarked that the natives of this part of Africa are extremely cleanly.
This necessary habit of decency was with us a part of religion, and therefore we
had many purifications and washings; indeed almost as many, and used on the
same occasions, if my recollection does not fail me, as the Jews. Those that
touched the dead at any time were obliged to wash and purify themselves before
they could enter a dwelling-house. Every woman too, at certain times, was
forbidden to come into a dwelling-house, or touch any person, or any thing we ate.
I was so fond of my mother I could not keep from her, or avoid touching her at
some of those periods, in consequence of which I was obliged to be kept out with
her, in a little house made for that purpose, till offering was made, and then we
were purified.
Though we had no places of public worship, we had priests and magicians, or wise
men. I do not remember whether they had different offices, or whether they were
31
united in the same persons, but they were held in great reverence by the people.
They calculated our time, and foretold events, as their name imported, for we
called them Ah-affoe-way-cah, which signifies calculators or yearly men, our year
being called Ah-affoe. They wore their beards, and when they died they were
succeeded by their sons. Most of their implements and things of value were
interred along with them. Pipes and tobacco were also put into the grave with the
corpse, which was always perfumed and ornamented, and animals were offered in
sacrifice to them. None accompanied their funerals but those of the same
profession or tribe. These buried them after sunset, and always returned from the
grave by a different way from that which they went.
These magicians were also our doctors or physicians. They practised bleeding by
cupping; and were very successful in healing wounds and expelling poisons. They
had likewise some extraordinary method of discovering jealousy, theft, and
poisoning; the success of which no doubt they derived from their unbounded
influence over the credulity and superstition of the people. I do not remember what
those methods were, except that as to poisoning: I recollect an instance or two,
which I hope it will not be deemed impertinent here to insert, as it may serve as a
kind of specimen of the rest, and is still used by the negroes in the West Indies. A
virgin had been poisoned, but it was not known by whom: the doctors ordered the
corpse to be taken up by some persons, and carried to the grave. As soon as the
bearers had raised it on their shoulders, they seemed seized with some sudden
impulse, and ran to and fro unable to stop themselves. At last, after having passed
through a number of thorns and prickly bushes unhurt, the corpse fell from them
close to a house, and defaced it in the fall; and, the owner being taken up, he
immediately confessed the poisoning.
The natives are extremely cautious about poison. When they buy any eatable the
seller kisses it all round before the buyer, to shew him it is not poisoned; and the
same is done when any meat or drink is presented, particularly to a stranger. We
have serpents of different kinds, some of which are esteemed ominous when they
appear in our houses, and these we never molest. I remember two of those ominous
snakes, each of which was as thick as the calf of a man's leg, and in colour
resembling a dolphin in the water, crept at different times into my mother's nighthouse, where I always lay with her, and coiled themselves into folds, and each time
they crowed like a cock. I was desired by some of our wise men to touch these, that
I might be interested in the good omens, which I did, for they were quite harmless,
and would tamely suffer
32
themselves to be handled; and then they were put into a large open earthen pan,
and set on one side of the highway. Some of our snakes, however, were poisonous:
one of them crossed the road one day when I was standing on it, and passed
between my feet without offering to touch me, to the great surprise of many who
saw it; and these incidents were accounted by the wise men, and therefore by my
mother and the rest of the people, as remarkable omens in my favour.
Such is the imperfect sketch my memory has furnished me with of the manners and
customs of a people among whom I first drew my breath.
Chapter 2
I HOPE the reader will not think I have trespassed on his patience in introducing
myself to him with some account of the manners and customs of my country They
had been implanted in me with great care, and male an impression on my mind,
which time could not erase, and which all the adversity and variety of fortune I
have since experienced served only to rivet and record; for, whether the love of
one's country be real or imaginary, or a lesson of reason, or an instinct of nature, I
still look back with pleasure on the first scenes of my life, though that pleasure has
been for the most part mingled with sorrow.
I have already acquainted the reader with the time and place of' my birth, My
father, besides many slaves, had a numerous family, of which seven lived to grow
up, including myself and a sister who was the only daughter. As I was the youngest
of the sons, I became, of course the greatest favourite with my mother, and was
always with her; and she used to take particular pains to form my mind. I was
trained up from my earliest years in the art of war; my daily exercise was shooting
and
throwing javelins; and my mother adorned me with emblems, after the manner of
our greatest warriors In this way I grew up till I was turned the age of eleven when
an end was put to my happiness in the following manner :-Generally when the
grown people in the neighbourhood were gone far in the fields to labour, the
children assembled together in some of the neighbours' premises to play; and
commonly some of us used to get up a tree to look out for any assailant or
kidnapper, that might come upon us; for they sometimes took those opportunities
of our parents' absence to attack and carry off as many as they could seize. One
day, as I was watching at the top of a tree in our yard, I saw one of those people
come into the yard of our next neighbour but one, to kidnap, there being many
stout young people in it. Immediately on this I gave the alarm of the rogue and he
33
was surrounded by the stoutest of them, who entangled him with cords, so that he
could not escape till some of the grown people came –and secured him. But alas!
ere long it was my fate to be thus attacked, and to be carried off, when none of the
grown people were nigh. One day, when all our people were gone out to their
works as usual, and only I and my dear sister were left to mind the house, two men
and a woman got over our walls, and in a moment seized us both, and, without
giving us time to cry out, or make resistance, they stopped our mouths, and ran off
with us into the nearest wood. Here they tied our hands, and continued to carry us
as far as they could, till night came on, when we reached a small house where the
robbers halted for refreshment and spent the night. We were then unbound but
were unable to take any food; and, being quite overpowered by fatigue and grief,
our only relief was some sleep, which allayed our misfortune for a short
time. The next morning we left the house, and continued travelling all the day. For
a long time we had kept the woods, but at last we came into a road which I
believed I knew. I had now some hopes of being delivered; for we had advanced
but a little way before I discovered some people at a distance, on which I began to
cry out for their
assistance: but my cries had no other effect than to make them tie me faster and
stop my mouth, and then they put me into a large sack. They also stopped my
sister's mouth, and tied her hands; and in this manner we proceeded till we were
out of the sight of these people. When we went to rest the following night they
offered us some victuals; but we refused it; and the only comfort we had was in
being in one another's arms all that night, and bathing each other with our tears.
But alas! we were soon deprived of even the small comfort of weeping together.
The next day proved a day of greater sorrow than I had yet experienced; for my
sister and I were then separated while we lay clasped in each other's arms. It was in
vain that we besought them not to part us; she was torn from me, and immediately
carried away, while I was left in a state of distraction not to be described. I cried
and grieved continually; and for several days I did not eat any thing but what they,
forced into my mouth. At length, after many days travelling, during which I had
often changed masters, I got into the bands of a chieftain, in a very pleasant
country. This man had two wives and some children, and they all used me
extremely well, and did all they could to comfort me; particularly the first wife,
who was something like my mother. Although I was a great many days journey
from my father's house, yet these people spoke exactly the same language with us.
This first master of mine, as I may call him, was a smith, and my principal
employment was working his bellows, which were the same kind a I had seen' in
my vicinity They were in some respects not unlike the stoves here in gentlemen's
kitchens ; and were covered over with leather, and in the middle of that leather a
34
stick was fixed, and a person stood up, and worked it, in the same manner as is
done to pump water out of a cask with a hand pump. I believe it was gold he
worked, for it was of a lovely bright yellow colour, and was worn by the women on
their wrists and ankles I was there I suppose about a month, and they at last used to
trust me some little distance from the house. This liberty I used in embracing every
opportunity to inquire the way to my own home: and I also sometimes, for the
same purpose, went with the maidens, in the cool of the evenings, to bring pitchers
of water from the springs for the use of the house. I had also remarked where the
sun rose in the morning, and set in the evening, as I had travelled along; and I had
observed that my father's house was towards the rising of the sun. I therefore
determined to seize the first opportunity of making my escape, and to shape my
course for that quarter for I was quite oppressed and weighed down by grief after
my mother and friends; and my love of liberty, ever great, was strengthened by the
mortifying circumstance of not daring to eat with the free-born children, although I
was mostly their companion. While I was projecting my escape, one day an
unlucky event happened, which quite disconcerted my plan, and put an end to my
hopes. I used to be sometimes employed in assisting an elderly woman slave to
cook and take care of the poultry; and one morning, while I was feeding some
chickens, I happened to toss a small pebble at one of them, which hit it on the
middle and directly killed it. The old slave, having soon after missed the chicken,
inquired after it; and on my relating the accident (for I told her the truth, because
my mother would never suffer me to tell a lie) she flew into a violent passion,
threatened that I should suffer for it; and, my master being out, she immediately
went and told her mistress what I had done. This alarmed me very much, and I
expected an instant flogging, which to me was uncommonly dreadful; for I had
seldom been beaten at home. I therefore resolved to fly; and accordingly I ran into
a thicket that was hard by, and hid myself in the bushes. Soon afterwards my
mistress and the slave returned, and, not seeing me, they searched all the house, but
not finding me, and I not making answer when they called to me, they thought I
had run away, and the whole neighbourhood was raised in the pursuit of me. In
that part of the country (as in ours) the houses and villages were skirted with
woods, or shrubberies and the bushes were so thick that a man could readily
conceal himself in them, so as to elude the strictest search The neighbours
continued the whole day looking for me, and several times many of them came
within a few yards of the place where I lay hid. I then gave myself up for lost
entirely, and expected every moment, when I heard a rustling among the trees, to
be found out, and punished by my master: but they never discovered me, though
they were often so near that I even heard their conjectures as they were looking
about for me; and I now learned from them, that any attempt to return home would
35
be hopeless. Most of them supposed I had fled towards home; but the distance was
so great, and the way so intricate, that they thought I could never reach it, and that
I should be lost in the woods. When I heard this I was seized with a violent panic,
and abandoned myself to despair. Night too began to approach, and aggravated all
my fears. I had before entertained hopes of getting home, and I had determined
when it should be dark to make the attempt; but I was now convinced it was
fruitless, and I began to consider that, if possibly I could escape all other animals, I
could not those of the human kind; and that, not knowing the way, I must perish in
the woods. Thus was I like the hunted deer: " Ev'ry leaf and ev'ry whisp'ring
breath, Convey'd a foe, and ev'ry foe a death."
I heard frequent rustlings among the leaves; and being pretty sure they were snakes
I expected every instant to be stung by them. This increased my anguish, and the
horror of my situation became now quite insupportable. I at length quitted the
thicket, very faint and hungry, for I had not eaten or drank any thing all the day;
and crept to my master's kitchen, from when we I set out at first, and which was an
open shed, and laid myself down in the ashes with an anxious wish for death to
relieve me from all my pains. I was scarcely awake in the morning when the old
woman slave, who was the first up, came to light the fire, and saw me in the fire
place. She was very much surprised to see me, and could scarcely believe her own
eyes. She now promised to intercede for me, and soon after went for her master,
who soon after came, and, having slightly reprimanded me, ordered me to be taken
care of, and not to be ill-treated. Soon after this my master's only daughter, and
child by his first wife, sickened and died, which affected him so much that for
some time be was almost frantic, and really would have killed himself, had he not
been watched and prevented. However, in a small time afterwards he recovered,
and I was again sold. I was now carried to the left of the sun's rising, through many
different countries, and a number of large woods. The people I was sold to used to
carry me very often, when I was tired, either on their shoulders or on their backs. I
saw many convenient well-built sheds along the roads, at proper distances, to
accommodate the merchants and travellers, who lay in those buildings along with
their wives, who often accompany them ; and they always go well armed.
From the time I left my own nation I always found somebody that understood me
till I came to the sea coast. The languages of different nations did not totally differ,
nor were they so copious as those of the Europeans, particularly the English They
were therefore easily learned; and, while I was journeying thus through Africa, I
acquired two or three different tongues. In this manner I had been travelling for a
considerable time, when one evening to my great surprise, whom should I see
brought to the house where I was but my dear sister! As soon as she saw me she
36
gave a loud shriek and ran into my arms-I was quite overpowered : neither of us
could speak; but, for a considerable time, clung to each other in mutual embraces,
unable to do any thing but weep. Our meeting affected all who saw us; and indeed
I must acknowledge, in honour of those sable destroyers of human rights, that I
never met with any ill treatment, or saw any offered to their slaves, except tying
them, when necessary, to keep them from running away. When these people knew
we were brother and sister they indulged us together; and the man, to whom I
supposed we belonged, lay with us, he in the middle, while she and I held one
another by the hands across his breast all night; and thus for a while we forgot our
misfortunes in the joy of being together: but even this small comfort was soon to
have an end; for scarcely had the fatal morning appeared, when she was again torn
from me for ever! I was now more miserable, if possible, than before. The small
relief which her presence gave me from pain was gone, and the wretchedness of
my situation was redoubled by my anxiety after her fate, and my apprehensions lest
her sufferings should be greater than mine, when I could not be with her to
alleviate them. Yes, thou dear partner of all my childish sports! thou sharer of my
joys and sorrows! happy should I have ever esteemed myself to encounter every
misery for you, and to procure your freedom by the sacrifice of my own. Though
you were early forced from my arms, your image has been always riveted in my
heart, from which neither time nor fortune have been able to remove it; So that,
while the thoughts of your sufferings have damped my prosperity, they have
mingled with adversity and increased its bitterness. To that Heaven which protects
the weak from the strong, I commit the care of your innocence and virtues, if they
have not already received their full reward, and if your youth and delicacy have not
long since fallen victims to the violence of the African trader, the pestilential
stench of a Guinea ship, the seasoning in the European colonies, or the lash and
lust of a brutal and unrelenting overseer.
I did not long remain after my sister. I was again sold, and carried through a
number of places, till, after travelling a considerable time, I came to a town called
Tinmah, in the most beautiful country I had yet seen in Africa. It was extremely
rich, and there were many rivulets which flowed through it, and supplied a large
pond in the centre of
the town, where the people washed. Here I first saw and tasted cocoa-nuts, which I
thought superior to any nuts I had ever tasted before; and the trees, which were
loaded, were also interspersed amongst the houses, which had commodious shades
adjoining, and were in the same manner as ours, the insides being neatly plastered
and whitewashed. Here I also saw and tasted for the first time sugar-cane. Their
37
money consisted of little white shells, the size of the finger nail. I was sold here for
one
hundred and seventy-two of them by a merchant who lived and brought me there. I
had been about two or three days at his house, when a wealthy widow, a neighbour
of his, came there one evening, and brought with her an only son, a young
gentleman about my own age and size. Here they saw me; and, having taken a
fancy to me, I was bought of the merchant, and went home with them. Her house
and premises were situated close to one of those rivulets I have mentioned, and
were the finest I ever saw in Africa: they were very extensive, and she had a
number of slaves to attend her. The next day I was washed and perfumed, and
when meal-time came I was led into the presence of my mistress, and ate and drank
before her with her son. This filled me with astonishment; and I could scarce help
expressing my surprise that the
young gentleman should suffer me, who was bound, to eat with him who was free;
and not only So, but that he would not at any time either eat or drink till I had
taken first, because I was the eldest, which was agreeable to our custom. Indeed
every thing here, and all their treatment of me, made me forget that I was a slave.
The language of these people resembled ours so nearly, that we understood each
other perfectly. They had also the very same customs as we. There were likewise
slaves daily to attend us, while my young master and I with other boys sported
with our darts and bows and arrows, as 1 had been used to do at home, In this
resemblance to my former happy state I passed about two months; and I now began
to think I was to be adopted into the family, and was beginning to be re reconciled
to my situation, and to forget by degrees my misfortunes, when all at once the
delusion vanished; for, without the least previous knowledge, one morning early,
while my dear master and
companion was still asleep, I was wakened out of my reverie to fresh sorrow, and
hurried away even amongst the uncircumcised.
Thus, at the very moment I dreamed of the greatest happiness, I found myself most
miserable; and it seemed as if fortune wished to give me this taste of joy, only to
render the reverse more poignant. The change I now experienced was as painful as
it was sudden and unexpected. It was a change indeed from a state of bliss to a
scene which is inexpressible by me, as it discovered to me an element I had never
before beheld, and till then had no idea of, and wherein such instance of hardship
and cruelty continually occurred as I can never reflect on but with horror.
All the nations and people I had hitherto passed through resembled our own in
their manners, customs, and language: but I came at length to a country, the
38
inhabitants of which differed from us in all those particulars. I was very much
struck with this difference, especially when I came among a people who did not
circumcise, and ate without washing their hands. They cooked also in iron pots,
and had European cutlasses and cross bows, which were unknown to us, and
fought with their fists amongst themselves. Their women were not so modest as
ours, for they ate, and drank, and slept, with their men. But, above all, I was
amazed to see no sacrifices or offerings among them. In some of those places the
people ornamented themselves with scars, and likewise filed their teeth very sharp.
They wanted sometimes to ornament me in the same manner, but I would not
suffer them; hoping that I might some time be among a people who did not thus
disfigure themselves, as I thought they did. At last I came to the banks of a large
river, which was covered with canoes, in which the people appeared to live with
their household utensils and provisions of all kinds. I was beyond measure
astonished at this, as I had never before seen any water larger than a pond or a
rivulet: and my surprise was mingled with no small fear when I was put into one of
these canoes, and we began to paddle and move along the river. We continued
going on thus till night; and when we came to land, and made fires on the banks,
each family by themselves, some dragged their canoes on shore, others stayed and
cooked in theirs, and laid in them all night. Those on the land had mats, of which
they made tents, some in the shape of little houses: in these we slept; and after the
morning meal we embarked again and proceeded as before. I was often very much
astonished to see some of the women, as well as the men, jump into the water, dive
to the bottom, come up again, and swim about. Thus I continued to travel,
sometimes by land, sometimes by water, through different countries and various
nations, till, at the end of six or seven months after I had been kidnapped, I arrived
at the sea coast. It would be tedious and uninteresting to relate all the incidents
which befell me during this journey, and which I have not yet forgotten; of the
various hands I passed through, and the manners and customs of all the different
people among whom I lived: I shall therefore only observe, that in all the places
where I was the soil was exceedingly rich; the pomkins, eadas, plantains, yams,
&c. &c. were in great abundance, and of incredible size There were also vast
quantities of different gums, though not used for any purpose and every where a
great deal of tobacco. The cotton even grew quite wild; and there was plenty of
red-wood. I saw no mechanics
whatever in all the way, except such as I have mentioned. The chief employment in
all these countries was agriculture, and both the males and females as with us, were
brought up to it, and trained in the arts of war.
39
The first object which saluted my eyes when I arrived on the coast was the sea, and
a slave ship, which was then riding at anchor and waiting for its cargo. These filled
me with astonishment, which was soon converted into terror when I was carried on
board. I was immediately handled and tossed up to see if I were sound by some of
the crew; and I was now persuaded that I had gotten into a world of bad spirits, and
that they were going to kill me. Their complexions too differing so much from
ours, their long hair, and the language they spoke, (which was very different from
any I had ever heard) united to confirm me in this belief. Indeed such were the
horrors of my views and fears at the moment, that, if ten thousand worlds had been
my own, I would have freely parted with them all to have exchanged my condition
with that of the meanest slave in my own country. When I looked round the ship
too and saw a large furnace or copper boiling, and a multitude of black people of
every description chained together, every one of their countenances expressing
dejection and sorrow, I no longer doubted of my fate; and, quite overpowered with
horror and anguish I fell motionless on the deck and fainted. When I recovered a
little I found some black people about me who I believed were some of those who
brought me on board, and
had been receiving their pay; they talked to me in order to cheer me, but all in vain.
I asked them if we were not to be eaten by those white men with horrible looks, red
faces, and loose hair. They told me I was not; and one of the crew brought me a
small portion of spirituous liquor in a wine glass; but, being afraid of him, I would
not take it out of his hand. One of the blacks therefore took it from him and gave it
to me, and I took a little down my palate, which, instead of reviving me, as they
thought it would, threw me into the greatest consternation at the strange feeling it
produced, having never tasted any such liquor before. Soon after this the blacks
who brought me on board went off, and left me abandoned to despair. I now saw
myself deprived of all chance of returning to my native country, or even the least
glimpse of' hope of
gaining the shore, which I now considered as friendly; and I even wished for my
former slavery in preference to my present situation which was filled with horrors
of every kind, still heightened by my ignorance of what I was to undergo. I was not
long suffered to indulge my grief; I was soon put down under the decks, and there I
received such a salutation in my nostrils as I had never experienced in my life: so
that, with the loathsomeness of the stench, and crying together, I became so sick
and low that I was not able to eat, nor had I the least desire to taste any thing. I
now wished for the last friend, death, to relieve me; but soon, to my grief, two of
the white men offered me eatables; and, on my refusing to eat, one of them held me
fast by the hands, and laid me across I think the windlass and tied my feet, while
the other flogged me severely. I had never experienced any thing of this kind
40
before; and although, not being used to the water, I naturally feared that element
the first time I saw it, yet nevertheless, could I have got over the nettings, I would
have jumped over the side, but I could not; and, besides, the crew used to watch us
very closely who were not chained down to the decks, lest we should leap into the
water: and I have seen some of these poor African prisoners most severely cut for
attempting to do so, and hourly whipped for not eating. This indeed was often the
case with myself. In a little time after, amongst the poor chained men, I found
some of my own nation, which in a small degree gave ease to my mind. I inquired
of these what was to be done with us; they gave me to understand we were to be
carried to these white people's country to work for them. I then was a little revived,
and thought, if it were no worse than working, my situation was not so desperate:
but still I feared I should be put to death, the white people looked and acted, as I
thought, in so savage a manner; for I had never seen among any people such
instances of brutal cruelty; and this not only shewn towards us blacks, but also to
some of the whites themselves. One white man in particular I saw, when we were
permitted to be on deck, flogged so unmercifully with a large rope near the
foremast that he died in consequence of it; and they tossed him over the side as
they would have done a brute. This made me fear these people the more; and I
expected nothing less than to be treated in the same manner. I could not help
expressing my fears and apprehensions to some of my countrymen: I asked them if
these people had no country, but lived in this hollow place (the ship): they told me
they did not, but came from a distant one. ' Then,' said I, 'how comes it in all our
country we ' never heard of them?' They told me because they lived so very far off.
I then asked where were their women? had they any like themselves? I was told
they had: ' and why,' said I, ' do we ' not see them ?' they answered, because they
were left behind. I asked how the vessel could go? they told me they could not tell;
but that there were cloths put upon the masts by the help of the ropes I saw, and
then the vessel went on; and the white men had some spell or magic they put in the
water when they liked in order to stop the vessel. I was exceedingly amazed at this
account, and really thought they were spirits I therefore wished much to be from
amongst them, for I expected they would sacrifice me: but my wishes were vain;
for we were so quartered that it was impossible for any of us to make our escape.
While we stayed on the coast I was mostly on deck; and one day, to my great
astonishment, I saw one of these vessels coming in with the sails up. As soon as
the whites saw it, they gave a great shout, at which we were amazed; and the more
so as the vessel appeared larger by approaching nearer. At last she came to an
anchor in my sight, and when the anchor was let go I and my countrymen who saw
it were lost in astonishment to observe the vessel stop; and were now convinced it
was done by magic. Soon after this the other ship got her boats out, and they came
41
on board of us, and the people of both ships seemed very glad to see each other.
Several of the strangers also shook hands with us black people, and made motions
with their hands, signifying I suppose we were to go to their country; but we did
not understand them. At last, when the ship we were in had got in all her cargo,
they made ready with many fearful noises, and we were all put under deck, so that
we could not see how they managed the vessel. But this disappointment was the
least of my sorrow The stench of the hold while we were on the coast was so
intolerably loathsome, that it was dangerous to remain there for any time, and some
of us had been permitted to stay on the deck for the fresh air; but now that the
whole ship's cargo were confined together, it became absolutely pestilential. The
closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship,
which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost
suffocated us. This produced copious perspiration, so that the air soon became
unfit for respiration, from a variety of loathsome smells, and brought on a sickness
among the slaves, of which many died, thus falling victims to the improvident
avarice, as I may call it, of their purchasers. This wretched situation was again
aggravated by the galling of the chains, now become insupportable; and the filth of
the necessary tubs, into which the children often fell, and were almost suffocated.
The shrieks of the women, and the groans of the dying, rendered the whole a scene
of horror almost inconceivable. Happily perhaps for myself I was soon reduced so
low here that it was thought necessary to keep me almost always on deck; and from
my extreme youth I was not put in fetters. In this situation I expected every hour to
share the fate of my companions, some of whom were almost daily brought upon
deck at the point of death, which I began to hope would soon put an end to my
miseries Often did I think many of the inhabitants of the deep much more happy
than myself. I envied them the freedom they enjoyed, and as often wished I could
change my condition for theirs. Every circumstance I met with served only to
render my state more painful, and heighten my apprehensions, and my opinion of
the cruelty of the whites. One day they had taken a number of fishes; and when
they had killed and satisfied themselves with as many as they thought fit, to our
astonishment who were on the deck, rather than give any of them to us to eat as we
expected, they tossed the remaining fish into the sea again, although we begged
and prayed for some as well as we could, but in vain; and some of my countrymen,
being pressed by hunger, took an opportunity, when they thought no one saw them,
of
trying to get a little privately; but they were discovered, and the attempt procured
them some very severe floggings. One day, when we had a smooth sea and
moderate wind, two of my wearied countrymen who were chained together (I was
near them at the time), preferring death to such a life of misery, somehow made
42
through the nettings and jumped into the sea: immediately another quite dejected
fellow, who, on account of his illness, was suffered to be out of irons, also
followed their
example; and I believe many more would very soon have done the same if they had
not been prevented by the ship's crew, who were instantly alarmed. Those of us
that were the most active were in a moment put down under the deck, and there
was such a noise and confusion amongst the people of the ship as I never heard
before, to stop her, and get the boat out to go after the slaves. However two of the
wretches were drowned, but they got the other, and afterwards flogged him
unmercifully for thus attempting to prefer death to slavery In this manner we
continued to undergo more hardships than I can now relate, hardships which are
inseparable from this accursed trade. Many a time we were near suffocation from
the want of fresh air, which we were often without for whole days together. This,
and the stench of the
necessary tubs, carried off many. During our passage I first saw flying fishes,
which surprised me very much: they used frequently to fly across the ship, and
many of them fell on the deck. I also now first saw the use of the quadrant; I had
often with astonishment seen the mariners make observations with it, and I could
not think what it meant. They at last took notice of my surprise and one of them,
willing to increase it, as well as to gratify my curiosity, made me one day look
through it. The clouds appeared to me to be land, which disappeared as they passed
along. This heightened my wonder; and I was now more persuaded than ever that I
was in another world, and that every thing about me was magic. At last we came in
sight of the island of Barbados, at which the whites on board gave a great shout,
and made many signs of joy to us We did not know what to think of this; but as the
vessel drew nearer we plainly saw the harbour, and other ships of different kinds
and sizes; and we soon anchored amongst them off Bridge Town. Many merchants
and planters now came on board, though it was in the evening. They put us in
separate parcels, and examined us attentively They also made us jump, and pointed
to the land, signifying we were to go there. We thought by this we should be eaten
by these ugly men, as they appeared to us; and, when soon after we were all put
down under the deck again, there was much dread and trembling among us, arid
nothing but bitter cries to be beard all the night from these apprehensions,
insomuch that at last the white people got some old slaves from the land to pacify
us. They told us we were not to be eaten, but to work, and were soon to go on land,
where we should see many of our country people. This report eased us much; and
sure enough, soon after we were landed, there came to us Africans of all
languages. We were conducted immediately to the merchant's yard, where we were
all pent up together like so many sheep in a sold, without regard to sex or age. As
43
every object was new to me every thing I saw filled me with surprise. What struck
me first was that the houses were built with stories, and in every other respect
different from those in Africa: but I was still more astonished on seeing people on
horseback. I did not know what this could mean; and indeed I thought these people
were full of nothing but magical arts. While I was in this astonishment one of my
fellow prisoners spoke to a countryman of his about the horses, who said they were
the same kind they had in their country. I understood them, though they were from
a distant part of Africa, and I thought it odd I had not seen any horses there; but
afterwards, when I came to converse with different Africans, I found they had
many horses amongst them, and much larger than those I then saw. We were not
many days in the merchant's custody before we were sold after their usual manner,
which is this -On a signal given, (as the beat of a drum) the buyers rush at once
into the yard where the slaves are confined, and make choice of that parcel they
like best. The noise and clamour with which this is attended, and the eagerness
visible in the countenances of the buyers, serve not a little to increase the
apprehensions of the terrified Africans, who may well be supposed to consider
them as the ministers of that destruction to which they think themselves devoted.
In this manner, without scruple, are relations and friends separated, most of them
never to see each other again. I remember in the vessel in which I was brought
over, in the men's apartment, there were several brothers, who, in the sale, were
sold in different lots; and it was very moving on this occasion to see and hear their
cries at parting. Oh, ye nominal Christians! might not an African ask you, learned
you this from your God, who says unto you, Do unto all men as you would men
should do unto you? Is it not enough that we are torn from our country and friends
to toil for your luxury and lust of gain? Must every tender feeling be likewise
sacrificed to your avarice? Are the dearest friends and relations, now rendered
more dear by their separation from their kindred, still to be parted from each other,
and thus prevented from cheering the gloom of slavery with the small comfort of
being together and mingling their sufferings and sorrows? Why are parents to lose
their children, brothers their sisters, or husbands their wives? Surely this is a new
refinement in cruelty, which, while it has no advantage to atone for it, thus
aggravates distress, and adds fresh horrors even to the wretchedness of slavery.
Source: The Interesting Narrative of The Life of Olaudah Equiano, or
Gustavus Vassa, The African. Written by Himself. (London, 1789).
Letters of Charleston merchant Henry Laurens
44
To Liverpool merchant Foster Cunliffe Jan 20 1748
I beg leave to offer our service on the following terms – to load the ship which
imports the slaves with such produce as can be had at the season, pay coast
commission there, make good all debts & remit the amount according to the times
of payment if freight to be obtain'd & as much in bill as we may procure with cash
arising from the sales, our commission 10 per cent & if required we are ready to
give security in England in any reasonable sum for remitting the proceeds.
South Carolina Gazette July 29, 1751
Just imported in the brigantine Orrel, Samuel Lacer Commander, directly from
Gambia, in a passage of seven weeks, a cargo of healthy fine slaves; to be sold on
Wednesday the 7th day of August by
Austin and Laurens
South Carolina Gazette Jan 10, 1752
Upwards of three hundred very fine slaves, imported in the Earl of Radnor, Capt.
Raite, directly from Africa, to be sold on Wednesday the 15 th instant, by
Austin and Laurens
Not one will be sold before the day appointed.
To Liverpool merchant William Whaley May 12, 1755
We have had no arrivals yet this year from Africa save a Rhode Island sloop from
Serra Lione with 70 slaves & another of New York with about 40 now under
quarantine from Gambia. This vessel brings an account that slaves were very
scarce in that river but we presume she came away before the usual season of their
coming down as she has now been from thence eight weeks. She says there was 4
or 5 sail of vessels just arriv'd in the river when she came away
To Liverpool merchant William Whaley May 22, 1755
We yesterday receiv'd a letter from Capt Bennet from James Fort of the 15th March
in which he gives us an account that he had a mighty dull prospect before him, no
less than twelve sail of vessels then in the river & 7 or 8 more daily expected
which he thinks it must be impossible to obtain slaves for so he says if he can
obtain two thirds of his number with dispatch he will not wait for the rest in which
we think he much be right.
We have now here a Yorker from Gambia as mention'd in our last with about 40
slaves which are lying quarantine on account of the smallpox & yesterday arriv'd
the Matilda of Bristol from Callabar with 170 odd. These have also the same
distemper & must lye a long quarantine. These slaves would otherways have sold
45
very well as our indigo planters seem in great want. We are expecting to hear every
day of war being declared against France but as yet it seems to have no effect on
the price of slaves. A large number would just now sell at the same prices of last
year.
To St Kitt's merchants Wells, Wharton and Doran, May 27 1755
We are sorry Capt Raite in the Earl of Radnor brought down so sickly a
cargo….Had they been healthy & in good flesh we shou'd have been very glad to
have seen her as there never was a better opening for a cargo of callabar slaves
than in the months of October and November last owing to a number of small
indigo planters finding a ready sale for their crops at 32/6 to 35/ per lb. Which
brought them in such large sums they were all mad for more Negroes, & gave for
very ordinary Calabar men £250 cash…Our people like the Gambia & Windward
coast full as well or the Angola men such as are large.
To Liverpool merchant John Knight June 26 1755
The Emperor, Capt Gwynn, has made a sad piece of work of it this voyage,
purchas'd only 390 slaves, buried of them 120, met with a violent gale of wind off
this bar on the 8th of April which oblig'd him after lying too for seven days to bear
away for Jamaica. Mr Furnell advises us of the 3d May he had them sold 77 of his
slaves at about £28.10/ sterling on an average, a very poor affair indeed compar'd
with our market which will greatly aggravate the loss upon a destructive voyage.
To Bristol merchants Corsley Rogers & Son June 28 1755
We sold the Pearl's cargo [243 slaves; 116 men, 45 women, 49 boys, 33 girls]
from Angloa on the 24th at £33.17/ sterling per head on an average. Many of her
men sold at £40 sterling. If no war this year & the Oldbury should come down here
from the West Indias we think you would stand a good change of making a hit by a
parcel of prime slaves from thence. The men turn to best account their ages not
more than 25. Most of the vessels expected here this year are from Gambia, where
we hear slaves are very scarce, & the smallpox very rife in the river makes us
believe we shall have but few.
To Bristol merchant Thomas Easton owner of the 'Pearl' July 31 1755
We are now to present your with the sale of your slaves per the Pearl the neat
proceed whereof being £52,294.17.9 currency we pass to your credit in account
current
46
To St Kitts merchants Smith and Clifton August 12 1755
We in this quarter are of opinion that a war with France must very speedily take
place…this we all apprehend would have a very sudden effect upon the price of
slaves but since this news reach'd us there has been two slaves in one day the
number about 250 & never was such pulling & hawling for Negroes before. Had
there been 1,000 they would not have supplied the demand of the purchasers which
appear'd. A few through this sold so high as £300 per head. They were slaves from
the Windward Coast.
To Jamaican merchant Peter Furnell Sept 6, 1755
We must now inform you that we run off the Pearl's slaves from Angola at
£35.15.6 sterling on average. We yesterday sold a cargo per the Orrel, Bennet from
Gambia, 9 of them remain on hand that we cannot tell exactly what they will
average but the price of the fine men was £300 currency equal to £42.17/ sterling.
The others sold in proportion. We imagine our sale will gold good during this fall
& next Spring if we don't become engag'd in a war. For your government, stout
healthy fellows sell to most advantage with us, the country not material if they are
not from Callabar which slaves are quite out of repute from numbers in every
cargo that have been sold with us destroying themselves.
To Barbadian customs collector Gidney Clarke Sept 9 1755
On the 5th current we made sale of the Orrel's cargo of slaves from Gambia, the
number 120, of which one fifth part were very low in flesh & much distemper'd.
The good men went off currently at £300 to £280, the women £260 to £240
To Gambian-based slave trade merchant James Skinner Oct 3 1755
We have had very few slaves come down to us this year through which means the
price has advanced something at every sale. Bennet's good men brought 290 &
£300 per head equal to £41.8.6 & £42.17/ sterling & others in proportion. Bennet
through the loss of his Doctor had a great mortality, lost 34 & of those he deliver'd
about 30 were loaden with infirmitys, 10 of them almost blind so that they average
but £33.14/ sterling. Had they come in as good order as the former year they must
have averaged 40/ sterling more.
Source: Henry Laurens Papers, South Carolina Historical Society.
Term 1 Week 2
47
AN ACT FOR THE BETTER ORDERING AND GOVERNING NEGROES AND OTHER
SLAVES IN THIS PROVINCE.
<sidenote>Preamble.</sidenote>
WHEREAS, in his Majesty’s plantations in America, slavery has been introduced
and allowed, and the people commonly called negroes, Indians, mulattoes and
mustizoes, have been deemed absolute slaves, and the subjects of property in the
hands of particular persons, the extent of whose power over such slaves ought to
be settled and limited by positive laws, so that the slave may be kept in due
subjection and obedience, and the owners and other persons having the care and
government of slaves may be restrained from exercising too great rigour and
cruelty over them, and that the public peace and order of this Province may be
preserved: We pray your most sacred Majesty that it may be enacted,
<sidenote>Who are to be deemed slaves.</sidenote>
I. And be it enacted, by the honorable William Bull, Esquire, Lieutenant Governor
and Commander-in-chief, by and with the advice and consent of his Majesty’s
honorable Council, and the Commons House of Assembly of this Province, and by
the authority of the same, That all negroes and Indians, (free Indians in amity with
this government, and negroes, mulattoes and mustizoes, who are now free,
excepted,) mulattoes or mustizoes who now are, or shall hereafter be, in this
Province, and all their issue and offspring, born or to be born, shall be, and they
are hereby declared to be, and remain forever hereafter, absolute slaves, and shall
follow the condition of the mother, and shall be deemed, held, taken, reputed and
adjudged in law, to be chattels personal, in the hands of their owners and
possessors, and their executors, administrators and assigns, to all intents,
constructions and purposes whatsoever; provided always, that if any negro, Indian,
mulatto or mustizo, shall claim his or her freedom, it shall and may be lawful for
such negro-Indian, mulatto or mustizo, or any / person or persons whatsoever, on
his or her behalf, to apply to the justices of his Majesty’s court of common pleas,
by petition or motion, either during the sitting of the said court, or before any of
the justices of the same court, at any time in the vacation; and the said court, or any
of the justices thereof, shall and they are hereby fully impowered to, admit any
person so applying to be guardian for any negro, Indian, mulatto or mustizo,
claiming his, her or their freedom; and such guardians shall be enabled, entitled
and capable in law, to bring an action of trespass in the nature of ravishment of
ward, against any person who shall claim property in, or who shall be in possession
of, any such negro, Indian, mulatto or mustizo; and the defendant shall and may
plead the general issue on such action brought, and the special matter may and
shall be given in evidence, and upon a general or special verdict found, judgment
shall be given according to the very right of the cause, without having any regard
48
to any defect in the proceedings, either in form or substance; and if judgment shall
be given for the plaintiff, a special entry shall be made, declaring that the ward of
the plaintiff is free, and the jury shall assess damages which the plaintiff’s ward
hath sustained, and the court shall give judgment, and award execution, against the
defendant for such damage, with full costs of suit; but in case judgment shall be
given for the defendant, the said court is hereby fully impowered to inflict such
corporal punishment, not extending to life or limb, on the ward of the plaintiff, as
they, in their discretion, shall think fit; provided always, that in any action or suit
to be brought in pursuance of the direction of this Act, the burthen of the proof
shall lay on the plaintiff, and it shall be always presumed that every negro, Indian,
mulatto and mustizo, is a slave, unless the contrary can be made appear, the
Indians in amity with this government excepted, in which case the burthen of the
proof shall lye on the defendant; provided also, that nothing in this Act shall be
construed to hinder or restrain any other court of law or equity in this Province,
from determining the property of slaves, or their right of freedom, which now have
cognizance or jurisdiction of the same, when the same shall happen to come in
judgment before such courts, or any of them, always taking this Act for their
direction therein.
<sidenote>Recognizance.</sidenote>
II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That in every action or suit
to be brought by any such guardian as aforesaid, appointed pursuant to the
direction of this Act, the defendant shall enter into a recognizance, with one or
more sufficient sureties, to the plaintiff, in such sum as the said court of common
pleas shall direct, with condition that he shall produce the ward of the plaintiff at
all times when required by the said court, and that whilst such action or suit shall
be depending and undetermined, the ward of the plaintiff shall not be eloined,
abused or misused.
<sidenote>No slave to be absent from home without a ticket.</sidenote>
III. And for the better keeping slaves in due order and subjection, Be it further
enacted by the authority aforesaid, That no person whatsoever shall permit or
suffer any slave under his or their care or management, and who lives or is
employed in Charlestown, or any other town in this Province, to go out of the
limits of the said town, or any such slave who lives in the country, to go out of the
plantation to which such slave belongs, or in which plantation such slave is usually
employed, without a letter superscribed and directed, or a ticket in the words
following:
Permit this slave to be absent from Charlestown, (or any other town, or if he lives
in the country, from Mr. _____ plantation, _____ parish,) for _____ days or hours;
dated the _____ day of _____. /
49
Or to that purpose or effect; which ticket shall be signed by the master or other
person having the care or charge of such slave, or by some other [person] by his or
their order, directions and consent; and every slave who shall be found out of
Charlestown, or any other town, (if such slave lives or is usually employed there,)
or out of the plantation to which such slave belongs, or in which [such] slave is
usually employed, if such slave lives in the country, without such letter or ticket as
aforesaid, or without a white person in his company, shall be punished with
whipping on the bare back, not exceeding twenty lashes.
<sidenote>Penalty for unauthorizedly giving a ticket.</sidenote>
IV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any person shall
presume to give a ticket or license to any slave who is the property or under the
care or charge of another, without the consent or against the will of the owner or
other person having charge of such slave, shall forfeit to the owner the sum of
twenty pounds, current money.
<sidenote>Slave without ticket, how to be dealt with.</sidenote>
V. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any slave who shall
be out of the house or plantation where such slave shall live, or shall be usually
employed, or without some white person in company with such slave, shall refuse
to submit to or undergo the examination of any white person, it shall be lawful for
any such white person to pursue, apprehend, and moderately correct such slave;
and if any such slave shall assault and strike such white person, such slave may be
lawfully killed.
<sidenote>Penalty for improperly beating a slave.</sidenote>
VI. Provided always, and be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if
any negro or other slave, who shall be employed in the lawful business or service
of his master, owner, overseer, or other person having charge of such slave, shall
be beaten, bruised, maimed or disabled by any person or persons not having
sufficient cause or lawful authority for so doing, (of which cause the justices of the
peace, respectively, may judge,) every person and persons so offending, shall, for
every such offence, forfeit and pay the sum of forty shillings, current money, over
and besides the damages hereinafter mentioned, to the use of the poor of that
parish in which such offence shall be committed: And if such slave or slaves shall
be maimed or disabled by such beating, from performing his or her work, such
person and persons so offending, shall also forfeit and pay to the owner or owners
of such slaves, the sum of fifteen shillings, current money, per diem, for every day
of his lost time, and also the charge of the cure of such slave; and if the said
damages, in the whole, shall not exceed the sum of twenty pounds, current money,
the same shall, upon lawful proof thereof made, be recoverable before any one of
his Majesty’s justices of the peace, in the same way and manner as debts are
50
recoverable by the Act for the trial of small and mean causes; and such justices
before whom the same shall be recovered, shall have power to commit the offender
or offenders to goal, if he, she or they shall produce no goods on which the said
penalty and damages may be levied, there to remain without bail, until such
penalty and damages shall be paid; any law, statute, usage or custom, to the
contrary notwithstanding.
<sidenote>Assemblages of slaves to be dispersed, their houses searched for arms,
&c.</sidenote>
VII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be
lawful for every justice assigned to keep the peace in this Province, within his
respective county and jurisdiction, upon his own knowledge or view, or upon
information received upon oath, either to go in person, or by warrant or warrants
directed to any constable or other proper person, to command to their assistance
any number of persons as they shall see convenient, to disperse any assembly or
meeting of slaves which may disturb the peace or endanger the safety of his
Majesty’s subjects, / and to search all suspected places for arms, ammunition or
stolen goods, and to apprehend and secure all such slaves as they shall suspect to
be guilty of any crimes or offences whatsoever, and to bring them to speedy trial,
according to the directions of this Act; and in case any constable or other person
shall refuse to obey or execute any of the warrants or precepts of such justices, or
any of them, within their several limits and precincts, or shall refuse to assist the
said justices or constables, or any of them, when commanded or required, such
person or persons shall forfeit and pay the sum of five pounds, current money, to
be recovered by a warrant under the hand and seal of any other justice of the peace,
in the same way and manner as is directed by the Act for the trial of small and
mean causes.
<sidenote>Persons damaged in taking runaway slaves, to be
remunerated.</sidenote>
VIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any person shall
be maimed, wounded or disabled, in pursuing, apprehending or taking any slave
that is runaway or charged with any criminal offence, or in doing any other act,
matter or thing, in obedience to or in pursuance of the direction of this Act, he
shall receive such reward from the public, as the General Assembly shall think fit;
and if any such person shall be killed, his heirs, executors or administrators, shall
receive the like reward.
<sidenote>How slaves to be tried for capital offences.</sidenote>
IX. And whereas, natural justice forbids that any person, of what condition soever,
should be condemned unheard, and the order of civil government requires that for
the due and equal administration of justice, some convenient method and form of
51
trial should be established; Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
all crimes and offences which shall be committed by slaves in this Province, and
for which capital punishment shall or lawfully may be inflicted, shall be heard,
examined, tried, adjudged and finally determined by any two justices assigned to
keep the peace, and any number of freeholders not less than three or more than
five, in the county where the offences shall be committed, and who lives in the
parts adjacent, and can be most conveniently assembled; either of which justices,
on complaint made or information received of any such offence committed by a
slave, shall commit the offender to the safe custody of the constable of the parish
where such offence shall be committed, and shall without delay, by warrant under
his hand and seal, call to his assistance and request any one of the nearest justices
of the peace to associate with him, and shall, by the same warrant, summon such a
number of the neighboring freeholders as aforesaid, to assemble and meet together
with the said justices, at a certain day and place, not exceeding three days after the
apprehending of such slave or slaves; and the justices and freeholders being so
assembled, shall cause the slave accused or charged, to be brought before them,
and shall hear the accusation which shall be brought against such slave, and his or
her defence, and shall proceed to the examination of witnesses and other
evidences, and finally to hear and determine the matter brought before them, in the
most summary and expeditious manner; and in case the offender shall be convicted
of any crime for which by law the offender ought to suffer death, the said justices
shall give judgment, and award and cause execution of their sentence to be done,
by inflicting such manner of death, and at such time, as the said justices, by and
with the consent of the freeholders, shall direct, and which they shall judge will be
most effectual to deter others from offending in the like manner.
<sidenote>And for offences not capital.</sidenote>
X. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any crime or
offence not capital, shall be committed by any slave, such slave shall be proceeded
against and tried for such offence in the manner hereinbefore / directed, by any one
justice of the peace and any two freeholders of the county where the offence shall
be committed, and can be most conveniently assembled; and the said justice and
freeholders shall be assembled, summoned and called together, and shall proceed
upon the trial of any slave who shall commit any offence not capital, in like
manner as is hereinbefore directed for trying of causes capital. And in case any
slave shall be convicted before them of any offence not capital, the said one
justice, by and with the consent of the said freeholders, shall give judgment for the
inflicting any corporal punishment, not extending to the taking away life or
member, as he and they in their discretion shall think fit, and shall award and cause
execution to be done accordingly. Provided always, that if the said one justice and
52
two freeholders, upon examination of any slave charged or accused before them for
an offence not capital, shall find the same to be a greater offence, and may deserve
death, they shall, with all convenient speed, summons and request the assistance of
another justice and one or more freeholders, not exceeding three, which said
justice and freeholders newly assembled, shall join with the justice and freeholders
first assembled, and shall proceed in the trial, and unto final judgment and
execution, if the case shall so require, in manner as is hereinbefore directed for the
trial of capital offences.
<sidenote>Quorum.</sidenote>
XI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That two justices and one
freeholder, or one justice and two freeholders, of the said two justices and three
freeholders, shall make a quorum, and the conviction or acquital of any slave or
slaves by such a quorum of them shall be final in all capital cases; but on the trial
of slaves for offences not capital, it shall and may be sufficient if before sentence
or judgment shall be given for inflicting a corporal punishment, not extending to
life or member, that one justice and any one of the freeholders shall agree that the
slave accused is guilty of the offence with which he shall be charged.
XII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That so soon as the
justice or justices and freeholders shall be assembled as aforesaid, in pursuance of
the direction of this Act, the said justices shall administer to each other the
following oath.
<sidenote>Oath.</sidenote>
I, A B, do solemnly swear, in the presence of Almighty God, that I will truly and
impartially try and adjudge the prisoner or prisoners who shall be brought before
me, upon his or their trial, and honestly and duly, on my part, put in execution, on
this trial, an Act entitled ‘An Act for the better ordering and governing negroes and
other slaves in this Province,’ according to the best of my skill and knowledge. So
help me God.
And the said justice or justices, having taken the aforesaid oath, shall immediately
administer the said oath to every freeholder who shall be assembled as aforesaid,
and shall forthwith proceed upon the trial of such slave or slaves as shall be
brought before them.
<sidenote>Evidence to be admitted against slaves.</sidenote>
XIII. And for the preventing the concealment of crimes and offences committed by
slaves, and for the more effectual discovery and bringing slaves to condign
punishment, Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That not only the
evidence of all free Indians, without oath, but the evidence of any slave, without
oath, shall be allowed and admitted in all causes whatsoever, for or against another
slave accused of any crime or offence whatsoever; the weight of which evidence
53
being seriously considered, and compared with all other circumstances attending
the case, shall be left to the conscience of the justices and freeholders. /
<sidenote>And free negroes.</sidenote>
XIV. And whereas, slaves may be harbored and encouraged to commit offences,
and concealed and received by free negroes, and such free negroes may escape the
punishment due to their crimes, for want of sufficient and legal evidence against
them; Be it therefore further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the evidence
of any free Indian or slave, without oath, shall in like manner be allowed and
admitted in all cases against any free negroes, Indians (free Indians in amity with
this government, only excepted,) mulattoe or mustizoe; and all crimes and offences
committed by free negroes, Indians, (except as before excepted,) mulattoes or
mustizoes, shall be proceeded in, heard, tried, adjudged and determined by the
justices and freeholders appointed by this Act for the trial of slaves, in like manner,
order and form, as is hereby directed and appointed for the proceedings and trial of
crimes and offences committed by slaves; any law, statute, usage or custom to the
contrary notwithstanding.
<sidenote>Slaves guilty of felony, to suffer death.</sidenote>
XV. And be it further enacted and declared by the authority aforesaid, That if any
slave in this Province shall commit any crime or offence whatsoever, which, by the
laws of England or of this Province now in force, is or has been made felony
without the benefit of the clergy, and for which the offender by law ought to suffer
death, every such slave, being duly convicted according to the directions of this
Act, shall suffer death; to be inflicted in such manner as the justices, by and with
the advice and consent of the freeholders, who shall give judgment on the
conviction of such slave, shall direct and appoint.
<sidenote>Certain crimes declared felony.</sidenote>
XVI. And whereas, some crimes and offences of an enormous nature and of the
most pernicious consequence, may be committed by slaves, as well as other
persons, which being peculiar to the condition and situation of this Province, could
not fall within the provision of the laws of England; Be it therefore enacted by the
authority aforesaid, That the several crimes and offences hereinafter particularly
enumerated, are hereby declared to be felony, without the benefit of the clergy, that
is to say:– if any slave, free negro, mulattoe, Indian or mustizoe, shall wilfully and
maliciously burn or destroy any stack of rice, corn or other grain, of the product,
growth or manufacture of this Province, or shall wilfully and maliciously set fire
to, burn or destroy any tar kiln, barrels of pitch, tar, turpentine or rosin, or any
other the goods or commodities of the growth, produce or manufacture of this
Province, or shall feloniously steal, take or carry away any slave, being the
property of another, with intent to carry such slave out of this Province, or shall
54
wilfully or maliciously poison or administer any poison to any person, free man,
woman, servant or slave, every such slave, free negro, mulattoe, Indian, (except as
before excepted,) and mustizoe, shall suffer death as a felon.
<sidenote>Homicide and insurrection, how to be punished.</sidenote>
XVII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That any slave who
shall be guilty of homicide of any sort, upon any white person, except by
misadventure, or in defence of his master or other person under whose care and
government such slave shall be, shall, upon conviction thereof as aforesaid, suffer
death; and every slave who shall raise or attempt to raise an insurrection in this
Province, shall endeavor to delude or entice any slave to run away and leave this
Province, every such slave and salves, and his and their accomplices, aiders and
abettors, shall, upon conviction as aforesaid, suffer death; Provided always, that it
shall and may be lawful to and for the justices who shall pronounce sentence
against such slaves; by and with the advice and consent of the freeholders as
aforesaid, if several slaves shall receive sentence at one time, to mitigate and alter
the sentence of any / slave other than such as shall be convicted of the homicide of
a white person, who they shall think may deserve mercy, and may inflict such
corporal punishment, (other than death,) on any such slave, as they in their
discretion shall think fit; any thing herein contained to the contrary thereof in any
wise notwithstanding; Provided always, that one or more of the said slaves who
shall be convicted of the crimes or offences aforesaid, where several are
concerned, shall be executed for example, to deter others from offending in the like
kind.
<sidenote>Compensation to owners of slaves executed.</sidenote>
XVIII. And to the end that owners of slaves may not be tempted to conceal the
crimes of their slaves to the prejudice of the public, Be it further enacted by the
authority aforesaid, That in case any slave shall be put to death in pursuance of the
sentence of the justices and freeholders aforesaid, (except slaves guilty of murder,
and slaves taken in actual rebellion,) the said justices, or one of them, with the
advice and consent of any two of the freeholders, shall, before they award and
order their sentence to be executed, appraise and value the said negroes so to be
put to death, at any sum not exceeding two hundred pounds current money, and
shall certify such appraisement to the public treasurer of this Province, who is
hereby authorized and required to pay the same; one moiety thereof, at least, to the
owner of such slave or to his order, and the other moiety, or such part thereof as
such justices and freeholders shall direct, to the person injured by such offence for
which such slave shall suffer death.
<sidenote>Justices may compel persons to give evidence.</sidenote>
55
XIX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said justices, or
any of them, are hereby authorized, empowered and required, to summons and
compel all persons whatsoever, to appear and to give evidence upon the trial of any
slave; and if any person shall neglect or refuse to appear, or appearing, shall refuse
to give evidence, or if any master or other person who has the care and government
of any slave, shall prevent or hinder any slave under his charge or government of
any slave, shall prevent or hinder any slave under his charge or government, from
appearing or giving evidence in any matter depending before the justices and
freeholders aforesaid, the said justices may, and they are hereby fully empowered
and required to, bind every such person offending as aforesaid, by recognizance
with one or more sufficient sureties, to appear at the next general sessions, to
answer such their offences and contempt; and for default of finding sureties, to
commit such offender to prison.
<sidenote>Penalty for concealing accused slave.</sidenote>
XX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That in case the master or
other person having charge or government of any slave who shall be accused of
any capital crime, shall conceal or convey away any such slave, so that he cannot
be brought to trial and condign punishment, every master or other person so
offending, shall forfeit the sum of two hundred and fifty pounds current money, if
such slave be accused of a capital crime as aforesaid; but if such slave shall be
accused of a crime not capital, then such master or other person shall only forfeit
the sum of fifty pounds current money.
<sidenote>Constables to execute or punish slaves, and their fees.</sidenote>
XXI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all and every the
constable and constables in the several parishes within this Province where any
slave shall be sentenced to suffer death or other punishment, shall cause execution
to be done of all the orders, warrants, precepts and judgments of the justices hereby
appointed to try such slaves; for the charge and trouble of which the said constable
or constables, respectively, shall be paid by the public treasurer of this Province,
upon a certificate produced under the hands of the said justice or justices before
whom such negroes or slaves shall be tried; unless in such cases as shall appear to
the / said justices and freeholders to be malicious or groundless prosecutions, in
which cases the said charges shall be paid by the prosecutors; for whipping or
other corporal punishments not extending to life, the sum of twenty shillings; and
for any punishment extending to life, the sum of five pounds current money; and
such other charges for keeping and maintaining such slaves, as are allowed to the
warden of the work house in Charlestown; for keeping and maintaining any slave
committed to his custody; for the levying of which charges against the prosecutor,
the justice or justices are hereby empowered to issue their warrant. And that no
56
delay may happen in causing execution to be done upon such offending slave or
slaves, the constable who shall be directed to cause execution to be done, shall be,
and is hereby, empowered to press one or more slave or slaves, in or near the place
where such whipping or corporal punishment shall be ordered to be inflicted, to
whip or inflict such other corporal punishment upon the offender or offenders; and
such slave or slaves so pressed, shall be obedient to and observe the orders and
directions of the constable in and about the premises, upon pain of being punished
by the said constable, by whipping on the bare back, not exceeding twenty lashes,
which punishment the said constable is hereby authorized and empowered to
inflict; and the constable shall, if he presses a negro, pay the said negro five
shillings out of his fee for doing the said execution.
<sidenote>Penalty for working on Sunday.</sidenote>
XXII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any person in
this Province shall, on the Lord’s day, commonly called Sunday, employ any slave
in any work or labour, (works of absolute necessity and the necessary occasions of
the family only excepted,) every person in such case offending, shall forfeit the
sum of five pounds, current money, for every slave they shall so work or labour.
<sidenote>Slave not to carry fire-arms without a ticket.</sidenote>
XXIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall not be
lawful for any slave, unless in the presence of some white person, to carry or make
use of fire arms, or any offensive weapons whatsoever, unless such negro or slave
shall have a ticket or license, in writing, from his master, mistress or overseer, to
hunt and kill game, cattle, or mischievous birds, or beasts of prey, and that such
license be renewed once every month, or unless there be some white person of the
age of sixteen years or upwards, in the company of such slave, when he is hunting
or shooting, or that such slave be actually carrying his master’s arms to or from his
master’s plantation, by a special ticket for that purpose, or unless such slave be
found in the day time actually keeping off rice birds, or other birds, within the
plantation to which such slave belongs, lodging the same gun at night within the
dwelling house of his master, mistress or white overseer; and provided also, that
no negro or other slave shall have liberty: to carry any gun, cutlass, pistol or other
weapon, abroad from home, at any time between Saturday evening after sun-set,
and Monday morning before sunrise, notwithstanding a license or ticket for so
doing. And in case any person shall find any slave using or carrying fire arms, or
other offensive weapons, contrary to the true intention of this Act, every such
person may lawfully seize and take away such fire arms or offensive weapons. But
before the property of such goods shall be vested in the person who shall seize the
same, such person shall, within forty-eight hours next after such seizure, go before
the next justice of the peace, and shall make oath of the manner of the taking; and
57
if such justice of the peace, after such oath shall be made, or if, upon any other
examination, he shall be satisfied that / the said fire arms or other offensive
weapons shall have been seized according to the direction and agreeable to the true
intent and meaning of this Act, the said justice shall, by certificate under his hand
and seal, declare them forfeited, and that the property is lawfully vested in the
person who seized the same: Provided always, that no such certificate shall be
granted by any justice of the peace, until the owner or owners of such fire arms or
other offensive weapons so to be seized as aforesaid, or the overseer or overseers
who shall or may have the charge of such slave or slaves from whom such fire
arms or other offensive weapons shall be taken or seized, shall be duly summoned,
to shew cause, if any such they have, why the same should not be condemned as
forfeited, or until forty-eight hours after the service of such summons, and oath
made of the service of such summons before the said justice.
<sidenote>Slaves who strike a white person, how to be dealt with.</sidenote>
XXIV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any slave shall
presume to strike any white person, such slave, upon trial and conviction before
the justice or justices and freeholders, aforesaid, according to the directions of this
Act, shall, for the first and second offence, suffer such punishment as the said
justice and freeholders, or such of them as are empowered to try such offences,
shall, in their discretion, think fit, not extending to life or limb; and for the third
offence, shall suffer death. But in case any such slave shall grievously wound,
maim or bruise any white person, though it be only the first offence, such slave
shall suffer death. Provided always, that such striking, wounding, maiming or
bruising, be not done by the command, and in the defence of, the person or
property of the owner or other person having the care and government of such
slave, in which case the slave shall be wholly excused, and the owner or other
person having the care and government of such slave shall be answerable, as far as
by law he ought.
<sidenote>Runaway slaves taken up, how to be disposed of.</sidenote>
XXV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be
lawful for every person in this Province, to take, apprehend and secure any
runaway or fugitive slave, and they are hereby directed and required to send such
slave to the master or other person having the care or government of such slave, if
the person taking up or securing such slave knows, or can, without difficulty, be
informed, to whom such slave shall belong; but if not known or discovered, then
such slave shall be sent, carried or delivered into the custody of the warden of the
work-house in Charlestown; and the master or other person who has the care or
government of such slave, shall pay for taking up such slave, whether by a free
person or slave, the sum of twenty shillings, current money; and the warden of the
58
work-house, upon receipt of every fugitive or runaway slave, is hereby directed
and required to keep such slave in safe custody until such slave shall be lawfully
discharged, and shall, as soon as conveniently it may be, publish, in the weekly
gazette, such slave, with the best descriptions he shall be able to give, first
carefully viewing and examining such slave, naked to the waist, for any mark or
brand, which he shall also publish, to the intent the owner or other person who
shall have the care and charge of such slave, may come to the knowledge that such
slave is in custody. And if such slave shall make escape through the negligence of
the warden of the work-house, and cannot be taken within three months, the said
warden of the work-house shall answer to the owner for the value of such slave, or
the damage which the owner shall sustain by reason of such escape, as the case
shall happen.
<sidenote>Duty if warden.</sidenote>
XXVI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the / said warden
of the work-house shall, at the charge of the owner of such slave, provide
sufficient food, drink, clothing and covering, for every slave delivered into his
custody, and shall keep them to moderate labour, and advertize them in the gazette,
in the manner aforesaid, and on failure thereof, shall forfeit all his fees due for
such slave; and the said warden is hereby directed and required to cause every such
slave delivered into his custody as a runaway, upon receipt of such slave, to be
whipped on the bare back, not exceeding twenty lashes; and on failure thereof,
shall forfeit all his fees due for such slave.
<sidenote>Proceedings when apprehended runaway slave is delivered to warden,
&c.</sidenote>
XXVII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That any person who
shall take up any runaway slave, and shall deliver such slave either to the master or
other person having the care or charge of such slave, or to the warden of the workhouse, shall be entitled to receive from the owner or warden of the work-house,
upon the delivery, fifteen pence, current money, per mile, for every mile such slave
shall have been brought or sent, to be computed from the place where such slave
was apprehended. And if such slave shall be delivered into the custody of the
warden aforesaid, the person delivering such slave shall give an account of his
name, place of abode, and the time and place when and where such slave was
apprehended; which account the said warden shall enter down in a book to be kept
for that purpose, and shall give a receipt for any such slave which shall be
delivered, as aforesaid, into his custody. And the said warden is hereby fully
authorized and empowered to demand and receive from the owner of other person
having the charge or care of any such slave, for negroes committed from the month
of October to March, inclusive, for finding necessaries, clothing and covering, to
59
be the property of the master, any sum not exceeding six pounds, and the several
sums following, and no other sum, fee or reward, on any pretence whatsoever, (that
is to say,) for apprehending each slave, paid to the person who delivered such slave
in custody, twenty shillings, current money; for mileage, paid to the same person,
fifteen pence, like money; for a sufficient quantity of provision for each day, for
each slave, three shillings and nine pence, like money; for advertising and
publishing every slave, as directed by this Act, five shillings, like money,
exclusive of the charge of printing; for receiving such slave, five shillings, and for
delivering of him, five shillings, like money; for poundage on money advanced,
one shilling in the pound, like money. And the said warden shall and may lawfully
detain any slave in custody until the fees and expenses aforesaid be fully paid and
satisfied; and in case the owner of such slave, or his overseer, manager, agent,
attorney, or trustee, shall neglect or refuse to pay and satisfy the said fees and
expenses, for the space of thirty days after the same shall be demanded by notice,
in writing, served on the owner of such slave, or (if the owner is absent from this
Province,) upon his overseer, agent, manager, attorney or trustee, the said warden
shall and may expose any such slave to sale, at public outcry, and after deducting
the fees and expenses aforesaid, and the charges of such sale, shall, upon demand,
return the overplus money arising by such sale, to any person who has a right to
demand and receive the same.
<sidenote>Slaves in custody 18 months, to be sold.</sidenote>
XXVIII. And forasmuch as for want of knowing or finding the owner of any
fugitive slave to be delivered to him, as aforesaid, the said warden may not be
obliged to keep such slave in his custody, and find and provide provisions for such
slave, over and beyond a reasonable time, Be it therefore further enacted by the
authority aforesaid, That if the owner or owners of such fugitive slave shall not,
within the space of eighteen months from the / time of commitment, make his, her
or their claim or claims, or it shall not be otherwise made known to the said
warden, within the time aforesaid, to whom such committed slave shall belong, it
shall and may be lawful for the said warden to sell such slave at public outcry, in
Charlestown, he the said warden first advertising such sale six weeks successively
in the public gazette, together with the reason of the sale of such slave, and out of
the money arising by such sale, to pay, deduct or retain to himself what shall be
then due for money by him disbursed on receipt of such fugitive slave, and for his
fees and provisions, together with the reasonable charges arising by such sale, and
the overplus money, (if any there shall be,) shall be rendered and paid by the said
warden to the public treasurer for the time being, in trust, nevertheless, for the use
of the owner or owners of such slave, provided the same be claimed by him, her or
them within one year and a day after such sale, or in default of such claim, within
60
the time aforesaid, to the use of the public of this Province, to be applied as the
General Assembly shall direct.
<sidenote>Penalty on free negroes or slaves for harbouring runaways.</sidenote>
XXIX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any free negro,
mulatto or mustizo, or any slave, shall harbour, conceal or entertain any slave that
shall run away or shall be charged or accused with any criminal matter, every free
negro, mulatto and mustizo, and every slave, who shall harbour, conceal or
entertain any such slave, being duly convicted thereof, according to the directions
of this Act, if a slave, shall suffer such corporal punishment, not extending to life
or limb, as the justice or justices who shall try such slave shall, in his or their
discretion, think fit; and if a free negro, mulatto or mustizo, shall forfeit the sum of
ten pounds, current money, for the first day, and twenty shillings for every day
after, to the use of the owner or owners of such slave so to be harboured, concealed
or entertained, as aforesaid, to be recovered by warrant, under the hand and seal of
any one of his Majesty’s justices of the peace, in and for the county where such
slave shall be so harboured, concealed or entertained, in like manner as debts are
directed to be recovered by the Act for trial of small and mean causes; and that in
case such forfeitures cannot be levied, or such free negroes, mulattoes or mustizoes
shall not pay the same, together with the charges attending the prosecution, such
free negro, mulatto or mustizo shall be ordered by the said justice to be sold at
public outcry, and the money arising by such sale shall, in the first place, be paid
and applied for and towards the forfeiture due, made payable to the owner or
owners, and the charges attending the prosecution and sale, and the overplus, (if
any,) shall be paid by the said justice into the hands of the public treasurer, to be
afterwards paid and applied in such manner as by the General Assembly of this
Province shall be directed and appointed.
<sidenote>Slaves in Charleston not to buy or sell, except as provided.</sidenote>
XXX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That no slave who shall
dwell, reside, inhabit or be usually employed in Charlestown, shall presume to buy,
sell, deal, traffic, barter, exchange or use commerce for any goods, wares,
provisions, grain, victuals, or commodities, of any sort or kind whatsoever, (except
as is hereinafter particularly excepted and provided, and under such provisoes,
conditions, restrictions and limitations as are herein particularly directed, limited
and appointed,) on pain that all such goods, wares, provisions, grain, victuals or
commodities, which by any slave shall be so bought, sold, dealt, trafficked or
bartered for, exchanged or used in commerce, shall be seized and forfeited, and
shall be sued for and recovered before any one justice assigned to keep the peace
in Charlestown, and shall be applied and disposed of, one half to him or them who
shall seize, / inform and sue for the same, and the other half to the commissioners
61
of the poor of the parish of St. Phillips, Charlestown; and moreover, that the said
justice shall order every slave who shall be convicted of such offence, to be
publicly whipped on the bare back, not exceeding twenty lashes; provided always,
that it shall and may be lawful for any slave who lives or is usually employed in
Charlestown, after such license and ticket as hereinafter is directed shall be
obtained, to buy or sell fruit, fish and garden stuff, and to be employed as porters,
carters or fishermen, and to purchase any thing for the use of their masters, owners,
or other person who shall have the charge and government of such slave, in open
market, under such regulations as are or shall be appointed by law concerning the
market of Charlestown, or in any open shop kept by a white person.
XXXI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That no slave or slaves
whatsoever, belonging to Charlestown, shall be permitted to buy any thing to sell
again, or to sell any thing upon their own account, in Charlestown; and it shall and
may be lawful for any person or persons whosoever, to seize and take away all and
all manner of goods, wares or merchandize, that shall be found in the possession of
any such slave or slaves in Charlestown, which they have bought to sell again, or
which they shall offer to sale upon their own accounts, in Charlestown, one half of
which shall be to the use of the poor of the said parish, and the other to the
informer, and shall be adjudged and condemned by any justice of the peace in the
said parish.
<sidenote>No strong liquors to be sold to slaves.</sidenote>
XXXII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any keeper of a
tavern or punch house, or retailer of strong liquors, shall give, sell, utter or deliver
to any slave, any beer, ale, cider, wine, rum, brandy, or other spirituous liquors, or
strong liquor whatsoever, without the license or consent of the owner, or such
other person who shall have the care or government of such slave, every person so
offending shall forfeit the sum of five pounds, current money, for the first offence,
and for the second offence, ten pounds; and shall be bound in a recognizance in the
sum of one hundred pounds, current money, with one or more sufficient sureties,
before any of the justices of the court of general sessions, not to offend in the like
kind, and to be of good behaviour, for one year; and for want of such sufficient
sureties, to be committed to prison without bail or mainprize, for any term not
exceeding three months.
<sidenote>Slaves not to work from home without a ticket.</sidenote>
XXXIII. And whereas, several owners of slaves do suffer their slaves to go and
work where they please, upon conditions of paying to their owners certain sums of
money agreed upon between the owner and slave; which practice has occasioned
such slaves to pilfer and steal, to raise money for their owners, as well as to
maintain themselves drunkenness and evil courses; for prevention of which
62
practices for the future, Be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That no owner,
master or mistress of any slave, after the passing of this Act, shall permit or suffer
any of his, her or their slaves to go and work out of their respective houses or
families, without a ticket in writing, under pain of forfeiting the sum of ten pounds,
current money, for every such offence, to be paid the one half to the churchwardens of the parish, for the use of the poor of the parish in which the offence is
committed, and the other half to him or them that will inform and sue for the same,
to be recovered in the same way as debts are by the Act for the trial of small and
mean causes. And every person employing any slave without a ticket from the
owner of such slave, shall forfeit to the informer five pounds current money, for
each day he so employs such / slave, over and above the wages agreed to be paid
such slave for his work; provided that the said penalty of five pounds per diem,
shall not extend to any person whose property in such slave is disputable; and
provided, that nothing herein contained shall hinder any person or persons from
hiring out by the year, week or day, or any other time, any negroes or slaves, to be
under the care and direction of his or their owner, master or employer, and that the
master is to receive the whole of the earnings of such slave or slaves, and that the
employer have a certificate or note, in writing, of the time or terms of such slave’s
employment, from the owner, attorney or overseer of every such slave, severally
and respectively.
<sidenote>Slaves prohibited from trading, or keeping boats, horses, cattle,
&c.</sidenote>
XXXIV. And whereas, several owners of slaves have permitted them to keep
canoes, and to breed and raise horses, neat cattle and hogs, and to traffic and barter
in several parts of this Province, for the particular and peculiar benefit of such
slaves, by which means they have not only an opportunity of receiving and
concealing stolen goods, but to plot and confederate together, and form
conspiracies dangerous to the peace and safety of the whole Province; Be it
therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall not be lawful for any
slave so to buy, sell, trade, traffic, deal or barter for any goods or commodities,
(except as before excepted,) nor shall any slave be permitted to keep any boat,
perriauger or canoe, or to raise and breed, for the use and benefit of such slave, any
horses, mares, neat cattle, sheep or hogs, under pain of forfeiting all the goods and
commodities which shall be so bought, sold, traded, trafficked, dealt or bartered
for, by any slave, and of all the boats, perriaugers or canoes, cattle, sheep or hogs,
which any slave shall keep, raise or breed for the peculiar use, benefit and profit of
such slave; and it shall and may be lawful for any person or persons whatsoever, to
seize and take away from any slave, all such goods, commodities, boats,
perriaugers, canoes, horses, mares, neat cattle, sheep or hogs, and to deliver the
63
same into the hands of any one of his Majesty’s justices of the peace, nearest to the
place where the seizure shall be made; and such justice shall take the oath of such
person who shall make any such seizure, concerning the manner of seizing and
taking the same, and if the said justice shall be satisfied that such seizure hath been
made according to the directions of this Act, he shall pronounce and Jeclare the
goods so seized, to be forfeited, and shall order the same to be sold at public
outcry; and the monies arising by such sale shall be disposed of and applied as is
hereinafter directed; provided, that if any goods shall be seized which come to the
possession of any slave by theft, finding or otherwise, without the knowledge,
privity, consent or connivance of the person who have a right to the property or
lawful custody of any such goods, all such goods shall be restored, on such
person’s making oath before any justice as aforesaid, who is hereby impowered to
administer such oath, to the effect or in the following words:
‘I, A B, do sincerely swear, that I have a just and lawful right or title to certain
goods seized and taken by C D, out of the possession of a slave named – ; and I do
sincerely swear and declare, that I did not, directly or indirectly, permit or suffer
the said slave, or any other slave whatsoever, to use, keep or employ the said goods
for the use, benefit or profit of any slave whatsoever, or to sell, barter or give away
the same; but that the same goods were in the possession of the said slave by theft,
finding or otherwise, or to be kept bona fide for my use, or for the use of E F, a
free person, and not for the use or benefit of any slave whatsoever. So help me
God.’
VOL. VII – 52. /
Which oath shall be taken mutatis mutandis, as the case shall happen; provided
also, that it shall be lawful for any person, being the owner or having the care or
government of any slave who resides or is usually employed in any part of this
Province, without the limits of Charlestown, to give a license or permission to sell,
exchange or barter in Charlestown, or elsewhere, within this Province, the goods or
commodities of the owner, or other person having the care or government of such
slave; provided that in such license or permission, the quantity and quality of the
goods and commodities with which such slave shall be intrusted, be particularly
and distinctly set down and specified, and signed by the owner or other person
having the charge and government of such slave, or by some other person by his,
her or their order and direction.
<sidenote>Slaves allowed to buy and sell provisions, &c. with a ticket.</sidenote>
XXXV. Provided also, and be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That this Act
shall not extend or be construed to extend to debar any of the inhabitants of
Charlestown from sending any of their slaves residing therein, to sell in open
market, any sort of provisions whatever, which the owner of such slave shall have
64
received and brought from his or her estate in the country, to be sold at the first
hand; nor shall such slaves be debarred from buying any kind of provisions for the
use and consumption of their master’s and mistress’s families, and for which such
slave or slaves shall have a license or permit from the master or mistress, or some
other person under whose care such slave shall be; any thing in this, or any other
Act, to the contrary notwithstanding.
<sidenote>Slaves not to be absent from home without a ticket, nor to keep arms,
horns, &c.</sidenote>
XXXVI. And for that as it is absolutely necessary to the safety of this Province,
that all due care be taken to restrain the wanderings and meetings of negroes and
other slaves, at all times, and more especially on Saturday nights, Sundays, and
other holidays, and their using and carrying wooden swords, and other
mischievous and dangerous weapons, or using or keeping of drums, horns, or other
loud instruments, which may call together or give sign or notice to one another of
their wicked designs and purposes; and that all masters, overseers and others may
be enjoined, diligently and carefully to prevent the same, Be it enacted by the
authority aforesaid, That it shall be lawful for all masters, overseers and other
persons whomsoever, to apprehend and take up any negro or other slave that shall
be found out of the plantation of his or their master or owner, at any time,
especially on Saturday nights, Sundays, or other holidays, not being on lawful
business, and with a letter from their master, or a ticket, or not having a white
person with them; and the said negro or other slave or slaves, met or found out of
the plantation of his or their master or mistress, though with a letter or ticket, if he
or they be armed with such offensive weapons aforesaid, him or them to disarm,
take up and whip: And whatsoever master, owner or overseer shall permit or suffer
his or their negro or other slave or slaves, at any time hereafter, to beat drums,
blow horns, or use any other loud instruments, or whosoever shall suffer and
countenance any public meeting or feastings of strange negroes or slaves in their
plantations, shall forfeit ten pounds, current money, for every such offence, upon
conviction or proof as aforesaid; provided, an information or other suit be
commenced within one month after forfeiture thereof for the same.
<sidenote>Penalty for killing or cruelly using a slave.</sidenote>
XXXVII. And whereas, cruelty is not only highly unbecoming those who profess
themselves christians, but is odious in the eyes of all men who have any sense of
virtue or humanity; therefore, to restrain and prevent barbarity being exercised
towards slaves, Be it enacted by the / authority aforesaid, That if any person or
persons whosoever, shall willfully murder his own slave, or the slave of any other
person, every such person shall, upon conviction thereof, forfeit and pay the sum
of seven hundred pounds, current money, and shall be rendered, and is hereby
65
declared altogether and forever incapable of holding, exercising, enjoying or
receiving the profits of any office, place or employment, civil or military, within
this Province: And in case any such person shall not be able to pay the penalty and
forfeitures hereby inflicted and imposed, every such person shall be sent to any of
the frontier garrisons of this Province, or committed to the work house in
Charlestown, there to remain for the space of seven years, and to serve or to be
kept at hard labor. And in case the slave murdered shall be the property of any
other person than the offender, the pay usually allowed by the public to the soldiers
of such garrison, or the profits of the labor of the offender, if committed to the
work house in Charlestown, shall be paid to the owner of the slave murdered. And
if any person shall, on a sudden heat or passion, or by undue correction, kill his
own slave, or the slave of any other person, he shall forfeit the sum of three
hundred and fifty pounds, current money. And in case any person or persons shall
willfully cut out the tongue, put out the eye, castrate, or cruelly scald, burn, or
deprive any slave of any limb or member, or shall inflict any other cruel
punishment, other than by whipping or beating with a horse-whip, cow-skin,
switch or small stick, or by putting irons on, or confining or imprisoning such
slave, every such person shall, for every such offence, forfeit the sum of one
hundred pounds, current money.
<sidenote>Slaves to be provided with sufficient clothing and food.</sidenote>
XXXVIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That in case any
person in this Province, who shall be owner, or shall have the care, government or
charge of any slave or slaves, shall deny, neglect or refuse to allow such slave or
slaves, under his or her charge, sufficient cloathing, covering or food, it shall and
may be lawful for any person or persons, on behalf of such slave or slaves, to make
complaint to the next neighboring justice, in the parish where such slave or slaves
live or are usually employed; and if there shall be no justice in the parish, then to
the next justice in the nearest parish; and the said justice shall summons the party
against whom such complaint shall be made, and shall enquire of, hear and
determine the same; and if the said justice shall find the said complaint to be true,
or that such person will not exculpate or clear himself from the charge, by his or
her own oath, which such person shall be at liberty to do, in all cases where
positive proof is not given of the offence, such justice shall and may make such
orders upon the same, for the relief of such slave or slaves, as he in his discretion
shall think fit, and shall and may set and impose a fine or penalty on any person
who shall offend in the premises, in any sum not exceeding twenty pounds, current
money, for each offence, to be levied by warrant of distress and sale of the
offender’s goods, returning the overplus, if any shall be; which penalty shall be
66
paid to the church-wardens of the parish where the offence shall be committed, for
the use of the poor of the said parish.
<sidenote>In case of cruelty to slave, the owner how to be deait with.</sidenote>
XXXIX. And whereas, by reason of the extent and distance of plantations in this
Province, the inhabitants are far removed from each other, and many cruelties may
be committed on slaves, because no white person may be present to give evidence
of the same, unless some method be provided for the better discovery of such
offences; and as slaves are under the government, so they ought to be under the
protection, of masters and managers of plantations; Be it therefore further enacted
by the authority aforesaid, / That if any slave shall suffer in life, limb or member,
or shall be maimed, beaten or abused, contrary to the directions and true intent and
meaning of this Act, when no white person shall be present, or being present, shall
neglect or refuse to give evidence, or be examined upon oath, concerning the same,
in every such case, the owner or other person who shall have the care and
government of such slave, and in whose possession or power such slave shall be,
shall be deemed, taken, reputed and adjudged to be guilty of such offence, and
shall be proceeded against accordingly, without further proof, unless such owner
or other person as aforesaid, can make the contrary appear by good and sufficient
evidence, or shall by his own oath, clear and exculpate himself; which oath, every
court where such offence shall be tried, is hereby empowered to administer, and to
acquit the offender accordingly, if clear proof of the offence be not made by two
witnesses at least; any law, usage or custom to the contrary notwithstanding.
<sidenote>Apparel of slaves regulated.</sidenote>
XL. And whereas, many of the slaves in this Province wear clothes much above
the condition of slaves, for the procuring whereof they use sinister and evil
methods: For the prevention, therefore, of such practices for the future, Be it
enacted by the authority aforesaid, That no owner or proprietor of any negro slave,
or other slave, (except livery men and boys,) shall permit or suffer such negro or
other slave, to have or wear any sort of apparel whatsoever, finer, other, or of
greater value than negro cloth, duffils, kerseys, osnabrigs, blue linen, check linen
or coarse garlix, or callicoes, checked cottons, or Scotch plaids, under the pain of
forfeiting all and every such apparel and garment, that any person shall permit or
suffer his negro or other slave to have or wear, finer, other or of greater value than
negro cloth, duffils, coarse kerseys, osnabrigs, blue linen, check linen or coarse
garlix or callicoes, checked cottons or Scotch plaids, as aforesaid; and all and
every constable and other persons are hereby authorized, empowered and required,
when and as often as they shall find any such negro slave, or other slave, having on
or wearing any sort of garment or apparel whatsoever, finer, other or of greater
value than negro cloth, duffils, coarse kerseys, osnabrigs, blue linen, check linen,
67
or coarse garlix, or calicoes, checked cottons or Scotch plaids, as aforesaid, to
seize and take away the same, to his or their own use, benefit and behoof; any law,
usage or custom to the contrary notwithstanding. Provided always, that if any
owner of any such slave or slaves, shall think the garment or apparel of his said
slave not liable to forfeiture, or to be taken away by virtue of this Act, he may
apply to any neighboring justice of the peace, who is hereby authorized and
empowered to determine any difference or dispute that shall happen thereupon,
according to the true intent and meaning of this Act.
<sidenote>Guns not to be unnecessarily fired in the night time.</sidenote>
XLI. And whereas, an ill custom has prevailed in this Province, of firing guns in
the night time; for the prevention thereof for the future, Be it enacted by the
authority aforesaid, That if any person shall fire or shoot off any gun or pistol in
the night time, after dark and before day-light, without necessity, every such
person shall forfeit the sum of forty shillings, current money, for each gun so fired
as aforesaid, to be recovered by warrant from any one justice of the peace for the
county where the offence is committed, according to the direction of the Act for
the trial of small and mean causes, and shall be paid to the church-wardens of the
parish where the offence shall be committed, for the use of the poor of the said
parish.
<sidenote>Slaves not to rent houses or plantations.</sidenote>
XLII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That no slave or slaves
shall be permitted to rent or hire any house, room, store or / plantation, on his or
her own account, or to be used or occupied by any slave or slaves; and any person
or persons who shall let or hire any house, room, store or plantation, to any slave
or slaves, or to any free person, to be occupied by any slave or slave, every such
person so offending shall forfeit and pay to the informer the sum of twenty pounds,
current money, to be recovered as in the Act for the trial of small and mean causes.
<sidenote>Nor to travel the highways in numbers.</sidenote>
XLIII. And whereas, it may be attended with ill consequences to permit a great
number of slaves to travel together in the high roads without some white person in
company with them; Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, That no
men slaves exceeding seven in number, shall hereafter be permitted to travel
together in any high road in this Province, without some white person with them;
and it shall and may be lawful for any person or persons, who shall see any men
slaves exceeding seven in number, without some white person with them as
aforesaid, travelling or assembled together in any high road, to apprehend all and
every such slaves, and shall and may whip them, not exceeding twenty lashes-on
the bare back.
<sidenote>Nor to he overworked.</sidenote>
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XLIV. And whereas, many owners of slaves, and others who have the care,
management and overseeing of slaves, do confine them so closely to hard labor,
that they have not sufficient time for natural rest; Be it therefore enacted by the
authority aforesaid, That if any owner of slaves, or other person who shall have the
care, management or overseeing of any slaves, shall work or put to labor any such
slave or slaves, more than fifteen hours in four and twenty hours, from the twentyfifth day of March to the twenty-fifth day of September, or more than fourteen
hours in four and twenty hours, from the twenty-fifth day of September to the
twenty-fifth day of March, every such person shall forfeit any sum not exceeding
twenty pounds, nor under five pounds, current money, for every time he, she or
they shall offend herein, at the discretion of the justice before whom such
complaint shall be made.
<sidenote>Nor taught to write.</sidenote>
XLV. And whereas, the having of slaves taught to write, or suffering them to be
employed in writing, may be attended with great inconveniences; Be it therefore
enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all and every person and persons
whatsoever, who shall hereafter teach, or cause any slave or slaves to be taught, to
write, or shall use or employ any slave as a scribe in any manner of writing
whatsoever, hereafter taught to write, every such person and persons, shall, for
every such offence, forfeit the sum of one hundred pounds current money.
<sidenote>No person to keep slaves on a plantation without a white person with
them.</sidenote>
XLVI. And whereas, plantations settled with slaves without any white person
thereon, may be harbours for runaways and fugitive slaves; Be it therefore enacted
by the authority aforesaid, That no person or persons hereafter shall keep any
slaves on any plantation or settlement, without having a white person on such
plantation or settlement, under pain of forfeiting the sum of ten pounds current
money, for every month which any such person shall so keep any slaves on any
plantation or settlement, without a white person as aforesaid.
<sidenote>Reward for apprehending slaves escaped beyond the
Savannah.</sidenote>
XLVII. And whereas, many disobedient and evil minded negroes and other slaves,
being the property of his Majesty’s subjects of this Province, have lately deserted
the service of their owners, and have fled to St. Augustine and other places in
Florida, in hopes of being there received and protected; and whereas, many other
slaves have attempted to follow the same evil and pernicious example, which,
(unless timely prevented,) may tend to the very great loss and prejudice of the
inhabitants of this Province; Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid,
That from and after the / passing of this Act, any white person or persons, free
69
Indian or Indians, who shall, on the south side of Savannah river, take and secure,
and shall from thence bring to the work house in Charlestown, any negroes or
other slaves, which within the space of six months have deserted, or who shall
hereafter desert, from the services of their owners or employers, every such white
person or persons, free Indian or Indians, on evidence of the said slaves being
taken as aforesaid, and the same certified by any two justices of the peace in this
Province, shall be paid by the public treasurer of this Province the several rates and
sums following, as the case shall appear to be; provided always, that nothing in
this clause contained shall extend to such slaves as shall desert from any plantation
situate within thirty miles of the said Savannah river, unless such slaves last
mentioned shall be found on the south side of Altamahaw river; that is to say:– for
each grown man slave brought alive, the sum of fifty pounds; for every grown
woman or boy slave above the above of twelve years brought alive, the sum of
twenty five pounds; for every negro child under the age of twelve years, brought
alive, the sum of five pounds; for every scalp of a grown negro slave, with the two
ears, twenty pounds; and for every negro grown slave, found on the south side of
St. John’s river, and brought alive as aforesaid, the sum of one hundred pounds;
and for every scalp of a grown negro slave with the two ears, taken on the south
side of St. John’s river, the sum of fifty pounds.
<sidenote>How to be paid, &c.</sidenote>
XLVIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the expense of
taking and securing all slaves brought alive as aforesaid, shall be at the charge of
the respective owners; and no such slave or slaves taken on the south side of
Savannah river, and brought to the work house of Charlestown, as aforesaid, shall
be delivered out of the custody of the warden of the said work house, without a
certificate to him first produced, from the public treasurer of this Province, that the
money by him disbursed, for the taking and securing the said slave or slaves, is
fully satisfied to the treasurer, besides the following fees, which the said treasurer
is hereby required to allow, pay and charge for the trouble necessary to be taken
concerning the place and manner of apprehending the said slaves, viz:– to the two
justices who shall examine, take and certify the said evidence, for each slave
brought alive, the sum of forty shillings; and to the treasurer for his trouble in
executing this Act, for each slave brought alive as aforesaid, the sum of twenty
shillings; and to the warden of the work house, the sum of three shillings and nine
pence per diem, for his maintaining the same while in custody. And on the
commitment of any slave or slaves to the custody of the said warden, where the
public treasurer shall, by virtue of this Act, expend any money for apprehending
the same, the said warden is hereby required to advertise in the public gazette of
this Province for the space of three months, the best description he can form of all
70
and every the said slaves, with the place and manner of their being taken; and in
case the owner or employer of the said slave or slaves, shall neglect within that
time, to redeem the said slave or slaves, by fully satisfying the public treasurer the
charges he shall be at, in such manner and proportion as by this Act is directed,
then, and in every such case, the said public treasurer shall be at liberty to dispose
of every such slave or slaves to the best bidder at public auction, which sale shall
be deemed good and effectual, to all intents and purposes, to such person or
persons as shall purchase the same; and the produce of every such slave or slaves,
shall first go towards satisfying the expense of the said public treasurer and warden
of / the work house, for the taking, securing and keeping the said slave or slaves,
as aforesaid; and then the surplus, (if any,) shall be paid to the respective owner or
owners.
<sidenote>Compensation to owners of slaves executed.</sidenote>
XLIX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the
passing of this Act, where any slave or slaves shall be tried and condemned to be
executed for deserting out of this Province, every such slave or slaves shall, before
their execution, be valued by the tryers of the same; and in every such case the
owner or owners of every such slave, shall be paid by the public of this Province,
the full sum and rates at which such executed slave or slaves shall be valued as
aforesaid, without being a charge to any particular owner or owners; any law,
usage or custom to the contrary notwithstanding.
L. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all charge of taking
and bringing in of slaves as aforesaid, shall be defrayed and paid by the public.
<sidenote>Penalty on persons failing to carry this Act into execution.</sidenote>
LI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any constable or
other person, directed or required to do or perform any matter or thing, required
commanded or enjoined by this Act, who shall know or be credibly informed of
any offence which shall be committed against this Act, within his parish, precinct
or limits, and shall not give information thereof to some justice of the peace, and
endeavor the conviction of the offenders according to his duty, but such constable
or other person as aforesaid, or any person lawfully called in aid of the constable
or such other person as aforesaid, shall wilfully and willingly omit the performance
of his duty in the execution of this Act, and shall be thereof convicted, he shall
forfeit for every such offence, the sum of twenty pounds current money. And in
case any justice of the peace, warden of the work house, or freeholder, shall
wilfully or willingly omit the performance of his duty in the execution of this Act,
every such justice of the peace and warden of the work house, shall forfeit the sum
of forty pounds current money; and every such freeholder shall forfeit the sum of
fifteen pounds current money; which several penalties shall be recovered and
71
disposed of as hereafter is directed; and moreover, the judges and justices of the
court of general sessions or the peace, oyer and terminer, assize and general gaol
delivery, are hereby commanded and required to give the offenders against this Act
in charge in open court; and all grand juries, justices of the peace, constables, and
other officers, are hereby required to make due and true presentment of such of the
said offences as come to their knowledge.
<sidenote>Persons sued for putting this Act into execution, may plead the general
issue.</sidenote>
LII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any person shall
be at any time sued for putting in execution any of the powers contained in this
Act, such person shall and may plead the general issue, and give the special matter
and this Act in evidence; and if the plaintiff be nonsuit, or a verdict pass for the
defendant, or if the plaintiff discontinue his action, or enter a noli prosequi, or if
upon demurrer judgment be given for the defendant, every such defendant shall
have his full double costs.
<sidenote>This Act, how to be construed.</sidenote>
LIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That this Act, and all
clauses therein contained, shall be construed most largely and beneficially for the
promoting and carrying into execution this Act, and for the encouragement and
justification of all persons to be employed in the execution thereof; and that no
record, warrant, process or commitment to be made by virtue of this Act, or the
proceedings thereupon, shall be reversed, avoided, or any way impeached, by
reason of any default in form. /
<sidenote>Penalties and forfeitures, how to be recovered and applied.</sidenote>
LIV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all fines, penalties
and forfeitures imposed or inflicted by this Act, which are not hereby particularly
disposed of, or the manner of recovery directed, shall, if not exceeding the value of
twenty pounds current money, be recovered, levied and distrained for, by warrant
from any one justice of the peace, in the county or precinct where such offence
shall be committed, according to the Act for the trial of small and mean causes;
and in case such fine, penalty or forfeiture shall exceed the value of twenty pounds
current money, the same shall be recovered by action of debt, bill, plaint or
information, in any court of record in this Province, wherein no privilege,
protection, essoign, wager of law, or non vult ulterius prosequi, or any more than
one imparlance, shall be admitted or allowed; and all the said fines, penalties and
forfeitures, which shall be recovered by this Act, and are not before particularly
disposed of, shall be applied and disposed of, one half to his majesty, his heirs and
successors, to be applied by the General Assembly for the use of this Province, and
the other half to him or them who will sue or inform for the same.
72
LV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That his Majesty’s part of
the fines, penalties and forfeitures which shall be recovered by virtue of this Act,
shall be paid into the hands of the justices, or in the court where the same shall be
recovered, who shall make a memorial and record of the payment of the same, and
shall, without delay, send a transcript of such memorial or record to the public
treasurer of this Province, from the said courts or justices who shall receive his
Majesty’s part of such fines and forfeitures; which memorial shall be a charge on
the judges or justices respectively to whom the same shall be paid; and the public
treasurer of this Province for the time being, shall and may, and he is hereby
authorized and empowered to, levy and recover the same by warrant of distress,
and sale of the goods and chattels of the said judges or justices respectively, who
shall be charged with the same, in case they or any of them shall neglect or refuse
to make such memorial or record as aforesaid, or send such transcript thereof, as
before directed, or shall neglect or refuse to pay the same over to the treasurer
within twenty days after the receipt of the same; Provided always, that no person
shall be prosecuted for any fine, forfeiture or penalty imposed by this Act, unless
such prosecution shall be commenced within six months after the offence shall be
committed.
<sidenote>The late rebellion.</sidenote>
LVI. And whereas, several negroes did lately rise in rebellion and did commit
many barbarous murders at Stono and other parts adjacent thereto; and whereas, in
suppressing the said rebels, several of them were killed and others taken alive and
executed; and as the exigence and danger the inhabitants at that time were in and
exposed to, would not admit of the formality of a legal trial of such rebellious
negroes, but for their own security, the said inhabitants were obliged to put such
negroes to immediate death; to prevent, therefore, any person or persons being
questioned for any matter or thing done in the suppression or execution of the said
rebellious negroes, as also any litigious suit, action or prosecution that may be
brought; sued or prosecuted or commenced against such person or persons for or
concerning the same; Be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all and every
act, matter and thing, had, done, committed and executed, in and about the
suppressing and putting all and every the said negro and negroes to death, is and
are hereby declared lawful, to all intents and purposes whatsoever, as fully and
amply as if such rebellious negroes had undergone a formal trial / and
condemnation, notwithstanding any want of form or omission whatever in the trial
of such negroes; and any law, usage or custom to the contrary thereof in any wise
notwithstanding.
73
LVII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That this Act shall be
deemed a public Act, and shall be taken notice of without pleading the same before
all judges, justices, magistrates and courts within this Province.
LVIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That this Act shall
continue in force for the space of three years, and from thence to the end of the
next session of the General Assembly, and no longer.
C. PINCKNEY, Speaker.
In the Council Chamber, the 10th day of May, 1740.
Assented to: WM. BULL.
Term 1 Week 3
George Whitefield, Three letters from the Reverend Mr. G. Whitefield: viz.
Letter I. To a friend in London, concerning Archbishop Tillotson. Letter II. To
the same, on the same subject. Letter III. To the inhabitants of Maryland,
Virginia, North and South-Carolina, concerning their Negroes. (Philadelphia :
Printed and sold by B. Franklin, at the new printing-office near the market,
M,DCC,XL. [1740].pp13-16
THREE
LETTERS
FROM THE REVEREND
Mr. G. WHITEFIELD:
VIZ.
LETTER I. To a Friend in London, concerning Archbishop Tillotson.
LETTER II. To the same, on the same Subject.
LETTER III. To the Inhabitants of Maryland, Virginia, North and South-Carolina,
concerning their Negroes.
PHILADELPHIA:
Printed and Sold by B. FRANKLIN, at the New Printing-Office near the Market.
M,DCC,XL. /
LETTER III.
To the Inhabitants of Maryland, Virginia, North and South-Carolina.
AS I lately passed through your Provinces in my Way hither, I was sensible
touched with a Fellow-feeling of the Miseries of the poor Negroes. Could I have
preached more frequently amongst you, I should have delivered my Thoughts in
my publick Discourses; but as my Business here required me to stop as little as
possible on the Road, I have no other Way to discharge the Concern which at
present lies upon my Heart, than by sending you this Letter: How you will receive
it I know not; whether you will accept it in Love, or be offended with me, as the
74
Master of the Damsel was with Paul, for casting the Evil Spirit out of her, when he
saw the Hope of his Gain was gone; I am uncertain. Whatever be the Event, I must
inform you in the Meekness and Gentleness of Christ, that I think God has a
Quarrel with you for your Abuse of and Cruelty to the poor Negroes. Whether it be
lawful for Christians to buy Slaves, and thereby encourage the Nations from whom
they are bought, to be at perpetual War with each other, I shall not take upon me to
determine; sure I am, it is sinful, when bought, to use them as bad, nay worse, than
as though they were Brutes; and whatever particular Exceptions there may be (as I
would charitably hope there are some) I fear the Generality of you that own
Negroes, are liable to such a Charge; for your Slaves, I believe, work as hard if not
harder than the Horses whereon you ride.
These, after they have done their Work, are fed and taken proper Care of; but many
Negroes when wearied with Labour in your Plantations, have been obliged to grind
their own Corn after they return home.
Your Dogs are cares’d and fondled at your Tables: But your Slaves, who are
frequently stiled Dogs or Beasts, have not an equal Privilege. They are scarce
permitted to pick up the Crumbs which fall from their Masters Tables. Nay, some,
as I have been informed by an Eye-Witness, have been, upon the most trifling
Provocation, cut with Knives, and had Forks thrown into their Flesh – Not to
mention what Numbers have been given up to the inhuman Usage of cruel Task
Masters, who by their unrelenting Scourges have ploughed upon their Backs, and
made long Furrows, and at length brought them even to Death itself.
It’s true, I hope there are but few such Monsters of Barbarity suffered to subsist
amongst you. Some, I hear, have been lately executed in Virginia for killing
Slaves, and the Laws are very severe against such who at any Time murder them.
And perhaps it might be better for the poor Creatures themselves, to be hurried out
of Life, than to be made so miserable, as they generally / in it. And indeed,
considering what Usage they commonly meet with, I have wondered, that we have
not more Instances of Self-Murder among the Negroes, or that they have not more
frequently rose up in Arms against their Owners. Virginia has once, and
Charlestown more than once been threatned in this Way.
And tho’ I heartily pray God they may never be permitted to get the upper Hand;
yet should such a Thing be permitted by Providence, all good Men must
acknowlege the judgment would be just. – For is it not the highest Ingratitude, as
well as Cruelty, not to let your poor Slaves enjoy some Fruits of their Labour?
When, passing along, I have viewed your Plantations cleared and cultivated, many
spacious Houses built, and the Owners of them faring sumptuously every Day, my
Blood has frequently almost run cold within me, to consider how many of your
Slaves had neither convenient Food to eat or proper Raiment to put on,
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notwithstanding most of the Comforts you enjoy were solely owing to their
indefatigable Labours. – The Scripture says, Thou shalt not muzzle the Ox that
treadeth out the Corn. Does God take Care of Oxen? And will he not take care of
the Negroes also? Undoubtedly he will. – Go to now, ye rich Men, weep and howl
for your Miseries that shall come upon you! Behold the Provision of the poor
Negroes, which have reaped down your Fields, which is by you denied them,
crieth; and the Cries of them which reaped, are entered into the Ears of the Lord of
Sabaoth! We have a remarkable Instance of God’s taking cognizance of, and
avenging the Quarrel of poor Slaves, 2 Sam. 21.1. Then there was a Famine in the
Days of David, three Years, Year after Year; and David enquired of the Lord. And
the Lord answered, it is for Saul and his bloody house, because he slew the
Gibeonites.’ – Two Things are here very remarkable. – First, that these Gibeonites
were only Hewers of Wood and Drawers of Water, or in other Words, Slaves like
yours. Secondly, That this Plague was sent by God many Years after the Injury, the
Cause of the Plague, was committed. – And for what End was this and such like
Examples recorded in Holy Scripture? Without doubt, for our Learning, upon
whom the Ends of the World are come – For God is the same to Day as he was
Yesterday, and will continue the same forever. He does not reject the Prayer of the
poor and destitute, nor disregard the Cry of the meanest Negroes! The Blood of
them spilt for these many Years in your respective Provinces, will ascend up to
Heaven against you. I wish I could say, it would speak better Things than the
Blood of Abel. But this is not all – Enslaving or misusing their Bodies would,
comparatively speaking, be an inconsiderable Evil, was proper Care taken of their
Souls. But I have great reason to believe, that most of you, on Purpose, keep your
Negroes ignorant of Christianity; or otherwise, why are they permitted thro’ your
Provinces, openly to prophane the Lord’s Day, by their Dancing, Piping and such
like? I know the general Pretence for this Neglect of their / Souls is, That teaching
them Christianity would make them proud and consequently unwilling to submit to
Slavery: But what a dreadful Reflection is this on your Holy Religion? What
blasphemous Notions must those that make such an Objection have of the Precepts
of Christianity? Do you find any one Command in the Gospel, that has the least
Tendency to make People forget their relative Duties? Do you not read that
Servants, and as many as are under the Yoke of Bondage, are required to be
subject, in all lawful Things, to their Masters; and that not only to the good and
gentle, but also to the forward? Nay, may I not appeal to your own Hearts, whether
deviating from the Laws of Jesus Christ, is not the Cause of all the Evils and
Miseries Mankind now universally groan under, and of all the Vices we find both
in ourselves and others? Certainly it is. – And therefore, the Reason why Servants
generally prove so bad is, because so little Care is taken to breed them up in the
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Nurture and Admonition of the Lord. – But some will be so bold perhaps as to
reply, That a few of the Negroes have been taught Christianity, and,
notwithstanding, have been remarkably worse than others. But what Christianity
were they taught? They were baptized and taught to read and write: and this they
may do, and much more, and and yet be far from the Kingdom of God; for there is
a vast Difference between civilizing and christianizing an Negroe. A Black as well
as a white Man may be civilized by outward Restraints, and afterwards break thro’
those Restraints again. But I challenge the whole World to produce a single
Instance of a Negroe’s being made a thorough Christian, and thereby made a worse
Servant. It cannot be. – But farther, if teaching Slaves Christianity has such a bad
Influence upon their Lives, why are you generally desirous of having your
Children taught? Think you they are any way better by Nature than the poor
Negroes? No, in no wise. Blacks are just as much, and no more, conceived and
born in Sin, as White Men are. Both, if born and bred up here, I am persuaded, are
naturally capable of the same Improvement. – And as for the grown Negroes, I am
apt to think, whenever the Gospel is preach’d with Power amongst them, that many
will be brought effectually home to God. Your present and past bad Usage of them,
however ill-designed, may thus far do them good, as to break their Wills, increase
the Sense of their natural Misery, and consequently better dispose their Minds to
accept the Redemption wrought out for them, by the Death and Obedience of Jesus
Christ. God has, not long since, been pleased to make some of the Negroes in NewEngland, Vessels of Mercy; and some of them, I hear, have been brought to cry
out, What shall we do to be saved? in the Province of Pennsylvania. Doubtless
there is a Time, when the Fullness of the Gentiles will come in: And then I believe,
if not before, these despised Slaves will find the Gospel of Christ to be the Power
of God to their Salvation, as well as we. – But I know all Arguments to prove the
Necessity of taking Care of your Negroes / Souls, though never so conclusive, will
prove ineffectual, till you are convinced of the Necessity of securing the Salvation
of your own. That you yourselves are not effectually convinced of this, I think is
too notorious to want Evidence. – A general Deadness as to divine Things, and not
to say a general Profaneness, is discernible both in Pastors and People.
Most of you are without any teaching Priest. – And whatever Quantity of Rum
there may be, yet I fear but very few Bibles are annually imported into your
different Provinces. – God has already began to visit for this as well as other
wicked Things. – For near this two Years last past, he has been in a remarkable
Manner contending with the People of South-Carolina. Their Houses have been
depopulated with the Small Pox and Fever, and their own Slaves have rose up in
Arms against them. – These Judgments are undoubtedly sent abroad, not only that
the Inhabitants of that, but of other Provinces, should learn Righteousness: And
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unless you all repent, you all must in like Manner expect to perish. – God first
generally corrects us with Whips; if that will not do, he must chastize us with
Scorpions. – A foreign Enemy is now threatning to invade you, and nothing will
more provoke God, to give you up as a Prey into their Teeth, than Impenitence and
Unbelief, – Let these be removed, and the Sons of Violence shall not be able to
hurt you:– No; your Oxen shall be strong to labour; there shall be no Decay of you
People by epidemical Sickness; no leading away into Captivity from abroad, and
no Complaining in your Streets at Home:– Your son shall grow up as young
Plants, and your Daughters be as the polished Corners of the Temple; and to sum
up all Blessings in one, – Then shall the LORD be your GOD. – That you may be
the People who are in such a happy Cafe, is the earnest Prayer of
Your Sincere Well-Wisher and Servant in Christ,
Savannah, Jan. 23, 1739,40. G. WHITEFIELD. /
Alexander Garden, Six letters to the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield. …The sixth,
containing remarks on Mr. Whitefield's second letter, concerning Archbishop
Tillotson, and on his letter concerning the Negroes. (Boston: Re-printed, and
sold by T. Fleet, at the Heart and Crown in Cornhill, 1740. ) pp 50-54
I should here put an End to this Trouble, but as your Letter to the Inhabitants of
Maryland, &c. is annexed this I have now remark’d upon, I shall take leave to subjoin a few Remarks on that valuable Performance.
In my humble Opinion, Sir, had you caused another Edition to be printed at
Philadelphia, of the Bishop of London’s Letter to the Masters and Mistresses of
Slaves in these Parts, and dispersed the Copies on your Way, as you came through
the several Provinces, you had done much more effectual Service, than by the
Publication of your own. But if you knew of any such Letter of his Lordship’s
being extant, I suppose you’ll plead a special Call for the Publication of your own,
and that answers all Objections.
You must inform them (the Inhabitants of Maryland, &c) you say, in the Meekness
and Gentleness of Christ, &c. the Invective is so apparent throughout this notable
Epistle that these can only be taken for some Cent-Terms you accustom yourself to
in all your Scriblings. But what is it you MUST thus inform them of? Why, that
you THINK God has a Quarrel with them, &c. Had God sent you charged with this
special Message you might well say, that you MUST inform them of it; but as ’tis
only a Matter of your own Thoughts, the Necessity does not so well appear / Your
Thoughts in the Case may possibly be idle or ill grounded, and so better kept at
Home. But God, you THINK has a Quarrel with them, and for their Abuse of and
Cruelty to the poor Negroes. That God will have a Quarrel with any of the Human
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Race, for their Abuse and Cruelty to others, is a very just Thought; and sinful out
of all Doubt it is, for any of those Inhabitants to use their Negroes as bad, nay
worse, than as though they were Brutes. But pray, Sir, on what Grounds do you
bring this Charge against the Generality of those Inhabitants who own Negroes, of
using them as bad, nay worse, than as tho’ they were Brutes? Do you know this
Charge be just and honest? Or have you sufficient Evidence to suppport it? No;
you only think it to be so, and fear it, and believe it. But on the contrary, I shall
presume, and on much better Grounds, to think, fear, and believe, that your Charge
is false and injurious! and that the very Reverse of it is true, viz. that what
particular Exceptions soever there may be as to good Usage of Slaves (as some
doubtless there are) yet that the Generality of Owners use their Slaves with all due
Humanity, whether in respect of Work, of Food, or Raiment. And therefore I
farther think and believe, that the Generality of Owners of Slaves in the
resppective Colonies, may bring their Actions of Slander against you; and that in a
certain Country I know, you would be indicated for meddling, as you have done in
this Matter, which may endanger the Peace and Safety of the community.
Hitherto we have only your Thoughts, your Fears, and your Belief, on the Matter;
you advance a pace into positive Assertions. And perhaps, you say, it might be
better for the poor Creatures themselves to be hurried out of Life, than to be made
so miserable, as they generally are / in it. And indeed, considering what Usage
they commonly meet with, &c. – I suppress the remainder of this and the next
following Paragraph of your Epistle, as judging it both sinful, and dangerous to
the publick Safety to reprint them. More Virulence and Falsehood cannot be
contained in so few Lines. For so far are the genereality of Slaves in these
Colonies, from being miserable that I dare confidently vouch and affirm, and partly
on my own Knowledge, that their Lives in general are more happy and comfortable
in all temporal Respects (the Point of Liberty only excepted) than the Lives of
three fourths of the hired farming Servants, and Day Labourers either in Scotland,
Ireland, or even many Parts of England, who not only labour barder, and fare
worse, but have moreover the Care and Concern on their Minds how to provide for
their Families; which Slaves are entirely exempted from, their Children being all
provideded for at the Owner’s Charge.
Now, Sir, if this be really the Case with respect to the generality of Slaves in these
Colonies, which can fully be proved it is; what Apology can suffice either for the
Matter or Manner of your Letter, specially the two modest Paragraphs above
mentioned? Will you plead Hearsay or Report? Alas, Sir, this Plea will never do! I
have heard by Report, of your Abuse and Cruelty to the poor Orphans under your
Care; not only in Pinching their Bellies, but giving them up also to Task-Masters
or Mistresses, who plow upon their Backs, and make long Furrows in a very
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inhuman Manner. And would you think it a fair and honest Thing in me, should I,
on such Hearsay or Report, print and publish a Letter directed to you, pretending a
Necessity of informing you that God had a Quarrel with you; for your Cruelty to
the / poor Orphans; – that perhaps they had better be hurried out of Life, than be
made so miserable as they are in it; – and that I wondered, they did not either put
an End to their own Lives or Yours, rather than bear such Usage: Would you
think this, I say, a fair and honest Proceeding in me, and not rather foul and
injurious, and having no good Meaning, either towards yourself or the Orphans?
And tho’ it came prefaced in the Meekness and Gentleness of Christ, would you
not regard it rather as a Burlesque of the Words? No, Sir, I know there must be a
due Discipline, or Rod of Correction exercis’d among Children; and this may be,
and often is misrepresented for Cruelty and bad Usage. I know also, that like
Discipline and Correction must be observed among every Parcel of Slaves; and
which in like Manner, may be, and often is misrepresented in the same Light: And
therefore no such Reports, in either Case, can justify a direct Accusation.
As to the little or no proper Care taken by Owners of the Souls of their Slaves, it is
too sad a Truth; and I tremble to think, what Account they will give of it at the
great Day! A fore Evil indeed! But for which, your Letter, I conceive, will afford
but a poor Remedy. I cannot think so ill of any, as you do of most of them, viz. that
on Purpose, they keep their Slaves ignorant of Christianity. I believe the Reason of
their being so kept, is the want of one certain uniform Method of teaching them,
and which I hope will soon be established with Success. I readily agree, that the
Objection to teaching them Christianity, viz. that it would tend to make them less
governable, or worse Slaves, is wild and extravagant: But wish you had a little
explained, what you mean by the Phrases, Christianizing; – and MADE thorough /
Christians; – and the Gospel preach’d with Power; – whether, by these Phrases,
you mean Things in the Power of Men? For sure I am, that Paul may plant, and
Apollos may water, but God alone can give the Encrease. Men may teach true
Christianity, but no Man can MAKE a true Christian.
Your Complement on Pastors and People, and apprehended Difference ’twixt the
Importation of Rum and Bibles, are no Exceptions to the usual Stile, Modesty, or
Manners of your Epistles, and particularly of this under Consideration, which I
have now done with, and remain,
Sir,
Charlestown, July
30th. 1740.
Your very humble Servant,
Alex. Garden /
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Term 1 Week 4
Declaration of the Inhabitants of St Andrew's Parish, Georgia, Jan 12 th 1775
'To show the world that we are not influenced by any contracted or interested
motives, but a general philanthropy for all mankind, of whatever climate, language,
or complexion, we hereby declare our disapprobation and abhorrence of the
unnatural practice of slavery in America (however, the uncultivated state of our
country, or other specious argument may plead for it) a practice founded in
injustice and cruelty, and highly dangerous to our liberties (as well as lives)
debasing part of our fellow creatures below men, and corrupting the virtue and
morals of the rest, and is laying the basis of that liberty we contend for( and which
we pray the Almighty to continue to the latest prosperity) upon a very wrong
foundation. We therefore resolve, at all times to use our utmost endeavours for the
manumission of our slaves in this colony, for the most sage and equitable footing
for the masters and themselves.'
Source: Allen D. Candler, ed., The revolutionary records of the state of Georgia
(Atlanta, 1908), I, 41-2.
Governor Dunmore's Proclamtion
By his Excellency the Right Honourable JOHN Earl of DUNMORE, his Majesty's
Lieutenant and Governour-General of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia , and
Vice-Admiral of the same:
A P R O C L A M A T I O N.
AS I have ever entertained Hopes that an Accommodation might have taken Place
between Great Britain and this Colony, without being compelled, by my Duty, to
this most disagreeable, but now absolutely necessary Step, rendered so by a Body
of armed Men, unlawfully assembled, firing on his Majesty's Tenders, and the
Formation of an Army, and that Army now on their March to attack his Majesty's
Troops, and destroy the well-disposed Subjects of this Colony: To defeat such
treasonable Purposes, and that all such Traitors, and their Abetters, may be brought
to Justice, and that the Peace and good Order of this Colony may be again restored,
which the ordinary Course of the civil Law is unable to effect, I have sought fit to
issue this my Proclamation, hereby declaring, that until the aforesaid good
Purposes can be attained, I do, in Virtue of the Power and Authority to me given,
by his Majesty, determine to execute martial Law, and cause the same to be
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executed throughout this Colony; and to the End that Peace and good Order may
the sooner be restored, I do require every Person capable of bearing Arms to resort
to his Majesty's S T A N D A R D, or be looked upon as Traitors to his Majesty's
Crown and Government, and thereby become liable to the Penalty of the Law
inflicts upon such Offenses, such a Forfiture of Life, Confiscation of Lands, &c.
&c. And I do hereby farther declare to all indented Servants, Negroes, or others
(appertaining to Rebels) free, that are able and willing to bear Arms, they joining
his Majesty's Troops, as soon as may be, for the more speedily reducing this
Colony to a proper Sense of their Duty, to his Majesty's Crown and Dignity. I do
further order, and require, all his Majesty's liege Subjects to retain their Quitrents,
or any other Taxes due, or that may become due, in their own Custody, till such
Time and Peace may be again restored to this at present most unhappy Country, or
demanded of them for their former Salutary Purposes, by Officers properly
authorised to receive the same.
DUNMORE (GOD save the KING.)
Response of the Virginia Assembly to Dunmore.
Virginia, Dec. 14, 1775.
By the Representatives of the People of the Colony and Dominion of VIRGINIA,
assembled in GENERAL CONVENTION
A DECLARATION
WHEREAS lord Dunmore, by his proclamation, dated on board the ship William,
off Norfolk, the 7th day of November 1775, hath offered freedom to such ablebodied slaves as are willing to join him, and take up arms, against the good people
of this colony, giving thereby encouragement to a general insurrection, which may
induce a necessity of inflicting the severest punishments upon those unhappy
people, already deluded by his base and insidious arts; and whereas, by an act of
the General Assembly now in force in this colony, it is enacted, that all negro or
other slaves, conspiring to rebel or make insurrection, shall suffer death, and be
excluded all benefit of clergy : We think it proper to declare, that all slaves who
have been, or shall be seduced, by his lordship's proclamation, or other arts, to
desert their masters' service, and take up arms against the inhabitants of this
colony,
shall be liable to such punishment as shall hereafter be directed by the
General Convention. And to that end all such, who have taken this unlawful and
wicked step, may return in safety to their duty, and escape the punishment due to
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their crimes, we hereby promise pardon to them, they surrendering themselves to
Col. William Woodford, or any other commander of our troops, and not appearing
in arms after the publication hereof. And we do farther earnestly recommend it to
all humane and benevolent persons in this colony to explain and make known this
our offer of mercy to those unfortunate people.
EDMUND PENDLETON, president.
Thomas Jefferson’s views on race and slavery
To emancipate all slaves born after passing the act. The bill reported by the
revisors does not itself contain this proposition; but an amendment containing it
was prepared, to be offered to the legislature whenever the bill should be taken up,
and further directing, that they should continue with their parents to a certain age,
then be brought up, at the public expense, to tillage, arts or sciences, according to
their geniuses, till the females should be eighteen, and the males twenty-one years
of age, when they should be colonized to such place as the circumstances of the
time should render most proper, sending them out with arms, implements of
household and of the handicraft arts, feeds, pairs of the useful domestic animals,
&c. to declare them a free and independent people, and extend to them our alliance
and protection, till they shall have acquired strength; and to send vessels at the
same time to other parts of the world for an equal number of white inhabitants; to
induce whom to migrate hither, proper encouragements were to be proposed. It
will probably be asked, Why not retain and incorporate the blacks into the state,
and thus save the expense of supplying, by importation of white settlers, the
vacancies they will leave? Deep rooted prejudices entertained by the whites; ten
thousand recollections, by the blacks, of the injuries they have sustained; new
provocations; the real distinctions which nature has made; and many other
circumstances, will divide us into parties, and produce convulsions which will
probably never end but in the extermination of the one or the other race.
To these objections, which are political, may be added others, which are physical
and moral. The first difference which strikes us is that of colour. Whether the
black of the negro resides in the reticular membrane between the skin and scarfskin, or in the scarf-skin itself; whether it proceeds from the colour of the blood,
the colour of the bile, or from that of some other secretion, the difference is fixed
in nature, and is as real as if its seat and cause were better known to us. And is this
difference of no importance? Is it not the foundation of a greater or less share of
beauty in the two races? Are not the fine mixtures of red and white, the
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expressions of every passion by greater or less suffusions of colour in the one,
preferable to that eternal monotony, which reigns in the countenances, that
immoveable veil of black which covers all the emotions of the other race? Add to
these, flowing hair, a more elegant symmetry of form, their own judgment in
favour of the whites, declared by their preference of them, as uniformly as is the
preference of the Oranootan for the black women over those of his own species.
The circumstance of superior beauty, is thought worthy attention in the
propagation of our horses, dogs, and other domestic animals; why not in that of
man? Besides those of colour, figure, and hair, there are other physical
distinctions proving a difference of race. They have less hair on the face and body.
They secrete less by the kidnies, and more by the glands of the skin, which gives
them a very strong and disagreeable odour. This greater degree of transpiration
renders them more tolerant of heat, and less so of cold, than the whites. Perhaps
too a difference of structure in the pulmonary apparatus, which a late ingenious
experimentalist has discovered to be the principal regulator of animal heat, may
have disabled them from extricating, in the act of inspiration, so much of that fluid
from the outer air, or obliged them in expiration, to part with more of it. They
seem to require less sleep. A black, after hard labour through the day, will be
induced by the slightest amusements to sit up till midnight, or later, though
knowing he must be out with the first dawn of the morning. They are at least as
brave, and more adventuresome. But this may perhaps proceed from a want of
forethought, which prevents their seeing a danger till it be present. When present,
they do not go through it with more coolness or steadiness than the whites. They
are more ardent after their female: but love seems with them to be more an eager
desire, than a tender delicate mixture of sentiment and sensation. Their griefs are
transient. Those numberless afflictions, which render it doubtful whether heaven
has given life to us in mercy or in wrath, are less felt, and sooner forgotten with
them. In general, their existence appears to participate more of sensation than
reflection. To this must be ascribed their disposition to sleep when abstracted from
their diversions, and unemployed in labour. An animal whose body is at rest, and
who does not reflect, must be disposed to sleep of course. Comparing them by
their faculties of memory, reason, and imagination, it appears to me, that in
memory they are equal to the whites; in reason much inferior, as I think one could
scarcely be found capable of tracing and comprehending the investigations of
Euclid; and that in imagination they are dull, tasteless, and anomalous. It would be
unfair to follow them to Africa for this investigation. We will consider them here,
on the same stage with the whites, and where the facts are not apocryphal on which
a judgment is to be formed. It will be right to make great allowances for the
difference of condition, of education, of conversation, of the sphere in which they
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move. Many millions of them have been brought to, and born in America. Most
of them indeed have been confined to tillage, to their own homes, and their own
society: yet many have been so situated, that they might have availed themselves of
the conversation of their masters; many have been brought up to the handicraft
arts, and from that circumstance have always been associated with the whites.
Some have been liberally educated, and all have lived in countries where the arts
and sciences are cultivated to a considerable degree, and have had before their eyes
samples of the best works from abroad. The Indians, with no advantages of this
kind, will often carve figures on their pipes not destitute of design and merit. They
will crayon out an animal, a plant, or a country, so as to prove the existence of a
germ in their minds which only wants cultivation. They astonish you with strokes
of the most sublime oratory; such as prove their reason and sentiment strong, their
imagination glowing and elevated. But never yet could I find that a black had
uttered a thought above the level of plain narration; never see even an elementary
trait of painting or sculpture. In music they are more generally gifted than the
whites with accurate ears for tune and time, and they have been found capable of
imagining a small catch. Whether they will be equal to the composition of a more
extensive run of melody, or of complicated harmony, is yet to be proved. Misery is
often the parent of the most affecting touches in poetry. –
Among the blacks is misery enough, God knows, but no poetry. Love is the
peculiar oestrum of the poet. Their love is ardent, but it kindles the senses only,
not the imagination. Religion indeed has produced a Phyllis Whately; but it could
not produce a poet. The compositions published under her name are below the
dignity of criticism. The heroes of the Dunciad are to her, as Hercules to the
author of that poem. Ignatius Sancho has approached nearer to merit in
composition; yet his letters do more honour to the heart than the head. They
breathe the purest effusions of friendship and general philanthropy, and shew how
great a degree of the latter may be compounded with strong religious zeal. He is
often happy in the turn of his compliments, and his stile is easy and familiar,
except when he affects a Shandean fabrication of words. But his imagination is
wild and extravagant, escapes incessantly from every restraint of reason and taste,
and, in the course of its vagaries, leaves a tract of thought as incoherent and
eccentric, as is the course of a meteor through the sky. His subjects should often
have led him to a process of sober reasoning: yet we find him always substituting
sentiment for demonstration. Upon the whole, though we admit him to the first
place among those of his own colour who have presented themselves to the public
judgment, yet when we compare him with the writers of the race among whom he
lived, and particularly with the epistolary class, in which he has taken his own
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stand, we are compelled to enroll him at the bottom of the column. This criticism
supposes the letters published under his name to be genuine, and to have received
amendment from no other hand; points which would not be of easy investigation.
The improvement of the blacks in body and mind, in the first instance of their
mixture with the whites, has been observed by every one, and proves that their
inferiority is not the effect merely of their condition of life. We know that among
the Romans, about the Augustan age especially, the condition of their slaves was
much more deplorable than that of the blacks on the continent of America. The
two sexes were confined in separate apartments, because to raise a child cost the
master more than to buy one. Cato, for a very restricted indulgence to his slaves in
this particular, took from them a certain price. But in this country the slaves
multiply as fast as the free inhabitants. Their situation and manners place the
commerce between the two sexes almost without restraint.
The same Cato, on a principle of economy, always sold his sick and superannuated
slaves. He gives it as a standing precept to a master visiting his farm, to sell his
old oxen, old waggons, old tools, old and diseased servants, and every thing else
become useless. `Vendat boves vetulos, plaustrum vetus, ferramenta vetera,
servum senem, servum morbosum, & si quid aliud supersit vendat.' Cato de re
rustica. c. 2. The American slaves cannot enumerate this among the injuries and
insults they receive. It was the common practice to expose in the island of
Aesculapius, in the Tyber, diseased slaves, whose cure was like to become tedious.
The Emperor Claudius, by an edict, gave freedom to such of them as should
recover, and first declared, that if any person chose to kill rather than to expose
them, it should be deemed homicide. The exposing them is a crime of which no
instance has existed with us; and were it to be followed by death, it would be
punished capitally. We are told of a certain Vedius Pollio, who, in the presence of
Augustus, would have given a slave as food to his fish, for having broken a glass.
With the Romans, the regular method of taking the evidence of their slaves was
under torture. Here it has been thought better never to resort to their evidence.
When a master was murdered, all his slaves, in the same house, or within hearing,
were condemned to death. Here punishment falls on the guilty only, and as precise
proof is required against him as against a freeman. Yet notwithstanding these and
other discouraging circumstances among the Romans, their slaves were often their
rarest artists. They excelled too in science, insomuch as to be usually employed as
tutors to their master's children. Epictetus, Terence, and Phaedrus, were slaves.
But they were of the race of whites. It is not their condition then, but nature,
which has produced the distinction. -- Whether further observation will or will not
verify the conjecture, that nature has been less bountiful to them in the
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endowments of the head, I believe that in those of the heart she will be found to
have done them justice. That disposition to theft with which they have been
branded, must be ascribed to their situation, and not to any depravity of the moral
sense. The man, in whose favour no laws of property exist, probably feels himself
less bound to respect those made in favour of others. When arguing for ourselves,
we lay it down as a fundamental, that laws, to be just, must give a reciprocation of
right: that, without this, they are mere arbitrary rules of conduct, founded in force,
and not in conscience: and it is a problem which I give to the master to solve,
whether the religious precepts against the violation of property were not framed for
him as well as his slave? And whether the slave may not as justifiably take a little
from one, who has taken all from him, as he may slay one who would slay him?
That a change in the relations in which a man is placed should change his ideas of
moral right and wrong, is neither new, nor peculiar to the colour of the blacks.
Homer tells us it was so 2600 years ago, ‘Jove fix'd it certain, that whatever day;
Makes man a slave, takes half his worth away.’But the slaves of which Homer
speaks were whites. Notwithstanding these considerations which must weaken
their respect for the laws of property, we find among them numerous instances of
the most rigid integrity, and as many as among their better instructed masters, of
benevolence, gratitude, and unshaken fidelity.
The opinion, that they are inferior in the faculties of reason and imagination, must
be hazarded with great diffidence. To justify a general conclusion, requires many
observations, even where the subject may be submitted to the Anatomical knife, to
Optical glasses, to analysis by fire, or by solvents. How much more then where it
is a faculty, not a substance, we are examining; where it eludes the research of all
the senses; where the conditions of its existence are various and variously
combined; where the effects of those which are present or absent bid defiance to
calculation; let me add too, as a circumstance of great tenderness, where our
conclusion would degrade a whole race of men from the rank in the scale of beings
which their Creator may perhaps have given them. To our reproach it must be
said, that though for a century and a half we have had under our eyes the races of
black and of red men, they have never yet been viewed by us as subjects of natural
history. I advance it therefore as a suspicion only, that the blacks, whether
originally a distinct race, or made distinct by time and circumstances, are inferior
to the whites in the endowments both of body and mind. It is not against
experience to suppose, that different species of the same genus, or varieties of the
same species, may possess different qualifications. Will not a lover of natural
history then, one who views the gradations in all the races of animals with the eye
of philosophy, excuse an effort to keep those in the department of man as distinct
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as nature has formed them? This unfortunate difference of colour, and perhaps of
faculty, is a powerful obstacle to the emancipation of these people. Many of their
advocates, while they wish to vindicate the liberty of human nature, are anxious
also to preserve its dignity and beauty. Some of these, embarrassed by the
question `What further is to be done with them?' join themselves in opposition
with those who are actuated by sordid avarice only. Among the Romans
emancipation required but one effort. The slave, when made free, might mix with,
without staining the blood of his master. But with us a second is necessary,
unknown to history. When freed, he is to be removed beyond the reach of mixture.
Thomas Jefferson, Notes On The State Of Virginia (London, 1787) Extract from
Ch 14.
Term 1 Week 5
Slaves' experience of the internal slave trade
Ball: CHAPTER I.
SEPARATED FROM MY MOTHER.
My story is a true one, and I shall tell it in a simple style. It will be merely a
recital of my life as a slave in the Southern States of the Union - a description of
negro slavery in the "model Republic."
My grandfather was brought from Africa and sold as a slave in Calvert
county, in Maryland. I never understood the name of the ship in which he was
imported, nor the name of the planter who bought him on his arrival, but at the
time I knew him he was a slave in a family called Maud, who resided near
Leonardtown. My father was a slave in a family named Hauty, living near the
same place. My mother was the slave of a tobacco planter, who died when I was
about four years old. My mother had several children, and they were sold upon
master's death to separate purchasers. She was sold, my father told me, to a
Georgia trader. I, of all her children, was the only one left in Maryland. When sold
I was naked, never having had on clothes in my life, but my new master gave me
a child's frock, belonging to one of his own children. After he had purchased me,
he dressed me in this garment, took me before him on his horse, and started
home; but my poor mother, when she saw me leaving her for the last time, ran
after me, took me down from the horse, clasped me in her arms, and wept loudly
and bitterly over me. My master seemed to pity her; and endeavored to soothe her
distress by telling her that he would be a good master to me, and that I should not
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want anything. She then, still holding me in her arms, walked along the road
beside the horse as he moved slowly, and earnestly and imploringly besought my
master to buy her and the rest of her children, and not permit them to be carried
away by the negro buyers; but whilst thus entreating him to save her and her
family, the slave-driver, who had first bought her, came running in pursuit of her
with a raw-hide in his hand. When he overtook us, he told her he was her master
now, and ordered her to give that little negro to its owner, and come back with
him.
My mother then turned to him and cried, "Oh, master, do not take me from
my child!" Without making any reply, he gave her two or three heavy blows on
the shoulders with his raw-hide, snatched me from her arms, handed me to my
master, and seizing her by one arm, dragged her back towards the place of sale.
My master then quickened the pace of his horse; and as we advanced, the cries of
my poor parent became more and more indistinct - at length they died away in the
distance, and I never again heard the voice of my poor mother. Young as I was,
the horrors of that day sank deeply into my heart, and even at this time, though
half a century has elapsed, the terrors of the scene return with painful vividness
upon my memory. Frightened at the sight of the cruelties inflicted upon my poor
mother, I forgot my own sorrows at parting from her and clung to my new master,
as an angel and a saviour, when compared with the hardened fiend into whose
power she had fallen. She had been a kind and good mother to me; had warmed
me in her bosom in the cold nights of winter; and had often divided the scanty
pittance of food allowed her by her mistress, between my brothers, and sisters,
and me, and gone supperless to bed herself. Whatever victuals she could obtain
beyond the coarse food, salt fish and corn bread, allowed to slaves on the Patuxent
and Potomac rivers, she carefully, distributed among her children, and treated us
with all the tenderness which her own miserable condition would permit. I have
no doubt that she was chained and driven to Carolina, and toiled out the residue of
a forlorn and famished existence in the rice swamps, or indigo fields of the South.
My father never recovered from the effects of the shock, which this sudden
and overwhelming ruin of his family gave him. He had formerly been of a gay,
social temper, and when he came to see us on a Saturday night, he always brought
us some little present, such as the means of a poor slave would allow - apples,
melons, sweet potatoes, or, if he could procure nothing else, a little parched corn,
which tasted better in our cabin, because he had brought it.
He spent the greater part of the time, which his master permitted him to pass
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with us, in relating such stories as he had learned from his companions, or in
singing the rude songs common amongst the slaves of Maryland and Virginia.
After this time I never heard him laugh heartily, or sing a song. He became
gloomy and morose in his temper, to all but me; and spent nearly all his leisure
time with my grandfather, who claimed kindred with some royal family in Africa,
and had been a great warrior in his native country. The master of my father was a
hard, penurious man, and so exceedingly avaricious, that he scarcely allowed
himself the common conveniences of life. A stranger to sensibility, he was
incapable of tracing the change in the temper and deportment of my father, to its
true cause; but attributed it to a sullen discontent with his condition as a slave, and
a desire to abandon his service, and seek his liberty by escaping to some of the
free States. To prevent the perpetration of this suspected crime of running away
from slavery , the old man resolved to sell my father to a southern slave-dealer,
and accordingly applied to one of those men, who was at that time in Calvert, to
become the purchaser. The price was agreed on, but, as my father was a very
strong active, and resolute man, it was deemed unsafe for the Georgian to attempt
to seize him, even with the aid of others, in the day-time, when he was at work, as
it was known he carried upon his person a large knife. It was therefore determined
to secure him by stratagem, and for this purpose, a farmer in the neighborhood,
who was made privy to the plan, alleged that he had lost a pig, which must have
been stolen by some one, and that he suspected my father to be the thief. A
constable was employed to arrest him, but as he was afraid to undertake the
business alone, he called on his way, at the house of the master of my grandfather,
to procure assistance from the overseer of the plantation. When he arrived at the
house, the overseer was at the barn, and thither he repaired to make his application.
At the end of the barn was the coach-house, and as the day was cool, to avoid the
wind which was high, the two walked to the side of the coach-house to talk over
the matter, and settle their plan of operations. It so happened that my grandfather,
whose business it was to keep the coach in good condition, was at work at this
time, rubbing the plated handles of the doors, and brightening the other metallic
parts of the vehicle. Hearing the voice of the overseer without, he suspended his
work, and listening attentively, became a party to their councils. They agreed that
they would delay the execution of their project until the next day, as it was then
late. They supposed they would have no difficulty in apprehending their intended
victim, as, knowing himself innocent of the theft, he would readily consent to go
with the constable to a justice of the peace, to have the charge examined. That
night, however, about midnight, my grandfather silently repaired to the cabin of
my father, a distance of about three miles, aroused him from his sleep, made him
acquainted with the extent of his danger, gave him a bottle of cider and a small
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bag of parched corn, and then enjoined him to fly from the destination which
awaited him. In the morning the Georgian could not find his newly purchased
slave, who was never seen or heard of in Maryland from that day.
After the flight of my father, my grandfather was the only person left in
Maryland with whom I could claim kindred. He was an old man, nearly eighty
years old, he said, and he manifested all the fondness for me that I could expect
from one so old. He was feeble, and his master required but little work from him.
He always expressed contempt for his fellow-slaves, for when young, he was an
African of rank in his native land. He had a small cabin of his own, with half an
acre of ground attached to it, which he cultivated on his own account, and from
which he drew a large share of his sustenance. He had singular religious notions never going to meeting or caring for the preachers he could, if he would,
occasionally hear. He retained his native traditions respecting the Deity and
hereafter. It is not strange that he believed the religion of his oppressors to be the
invention of designing men, for the text oftenest quoted in his hearing was,
"Servants, be obedient to your masters."
The name of the man who purchased me at the vendue, and became my
master, was John Cox; but he was generally called Jack Cox. He was a man of
kindly feelings towards his family, and treated his slaves, of whom he had several
besides me, with humanity. He permitted my grandfather to visit me as often as
he pleased, and allowed him sometimes to carry me to his own cabin, which stood
in a lonely place, at the head of a deep hollow, almost surrounded by a thicket of
cedar trees, which had grown up in a worn out and abandoned tobacco field. My
master gave me better clothes than the little slaves of my age generally received
in Calvert, and often told me that he intended to make me his waiter, and that if I
behaved well I should become his overseer in time. These stations of waiter and
overseer appeared to me to be the highest points of honor and greatness in the
whole world, and had not circumstances frustrated my master's plans, as well as
my own views, I should probably have been living at this time in a cabin on the
corner of some tobacco plantation.
Fortune had decreed otherwise. When I was about twelve years old, my
master, Jack Cox, died of a disease which had long confined him to the house. I
was sorry for the death of my master, who had always been kind to me; and I soon
discovered that I had good cause to regret his departure from this world. He had
several children at the time of his death, who were all young; the oldest being
about my own age. The father of my late master, who was still living, became
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administrator of his estate, and took possession of his property, and amongst the
rest, of myself. This old gentleman treated me with the greatest severity, and
compelled me to work very hard on his plantation for several years, until I
suppose I must have been near or quite twenty years of age. As I was always very
obedient, and ready to execute all his orders, I did not receive much whipping, but
suffered greatly for want of sufficient and proper food. My master allowed his
slaves a peck of corn, each, per week, throughout the year; and this we had to
grind into meal in a hand-mill for ourselves. We had a tolerable supply of meat
for a short time, about the month of December, when he killed his hogs. After that
season we had meat once a week, unless bacon became scarce, which very often
happened, in which case we had no meat at all. However, as we fortunately lived
near both the Patuxent river and the Chesapeake Bay, we had abundance of fish in
the spring, and as long as the fishing season continued. After that period, each
slave received, in addition to his allowance of corn, one salt herring every day.
My master gave me one pair of shoes, one pair of stockings, one hat, one
jacket of coarse cloth, two coarse shirts, and two pair of trowsers , yearly. He
allowed me no other clothes. In the winter time I often suffered very much from
the cold; as I had to drive the team of oxen which hauled the tobacco to market,
and frequently did not get home until late at night, the distance being
considerable, and my cattle traveled very slow.
One Saturday evening, when I came home from the corn field, my master told
me that he had hired me out for a year at the city of Washington, and that I would
have to live at the Navy Yard.
On the New Year's day following, which happened about two weeks
afterwards, my master set forward for Washington, on horseback, and ordered me
to accompany him on foot. It was night when we arrived at the Navy Yard, and
everything appeared very strange to me.
I was told by a gentleman who had epaulets on his shoulders, that I must go
on board a large ship, which lay in the river. He at the same time told a boy to
show me the way. This ship proved to be a frigate, and I was told that I had been
brought there to cook for the people belonging to her. In the course of a few days
the duties of my station became quite familiar to me; and in the enjoyment of a
profusion of excellent provisions, I felt very happy. I strove by all means to
please the officers and gentlemen who came on board, and in this I soon found my
account. One gave me a half-worn coat, another an old shirt, and a third, a cast off
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waistcoat and pantaloons. Some presented me with small sums of money, and in
this way I soon found myself well clothed, and with more than a dollar in my
pocket. My duties, though constant, were not burdensome , and I was permitted to
spend Sunday afternoon in my own way. I generally went up into the city to see the
new and splendid buildings; often walked as far as Georgetown, and made many
new acquaintances among the slaves, and frequently saw large numbers of people
of my color chained together in long trains, and driven off towards the South. At
that time the slave-trade was not regarded with so much indignation and disgust,
as it is now. It was a rare thing to hear of a person of color running away, and
escaping altogether from his master: my father being the only one within my
knowledge, who had, before this time, obtained his liberty in this manner, in
Calvert county; and, as before stated, I never heard what became of him after his
flight.
I remained on board the frigate, and about the Navy Yard, two years, and was
quite satisfied with my lot, until about three months before the expiration of this
period, when it so happened that a schooner, loaded with iron and other materials
for the use of the yard, arrived from Philadelphia. She came and lay close by the
frigate, to discharge her cargo, and amongst her crew I observed a black man, with
whom, in the course of a day or two, I became acquainted. He told me he was
free, and lived in Philadelphia, where he kept a house of entertainment for sailors,
which, he said, was attended to in his absence by his wife.
His description of Philadelphia, and of the liberty enjoyed there by the black
people, so charmed my imagination that I determined to devise some plan of
escaping from the frigate, and making my way to the North. I communicated my
designs to my new friend, who promised to give me his aid. We agreed that the
night before the schooner should sail, I was to be concealed in the hold, amongst a
parcel of loose tobacco, which, he said, the captain had undertaken to carry to
Philadelphia. The sailing of the schooner was delayed longer than we expected;
and, finally, her captain purchased a cargo of flour in Georgetown, and sailed for
the West Indies. Whilst I was anxiously awaiting some other opportunity of
making my way to Philadelphia, (the idea of crossing the country to the western
part of Pennsylvania, never entered my mind,) New Year's day came, and with it
came my old master from Calvert, accompanied by a gentleman named Gibson, to
whom, he said, he had sold me, and to whom he delivered me over in the Navy
Yard. We all three set out that same evening for Calvert, and reached the
residence of my new master the next day. Here, I was informed, that I had become
the subject of a law-suit. My new master claimed me under his purchase from old
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Mr. Cox; and another gentleman of the neighborhood, named Levin Ballard, had
bought me of the children of my former master, Jack Cox This suit continued in
the course of Calvert county more than two years; but was finally decided in favor
of him who had bought me of the children.
I went home with my master, Mr. Gibson, who was a farmer, and with whom
I lived three years. Soon after I came to live with Mr. Gibson, I married a girl of
color named Judah, the slave of a gentleman by the name of Symmes, who resided
in the same neighborhood. I was at the house of Mr. Symmes every week; and
became as well acquainted with him and his family, as I was with my master.
Mr. Symmes also married a wife about the time I did. The lady whom he
married lived near Philadelphia, and when she first came to Maryland, she refused
to be served by a black chambermaid, but employed a white girl, the daughter of a
poor man, who lived near. The lady was reported to be very wealthy, and brought
a large trunk full of plate and other valuable articles. This trunk was so heavy that
I could scarcely carry it, and it impressed my mind with the idea of great riches in
the owner, at that time. After some time Mrs. Symmes dismissed her white
chambermaid and placed my wife in that situation, which I regarded as a fortunate
circumstance, as it insured her good food, and at least one good suit of clothes.
The Symmes' family was one of the most ancient in Maryland, and had been a
long time resident in Calvert county. The grounds had been laid out, and all the
improvements projected about the family abode, in a style of much magnificence,
according to the custom of the old aristocracy of Maryland and Virginia.
Appendant to the domicile, and at no great distance from the house, was a
family vault, built of brick, in which reposed the occupants of the estate, who had
lived there for many previous generations. This vault had not been opened or
entered for fifteen years previous to the time of which I speak; but it so happened,
that at this period, a young man, a distant relation of the family, died, having,
requested on his death-bed, that he might be buried in this family resting place.
When I came on Saturday evening to see my wife and child, Mr. Symmes desired
me, as I was older than any of his black men, to take an iron pick and go and open
the vault, which I accordingly did, by cutting away the mortar, and removing a
few bricks from one side of the building; but I could not remove more than three
or four bricks before I was obliged, by the horrid effluvia which issued at the
aperture, to retire. It was the most deadly and sickening scent that I have ever
smelled, and I could not return to complete the work until after the sun had risen
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the next day, when I pulled down so much of one of the side walls, as to permit
persons to walk in upright. I then went in alone, and examined this house of the
dead, and surely no picture could more strongly and vividly depict the emptiness
of all earthly vanity, and the nothingness of human pride. Dispersed over the floor
lay the fragments of more than twenty human skeletons, each in the place where it
had been deposited by the idle tenderness of surviving friends. In some cases
nothing remained but the hair and the larger bones, whilst in several the form of
the coffin was yet visible, with all the bones resting in their proper places. One
coffin, the sides of which were yet standing; the lid only having decayed and
partly fallen in, so as to disclose the contents of this narrow cell, presented a
peculiarly moving spectacle. Upon the centre of the lid was a large silver plate,
and the head and foot were adorned with silver stars. - The nails which had united
the parts of the coffin had also silver heads. Within lay the skeletons of a mother
and her infant child, in slumbers only to be broken by the peal of the last trumpet.
The bones of the infant lay upon the breast of the mother, where the hands of
affection had shrouded them. The ribs of the parent had fallen down, and rested on
the back bone. Many gold rings were about the bones of the fingers. Brilliant earrings lay beneath where the ears had been; and a glittering gold chain encircled the
ghastly and haggard vertebrae of a once beautiful neck. The shroud and flesh had
disappeared, but the hair of the mother appeared strong and fresh. Even the silken
locks of the infant were still preserved. Behold the end of youth and beauty, and
of all that is lovely in life! The coffin was so much decayed that it could not be
removed. A thick and dismal vapor hung embodied from the roof and walls of this
charnal house, in appearance somewhat like a mass of dark cobwebs; but which
was impalpable to the touch, and when stirred by the hand vanished away. On the
second day we deposited with his kindred, the corpse of the young man, and at
night I again carefully closed up the breach which I had made in the walls of this
dwelling-place of the dead.
CHAPTER II
SOME short time after my wife became chambermaid to her mistress, it was
my misfortune to change masters once more. Levin Ballard, who, as before stated,
had purchased me of the children of my former master, Jack Cox, was successful
in his law suit with Mr. Gibson, the object of which was to determine the right of
property in me; and one day, whilst I was at work in the corn-field, Mr. Ballard
came and told me I was his property; asking me at the same time if I was willing
to go with him. I told him I was not willing to go; but that if I belonged to him I
knew I must. We then went to the house, and Mr. Gibson not being at home, Mrs.
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Gibson told me I must go with Mr. Ballard.
I accordingly went with him, determining to serve him obediently and
faithfully. I remained in his service almost three years, and as he lived near the
residence of my wife's master, my former mode of life was not materially
changed, by this change of home.
Mrs. Symmes spent much of her time in exchanging visits with the families
of the other large planters, both in Calvert and the neighboring counties; and
through my wife, I became acquainted with the private family history of many of
the principal persons in Maryland.
There was a great proprietor, who resided in another county, who owned
several hundred slaves; and who permitted them to beg of travelers on the highway. This same gentleman had several daughters, and according to the custom of
the time, kept what they called open house: that is, his house was free to all
persons of genteel appearance, who chose to visit it. The young ladies were
supposed to be the greatest fortunes in the country, were reputed beautiful, and
consequently were greatly admired.
Two gentlemen, who were lovers of these girls, desirous of amusing their
mistresses, invited a young man, whose standing in society they supposed to be
beneath theirs, to go with them to the manor, as it was called. When there, they
endeavored to make him an object of ridicule, in presence of the ladies; but he so
well acquitted himself, and manifested such superior wit and talents, that one of
the young ladies fell in love with him, and soon after wrote him a letter, which led
to their marriage. His two pretended friends were never afterwards countenanced
by the family, as gentlemen of honor; but the fortunate husband avenged himself
of his heartless companions, by inviting them to his wedding, and exposing them
to the observation of the vast assemblage of fashionable people, who always
attended a marriage, in the family of a great planter.
The two gentlemen, who had been thus made to fall into the pit that they had
dug for another, were so much chagrined at the issue of the adventure, that one
soon left Maryland; and the other became a common drunkard, and died a few
years afterwards.
My change of masters realized all the evil apprehensions which I had
entertained. I found Mr. Ballard sullen and crabbed in his temper, and always
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prone to find fault with my conduct - no matter how hard I had labored, or how
careful I was to fulfil all his orders, and obey his most unreasonable commands.
Yet, it so happened, that he never beat me, for which, I was altogether indebted to
the good character, for industry, sobriety and humility, which I had established in
the neighborhood. I think he was ashamed to abuse me, lest he should suffer in the
good opinion of the public; for he often fell into the most violent fits of anger
against me, and overwhelmed me with coarse and abusive language. He did not
give me clothes enough to keep me warm in winter, and compelled me to work in
the woods, when there was deep snow on the ground, by which I suffered very
much. I had determined at last to speak to him to sell me to some person in the
neighborhood, so that I might still be near my wife and children - but a different
fate awaited me.
My master kept a store at a small village on the bank of the Patuxent river,
called B-, although he resided at some distance on a farm. One morning he rose
early, and ordered me to take a yoke of oxen and go to the village, to bring home a
cart which was there, saying he would follow me. He arrived at the village soon
after I did, and took his breakfast with his store-keeper. He then told me to come
into the house and get my breakfast. Whilst I was eating in the kitchen, I observed
him talking earnestly, but low, to a stranger near the kitchen door. I soon after
went out, and hitched my oxen to the cart, and was about to drive off, when
several men came round about me, and amongst them the stranger whom I had
seen speaking with my master. This man came up to me, and, seizing me by the
collar, shook me violently, saying I was his property, and must go with him to
Georgia. At the sound of these words, the thoughts of my wife and children rushed
across my mind, and my heart beat away within me. I saw and knew that my case
was hopeless, and that resistance was vain, as there were near twenty persons
present, all of whom were ready to assist the man by whom I was kidnapped. I felt
incapable of weeping or speaking, and in my despair I laughed loudly. My
purchaser ordered me to cross my hands behind, which were quickly bound with
a strong cord; and he then told me that we must set out that very day for the South.
I asked if I could not be allowed to go to see my wife and children, or if this could
not be permitted, if they might not have leave to come to see me; but was told that
I would be able to get another wife in Georgia.
My new master, whose name I did not hear, took me that same day across the
Patuxent, where I joined fifty-one other slaves, whom he had bought in Maryland.
Thirty-two of these were men, and nineteen were women. The women were
merely tied together with a rope, about the size of a bed-cord, which was tied like
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a halter round the neck of each; but the men, of whom I was the stoutest and
strongest, were very differently caparisoned. A strong iron collar was closely
fitted by means of a padlock round each of our necks. A chain of iron, about a
hundred feet in length, was passed through the hasp of each padlock, except at the
two ends, where the hasps of the padlock passed through a link of the chain. In
addition to this, we were handcuffed in pairs, with iron staples and bolts, with a
short chain, about a foot long, uniting the handcuffs and their wearers in pairs. In
this manner we were chained alternately by the right and left hand; and the poor
man to whom I was thus ironed, wept like an infant when the blacksmith, with his
heavy hammer, fastened the ends of the bolts that kept the staples from slipping
from our arms. For my own part, I felt indifferent to my fate. It appeared to me
that the worst had come that could come, and that no change of fortune could
harm me.
After we were all chained and handcuffed together, we sat down upon the
ground; and here reflecting upon the sad reverse of fortune that had so suddenly
overtaken me, I became weary of life, and bitterly execrated the day I was born. It
seemed that I was destined by fate to drink the cup of sorrow to the very dregs,
and that I should find no respite from misery but in the grave. I longed to die, and
escape from the hands of my tormentors; but even the wretched privilege of
destroying myself was denied me, for I could not shake off my chains, nor move a
yard without the consent of my master. Reflecting in silence upon my forlorn
condition, I at length concluded that as things could not become worse - and as
the life of man is but a continued round of changes, they must, of necessity, take a
turn in my favor at some future day. I found relief in this vague and indefinite
hope, and when we received orders to go on board the scow, which was to
transport us over the Patuxent, I marched down to the water with a firmness of
purpose of which I did not believe myself capable, a few minutes before.
We were soon on the south side of the river, and taking up our line of march,
we traveled about five miles that evening, and stopped for the night at one of
those miserable public houses, so frequent in the lower parts of Maryland and
Virginia, called " ordinaries ."
Our master ordered a pot of mush to be made for our supper; after
despatching which we all lay down on the naked floor to sleep in our handcuffs
and chains. The women, my fellow-slaves, lay on one side of the room; and the
men who were chained with me, occupied the other. I slept but little this night,
which I passed in thinking of my wife and little children, whom I could not hope
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ever to see again. I also thought of my grandfather, and of the long nights I had
passed with him, listening to his narratives of the scenes through which he had
passed in Africa. I at length fell asleep, but was distressed by painful dreams. My
wife and children appeared to be weeping and lamenting my calamity; and
beseeching and imploring my master on their knees, not to carry me away from
them. My little boy came and begged me not to go and leave him, and endeavored,
as I thought, with his little hands to break the fetters that bound me. I awoke in
agony and cursed my existence. I could not pray, for the measure of my woes
seemed to be full, and I felt as if there was no mercy in heaven, nor compassion
on earth, for a man who was born a slave. Day at length came, and with the dawn,
we resumed our journey towards the Potomac. As we passed along the road, I saw
the slaves at work in the corn and tobacco fields. I knew they toiled hard and
lacked food; but they were not, like me, dragged in chains from their wives,
children and friends. Compared with me, they were the happiest of mortals. I
almost envied them their blessed lot.
Before night we crossed the Potomac, at Hoe's Ferry, and bade farewell to
Maryland. At night we stopped at the house of a poor gentleman, at least he
appeared to wish my master to consider him a gentleman; and he had no difficulty
in establishing his claim to poverty. He lived at the side of the road, in a framed
house, which had never been plastered within - the weather-boards being the only
wall. He had about fifty acres of land enclosed by a fence, the remains of a farm
which had once covered two or three hundred acres; but the cedar bushes had
encroached upon all sides, until the cultivation had been confined to its present
limits. The land was the picture of sterility, and there was neither barn nor stable
on the place. The owner was ragged, and his wife and children were in a similar
plight. It was with difficulty that we obtained a bushel of corn, which our master
ordered us to parch at a fire made in the yard, and to eat for our supper. Even this
miserable family possessed two slaves, half-starved, half-naked wretches, whose
appearance bespoke them familiar with hunger, and victims of the lash; but yet
there was one pang which they had not known - they had not been chained and
driven from their parents or children, into hopeless exile.
We left this place early in the morning, and directed our course toward the
south-west; our master riding beside us, and hastening our march, sometimes by
words of encouragement, and sometimes by threats of punishment. The women
took their place in the rear of our line. We halted about nine o'clock for breakfast
and received as much corn-bread as we could eat, together with a plate of boiled
herrings, and about three pounds of pork amongst us. Before we left this place, I
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was removed from near the middle of the chain, and placed at the front end of it;
so that I now became the leader of the file, and held this post of honor until our
irons were taken from us, near the town of Columbia in South Carolina. We
continued our route this day along, the high road between the Potomac and
Rappahannock; and I saw each of those rivers several times before night. Our
master gave us no dinner to-day, but we halted and got as much corn-mush and
sour milk as we could eat for supper. The weather grew mild and pleasant, and we
needed no more fires at night.
From this time we all slept promiscuously, men and women on the doors of
such houses as we chanced to stop at. We passed on through Bowling Green, a
quiet village.
Time did not reconcile me to my chains, but it made me familiar with them. I
reflected on my desperate situation with, a degree of calmness, hoping that I
might be able to devise some means of escape. My master placed a particular
value upon me, for I heard him tell a tavern-keeper that if he had me in Georgia
he could get eight hundred dollars for me, but he had bought me for his brother,
and believed he should not sell me; he afterwards changed his mind, however. I
carefully examined every part of our chain, but found no place where it could be
separated.
We all had as much corn-bread as we could eat, procured of our owner at the
places we stopped at for the night. In addition to this we usually had a salt herring
every day. On Sunday we had a quarter of a pound of bacon each.
We continued our course up the country westward for a few days and then
turned South, crossed James river above Richmond, as I heard at the time. After
more than four weeks of travel we entered South Carolina near Camden, and for
the first time I saw a field of cotton in bloom.
As we approached the Yadkin river the tobacco disappeared from the fields
and the cotton plant took its place as an article of general culture.
I was now a slave in South Carolina, and had no hope of ever again seeing
my wife and children. I had at times serious thoughts of suicide so great was my
anguish. If I could have got a rope I should have hanged myself at Lancaster. The
thought of my wife and children I had been torn from in Maryland, and the
dreadful undefined future which was before me, came near driving me mad. It was
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long after midnight before I fell asleep, but the most pleasant dream, succeeded to
these sorrowful forebodings. I thought I had escaped my master, and through
great difficulties made my way back to Maryland, and was again in my wife's
cabin with my little children on my lap. Every object was so vividly impressed on
my mind in this dream, that when I awoke, a firm conviction settled upon my
mind, that by some means, at present incomprehensible to me, I should yet again
embrace my wife, and caress my children in their humble dwelling. Early in the
morning, our master called us up and distributed to each of the party a cake made
of corn-meal and a small piece of bacon. On our journey, we had only eaten twice
a day, and had not received breakfast until about nine o'clock; but he said this
morning meal was given to welcome us to South Carolina. He then addressed us
all, and told us we might now give up all hope of ever returning to the places of
our nativity; as it would be impossible for us to pass through the States of North
Carolina and Virginia, without being taken up and sent back. He further advised
us to make ourselves contented, as he would take us to Georgia, a far better
country than any we had seen; and where we would be able to live in the greatest
abundance. About sunrise we took up our march on the road to Columbia, as we
were told. Hitherto our master had not offered to sell any of us, and had even
refused to stop to talk to any one on the subject of our sale, although he had
several times been addressed on this point, before we reached Lancaster; but soon
after we departed from this village, we were overtaken on the road by a man on
horseback, who accosted our driver by asking him if his niggars were for sale.
The latter replied, that he believed he would not sell any yet, as he was on his way
to Georgia, and cotton being now much in demand, he expected to obtain high
prices for us from persons who were going to settle in the new purchase. He,
however, contrary to his custom, ordered us to stop, and told the stranger he might
look at us, and that he would find us as fine a lot of hands as were ever imported
into the country - that we were all prime property, and he had no doubt would
command his own prices in Georgia.
The stranger, who was a thin, weather-beaten, sunburned figure, then said, he
wanted a couple of breeding wenches, and would give as much for them as they
would bring in Georgia - that he had lately heard from Augusta, and that niggers
were not higher there than in Columbia, and, as he had been in Columbia the
week before, he knew what niggers were worth. He then walked along our line, as
we stood chained together, and looked at the whole of us - then turning to the
women; asked the prices of the two pregnant ones. Our master replied, that these
were two of the best breeding-wenches in all Maryland - that one was twentytwo, and the other only nineteen - that the first was already the mother of seven
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children, and the other of four - that he had himself seen the children at the time
he bought their mothers - and that such wenches would be cheap at a thousand
dollars each; but as they were not able to keep up with the gang, he would take
twelve hundred dollars for the two. The purchaser said this was too much, but that
he would give nine hundred dollars for the pair. This price was promptly refused;
but our master, after some consideration, said he was willing to sell a bargain in
these wenches, and would take eleven hundred dollars for them, which was
objected to on the other side; and many faults and failings were pointed out in the
merchandise. After much bargaining, and many gross jests on the part of the
stranger, he offered a thousand dollars for the two, and said he would give no
more. He then mounted his horse, and moved off; but after he had gone about one
hundred yards, he was called back; and our master said, if he would go with him
to the next blacksmith's shop on the road to Columbia, and pay for taking the irons
off the rest of us, he might have the two women.
This proposal was agreed to, and as it was now about nine o'clock, we were
ordered to hasten on to the next house, where, we were told, we must stop for
breakfast. At this place we were informed that it was ten miles to the next smith's
shop, and our new acquaintance was obliged by the terms of his contract, to
accompany us thither. We received for breakfast, about a pint of boiled rice to
each person, and after this was despatched, we again took to the road, eager to
reach the blacksmith's shop, at which we expected to be relieved of the iron rings
and chains, which had so long galled and worried us. About two o'clock we
arrived at the longed-for residence of the smith; but, on inquiry, our master was
informed that he was not at home, and would not return before evening. Here a
controversy arose, whether we should all remain here until the smith returned, or
the stranger should go on with us to the next smithery, which was said to be only
five miles distant. This was a point not easily settled between two such spirits as
our master and the stranger; both of whom had been overseers in their time, and
both of whom had risen to the rank of proprietors of slaves.
The matter had already produced angry words, and much vaunting on the part
of the stranger; - "that a freeman of South Carolina was not to be imposed upon;
that by the constitution of the State, his rights were sacred, and he was not to be
deprived of his liberty, at the arbitrary will of a man just from amongst the
Yankees, and who had brought with him to the South as many Yankee tricks as he
had niggers , and he believed many more." He then swore, that "all the niggers in
the drove were Yankee niggers ."
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"When I overseed for Colonel Polk," said he, "on his rice plantation, he had
two Yankee niggers that he brought from Maryland, and they were running away
every day. I gave them a hundred lashes more than a dozen times; but they never
quit running away, till I chained them together, with iron collars round their
necks, and chained them to spades, and made them do nothing but dig ditches to
drain the rice swamps. They could not run away then, unless they went together,
and carried their chains and spades with them. I kept them in this way two years,
and better niggers I never had. One of them died one night, and the other was
never good for anything after he lost his mate. He never ran away afterwards, but
he died too, after a while." He then addressed himself to the two women, whose
master he had become, and told them that if ever they ran away, he would treat
them in the same way. Wretched as I was myself, my heart bled for these poor
creatures, who had fallen into the hands of a tiger in human form. The dispute
between the two masters was still raging, when, unexpectedly, the blacksmith rode
up to his house, on a thin, bony-looking horse, and dismounting, asked his wife
what these gentlemen were making such a frolick about. I did not hear her answer,
but both the disputants turned and addressed themselves to the smith - the one to
know what price he would demand to take the irons off all these niggers , and the
other to know how long it would take him to perform the work. It is here proper
for me to observe, that there are many phrases of language in common use in
Carolina and Georgia, which are applied in a way that would not be understood
by persons from one of the Northern States. For instance, when several persons
are quarrelling, brawling, making a great noise, or even fighting, they say, " the
gentlemen are frolicking! " I heard many other terms equally strange, whilst I
resided in the southern country, amongst such white people as I became
acquainted with; though my acquaintance was confined, in a great measure, to
overseers, and such people as did not associate with the rich planters and great
families.
The smith at length agreed to take the irons from the whole of us for two
dollars and fifty cents, and immediately set about it, with the air of indifference
that he would have manifested in tearing a pair of old shoes from the hoofs of a
wagon-horse. It was four weeks and five days, from the time my irons had been
riveted upon me, until they were removed, and great as had been my sufferings
whilst chained to my fellow-slaves, I cannot say that I felt any pleasure in being
released from my long confinement; for I knew that my liberation was only
preparatory to my final, and, as I feared, perpetual subjugation to the power of
some such monster, as the one then before me, who was preparing to drive away
the two unfortunate women whom he had purchased, and whose life's-blood he
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had acquired the power of shedding at pleasure, for the sum of a thousand dollars.
After we were released from our chains, our master sold the whole lot of irons,
which we had borne from Maryland, to the blacksmith, for seven dollars.
The smith then procured a bottle of rum, and treated his two new
acquaintances to a part of its contents - wishing them both good luck with their
niggers . After these civilities were over, the two women were ordered to follow
their new master, who shaped his course across the country, by a road leading
westwest . At parting from us, they both wept aloud, and wrung their hands in
despair. We all went to them, and bade them a last farewell. Their road led into a
wood, which they soon entered, and I never saw them nor heard of them again.
These women had both been driven from Calvert county, as well as myself,
and the fate of the younger of the two, was peculiarly severe.
She had been brought up as a waiting-maid of a young lady, the daughter of a
gentleman, whose wife and family often visited the mistress of my own wife. I
had frequently seen this woman when she was a young girl, in attendance upon
her young mistress, and riding in the same carriage with her. The father of the
young lady died, and soon after she married a gentleman who resided a few miles
off. The husband received a considerable fortune with his bride, and amongst
other things, her waiting-maid, who was reputed a great beauty among people of
color. He had been addicted to the fashionable sports of the country, before
marriage, such as horse-racing, fox-hunting, &c., and I had heard the black people
say he drank too freely; but it was supposed that he would correct all these
irregularities after marriage, more especially as his wife was a great belle, and
withal very handsome. The reverse, however, turned out to be the fact. Instead of
growing better, he became worse; and in the course of a few years, was known all
over the country, as a drunkard and a gambler. His wife, it was said, died of grief,
and soon after her death, his effects were seized by his creditors, and sold by the
sheriff. The former waiting-maid, now the mother of several children, was
purchased by our present master for four hundred dollars, at the sheriff's sale, and
this poor wretch, whose employment in early life had been to take care of her
young mistress, and attend to her in her chamber, and at her toilet, after being torn
from her husband and her children, had now gone to toil out a horrible existence
beneath the scorching sun of a South Carolina cotton-field under the dominion of
a master, as void of the manners of a gentleman, as he was of the language of
humanity.
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It was now late in the afternoon; but, as we had made little progress to-day,
and were now divested of the burden of our chains, as well as freed from the two
women, who had hitherto much retarded our march, our master ordered us to
hasten on our way, as we had ten miles to go that evening. I had been so long
oppressed by the weight of my chains, and the iron collar about my neck, that for
some time after I commenced walking at my natural liberty, I felt a kind of
giddiness, or lightness of the head Most of my companions complained of the
same sensation, and we did not recover our proper feelings until after we had
slept one night. It was after dark when we arrived at our lodging-place, which
proved to be the house of a small cotton-planter, who, it appeared, kept a sort of a
house of entertainment for travelers, contrary to what I afterwards discovered to
be the usual custom of cotton-planters. This man and my master had known each
other before, and seemed to be well acquainted. He was the first person that we
had met since leaving Maryland, who was known to my master, and as they kept
up a very free conversation, through the course of the evening, and the house in
which they were, was only separated from the kitchen, in which we were lodged,
by a space of a few feet, I had an opportunity of hearing much that was highly
interesting to me. The landlord, after supper, came with our master to look at us,
and to see us receive our allowance of boiled rice from the hands of a couple of
black women, who had prepared it in a large iron kettle. Whilst viewing us, the
former asked the latter, what he intended to do with his drove; but no reply was
made to this inquiry - and as our master had, through our whole journey,
maintained a studied silence on this subject, I felt a great curiosity to know what
disposition he intended to make of the whole gang, and of myself in particular.
On their return to the house, I advanced to a small window in the kitchen, which
brought me within a few yards of the place where they sat, and from which I was
able to hear all they said, although they spoke in a low tone of voice. I here
learned, that so many of us as could be sold for a good price, were to be disposed
of in Columbia, on our arrival at that place, and that the residue would be driven
to Augusta and sold there.
The landlord assured my master that at this time slaves were much in
demand, both in Columbia and Augusta; that purchasers were numerous and
prices good; and that the best plan of effecting good sales would be to put up each
nigger separately, at auction, after giving a few days' notice, by an advertisement,
in the neighboring country. Cotton, he said, had not been higher for many years,
and as a great many persons, especially young men, were moving off to the new
purchase in Georgia, prime hands were in high demand, for the purpose of
clearing the land in the new country - that the boys and girls, under twenty, would
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bring almost any price at present, in Columbia for the purpose of picking the
growing crop of cotton, which promised to be very heavy; and as most persons
had planted more than their hands would be able to pick, young niggers , who
would soon learn to pick cotton, were prime articles in the market. As to those
more advanced in life, he seemed to think the prospect of selling them at an
unusual price, not so good, as they could not so readily become expert cottonpickers - he said further, that for some cause, which he could not comprehend, the
price of rice had not been so good this year as usual; and that he had found it
cheaper to purchase rice to feed his own niggers than to provide them with corn,
which had to be brought from the upper country. He therefore advised my master
not to drive us towards the rice plantation of the low country. My master said he
would follow his advice, at least so far as to sell a portion of us in Carolina, but
seemed to be of opinion that his prime hands would bring him more money in
Georgia, and named me, in particular, as one who would be worth, at least, a
thousand dollars, to a man who was about making a settlement, and clearing a
plantation in the new purchase. I therefore concluded, that in the course of events,
I was likely to become the property of a Georgian, which turned out in the end to
be the case, though not so soon as I at this time apprehended. I slept but little this
night, feeling a restlessness when no longer in chains; and pondering over the
future lot of my life, which appeared fraught only with evil and misfortune.
Source: Charles Ball, FIFTY YEARS IN CHAINS or, THE LIFE OF AN
AMERICAN SLAVE. (New York, 1837)
Northup: Ch.6
The very amiable, pious-hearted Mr. Theophilus Freeman, partner or consignee of
James H. Burch, and keeper of the slave pen in New-Orleans, was out among his
animals early in the morning. With an occasional kick of the older men and
women, and many a sharp crack of the whip about the ears of the younger slaves, it
was not long before they were all astir, and wide awake. Mr. Theophilus Freeman
bustled about in a very industrious manner, getting his property ready for the salesroom, intending, no doubt, to do that day a rousing business.
In the first place we were required to wash thoroughly, and those with beards,
to shave. We were then furnished with a new suit each, cheap, but clean. The men
had hat, coat, shirt, pants and shoes; the women frocks of calico, and handkerchiefs
to bind about their heads. We were now conducted into a large room in the front
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part of the building to which the yard was attached, in order to be properly trained,
before the admission of customers. The men were arranged on one side of the
room, the women on the other. The tallest was placed at the head of the row, then
the next tallest, and so on in the order of their respective heights. Emily was at the
foot of the line of women. Freeman charged us to remember our places; exhorted
us to appear smart and lively, - sometimes threatening, and again, holding out
various inducements. During the day he exercised us in the art of "looking smart,"
and of moving to our places with exact precision.
After being fed, in the afternoon, we were again paraded and made to dance.
Bob, a colored boy, who had some time belonged to Freeman, played on the violin.
Standing near him, I made bold to inquire if he could play the "Virginia Reel." He
answered he could not, and asked me if I could play. Replying in the affirmative,
he handed me the violin. I struck up a tune, and finished it. Freeman ordered me to
continue playing, and seemed well pleased, telling Bob that I far excelled him - a
remark that seemed to grieve my musical companion very much.
Next day many customers called to examine Freeman's "new lot." The latter
gentleman was very loquacious, dwelling at much length upon our several good
points and qualities. He would make us hold up our heads, walk briskly back and
forth, while customers would feel of our hands and arms and bodies, turn us about,
ask us what we could do, make us open our mouths and show our teeth, precisely
as a jockey examines a horse which he is about to barter for or purchase.
Sometimes a man or woman was taken back to the small house in the yard,
stripped, and inspected more minutely. Scars upon a slave's back were considered
evidence of a rebellious or unruly spirit, and hurt his sale.
One old gentleman, who said he wanted a coachman, appeared to take a fancy
to me. From his conversation with Burch, I learned he was a resident in the city. I
very much desired that he would buy me, because I conceived it would not be
difficult to make my escape from New-Orleans on some northern vessel. Freeman
asked him fifteen hundred dollars for me. The old gentleman insisted it was too
much, as times were very hard. Freeman, however, declared that I was sound and
healthy, of a good constitution, and intelligent. He made it a point to enlarge upon
my musical attainments. The old gentleman argued quite adroitly that there was
nothing extraordinary about the nigger, and finally, to my regret, went out, saying
he would call again. During the day, however, a number of sales were made. David
and Caroline were purchased together by a Natchez planter. They left us, grinning
broadly, and in the most happy state of mind, caused by the fact of their not being
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separated. Lethe was sold to a planter of Baton Rouge, her eyes flashing with anger
as she was led away.
The same man also purchased Randall. The little fellow was made to jump,
and run across the floor, and perform many other feats, exhibiting his activity and
condition. All the time the trade was going on, Eliza was crying aloud, and
wringing her hands. She besought the man not to buy him, unless he also bought
her self and Emily. She promised, in that case, to be the most faithful slave that
ever lived. The man answered that he could not afford it, and then Eliza burst into
a paroxysm of grief, weeping plaintively. Freeman turned round to her, savagely,
with his whip in his uplifted hand, ordering her to stop her noise, or he would flog
her. He would not have such work - such snivelling; and unless she ceased that
minute, he would take her to the yard and give her a hundred lashes. Yes, he would
take the nonsense out of her pretty quick - if he didn't, might he be d--d. Eliza
shrunk before him, and tried to wipe away her tears, but it was all in vain. She
wanted to be with her children, she said, the little time she had to live. All the
frowns and threats of Freeman, could not wholly silence the afflicted mother. She
kept on begging and beseeching them, most piteously not to separate the three.
Over and over again she told them how she loved her boy. A great many times she
repeated her former promises - how very faithful and obedient she would be; how
hard she would labor day and night, to the last moment of her life, if he would only
buy them all together. But it was of no avail; the man could not afford it. The
bargain was agreed upon, and Randall must go alone. Then Eliza ran to him;
embraced him passionately; kissed him again and again; told him to remember her
- all the while her tears falling in the boy's face like rain.
Narrative Of Solomon Northup, A Citizen Of New-York, Kidnapped In
Washington City In 1841 And Rescued In 1853, From A Cotton Plantation
Near The Red River In Louisiana. (London, 1853.)
Olmsted pp30-40
SLAVES AS MERCHANDISE.
Yesterday morning, during a cold, sleety storm, against which I was
struggling, with my umbrella, to the post office, I met a comfortably-dressed
negro leading three others by a rope; the first was a middle-aged man; the
second a girl of, perhaps, twenty; and the last a boy, considerably younger.
The arms of all three were secured before them with hand-cuffs, and the
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rope by which they were led passed from one to another; being made fast
at each pair of hand-cuffs. They were thinly clad, the girl especially so,
having only an old ragged handkerchief around her neck, over a common
calico dress, and another handkerchief twisted around her head. They were
dripping wet, and icicles were forming, at the time, on the awning bars.
The boy looked most dolefully, and the girl was turning around, with a
very angry face, and shouting, "O pshaw! Shut up!"
"What are they?" said I, to a white man, who had also stopped, for a
moment, to look at them. "What's he going to do with them?"
"Come in a canal boat, I reckon: sent down here to be sold. --That ar's
a likely gall."
Our ways lay together, and I asked further explanation. He informed
me that the negro-dealers had confidential servants always in attendance,
on the arrival of the rail-road trains and canal packets, to take any negroes,
that might have come, consigned to them, and bring them to their marts.
Nearly opposite the post office, was another singular group of
negroes. They were all men and boys, and each carried a coarse, white
blanket, drawn together at the corners so as to hold some articles;
probably, extra clothes. They stood in a row, in lounging attitudes, and
some of them, again, were quarreling, or reproving one another. A
villainous-looking white man stood in front of them. Presently, a stout,
respectable man, dressed in black according to the custom, and without
any overcoat or umbrella, but with a large, golden-headed walking-stick,
came out of the door of an office, and, without saying a word, walked
briskly up the street; the negroes immediately followed, in file; the other
white man bringing up the rear. They were slaves that had been sent into
the town to be hired out as servants or factory hands. The gentleman in
black was, probably, the broker in the business.
Near the post office, opposite a large livery and sale stable, I turned
into a short, broad street, in which were a number of establishments, the
signs on which indicated that they were occupied by "Slave Dealers," and
that "Slaves, for Sale or to Hire," were to be found within them. They were
much like Intelligence Offices, being large rooms partly occupied by ranges
of forms, on which sat a few comfortably and neatly clad negroes, who
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appeared perfectly cheerful; each grinning obsequiously, but with a
manifest interest or anxiety, when I fixed my eye on them for a moment.
In Chambers' Journal for October, 1853, there is an account of the
Richmond slave marts, and the manner of conducting business in them, so
graphic and evidently truthful that I omit any further narration of my own
observations, to make room for it. I do this, notwithstanding its length,
because I did not happen to witness, during fourteen months that I spent in
the Slave States, any sale of negroes by auction. This must not be taken
as an indication that negro auctions are not of frequent occurrence (I did
not, so far as I now recollect, witness the sale of anything else, at auction,
at the South). I saw negroes advertised to be sold at auction, very
frequently.
"The exposure of ordinary goods in a store is not more open to the
public than are the sales of slaves in Richmond. By consulting the local
newspapers, I learned that the sales take place by auction every morning
in the offices of certain brokers, who, as I understood by the terms of their
advertisements, purchased or received slaves for sale on commission.
"Where the street was in which the brokers conducted their business,
I did not know; but the discovery was easily made. Rambling down the
main street in the city, I found that the subject of my search was a narrow
and short thoroughfare, turning off to the left, and terminating in a similar
cross thoroughfare. Both streets, lined with brick-houses, were dull and
silent. There was not a person to whom I could put a question. Looking
about, I observed the office of a commission-agent, and into it I stepped.
Conceive the idea of a large shop with two windows, and a door between;
no shelving or counters inside; the interior a spacious, dismal apartment,
not well swept; the only furniture a desk at one of the windows, and a
bench at one side of the shop, three feet high, with two steps to it from the
floor. I say, conceive the idea of this dismal-looking place, with nobody in it
but three negro children, who, as I entered, were playing at auctioneering
each other. An intensely black little negro, of four or five years of age, was
standing on the bench, or block, as it is called, with an equally black girl,
about a year younger, by his side, whom he was pretending to sell by bids
to another black child, who was rolling about the floor.
"My appearance did not interrupt the merriment. The little auctioneer
continued his mimic play, and appeared to enjoy the joke of selling the girl,
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who stood demurely by his side.
" 'Fifty dolla for de gal--fifty dolla--fifty dolla--I sell dis here fine gal for
fifty dolla,' was uttered with extraordinary volubility by the woolly-headed
urchin, accompanied with appropriate gestures, in imitation, doubtless of
the scenes he had seen enacted daily in the spot. I spoke a few words to
the little creatures, but was scarcely understood; and the fun went on as if I
had not been present: so I left them, happy in rehearsing what was likely
soon to be their own fate.
"At another office of a similar character, on the opposite side of the
street, I was more successful. Here, on inquiry, I was respectfully informed,
by a person in attendance, that the sale would take place the following
morning at half-past nine o'clock.
"Next day I set out accordingly, after breakfast, for the scene of
operations, in which there was now a little more life. Two or three persons
were lounging about, smoking cigars; and, looking along the street, I
observed that three red flags were projected from the doors of those offices
in which sales were to occur. On each flag was pinned a piece of paper,
notifying the articles to be sold. The number of lots was not great. On the
first was the following announcement:--'Will be sold this morning, at halfpast nine o'clock, a Man and a Boy.'
"It was already the appointed hour; but as no company had
assembled, I entered and took a seat by the fire. The office, provided with a
few deal forms and chairs, a desk at one of the windows, and a block
accessible by a few steps, was tenantless, save by a gentleman who was
arranging papers at the desk, and to whom I had addressed myself on the
previous evening. Minute after minute passed, and still nobody entered.
There was clearly no hurry in going to business. I felt almost like an
intruder, and had formed the resolution of departing, in order to look into
the other offices, when the person referred to left his desk, and came and
seated himself opposite to me at the fire.
" 'You are an Englishman,' said he, looking me steadily in the face; 'do
you want to purchase?'
" 'Yes,' I replied, 'I am an Englishman; but I do not intend to purchase.
I am traveling about for information, and I shall feel obliged by your letting
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me know the prices at which negro servants are sold.'
" 'I will do so with much pleasure,' was the answer; 'do you mean fieldhands or house-servants?'
" 'All kinds,' I replied; 'I wish to get all the information I can.
"With much politeness, the gentleman stepped to his desk, and began
to draw up a note of prices. This, however, seemed to require careful
consideration; and while the note was preparing, a lanky person, in a wideawake hat, and chewing tobacco, entered, and took the chair just vacated.
He had scarcely seated himself, when, on looking towards the door, I
observed the subjects of sale--the man and boy indicated by the paper on
the red flag--enter together, and quietly walk to a form at the back of the
shop, whence, as the day was chilly, they edged themselves towards the
fire, in the corner where I was seated. I was now between the two parties-the white man on the right, and the old and young negro on the left--and I
waited to see what would take place.
"The sight of the negroes at once attracted the attention of
Wideawake. Chewing with vigor, he kept keenly eying the pair, as if to see
what they were good for. Under this searching gaze, the man and boy were
a little abashed, but said nothing. Their appearance had little of the
repulsiveness we are apt to associate with the idea of slaves. They were
dressed in a gray woolen coat, pants, and waistcoat, colored cotton
neckcloths, clean shirts, coarse woolen stockings, and stout shoes. The
man wore a black hat; the boy was bareheaded. Moved by a sudden
impulse, Wide-awake left his seat, and rounding the back of my chair,
began to grasp at the man's arms, as if to feel their muscular capacity. He
then examined his hands and fingers; and, last of all, told him to open his
mouth and show his teeth, which he did in a submissive manner. Having
finished these examinations, Wide-awake resumed his seat, and chewed
on in silence as before.
"I thought it was but fair that I should now have my turn of
investigation, and accordingly asked the elder negro what was his age. He
said he did not know. I next inquired how old the boy was. He said he was
seven years of age. On asking the man if the boy was his son, he said he
was not--he was his cousin. I was going into other particulars, when the
office-keeper approached, and handed me the note he had been preparing;
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at the same time making the observation that the market was dull at
present, and that there never could be a more favorable opportunity of
buying. I thanked him for the trouble which he had taken; and now submit a
copy of his price-current:
• Best Men, 18 to 25 years old,. . . . . 1200 to 1300 dollars.
• Fair Men, 18 to 25 years old,. . . . . 950 to 1050 dollars.
• Boys, 5 feet,. . . . . 850 to 950 dollars.
• Boys, 4 feet 8 inches,. . . . . 700 to 800 dollars.
• Boys, 4 feet 5 inches,. . . . . 500 to 600 dollars.
• Boys, 4 feet,. . . . . 375 to 450 dollars.
• Young Women,. . . . . 800 to 1000 dollars.
• Girls, 5 feet,. . . . . 750 to 850 dollars.
• Girls, 4 feet 9 inches,. . . . . 700 to 750 dollars.
• Girls, 4 feet,. . . . . 350 to 452 dollars.
• '(Signed) ------, Richmond, Virginia.'
"Leaving this document for future consideration, I pass on to a history
of the day's proceedings. It was now ten minutes to ten o'clock, and Wideawake and I being alike tired of waiting, we went off in quest of sales
further up the street. Passing the second office, in which also nobody was
to be seen, we were more fortunate at the third. Here, according to the
announcement on the paper stuck to the flag, there were to be sold, 'A
woman and three children; a young woman, three men, a middle-aged
woman, and a little boy.' Already a crowd had met, composed, I should
think, of persons mostly from the cotton-plantations of the south. A few
were seated near a fire on the right-hand side, and others stood round an
iron stove in the middle of the apartment. The whole place had a
dilapidated appearance. From a back-window, there was a view into a
ruinous court-yard; beyond which, in a hollow, accessible by a side-lane,
stood a shabby brick-house, on which the word Jail was inscribed in large
black letters on a white ground. I imagined it to be a dépôt for the reception
of negroes.
"On my arrival, and while making these preliminary observations, the
lots for sale had not made their appearance. In about five minutes
afterwards they were ushered in, one after the other, under the charge of a
mulatto, who seemed to act as principal assistant. I saw no whips, chains,
or any other engine of force. Nor did such appear to be required. All the
lots took their seats on two long forms near the stove; none showed any
signs of resistance; nor did any one utter a word. Their manner was that of
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perfect humility and resignation.
"As soon as all were seated, there was a general examination of their
respective merits, by feeling their arms, looking into their mouths, and
investigating the quality of their hands and fingers--this last being evidently
an important particular. Yet there was no abrupt rudeness in making these
examinations--no coarse or domineering language was employed. The
three negro men were dressed in the usual manner--in gray woolen
clothing. The woman, with three children, excited my peculiar attention.
She was neatly attired, with a colored handkerchief bound around her
head, and wore a white apron over her gown. Her children were all girls,
one of them a baby at the breast three months old, and the others two and
three years of age respectively, rigged out with clean white pinafores.
There was not a tear or an emotion visible in the whole party. Everything
seemed to be considered as a matter of course; and the change of owners
was possibly looked forward to with as much indifference as ordinary hired
servants anticipate a removal from one employer to another.
"While intending-purchasers were proceeding with personal
examinations of the several lots, I took the liberty of putting a few questions
to the mother of the children. The following was our conversation:-" 'Are you a married woman?'
" 'Yes, sir.'
" 'How many children have you had?'
" 'Seven.'
" 'Where is your husband?'
" 'In Madison county.'
" 'When did you part from him?'
" 'On Wednesday--two days ago.'
" 'Were you sorry to part from him?'
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" 'Yes, sir,' she replied, with a deep sigh; 'my heart was a'most broke.'
" 'Why is your master selling you?'
" 'I don't know--he wants money to buy some land--suppose he sells
me for that.'
"There might not be a word of truth in these answers, for I had no
means of testing their correctness; but the woman seemed to speak
unreservedly, and I am inclined to think that she said nothing but what, if
necessary, could be substantiated. I spoke, also, to the young woman who
was seated near her. She, like the others, was perfectly black, and
appeared stout and healthy, of which some of the persons present assured
themselves by feeling her arms and ankles, looking into her mouth, and
causing her to stand up. She told me she had several brothers and sisters,
but did not know where they were. She said she was a house-servant, and
would be glad to be bought by a good master--looking at me, as if I should
not be unacceptable.
"I have said that there was an entire absence of emotion in the party
of men, women, and children, thus seated preparatory to being sold. This
does not correspond with the ordinary accounts of slave-sales, which are
represented as tearful and harrowing. My belief is, that none of the parties
felt deeply on the subject, or at least that any distress they experienced
was but momentary--soon passed away, and was forgotten. One of my
reasons for this opinion rests on a trifling incident which occurred. While
waiting for the commencement of the sale, one of the gentlemen present
amused himself with a pointer-dog, which, at command, stood on its
hindlegs, and took pieces of bread from his pocket. These tricks greatly
entertained the row of negroes, old and young; and the poor woman,
whose heart three minutes before was almost broken, now laughed as
heartily as any one.
" 'Sale is going to commence--this way, gentlemen,' cried a man at the
door to a number of loungers outside; and all having assembled, the
mulatto assistant led the woman and her children to the block, which he
helped her to mount. There she stood with her infant at the breast, and one
of her girls at each side. The auctioneer, a handsome, gentlemanly
personage, took his place, with one foot on an old deal chair with a broken
back, and the other raised on the somewhat more elevated block. It was a
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striking scene.
" 'Well, gentlemen,' began the salesman, 'here is a capital woman and
her three children, all in good health--what do you say for them? Give me
an offer. (Nobody speaks.) I put up the whole lot at 850 dollars--850
dollars--850 dollars (speaking very fast)--850 dollars. Will no one advance
upon that? A very extraordinary bargain, gentlemen. A fine, healthy baby.
Hold it up. (Mulatto goes up the first step of the block; takes the baby from
the woman's breast, and holds it aloft with one hand, so as to show that it
was a veritable sucking baby.) That will do. A woman, still young, and three
children, all for 850 dollars. An advance, if you please, gentlemen. (A voice
bids 860.) Thank you, sir, 860; any one bids more? (A second voice says,
870; and so on the bidding goes as far as 890 dollars, when it stops.) That
won't do, gentlemen. I cannot take such a low price. (After a pause,
addressing the mulatto): She may go down.' Down from the block the
woman and her children were therefore conducted by the assistant, and, as
if nothing had occurred, they calmly resumed their seats by the stove.
"The next lot brought forward was one of the men. The mulatto,
beckoning to him with his hand, requested him to come behind a canvas
screen, of two leaves, which was standing near the back window. The man
placidly rose, and having been placed behind the screen, was ordered to
take off his clothes, which he did without a word or look of remonstrance.
About a dozen gentlemen crowded to the spot while the poor fellow was
stripping himself, and as soon as he stood on the floor, bare from top to
toe, a most rigorous scrutiny of his person was instituted. The clear black
skin, back and front, was viewed all over for sores from disease; and there
was no part of his body left unexamined. The man was told to open and
shut his hands, asked if he could pick cotton, and every tooth in his head
was scrupulously looked at. The investigation being at an end, he was
ordered to dress himself; and having done so, was requested to walk to the
block.
The ceremony of offering him for competition was gone through as
before, but no one would bid. The other two men, after undergoing similar
examinations behind the screen, were also put up, but with the same
result. Nobody would bid for them, and they were all sent back to their
seats. It seemed as if the company had conspired not to buy anything that
day. Probably some imperfections had been detected in the personal
qualities of the negroes. Be this as it may, the auctioneer, perhaps a little
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out of temper from his want of success, walked off to his desk, and the
affair was so far at an end.
"'This way, gentlemen--this way!' was heard from a voice outside, and
the company immediately hived off to the second establishment. At this
office there was a young woman, and also a man, for sale. The woman was
put up first at 500 dollars; and possessing some recommendable qualities,
the bidding for her was run as high as 710 dollars, at which she was
knocked down to a purchaser. The man, after the customary examination
behind the screen, was put up at 700 dollars; but a small imperfection
having been observed in his person, no one would bid for him; and he was
ordered down.
"'This way, gentlemen, this way--down the street, if you please!'
was now shouted by a person in the employment of the first firm, to whose
office all very willingly adjourned--one migratory company, it will be
perceived, serving all the slave-auctions in the place. Mingling in the crowd,
I went to see what should be the fate of the man and boy, with whom I had
already had some communication.
"There the pair, the two cousins, sat by the fire, just where I had left
them an hour ago. The boy was put up first.
"'Come along, my man--jump up; there's a good boy!' said one of the
partners, a bulky and respectable-looking person, with a gold chain and
bunch of seals; at the same time getting on the block. With alacrity the little
fellow came forward, and, mounting the steps, stood by his side. The forms
in front were filled by the company; and as I seated myself, I found that my
old companion, Wide-awake, was close at hand, still chewing and spitting
at a great rate.
"'Now, gentlemen,' said the auctioneer, putting his hand on the
shoulder of the boy, 'here is a very fine boy, seven years of age, warranted
sound--what do you say for him? I put him up at 500 dollars--500 dollars
(speaking quick, his right hand raised up, and coming down on the open
palm of his left)--500 dollars. Any one say more than 500 dollars? (560 is
bid.) 560 dollars. Nonsense! Just look at him. See how high he is. (He
draws the lot in front of him, and shows that the little fellow's head comes
up to his breast.) You see he is a fine, tall, healthy boy. Look at his hands.'
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"Several step forward, and cause the boy to open and shut his hands-the flexibility of the small fingers, black on the one side, and whitish on the
other, being well looked to. The hands, and also the mouth, having given
satisfaction, an advance is made to 570, then to 580 dollars.
"'Gentlemen, that is a very poor price for a boy of this size.
(Addressing the lot)--Go down, my boy, and show them how you can run.'
"The boy, seemingly happy to do as he was bid, went down from the
block, and ran smartly across the floor several times; the eyes of every one
in the room following him.
"'Now that will do. Get up again. (Boy mounts the block, the steps
being rather deep for his short legs; but the auctioneer kindly lends him a
hand.) Come, gentleman, you see this is a first-rate lot. (590--600--610-620--630 dollars are bid.) I will sell him for 630 dollars. (Right hand coming
down on left.) Last call. 630 dollars, once--630 dollars, twice. (A pause;
hand sinks.) gone!'
"The boy having descended, the man was desired to come forward;
and after the usual scrutiny behind a screen, he took his place on the
block.
"'Well, now, gentlemen,' said the auctioneer, 'here is a right prime lot.
Look at this man; strong, healthy, able-bodied; could not be a better hand
for field-work. He can drive a wagon, or anything. What do you say for him?
I offer the man at the low price of 800 dollars--he is well worth 1200 dollars.
Come, make an advance, if you please. 800 dollars said for the man (a
bid), thank you; 810 dollars--810 dollars--810 dollars (several bids)--820-830--850--860--going at 860--going. Gentlemen, this is far below his value.
A strong-boned man, fit for any kind of heavy work. Just take a look at him.
(Addressing the lot): Walk down. Lot dismounts, and walks from one side of
the shop to the other. When about to reascend the block, a gentleman, who
is smoking a cigar, examines his mouth with his fingers. Lot resumes his
place.) Pray, gentlemen, be quick (continues the auctioneer); I must sell
him, and 860 dollars are only bid for the man--860 dollars. (A fresh run of
bids to 945 dollars.) 945 dollars, once, 945 dollars, twice (looking slowly
round, to see if all were done), 945 dollars, going--going--(hand drops)-gone!'
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"Such were a forenoon's experiences in the slave-market of
Richmond. Everything is described precisely as it occurred, without passion
or prejudice. It would not have been difficult to be sentimental on a subject
which appeals so strongly to the feelings; but I have preferred telling the
simple truth. In a subsequent chapter, I shall endeavor to offer some
general views of slavery in its social and political relations.
"W. C."
Source: Frederick Law Olmsted, A Journey In The Seaboard Slave
States; With Remarks On Their Economy. New York: Dix and
Edwards. 1856.
Term 1 Week 7
Douglas Ch 5
I was probably between seven and eight years old when I left Colonel Lloyd's
plantation. I left it with joy. I shall never forget the ecstasy with which I received
the intelligence that my old master (Anthony) had determined to let me go to
Baltimore, to live with Mr. Hugh Auld, brother to my old master's son-in-law,
Captain Thomas Auld. I received this information about three days before my
departure. They were three of the happiest days I ever enjoyed. I spent the most
part of all these three days in the creek, washing off the plantation scurf, and
preparing myself for my departure.
The pride of appearance which this would indicate was not my own. I spent the
time in washing, not so much because I wished to, but because Mrs. Lucretia had
told me I must get all the dead skin off my feet and knees before I could go to
Baltimore; for the people in Baltimore were very cleanly, and would laugh at me if
I looked dirty. Besides, she was going to give me a pair of trousers, which I should
not put on unless I got all the dirt off me. The thought of owning a pair of trousers
was great indeed! It was almost a sufficient motive, not only to make me take off
what would be called by pig- drovers the mange, but the skin itself. I went at it in
good earnest, working for the first time with the hope of reward.
The ties that ordinarily bind children to their homes were all suspended in my case.
I found no severe trial in my departure. My home was charmless; it was not home
to me; on parting from it, I could not feel that I was leaving any thing which I
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could have enjoyed by staying. My mother was dead, my grandmother lived far
off, so that I seldom saw her. I had two sisters and one brother, that lived in the
same house with me; but the early separation of us from our mother had well nigh
blotted the fact of our relationship from our memories. I looked for home
elsewhere, and was confident of finding none which I should relish less than the
one which I was leaving. If, however, I found in my new home hardship, hunger,
whipping, and nakedness, I had the consolation that I should not have escaped any
one of them by staying. Having already had more than a taste of them in the house
of my old master, and having endured them there, I very naturally inferred my
ability to endure them elsewhere, and especially at Baltimore; for I had something
of the feeling about Baltimore that is expressed in the proverb, that "being hanged
in England is preferable to dying a natural death in Ireland." I had the strongest
desire to see Baltimore. Cousin Tom, though not fluent in speech, had inspired me
with that desire by his eloquent description of the place. I could never point out
any thing at the Great House, no matter how beautiful or powerful, but that he had
seen something at Baltimore far exceeding, both in beauty and strength, the object
which I pointed out to him. Even the Great House itself, with all its pictures, was
far inferior to many buildings in Baltimore. So strong was my desire, that I
thought a gratification of it would fully compensate for whatever loss of comforts I
should sustain by the exchange. I left without a regret, and with the highest hopes
of future happiness.
We sailed out of Miles River for Baltimore on a Saturday morning. I remember
only the day of the week, for at that time I had no knowledge of the days of the
month, nor the months of the year. On setting sail, I walked aft, and gave to
Colonel Lloyd's plantation what I hoped would be the last look. I then placed
myself in the bows of the sloop, and there spent the remainder of the day in
looking ahead, interesting myself in what was in the distance rather than in things
near by or behind.
In the afternoon of that day, we reached Annapolis, the capital of the State. We
stopped but a few moments, so that I had no time to go on shore. It was the first
large town that I had ever seen, and though it would look small compared with
some of our New England factory villages, I thought it a wonderful place for its
size--more imposing even than the Great House Farm!
We arrived at Baltimore early on Sunday morning, landing at Smith's Wharf, not
far from Bow- ley's Wharf. We had on board the sloop a large flock of sheep; and
after aiding in driving them to the slaughterhouse of Mr. Curtis on Louden Slater's
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Hill, I was conducted by Rich, one of the hands belonging on board of the sloop, to
my new home in Alliciana Street, near Mr. Gardner's ship-yard, on Fells Point.
Mr. and Mrs. Auld were both at home, and met me at the door with their little son
Thomas, to take care of whom I had been given. And here I saw what I had never
seen before; it was a white face beaming with the most kindly emotions; it was the
face of my new mistress, Sophia Auld. I wish I could describe the rapture that
flashed through my soul as I beheld it. It was a new and strange sight to me,
brightening up my pathway with the light of happiness. Little Thomas was told,
there was his Freddy, --and I was told to take care of little Thomas; and thus I
entered upon the duties of my new home with the most cheering prospect ahead.
I look upon my departure from Colonel Lloyd's plantation as one of the most
interesting events of my life. It is possible, and even quite probable, that but for
the mere circumstance of being removed from that plantation to Baltimore, I
should have to-day, instead of being here seated by my own table, in the enjoyment
of freedom and the happiness of home, writing this Narrative, been confined in the
galling chains of slavery. Going to live at Baltimore laid the foundation, and
opened the gateway, to all my subsequent prosperity. I have ever regarded it as the
first plain manifestation of that kind providence which has ever since attended me,
and marked my life with so many favors. I regarded the selection of myself as
being somewhat remarkable. There were a number of slave children that might
have been sent from the plantation to Baltimore. There were those younger, those
older, and those of the same age. I was chosen from among them all, and was the
first, last, and only choice.
Ch 6
My new mistress proved to be all she appeared when I first met her at the door,--a
woman of the kindest heart and finest feelings. She had never had a slave under
her control previously to myself, and prior to her marriage she had been dependent
upon her own industry for a living. She was by trade a weaver; and by constant
application to her business, she had been in a good degree preserved from the
blighting and dehumanizing effects of slavery. I was utterly astonished at her
goodness. I scarcely knew how to behave towards her. She was entirely unlike
any other white woman I had ever seen. I could not approach her as I was
accustomed to approach other white ladies. My early instruction was all out of
place. The crouching servility, usually so acceptable a quality in a slave, did not
answer when manifested toward her. Her favor was not gained by it; she seemed
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to be disturbed by it. She did not deem it impudent or unmannerly for a slave to
look her in the face. The meanest slave was put fully at ease in her presence, and
none left without feeling better for having seen her. Her face was made of
heavenly smiles, and her voice of tranquil music.
But, alas! this kind heart had but a short time to remain such. The fatal poison of
irresponsible power was already in her hands, and soon commenced its infernal
work. That cheerful eye, under the influence of slavery, soon became red with
rage; that voice, made all of sweet accord, changed to one of harsh and horrid
discord; and that angelic face gave place to that of a demon.
Very soon after I went to live with Mr. and Mrs. Auld, she very kindly commenced
to teach me the A, B, C. After I had learned this, she assisted me in learning to
spell words of three or four letters. Just at this point of my progress, Mr. Auld
found out what was going on, and at once forbade Mrs. Auld to instruct me further,
telling her, among other things, that it was unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a
slave to read. To use his own words, further, he said, "If you give a nigger an inch,
he will take an ell. A nigger should know nothing but to obey his master--to do as
he is told to do. Learning would ~spoil~ the best nigger in the world. Now," said
he, "if you teach that nigger (speaking of myself) how to read, there would be no
keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become
unmanageable, and of no value to his master. As to himself, it could do him no
good, but a great deal of harm. It would make him discontented and unhappy."
These words sank deep into my heart, stirred up sentiments within that lay
slumbering, and called into existence an entirely new train of thought. It was a
new and special revelation, explaining dark and mysterious things, with which my
youthful understanding had struggled, but struggled in vain. I now understood
what had been to me a most perplexing difficulty--to wit, the white man's power to
enslave the black man. It was a grand achievement, and I prized it highly. From
that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom. It was just what I
wanted, and I got it at a time when I the least expected it. Whilst I was saddened
by the thought of losing the aid of my kind mistress, I was gladdened by the
invaluable instruction which, by the merest accident, I had gained from my master.
Though conscious of the difficulty of learning without a teacher, I set out with
high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read.
The very decided manner with which he spoke, and strove to impress his wife with
the evil consequences of giving me instruction, served to convince me that he was
deeply sensible of the truths he was uttering. It gave me the best assurance that I
might rely with the utmost confidence on the results which, he said, would flow
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from teaching me to read. What he most dreaded, that I most desired. What he
most loved, that I most hated. That which to him was a great evil, to be carefully
shunned, was to me a great good, to be diligently sought; and the argument which
he so warmly urged, against my learning to read, only served to inspire me with a
desire and determination to learn. In learning to read, I owe almost as much to the
bitter opposition of my master, as to the kindly aid of my mistress. I acknowledge
the benefit of both.
I had resided but a short time in Baltimore before I observed a marked difference,
in the treatment of slaves, from that which I had witnessed in the country. A city
slave is almost a freeman, compared with a slave on the plantation. He is much
better fed and clothed, and enjoys privileges altogether unknown to the slave on
the plantation. There is a vestige of decency, a sense of shame, that does much to
curb and check those outbreaks of atrocious cruelty so commonly enacted upon the
plantation. He is a desperate slaveholder, who will shock the humanity of his nonslaveholding neighbors with the cries of his lacerated slave. Few are willing to
incur the odium attaching to the reputation of being a cruel master; and above all
things, they would not be known as not giving a slave enough to eat. Every city
slave- holder is anxious to have it known of him, that he feeds his slaves well; and
it is due to them to say, that most of them do give their slaves enough to eat. There
are, however, some painful exceptions to this rule. Directly opposite to us, on
Philpot Street, lived Mr. Thomas Hamilton. He owned two slaves. Their names
were Henrietta and Mary. Henrietta was about twenty-two years of age, Mary was
about fourteen; and of all the mangled and emaciated creatures I ever looked upon,
these two were the most so. His heart must be harder than stone, that could look
upon these unmoved. The head, neck, and shoulders of Mary were literally cut to
pieces. I have frequently felt her head, and found it nearly covered with festering
sores, caused by the lash of her cruel mistress. I do not know that her master ever
whipped her, but I have been an eye-witness to the cruelty of Mrs. Hamilton. I
used to be in Mr. Hamilton's house nearly every day. Mrs. Hamilton used to sit in
a large chair in the middle of the room, with a heavy cowskin always by her side,
and scarce an hour passed during the day but was marked by the blood of one of
these slaves. The girls seldom passed her without her saying, "Move faster, you
~black gip!~" at the same time giving them a blow with the cowskin over the head
or shoulders, often drawing the blood. She would then say, "Take that, you ~black
gip!~" continuing, "If you don't move faster, I'll move you!" Added to the cruel
lashings to which these slaves were subjected, they were kept nearly half-starved.
They seldom knew what it was to eat a full meal. I have seen Mary contending
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with the pigs for the offal thrown into the street. So much was Mary kicked and
cut to pieces, that she was oftener called "~pecked~" than by her name.
Ch 10
…In a few weeks after I went to Baltimore, Master Hugh hired me to Mr. William
Gardner, an extensive ship-builder, on Fell's Point. I was put there to learn how to
calk. It, however, proved a very unfavorable place for the accomplishment of this
object. Mr. Gardner was engaged that spring in building two large man-of-war
brigs, professedly for the Mexican government. The vessels were to be launched
in the July of that year, and in failure thereof, Mr. Gardner was to lose a
considerable sum; so that when I entered, all was hurry. There was no time to
learn any thing. Every man had to do that which he knew how to do. In entering
the shipyard, my orders from Mr. Gardner were, to do whatever the carpenters
commanded me to do. This was placing me at the beck and call of about seventyfive men. I was to regard all these as masters. Their word was to be my law. My
situation was a most trying one. At times I needed a dozen pair of hands. I was
called a dozen ways in the space of a single minute. Three or four voices would
strike my ear at the same moment. It was--"Fred., come help me to cant this timber
here."--"Fred., come carry this timber yonder."--"Fred., bring that roller here."-"Fred., go get a fresh can of water."--"Fred., come help saw off the end of this
timber."--"Fred., go quick, and get the crowbar."--"Fred., hold on the end of this
fall."--"Fred., go to the blacksmith's shop, and get a new punch."--"Hurra, Fred.!
run and bring me a cold chisel."--"I say, Fred., bear a hand, and get up a fire as
quick as lightning under that steam-box."--"Halloo, nigger! come, turn this
grindstone."--"Come, come! move, move! and BOWSE this timber forward."--"I
say, darky, blast your eyes, why don't you heat up some pitch?"--"Halloo! halloo!
halloo!" (Three voices at the same time.) "Come here!--Go there!--Hold on where
you are! Damn you, if you move, I'll knock your brains out!"
This was my school for eight months; and I might have remained there longer, but
for a most horrid fight I had with four of the white apprentices, in which my left
eye was nearly knocked out, and I was horribly mangled in other respects. The
facts in the case were these: Until a very little while after I went there, white and
black ship-carpenters worked side by side, and no one seemed to see any
impropriety in it. All hands seemed to be very well satisfied. Many of the black
carpenters were freemen. Things seemed to be going on very well. All at once,
the white carpenters knocked off, and said they would not work with free colored
workmen. Their reason for this, as alleged, was, that if free colored carpenters
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were encouraged, they would soon take the trade into their own hands, and poor
white men would be thrown out of employment. They therefore felt called upon at
once to put a stop to it. And, taking advantage of Mr. Gardner's necessities, they
broke off, swearing they would work no longer, unless he would discharge his
black carpenters. Now, though this did not extend to me in form, it did reach me in
fact. My fellow-apprentices very soon began to feel it degrading to them to work
with me. They began to put on airs, and talk about the "niggers" taking the
country, saying we all ought to be killed; and, being encouraged by the
journeymen, they commenced making my condition as hard as they could, by
hectoring me around, and sometimes striking me. I, of course, kept the vow I
made after the fight with Mr. Covey, and struck back again, regardless of
consequences; and while I kept them from combining, I succeeded very well; for I
could whip the whole of them, taking them separately. They, however, at length
combined, and came upon me, armed with sticks, stones, and heavy handspikes.
One came in front with a half brick. There was one at each side of me, and one
behind me. While I was attending to those in front, and on either side, the one
behind ran up with the handspike, and struck me a heavy blow upon the head. It
stunned me. I fell, and with this they all ran upon me, and fell to beating me with
their fists. I let them lay on for a while, gathering strength. In an instant, I gave a
sudden surge, and rose to my hands and knees. Just as I did that, one of their
number gave me, with his heavy boot, a powerful kick in the left eye. My eyeball
seemed to have burst. When they saw my eye closed, and badly swollen, they left
me. With this I seized the handspike, and for a time pursued them. But here the
carpenters interfered, and I thought I might as well give it up. It was impossible to
stand my hand against so many. All this took place in sight of not less than fifty
white ship-carpenters, and not one interposed a friendly word; but some cried,
"Kill the damned nigger! Kill him! kill him! He struck a white person." I found
my only chance for life was in flight. I succeeded in getting away without an
additional blow, and barely so; for to strike a white man is death by Lynch law,-and that was the law in Mr. Gardner's ship-yard; nor is there much of any other out
of Mr. Gardner's ship-yard.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas (Boston, 1845)
Urban Slavery in Charleston and Savannah
Charleston
Presentments of the Grand Jury of South Carolina, April 22, 1769
125
. . . 13th. We present as a grievance the little regard of the Lord's day, the number
of idle persons & negroes strolling about the streets of Charleston during the whole
of that day.
Presentments of the Grand Jury of South Carolina 19th January 1770.
7th. We present, as a grievance, the want of a law to oblige free negroes mullattoes
and mestizioes, to wear some badge or other distinguishing mark, and to
incapacitate then in future from acquiring any real property in this province. . .
11th. We present , as a grievance, the resort amongst us of too many people
connected with each other only whose morals are founded on principals
diametrically opposite to the doctrines of Christianity, to the great increase of
irreligion, vice and immorality, many of whom are suspected, & several have been
detected, of corrupting and seducing our negroes to rob and steal, and of buying
and receiving such stolen goods, in so private and clandestine a manner, that
seldom any other proof of their evil practices can be obtained, than the confession
of Negroes, and we do recommend that some effectual method may be taken, to
safeguard and prevent so great an evil. . .
20th. We present , as a grievance, the granting of too great a number of licenses for
retailing spirituous liquors in Charleston, whereby the morals of our slaves are
debauched, frequent thefts ensue and the trade suffers, by sailors being concealed,
encouraged to neglect and desert their duty and other disorders ensue. . . .
24th. We present, as an enormous grievance, that no notice whatever is taken of
negroes & other slaves ( and indeed of too many whites) profanely cursing,
swearing, and talking obscenely in the most public manner, to the great annoyance
of every person who has a due sense of decency and virtue, and the dishonour of
our religion. And we do recommend that the most effectual measures may be
immediately taken, and pursued, to suppress this hitherto unrestrained evil. . . .
Charleston Grand Jury Presentments 21st September 1792 [0010 015 1792 00003]
'1st. We present as a grievance the number of Dram Shops about the city and in
this district. We recommend that the laws against retailing spirituous liquors to
negroes without permission from their masters be strictly enforced'
Charleston Grand Jury Presentments 21st September 1795 [0010 015 1795 00003]
Tenth. We present as a very great grievance, that slaves who are mechanics, are
allowed to carry on various handicraft trades on their own account to the great
prejudice of the poor mechanics of this city.'
Charleston Grand Jury Presentments 13th October 1821 [0010 015 1821 00001]
126
'We present as grievances....the great number of grog shops, which holds out a
temptation to our domestics, by keeping open at improper hours and more
especially on the Sabbath day.......the impropriety of slaves and free people of
colour riding horses at full speed in the publick streets, especially on Sabbath days
much to the danger of lives of children and other persons who may be passing in
the publick streets
Charleston Grand Jury Presentments 11th October 1822 [0010 015 1822 00003]
4th.We recommend to the consideration of the legislature, the regulation of the
apparel of persons of colour, as we conceive the expensive dresses worn by many
of them highly destructive to their honesty & industry and subversive of that
subordination which policy requires to be enforced.'
Sources: Charleston District, Court Of General Sessions, Session Journals 17691776; & General Assembly Papers of South Carolina. (Manuscript vols., South
Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina.)
Savannah
Chatham County, Grand Jury, September 6, 1792
'We present as a grievance the great number of Negroes who are suffered to
assemble under the pretence of religion, and recommend that their numbers on
such occasion be limited, and that the patrol law be regularly put into execution'
Chatham County, Grand Jury, February 20, 1794
'4th. We present as a great grievance the retailors of spirituous liquors in
Savannah, keeping shops open after night & on Sundays and dealing with negroes,
by which practice the negroes are induced and incouraged to steal & pillage &
commit other enormities, to the great injury of our citizens, & recommend to the
city Council to take measurers to suppress such proceedings.
5th We present as an evil tendancy of which may prove destructive to our country
& involves us in calamities of the same kind as those lately experienced by the
unhappy inhabitants of St Domingo that negroes are permitted to meet in a place in
Yamacraw under the pretence of public worship in numbers of five and six
hundred at a time, and we recommend that such impolitic & dangerous meetings
may be suppressed in future, as there is room reserved in our churches for thier
accommodation.
Chatham County, Grand Jury, October Term 1798
127
‘7th We present as a grievance the great influx of negroes & people of color from
the West Indies who are secretly brought into this state from other states over land,
whereby the acts of the legislature for preventing the introduction of such persons
are evaded to the imminent danger of the county. We are sorry to observe that the
city ordinance preventing slaves from occupying houses with in the city is not
more particularly attended to and we recommend that the city council require of
the city marshal an attentive observance and inforcement of the said ordinance.'
January 17, 1818
We present as an evil of great magnitude the ordinance granting badges to colored
and black women, for the purpose of hawking about articles for sale. These women
monopolise in divers ways, many of the necessaries of life, which are brought to
our market, by which the price is greatly enhanced, and the poor inhabitants of our
city, proportionately distressed. They encourage theft; deprave our domestics, and
by their evil influence and dissolute lives endanger the safety of the city'
Chatham County, Grand Jury, June 8, 1825
'a majority of the slaves imprisoned in the course of a year, are runaway Negroes,
detained in goal, waiting the call of the owners; these, with a few belonging to the
city, constitute all generally found in confinement. Negroes remaining in a
condition of positive idleness, having subsistence secured without labour, feel their
situation infinitely better than if at work; no motives for change are presented, and
instead of imprisonment being found a salutary check to their absenting themselves
from their owners, the first confinement only leads to an indifference, if not a
desire for another
We beg leave to present to the notice of the authorities of the city, a practice long
continued, as a greivance, but recently carried to an extent, to demand immediate
interference. We refer to the encouragement afforded by some shopkeepers, to
porters and servants, in stores under the bluff, to collect cotton for sale, by taking
from each bale a part, not possible to be missed by the owner at the time, until the
aggregate robbed in this way, in the course of a season amounts to a heavy loss.
The cotton thus collected is carried constantly to shops for sale; and were the
injury confined to the loss of property, it would be a wrong that law might restrain;
but the proceeds of the sales are applied to the means of drunkenness, and some of
the best servants in town have become, in consequence, worthless to their owners,
and loathsome to all. The amount of cotton known to be received in this way
during the season, by some individuals, would if stated at its value in money, be
incredible. But the knowledge of the facts within cognizance of many of this jury.
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The seller of the cotton to the shop-keeper gets but a mite for his share of the
robbery'.
Chatham County, Grand Jury, May Term 1841
‘The Grand Jury now proceed to lay before this court the following list of evil
practices existing in this community so far as the same have been brought to their
knowledge.The present as a nuisance of the first class, the grog-shops, bar-rooms
where ardent spirits are retailed and sailors boarding houses as they are now
conducted in this city. They consider these evils as all belonging to one class and
the Grand Jury do not see how any amendment in public morals, or any
improvement in the peace and safety of the city can be expected so long as these
evils exist.
The unlawful trading with negroes is doubly injurious to our city and our county,
and should be suppressed as far as possible by the vigilent enforcement of present
enactments or by new ones to meet the case; it offers to robbery and plunder by a
certainty of a ready market inducements which the moral character of that class
cannot resist. The practice opens the door to evils of great magnitude, injures the
master, and demoralizes the slave, who without such facilities of reaping the
reward of crime, would faithfully perform the duties of his humble sphere, by
remaining honest, industrious, obedient and contented, looking up to his master as
his best friend instead of his dreading him, as the punisher of the faithless and the
robber. The returns they most generally receive, intoxicating liquor, only add to the
evil, by fastening on them the habits of drunkenness, exciting them to further
depredations and sinking them lower in vice. This population is so integrally
mixed up with our domestic relations and we are, as a natural consequence, so
vitally affected by their good or bad conduct, that the considerations of the evil,
and a remedy, should seriously present itself to every member of this community.
All slaves are interested in this matter & all should unite in endeavours to stop this
fruitful source of mischief & danger.
Selling on the Sabbath day whether in the shops or in the streets in inconsistent in
a Christian community, and we are happy to see the vigilence of out police,
bringing up offenders in the former case, and their punishment by the city council
for violation of the Sabbath ordinance, we could respectfully recommend that the
ordinance prohibiting the selling on Sunday be more strictly enforced.
Chatham County, Grand Jury, May Term 1845
129
‘In performing our duty as the Grand Inquest of the county it is with painful
concern that we perceive the existence of evils which jepoardise the peace, order
and safety of the community, and which we expose in the following presentments
viz.: We present the illicit trading with Negroes as a formidable evil, the awful
effects of which reaches every class of the community, not excepting the
mercenary individual who renders the misguided slave his victim by inveighing
him to perpetrate theft and insidiously involving him in habits injurious of his
happiness and orals and hazardous of the safety of the community. The law is
adequate to the offence, but as long as our citizens are indifferent to its existence
and our magistrates delinquent a traffic cannot be omitted so fearfully deleterious.
We present the practise of giving tickets to Negroes who are the property of
another as an extensive evil. It renders the slave independent of his owner, and it
deprives him of his services.
We present as an evil of magnitude the practise of slaves being permitted to hire
their own time or to labour for themselves except on the premises of their owners.
The exemption of the city of Savannah from the operation of the law which
prohibits Negroes elsewhere from hiring their own time we regard as seriously
mischievous exacting a most deleterious influence upon them and weakening the
control which should be maintained over them. We therefore recommend in
explicit terms that our representatives in the legislature be required to obtain its
repeal. For the proper subordination of our slaves and for the security of our
citizens it is absolutely necessary that the patrol laws should be rigidly enforced. In
several districts there is no organised militia company and therefore no regular
patrol duty is performed in them. We present this delinquency as requiring the
immediate interposition of the justices of the peace which tribunal has cognisance
of it upon which we would earnestly impress the necessity of publishing the patrol
laws in the gazettes of the city and having them posted up at all public places
throughout the county and compelling their observance.
WE present as a nuisance the number of shops for the retailing of ardent spirits in
the city of Savannah by small measures exercising as they do the most corrupting
influence on our black population and respectfully recommend to our corporate
authorities that a limited number of licenses only should be given to each ward that
the fees for such licenses be increased, proper security given & required for good
behaviour and all screens be removed from the doors of such shops...
Chatham County, Grand Jury, May Term 1851
‘That the number of negro groggeries in Savannah and their flourishing condition,
indicate a state of society that is alarming and deplorable, and ought not to be
tolerated. That trafficking with negro slaves through facilities by those
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establishments is demoralizing to the black population, ruinous to their health, and
destructive of their usefulness as labourers. That the bold & midnight
depredations upon the river and the city demand the serious attention of the public
authorities and the full exercise of all their vigilence & energy. That for the
protection of the rice, cotton, lumber and other property of the community, they the
grand jury would also respectfully recommend to the consideration of the
honourable the city council the propriety of establishing a night river watch and of
giving additional vigor and efficiency to the city police and agree measures of
bringing about a result so desirable they would further recommend a
disqualification on the part of the owners and agents of shops and grogeries from
acting in the capacity of watchmen and subordinate officers.
Chatham County, Grand Jury, January Term 1860
We the Grand Jurors of the 1st Panel for the County of Chatham, respectfully say,
we are fully aware that it is the custom of the Grand Jurors of the several counties
of our state, & doubtless it is expected of us, to present such matters to the
consideration of the court, & of the county, which we represent as we believe the
public interests require & we are also aware, that too often such presentments are
merely published - then entirely forgotten, & never afterwards alluded to or acted
upon. But in this instance, we mean emphatically what we say, & feel earnestly,
the absolute necessity that some peremptory action should be taken & that
promptly upon the following subjects: We are each & all equally interested in them
& those who have the welfare of our country at heart, we respectfully urge, cannot
be listless and indifferent to what has so earnestly iccupied our thoughts &
deliberations & so heartily received our reprobation. This Grand Jury do therefore
Unanimously present to the consideration of the court, & community the grievous
injuries resulting from the selling of spirituous & intoxicating liquors to our slaves
& free persons of colour - and keeping of disorderly & gambling houses for the
same. No license to sell liquor authorises the former, & our statute book is
disgraced by no law permitting the latter; but that these grievances wrongs to both
master & slave are daily permitted in our midst by the culpable indifference,
inactivity or collusion of those officers who would detect & expose these gross
violations of law, cannot be successfully contradicted. Here then are two great
injuries inflicted upon masters & slaves in our very midst first by demoralising the
negro & then deteriorating his value physically also. This peculiar property should
be especially protected by us & hedged about by the severest penal statutes to
guarantee that they should not be improperly tampered with. With these views we
respectfully and unanimously suggest to the senator & representatives from the
county, that an act should be passed by our legislature to the effect - that the
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penalty of selling liquor or any intoxicating drink to slaves or free persons of
colour; or for keeping gambling rooms for their use, should be punished by
nothing less that confinement in the penitentiary; & that a reward should also be
allowed to the informer & prosecutor upon whose testimony the violation of such
laws may be convicted. WE are taxed to pay our city & county officers & certainly
the detection of these violations of the law is within the limit of their duties’.
Sources: Georgia Gazette, September 6, 1792, & February 20, 1794; Savannah
Republican January 17, 1818; Daily Georgian, June 8, 1825; Chatham County,
Superior Court Minutes Vol 4, 1796-1799; Vol 16, 1841-43; Vol. 18, 1845-1847;
Vol 20, 1850-1853; Vol 24, 1859-1862.
Term 1 Week 8
Nat Turner’s Confession
Agreeable to his own appointment, on the evening he was committed to prison,
with permission of the Jailer, I visited NAT on Tuesday the 1st November, when,
without being questioned at all, he commenced his narrative in the following
words:Sir,-You have asked me to give a history of the motives which induced me to
undertake the late insurrection, as you call it - To do so I must go back to the days
of my infancy, and even before I was born. I was thirty-one years of age the 2d of
October last, and born the property of Benj. Turner, of this county. In my
childhood a circumstance occurred which made an indelible impression on my
mind, and laid the ground work of that enthusiasm, which has terminated so fatally
to many both whiteand black, and for which I am about to atone at the gallows. It
is here necessary to relate this circumstance - trifling as it may seem, it was the
commencement of thatbelief which has grown with time, and even now, sir, in this
dungeon, helpless and forsaken as I am, I cannot divest myself of. Being at play
with other children, when three or four years old, I was telling them something,
which my mother overhearing, said it had happened before I was born - I stuck to
my story, however, and related some things which went in her opinion to confirm
it - others being called on were greatly astonished, knowing that these things had
happened, and caused them to say in my hearing, I surely would be a prophet, as
the Lord had shewn me things that had happened before my birth. And my father
and mother strengthened me in this my first
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impression, saying in my presence, I was intended for some great purpose, which
they had always thought from certain marks on my head and breast-[a parcel of
excrescences which I believe are not at all uncommon, particularly among negroes,
as I have seen several with the same. In this case he has either cut them off, or they
have nearly disappeared] - My grand mother, who was very religious, and to whom
I was much attached - my master, who belonged to the church, and other religious
persons who visited the house, and whom I often saw at prayers, noticing the
singularity of my manners, I suppose, and my uncommon intelligence for a child,
remarked I had too much sense to be raised - and if I was, I would never be of any
service to any one - as a slave - To a mind like mine, restless, inquisitive and
observant of every thing that was passing, it is easy to suppose that religion was
the subject to which it would be directed, and although this subject principally
occupied my thoughts, there was nothing that I saw or heard of to which my
attention was not directed - The manner in which I learned to read and write, not
only had great influence on my own mind, as I acquired it with the most perfect
ease, so much so, that I have no recollection whatever of learning the alphabet but to the astonishment of the family, one day, when a book was shewn me to keep
me from crying, I began spelling the names of different objects - this was a source
of wonder to all in the neighborhood, particularly the blacks - and this learning
was constantly improved at all opportunities - when I got large enough to go to
work, while employed, I was reflecting on many things that would present
themselves to my imagination, and whenever an opportunity occurred of looking at
a book, when the school children were getting their lessons, I would find many
things that the fertility of my own imagination had depicted to me before; all my
time, not devoted to my master's service, was spent either in prayer, or in making
experiments in casting different things in moulds made of earth, in attempting to
make paper, gunpowder, and many other experiments, that although I could not
perfect, yet convinced me of its practicability if I had the means.[1]
I was not addicted to stealing in my youth, nor have ever been - Yet such was the
confidence of the negroes in the neighborhood, even at this early period of my life,
in my superior judgment, that they would often carry me with them when they
were going on any roguery, to plan for them. Growing up among them, with this
confidence in my superior judgment, and when this, in their opinions, was
perfected by Divine inspiration, from the circumstances already alluded to in my
infancy, and which belief was ever afterwards zealously inculcated by the austerity
of my life and manners, which became the subject of remark by white and black. Having soon discovered to be great, I must appear so, and therefore studiously
avoided mixing in society, and wrapped myself in mystery, devoting my time to
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fasting and prayer. By this time, having arrived to man's estate, and hearing the
Scriptures commented on at meetings, I was struck with that particular passage
which says: "Seek ye the kingdom of Heaven and all things shall be added unto
you." I reflected much on this passage, and prayed daily for light on this subject As I was praying one day at my plough, the spirit spoke to me, saying "Seek ye the
kingdom of Heaven and all things shall be added unto you."
Question - What do you mean by the Spirit.
Answer - The Spirit that spoke to the prophets in former day - and I was greatly
astonished, and for two years prayed continually, whenever my duty would permit
- and then again I had the same revelation, which fully confirmed me in the
impression that I was ordained for some great purpose in the hands of the
Almighty. Several years rolled round, in which many events occurred to strengthen
me in this my belief. At this time I reverted in my mind to the remarks made of me
in my childhood, and the things that had been shewn me - and as it had been said
of me in my childhood by those by whom I had been taught to pray, both white and
black, and in whom I had the greatest confidence, that I had too much sense to be
raised, and if I was I would never be of any use to any one as a slave. Now finding
I had arrived to man's estate, and was a slave, and these revelations being made
known to me, I began to direct my attention to this great object, to fulfil the
purpose for which, by this time, I felt assured I was intended- Knowing the
influence I had obtained over the minds of my fellow servants, (not by the means
of conjuring and such like tricks - for to them I always spoke of such things with
contempt) but by the communion of the Spirit whose revelations I often
communicated to them, and they believed and said my wisdom came from God. I
now began to prepare them for my purpose, by telling them something was about
to happen that would terminate in fulfilling the great promise that had been made
to me - About this tame I was placed under an overseer, from whom I ran away and after remaining in the woods thirty days, I returned, to the astonishment of the
negroes on the plantation, who thought I had made my escape to some other part of
the country, as my father had done before. But the reason of my return was, that
the Spirit appeared to me and said I had my wishes directed to the things of this
world, and not to the kingdom of Heaven, and that I should return to the service of
my earthly master -"For he who knoweth his Master's will, and doeth it not, shall
be beaten with many stripes, and thus have I chastened you." And the negroes
found fault, and murmured against me, saying that if they had my sense they would
not serve any master in the world. And about this time I had a vision - and I saw
white spirits and black spirits engaged in battle, and the sun was darkened - the
thunder rolled in the Heavens, and blood flowed in streams - and I heard a voice
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saying, "Such is your luck, such you are called to see, and let it come rough or
smooth, you must surely bear it." I now withdrew myself as much as my situation
would permit, from the intercourse of my fellow servants, for the avowed purpose
of serving the Spirit more fully - and it appeared to me, and reminded me of the
things it had already shown me, and that it would then reveal to me the knowledge
of the elements, the revolution of the planets, the operation of tides, and changes of
the seasons. After this revelation in the year 1825, and the knowledge of the
elements being made known to me, I sought more than ever to obtain true holiness
before the great day of judgment should appear, and then I began to receive the
true knowledge of faith. And from the first steps of righteousness until the last,
was I made perfect; and the Holy Ghost was with me, and said "Behold me as I
stand in the Heavens" - and I looked and saw the forms of men in different attitude
- and there were lights in the sky to which the
children of darkness gave other names than what they really were - for they were
the lights of the Saviour's hands, stretched forth from east to west, even as they
were extended on the cross on Calvary for the redemption of sinners. And I
wondered greatly at these miracles, and prayed to be informed of a certainty of the
meaning thereof - and shortly afterwards, while labouring in the field, I discovered
drops of blood on the corn, as though it were dew from heaven - and I
communicated it to many, both white and black, in the neighbourhood - and I then
found on the leaves in the woods hieroglyphic characters and numbers, with the
forms of men in different attitudes, portrayed in blood, and representing the figures
I had seen before in the heavens. - And now the Holy Ghost had revealed itself to
me, and made plain the miracles it had shown me - For as the blood of Christ had
been shed on this earth, and had ascended to heaven for the salvation of sinners,
and was now returning to earth again in the form of dew - and as the leaves on the
trees bore the impression of the figures I had seen in the heavens, it was plain to
me that the Saviour was about to lay down the yoke he had borne for the sins of
men, and the great day of judgement was at hand. - About this time, I told these
things to a white man, (Etheldred T. Brantley) on whom it had a wonderful effect and he ceased from his wickedness, and was attacked immediately with a
cutaneous eruption, and blood oozed from the pores of his skin, and after praying
and fasting nine days, he was healed, and the Spirit appeared to me again, and said,
as the Saviour had been baptised, so should we be also - and when the white
people would not let us be baptised by the church, we went down into the water
together, in the sight of many who reviled us, and were baptised by the Spirit.
After this I rejoiced greatly, and gave thanks to God. And on the 12th of May,
1828, I heard a loud noise in the heavens, and the Spirit instantly appeared to me
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and said the Serpent was loosened, and Christ had laid down the yoke he had borne
for the sins of men, and that I should take it on and fight against the Serpent, for
the time was fast approaching, when the first should be last and the last should be
first.
Question. Do you not find yourself mistaken now?
Answer. Was not Christ crucified? And by signs in the heavens that it would make
known to me when I should commence the great work - and until the first sign
appeared, I should conceal it from the knowledge of men - And on the appearance
of the sign, (the eclipse of the sun last February) I should arise and prepare myself,
and slay my enemies with their own weapons. And immediately on the sign
appearing in the heavens, the seal was removed from my lips, and I communicated
the great work laid out for me to do, to four in whom I had the greatest confidence,
(Henry, Hark, Nelson and Sam) - It was intended by us to have begun the work of
death on the 4th of July last - Many were the plans formed and rejected by us, and
it affected my mind to such a degree, that I fell sick, and the time passed without
our coming to any
determination how to commence - Still forming new schemes and rejecting them,
when the sign appeared again, which determined me not to wait longer.
Since the commencement of 1830, I had been living with Mr. Joseph Travis, who
was to me a kind master, and placed the greatest confidence in me; in fact, I had no
cause to complain of his treatment to me. On Saturday evening, the 20th of August,
it was agreed between Henry, Hark and myself, to prepare a dinner the next day for
the men we expected, and then to concert a plan, as we had not yet determined on
any. Hark on the following morning brought a pig, and Henry brandy, and being
joined by Sam, Nelson, Will and Jack, they prepared in the woods a dinner, where,
about three o'clock, I joined them.
Question. Why were you so backward in joining them?
Answer. The same reason that had caused me not to mix with them for years
before.
I saluted them on coming up, and asked Will how came he there; he answered, his
life was worth no more than others, and his liberty as dear to him. I asked him if he
thought to obtain it? He said he would, or lose his life. This was enough to put him
in full con- fidence. Jack, I knew, was only a tool in the hands of Hark, it was
quickly agreed we should commence at home (Mr. J. Travis') on that night, and
until we had armed and equipped ourselves, and gathered sufficient force, neither
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age nor sex was to be spared, (which was invariably adhered to.) We remained at
the feast until about two hours in the night, when we went to the house and found
Austin; they all went to the cider press and drank, except myself. On returning to
the house, Hark went to the door with an axe, for the purpose of breaking it open,
as we knew we were strong enough to murder the family, if they were awaked by
the noise; but reflecting that it might create an alarm in the neighborhood, we
determined to enter the house secretly, and murder them whilst sleeping.
Hark got a ladder and set it against the chimney, on which I ascended, and hoisting
a window, entered and came down stairs, unbarred the door, and removed the guns
from their places. It was then observed that I must spill the first blood. On which
armed with a hatchet, and accompanied by Will, I entered my master's chamber; it
being dark, I could not give a death blow, the hatchet glanced from his head, he
sprang from the bed and called his wife, it was his last word. Will laid him dead,
with a blow of his axe, and Mrs. Travis shared the same fate, as she lay in bed. The
murder of this family five in number, was the work of a moment, not one of them
awoke; there was
a little infant sleeping in a cradle, that was forgotten, until we had left the house
and gone some distance, when Henry and Will returned and killed it; we got here,
four guns that would shoot, and several old muskets, with a pound or two of
powder.
We remained some time at the barn, where we paraded; I formed them in a line as
soldiers, and after carrying them through all the manoeuvres I was master of,
marched them off to Mr. Salathul Francis', about six hundred yards distant. Sam
and Will went to the door and knocked. Mr. Francis asked who was there, Sam
replied it was him, and he had a letter for him, on which he got up and came to the
door; they immediately seized him, and dragging him out a little from the door, he
was dispatched by repeated blows on the head; there was no other white person in
the family.
We started from there for Mrs. Reese's, maintaining the most perfect silence on our
march, where finding the door unlocked, we entered, and murdered Mrs. Reese in
her bed, while sleeping; her son awoke, but it was only to sleep the sleep of death,
he had only time to say who is that, and he was no more. From Mrs. Reese's we
went to Mrs. Turner's, a mile distant, which we reached about sunrise, on Monday
morning. Henry, Austin, and Sam, went to the still, where, finding Mr. Peebles,
Austin shot him, and the rest of us went to the house; as we approached, the family
discovered us, and shut the door. Vain hope! Will, with one stroke of his axe,
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opened it, and we entered and found Mrs. Turner and Mrs. Newsome in the middle
of a room almost frightened to death. Will immediately killed Mrs. Turner, with
one blow of his axe. I took Mrs. Newsome by the hand, and with the sword I had
when I was apprehended, I struck her several blows over the head, but not being
able to kill her, as the sword was dull. Will turning around and discovering it,
dispatched her also. A general destruction of property and search for money and
ammunition, always succeeded the murders.
By this time my company amounted to fifteen, and nine men mounted, who started
for Mrs. Whitehead's, (the other six were to go through a by way to Mr. Bryant's,
and rejoin us at Mrs. White head's,) as we approached the house we discovered Mr.
Richard Whitehead standing in the cotton patch, near the lane fence; we called him
over into the lane, and Will, the executioner, was near at hand, with his fatal axe,
to send him to an untimely grave. As we pushed on to the house, I discovered some
one run round the garden, and thinking it was some of the white family, I pursued
them, but finding it was a servant girl belonging to the house, I returned to
commence the work of death, but they whom I left, had not been idle; all the
family were already murdered, but Mrs. Whitehead and her daughter Margaret. As
I came round to the door I saw Will pulling Mrs. Whitehead out of the house, and
at the step he nearly severed her head from her body, with his broad axe. Miss
Margaret, when I discovered her, had concealed herself in the corner, formed by
the projection of the cellar cap from the house; on my approach she fled, but was
soon overtaken, and after repeated
blows with a sword, I killed her by a blow on the head, with a fence rail. By this
time, the six who had gone by Mr. Bryant's, rejoined us, and informed me they had
done the work of death assigned them.
We again divided, part going to Mr. Richard Porter's, and from thence to Nathaniel
Francis', the others to Mr. Howell Harris', and Mr. T. Doyle's. On my reaching Mr.
Porter's, he had escaped with his family. I understood there, that the alarm had
already spread, and I immediately returned to bring up those sent to Mr. Doyle's,
and Mr. Howell Harris'; the party I left going on to Mr. Francis', having told them I
would join them in that neighborhood. I met these sent to Mr. Doyle's and Mr.
Harris' returning, having met Mr. Doyle on the road and killed him; and learning
from some who joined them, that Mr. Harris was from home, I immediately
pursued the course taken by the party gone on before; but knowing they would
complete the work of death and pillage, at Mr. Francis' before I could get there, I
went to Mr. Peter Edwards',
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expecting to find them there, but they had been here also. I then went to Mr. John
T. Barrow's, they had been here and murdered him. I pursued on their track to
Capt. Newit Harris', where I found the greater part mounted, and ready to start; the
men now amounting to about forty, shouted and hurraed as I rode up, some were in
the yard, loading their guns, others drinking. They said Captain Harris and his
family had escaped, the property in the house they destroyed, robbing him of
money and other valuables. I ordered them to mount and march instantly, this was
about nine or ten o'clock, Monday morning.
I proceeded to Mr. Levi Waller's, two or three miles distant. I took my station in
the rear, and as it was my object to carry terror and devastation whereever we
went, I placed fifteen or twenty of the best armed and most to be relied on, in front,
who generally approached the houses as fast as their horses could run; this was for
two purposes, to prevent their escape and strike terror to the inhabitants - on this
account I never got to the houses, after leaving Mrs. Whitehead's until the murders
were
committed, except in one case. I sometimes got in sight in time to see the work of
death completed, viewed the mangled bodies as they lay, in silent satisfaction, and
immediately started in quest of other victims - Having murdered Mrs. Waller and
ten children, we started for Mr. William Williams' - having killed him and two
little boys that were there; while engaged in this, Mrs. Williams fled and got some
distance from the house, but she was pursued, overtaken, and compelled to get up
behind one of the company, who brought her back, and after showing her the
mangled body of her lifeless husband, she was told to get down and lay by his side,
where she was shot dead.
I then started for Mr. Jacob Williams', where the family were murdered - Here we
found a young man named Drury, who had come on business with Mr. Williams –
he was pursued, overtaken and shot. Mrs. Vaughan's was the next place we visited
- and after murdering the family here, I determined on starting for Jerusalem – Our
number amounted now to fifty or sixty, all mounted and armed with guns, axes,
swords and clubs- On reaching Mr. James W. Parker's gate, immediately on the
road leading to Jerusalem, and about three miles distant, it was proposed to me to
call there, but I objected, as I knew he was gone to Jerusalem, and my object was
to reach there as soon as possible; but some of the men having relations at Mr.
Parker's it was agreed that they might call and get his people. I remained at the gate
on the road, with seven or eight; the others going across the field to the house,
about half a mile off. After waiting some time for them, I became impatient, and
started to the house for them, and on our return we were met by a party of white
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men, who had pursued our blood-stained track, and who had fired on those at the
gate, and dispersed them, which I knew nothing of, not having been at that time
rejoined by any of them - Immediately on discovering the whites, I ordered my
men to halt and form, as they
appeared to be alarmed - The white men eighteen in number, approached us in
about one hundred yards, when one of them fired, (this was against the positive
orders of Captain Alexander P. Peete, who commanded, and who had directed the
men to reserve their fire until within thirty paces.) And I discovered about half of
them retreating, I then ordered my men to fire and rush on them; the few remaining
stood their ground until we approached within fifty yards, when they fired and
retreated.
We pursued and overtook some of them who we thought we left dead; (they were
not killed) after pursuing them about two hundred yards, and rising a little hill, I
discovered they were met by another party, and had halted, and were re-loading
their guns, (this was a small party from Jerusalem who knew the negroes were in
the field, and had just tied their horses to await their return to the road, knowing
that Mr. Parker and family were in Jerusalem, but knew nothing of the party that
had gone in
with Captain Peete; on hearing the firing they immediately rushed to the spot and
arrived just in time to arrest the progress of these barbarous villains, and save the
lives of their friends and fellow citizens.) Thinking that those who retreated first,
and the party who fired on us at fifty or sixty yards distant, had all only fallen back
to meet others with ammunition. As I saw them re-loading their guns, and more
coming up than I saw at first, and several of my bravest men being wounded, the
others became panic struck and squandered over the field; the white men pursued
and fired on us several times. Hark had his horse shot under him, and I caught
another for him as it was running by me; five or six of my men were wounded, but
none left on the field; finding myself defeated here I instantly determined to go
through a private way, and cross the Nottoway river at the Cypress Bridge, three
miles below Jerusalem, and attack that place in the rear, as I expected they would
look for me on the other road, and I had a great desire to get there to procure arms
and ammunition. After going a short distance in this private way, accompanied by
about twenty men, I overtook two or three who told me the others were dispersed
in every direction. After trying in vain to collect a sufficient force to proceed to
Jerusalem, I determined to return, as I was sure they would make back to their old
neighborhood, where they would rejoin me, make new recruits, and come down
again.
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On my way back, I called at Mrs. Thomas's, Mrs. Spencer's, and several other
places, the white families having fled, we found no more victims to gratify our
thirst for blood, we stopped at Majr. Ridley's quarter for the night, and being
joined by four of his men, with the recruits made since my defeat, we mustered
now about forty strong. After placing out sentinels, I laid down to sleep, but was
quickly roused by a great racket; starting up, I found some mounted, and others in
great confusion; one of
the sentinels having given the alarm that we were about to be attacked, I ordered
some to ride round and reconnoiter, and on their return the others being more
alarmed, not knowing who they were, fled in different ways, so that I was reduced
to about twenty again; with this I determined to attempt to recruit, and proceed on
to rally in the neighborhood, I had left. Dr. Blunt's was the nearest house, which
we reached just before day; on riding up the yard, Hark fired a gun. We expected
Dr. Blunt and his family were at Maj. Ridley's, as I knew there was a company of
men there; the gun was fired to ascertain if any of the family were at home; we
were immediately fired upon and retreated leaving several of my men. I do not
know what became of them, as I never saw them afterwards.
Pursuing our course back, and coming in sight of Captain Harris's, where we had
been the day before, we discovered a party of white men at the house, on which all
deserted me but two, (Jacob and Nat,) we concealed ourselves in the woods until
near night, when I sent them in search of Henry, Sam, Nelson and Hark, and
directed them to rally all they could, at the place we had had our dinner the Sunday
before, where they would find me, and I accordingly returned there as soon as it
was dark, and remained until Wednesday evening, when discovering white men
riding around the place as though they were looking for some one, and none of my
men joining me, I concluded Jacob and Nat had been taken, and compelled to
betray me.
On this I gave up all hope for the present; and on Thursday night, after having
supplied myself with provisions from Mr. Travis's, I scratched a hole under a pile
of fence rails in a field, where I concealed myself for six weeks, never leaving my
hiding place but for a few minutes in the dead of night to get water, which was
very near; thinking by this time I could venture out, I began to go about in the
night and eaves drop the houses in the neighborhood; pursuing this course for
about a fortnight and gathering little or no intelligence, afraid of speaking to any
human being, and returning every morning to my cave before the dawn of day. I
know not how long I might have led this life, if accident had not betrayed me, a
dog in the neighborhood passing by my hiding place one night while I was out,
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was attracted by some meat I had in my cave, and crawled in and stole it, and was
coming out just as I returned. A few nights after, two negroes having started to go
hunting with the same dog, and passed that way, the dog came again to the place,
and having just gone out to walk about, discovered me and barked, on which
thinking myself discovered, I spoke to them to beg concealment. On making
myself known, they fled from me. Knowing then they would betray me, I
immediately left my hiding place, and was pursued almost incessantly until I was
taken a fortnight afterwards by Mr. Benjaiin Phipps, in a little hole I had dug out
with my sword, for the purpose of concealment, under the top of a fallen tree. On
Mr. Phipps discovering the place of my concealment, he cocked his gun and aimed
at me. I requested him not to shoot, and I would give up, upon which be dernanded
my sword. I delivered it to him, and he brought me to prison. During the time I was
pursued, I had many hair breadth escapes, which your time will not permit you to
relate. I am here loaded with chains, and willing to suffer the fate that awaits me.
I here proceeded to make some inquiries of him, after assuring him of the certain
death that awaited him, and that concealment would only bring destruction on the
innocent as well as guilty, of his own color, if he knew of any extensive or
concerted plan. His answer was, I do not. When I questioned him as to the
insurrection in North Carolina happening about the same time, he denied any
knowledge of it; and when I looked him in the face as though I would search his
inmost thoughts, he replied, "I see sir, you doubt my word; but can you not think
the same ideas, and strange appearances about this time in the heavens might
prompt others, as well as myself, to this undertaking." I now had much
conversation with and asked him many questions, having forborne to do so
previously, except in the cases noted in parentheses; but during his statement, I
had, unnoticed by him, taken notes as to some particular circumstances, and having
the advantage of his statement before me in writing, on the evening of the third day
that I had been with him, I began a cross examination, and found his statement
corroborated by every circumstance coming within my own knowledge, or the
confessions of others whom had been either killed or executed, and whom he had
not seen or had any knowledge since 22d of August last, he expressed himself fully
satisfied as to the impracticability of his attempt. It has been said he was ignorant
and cowardly, and that his object was to murder and rob for the purpose of
obtaining money to make his escape. It is notorious, that he was never known to
have a dollar in his life; to swear an oath, or drink a drop of spirits. As to his
ignorance, he certainly never had the advantages of education, but he can read and
write (it was taught him by his parents), and for natural intelligence and quickness
of apprehension, is surpassed by few men I have ever seen. - As to his being a
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coward, his reason as given for not resisting Mr. Phipps, shews the decision of his
character. When he saw Mr. Phipps present his gun, he said he knew it was
impossible for him to escape, as the woods were full of men; he therefore thought
it was better to surrender, and trust to fortune for his escape. He is a complete
fanatic, or plays his part most admirably. On other subjects he possesses an
uncommon share of intelligence, with a mind capable of attaining any thing; but
warped and perverted by the influence of early impressions. He is below the
ordinary stature, though strong and active, having the true negro face, every feature
of which is strongly marked. I shall not attempt to describe the effect of his
narrative, as told and commented on by himself, in the condemned hole of the
prison. The calm, deliberate composure with which he spoke of his late deeds and
intentions, the expression of his fiend-like face when excited by enthusiasm, still
bearing the stains of the blood of helpless innocence about him; clothed with rags
and covered with chains; yet daring to raise his manacled hands to heaven, with a
spirit soaring above the attributes of man; I looked on him and my blood curdled in
my veins.
I will not shock the feelings of humanity, nor wound afresh the bosoms of the
disconsolate sufferers in this unparalleled and inhuman massacre, by detailing the
deeds of their fiend-like barbarity. There were two or three who were in the power
of these wretches, had they known it, and who escaped in the most providential
manner. There were two whom they thought they had left dead on the field at Mr.
Parker's, but who were only stunned by the blows of their guns, as they did not
take time to reload when they charged on them. The escape of a little girl who went
to school at Mr. Waller's, and where the children were collecting for that purpose,
excited general sympathy. As their teacher had not arrived, they were at play in the
yard, and seeing the negroes approach, she ran up on a dirt chimney (such as are
common to log houses), and remained there unnoticed during the massacre of the
eleven that were killed at this place. She remained on her hiding place till just
before the arrival of a party, who were in pursuit of the murderers, when she came
down and fled to a swamp, where, a mere child as she was, with the horrors of the
late scene before her, she lay concealed until the next day, when seeing a party go
up to the house, she came up, and on being asked how she escaped, replied with
the utmost simplicity, "The Lord helped her." She was taken up behind a
gentleman of the party, and returned to the arms of her weeping mother.
Miss Whitehead concealed herself between the bed and the mat that supported it,
while they murdered her sister in the same room, without discovering her. She was
afterwards carried off, and concealed for protection by a slave of the family, who
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gave evidence against several of them on their trial. Mrs. Nathaniel Francis, while
concealed in a closet heard their blows, and the shrieks of the victims of these
ruthless savages; they then entered the closet where she was concealed, and went
out without discovering her. While in this hiding place, she heard two of her
women in a quarrel about the division of her clothes. Mr. John T. Baron,
discovering them approaching his house, told his wife to make her escape, and
scorning to fly, fell fighting on his own threshold. After firing his rifle, he
discharged his gun at them, and then broke it over the villain who first approached
him, but he was overpowered and slain. His bravery, however, saved from the
hands of these monsters, his lovely and amiable wife, who will long lament a
husband as deserving of her love. As directed by him, she attempted to escape
through the garden, when she was caught and held by one of her servant girls, but
another coming to her rescue, she fled to the woods, and concealed herself. Few
indeed, were those who escaped their work of death. But fortunate for society, the
hand of retributive justice has overtaken them; and not one that was known to be
concerned has escaped.
The Commonwealth, vs. Nat Turner. Charged with making insurrection, and plotting to take away the lives of divers
free white persons, &c. on the 22d of August, 1831.
The court composed of ---, having met for the trial of Nat Turner, the prisoner was
brought in and arraigned, and upon his arraignment pleaded Not guilty; saying to
his counsel, that he did not feel so.
On the part of the Commonwealth, Levi Waller was introduced, who being sworn,
deposed as follows: (agreeably to Nat's own Confession.) Col. Trezvant [2] was
then introduced, who being sworn, numerated Nat's Confession to him, as follows:
(His Confession as given to Mr. Gray.) The prisoner introduced no evidence, and
the case was submitted without argument to the court, who having found him
guilty, Jeremiah Cobb, Esq. Chairman, pronounced the sentence of the court, in the
following words:
"Nat Turner! Stand up. Have you any thing to say why sentence of death should
not be pronounced against you?"
Answer. I have not. I have made a full confession to Mr. Gray, and I have nothing
more to say.
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"Attend then to the sentence of the Court. You have been arraigned and tried
before this court, and convicted of one of the highest crimes in our criminal code.
You have been convicted of plotting in cold blood, the indiscriminate destruction
of men, of helpless women, and of infant children. The evidence before us leaves
not a shadow of doubt, but that your hands were often imbrued in the blood of the
innocent; and your own confession tells us that they were stained with the blood of
a master; in your own language, "too indulgent." Could I stop here, your crime
would be sufficiently aggravated. But the original contriver of a plan, deep and
deadly, one that never can be effected, you managed so far to put it into execution,
as to deprive us of many of our most valuable citizens; and this was done when
they were asleep, and defenceless; under circumstances shocking to humanity.
And while upon this part of the subject, I cannot but call your attention to the poor
misguided wretches who have gone before you. They are not few in number - they
were your bosom associates; and the blood of all cries aloud, and calls upon you,
as the author of their misfortune. Yes! You forced them unprepared, from Time to
Eternity. Borne down by this load of guilt, your only justlfication is, that you were
led away by fanaticism. If this be true, from my soul I pity you; and while you have
my sympathies, I am, nevertheless called upon to pass the sentence of the court.
The time between this and your execution, will necessarily be very short; and your
only hope must be in another world. The judgment of the court is, that you be
taken hence to the jail from whence you came, thence to the place of execution,
and on Friday next, between the hours of 10 A.M. and 2 P.M. be hung by the neck
until you are dead! dead! dead! and may the Lord have mercy upon your soul."
A list of persons murdered in the Insurrection, on the 21st and 22d of August,
1831.
Joseph Travers and wife and three children,
Mrs. Elizabeth Turner,
Hartwell Prebles,
Sarah Newsome,
Mrs. P. Reese and son William,
Trajan Doyle,
Henry Bryant and wife and child, and wife's mother,
Mrs. Catherine Whitehead, son Richard and four daughters and grandchild,
Salathiel Francis,
Nathaniel Francis' overseer and two children,
John T. Barrow,
George Vaughan,
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Mrs. Levi Waller and ten children,
William Williams, wife and two boys,
Mrs. Caswell Worrell and child,
Mrs. Rebecca Vaughan,
Ann Eliza Vaughan, and son Arthur,
Mrs. John K. Williams and child,
Mrs. Jacob Williams and three children,
and Edwin Drury
-amounting to fifty-five.
Notes 1.When questioned as to the manner of manufacturing those different
articles, he was found well informed.
2. The committing Magistrate.
Source: Thomas R. Gray, The Confessions of Nat Turner (Baltimore, 1831)
Nat Turner’s Trial Record, 1831
At a court of Oyer and Terminer, summoned and held for the County of
Southampton on Saturday the fifth day of November 1831 for the trial of Nat alias
Nat Turner a negro man slave the property of Putnam Moore an infant charged
with conspiring to rebel and making insurrection
Present - Jeremiah Cobb, Samuel B. Hines, James D. Massenburg, James W.
Parker, Robert Goodwin, James Trezevant & Ores A. Browne - gent. Carr Bowers,
Thomas Preston, and Richard A. Urqardt.
For reasons appearing to the court it is ordered that the sheriff summon a sufficient
additional guard to repel any attempt that may be made to remove Nat, alias Nat
Turner from the custody of the Sheriff
The prisoner Nat, alias Nat Turner was set to the bar in custody of the jailor of this
county, and William C. Parker is by the court assigned counsel for the prisoner in
his defense, and Meriwether B. Broadnax Attorney for the Commonwealth filed an
information against the prisoner who upon his arraignment pleaded not guilty and
Levi Waller being summoned as a witness states that on the morning of the 22nd
August last between 9 and 10 o’clock he heard that the negroes had risen and were
murdering the whites and were coming. Witness sent his son Thos. to the school
house, he living about a quarter of a mile off to let it be known and for his children
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to come home. Mr Crocker (the schoolmaster) came with the witness’s children.
Witness told him to go to the house and load the guns, but before the guns were
loaded Mr Crocker came to the still where witness was and said they were in sight.
Witness retreated and concealed himself in the corner of the fence in the weeds
behind the garden on the opposite side of the house. Several negroes pursued him
but he escaped by falling among the weeds over the fence. One negro rode up and
looked over but did not observe him. The attention of the party he thinks were
called off from him by some of the party going in pursuit of another, which he
thinks they took him for but turned out to be his blacksmith. Witness then retreated
into the swamp which was not far off. After remaining some time witness again
approached the house, before he retreated he saw several of his family murdered by
the negroes. Witness crept up near the house to see what they were doing and
concealed himself by getting in the plum orchard behind the garden. The negroes
were drinking. Witness saw prisoner whom he knew very well, mounted (he
thought on Dr Musgrave’s horse) stated that prisoner seemed to command the
party, made Peter Edwards’ negro man Sam who seemed disposed to remain go
with them. Prisoner gave command to the party to ‘go ahead’ when they left his
house. Witness states that he cannot be mistaken in the identity of the prisoner.
Samuel Trezevant being sworn said that Mr James W. Parker and himself were the
justices before whom the prisoner was examined prior to his commitment. That the
prisoner at the time was in confinement but no threats or promises were held out to
him to make any disclosures. That he admitted he was one of the insurgents
engaged in the late insurrection, and the chief among them, that he gave to his
master and mistress Mr Travis and his wife the first blow before they were
dispatched, that he killed Miss Peggy Whitehead, that he was with the insurgents
from the first moment to their dispersion on Tuesday morning after the insurrection
took place, that he gave a long account of the motives which lead him finally to
commence the bloody scenes which took place, that he pretended to have had
intimations by signed omens from God, that he should embark in the desperate
attempt. That his comrades and even he was impressed with a belief that he could
by an imposition of hands cure disease. That he related a particular instance in
which it was believed that he had in that manner effected a cure upon one of his
comrades, and that he went on to detail a medley of incoherent and confused
opinions about his communications with God, his command over the clouds which
he had been entertaining as far back as 1826.
The court after hearing the testimony and from all the circumstances of the case
were unanimously of the opinion that the prisoner is guilty in manner and form as
in the information is alleged, and it being demanded of him if anything for himself
he had or knew to say by the court to judgement and execution against him of and
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upon the premises should not proceed, he said he had nothing but what he had
before said. Therefore it is considered by the court that he be taken hence to the jail
from whence he was taken therein to remain until Friday the 11th day of November
instant, on which day between the hours of ten o’clock in the forenoon and four
o’clock in the afternoon he is to be taken by the sheriff to the usual place of
execution and there by hanged by the neck until he be dead. And the court values
the said slave to the sum of three hundred and seventy five dollars.
Ordered that William C. Parker be allowed the sum of ten dollars as a fee for
defending Nat, alias Nat Turner, late the property of the Putnam Moore, an infant.
Source: The Southampton County Minute Book, 1830-1835. (Virginia State
Library, Archives Branch, Richmond, Virginia)
Term 1 Week 9
Extract from 1st edition of the Liberator, January 1, 1831
During my recent tour for the purpose of exciting the minds of the people by a
series of discourses on the subject of slavery, every place that I visited gave fresh
evidence of the fact that a great revolution in public sentiment was to be effected in
the free states-and particularly in New England-than at the South. I find contempt
more bitter, opposition more active, detraction more relentless, prejudice more
stubborn, and apathy more frozen, than among slaveowners themselves. Of course,
there were individual exceptions to the contrary.
This state of things afflicted but did not dishearten me. I determined, at every
hazard, to lift up the standard of emancipation in the eyes of the nation, within
sight of Bunker Hill and in the birthplace of liberty. That standard is now unfurled;
and long may it float, unhurt by the spoliations of time or the missiles of a
desperate foe-yea, till every chain be broken, and every bondman set free! Let
Southern oppressors tremble-let all the enemies of the persecuted blacks tremble. .
..
Assenting to the "self-evident truth" maintained in the American Declaration of
Independence "that all men are created equal, and endowed by their Creator with
certain inalienable rights-among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness," I shall strenuously contend for the immediate enfranchisement of our
slave population. . . . In Park Street Church, on the Fourth of July, 1829, in an
address on slavery, I unreflectingly assented to the popular but pernicious doctrine
148
of gradual abolition. I seize this opportunity to make a full and unequivocal
recantation, and thus publicly to ask pardon of my God, of my country, and of my
brethren the poor slaves, for having uttered a sentiment so full of timidity,
injustice, and absurdity. . . .
I am aware that many object to the severity of my language; but is there not cause
for severity? I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice. On this
subject I do not wish to think, or speak, or write, with moderation. No! No! Tell a
man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue
his wife from the hands of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her
babe from the fire into which it has fallen-but urge me not to use moderation in a
cause like the present. I am in earnest-will not equivocate-I will not excuse-I will
not retreat in a single inch-and I will be heard. The apathy of the people is enough
to make every statue leap from its pedestal, and to hasten the resurrection of the
dead.
It is pretended that I am retarding the cause of emancipation by the coarseness of
my invective and the precipitancy of my measures. The charge is not true. On this
question my influence-humble as it is-is felt at
this moment to a considerable extent, and shall be felt in coming years-not
perniciously, but beneficially-not as a curse, but as a blessing. And posterity will
bear testimony that I was right.
Declaration Of Sentiments of the American Anti-Slavery Society (1833)
We have met together for the achievement of an enterprise, without which that of
our fathers is incomplete; and which, for its magnitude, solemnity, and probable
results upon the destiny of the world, as far transcends theirs as moral truth does
physical force.
In purity of motive, in earnestness of zeal, in decision of purpose, in intrepidity of
action, in steadfastness of faith, in sincerity of spirit, we would not be inferior to
them....
Their grievances, great as they were, were trifling in comparison with the wrongs
and sufferings of those for whom we plead. Our fathers were never slaves -- never
bought and sold like cattle -- never shut out from the light of knowledge and
religion -- never subjected to the lash of brutal taskmasters.
149
But those, for whose emancipation we are striving -- constituting at the present
time at least one-sixth part of our countrymen -- are recognized by law, and treated
by their fellow-beings, as brute beasts; are plundered daily of the fruits of their toil
without redress; really enjoy no constitutional nor legal protection from licentious
and murderous outrages upon their persons; and are ruthlessly torn asunder -- the
tender babe from the arms of its frantic mother -- the heartbroken wife from her
weeping husband -- at the caprice or pleasure of irresponsible tyrants. For the
crime of having a dark complexion, they suffer the pangs of hunger, the infliction
of stripes, the ignominy of brutal servitude. They are kept in heathenish darkness
by laws expressly enacted to make their instruction a criminal offence.
These are the prominent circumstances in the condition of more than two million
people, the proof of which may be found in thousands of indisputable facts, and in
the laws of the slave-holding States.
Hence we maintain -- that, in view of the civil and religious privileges of this
nation, the guilt of its oppression is unequalled by any other on the face of the
earth; and, therefore, that it is bound to repent instantly, to undo the heavy burdens,
and to let the oppressed go free...
It is piracy to buy or steal a native African, and subject him to servitude. Surely,
the sin is as great to enslave an American as an African. Therefore we believe and
affirm -- that there is no difference, in principle, between the African slave trade
and American slavery: That every American citizen, who detains a human being in
involuntary bondage as his property, is, according to Scripture, (Ex. xxi, 16,) a
manstealer. That the slaves ought instantly to be set free, and brought under the
protection of law:
That if they had lived from the time of Pharaoh down to the present period, and
had been entailed through successive generations, their right to be free could never
have been alienated, but their claims would have constantly risen in solemnity:
That all those laws which are now in force, admitting the right of slavery, are
therefore, before God, utterly null and void; being an audacious usurpation of the
Divine prerogative, a daring infringement on the law of nature, a base overthrow of
the very foundations of the social compact, a complete extinction of all the
relations, endearments and obligations of mankind, and a presumptuous
150
transgression of all the holy commandments; and that therefore they ought
instantly to be abrogated.
We further believe and affirm -- that all persons of color, who possess the
qualifications which are demanded of others, ought to be admitted forthwith to the
enjoyment of the same privileges, and the exercise of the same prerogatives, as
others; and that the paths of preferment, of wealth and of intelligence, should be
opened as widely to them as to persons of a white complexion.
We maintain that no compensation should be given to the planters emancipating
their slaves: Because it would be a surrender of the great fundamental principle,
that man cannot hold property in man: Because slavery is a crime, and therefore is
not an article to be sold: Because the holders of slaves are not the just proprietors
of what they claim; freeing the slave is not depriving them of property, but
restoring it to its rightful owner; it is not wronging the master, but righting the
slave -- restoring him to himself: Because immediate and general emancipation
would only destroy nominal, not real property; it would not amputate a limb or
break a bone of the slaves, but by infusing motives into their breasts, would make
them doubly valuable to the masters as free laborers; and Because, if compensation
is to be given at all, it should be given to the outraged and guiltless slaves, and not
to those who have plundered and abused them.
We regard as delusive, cruel and dangerous, any scheme of expatriation which
pretends to aid, either directly or indirectly, in the emancipation of the slaves, or to
be a substitute for the immediate and total abolition of slavery.
We fully and unanimously recognize the sovereignty of each State, to legislate
exclusively on the subject of the slavery which is tolerated within its limits; we
concede that Congress, under the present national compact, has no right to
interfere with any of the slave States, in relation to this momentous subject:
But we maintain that Congress has a right, and is solemnly bound, to suppress the
domestic slave trade between the several States, and to abolish slavery in those
portions of our territory which the Constitution has placed under its exclusive
jurisdiction.
We also maintain that there are, at the present time, the highest obligations resting
upon the people of the free States to remove slavery by moral and political action,
as prescribed in the Constitution of the United States. They are now living under a
151
pledge of their tremendous physical force, to fasten the galling fetters of tyranny
upon the
limbs of millions in the Southern States; they are liable to be called at any moment
to suppress a general insurrection of the slaves; they authorize the slave owner to
vote for three-fifths of his slaves as property, and thus enable him to perpetuate his
oppression; they support a standing army at the South for its protection; and they
seize the slave, who has escaped into their territories, and send him back to be
tortured by an enraged master or a brutal driver. This relation to slavery is
criminal, and full of danger: It must be broken up.
These are our views and principles -- these our designs and measures. With entire
confidence in the overruling justice of God, we plant ourselves upon the
Declaration of our Independence and the truths of Divine Revelation, as upon the
Everlasting Rock.
Source: Wendell Garrison (1840-1907), William Lloyd Garrison: The story of his
life told by his children (New York, 1885), vol 1, pp 408ff
Emancipation Proclamation : January 1, 1863
Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by the President
of the United States, containing, among other things, the following, to wit:
"That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated
part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United
States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive
Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority
thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no
act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make
for their actual freedom.
"That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation,
designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof,
respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that
any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be, in good faith, represented in
the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein
152
a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the
absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that
such State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United
States."
Now, therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the
power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief, of the Army and Navy of the United
States in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and government of
the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said
rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do publicly
proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days, from the day first above
mentioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people
thereof respectively, are this day in rebellion against the United States, the
following, to wit:
Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (except the Parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines,
Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James Ascension, Assumption, Terrebonne,
Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the City of New Orleans)
Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and
Virginia, (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the
counties of Berkley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Ann,
and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth[)], and which
excepted parts, are for the present, left precisely as if this proclamation were not
issued.
And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare
that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States,
are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the
United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize
and maintain the freedom of said persons.
And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all
violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and I recommend to them that, in all
cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.
And I further declare and make known, that such persons of suitable condition,
will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts,
positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.
153
And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the
Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of
mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United
States to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington, this first day of
January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and sixty three, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the eighty-seventh.
By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN
WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
The Proslavery Defence
I
The world at large looks on negro slavery as much the worst form of slavery;
because it is only acquainted with West India slavery. Abolition never arose till
negro slavery was instituted; and now abolition is only directed against negro
slavery. There is no philanthropic crusade attempting to set free the white slaves of
Eastern Europe and of Asia. The world, then, is prepared for the defence of slavery
in the abstract - it is prejudiced only against negro slavery. These prejudices were
in their origin well founded. The Slave Trade, the horrors of the Middle Passage,
and West India slavery, were enough to rouse the most torpid philanthropy.
But our Southern slavery has become a benign and protective institution, and
our negroes are confessedly better off than any free laboring population in the
world.
How can we contend that white slavery is wrong, whilst all the great body of
free laborers are starving; and slaves, white or black, throughout the world, are
enjoying comfort?
We write in the cause of Truth and Humanity, and will not play the advocate
for master or for slave.
154
The aversion to negroes, the antipathy of race, is much greater at the North
than at the South; and it is very probable that this antipathy to the person of the
negro, is confounded with or generates hatred of the institution with which he is
usually connected. Hatred to slavery is very generally little more than hatred of
negroes.
There is one strong argument in favor of negro slavery over all other slavery:
that he, being unfitted for the mechanic arts, for trade, and all skillful pursuits,
leaves those pursuits to be carried on by the whites; and does not bring all industry
into disrepute, as in Greece and Rome, where the slaves were not only the artists
and mechanics, but also the merchants.
Whilst, as a general and abstract question, negro slavery has no other claims
over other forms of slavery, except that from inferiority, or rather peculiarity, of
race, almost all negroes require masters, whilst only the children, the women, the
very weak, poor, and ignorant, &c., among the whites, need some protective and
governing relation of this kind; yet as a subject of temporary, but worldwide
importance, negro slavery has become the most necessary of all human institutions.
The African slave trade to America commenced three centuries and a half
since. By the time of the American Revolution, the supply of slaves had exceeded
the demand for slave labor, and the slave holders, to get rid of a burden, and to
prevent the increase of a nuisance, became violent opponents of the slave trade,
and many of them abolitionists. New England, Bristol, and Liverpool, who reaped
the profits of the trade, without suffering from the nuisance, stood out for a long
time against its abolition. Finally, laws and treaties were made, and fleets fitted out
to abolish it; and after a while, the slaves of most of South America, of the West
Indies, and of Mexico were liberated. In the meantime, cotton, rice, sugar, coffee,
tobacco, and other products of slave labor, came into universal use as necessaries
of life. The population of Western Europe, sustained and stimulated by those
products, was trebled, and that of the North increased ten fold. The products of
slave labor became scarce and dear, and famines frequent. Now, it is obvious that
to emancipate all the negroes would be to starve Western Europe and our North.
Not to extend and increase negro slavery, pari passu, with the extension and
multiplication of free society, will produce much suffering. If all South America,
Mexico, the West Indies, and our Union south of Mason and Dixon's line, of the
Ohio and Missouri, were slaveholding, slave products would be abundant and
cheap in free society; and their market for their merchandise, manufactures,
commerce, &c., illimitable. Free white laborers might live in comfort and luxury
155
on light work, but for the exacting and greedy landlords, bosses and other
capitalists.
George Fitzhugh, Cannibals All! Or, Slaves Without Masters. (Richmond,
1857) 296-99
II
Slavery is that system of labour which exchanges subsistence for work, which
secures a life-maintenance from the master to the slave, and gives a life-labour
from the slave to the master. The slave is an apprentice for life, and owes his
labour to his master; the master owes support, during life, to the slave. Slavery is
the negro system of labour. He is lazy and improvident. Slavery makes all work,
and it ensures homes, food and clothing for all. It permits no ideless, and it
provides for sickness, infancy and old age. It allows no tramping or skulking, and
it knows no pauperism.
This is the whole system substantially.
If Slavery is subject to abuses, it has its advantages also. It establishes more
permanent, and, therefore, kinder relations between capital and labour. It removes
what Stuart ill calls "the widening and embittering feud between the class of labour
and the class of capital." It draws the relation closer between master and servant. It
is not an engagement for days or weeks, but for life. There is no such thing, with
Slavery, as a labourer for whom nobody cares or provides. The most wretched
feature, in hireling labour, is the isolated miserable creature who has no home, no
work, no food, and in whom no one is particularly interested. This is seen among
hirelings only.
I do not say that Slavery is the best system of labour, but only that it is the best, for
the negro, in this country. In a nation composed of the same race or similar races,
where the labourer is intelligent, industrious and provident, money wages may be
better than subsistence. Even under all advantages, there are great defects in the
hireling labour system, for which, hitherto, no Statesman has discovered an
adequate remedy. In hireling States there are thousands of idlers, trampers,
poachers, smugglers, drunkards and thieves, who make theft a profession. There
are thousands who suffer for want of food and clothing, from inability to obtain
them. For these two classes--those who will not work, and those who cannot--there
is no sufficient provision. Among slaves there are no trampers, idlers, smugglers,
poachers, and none suffer from want. Every one is made to work, and no one is
156
permitted to starve. Slavery does for the negro what European schemers in vain
attempt to do for the hireling. It secures work and subsistence for all. It secures
more order and subordination also.* (*One of the best arrangements for the relief
of the hireling labourer, is the provision made in France, of houses where the
children of labourers are taken in when the labourers go to work in the morning,
are carefully attended during the day, and restored to the parents on their return at
night--a similar provision for the care of children is found on every plantation.)
The master is a Commissioner of the Poor, on every plantation, to provide food,
clothing, medicine, houses, for his people. He is a police officer to prevent
idleness, drunkenness, theft, or disorder. I do not mean by formal appointment of
law, but by virtue of his relation to his slaves. There is, therefore, no starvation
among slaves. There are, comparatively, few crimes. If there are paupers in slave
States, they are the hirelings of other countries, who have run away from their
homes. Pauperism began, with them, when serfage was abolished.
What more can be required of Slavery, in reference to the negro, than has been
done? It has made him, from a savage, an orderly and efficient labourer. It supports
him in comfort and peace. It restrains his vices. It improves his mind, morals and
manners. It instructs him in Christian knowledge.
All Christians believe that the affairs of the world are directed by Providence for
wise and good purposes. The coming of the negro to North America makes no
exception to the rule. His transportation was a rude mode of emigration; the only
practicable one in his case; not attended with more wretchedness than the emigrant
ship often exhibits even now, notwithstanding the passenger law. What the
purpose of his coming is, we may not presume to judge. But we can see much good
already resulting from it--good to the negro, in his improved condition; to the
country whose rich fields he has cleared of the forest and made productive in
climates unfit for the labour of the white man; to the Continent of Africa in
furnishing, as it may ultimately, the only means for civilizing its people.
William John Grayson's The Hireling and the Slave (Charleston, 1855), vii-xii
III
In one thing I concur with the abolitionists; that if emancipation is to be brought
about, it is better that it should be immediate and total. But let us suppose it to be
brought about in any manner, and then inquire what would be the effects.
157
The first and most obvious effect, would be to put an end to the cultivation of our
great Southern staple. And this would be equally the result, if we suppose the
emancipated negroes to be in no way distinguished from the free labourers of other
countries, and that their labor would be equally effective. . . Imagine an extensive
rice or cotton plantation cultivated by free laborers, who might perhaps strike for
an increase of wages, at a season when the neglect of a few days would insure the
destruction of the whole crop. Even if it were possible to procure laborers at all,
what planter would venture to carry on his operations under such circumstances? I
need hardly say that these staples cannot be produced to any extent where the
proprietor of the soil cultivates it with his own hands. He can do little more than
produce the necessary food for himself and his family.
And what would be the effect of putting an end to the cultivation of these staples,
and thus annihilating, at a blow, two-thirds or three-fourths of our foreign
commerce? Can any sane mind contemplate such a result without terror? I speak
not of the utter poverty and misery to which we ourselves would be reduced, and
the desolation which would overspread our own portion of the country. Our
slavery has not only given existence to millions of slaves within our own
territories, it has given the means of subsistence, and therefore, existence, to
millions of freemen in our confederate States; enabling them to send forth their
swarms to overspread the plains and forests of the West, and appear as the
harbingers of civilization. The products of the industry of those States are in
general similar to those of the civilized world, and are little demanded in their
markets. By exchanging them for ours, which are everywhere sought for, the
people of these States are enabled to acquire all the products of art and industry, all
that contributes to convenience or luxury, or gratifies the taste of the intellect,
which the rest of the world can supply. Not only on our own continent, but on the
other, it has given existence to hundreds of thousands, and the means of
comfortable subsistence to millions. A distinguished citizen of our own State, than
whom none can be better qualified to form an opinion, has lately stated that our
great staple, cotton, has contributed more than anything else of later times to the
progress of civilization. By enabling the poor to obtain cheap and becoming
clothing, it has inspired a taste for comfort, the first stimulus to civilization. Does
not self-defense , then, demand of us steadily to resist the abrogation of that which
is productive of so much good? It is more than self-defense. IT is to defend
millions of human beings, who are far removed from us, from the intensest
suffering, if not from being struck out of existence. It is the defense of human
civilization.
158
Chancellor Harper, "Slavery in the Light of Social Ethics," printed in Cotton
is King, and Pro-Slavery Arguments E.N. Elliott, ed. (Augusta, 1860), 617-618
Term 2 Week 1
Northup Ch 12
The ground is prepared by throwing up beds or ridges, with the plough - backfurrowing, it is called. Oxen and mules, the latter almost exclusively, are used in
ploughing. The women as frequently as the men perform this labor, feeding,
currying, and taking care of their teams, and in all respects doing the field and
stable work, precisely as do the ploughboys of the North.
The beds, or ridges, are six feet wide, that is, from water furrow to water
furrow. A plough drawn by one mule is then run along the top of the ridge or
center of the bed, making the drill, into which a girl usually drops the seed, which
she carries in a bag hung round her neck. Behind her comes a mule and harrow,
covering up the seed, so that two mules three slaves, a plough and harrow, are
employed in planting a row of cotton. This is done in the months of March and
April. Corn is planted in February. When there are no cold rains, the cotton usually
makes its appearance in a week. In the course of eight or ten days afterwards the
first hoeing is commenced. This is performed in part, also, by the aid of the plough
and mule. The plough passes as near as possible to the cotton on both sides,
throwing the furrow from it. Slaves follow with their hoes, cutting up the grass and
cotton, leaving hills two feet and a half apart. This is called scraping cotton. In two
weeks more commences the second hoeing. This time the furrow is thrown towards
the cotton. Only one stalk, the largest, is now left standing in each hill. In another
fortnight it is hoed the third time, throwing the furrow towards the cotton in the
same manner as before, and killing all the grass between the rows. About the first
of July, when it is a foot high or thereabouts, it is hoed the fourth and last time.
Now the whole space between the rows is ploughed, leaving a deep water furrow
in the center. During all these hoeings the overseer or driver follows the slaves on
horseback with a whip, such as has been described. The fastest hoer takes the lead
row. He is usually about a rod in advance of his companions. If one of them passes
him, he is whipped. If one falls behind or is a moment idle, he is whipped. In fact,
the lash is flying from morning until night, the whole day long. The hoeing season
thus continues from April until July, a field having no sooner been finished once,
than it is commenced again.
159
In the latter part of August begins the cotton picking season. At this time each
slave is presented with a sack. A strap is fastened to it, which goes over the neck,
holding the mouth of the sack breast high, while the bottom reaches nearly to the
ground. Each one is also presented with a large basket that will hold about two
barrels. This is to put the cotton in when the sack is filled. The baskets are carried
to the field and placed at the beginning of the rows.
When a new hand, one unaccustomed to the business, is sent for the first time
into the field, he is whipped up smartly, and made for that day to pick as fast as he
can possibly. At night it is weighed, so that his capability in cotton picking is
known. He must bring in the same weight each night following. If it falls short, it
is considered evidence that he has been laggard, and a greater or less number of
lashes is the penalty.
An ordinary day's work is two hundred pounds. A slave who is accustomed to
picking, is punished, if he or she brings in a less quantity than that. There is a great
difference among them as regards this kind of labor. Some of them seem to have a
natural knack, or quickness, which enables them to pick with great celerity, and
with both hands, while others, with whatever practice or industry, are utterly
unable to come up to the ordinary standard. Such hands are taken from the cotton
field and employed in other business. Patsey, of whom I shall have more to say,
was known as the most remarkable cotton picker on Bayou Boeuf. She picked with
both hands and with such surprising rapidity, that five hundred pounds a day was
not unusual for her.
Each one is tasked, therefore, according to his picking abilities, none,
however, to come short of two hundred weight. I, being unskillful always in that
business, would have satisfied my master by bringing in the latter quantity, while
on the other hand, Patsey would surely have been beaten if she failed to produce
twice as much.
The cotton grows from five to seven feet high, each stalk having a great many
branches, shooting out in all directions, and lapping each other above the water
furrow.
There are few sights more pleasant to the eye, than a wide cotton field when it
is in the bloom. It presents an appearance of purity, like an immaculate expanse of
light, new-fallen snow.
160
Sometimes the slave picks down one side of a row, and back upon the other,
but more usually, there is one on either side, gathering all that has blossomed,
leaving the unopened boils for a succeeding picking. When the sack is filled, it is
emptied into the basket and trodden down. It is necessary to be extremely careful
the first time going through the field, in order not to break the branches off the
stalks. The cotton will not bloom upon a broken branch. Epps never failed to inflict
the severest chastisement on the unlucky servant who, either carelessly or
unavoidably, was guilty in the least degree in this respect.
The hands are required to be in the cotton field as soon as it is light in the
morning, and, with the exception of ten or fifteen minutes, which is given them at
noon to swallow their allowance of cold bacon, they are not permitted to be a
moment idle until it is too dark to see, and when the moon is full, they often times
labor till the middle of the night. They do not dare to stop even at dinner time, nor
return to the quarters, however late it be, until the order to halt is given by the
driver.
The day's work over in the field, the baskets are "toted," or in other words,
carried to the gin-house, where the cotton is weighed. No matter how fatigued and
weary he may be - no matter how much he longs for sleep and rest - a slave
never approaches the gin-house with his basket of cotton but with fear. If it falls
short in weight - if he has not performed the full task appointed him, he knows
that he must suffer. And if he has exceeded it by ten or twenty pounds, in all
probability his master will measure the next day's task accordingly. So, whether he
has too little or too much, his approach to the gin-house is always with fear and
trembling. Most frequently they have too little, and therefore it is they are not
anxious to leave the field. After weighing, follow the whippings; and then the
baskets are carried to the cotton house, and their contents stored away like hay, all
hands being sent in to tramp it down. If the cotton is not dry, instead of taking it to
the gin-house at once, it is laid upon platforms, two feet high, and some three times
as wide, covered with boards or plank, with narrow walks running between them.
This done, the labor of the day is not yet ended, by any means. Each one must
then attend to his respective chores. One feeds the mules, another the swine another cuts the wood, and so forth; besides, the packing is all done by candle
light. Finally, at a late hour, they reach the quarters, sleepy and overcome with the
long day's toil. Then a fire must be kindled in the cabin, the corn ground in the
small hand-mill, and supper, and dinner for the next day in the field, prepared. All
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that is allowed them is corn and bacon, which is given out at the corncrib and
smoke-house every Sunday morning. Each one receives, as his weekly allowance,
three and a half pounds of bacon, and corn enough to make a peck of meal. That is
all - no tea, coffee, sugar, and with the exception of a very scanty sprinkling now
and
then, no salt. I can say, from a ten years' residence with Master Epps, that no slave
of his is ever likely to suffer from the gout, superinduced by excessive high living.
Master Epps' hogs were fed on shelled corn - it was thrown out to his "niggers" in
the ear. The former, he thought, would fatten faster by shelling, and soaking it in
the water - the latter, perhaps, if treated in the same manner, might grow too fat to
labor. Master Epps was a shrewd calculator, and knew how to manage his own
animals, drunk or sober.
Source: Solomon Northup, Twelve years a slave (London, 1853)
Ball Ch 4
In Maryland and Virginia, although the slaves are treated with so much rigour, and
oftimes with so much cruelty, I have seen instances of the greatest tenderness of
feeling on the part of their owners. I, myself, had three masters in Maryland, and I
cannot say now, even after having resided so many years in a state where slavery
is not tolerated, that either of them (except the last, who sold me to the Georgians,
and was an unfeeling man,) used me worse than they had a moral right to do,
regarding me merely as an article of property, and not entitled to any rights as a
man, political or civil. My mistresses, in Maryland, were all good women; and
the mistress of my wife, in whose kitchen I spent my Sundays and many of my
nights, for several years, was a lady of most benevolent and kindly feelings. She
was a true friend to me, and I shall always venerate her memory....
If the proprietors of the soil in Maryland and Virginia, were skillful cultivators- had their lands in good condition- - and kept no more slaves on each estate, than
would be sufficient to work the soil in a proper manner, and kept up the repairs of
the place- - the condition of the coloured people would not be, by any means, a
comparatively unhappy one. I am convinced, that in nine cases in ten, the
hardships and suffering of the coloured population of lower Virginia, are
attributable to the poverty and distress of its owners. In many instances, an estate
scarcely yields enough to feed and clothe the slaves in a comfortable manner,
without allowing any thing for the support of the master and family; but it is
obvious, that the family must first be supported, and the slaves must be content
162
with the surplus- - and this, on a poor, old, worn out tobacco plantation, is often
very small, and wholly inadequate to the comfortable sustenance of the hands, and
they are called. There, in many places, nothing is allowed to the poor Negro, but
his peck of corn per week, without the sauce of a salt herring, or even a little salt
itself....
The general features of slavery are the same every where; but the utmost rigour of
the system, is only to be met with, on the cotton plantations of Carolina and
Georgia, or in the rice fields which skirt the deep swamps and morasses of the
southern rivers. In the tobacco fields of Maryland and Virginia, great cruelties are
practiced- - not so frequently by the owners, as by the overseers of the slaves; but
yet, the tasks are not so excessive as in the cotton region, nor is the press of labour
so incessant throughout the year. It is true, that from the period when the tobacco
plants are set in the field, there is no resting time until it is housed; but it is planted
out about the first of May, and must be cut and taken out of the field before the
frost comes. After it is hung and dried, the labor of stripping and preparing it for
the hogshead in leaf, or of manufacturing it into twist, is comparatively a work of
leisure and ease. Besides, on almost every plantation the hands are able to
complete the work of preparing the tobacco by January, and sometimes earlier; so
that the winter months, form some sort of respite from the toils of the year. The
people are obliged, it is true, to occupy themselves in cutting wood for the house,
making rails and repairing fences, and in clearing new land, to raise the tobacco
plants for the next year; but as there is usually time enough, and to spare, for the
completion of all this work, before the season arrives for setting the plants in the
field; the men are seldom flogged much, unless they are very lazy or negligent,
and the women are allowed to remain in the house, in the very cold, snowy, or
rainy weather....
In Maryland I never knew a mistress or a young mistress, who would not listen to
the complaints of the slaves. It is true, we were always obliged to approach the
door of the mansion, with our hats in our hands, and the most subdued and
beseeching language in our mouths- - but, in return, we generally received words
of kindness, and very often a redress of our grievances; though I have known very
great ladies, who would never grant any request from the plantation hands, but
always referred them and their petitions to their master, under a pretence, that they
could not meddle with things that did not belong to the house. The mistresses of
the great families, generally gave mild language to the slaves; though they
sometimes sent for the overseer and have them severely flogged; but I have never
heard any mistress, in either Maryland or Virginia, indulge in the low, vulgar and
163
profane vituperations, of which I was myself the object, in Georgia, for many
years, whenever I came into the presence of my mistress. Flogging- - though
often severe and excruciating in Maryland, is not practiced with the order,
regularity and system, to which it is often reduced in the South. On the Potomac,
if a slave gives offence, he is generally chastised on the spot, in the field where he
is at work, as the overseer always carried a whip- - sometimes a twisted cowhide, sometimes a kind of horse- whip, and very often a simple hickory switch or
gad, cut in the adjoining woods. For stealing meat, or other provisions, or for any
of the higher offences, the slaves are stripped, tied up by the hands- - sometimes
by the thumbs- - and whipped at the quarter- - but many times, on a large tobacco
plantation, there is not more than one of these regular whippings in a week- though on others, where the master happens to be a bad man, or a drunkard- - the
back of the unhappy Maryland slaves, is seamed with scars from his neck to his
hips.
Source: Charles Ball, Fifty Years in Chains; or, the Life of an American Slave
(New York, 1837)
Term 2 Week 2 Informal Economy
Olmsted pp153-55
SLAVE-LUMBERMEN.
The labor in the swamp is almost entirely done by slaves; and the way in
which they are managed is interesting and instructive. They are mostly hired by
their employers at a rent, perhaps of one hundred dollars a year for each, paid to
their owners. They spend one or two months of the winter--when it is too wet to
work in the swamp--at the residence of their master. At this period little or no
work is required of them; their time is their own, and if they can get any
employment, they will generally keep for themselves what they are paid for it.
When it is sufficiently dry--usually early in February--they go into the swamp in
gangs, each gang under a white overseer. Before leaving, they are all examined
and registered at the Court-house, and "passes," good for a year, are given them,
in which their features and the marks upon their persons are minutely described.
Each man is furnished with a quantity of provisions and clothing, of which, as well
as of all that he afterwards draws from the stock in the hands of the overseer, an
exact account is kept.
LIFE IN THE SWAMP--SLAVES QUASI FREEMEN.
164
Arrived at their destination, a rude camp is made, huts, logs, poles, shingles,
and boughs being built, usually upon some place where shingles have been worked
before, and in which the shavings have accumulated in small hillocks upon the soft
sur face of the ground.
The slave lumberman then lives measurably as a free man; hunts, fishes, eats,
drinks, smokes and sleeps, plays and works, each when and as much as he pleases.
It is only required of him that he shall have made, after half a year has passed,
such a quantity of shingles as shall be worth to his master so much money as is
paid to his owner for his services, and shall refund the value of the clothing and
provisions he has required.
No "driving" at his work is attempted or needed. No force is used to overcome
the indolence peculiar to the negro. The overseer merely takes a daily account of
the number of shingles each man adds to the general stock, and employs another
set of hands, with mules, to draw them to a point from which they can be shipped,
and where they are, from time to time, called for by a schooner.
At the end of five months the gang returns to dry-land, and a statement of
account from the overseer's book is drawn up, something like the following:
Sam Bo to John Doe, Dr.
• Feb. 1. To clothing (outfit) . . . . . . $5 00
• Mar. 10. To clothing, as per overseer's account, . . . . . . 2 25
• Feb. 1. To bacon and meal (outfit) . . . . . . 19 00
• July 1. To stores drawn in swamp, as per overseer's account, . . . . . . 4 75
• July 1. To half-yearly hire, paid his owner . . . . . . 50 00
• . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $81 00
Per Contra, Cr.
• July 1. By 10,000 shingles, as per overseer's account, 10c . . . . . . 100 00
• Balance due Sambo . . . . . . $19 00
which is immediately paid him, and which, together with the proceeds of sale of
peltry which he has got while in the swamp, he is always allowed to make use of as
his own. No liquor is sold or served to the negroes in the swamp, and, as their first
want when they come out of it is an excitement, most of their money goes to the
grog-shops.
165
After a short vacation, the whole gang is taken in the schooner to spend
another five months in the swamp as before. If they are good hands and work
steadily, they will commonly be hired again, and so continuing, will spend most of
their lives at it. They almost invariably have excellent health, as do also the white
men engaged in the business. They all consider the water of "the Dismals" to have
a medicinal virtue, and quite probably it is a mild tonic. It is greenish in color, and
I thought I detected a slightly resinous taste upon first drinking it. Upon entering
the swamp also, an agreeable resinous odor, resembling that of a hemlock forest,
was perceptible.
THE EFFECT OF PAYING WAGES TO SLAVES.
The negroes working in the swamp were more sprightly and straight-forward
in their manner and conversation than any field-hand plantation-negroes that I
saw at the South; two or three of their employers with whom I conversed spoke
well of them, as compared with other slaves, and made no complaints of
"rascality" or laziness.
One of those gentlemen told me of a remarkable case of providence and good
sense in a negro that he had employed in the swamp for many years. He was so
trust-worthy, that he had once let him go to New York as cook of a lumberschooner, when he could, if he had chosen to remain there, have easily escaped
from slavery.
Knowing that he must have accumulated considerable money, his employer
suggested to him that he might buy his freedom, and he immediately determined to
do so. But when, on applying to his owner, he was asked $500 for himself, a price
which, considering he was an elderly man, he thought too much, he declined the
bargain; shortly afterwards, however, he came to his employer again, and said
that although he thought his owner was mean to set so high a price upon him, he
had been thinking that if he was to be an old man he would rather be his own
master, and if he did not live long, his money would not be of any use to him at any
rate, and so he had concluded he would make the purchase.
He did so, and upon collecting the various sums that he had loaned to white
people in the vicinity, he was found to have several hundred dollars more
than was necessary. With the surplus, he paid for his passage to Liberia,
and bought a handsome outfit. When he was about to leave, my informant
166
had made him a present, and, in thanking him for it, the free man had
said that the first thing he should do, on reaching Liberia, would be to
learn to write, and, as soon as he could, he would write to him how he
liked the country: he had been gone yet scarce a year, and had not been
heard from.
Source: Frederick Law Olmsted, Journey in the Seaboard Slave States (New
York, 1856)
Ball Ch 10
It was now Saturday night, and I wished very much for Sunday morning to come
that I might see the manner of spending the Sabbath, on a great cotton plantation. I
expected, that as these people had been compelled to work so hard, and fare so
poorly all the week, they would be inclined to repose themselves on Sunday; and
that the morning of this day would be passed in quietness, if not in sleep, by the
inhabitants of our quarter. No horn was blown by the overseer, to awaken us this
morning, and I slept, in my little loft, until it was quite day; but when I came down,
I found our small community a scene of universal bustle and agitation. ……
At the time I rose this morning, it wanted only about fifteen or twenty minutes
of sunrise; and a large number of the men, as well as some of the women, had
already quitted the quarter, and gone about the business of the day. That is, they
had gone to work for wages for themselves--in this manner: our overseer had,
about two miles off, a field of near twenty acres, planted in cotton, on his own
account. He was the owner of this land; but as he had no slaves, he was obliged to
hire people to work it for him, or let it lie waste. He had procured this field to be
cleared, as I was told, partly by letting white men make tar and turpentine from the
pine wood grew on it; and partly by hiring slaves to work upon it on Sunday.
About twenty of our people went to work for him to-day, for which he gave them
fifty cents each. Several of the others, perhaps forty in all, went out through the
neighbourhood, to work for other planters.
On every plantation, with which I ever had any acquaintance, the people are
allowed to make patches, as they are called--that is, gardens, in some remote and
unprofitable part of the estate, generally in the woods, in which they plant corn,
potatoes, pumpkins, melons, &c. for themselves.
167
These patches they must cultivate on Sunday, or let them go uncultivated. I
think, that on this estate, there were about thirty of these patches, cleared in the
woods, and fenced--some with rails, and others with brush--the property of the
various families.
The vegetables that grow in these patches, were always consumed in the
families of the owners; and the money that was earned by hiring out, was spent in
various ways; sometimes for clothes, sometimes for better food than was allowed
by the overseer, and sometimes for rum; but those who drank rum, had to do it by
stealth.
By the time the sun was up an hour, this morning, our quarter was nearly as
quiet and clear of inhabitants, as it had been at the same period on the previous
day.
As I had nothing to do for myself, I went with Lydia, whose husband was still
sick, to help her to work in her patch, which was about a mile and a half from our
dwelling. We took with us some bread, and a large bucket of water; and worked all
day. She had onions, cabbages, cucumbers, melons, and many other things in her
garden.
Ch 11
The reader must not suppose, that, on this plantation we had nothing to eat
beyond the corn and salt. This was far from the case. I have already described the
gardens, or patches, cultivated by the people, and the practice which they
universally followed of working on Sunday, for wages. In addition to all these, an
industrious, managing slave would contrive to gather up a great deal to eat.
I have before observed, that the planters are careful of the health of their
slaves, and in pursuance of this rule, they seldom expose them to rainy weather,
especially in the sickly seasons of the year, if it can be avoided.
In the spring and early parts of the summer, the rains are frequently so violent,
and the ground becomes so wet, that it is injurious to the cotton to work it, at least
whilst it rains. In the course of the year there are many of these rainy days, in
which the people cannot go to work with safety; and it often happens that there is
nothing for them to do in the house. At such time they make baskets, brooms,
horse collars, and other things, which they are able to sell amongst the planters.
168
The baskets are made of wooden splits, and the brooms of young white oak or
hickory trees. The mats are sometimes made of splits, but more frequently of flags
as they are called--a kind of tall rush, which grows in swampy ground. The horse
or mule collars are made of husks of corn, though sometimes of rushes, but the
latter are not very durable.
The money procured by these, and various other means, which I shall explain
hereafter, is laid out by the slaves in purchasing such little articles of necessity or
luxury, as it enables the to procure. A part is disbursed in payment for sugar,
molasses, and sometimes a few pounds of coffee, for the use of the family; another
part is laid out for clothes for winter; and no inconsiderable portion of his pittance
is squandered away by the misguided slave for tobacco, and an occasional bottle
of rum. Tobacco is deemed so indispensable to comfort, nay to existence that
hunger and nakedness are patiently endured to enable the slave to indulge in this
highest of enjoyments.
There being few towns in the cotton country, the shops, or stores, are
frequently kept at some cross road, or other public place, in or adjacent to a rich
district of plantations. To these shops the slaves resort, sometimes with, and at
other times without, the consent of the overseer, for the purpose of laying out the
little money they get. Notwithstanding all the vigilance that is exercised by the
planters, the slaves, who are no less vigilant than their masters, often leave the
plantation after the overseer has retired to his bed, and go to the store.
The store-keepers are always ready to accommodate the slaves, who are
frequently better customers than any white people; because the former always pay
cash, whilst the latter almost always require credit. In dealing with the slave, the
shop-keeper knows he can demand whatever price he pleases for his goods,
without danger of being charged with extortion; and he is ready to rise at any time
of the night to oblige friends who are of so much value to him.
It is held highly disgraceful, on the part of store-keepers, to deal with the
slaves for any thing but money, or the coarse fabrics that it is known are the usual
products of the ingenuity and industry of the negroes; but, notwithstanding this, a
considerable traffic is carried on between the shop-keepers and slaves, in which
the latter make their payments by barter. The utmost caution and severity of
masters and overseers, are sometimes insufficient to repress the cunning
contrivances of the slaves.
169
…
I could make wooden bowls and ladles, and went to work with a man who was
clearing some new land about two miles off--on the second Sunday of my sojourn
here, and applied the money I earned in purchasing the tools necessary to enable
me to carry on my trade. I occupied all my leisure hours, for several months after
this, in making wooden trays, and such other wooden vessels as were most in
demand. These I traded off, in part, to a storekeeper, who lived about five miles
from the plantation; and for some of my work I obtained money before Christmas,
I had sold more than thirty dollars worth of my manufactures; but the merchant
with whom I traded, charged such high prices for his goods, that I was poorly
compensated for my Sunday toils, and nightly labours; nevertheless, by these
means, I was able to keep our family supplied with molasses, and some other
luxuries, and at the approach of winter, I purchased three coarse blankets to which
Nero added as many, and we had all these made up into blanket-coats for Dinah,
ourselves, and the children.
Source: Charles Ball, Fifty Years in Chains (New York, 1837)
KEMBLE
I mentioned to you just now that two of the carpenters had made a boat in their
leisure time. I must explain this to you, and this will involve the mention of
another of Miss Martineau's mistakes with regard to slave labour, at least in many
parts of the Southern States. She mentions that on one estate of which she knew,
the proprietor had made the experiment, and very successfully, of appointing to
each of his slaves a certain task to be performed in the day, which once
accomplished, no matter how early, the rest of the four and twenty hours were
allowed to the labourer to employ as he pleased. She mentions this as a single
experiment, and rejoices over it as a decided amelioration in the condition of the
slave, and one deserving of general adoption. But in the part of Georgia where this
estate is situated, the custom of task labour is universal, and it prevails, I believe,
throughout Georgia, South Carolina, and parts of North Carolina; in other parts of
the latter State, however—as I was informed by our overseer, who is a native of
that State—the estates are small, rather deserving the name of farms, and the
labourers are much upon the same footing as the labouring men at the North,
working from sunrise to sunset in the fields with the farmer and his sons, and
coming in with them to their meals, which they take immediately after the rest of
the family. In Louisiana and the new South-western Slave States, I believe, task
labour does not prevail; but it is in those that the condition of the poor human
cattle is most deplorable, as you know it was there that the humane calculation was
not only made, but openly and unhesitatingly avowed, that the planters found it
170
upon the whole their most profitable plan to work off (kill with labour) their whole
number of slaves about once in seven years, and renew the whole stock. By the
bye, the Jewish institution of slavery is much insisted upon by the Southern
upholders of the system; perhaps this is their notion of the Jewish jubilee, when the
slaves were by Moses' strict enactment to be all set free. Well, this task system is
pursued on this estate; and thus it is that the two carpenters were enabled to make
the boat they sold for sixty dollars. These tasks, of course, profess to be graduated
according to the sex, age, and strength of the labourer; but in many instances this is
not the case, as I think you will agree when I tell you that on Mr. ——'s first visit
to his estates he found that the men and the women who laboured in the fields had
the same task to perform. This was a noble admission of female equality, was it
not?—and thus it had been on the estate for many years past. Mr. ——, of course,
altered the distribution of the work, diminishing the quantity done by the women.
Source: Frances Anne Kemble, Journal of a Residence on a Georgian
Plantation in 1838-9 (London , 1861)
Term 2 Week 3
Frederick Douglass remembers his family
Ch1
I never saw my mother, to know her as such, more than four or five times in my
life; and each of these times was very short in duration, and at night. She was hired
by a Mr. Stewart, who lived about twelve miles from my home. She made her
journeys to see me in the night, travelling the whole distance on foot, after the
performance of her day's work. She was a field hand, and a whipping is the penalty
of not being in the field at sunrise, unless a slave has special permission from his
or her master to the contrary--a permission which they seldom get, and one that
gives to him that gives it the proud name of being a kind master. I do not recollect
of ever seeing my mother by the light of day. She was with me in the night. She
would lie down with me, and get me to sleep, but long before I waked she was
gone. Very little communication ever took place between us. Death soon ended
what little we could have while she lived, and with it her hardships and suffering.
She died when I was about seven years old, on one of my master's farms, near
Lee's Mill. I was not allowed to be present during her illness, at her death, or
burial. She was gone long before I knew any thing about it. Never having enjoyed,
to any considerable extent, her soothing presence, her tender and watchful care, I
171
received the tidings of her death with much the same emotions I should have
probably felt at the death of a stranger.
Source: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (Boston, 1845)
Ch1
The reader must not expect me to say much of my family. Genealogical trees did
not flourish among slaves. A person of some consequence in civilized society,
sometimes designated as father, was literally unknown to
slave law and to slave practice. I never met with a slave in that part of the country
who could tell me with any certainty how old he was. Few at that time knew
anything of the months of the year or of the days of the month. They measured the
ages of their children by spring-time, winter-time, harvest-time, planting-time, and
the like. Masters allowed no questions concerning their ages to be put to them by
slaves. Such questions were regarded by the masters as evidence of an impudent
curiosity. From certain events, however, the dates of which I have since learned, I
suppose myself to have been born in February, 1817.
My first experience of life, as I now remember it, and I remember it but
hazily, began in the family of my grandmother and grandfather, Betsey and Isaac
Bailey. They were considered old settlers in the neighborhood, and from certain
circumstances I infer that my grandmother, especially, was held in high esteem, far
higher than was the lot of most colored persons in that region. She was a good
nurse, and a capital hand at making nets used for catching shad and herring, and
was, withal, somewhat famous as a fisherwoman. I have known her to be in the
water waist deep, for hours, seine-hauling. She was a gardener as well as a
fisherwoman, and remarkable for her success in keeping her seedling sweet
potatoes through the months of winter, and easily got the reputation of being born
to "good luck." In planting-time Grandmother Betsey was sent for in all directions,
simply to place the seedling potatoes in the hills or drills; for superstition had it
that her touch was needed to make them grow. This reputation was full of
advantage to her and her grandchildren, for a good crop, after her planting for the
neighbors, brought her a share of the harvest.
Whether because she was too old for field service, or because she had so
faithfully discharged the duties of her station in early life, I know not, but she
enjoyed the high privilege of living in a cabin separate from the quarters, having
imposed upon her only the charge of the young children and the burden of her own
172
support. She esteemed it great good fortune to live so, and took much comfort in
having the children. The practice of separating mothers from their children and
hiring them out at distances too great to admit of their meeting, save at long
intervals, was a marked feature of the cruelty and barbarity of the slave system; but
it was in harmony with the grand aim of that system, which always and everywhere
sought to reduce man to a level with the brute. It had no interest in recognizing or
preserving any of the ties that bind families together or to their homes.
My grandmother's five daughters were hired out in this way, and my only
recollections of my own mother are of a few hasty visits made in the night on foot,
after the daily tasks were over, and when she was under the necessity of returning
in time to respond to the driver's call to the field in the early morning. These little
glimpses of my mother, obtained under such circumstances and against such odds,
meager as they were, are ineffaceably stamped upon my memory. She was tall and
finely proportioned, of dark, glossy complexion, with regular features, and
amongst the slaves was remarkably sedate and dignified. There is, in "Prichard's
Natural History of Man," the head of a figure, on page 157, the features of which
so resemble my mother that I often recur to it with something of the feelings which
I suppose others experience when looking upon the likenesses of their own dear
departed ones.
Of my father I know nothing. Slavery had no recognition of fathers, as none
of families.
Ch3
I may here recount a circumstance which is deeply impressed on my memory, as
affording a bright gleam of a slave-mother's love, and the earnestness of a mother's
care. I had offended Aunt Katy. I do not remember in what way, for my offences
were numerous in that quarter, greatly depending upon her moods as to their
heinousness, and she had adopted her usual mode of punishing me: namely,
making me go all day without food. For the first hour or two after dinner time, I
succeeded pretty well in keeping up my spirits; but as the day wore away, I found
it quite impossible to do so any longer. Sundown came, but no bread; and in its
stead came the threat from Aunt Katy, with a scowl well-suited to its terrible
import, that she would starve the life out of me. Brandishing her knife, she
chopped off the heavy slices of bread for the other children, and put the loaf away,
muttering all the while her savage designs upon myself. Against this
disappointment, for I was expecting that her heart would relent at last, I made an
extra effort to maintain my dignity, but when I saw the other children around me
173
with satisfied faces, I could stand it no longer. I went out behind the kitchen wall
and cried like a fine fellow. When wearied with this, I returned to the kitchen, sat
by the fire and brooded over my hard lot. I was too hungry to sleep. While I sat in
the corner, I caught sight of an ear of Indian corn upon an upper shelf. I watched
my chance and got it; and shelling off a few grains, I put it back again. These
grains I quickly put into the hot ashes to roast. I did this at the risk of getting a
brutal thumping, for Aunt Katy could beat as well as starve me. My corn was not
long in roasting, and I eagerly pulled it from the ashes, and placed it upon a stool
in a clever little pile. I began to help myself, when who but my own dear mother
should come in. The scene which followed is beyond my power to describe. The
friendless and hungry boy, in his extremest need, found himself in the strong,
protecting arms of his mother. I have before spoken of my mother's dignified and
impressive manner. I shall never forget the indescribable expression of her
countenance when I told her that Aunt Katy had said she would starve the life out
of me. There was deep and tender pity in her glance at me, and, at the same
moment, a fiery indignation at Aunt Katy, and while she took the corn from me,
and gave in its stead a large ginger-cake, she read Aunt Katy a lecture which was
never forgotten. That night I learned as I had never learned before, that I was not
only a child, but somebody's child. I was grander upon my mother's knee than a
king upon his throne. But my triumph was short. I dropped off to sleep, and waked
in the morning to find my mother gone and myself at the mercy again of the virago
in my master's kitchen, whose fiery wrath was my constant dread.
My mother had walked twelve miles to see me, and had the same distance to
travel over again before the morning sunrise. I do not remember ever seeing her
again. Her death soon ended the little communication that had existed between us,
and with it, I believe, a life full of weariness and heartfelt sorrow.) To me it has
ever been a grief that I knew my mother so little, and have so few of her words
treasured in my remembrance. I have since learned that she was the only one of all
the colored people of Tuckahoe who could read. How she acquired this knowledge
I know not, for Tuckahoe was the last place in the world where she would have
been likely to find facilities for learning. I can therefore fondly and proudly ascribe
to her an earnest love of knowledge. That in any slave State a field-hand should
learn to read is remarkable, but the achievement of my mother, considering the
place and circumstances, was very extraordinary. In view of this fact, I am happy
to attribute any love of letters I may have, not to my presumed Anglo-Saxon
paternity, but to the native genius of my sable, unprotected, and uncultivated
mother--a woman who belonged to a race whose mental endowments are still
disparaged and despised.
174
Source: The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (Boston, 1892)
KEMBLE
We have had a death among the people since I last wrote to you. A very valuable
slave called Shadrach was seized with a disease which is frequent, and very apt to
be fatal here—peri-pneumonia; and in spite of all that could be done to save him,
sank rapidly, and died after an acute illness of only three days. The doctor came
repeatedly from Darien, and the last night of the poor fellow's life —— himself
watched with him. I suppose the general low diet of the negroes must produce
some want of stamina in them; certainly, either from natural constitution or the
effect of their habits of existence, or both, it is astonishing how much less power of
resistance to disease they seem to possess than we do. If they are ill, the vital
energy seems to sink immediately. This rice cultivation, too, although it does not
affect them as it would whites—to whom, indeed, residence on the rice plantation
after a certain season is impossible—is still, to a certain degree, deleterious even to
the negroes. The proportion of sick is always greater here than on the cotton
plantation, and the invalids of this place are not unfrequently sent down to St.
Simon's to recover their strength, under the more favourable influences of the sea
air and dry sandy soil of Hampton Point….
Yesterday evening the burial of the poor man Shadrach took place. I had been
applied to for a sufficient quantity of cotton cloth to make a winding-sheet for him,
and just as the twilight was thickening into darkness I went with Mr. —— to the
cottage of one of the slaves whom I may have mentioned to you before—a cooper
of the name of London, the head of the religious party of the inhabitants of the
island, a methodist preacher of no small intelligence and influence among the
people—who was to perform the burial service. The coffin was laid on trestles in
front of the cooper's cottage, and a large assemblage of the people had gathered
round, many of the men carrying pine-wood torches, the fitful glare of which
glanced over the strange assembly, where every pair of large white-rimmed eyes
turned upon —— and myself; we two poor creatures on this more solemn
occasion, as well as on every other when these people encounter us, being the
objects of admiration and wonderment, on which their gaze is immovably riveted.
Presently the whole congregation uplifted their voices in a hymn, the first high
wailing notes of which—sung all in unison, in the midst of these unwonted
surroundings—sent a thrill through all my nerves. When the chant ceased, cooper
London began a prayer, and all the people knelt down in the sand, as I did also.
Mr. —— alone remained standing in the presence of the dead man, and of the
175
living God to whom his slaves were now appealing. I cannot tell you how
profoundly the whole ceremony, if such it could be called, affected me, and there
was nothing in the simple and pathetic supplication of the poor black artisan to
check or interfere with the solemn influences of the whole scene. It was a sort of
conventional methodist prayer, and probably quite as conventional as all the rest
was the closing invocation of God's blessing upon their master, their mistress, and
our children; but this fairly overcame my composure, and I began to cry very
bitterly; for these same individuals, whose implication in the state of things in the
midst of which we are living, seemed to me as legitimate a cause for tears as for
prayers. When the prayer was concluded we all rose, and the coffin being taken up,
proceeded to the people's burial-ground, when London read aloud portions of the
funeral service from the prayer-book—I presume the American episcopal version
of our Church service, for what he read appeared to be merely a selection from
what was perfectly familiar to me; but whether he himself extracted what he
uttered I did not enquire. Indeed I was too much absorbed in the whole scene, and
the many mingled emotions it excited of awe and pity, and an indescribable
sensation of wonder at finding myself on this slave soil, surrounded by MY slaves,
among whom again I knelt while the words proclaiming to the living and the dead
the everlasting covenant of freedom, 'I am the resurrection and the life,' sounded
over the prostrate throng, and mingled with the heavy flowing of the vast river
sweeping, not far from where we stood, through the darkness by which we were
now encompassed (beyond the immediate circle of our torch-bearers). There was
something painful to me in ——'s standing while we all knelt on the earth, for
though in any church in Philadelphia he would have stood during the praying of
any minister, here I wished he would have knelt, to have given his slaves some
token of his belief that—at least in the sight of that Master to whom we were
addressing our worship—all men are equal. The service ended with a short address
from London upon the subject of Lazarus, and the confirmation which the story of
his resurrection afforded our hopes. The words were simple and rustic, and of
course uttered in the peculiar sort of jargon which is the habitual negro speech; but
there was nothing in the slightest degree incongruous or grotesque in the matter or
manner, and the exhortations not to steal, or lie, or neglect to work well for massa,
with which the glorious hope of immortality was blended in the poor slave
preacher's closing address, was a moral adaptation, as wholesome as it was
touching, of the great Christian theory to the capacities and consciences of his
hearers. When the coffin was lowered the grave was found to be partially filled
with water—naturally enough, for the whole island is a mere swamp, off which the
Altamaha is only kept from sweeping by the high dykes all round it. This seemed
to shock and distress the people, and for the first time during the whole ceremony
176
there were sounds of crying and exclamations of grief heard among them. Their
chief expression of sorrow, however, when Mr. —— and myself bade them good
night at the conclusion of the service, was on account of my crying, which
appeared to affect them very much, many of them mingling with their 'Farewell,
good night, massa and missis,' affectionate exclamations of 'God bless you, missis;
don't cry!' 'Lor, missis, don't you cry so!' Mr. —— declined the assistance of any of
the torch-bearers home, and bade them all go quietly to their quarters; and as soon
as they had dispersed, and we had got beyond the fitful and unequal glaring of the
torches, we found the shining of the stars in the deep blue lovely night sky quite
sufficient to light our way along the dykes. I could not speak to ——, but
continued to cry as we walked silently home; and whatever his cogitations were,
they did not take the unusual form with him of wordy demonstration, and so we
returned from one of the most striking religious ceremonies at which I ever
assisted.
Source: Frances Anne Kemble, Journal of a Residence on a Georgian
Plantation in 1838-9 (London , 1861)
Term 2 Week 4 Slave Religion
Douglass Ch10
Henry and John were quite intelligent, and in a very little while after I went there, I
succeeded in creating in them a strong desire to learn how to read. This desire
soon sprang up in the others also. They very soon mustered up some old spellingbooks, and nothing would do but that I must keep a Sabbath school. I agreed to do
so, and accordingly devoted my Sundays to teaching these my loved fellow-slaves
how to read. Neither of them knew his letters when I went there. Some of the
slaves of the neighboring farms found what was going on, and also availed
themselves of this little opportunity to learn to read. It was understood, among all
who came, that there must be as little display about it as possible. It was necessary
to keep our religious masters at St. Michael's unacquainted with the fact, that,
instead of spending the Sabbath in wrestling, boxing, and drinking whisky, we
were trying to learn how to read the will of God; for they had much rather see us
engaged in those degrading sports, than to see us behaving like intellectual, moral,
and accountable beings. My blood boils as I think of the bloody manner in which
Messrs. Wright Fairbanks and Garrison West, both class-leaders, in connection
with many others, rushed in upon us with sticks and stones, and broke up our
virtuous little Sabbath school, at St. Michael's--all calling themselves Christians!
humble followers of the Lord Jesus Christ! But I am again digressing.
177
*This is the same man who gave me the roots to prevent my being whipped by Mr.
Covey. He was "a clever soul." We used frequently to talk about the fight with
Covey, and as often as we did so, he would claim my success as the result of the
roots which he gave me. This superstition is very common among the more
ignorant slaves. A slave seldom dies but that his death is attributed to trickery.
I held my Sabbath school at the house of a free colored man, whose name I deem it
imprudent to mention; for should it be known, it might embarrass him greatly,
though the crime of holding the school was committed ten years ago. I had at one
time over forty scholars, and those of the right sort, ardently desiring to learn.
They were of all ages, though mostly men and women. I look back to those
Sundays with an amount of pleasure not to be expressed. They were great days to
my soul. The work of instructing my dear fellow-slaves was the sweetest
engagement with which I was ever blessed. We loved each other, and to leave
them at the close of the Sabbath was a severe cross indeed. When I think that these
precious souls are to-day shut up in the prison-house of slavery, my feelings
overcome me, and I am almost ready to ask, "Does a righteous God govern the
universe? and for what does he hold the thunders in his right hand, if not to smite
the oppressor, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the spoiler?" These dear
souls came not to Sabbath school because it was popular to do so, nor did I teach
them because it was reputable to be thus engaged. Every moment they spent in
that school, they were liable to be taken up, and given thirty-nine lashes. They
came because they wished to learn. Their minds had been starved by their cruel
masters. They had been shut up in mental darkness. I taught them, because it was
the delight of my soul to be doing something that looked like bettering the
condition of my race. I kept up my school nearly the whole year I lived with Mr.
Freeland; and, beside my Sabbath school, I devoted three evenings in the week,
during the winter, to teaching the slaves at home. And I have the happiness to
know, that several of those who came to Sabbath school learned how to read; and
that one, at least, is now free through my agency.
Source: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas (Boston, 1845)
Ball Ch10
178
Here it is necessary to make my readers acquainted with the rules of polity,
which governed us on Sunday, (for I now speak of myself, as one of the slaves on
this plantation,) and with the causes which gave rise to these rules.
All over the south, the slaves are discouraged, as much as possible, and by all
possible means, from going to any place of religious worship on Sunday. This is to
prevent them from associating together, from different estates, and distant parts of
the country; and plotting conspiracies and insurrections. On some estates, the
overseers are required to prohibit the people from going to meeting off the
plantation, at any time, under the severest penalties. While preachers cannot come
upon the plantations, to preach to the people, without first obtaining permission of
the master, and afterwards procuring the sanction of the overseer. No slave dare
leave the plantation to which he belongs, a single mile, without a written pass
from the overseer, or master; but by exposing himself to the danger of being taken
up and flogged. Any white man who meets a slave off the plantation without a
pass, has a right to take him up, and flog him at his discretion. All these causes
combined, operate powerfully to keep the slave at home. But, in addition to those
principles of restraint, it is a rule on every plantation, that no overseer ever departs
from, to flog every slave, male or female, that leaves the estate for a single hour, by
night or by day--Sunday not excepted-- without a written pass.
The overseer who should permit the people under his charge to go about the
neighbourhood without a pass, would soon lose his character, and no one would
employ him; nor would his reputation less certainly suffer in the estimation of the
planters, were he to fall into the practice of granting passes, except on the most
urgent occasions; and for purposes generally to be specified in the pass.
A cotton planter has no more idea of permitting his slaves to go at will, about
the neighbourhood on Sunday, than a farmer in Pennsylvania has of letting his
horses out of his field on that day. Nor would the neighbours be less inclined to
complain of the annoyance, in the former, than in the latter case.
There has always been a strong repugnance, amongst the planters, against
their slaves becoming members of any religious society, Not, as I believe, because
they are so maliciously disposed towards their people as to wish to deprive them
of the comforts of religion--provided the principles of religion did not militate
against the principles of slavery-- but they fear that the slaves, by attending
meetings, and listening to the preachers, may imbibe with the morality they teach,
the notions of equality and liberty, contained in the gospel. This, I have no doubt,
179
is the ground of all the dissatisfaction, that the planters express, with the itinerant
preachers, who have from time to time, sought opportunities of instructing the
slaves in their religious duties.
The cotton planters have always, since I knew any thing of them, been most
careful to prevent the slaves from learning to read; and such is the gross ignorance
that prevails, that many of them could not name the four cardinal points.
At the time I first went to Carolina, there were a great many African slaves in
the country, and they continued to come in for several years afterwards. I became
intimately acquainted with some of these men. Many of them believed there were
several gods; some of whom were good, and others evil, and they prayed as much
to the latter as to the former. I knew several who must have been, from what I have
since learned, Mohamedans; though at that time, I had never heard of the religion
of Mohamed.
There was one man on this plantation, who prayed five times every day,
always turning his face to the east, when in the performance of his devotion.
There is, in general, very little sense of religious obligation, or duty, amongst
the slaves on the cotton plantations; and Christianity cannot be, with propriety,
called the religion of these people. They are universally subject to the grossest and
most abject superstition; and uniformly believe in witchcraft, conjuration, and the
agency of evil spirits in the affairs of human life. Far the greater part of them are
either natives of Africa, or the descendants of those who have always, from
generation to generation, lived in the south, since their ancestors were landed on
this continent; and their superstition, for it does not deserve the name of religion,
is no better, nor is it less ferocious, than that which oppresses the inhabitants of the
wildest regions of Negro-land.
They have not the slightest religious regard for the Sabbath-day, and their
masters make no efforts to impress them with the least respect for this sacred
institution.
Source: Charles Ball, Fifty Years in chains (New York 1837)
Church Discipline
'Friday May 24, 1805
180
.....Brother Robert informed the church that he understood thro' Bro.
H.Cunningham that two of our coloured sisters who are members of this church, to
wit Charlotte Wall and her servant Cate Wall were in disorder, Whereupon
resolved that Bro Brooks, Bro. Davis, and Bro H.Cunningham be a committee to
enquire into this matter, and report thereupon at our next meeting in course.'
Friday May 31, 1805
'Brother Henry Cunningham the only one of the committee that was appointed at
our last, was present, whom reported that Kate Wall one of the colored members
referred to appeared to be in very great disorder, whereupon requested Bro
H.Cunningham to cite her to appear at our next meeting in course.'
'Friday June 7,1805....
Kate Wall being present, many disorders were proved against her as well as her
being pregnant at this time, having never had a husband. the church unanimously
excommunicated here from the union & communion, as we as all the special
privileges of this church, but, on account of her being unknown to the world as a
member of this church the usual formalities of announcing this act from the pulpit
was agreed to be dispensed with.'
'Friday January 5, 1816........
Brother Thomas Williams charged brother Shave with having killed one of his
Negroes & requested that two of his Negroes present, who were members of a
church in our fellowship, might be admitted to give testimony against the accuses.
The church hesitated and thought it improper to admit such testimony. Brother
Shave said that the Negro in question was very impudent to him, he told him more
than ten times to hush & go to his business, but he continued very impudent, at
length he told him that if he did not hold his jaw he would strike him, Will you
replied the Negro, will you strike me, upon which he slightly struck with his hand,
the Negro then closed his fist and struck him a blow which cut thro his jaw, from
the inner part he took one or two, then he took hold of a stick, which the Negro
also caught hold of, a scuffle ensued between them, the Negro let go his hold of
the stick & turned from him on which he struck him with the stick & brought him
to the ground & of which blow he died a few weeks after. That he had no design
nor intent to kill him, & had he thought it would have done so he would not have
done it for all that Mr Williams had, that in all his conduct while in charge of his
plantation, he did nothing but what he really believed was for the interest of Mr
Williams. That this unhappy circumstance had given him deep humiliation before
God, from whom he hoped he had received pardon, and that he was now ready to
181
beg Mr William's pardon etc. He further stated that he was willing that the black
testimony should be heard, upon which the question was put to the church whether
they should be heard, a majority present declared in favor of the measure, they
were then called separately & apart from each other, the first said that he saw Mr
Shave give the Negro in question three blows with the stick which he produced,
but said that he did not see the Negro fall, as he was in the ditch that he neither saw
Mr Shave strike at him with his fist, nor the Negro strike him. The second Negro
said that Mr Shave struck but one blow, which brought him down to the ground, he
also said that he did not see Mr Shave strike at the Negro nor the Negro at him
with the fist, brother Williams said that he did not believe Mr Shave's assertion
that the Negro had struck him, but supposed he invented that story for the purpose
of avoiding justice.
The church had nearly half retired, being late, and the decision was postponed till
our next meeting in course.'
Friday January 12, 1816.....
'On deciding upon the case of Brother Shave, our pastor called on him to state to
the church at this time what his exercises before God had been since the late
unhappy circumstances had taken place, which he did and appeared very humble
and meek, he also declared that he had no objection that the church should deal
with him in any way they thought proper but was willing to submit without a
murmur to the church's disciplinary rule of order. Our pastor after shewing the
difference between the church's censure of excommunication & suspension, said
that he was truly sorry that this circumstance [p378] which seldom occurs in
churches should now exist here, and the more so as it happened among brethren,
yet he hoped that the humility of the brother accused, and his acknowledged
sorrow for his sin, would incline the church to act on the side of mercy, and
manifest her displeasure by an act of suspension rather than excommunication, the
last & highest censure for the most incorrigible transgressions. He then put the
question to the church, shall our brother for his transgressions be publickly
excommunicated from us? those who are for it let them stand up, but three rose,
who however gave up to the majority.
Our pastor also put the question to the church in the following manner, shall our
brother who stands charged before us, be laid under the suspension by this church
with a hope of being restored to us by repentance, those who are for so doing will
signify the same by rising up unanimously agreed to by the whole church, and our
brother is suspended from the privileges of this church until he shall be restored.
Our pastor then admonished our said brother, the meeting was closed by prayer
and dismissed by our pastor.'
182
'Friday June 21,1816......
Brother Aaron Shave was restored and given the right hand of fellowship by our
pastor in the name of this church.'
Source: Minutes of the First Baptist Church, Savannah, Mercer University,
Macon.
Discipline for slave members
Dec 21, 1798
'The male members of the church were convened in the vestry house, to enquire
into some reports respecting Natt (belonging to the Revr. Mr. Gildersleeve) and
Sylvia (belonging to Mrs Shephard) of their having lived in adultery with each
other - when, no sufficient proof was found, to convict them of guilt, but, it was
thought their past conduct had given room for suspicion. It was therefore proposed,
that they be debarred from the ordinance of the Lords supper, until the church shall
be better satisfied respecting their conduct; and that they be admonished. To which
it was agreed.'
April 19, 1799
'the church convened in the Vestry further to consider the case of Natt & Sylvia.
Agreed, to notify from the pulpit, that as nothing criminal against them can be
ascertained, but only some imprudence of behavior, and as their conduct lately so
far as known, had been irreproachable; so we judge no sufficient cause remaining
to debar them from the special ordinances of Christ, & do therefore restore them to
their former standing in the communion of this church.'
Jan 29, 1804
'The church convened in the Vestry house to consider the case of Natt & Philis
(both belonging to the Revd C. Gildersleeve) Natt being charged by Phillis with
having repeatedly solicited her, about a year ago, to a criminal intimacy; which the
said Natt positively denied. The parties being on unfriendly terms, and some
circumstances against the probability of Natt being guilty of the charge, it was
agreed, that both be suspended untill further satisfaction.'
July 8, 1804
183
'The church convened in the Vestry house, when Merian belonging to John Stewart
being present, was charged with having lived in criminal intimacy with Charles
(also belonging to said J.Stewart) she, not being able any longer to conceal her
pregnancy, acknowledged her guilt, and was thereupon suspended.'
Feb 23, 1805
'Sylvia formerly belonging to Wm Girardeau was suspended for taking a husband
in an irregular manner.'
June 10, 1809
'The case of Natt & Phillis ( belonging to the Rev'd C. Gildersleeve) who had been
suspended 29th Jany 1804, was considered. Phillis acknowledged, that, she
supposed it probable she might have been mistaken as to Natt's intentions being
criminal, and was, now, willing to believe he was innocent.
She was then restored to her former standing; and Natt would also have been
restored, but on account of his wishing to be allowed to take another wife, while
his former one ( a member of this church) is still living, she having left him and
removed, of her own accord, to Savannah: the church being apprehensive, that his
conduct might have induced her to leave him, agreed, that he should remain
suspended until further information on that subject.'
Nov 4, 1809
'Natt and Marian belonging to John Stewart having been under suspension were
restored to their former standing.'
Source: Records of the Midway Congregational Church, Georgia Historical
Society
Missionary Report
p24 “I was preaching to a large congregation on the Epistle of Philemon: and when
I insisted upon fidelity and obedience as Christian virtues in servants and upon the
authority of Paul, condemned the practice of running away, one half of my
audience deliberately rose up and walked off with themselves, and those that
remained looked anything but satisfied either with the preacher of his doctrine.
After dismission there was no small stir among them: some solemnly declared
“that there was no such an Epistle in the Bible” others “ that it was not the gospel”
others “that I preached to please the masters” others “that they did not care if they
ever heard me preach again”.
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Tenth Annual Report of the Association for the Religious Instruction of the
Negroes in Liberty County, Georgia. (Savannah, P G Thomas, 1845)
Rules for missionaries
‘1, Visit no plantation without permission, and when permitted never without
previous notice being given to that effect
2. Have nothing to do with the civil condition of the negroes, or with their
plantation affairs.
3. Hear no tales respecting their owners, or managers, or drivers; and keep within
your own breast whatever of a private nature may incidentally come to your
knowledge.
4. Be no party in their quarrels; but cultivate justice, impartiality and universal
kindness.
5. Condemn without reservation every vice and evil custom, in the terms of God’s
holy word, and inculcate the discharge of every duty, whatever may be the real or
apparent hazard of popularity or success
6. Preserve the most perfect order at all your public and private meetings.
7. Impress the people with the great value of the privilege enjoyed of religious
instruction, and invite their co-operation, and throw yourself upon their confidence
and support.
8. Make no attempts to create temporary excitements; or to introduce any new
plans or measures of doubtful expediency; but make diligent and prayerful use of
the ordinary and established means of grace of God’s appointment, and try to walk
by faith, and not by sight.
9. Support in the fullest manner the peace and order of society, and hold up to their
respect and obedience, all those whom God in his providence has placed in
authority over them.
10. Notice no slights nor unkindness shown to you personally, either by white or
black. Dispute with no man about your work, but depend on the power of truth,
and upon the spirit and blessing of God, together with long suffering, patience, and
perseverance, to overcome opposition, and remove prejudices, and ultimately bring
all things right.
Charles Colcock Jones, Suggestions on the religious instruction of the negroes
in the Southern states (Philadelphia, 1847)
Term 2 Week 5 Slave Culture
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Northup Ch 15
Alas! had it not been for my beloved violin, I scarcely can conceive how I could
have endured the long years of bondage. It introduced me to great houses relieved me of many days' labor in the field - supplied me with conveniences for
my cabin - with pipes and tobacco, and extra pairs of shoes, and oftentimes led
me away from the presence of a hard master, to witness scenes of jollity and mirth.
It was my companion - the friend of my bosom triumphing loudly when I was
joyful, and uttering its soft, melodious consolations when I was sad. Often, at
midnight, when sleep had fled affrighted from the cabin, and my soul was
disturbed and troubled with the contemplation of my fate, it would sing me a song
of peace. On holy Sabbath days, when an hour or two of leisure was allowed, it
would accompany me to some quiet place on the bayou bank, and, lifting up its
voice, discourse kindly and pleasantly indeed. It heralded my name round the
country - made me friends, who, otherwise would not have noticed me - gave
me an honored seat at the yearly feasts, and secured the loudest and heartiest
welcome of them all at the Christmas dance. The Christmas dance! Oh, ye
pleasure-seeking sons and daughters of idleness, who move with measured step,
listless and snail-like, through the slow-winding cotillon, if ye wish to look upon
the celerity, if not the "poetry of motion" - upon genuine happiness, rampant and
unrestrained - go down to Louisiana, and see the slaves dancing in the starlight
of a Christmas night.
On that particular Christmas I have now in my mind, a description whereof
will serve as a description of the day generally, Miss Lively and Mr. Sam, the first
belonging to Stewart, the latter to Roberts, started the ball. It was well known that
Sam cherished an ardent passion for Lively, as also did one of Marshall's and
another of Carey's boys; for Lively was lively indeed, and a heart-breaking
coquette withal. It was a victory for Sam Roberts, when, rising from the repast, she
gave him her hand for the first "figure" in preference to either of his rivals. They
were somewhat crest-fallen, and, shaking their heads angrily, rather intimated they
would like to pitch into Mr. Sam and hurt him badly. But not an emotion of wrath
ruffled the placid bosom of Samuel as his legs flew like drum-sticks down the
outside and up the middle, by the side of his bewitching partner. The whole
company cheered them vociferously, and, excited with the applause, they
continued "tearing down" after all the others had become exhausted and halted a
moment to recover breath. But Sam's superhuman exertions overcame him finally,
leaving Lively alone, yet whirling like a top. Thereupon one of Sam's rivals, Pete
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Marshall, dashed in, and, with might and main, leaped and shuffled and threw
himself into every conceivable shape, as if determined to show Miss Lively and all
the world that Sam Roberts was of no account.
Pete's affection, however, was greater than his discretion. Such violent
exercise took the breath out of him directly, and he dropped like an empty bag
Then was the time for Harry Carey to try his hand; but Lively also soon outwinded him, amidst hurrahs and shouts, fully sustaining her well-earned reputation
of being the "fastest gal" on the bayou.
One "set" off, another takes its place, he or she remaining longest on the floor
receiving the most uproarious commendation, and so the dancing continues until
broad daylight. It does not cease with the sound of the fiddle, but in that case they
set up a music peculiar to themselves. This is called "patting," accompanied with
one of those unmeaning songs, composed rather for its adaptation to a certain tune
or measure, than for the purpose of expressing any distinct idea. The patting is
performed by striking the hands on the knees, then striking the hands together,
then striking the right shoulder with one hand, the left with the other - all the
while keeping time with the feet, and singing, perhaps, this song:
"Harper's creek and roarin' ribber,
Thar, my dear, we'll live forebber;
Den we'll go to de Ingin nation,
All I walls in dis creation,
Is pretty little wife and big plantation.
Chorus . Up dat oak and down dat ribber,
Two overseers and one little nigger"
Or, if these words are not adapted to the tune called for, it may be that "Old
Hog Eye" is - a rather solemn and startling specimen of versification, not,
however, to be appreciated unless heard at the South. It runneth as follows:
"Who's been here since I've been gone?
Pretty little gal wid a josey on.
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Hog Eye!
Old Hog Eye,
And Hosey too!
Never see de like since I was born,
Here come a little gal wid a josey on.
Hog Eye!
Old Hog Eye!
And Hosey too!"
Or, may be the following, perhaps, equally nonsensical, but full of melody,
nevertheless, as it flows from the negro's mouth:
"Ebo Dick and Jurdan's Jo,
Them two niggers stole my yo'.
Chorus . Hop Jim along,
Walk Jim along,
Talk Jim along," &c.
Old black Dan, as black as tar,
He dam glad he was not dar.
Hop Jim along," &c.
During the remaining holidays succeeding Christmas, they are provided with
passes, and permitted to go where they please within a limited distance, or they
may remain and labor on the plantation, in which case they are paid for it. It is very
rarely, however, that the latter alternative is accepted. They may be seen at these
times hurrying in all directions, as happy looking mortals as can be found on the
face of the earth. They are different beings from what they are in the field; the
temporary relaxation, the brief deliverance from fear, and from the lash, producing
an entire metamorphosis in their appearance and demeanor. In visiting, riding,
renewing old friendships, or, perchance, reviving some old attachment, or pursuing
whatever pleasure may suggest itself; the time is occupied. Such is "southern life
as it is" three days in the year , as I found it - the other three hundred and sixtytwo being days of weariness, and fear, and suffering, and unremitting labor.
Source: Solomon Northup, Twelve Years a slave (London, 1853)
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Ball Ch 9
Our quarter knew but little quiet this night; singing-- playing on the banjoe,
and dancing, occupied nearly the whole community, until the break of day. Those
who were too old to take any part in our active pleasures, beat time with their
hands, or recited stories of former times. Most of these stories referred to affairs
that had been transacted in Africa, and were sufficiently fraught with demons,
miracles, and murders, to fix the attention of many hearers.
Ch14
A few days before Christmas, her [Lydia's] child died, after an illness of only three
days. I assisted her and her husband to inter the infant--which was a little boy --and
its father buried with it, a small bow, and several arrows; a little bag of parched
meal; a miniature canoe, about a foot long, and a little paddle, (with which he said
it would cross the ocean to his own country) a small stick, with an iron nail,
sharpened, and fastened into one end of it; and a piece of white muslin, with
several curious and strange figures painted on it in blue and red, by which, he said,
his relations and countrymen would know the infant to be his son, and would
receive it accordingly, on its arrival amongst them.
Cruel as this man was to his wife, I could not but respect the sentiments which
inspired his affection for his child; though it was the affection of a barbarian. He
cut a lock of hair from his head, threw it upon the dead infant, and closed the grave
with his own hands. He then told us the God of his country was looking at him,
and was pleased with what he had done. Thus ended the funeral service.
Source: Charles Ball, Fifty Years in Chains (New York, 1837)
KEMBLE
The boat he went in was a large, broad, rather heavy, though well-built craft, by no
means as swift or elegant as the narrow eight-oared long boat in which he
generally takes his walks on the water, but well adapted for the traffic between the
two plantations, where it serves the purpose of a sort of omnibus or stage-coach for
the transfer of the people from one to the other, and of a baggage waggon or cart
for the conveyance of all sorts of household goods, chattels, and necessaries. Mr.
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—— sat in the middle of a perfect chaos of such freight; and as the boat pushed
off, and the steersman took her into the stream, the men at the oars set up a chorus,
which they continued to chaunt in unison with each other, and in time with their
stroke, till the voices and oars were heard no more from the distance. I believe I
have mentioned to you before the peculiar characteristics of this veritable negro
minstrelsy—how they all sing in unison, having never, it appears, attempted or
heard anything like part-singing. Their voices seem oftener tenor than any other
quality, and the tune and time they keep something quite wonderful; such truth of
intonation and accent would make almost any music agreeable. That which I have
heard these people sing is often plaintive and pretty, but almost always has some
resemblance to tunes with which they must have become acquainted through the
instrumentality of white men; their overseers or masters whistling Scotch or Irish
airs, of which they have produced by ear these rifacciamenti. The note for note
reproduction of 'Ah! vous dirai-je, maman?' in one of the most popular of the socalled Negro melodies with which all America and England are familiar, is an
example of this very transparent plagiarism; and the tune with which Mr. ——'s
rowers started him down the Altamaha, as I stood at the steps to see him off, was a
very distinct descendant of 'Coming through the Rye.' The words, however, were
astonishingly primitive, especially the first line, which, when it burst from their
eight throats in high unison, sent me into fits of laughter.
Jenny shake her toe at me,
Jenny gone away;
Jenny shake her toe at me,
Jenny gone away.
Hurrah! Miss Susy, oh!
Jenny gone away;
Hurrah! Miss Susy, oh!
Jenny gone away.
What the obnoxious Jenny meant by shaking her toe, whether defiance or mere
departure, I never could ascertain, but her going away was an unmistakable subject
of satisfaction; and the pause made on the last 'oh!' before the final announcement
of her departure, had really a good deal of dramatic and musical effect. Except the
extemporaneous chaunts in our honour, of which I have written to you before, I
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have never heard the negroes on Mr. ——'s plantation sing any words that could
be said to have any sense. To one, an extremely pretty, plaintive, and original air,
there was but one line, which was repeated with a sort of wailing chorus—
Oh! my massa told me, there's no grass in Georgia.
Upon enquiring the meaning of which, I was told it was supposed to be the
lamentation of a slave from one of the more northerly states, Virginia or Carolina,
where the labour of hoeing the weeds, or grass as they call it, is not nearly so
severe as here, in the rice and cotton lands of Georgia. Another very pretty and
pathetic tune began with words that seemed to promise something sentimental—
Fare you well, and good-bye, oh, oh!
I'm goin' away to leave you, oh, oh!
but immediately went off into nonsense verses about gentlemen in the parlour
drinking wine and cordial, and ladies in the drawing-room drinking tea and coffee,
&c. I have heard that many of the masters and overseers on these plantations
prohibit melancholy tunes or words, and encourage nothing but cheerful music and
senseless words, deprecating the effect of sadder strains upon the slaves, whose
peculiar musical sensibility might be expected to make them especially excitable
by any songs of a plaintive character, and having any reference to their particular
hardships. If it is true, I think it a judicious precaution enough—these poor slaves
are just the sort of people over whom a popular musical appeal to their feelings and
passions would have an immense power….
My daily voyages up and down the river have introduced me to a great variety of
new musical performances of our boatmen, who invariably, when the rowing is not
too hard, moving up or down with the tide, accompany the stroke of their oars with
the sound of their voices. I told you formerly that I thought I could trace distinctly
some popular national melody with which I was familiar in almost all their songs;
but I have been quite at a loss to discover any such foundation for many that I have
heard lately, and which have appeared to me extraordinarily wild and
unaccountable. The way in which the chorus strikes in with the burthen, between
each phrase of the melody chanted by a single voice, is very curious and effective,
especially with the rhythm of the rowlocks for accompaniment. The high voices all
in unison, and the admirable time and true accent with which their responses are
made, always make me wish that some great musical composer could hear these
semi-savage performances. With a very little skilful adaptation and
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instrumentation, I think one or two barbaric chants and choruses might be evoked
from them that would make the fortune of an opera.
The only exception that I have met with, yet among our boat voices to the high
tenor which they seem all to possess is in the person of an individual named Isaac,
a basso profondo of the deepest dye, who nevertheless never attempts to produce
with his different register any different effects in the chorus by venturing a second,
but sings like the rest in unison, perfect unison, of both time and tune. By-the-by,
this individual does speak, and therefore I presume he is not an ape, ourangoutang, chimpanzee, or gorilla; but I could not, I confess, have conceived it
possible that the presence of articulate sounds, and the absence of an articulate tail,
should make, externally at least, so completely the only appreciable difference
between a man and a monkey, as they appear to do in this individual 'black
brother.' Such stupendous long thin hands, and long flat feet, I did never see off a
large quadruped of the ape species. But, as I said before, Isaac speaks, and I am
much comforted thereby.
You cannot think (to return to the songs of my boatmen) how strange some of their
words are: in one, they repeatedly chanted the 'sentiment' that 'God made man, and
man makes'—what do you think?—'money!' Is not that a peculiar poetical
proposition? Another ditty to which they frequently treat me they call Caesar's
song; it is an extremely spirited war-song, beginning 'The trumpets blow, the
bugles sound—Oh, stand your ground!' It has puzzled me not a little to determine
in my own mind whether this title of Caesar's song has any reference to the great
Julius, and if so what may be the negro notion of him, and whence and how
derived. One of their songs displeased me not a little, for it embodied the opinion
that 'twenty-six black girls not make mulatto yellow girl;' and as I told them I did
not like it, they have omitted it since. This desperate tendency to despise and
undervalue their own race and colour, which is one of the very worst results of
their abject condition, is intolerable to me.
Source: Frances Anne Kemble, Journal of a Residence on a Georgian
Plantation in 1838-9 (London , 1861)
Term 2 Week 7 Slave Gender
Jacobs Ch 5 THE TRIALS OF GIRLHOOD.
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DURING the first years of my service in Dr. Flint's family, I was accustomed to
share some indulgences with the children of my mistress. Though this seemed to
me no more than right, I was grateful for it, and tried to merit the kindness by the
faithful discharge of my duties. But I now entered on my fifteenth year - a sad
epoch in the life of a slave girl. My master began to whisper foul words in my ear.
Young as I was, I could not remain ignorant of their import. I tried to treat them
with indifference or contempt. The master's age, my extreme youth, and the fear
that his conduct would be reported to my grandmother, made him bear this
treatment for many months. He was a crafty man, and resorted to many means to
accomplish his purposes. Sometimes he had stormy, terrific ways, that made his
victims tremble; sometimes he assumed a gentleness that he thought must surely
subdue. Of the two, I preferred his stormy moods, although they left me trembling.
He tried his utmost to corrupt the pure principles my grandmother had instilled. He
peopled my young mind with unclean images, such as only a vile monster could
think of. I turned from him with disgust and hatred. But he was my master. I was
compelled to live under the same roof with him - where I saw a man forty years my
senior daily violating the most sacred commandments of nature. He told me I was
his property; that I must be subject to his will in all things. My soul revolted
against the mean tyranny. But where could I turn for protection? No matter
whether the slave girl be as black as ebony or as fair as her mistress. In either case,
there is no shadow of law to protect her from insult, from violence, or even from
death; all these are inflicted by fiends who bear the shape of men. The mistress,
who ought to protect the helpless victim, has no other feelings towards her but
those of jealousy and rage. The degradation, the wrongs, the vices, that grow out of
slavery, are more than I can describe. They are greater than you would willingly
believe. Surely, if you credited one half the truths that are told you
concerning the helpless millions suffering in this cruel bondage, you at the north
would not help to tighten the yoke. You surely would refuse to do for the master,
on your own soil, the mean and cruel work which trained bloodhounds and the
lowest class of whites do for him at the south.
Every where the years bring to all enough of sin and sorrow; but in slavery the
very dawn of life is darkened by these shadows. Even the little child, who is
accustomed to wait on her mistress and her children, will learn, before she is
twelve years old, why it is that her mistress hates such and such a one among the
slaves. Perhaps the child's own mother is among those hated ones. She listens to
violent outbreaks of jealous passion, and cannot help understanding what is the
cause. She will become prematurely knowing in evil things. Soon she will learn to
tremble when she hears her master's footfall. She will be compelled to realize that
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she is no longer a child. If God has bestowed beauty upon her, it will prove her
greatest curse. That which commands admiration in the white woman only hastens
the degradation of the female slave. I know that some are too much brutalized by
slavery to feel the humiliation of their position; but many slaves feel it most
acutely, and shrink from the memory of it. I cannot tell how much I suffered in the
presence of these wrongs, nor how I am still pained by the retrospect. My master
met me at every turn, reminding me that I belonged to him, and swearing by
heaven and earth that he would compel me to submit to him. If I went out for a
breath of fresh air, after a day of unwearied toil, his footsteps dogged me. If I knelt
by my mother's grave, his dark shadow fell on me even there. The light heart which
nature had given me became heavy with sad forebodings. The other slaves in my
master's house noticed the change. Many of them pitied me; but none dared to ask
the cause. They had no need to inquire. They knew too well the guilty practices
under that roof; and they were aware that to speak of them was an offence that
never went unpunished.
I longed for some one to confide in. I would have given the world to have laid my
head on my grandmother's faithful bosom, and told her all my troubles. But Dr.
Flint swore he would kill me, if I was not as silent as the grave. Then, although my
grandmother was all in all to me, I feared her as well as loved her. I had been
accustomed to look up to her with a respect bordering upon awe. I was very young,
and felt shamefaced about telling her such impure things, especially as I knew her
to be very strict on such subjects. Moreover, she was a woman of a high spirit. She
was usually very quiet in her demeanor; but if her indignation was once roused, it
was not very easily quelled. I had been told that she once chased a white gentleman
with a loaded pistol, because he insulted one of her daughters. I dreaded the
consequences of a violent outbreak; and both pride and fear kept me silent. But
though I did not confide in my grandmother, and even evaded her vigilant
watchfulness and inquiry, her presence in the neighborhood was some protection
to me. Though she had been a slave, Dr. Flint was afraid of her. He dreaded her
scorching rebukes. Moreover, she was known and patronized by many people; and
he did not wish to have his villany made public. It was lucky for me that I did not
live on a distant plantation, but in a town not so large that the inhabitants were
ignorant of each other's affairs. Bad as are the laws and customs in a slaveholding
community, the doctor, as a professional man, deemed it prudent to keep up some
outward show of decency.
O, what days and nights of fear and sorrow that man caused me! Reader, it is not to
awaken sympathy for myself that I am telling you truthfully what I suffered in
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slavery. I do it to kindle a flame of compassion in your hearts for my sisters who
are still in bondage, suffering as I once suffered.
I once saw two beautiful children playing together. One was a fair white child; the
other was her slave, and also her sister. When I saw them embracing each other,
and heard their joyous laughter, I turned sadly away from the lovely sight. I
foresaw the inevitable blight that would fall on the little slave's heart. I knew how
soon her laughter would be changed to sighs. The fair child grew up to be a still
fairer woman. From childhood to womanhood her pathway was blooming with
flowers, and overarched by a sunny sky. Scarcely one day of her life had been
clouded when the sun rose on her happy bridal morning.
How had those years dealt with her slave sister, the little playmate of her
childhood? She, also, was very beautiful; but the flowers and sunshine of love
were not for her. She drank the cup of sin, and shame, and misery, whereof her
persecuted race are compelled to drink.
In view of these things, why are ye silent, ye free men and women of the north?
Why do your tongues falter in maintenance of the right? Would that I had more
ability! But my heart is so full, and my pen is so weak! There are noble men and
women who plead for us, striving to help those who cannot help themselves. God
bless them! God give them strength and courage to go on! God bless those, every
where, who are laboring to advance the cause of humanity!
Chapter VI. THE JEALOUS MISTRESS.
I WOULD ten thousand times rather that my children should be the half-starved
paupers of Ireland than to be the most pampered among the slaves of America. I
would rather drudge out my life on a cotton plantation, till the grave opened to
give me rest, than to live with an unprincipled master and a jealous mistress. The
felon's home in a penitentiary is preferable. He may repent, and turn from the error
of his ways, and so find peace; but it is not so with a favorite slave. She is not
allowed to have any pride of character. It is deemed a crime in her to wish to be
virtuous.
Mrs. Flint possessed the key to her husband's character before I was born. She
might have used this knowledge to counsel and to screen the young and the
innocent among her slaves; but for them she had no sympathy. They were the
objects of her constant suspicion and malevolence. She watched her husband with
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unceasing vigilance; but he was well practiced in means to evade it. What he could
not find opportunity to say in words he manifested in signs. He invented more than
were ever thought of in a deaf and dumb asylum. I let them pass, as if I did not
understand what he meant; and many were the curses and threats bestowed on me
for my stupidity. One day he caught me teaching myself to write. He frowned, as
if he was not well pleased, but I suppose he came to the conclusion that such an
accomplishment might help to advance his favorite scheme. Before long, notes
were often slipped into my hand. I would return them, saying, "I can't read them,
sir." "Can't you?" he replied; "then I must read them to you." He always finished
the reading by asking, "Do you understand?" Sometimes he would complain of the
heat of the tea room, and order his supper to be placed on a small table in the
piazza. He would seat himself there with a well-satisfied smile, and tell me to stand
by and brush away the flies. He would eat very slowly, pausing between the
mouthfuls. These intervals were employed in describing the happiness I was so
foolishly throwing away, and in threatening me with the penalty that finally
awaited my stubborn disobedience. He boasted much of the forbearance he had
exercised towards me, and reminded me that there was a limit to his patience.
When I succeeded in avoiding opportunities for him to talk to me at home, I was
ordered to come to his office, to do some errand. When there, I was obliged to
stand and listen to such language as he saw fit to address to me. Sometimes I so
openly expressed my contempt for him that he would become violently enraged,
and I wondered why he did not strike me. Circumstanced as he was, he probably
thought it was better policy to be forbearing. But the state of things grew worse
and worse daily. In desperation I told him that I must and would apply to my
grandmother for protection. He threatened me with death, and worse than death, if
I made any complaint to her. Strange to say, I did not despair. I was naturally of a
buoyant disposition, and always I had hope of somehow getting out of his clutches.
Like many a poor, simple slave before me, I trusted that some threads of joy would
yet be woven into my dark destiny.
I had entered my sixteenth year, and every day it became more apparent that my
presence was intolerable to Mrs. Flint. Angry words frequently passed between her
and her husband. He had never punished me himself, and he would not allow any
body else to punish me. In that respect, she was never satisfied; but, in her angry
moods, no terms were too vile for her to bestow upon me. Yet I, whom she
detested so bitterly, had far more pity for her than he had, whose duty it was to
make her life happy. I never wronged her, or wished to wrong her; and one word of
kindness from her would have brought me to her feet.
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After repeated quarrels between the doctor and his wife, he announced his
intention to take his youngest daughter, then four years old, to sleep in his
apartment. It was necessary that a servant should sleep in the same room, to be on
hand if the child stirred. I was selected for that office, and informed for what
purpose that arrangement had been made. By managing to keep within sight of
people, as much as possible during the day time, I hitherto succeeded in eluding
my master, though a razor was often held to my throat to force me to change this
line of policy. At night I slept by the side of my great aunt, where I felt safe. He
was too prudent to come into her room. She was an old woman, and had been in
the family many years. Moreover, as a married man, and a professional man, he
deemed it necessary to save appearances in some degree. But he resolved to
remove the obstacle in the way of his scheme; and he thought he had planned it so
that he should evade suspicion. He was well aware how much I prized my refuge
by the side of my old aunt, and he determined to dispossess me of it. The first night
the doctor had the little child in his room alone. The next morning, I was ordered
to take my station as nurse the following night. A kind Providence interposed in
my favor. During the day Mrs. Flint heard of this new arrangement, and a storm
followed. I rejoiced to hear it rage.
After a while my mistress sent for me to come to her room. Her first question was,
"Did you know you were to sleep in the doctor's room?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Who told you?"
"My master."
"Will you answer truly all the questions I ask?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Tell me, then, as you hope to be forgiven, are you innocent of what I have
accused
you?"
"I am.
She handed me a Bible, and said, "Lay your hand on your heart, kiss this holy
book, and swear before God that you tell me the truth."
I took the oath she required, and I did it with a clear conscience.
"You have taken God's holy word to testify your innocence," said she. "If you have
deceived me, beware! Now take this stool, sit down, look me directly in the face,
and tell me all that has passed between your master and you."
I did as she ordered. As I went on with my account her color changed frequently,
she wept, and sometimes groaned. She spoke in tones so sad, that I was touched by
197
her grief. The tears came to my eyes; but I was soon convinced that her emotions
arose from anger and wounded pride. She felt that her marriage vows were
desecrated, her dignity insulted, but she had no compassion for the poor victim of
her husband's perfidy. She pitied herself as a martyr; but she was incapable of
feeling for the condition of shame and misery in which her unfortunate, helpless
slave was placed.
Yet perhaps she had some touch of feeling for me; for when the conference was
ended, she spoke kindly, and promised to protect me. I should have been much
comforted by this assurance if I could have had confidence in it; but my
experiences in slavery had filled me with distrust. She was not a very refined
woman, and had not much control over her passions. I was an object of her
jealousy, and, consequently, of her hatred; and I know I could not expect kindness
or confidence from her under the circumstances in which I was placed. I could not
blame her. Slave-holders' wives feel as other women would under similar
circumstances. The fire of her temper kindled from small sparks, and now the
flame became so intense that the doctor was obliged to give up his intended
arrangement.
I knew I had ignited the torch, and I expected to suffer for it afterwards; but I felt
too thankful to my mistress for the timely aid she rendered me to care much about
that. She now took me to sleep in a room adjoining her own. There I was an object
of her especial care, though not of her especial comfort, for she spent many a
sleepless night to watch over me. Sometimes I woke up, and found her bending
over me. At other times she whispered in my ear, as though it was her husband
who was speaking to me, and listened to hear what I would answer. If she startled
me, on such occasions, she would glide stealthily away; and the next morning she
would tell me I had been talking in my sleep, and ask who I was talking to. At last,
I began to be fearful for my life. It had been often threatened; and you can
imagine, better than I can describe, what an unpleasant sensation it must produce
to wake up in the dead of night and find a jealous woman bending over you.
Terrible as this experience was, I had fears that it would give place to one more
terrible.
My mistress grew weary of her vigils; they did not prove satisfactory. She changed
her tactics. She now tried the trick of accusing my master of crime, in my presence,
and gave my name as the author of the accusation. To my utter astonishment, he
replied, "I don't believe it; but if she did acknowledge it, you tortured her into
exposing me." Tortured into exposing him! Truly, Satan had no difficulty in
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distinguishing the color of his soul! I understood his object in making this false
representation. It was to show me that I gained nothing by seeking the protection
of my mistress; that the power was still all in his own hands. I pitied Mrs. Flint.
She was a second wife, many years the junior of her husband; and the hoaryheaded miscreant was enough to try the patience of a wiser and better woman. She
was completely foiled, and knew not how to proceed. She would gladly have had
me flogged for my supposed false oath; but, as I have already stated, the doctor
never allowed any one to whip me. The old sinner was politic. The application of
the lash might have led to remarks that would have exposed him in the eyes of his
children and grandchildren. How often did I rejoice that I lived in a town where all
the inhabitants knew each other! If I had been on a remote plantation, or lost
among the multitude of a crowded city, I should not be a living woman at this day.
The secrets of slavery are concealed like those of the Inquisition. My master was,
to my knowledge, the father of eleven slaves. But did the mothers dare to tell who
was the father of their children? Did the other slaves dare to allude to it, except in
whispers among themselves? No, indeed! They knew too well the terrible
consequences.
My grandmother could not avoid seeing things which excited her suspicions. She
was uneasy about me, and tried various ways to buy me; but the never-changing
answer was always repeated: "Linda does not belong to me. She is my daughter's
property, and I have no legal right to sell her." The conscientious man! He was too
scrupulous to sell me; but he had no scruples whatever about committing a much
greater wrong against the helpless young girl placed under his guardianship, as his
daughter's property. Sometimes my persecutor would ask me whether I would like
to be sold. I told him I would rather be sold to any body than to lead such a life as I
did. On such occasions he would assume the air of a very injured individual, and
reproach me for my ingratitude. "Did I not take you into the house, and make you
the companion of my own children?" he would say. "Have I ever treated you like a
negro? I have never allowed you to be punished, not even to please your mistress.
And this is the recompense I get, you ungrateful girl!" I answered that he had
reasons of his own for screening me from punishment, and that the course he
pursued made my mistress hate me and persecute me. If I wept, he would say,
"Poor child! Don't cry! don't cry! I will make peace for you with your mistress.
Only let me arrange matters in my own way. Poor, foolish girl! you don't know
what is for your own good. I would cherish you. I would make a lady of you. Now
go, and think of all I have promised you."
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I did think of it.
Reader, I draw no imaginary pictures of southern homes. I am telling you the plain
truth. Yet when victims make their escape from this wild beast of Slavery,
northerners consent to act the part of bloodhounds, and hunt the poor fugitive back
into his den, "full of dead men's bones, and all uncleanness." Nay, more, they are
not only willing, but proud, to give their daughters in marriage to slaveholders.
The poor girls have romantic notions of a sunny clime, and of the flowering vines
that all the year round shade a happy home. To what disappointments are they
destined! The young wife soon learns that the husband in whose hands she has
placed her happiness pays no regard to his marriage vows. Children of every shade
of complexion play with her own fair babies, and too well she knows that they are
born unto him of his own household. Jealousy and hatred enter the flowery home,
and it is ravaged of its loveliness.
Southern women often marry a man knowing that he is the father of many little
slaves. They do not trouble themselves about it. They regard such children as
property, as marketable as the pigs on the plantation; and it is seldom that they do
not make them aware of this by passing them into the slave-trader's hands as soon
as possible, and thus getting them out of their sight. I am glad to say there are some
honorable exceptions.
I have myself known two southern wives who exhorted their husbands to free
those slaves towards whom they stood in a "parental relation;" and their request
was granted. These husbands blushed before the superior nobleness of their wives'
natures. Though they had only counselled them to do that which it was their duty
to do, it commanded their respect, and rendered their conduct more exemplary.
Concealment was at an end, and confidence took the place of distrust.
Though this bad institution deadens the moral sense, Even in white women, to a
fearful extent, it is not altogether extinct. I have heard southern ladies say of Mr.
Such a one, "He not only thinks it no disgrace to be the father of those little
niggers, but he is not ashamed to call himself their master. I declare, such things
ought not to be tolerated in any decent society!"
Source: Harriet Ann Jacobs, (1813-1897) Incidents in the Life Of A Slave Girl
(Boston, 1861)
Northup Ch 13
200
Patsey is twenty-three - also from Buford's plantation. She is in no wise
connected with the others, but glories in the fact that she is the offspring of a
"Guinea nigger," brought over to Cuba in a slave ship, and in the course of trade
transferred to Buford, who was her mother's owner….
Patsey was slim and straight. She stood erect as the human form is capable of
standing. There was an air of loftiness in her movement, that neither labor, nor
weariness, nor punishment could destroy. Truly, Patsey was a splendid animal, and
were it not that bondage had enshrouded her intellect in utter and everlasting
darkness, would have been chief among ten thousand of her people. She could leap
the highest fences, and a fleet hound it was indeed, that could outstrip her in a race.
No horse could fling her from his back. She was a skillful teamster. She turned as
true a furrow as the best, and at splitting rails there were none who could excel her.
When the order to halt was heard at night, she would have her mules at the crib,
unharnessed, fed and curried before uncle Abram had found his hat. Not, however,
for all or any of these, was she chiefly famous. Such lightning-like motion was in
her fingers as no other fingers ever possessed, and therefore it was, that in cotton
picking time, Patsey was queen of the field.
She had a genial and pleasant temper, and was faithful and obedient.
Naturally, she was a joyous creature, a laughing , light-hearted girl, rejoicing in the
mere sense of existence. Yet Patsey wept oftener, and suffered more, than any of
her companions. She had been literally excoriated. Her back bore the scars of a
thousand stripes; not because she was backward in her work, nor because she was
of an unmindful and rebellious spirit, but because it had fallen to her lot to be the
slave of a licentious master and a jealous mistress. She shrank before the lustful
eye of the one, and was in danger even of her life at the hands of the other, and
between the two, she was indeed accursed. In-the great house, for days together,
there were high and angry words, poutings and estrangement, whereof she was the
innocent cause. Nothing delighted the mistress so much as to see her suffer, and
more than once, when Epps had refused to sell her, has she tempted me with bribes
to put her secretly to death, and bury her body in some lonely place in the margin
of the swamp. Gladly would Patsey have appeased this unforgiving spirit, if it had
been in her power, but not like Joseph, dared she escape from Master Epps, leaving
her garment in his hand. Patsey walked under a cloud. If she uttered a word in
opposition to her master's will, the lash was resorted to at once, to bring her to
subjection; if she was not watchful when about her cabin, or when walking in the
yard, a billet of wood, or a broken bottle perhaps, hurled from her mistress' hand,
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would smite her unexpectedly in the face. The enslaved victim of lust and hate,
Patsey had no comfort of her life.
Ch 14
The poor girl was truly an object of pity. "Old Hogjaw," the name by which Epps
was called, when the slaves were by themselves had beaten her more severely and
frequently than ever. As surely as he came from Holmesville, elated with liquor and it was often in those days - he would whip her, merely to gratify the mistress;
would punish her to an extent almost beyond endurance, for an offence of which
he himself was the sole and irresistible cause. In his sober moments he could not
always be prevailed upon to indulge his wife's insatiable thirst for vengeance.
To be rid of Patsey - to place her beyond sight or reach, by sale, or death, or
in any other manner, of late years, seemed to be the ruling thought and passion of
my mistress. Patsey had been a favorite when a child, even in the great house. She
had been petted and admired for her uncommon sprightliness and pleasant
disposition. She had been fed many a time, so Uncle Abram said, even on biscuit
and milk, when the madam, in her younger days, was wont to call her to the piazza,
and fondle her as she would a playful kitten. But a sad change had come over the
spirit of the woman. Now, only black and angry, fiends ministered in the temple of
her heart, until she could look on Patsey but with concentrated venom.
Ch 18
At length "the green-eyed monster" crept into the soul of Epps also, and then it was
that he joined with his wrathful wife in an infernal jubilee over the girl's miseries.
On a Sabbath day in hoeing time, not long ago, we were on the bayou bank,
washing our clothes, as was our usual custom. Presently Patsey was missing. Epps
called aloud, but there was no answer. No one had observed her leaving the yard,
and it was a wonder with us whither she had gone. In the course of a couple of
hours she was seen approaching from the direction of Shaw's. This man, as has
been intimated, was a notorious profligate, and withal not on the most friendly
terms with Epps. Harriet, his, wife, knowing Patsey's troubles, was kind to her, in
consequence of which the latter was in the habit of going over to see her every
opportunity. Her visits were prompted by friendship merely, but the suspicion
gradually entered the brain of Epps, that another and a baser passion led her thither
- that it was not Harriet she desired to meet, but rather the unblushing libertine, his
neighbor. Patsey found her master in a fearful rage on her return. His violence so
alarmed her that at first she attempted to evade direct answers to hi his questions,
202
which only served to increase his suspicions. She finally, however, drew herself up
proudly, and in a spirit of indignation boldly denied his charges.
"Missus don't give me soap to wash with, as she does the rest," said Patsey,
"and you know why. I went over to Harriet's to get a piece," and saying this, she
drew it forth from a pocket in her dress and exhibited it to him. "That's what I
went to Shaw's for, Massa Epps," continued she; "the Lord knows that was all."
"You lie, you black wench!" shouted Epps.
"I don't lie, massa. If you kill me, I'll stick to that."
"Oh! I'll fetch you down. I'll learn you to go to Shaw's. I'll take the starch out
of ye," he muttered fiercely through his shut teeth.
Then turning to me, he ordered four stakes to be driven into the ground,
pointing with the toe of his boot to the places where he wanted them. When the
stakes were driven down, he ordered her to be stripped
of every article of dress. Ropes were then brought, and the naked girl was laid
upon her face, her wrists and feet each tied firmly to a stake. Stepping to the
piazza, he took down a heavy whip, and placing it in my hands, commanded me to
lash her. Unpleasant as it was, I was compelled to obey him. Nowhere that day, on
the face of the whole earth, I venture to say, was there such a demoniac exhibition
witnessed as then ensued.
Mistress Epps stood on the piazza among her children, gazing on the scene
with an air of heartless satisfaction. The slaves were huddled together at a little
distance, their countenances indicating the sorrow of their hearts. Poor Patsey
prayed piteously for mercy, but her prayers were vain. Epps ground his teeth, and
stamped upon the ground, screaming at me, like a mad fiend, to strike harder .
"Strike harder, or your turn will come next, you scoundrel," he yelled.
"Oh, mercy, massa! - oh! have mercy, do . Oh, God! pity me," Patsey
exclaimed continually, struggling fruitlessly, and the flesh quivering at every
stroke.
When I had struck her as many as thirty times, I stopped, and turned round
toward Epps, hoping he was satisfied; but with bitter oaths and threats, he ordered
203
me to continue. I inflicted ten or fifteen blows more. By this time her back was
covered with long welts, intersecting each other like net work. Epps was yet
furious and savage as ever, demanding if she would like to go to Shaw's again, and
swearing he would flog her until she wished she was in h--l. Throwing down the
whip, I declared I could punish her no more. He ordered me to go on, threatening
me with a severer flogging than she had received, in case of refusal. My heart
revolted at the inhuman scene, and risking the consequences, I absolutely refused
to raise the whip. He then seized it himself, and applied it with ten-fold greater
force than I had. The painful cries and shrieks of the tortured Patsey, mingling with
the loud and angry curses of Epps, loaded the air. She was terribly lacerated - I
may say, without exaggeration, literally flayed. The lash was wet with blood,
which flowed down her sides and dropped upon the ground. At length she ceased
struggling. Her head sank listlessly on the ground. Her screams and supplications
gradually decreased and died away into a low moan. She no longer writhed and
shrank beneath the lash when it bit out small pieces of her flesh. I thought that she
was dying!
It was the Sabbath of the Lord. The fields smiled in the warm sunlight - the
birds chirped merrily amidst the foliage of the trees - peace and happiness seemed
to reign everywhere, save in the bosoms of Epps and his panting victim and the
silent witnesses around him. The tempestuous emotions that were raging there
were little in harmony with the calm and quiet beauty of the day. I could look on
Epps only with unutterable loathing and abhorrence, and thought within myself "Thou devil, sooner or later, somewhere in the course of eternal justice, thou shalt
answer for this sin!"
Finally, he ceased whipping from mere exhaustion, and ordered Phebe to
bring a bucket of salt and water. After washing her thoroughly with this, I was told
to take her to her cabin. Untying the ropes, I raised her in my arms. She was unable
to stand, and as her head rested on my shoulder, she repeated many times, in a faint
voice scarcely perceptible, "Oh, Platt - oh, Platt!" but nothing further. Her dress
was replaced, but it clung to her back, and was soon stiff with blood. We laid her
on some boards in the hut, where she remained a long time, with eyes closed and
groaning in agony. At night Phebe applied melted tallow to her wounds, and so far
as we were able, all endeavored to assist and console her. Day after day she lay in
her cabin upon her face, the sores preventing her resting in any other position.
A blessed thing it would have been for her - days and weeks and months of
misery it would have saved her - had she never lifted up her head in life again.
204
Indeed, from that time forward she was not what she had been. The burden of a
deep melancholy weighed heavily on her spirits. She no longer moved with that
buoyant and elastic step - there was not that mirthful sparkle in her eyes that
formerly distinguished her. The bounding vigor - the sprightly, laughter-loving
spirit of her youth, were gone. She fell into a mournful and desponding mood, and
often
times would start up in her sleep, and with raised hands, plead for mercy. She
became more silent than she was, toiling all day in our midst, not uttering a word.
A care-worn, pitiful expression settled on her face, and it was her humor now to
weep, rather than rejoice. If ever there was a broken heart - one crushed and
blighted by the rude grasp of suffering misfortune - it was Patsey's.
She had been reared no better than her master's beast - looked upon merely
as a valuable and handsome animal - and consequently possessed but a limited
amount of knowledge. And yet a faint light cast its rays over her intellect, so that it
was not wholly dark. She had a dim perception of God and of eternity, and a still
more dim perception of a Saviour who had died even for such as her. She
entertained but confused notions of a future life - not comprehending the
distinction between the corporeal and spiritual existence. Happiness, in her mind,
was exemption from stripes - from labor - from the cruelty of masters and
overseers. Her idea of the joy of heaven was simply rest , and is fully expressed in
these of a melancholy bard:
"I ask no paradise on high,
With cares on earth oppressed,
The only heaven for which I sigh,
Is rest, eternal rest."
… Patsey's life, especially after her whipping, was one long dream of liberty.
Far away, to her fancy an immeasurable distance, she knew there was a land of
freedom. A thousand times she had. heard that somewhere in the distant North
there were no slaves - no masters. In her imagination it was an enchanted region,
the Paradise of the earth. To dwell where the black man may work for himself live in his own cabin - till his own soil, was a blissful dream of Patsey's - a
dream, alas! the fulfillment of which she can never realize.
Source: Solomon Northup, Twelve Years a slave (London, 1853)
Ball Ch 14
205
Lydia, the woman whom I have mentioned heretofore was one of the women
whose husbands procured little or nothing for the sustenance of their families, and
I often gave her a quarter of a rackoon or a small opossum, for which she appeared
very thankful. Her health was not good--she had a bad cough, and often told me,
she was feverish and restless at night. It appeared clear to me that this woman's
constitution was broken by hardships, and sufferings, and that she could not live
long in her present mode of existence. Her husband, a native of a country far in the
interior of Africa, said he had been a priest in his own nation, and had never been
taught to do any kind of labour, being supported by the contributions of the public;
and he now maintained, as far as he could, the same kind of lazy dignity, that he
had enjoyed at home. He was compelled by the overseer to work, with the other
hands, in the field, but as soon as he had come into his cabin, he took his seat, and
refused to give his wife the least assistance in doing any thing. She was
consequently obliged to do the little work that it was necessary to perform in the
cabin, and also to bear all the labour of weeding and cultivating the family patch or
garden. The husband was a morose, sullen man, and said, he formerly had ten
wives in his own country, who all had to work for, and wait upon him; and he
thought himself badly off here, in having but one woman to do any thing for him.
This man was very irritable, and often beat and otherwise maltreated his wife, on
the slightest provocation, and the overseer refused to protect her, on the ground,
that he never interfered in the family quarrels of the black people. I pitied this
woman greatly, but as it was not in my power to remove her from the presence and
authority of her husband, I thought it prudent not to say nor do any thing to
provoke him further against her. As the winter approached, and the autumnal rains
set in, she was frequently exposed in the field, and was wet for several hours
together: this, joined to the want of warm and comfortable woollen clothes, caused
her to contract colds, and hoarseness, which increased the severity of her cough.
Source: Charles Ball, Fifty Years in Chains (New York, 1837)
KEMBLE
Before closing this letter, I have a mind to transcribe to you the entries for to-day
recorded in a sort of daybook, where I put down very succinctly the number of
people who visit me, their petitions and ailments, and also such special particulars
concerning them as seem to me worth recording. You will see how miserable the
physical condition of many of these poor creatures is; and their physical condition,
it is insisted by those who uphold this evil system, is the only part of it which is
prosperous, happy, and compares well with that of northern labourers. Judge from
the details I now send you; and never forget, while reading them, that the people
206
on this plantation are well off, and consider themselves well off, in comparison
with the slaves on some of the neighbouring estates.
Fanny has had six children, all dead but one. She came to beg to have her work in
the field lightened.
Nanny has had three children, two of them are dead; she came to implore that the
rule of sending them into the field three weeks after their confinement might be
altered.
Leah, Caesar's wife, has had six children, three are dead.
Sophy, Lewis' wife, came to beg for some old linen; she is suffering fearfully, has
had ten children, five of them are dead. The principal favour she asked was a piece
of meat, which I gave her.
Sally, Scipio's wife, has had two miscarriages and three children born, one of
whom is dead. She came complaining of incessant pain and weakness in her back.
This woman was a mulatto daughter of a slave called Sophy, by a white man of the
name of Walker, who visited the plantation.
Charlotte, Renty's wife, had had two miscarriages, and was with child again. She
was almost crippled with rheumatism, and showed me a pair of poor swollen knees
that made my heart ache. I have promised her a pair of flannel trowsers, which I
must forthwith set about making.
Sarah, Stephen's wife,—this woman's case and history were, alike, deplorable, she
had had four miscarriages, had brought seven children into the world, five of
whom were dead, and was again with child. She complained of dreadful pains in
the back, and an internal tumour which swells with the exertion of working in the
fields; probably, I think, she is ruptured. She told me she had once been mad and
ran into the woods, where she contrived to elude discovery for some time, but was
at last tracked and brought back, when she was tied up by the arms and heavy logs
fastened to her feet, and was severely flogged. After this she contrived to escape
again, and lived for some time skulking in the woods, and she supposes mad, for
when she was taken again she was entirely naked. She subsequently recovered
from this derangement, and seems now just like all the other poor creatures who
come to me for help and pity. I suppose her constant child-bearing and hard labour
in the fields at the same time may have produced the temporary insanity.
Sukey, Bush's wife, only came to pay her respects. She had had four miscarriages,
had brought eleven children into the world, five of whom are dead.
207
Molly, Quambo's wife, also only came to see me; hers was the best account I have
yet received; she had had nine children, and six of them were still alive.
This is only the entry for to-day, in my diary, of the people's complaints and visits.
Can you conceive a more wretched picture than that which it exhibits of the
conditions under which these women live? Their cases are in no respect singular,
and though they come with pitiful entreaties that I will help them with some
alleviation of their pressing physical distresses, it seems to me marvellous with
what desperate patience (I write it advisedly, patience of utter despair) they endure
their sorrow-laden existence. Even the poor wretch who told that miserable story
of insanity and lonely hiding in the swamps and scourging when she was found,
and of her renewed madness and flight, did so in a sort of low, plaintive,
monotonous murmur of misery, as if such sufferings were all 'in the day's work.'
I ask these questions about their children because I think the number they bear as
compared with the number they rear a fair gauge of the effect of the system on
their own health and that of their offspring. There was hardly one of these women,
as you will see by the details I have noted of their ailments, who might not have
been a candidate for a bed in an hospital, and they had come to me after working
all day in the fields.
Source: Frances Anne Kemble, Journal of a Residence on a Georgian
Plantation in 1838-9 (London , 1861)
Term 2 Week 8
Charity Anderson interview 1937
"My old Marster was a good man, he treated all his slaves kind, and took care of
dem, he wanted to leave dem hisn chillun. It sho' was hard for us older uns to keep
de little cullered chillun out ob de dinin' room whar ol marster ate, cause when dey
would slip in and stan' by his cheer, when he finished eatin' he would fix a plate
and gib dem and dey would set on de hearth and eat. But honey chile, all white
folks warn 't good to dere slaves, cause I'se seen pore niggers almos' tore up by
dogs, and whipped unmercifully, when dey did'nt do lack de white folks say . But
thank God I had good white folks, dey sho' did trus' me to, I had charge of all de
keys in the house and I waited on de Missy and de chillun
Source: The American Slave , Supplement Series 1, Vol. 1: 14
208
Richard Toler Interview, 1937
"Ah was bo'n on Mastah Tolah's (Henry Toler) plantation down in ole V'ginia, near
Lynchburg in Campbell County. Mah pappy was a slave befo' me, and mah
mammy, too. His name was George Washington Tolah, and her'n was Lucy Tolah.
We took ouah name from ouah ownah, and we lived in a cabin way back of the big
house, me and mah pappy and mammy and two brothahs.
"They nevah mistreated me, neithah. They's a whipping the slaves all the time, but
ah run away all the time. And I jus' tell them - if they whipped me, ah'd kill 'em,
and ah nevah did get a whippin'. If ah thought one was comin' to me, Ah'd hide in
the woods; then they'd send aftah me and they say, 'Come, on back, - we won't
whip you'. But they killed some of the niggahs, whipped 'em to death. Ah guess
they killed three or fo' on Tolah's place while ah was there.
Source: The American Slave , Vol. 16: 97-101
Joseph Holmes interview 1937
0l' Miss sho' woz good tuh her slaves. I 'member ebery Sunday mawning dat she
make de older slaves bring all de little niggers up tuh her big white two-story
house, so she sud read de bible tuh us, an' den she gib us plenty ob dem good
biscuits an' 'taters dat she had de cook Susanne cook fer us. She'd say 'git 'roun'
dere, Susanne, an' he'p dem li'1 niggers' plates', I railly thoughy 01' Miss wuz an
angel.
"Talkin' 'bout niggers bein' freed, 01 Miss tole us us wuz free but hit wuz ten or
twelve years atter de Surrender befo' I railly knowed whut she meant. I wuz a big
boy goin' tuh school afore I had any understandin' as tuh whut she meant.
"01' Miss taught de niggers how tuh read an' write an' sum ob dem got tuh be too
proficient wid dere writin', 'cayse dey larn how tuh write too many pass's so de
'patty-rollers' wudn't git dem, an' den dat wuz de onlinest time I ebber knowed 01'
Miss tuh hab de slaves punished.
01' Miss nebber 'lowed no mistreatin' ob de slaves, 'cayse dey wuz raisin' slaves for
de market, an' hit wudn't be good biziness tuh mistreat dem.
Source: The American Slave , Supp. Series 2, Vol. 1: 5-6.
Olmstead pp692-99
209
The following "Essay on the Management of Slaves, by Robert Collins, of
Macon, Georgia," has been printed in many of the Southern papers, and
will show the ideal of slave life, under the most intelligent and humane
owners, and in the most favorable circumstances.
"In attempting an essay upon this subject, we can gather but little aid
from the long historical record which we have of the institution; for,
although we learn that slaves were nearly always employed in labor, we yet
see no account of how they were clothed or fed; nor find any data of
comparative results of different modes of treatment, or labor, whereby we
can be guided in our search after a system, comprising the greatest
benefits. We must, therefore, rely upon the observation, experience, and
practice of the present time, as the only sources of useful and correct
information upon the subject.
"The writer has been accustomed to Slavery, from his earliest days,
and, for thirty years, has been much interested in their management, both
on plantations and public works; and has, therefore, been prompted, by his
own interests, as well as inclination, to try every reasonable mode of
management, treatment, living, and labor; and the results of a long
experience have fully satisfied him, and proven beyond doubt, that the best
interests of all parties are most promoted by a kind and liberal treatment on
the part of the owner, and the requirement of proper discipline and strict
obedience on the part of the slave. Indeed, the Creator seems to have
planted in the negro an innate principle of protection against the abuse of
arbitrary power; and it is this law of nature which imperatively associates
the true interest of the owner with the good treatment and comfort of the
slave. Hence, abuses and harsh treatment carry their own antidote, as all
such cases recoil upon the head of the owner. Every attempt to force the
slave beyond the limits of reasonable service, by cruelty or hard treatment,
so far from extorting more work, only tends to make him unprofitable,
unmanageable--a vexation and a curse.
"It being, therefore, so manifestly against the interest of all parties, as
well as opposed to the natural feelings of humanity, and refinement, and
the civilization of the age, a case of cruelty, or abuse of a slave by his
owner, is seldom known, and universally condemned.
"NEGRO HOUSES.
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*************
"The houses should be placed, if possible, under the shades of the
native forests; but, where that cannot be done, the china, or mulberry, or
some quick growth should be immediately transplanted, so as to cover the
buildings, in some degree, from the rays of the summer's sun. The
buildings should be placed about two feet above the ground, so that the air
can pass freely under them, and also be well ventilated with doors and
windows. They should be sufficiently large--say about sixteen by twenty
feet--and but one family should be put in a house; there is nothing more
injurious to health, or demoralizing in feeling, than crowding them together.
They had much better sleep in the open air, than in crowded, tight houses.
Each house, or family, should be furnished with suitable bedding and
blankets; for while a proper outfit costs a few dollars in the beginning, they
save twice as much in the end--they add greatly to the comfort and health
of the slave, and enable him much better to perform the labor required.
"FEEDING OF SLAVES.
"In former years, the writer tried many ways and expedients to
economize in the provision of slaves, by using more of the vegetable and
cheap articles of diet, and less of the more costly and substantial. But time
and experience have fully proven the error of a stinted policy; and, for
many years, the following uniform mode has been adopted, with much
success and satisfaction both to the owner and to the slave.
"The allowance now given per week to each hand--men, women,
boys, and girls, that are old enough to go in the field to work--is five pounds
of good, clean bacon, and one quart of molasses, with as much good bread
as they require; and in the fall, or sickly season of the year, or on sickly
places, the addition of one pint of strong coffee, sweetened with sugar,
every morning, before going to work. These provisions are given out on
some designated night of each week; and, for families, it is put together;
but, to single hands, it is given to each separately, and they then unite in
squads, or messes, and have their meat cooked for them, by a woman who
is detailed for that purpose, or keep it to themselves, as they please. Their
bread is baked daily, in loaves, by a woman who is kept for that duty. Each
house, or family, should have a garden attached, for raising their own
vegetables.
211
"This mode of allowancing relieves their owner from much trouble, in
daily supervising their provisions, and is much more satisfactory to the
slave. Under this system of treatment, a word of complaint, in relation to
their living, is seldom heard. Some planters, however, differ on this subject,
and prefer the plan of cooking and eating at one common table; and, it is
possible, with a small number of hands, and where the owner is willing to
devote a good deal of attention to that matter, that he may save a small
amount; but it will not be as satisfactory, and it will, probably, not gain
enough to pay for the trouble. Children, of course, must be fed and
attended to, as their wants require; they are not likely to be neglected, as
they pay a good interest upon the amount of care and expense bestowed
upon them.
"NEGRO CLOTHING.
"The proper and usual quantity of clothes, for plantation hands, is two
suits of cotton, for spring and summer, and two suits of woolen, for winter;
four pair of shoes, and three hats, which, with such articles of dress as the
negro merits, and the owner chooses to give, make up the year's
allowance. Neatness in dress is important to the health, comfort, and pride
of a negro--all of which should be encouraged by the owner. They should
be induced to think well of themselves; and the more pride and self-respect
you can instill into them, the better they will behave, and the more
serviceable they will be; so they should always be aided and encouraged in
dressing, and their own peculiar fancies indulged to a reasonable extent.
"HOURS OF WORK.
"In the winter time, and in the sickly season of the year, all hands
should take breakfast before leaving their houses. This they can do, and
get to work by sunrise, and stop no more until twelve o'clock; then rest one
hour for dinner; then work until night. In the spring and summer, they
should go to work at light, and stop at eight o'clock, for breakfast; then work
until twelve o'clock, and stop two hours for dinner; and work from two till
night. All hands stop on Saturday, at twelve o'clock, and take the afternoon
for cleaning up their houses and clothes, so as to make a neat appearance
on Sunday morning.
"TASK WORK.
212
"The usual custom of planters is, to work without tasks, during the
cultivation of their crops; but, in gathering cotton, tasks are common, and
experience has proven that, whenever work is of that kind of character, it is
much better to do so. If the overseer has judgment, he will get more work,
and the negroes will be better satisfied; he will generally make an effort,
and gain time, to devote to his own jobs or pleasures.
"NEGRO CROPS.
"It was, at one period, much the custom of planters, to give each hand
a small piece of land, to cultivate on their own account, if they chose to do
so; but this system has not been found to result well. It gives an excuse for
trading, and encourages a traffic on their own account, and presents a
temptation and opportunity, during the process of gathering, for an
unscrupulous fellow to mix a little of his master's produce with his own. It is
much better to give each hand, whose conduct has been such as to merit
it, an equivalent in money at the end of the year: it is much less trouble,
and more advantageous to both parties.
"DISCIPLINE.
"In regard to the general management or discipline on plantations or
public works, it is of great consequence to have perfect system and
regularity, and a strict adherence to the rules that may be adopted for the
government of the place. Each hand should know his duty, and be required
to perform it; but, as before intimated, the owner has nothing to gain by
oppression or over-driving, but something to lose: for he cannot, by such
means, extort more work. But still, if it becomes necessary to punish the
negro for not doing his duty, or the violation of rules, it does not make him
revengeful, as it would an Indian or white man, but it rather tends to win his
attachment, and promote his happiness and well-being. Slaves have no
respect or affection for a master who indulges them over-much, or who,
from fear, or false humanity, fails to assume that degree of authority
necessary to promote industry, and enforce good order. At the same time,
proper and suitable indulgences and privileges should be granted for the
gratification and amusement of the negro; but they should always be
exercised by special permission--for they are a people ever ready to
practice upon the old maxim of 'give an inch, and take an ell.'
213
"Negroes are by nature tyrannical in their dispositions; and, if allowed,
the stronger will abuse the weaker; husbands will often abuse their wives
and mothers their children--so that it becomes a prominent duty of owners
and overseers to keep peace, and prevent quarreling and disputes among
them; and summary punishment should follow any violation of this rule.
"Slaves are also a people that enjoy religious privileges. Many of them
place much value upon it; and, to every reasonable extent, that advantage
should be allowed them. They are never injured by preaching, but
thousands become wiser and better people, and more trustworthy servants,
by their attendance at church. Religious services should be provided and
encouraged on every plantation. A zealous and vehement style, both in
doctrine and manner, is best adapted to their temperament; they are good
believers in mysteries and miracles, ready converts, and adhere with much
pertinacity to their opinions, when formed.
"No card-playing, nor gambling of any description should be allowed,
under severe penalties. And the Maine liquor law should be rigidly enforced
on every estate.
"MARRYING AMONG SLAVES.
"Taking wives and husbands among their fellow-servants, at home,
should be as much encouraged as possible; and although inter-marrying
with those belonging to other estates should not be absolutely prohibited,
yet is always likely to lead to difficulties and troubles, and should be
avoided as much as possible. They cannot live together as they ought, and
are constantly liable to separation, in the changing of property. It is true
they usually have but little ceremony in forming these connections, and
many of them look upon their obligation to each other very lightly; but in
others, again, is found a degree of faithfulness, fidelity, and affection, which
owners admire; and hence they always dislike to separate those
manifesting such traits of character.
"SICKNESS.
"Proper and prompt attention, in cases of sickness, is a vastly
important matter among slaves. Many plantations are inconvenient to
medical aid; therefore owners and overseers should always understand the
treatment of such common cases as usually occur on places under their
214
charge. This is easily done; and many times a single dose of some mild
and well understood medicine, given at the beginning of a complaint,
removes the cause, and effects a cure at once, when delay or neglect
might render it a serious one. A few common medicines, with plain and
proper directions pasted on each bottle, should be kept on all plantations.
"A bountiful supply of red pepper should be cultivated, and kept on
hand, and used freely, in damp sections, where sore throats are apt to
prevail, and also in all fall complaints. It acts by creating a glow over the
whole body, without any narcotic effect; it produces general arterial
excitement, and prevents, in a considerable degree, that languor and
apathy of the system which renders it susceptible to chills and fevers
it may be given in any way or form which their taste or fancy may dictate."
Mr. M. W. Phillips, an ardent and constant writer on agricultural
economy, in connection with Slavery, and a most philanthropic man, writing
to the New York Tribune, for the very purpose of proving that the condition
of the slaves is better than that of free-laborers, says, of his own model
plantation:
"We now have in this estate 1,168 acres of land; on the place 66
negroes, twenty work horses and mules, five yoke of choice oxen.
"We plant 270 or 280 acres in cotton, and 125 in corn.
"We send to the field thirty-four negroes, old and young, rating them at
thirty hands; have one carpenter; a woman who cooks for the above, with
all children in charge.
"There are five women, one boy of 14, a girl of 7, and two small boys
of 3 and 4 (which have been rather puny to endure ordinary treatment),
about the house. Another woman cooks and washes for overseer
(belonging to him). Thus ten are deducted from the sixty-six, leaving fiftysix, who get, weighed out daily, twenty-two to twenty-four pounds of fat
bacon. Of these, three are children from 2 months to 6 years old (seven
and a half ounces of bacon a day each; three pounds a week). In addition,
they have unlimited access to vegetables and meal. No cooking permitted
in negro houses--all cooked by the cook at her house, thirty-two by sixteen,
with large brick chimney and brick oven. I do not know what meat each one
215
gets, only that all are satisfied. I prefer that children should have at dinner
the pot-liquor and bread, with not much meat, finding our children are
healthier. We churn for butter every day, negroes getting all sour milk, but
excluding from children.
"We have an overseer at $600; we furnish meat and bread for himself,
wife and three children, a house with two rooms and a passage, a kitchen,
store-room and horse bed. Our rule is, to eat breakfast before going to
work from middle of October to March, then an hour for dinner; in the
summer they take breakfast out with them, and cat from six to seven; come
to dinner at twelve. About 1st of May, all hands stop from twelve till three
o'clock, at which time nothing is done, unless to wash babes by mothers;
this is nooning.
"We give two summer suits, and a straw hat, two winter suits, a wool
hat and two pair of shoes; a blanket worth two dollars, every two years.
"All wood is hauled for fires in winter, and for cooking; washing done
every Saturday afternoon by all the females; all clothing made by house
women. Cistern water used entirely.
"We lost one of our best fellows a year ago. His death was caused by
a mule, though he lived for months after the injury, not having his mind, or
able to go about. Also, three children, born at a birth, not living an hour.
This comprises all deaths for some five to ten years. Our children are as
hearty and as saucy boys and girls as can be shown anywhere.
"We require all negroes to attend family worship every Sabbath morn
and eve--at the latter time an hour is spent in instruction by myself, or
frequently by some visiting preacher. They all are required to attend
preaching one Sabbath in each month, two and a half miles off, and can go
further another Sabbath if they desire it. We permit no wives or husbands
off the place, require marriages with a proper ceremony, always providing
partners.
"Our women with young children come to the cook-house to nurse
their children at breakfast, at nine and a half, twelve, and in the afternoon
(nooning, of course, excepted, as they are then in, but always three times a
day, besides the noon). Each family has a house 16 × 18, brick chimney,
and house two to three feet above earth.
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"Many negroes here have as comfortable quarters as any man would
need, even to sleeping between sheets. My carpenter is employed at
home. We make corn and meat usually. For twenty-three years I have sold
more of each than I have bought by a fair margin.
"Negroes have no need of furniture; they have bedsteads, bedding
and seats, with chests or trunks for clothes--about as much as laborers
have anywhere. This is unimportant, yet I like to be square up before all
people.
"We might make more money by a different treatment, and we might
spend more money on our negroes, if we would listen to questionable
friends, of neither negroes nor ourselves. We act from principle, and never
cared to shape our course to please man. I have examined much into the
treatment of slaves, having, some twenty years ago, practiced medicine,
with an opportunity to see how different diet and treatment affected health.
Half pound of sound bacon, with vegetables and bread in plenty, and
cistern-water, is, in my opinion, a certain preventive of disease; but the
cook must be watched, and water carriers noticed. Negroes fed on threequarters of a pound of bacon and bread are more prone to disease than if
with less meat, but with vegetables.
"We do not permit negroes to stir out before day, nor to get wet if
possible, nor do any night work, save feeding horses and shelling corn. We
allow no swearing, calling harsh names, wrangling, nor any encroachment
on each other's rights. We give a day, or a half-day's holiday occasionally
during the summer, two to four days at Christmas, and a dance when the
young ones desire it. No work done yesterday or to day, having had to
work very hard to get out of the grass, and, working so faithfully without
trouble, we gave two days' holiday. Although very hard work this year,
owing to so much rain, no grown negro has required more than calling his
name, and telling him to hurry. Our present manager has been here three
years, and in the vicinity another year.
"I have written thus freely to let many of your readers see that all
negroes are not treated here as many would make out. I believe I could
show families treated much better than my own is; but my own know all the
circumstances, and are as well content as any laborers are on this broad
earth.
217
"I write not to please, having nothing to gain by it, nor with any
expectation of adding one mite to the happiness of many of your readers
who make themselves miserable by trying to attend to other people's
affairs. I belong to the Southern wing of the Democracy, and have nothing
to ask for. Yet I would desire that all my fellow-citizens of this Republic
would work for the common good, so that we may fulfill the great object of
our mission--serve God with fidelity.
"I saw more destitution in Philadelphia, in the winter of 1828, than I
have seen in the South in forty years. I have seen a negro in Philadelphia
buy one cent's worth of wood. I never saw negroes beg for food but those
belonging to one man. These are facts. We have hard masters here, but
they are more talked against than hard masters are there. I have seen an
able-bodied negro woman in Philadelphia--a good cook, washer and ironer-work for months for her food only, while here, even if free, she would have
been paid $10 to $20 per month.
"The poor white folks of the South fare worse than slaves. Laziness
fares not well anywhere.
"Yours, with respect, etc.,
"M. W. PHILLIPS.
"LOG HALL, EDWARDS, MISS., July 9, 1854."
Source: Frederick Law Olmsted, Journey in the Seaboard Slave States (New
York 1856)
Term 2 Week 9
Ball Ch 15
A person who has not been in the slave-holding states, can never fully understand
the bonds that hold society together there, or appreciate the rules which prescribe
the boundaries of the pretensions of the several orders of men who compose the
body politic of those communities; and after all that I have written, and all that I
shall write, in this book, the reader who has never resided south of the Potomac,
will never be able to perceive things precisely as they present themselves to my
vision, or to comprehend the spirit that prevails in a country, where the population
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is divided into three separate classes. Those will fall into great error, who shall
imagine that in Carolina and Georgia there are but two orders of men; and that the
artificial distinctions of society have only classified the people into white and
black, freemen and slaves. It is true, that the distinctions of colour are the most
obvious, and present themselves more readily than any others to the inspection of a
stranger; but he who will take time to examine into the fundamental organization
of society, in the cotton planting region, will easily discover that there is a third
order of men located there, little known to the world, but who, nevertheless, hold a
separate station, occupying a place of their own, and who do not come into direct
contrast with either the master or the slave.
The white man, who has no property, no possession, and no education, is, in
Carolina, in a condition no better than that to which the slave has been reduced;
except only that he is master of his own person, and of his own time, and may, if
he chooses, emigrate and transfer himself to a country where he can better his
circumstances, whilst the slave is bound, by invisible chains, to the plantation on
which his master may think proper to place him.
In my opinion, there is no order of men in any part of the United States, with
which I have any acquaintance, who are in a more debased and humiliated state of
moral servitude, than are those white people who inhabit that part of the southern
country, where the landed property is all, or nearly all, held by the great planters.
Many of these white people live in wretched cabins, not half so good as the houses
which judicious planters provide for their slaves. Some of these cabins of the white
men are made of mere sticks, or small poles notched, or rather thatched together,
and filled in with mud, mixed with the leaves, or shats , as they are termed, of the
pine tree. Some fix their residence far in the pine forest, and gain a scanty
subsistence by notching the trees and gathering the turpentine; others are seated
upon some poor, and worthless point of land, near the margin of a river, or creek,
and draw a precarious livelihood from the water, and the badly cultivated garden
that surrounds, or adjoins the dwelling.
These people do not occupy the place held in the north by the respectable and
useful class of day labourers, who constitute so considerable a portion of the
numerical population of the country.
In the south, these white cottagers are never employed to work on the
plantations for wages. Two things forbid this. The white man, however poor and
necessitous he may be, is too proud to go to work in the same field with the negro
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slaves by his side; and the owner of the slaves is not willing to permit white men,
of the lowest order, to come amongst them, lest the morals of the negroes should
be corrupted, and illicit traffic should be carried on, to the detriment of the master.
The slaves generally believe, that however miserable they may be, in their
servile station, it is nevertheless preferable to the degraded existence of these poor
white people. This sentiment is cherished by the slaves, and encouraged by their
masters, who fancy that they subserve their own interests in promoting an opinion
amongst the negroes, that they are better off in the world than are many white
persons, who are free, and have to submit to the burthen of taking care of, and
providing for themselves.
I never could learn nor understand how, or by what means, these poor
cottagers came to be settled in Carolina. They are a separate and distinct race of
men from the planters, and appear to have nothing in common with them. If it were
possible for any people to occupy a grade in human society below that of the
slaves, on the cotton plantations, certainly the station would be filled by these
white families, who cannot be said to possess any thing in the shape of property.
The contempt in which they are held, and the contumely with which they are
treated, by the great planters, to be comprehended, must be seen.
These observations are applicable in their fullest extent, only to the lower
parts of Georgia and Carolina, and to country places. In the upper country, where
slaves are not so numerous, and where less of cotton and more of grain is
cultivated, there is not so great a difference between the white man, who holds
slaves and a plantation, and another white man who has neither slaves nor
plantation. In the towns, also, more especially in Charleston and Savannah, where
the number of white men who have no slaves is very great, they are able, from their
very numbers, to constitute a moral force sufficiently powerful to give them some
degree of weight in the community.
Source: Charles Ball, Fifty Years in Chains (New York, 1837)
KEMBLE
I saw an advertisement this morning in the paper, which occasioned me much
thought. Mr. J—— C—— and a Mr. N——, two planters of this neighbourhood,
have contracted to dig a canal, called the Brunswick canal, and not having hands
enough for the work, advertise at the same time for negroes on hires and for Irish
labourers. Now the Irishmen are to have twenty dollars a month wages, and to be
'found' (to use the technical phrase,) which finding means abundant food, and the
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best accommodations which can be procured for them. The negroes are hired from
their masters, who will be paid of course as high a price as they can obtain for
them—probably a very high one, as the demand for them is urgent—they, in the
meantime, receiving no wages, and nothing more than the miserable negro fare of
rice and corn grits. Of course the Irishmen and these slaves are not allowed to work
together, but are kept at separate stations on the canal. This is every way politic,
for the low Irish seem to have the same sort of hatred of negroes which sects,
differing but little in their tenets, have for each other. The fact is, that a condition
in their own country nearly similar, has made the poor Irish almost as degraded a
class of beings as the negroes are here, and their insolence towards them, and
hatred of them, are precisely in proportion to the resemblance between them….
Now you must not suppose that these same Irish free labourers and negro slaves
will be permitted to work together at this Brunswick Canal. They say that this
would be utterly impossible; for why?—there would be tumults, and risings, and
broken heads, and bloody bones, and all the natural results of Irish
intercommunion with their fellow creatures, no doubt—perhaps even a little more
riot and violence than merely comports with their usual habits of Milesian good
fellowship; for, say the masters, the Irish hate the negroes more even than the
Americans do, and there would be no bound to their murderous animosity if they
were brought in contact with them on the same portion of the works of the
Brunswick Canal. Doubtless there is some truth in this—the Irish labourers who
might come hither, would be apt enough, according to a universal moral law, to
visit upon others the injuries they had received from others. They have been
oppressed enough themselves, to be oppressive whenever they have a chance; and
the despised and degraded condition of the blacks, presenting to them a very ugly
resemblance of their own home, circumstances naturally excite in them the
exercise of the disgust and contempt of which they themselves are very habitually
the objects; and that such circular distribution of wrongs may not only be pleasant,
but have something like the air of retributive right to very ignorant folks, is not
much to be wondered at. Certain is the fact, however, that the worst of all tyrants is
the one who has been a slave; and for that matter (and I wonder if the southern
slaveholders hear it with the same ear that I do, and ponder it with the same mind?)
the command of one slave to another is altogether the most uncompromising
utterance of insolent truculent despotism that it ever fell to my lot to witness or
listen to. 'You nigger—I say, you black nigger,—you no hear me call you—what
for you no run quick?' All this, dear E——, is certainly reasonably in favour of
division of labour on the Brunswick Canal; but the Irish are not only quarrelers,
and rioters, and fighters, and drinkers, and despisers of niggers—they are a
passionate, impulsive, warm-hearted, generous people, much given to powerful
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indignations, which break out suddenly when they are not compelled to smoulder
sullenly—pestilent sympathisers too, and with a sufficient dose of American
atmospheric air in their lungs, properly mixed with a right proportion of ardent
spirits, there is no saying but what they might actually take to sympathy with the
slaves, and I leave you to judge of the possible consequences. You perceive, I am
sure, that they can by no means be allowed to work together on the Brunswick
Canal.
Source: Frances Anne Kemble, Journal of a Residence on a Georgian
Plantation in 1838-9 (London , 1861)
Northup Ch 19
IN the month of June, 1852, in pursuance of a previous contract, Mr. Avery, a
carpenter of Bayou Rouge, commenced the erection of a house for Master Epps. It
has previously been stated that there are no cellars on Bayou Boeuf; on the other
hand, such is the low and swampy nature of the ground, the great houses are
usually built upon piles. Another peculiarity is, the rooms are not plastered, but the
ceiling and sides are covered with matched cypress boards, painted such color as
most pleases the owner's taste. Generally the plank and boards are sawed by slaves
with whip-saws, there being no waterpower upon which mills might be built within
many miles. When the planter erects for himself a dwelling, therefore, there is
plenty of extra work for his slaves. Having had some experience under Tibeats as a
carpenter, I was taken from the field altogether, on the arrival of Avery and his
hands.
Among them was one to whom I owe an immeasurable debt of gratitude.
Only for him, in all probability I should have ended my days in slavery. He was my
deliverer a man whose true heart overflowed with noble and generous emotions.
To the last moment of my existence I shall remember him with feelings of
thankfulness. His name was Bass, and at that time he resided in Marksville. It will
be difficult to convey a correct impression of his appearance or character. He was a
large man, between forty and fifty years old, of light complexion and light hair. He
was very cool and self-possessed, fond of argument, but always speaking with
extreme deliberation. He was that kind of person whose peculiarity of manner was
such that nothing he uttered ever gave offence. What would be intolerable, coming
from the lips of another, could be said by him with impunity. There was not a man
on Red River, perhaps, that agreed with him on the subject of politics or religion,
and not a man, I venture to say, who discussed either of those subjects half as
222
much. It seemed to be taken for granted that he would espouse the unpopular side
of every local question, and it always created amusement rather than displeasure
among his auditors, to listen to the ingenious and original manner in which he
maintained the controversy. He was a bachelor - an "old bachelor," according to
the true acceptation of the term - having no kindred living, as he knew of, in the
world. Neither had he any permanent abiding place - wandering from one State to
another, as his fancy dictated. He had lived in Marksville three or four years, and
in the prosecution of his business as a carpenter; and in consequence, likewise, of
his peculiarities, was quite extensively known throughout the parish of Avoyelles.
He was liberal to a fault; and his many acts of kindness and transparent goodness
of heart rendered him popular in the community, the sentiment of which he
unceasingly combated.
He was a native of Canada, from whence he had wandered in early life, and
after visiting all the principal localities in the northern and western States, in the
course of his peregrinations, arrived in the unhealthy region of the Red River. His
last removal was from Illinois. Whither he has now gone, I regret to be obliged to
say, is unknown to me. He gathered up his effects and departed quietly from
Marksville the day before I did, the suspicions of his instrumentality in procuring
my liberation rendering such a step necessary. For the commission of a just and
righteous act he would undoubtedly have suffered death, had he remained within
reach of the slavewhipping tribe on Bayou Boeuf.
One day, while working on the new house, Bass and Epps became engaged in
a controversy, to which, as will be readily supposed, I listened with absorbing
interest. They were discussing the subject of Slavery.
"I tell you what it is Epps," said Bass, "it's all wrong - all wrong, sir there's no justice nor righteousness in it. I wouldn't own a slave if I was rich as
Croesus, which I am not, as is perfectly well understood, more particularly among
my creditors. There's another humbug - the credit system - humbug, sir; no
credit - no debt. Credit leads a man into temptation. Cash down is the only thing
that will deliver him from evil. But this question of Slavery ; what right have you
to your niggers when you come down to the point?"
"What right!" said Epps, laughing; "why, I bought 'em, and paid for 'em."
Of course you did; the law says you have the right to hold a nigger, but
begging the law's pardon, it lies . Yes, Epps, when the law says that it's a liar , and
223
the truth is not in it. Is every thing right because the law allows it? Suppose they'd
pass a law taking away your liberty and making you a slave?"
"Oh, that ain't a supposable case," said Epps, still laughing; "hope you don't
compare me to a nigger, Bass."
"Well," Bass answered gravely, "no, not exactly. But I have seen niggers
before now as good as I am, and I have no acquaintance with any white man in
these parts that I consider a whit better than myself. Now, in the sight of God, what
is the difference, Epps, between a white man and a black one?"
"All the difference in the world," replied Epps. "You might as well ask what
the difference is between a white man and a baboon. Now, I've seen one of them
critters in Orleans that knowed just as much as any nigger I've got. You'd call them
feller citizens, I s'pose?" - and Epps indulged in a loud laugh at his own wit.
"Look here, Epps," continued his companion; "you can't laugh me down in
that way. Some men are witty, and some ain't so witty as they think they are. Now
let me ask you a question. Are all men created free and equal as the Declaration of
Independence holds they are?"
"Yes," responded Epps, "but all men, niggers, and monkeys ain't ;" and
hereupon he broke forth into a more boisterous laugh than before.
"There are monkeys among white people as well as black, when you come to
that," coolly remarked Bass. "I know some white men that use arguments no
sensible monkey would. But let that pass. These niggers are human beings. If they
don't know as much as their masters, whose fault is it? They are not allowed to
know anything. You have books and papers, and can go where you please, and
gather intelligence in a thousand ways. But your slaves have no privileges. You'd
whip one of them if caught reading a book. They are held in bondage, generation
after generation, deprived of mental improvement, and who can expect them to
possess much knowledge? If they are not brought down to a level with the brute
creation, you slaveholders will never be blamed for it. If they are baboons, or stand
no higher in the scale of intelligence than such animals, you and men like you will
have to answer for it. There's a sin, a fearful sin, resting on this nation, that will not
go unpunished forever. There will be a reckoning yet - yes, Epps, there's a day
coming that will burn as an oven. It may be sooner or it may be later, but it's a
coming as sure as the Lord is just."
224
"If you lived up among the Yankees in New-England," said Epps, "I expect
you'd be one of them cursed fanatics that know more than the constitution, and go
about peddling clocks and coaxing niggers to run away."
"If I was in New-England," returned Bass, "I would be just what I am here. I
would say that Slavery was an iniquity, and ought to be abolished. I would say
there was no reason nor justice in the law, or the constitution that allows one man
to hold another man in bondage. It would be hard for you to lose your property, to
be sure, but it wouldn't be half as hard as it would be to lose your liberty. You have
no more right to your freedom, in exact justice, than Uncle Abram yonder. Talk
about black skin, and black blood; why, how many slaves are there on this bayou
as white as either of us? And what difference is there in the color of the soul?
Pshaw! the whole system is as absurd as it is cruel. You may own niggers and
behanged, but I wouldn't own one for the best plantation in Louisiana."
"You like to hear yourself talk, Bass, better than any man I know of. You
would argue that black was white, or white black, if any body would contradict
you. Nothing suits you in this world, and I don't believe you will be satisfied with
the next, if you should have your choice in them."
Conversations substantially like the foregoing were not unusual between the
two after this; Epps drawing him out more for the purpose of creating a laugh at his
expense, than with a view of fairly discussing the merits of the question. He looked
upon Bass, as a man ready to say anything merely for the pleasure of hearing his
own voice; as somewhat self-conceited, perhaps, contending against his faith and
judgment, in order, simply, to exhibit his dexterity in argumentation.
He remained at Epps, through the summer, visiting Marksville generally once
a fortnight. The more I saw of him, the more I became convinced he was a man in
whom I could confide. Nevertheless, my previous ill-fortune had taught me to be
extremely cautious. It was not my place to speak to a white man except when
spoken to, but I omitted no opportunity of throwing myself in his way, and
endeavored constantly in every possible manner to attract his attention. In the early
part of August he and myself were at work alone in the house, the other carpenters
having left, and Epps being absent in the field. Now was the time, if ever, to
broach the subject and I resolved to do it, and submit to whatever consequences
might ensue. We were busily at work in the afternoon, when I stopped suddenly
and said 225
"Master Bass, I want to ask you what part of the country you came from?"
"Why, Platt, what put that into your head?" he answered. "You wouldn't know
if I should tell you." After a moment or two he added - "I was born in Canada;
now guess where that is."
"Oh, I know where Canada is," said I, "I have been there myself."
"Yes, I expect you are well acquainted all through that country", he remarked,
laughing incredulously.
"As sure as I live, Master Bass," I replied, "I have been there. I have been in
Montreal and Kingston, and Queenston, and a great many places in Canada, and I
have been in York State, too - in Buffalo, and Rochester, and Albany, and can tell
you the names of the villages on the Erie canal and the Champlain canal."
Bass turned round and gazed at me a long time without uttering a syllable.
"How came you here?" he inquired, at length,
"Master Bass," I answered, "if justice had been done, I never would have been
here."
"Well, how's this?" said he. "Who are you? You have been in Canada sure
enough; I know all the places you mention. How did you happen to get here?
Come, tell me all about it."
"I have no friends here," was my reply, "that I can put confidence in. I am
afraid to tell you, though I don't believe you would tell Master Epps if I should."
He assured me earnestly he would keep every word I might speak to him a
profound secret, and his curiosity was evidently strongly excited. It was a long
story, I informed him, and would take some time to relate it. Master Epps would be
back soon, but if he would see me that night after all were asleep, I would repeat it
to him. He consented readily to the arrangement, and directed me to come into the
building where we were then at work, and I would find him there. About midnight,
when all was still and quiet, I crept cautiously from my cabin, and silently entering
the unfinished building, found him awaiting me.
226
After further assurances on his part that I should not be betrayed, I began a
relation of the history of my life and misfortunes. He was deeply interested asking
numerous questions in reference to localities and events. Having ended my story I
besought him to write to some of my friends at the North, acquainting them with
my situation, and begging them to forward free papers, or take such steps as they
might consider proper to secure my release. He promised to do so, but dwelt upon
the danger of such an act in case of detection, and now impressed upon me the
great necessity of strict silence and secresy. Before we parted our plan of operation
was arranged.
We agreed to meet the next night at a specified place among the high weeds
on the bank of the bayou, some distance from master's dwelling. There he was
write down on paper the names and address of several persons, old friends in the
North, to whom he would direct letters during his next visit to Marksville. It was
not deemed prudent to meet in the new house, inasmuch as the light it would be
necessary to use might possibly be discovered. In the course of the day I managed
to obtain a few matches and a piece of candle, unperceived, from the kitchen,
during a temporary absence of Aunt Phebe. Bass had pencil and paper in his tool
chest.
At the appointed hour we met on the bayou bank, and creeping among the
high weeds, I lighted the candle, while he drew forth pencil and paper and
prepared for business. I gave him the names of William Perry, Cephas Parker and
Judge Marvin, all of Saratoga Springs, Saratoga county, New-York. I had been
employed by the latter in the United States Hotel, and had transacted business with
the former to a considerable extent, and trusted that at least one of them would be
still living at that place. He carefully wrote the names, and then remarked,
thoughtfully "It is so many years since you left Saratoga, all these men may be dead, or
may have removed. You say you obtained papers at the custom house in NewYork. Probably there is a record of them there, and I think it would be well to write
and ascertain."
I agreed with him, and again repeated the circumstances related heretofore,
connected with my visit to the custom house with Brown and Hamilton. We
lingered on the bank of the bayou an hour or more, conversing upon the subject
which now engrossed our thoughts. I could no longer doubt his fidelity, and freely
227
spoke to him of the many sorrows I had borne in silence, and so long. I spoke of
my wife and children, mentioning their names and ages, and dwelling upon the
unspeakable happiness it would be to clasp them to my heart once more before I
died. I caught him by the hand, and with tears and passionate entreaties implored
him to befriend me - to restore me to my kindred and to liberty - promising I
would weary Heaven the remainder of my life with prayers that it would bless and
prosper him. In the enjoyment of freedom - surrounded by the associations of
youth, and restored to the bosom of my family - that promise is not yet forgotten,
nor shall it ever be so long as I have strength to raise my imploring eyes on high.
"Oh, blessings on his kindly voice and on his silver hair,
And blessings on his whole life long, until he meet me there."
He overwhelmed me with assurances of friendship and faithfulness, saying he
had never before taken so deep an interest in the fate of any one. He spoke of
himself in a somewhat mournful tone, as a lonely man, a wanderer about the world
- that he was growing old, and must soon reach the end of his earthly journey, and
lie down to his final rest without kith or kin to mourn for him, or to remember him
- that his life was of little value to himself, and henceforth should be devoted to
the accomplishment of my liberty, and to an unceasing warfare against the
accursed shame of Slavery.
After this time we seldom spoke to, or recognized each other. He was,
moreover, less free in his conversation with Epps on the subject of Slavery. The
remotest suspicion that there was any unusual intimacy - any secret
understanding between us - never once entered the mind of Epps, or any other
person, white or black, on the plantation. …
The Saturday night subsequent to our interview at the water's edge, Bass went
home to Marksville. The next day, being Sunday, he employed himself in his own
room writing letters. One he directed to the Collector of Customs at New-York,
another to Judge Marvin, and another to Messrs. Parker and Perry jointly. The
latter was the one which led to my recovery. He subscribed my true name, but in
the postscript intimated I was not the writer. The letter itself shows that he
considered himself engaged in a dangerous undertaking - no less than running
"the risk of his life, if detected." I did not see the letter before it was mailed, but
have since obtained a copy, which is here inserted:
"Bayou Boeuf, August 15, 1852.
228
"Mr. WILLIAM PERRY or Mr. CEPHAS PARKER:
"Gentlemen - It having been a long time since I have seen or heard from
you, and not knowing that you are living, it is with uncertainty that I write to you,
but the necessity of the case must be my excuse.
"Having been born free, just across the river from you, I am certain you must
know me, and I am here now a slave. I wish you to obtain free papers for me, and
forward them to me at Marksville, Louisiana, Parish of Avoyelles, and oblige
"Yours,
SOLOMON NORTHUP.
"The way I came to be a slave, I was taken sick in Washington City, and was
insensible for some time. When I recovered my reason, I was robbed of my freepapers, and in irons on my way to this State, and have never been able to get any
one to write for me until now; and he that is writing for me runs the risk of his life
if detected." …
When Bass returned from Marksville he informed me of what he had done.
We continued our midnight consultations, never speaking to each other through the
day, excepting as it was necessary about the work. As nearly as he was able to
ascertain, it would require two weeks for the letter to reach Saratoga in due course
of mail, and the same length of time for an answer to return. Within six weeks, at
the farthest, we concluded, an answer would arrive, if it arrived at all. A great
many suggestions were now made, and a great deal of conversation took place
between us, as to the most safe and proper course to pursue on receipt of the free
papers. They would stand between him and harm, in case we were overtaken and
arrested leaving the country altogether. It would be no infringement of law,
however much it might provoke individual hostility, to assist a freeman to regain
his freedom.
At the end of four weeks he was again at Marksville, but no answer had
arrived. I was sorely disappointed, but still reconciled myself with the reflection
that sufficient length of time had not yet elapsed - that there might have been
delays - and that I could not reasonably expect one so soon. Six, seven, eight, and
ten weeks passed by, however, and nothing came. I was in a fever of suspense
whenever Bass visited Marksville, and could scarcely close my eyes until his
return. Finally my master's house was finished, and the time came when Bass must
leave me. The night before his departure I was wholly given up to despair. I had
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clung to him as a drowning man clings to the floating spar, knowing if it ships
from his grasp he must forever sink beneath the waves. The all-glorious hope,
upon which I had laid such eager hold, was crumbling to ashes in my hands. I felt
as if sinking down, down, amidst the bitter waters of Slavery, from the
unfathomable depths of which I should never rise again.
The generous heart of my friend and benefactor was touched with pity at the
sight of my distress. He endeavored to cheer me up, promising to return the day
before Christmas, and if no intelligence was received in the meantime, some
further step would be undertaken to effect our design. He exhorted me to keep up
my spirits - to rely upon his continued efforts in my behalf, assuring me, in most
earnest and impressive language, that my liberation should, from thenceforth, be
the chief object of his thoughts.
In his absence the time passed slowly indeed. I looked forward to Christmas
with intense anxiety and impatience. I had about given up the expectation of
receiving any answer to the letters. They might have miscarried, or might have
been misdirected. Perhaps those at Saratoga, to whom they had been addressed,
were all dead; perhaps, engaged in their pursuits they did not consider the fate of
an obscure, unhappy black man of sufficient importance to be noticed. My whole
reliance was in Bass. The faith I had in him was continually re-assuring me, and
enabled me to stand up against the tide of disappointment that had overwhelmed
me.
Source: Solomon Northup, Twelve years a slave (London, 1853)
Retreat Plantation Records (Savannah, Ga.)
Plantation Journal written by overseer William Hoffmann.
Sat. 28th April 1838
"foldg Grace this day for covering corn bad, then flodg her a second time for
insolence, which Mr. Kollock [owner] did not seem to like, when the owner takes
the part of the negro against the overseer, who to forward the entrust of the owner
it never fails to bring Mr. dont care for the place, and ruin the negroes, & make the
overseer a bankrupt. The reason that existed Mr Kollock's dislike to Grace's
flodging was an accidental cutt clost her eye, which he, Mr Kollock, thought was
don through temper or intentionally." [sic]
230
Tuesday 12th June 1838
"Hanner, a wench of Houstoun's, & myself had some altercation on Sunday the
10th inst, in which she used violence towards my person for which I stuck her in
the face 3 or 4 times with my fist, for which she ranaway and returned on Tuesday
morning with a letter of pardon under the protection of her master Houstoun, who
dont ought to own a negro".
Source: Kollock Plantation Papers, Southern Historical Collection, University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Grimball Diary,
Oct 17th 1832
'Negro property is certainly the most troublesome in the world. This morning
Richard, the driver at Slann's Island made his appearance. It seems from his story,
that McKendree was exceedingly angry at the receipt of my last letter and accusing
Richard of sending me all the news of the plantation - broke him and made Robin
driver - and gave him reason to believe that he would punsih him further. He tells
me, what I can scarcely credit, but which id true is a most impudently dishonest
thing on the part of McKendree, to wit: That McK's negroes to the number of five,
have during the whole summer taken out of my corn house regularly every week,
and he brought me a stick with the number of bushels notched upon it. The
quantity they have used is 25 bushels up to this day. I shall send him back
tomorrow and have written the following to McK to go by him"Sir,
Richard came to me this morning with a complaint. When I go into the
country his conduct will be examined and if he requires it he shall be punished. He
tells me you have broken him, and made robin driver. Now although Richard is far
from giving me satisfaction as Driver yet the right of making and displacing driver
is one which no one has liberty to exercise without my permission, and as that
permission has not been given to you, I am surprised at you doing so in the present
instance. I'll thank you to put his back into his office as soon as you receive this.
As Richard will be examined when I go up he is not to be punished for this
offense. Yr etc."'
Oct 20th 1832
'Mr McKendree came to town last evening and in a full and long conversation has
entirely satisfied me that the charges laid against him by Richard are untrue. He
has never given his own Negroes a grain of the plantation corn - nor has his
brother fed his horse out of my corn and fodder house. I told him that I was
satisfied that he had been belied and that for his satisfaction I would examine into
231
the matter thoroughly when I went up and if Richard were found guilty, of which I
have myself no doubt, he should be severely punished. The poor man is wasted to a
shadow and says he is in constant misery from rheumatism. This is the first attempt
he has made since his late illness. his coming down under such bodily pains,
showed a sensibility to character, which went far to convince me that he was not
capable of what he was accused. He seemed to feel the charge accutely, and several
times I thought his eyes filled with tears. We parted, I believe mutually better
satisfied.....
Mr McKendree said that his health is so bad that the Dr has advised him to go into
a more healthy country, if he would save his life, which is seriously threatened by
consumption, and will give up my business at the end of the year. He said that
besides this obligation to take care of his life, he is conscious that in his present
condition he cannot do justice to his employers. His present plan is to go to
Georgia....I advanced him 10 dollars, which he said he would need if he went [to]
Waterborough on the 5th Nov. to attend as juryman & witness, being summoned
for both purposes.'
Source: Diary of J.B.Grimball, 1832-33 Charleston Library Society,
Charleston, South Carolina.
Term 2 Week 10
Maroon activity
Georgetown (S.C.) Dec. 21
On Friday evening a few gentlemen, headed by Col. Huggins, went down the
bay in pursuit of a gang of runaway negroes, who were reported to be committing
depredations in this neighbourhood. As the wind blow with great violence, they
were obliged to stop that day at Mr. Fraser's plantation. On Saturday four other
gentlemen followed and joined the first party. They divided into three boats,
succeeded in burning two large camps and some distance from each other, took
two guns, some fishing apparatus, and other articles which had been in possession
of the gang, and after a long chase, secured one of their number, a fellow by the
name of Newton, the property of Mr. R. N. Magill.
The three camps which have been destroyed, consisted of snug little
habitations, and could have accommodated twenty men. At each of them there was
a well. At one they had left chaff and straw enough to show that they must lately
have pounded out at least fifty bushels of rice; at another place, there was a good
stack yard and threshing place. The relics of ducks, turkeys, vegetables, and beef,
which were found, proved that they had been abundantly provided with delicacies
232
as well as necessaries. At one of the camps Mr. Fraser found some fine cabbages
which had been recently cut from his garden. After cutting the cabbages, that no
mistake might arise, they crossed each stock with a knife.
It appears from the information which has been received from Newton, and
one or two negroes, who have been examined on suspicion of holding communion
with them, that they have carried on an extensive traffic in the town, sometimes
thro agents and occasionally themselves. These boats have usually landed at the
fort, and they often amused themselves with promenades through the streets,
unmolested by police or patroles.
The places of retreat were selected with great judgement. They are situated on
small elevations, surrounded by extensive arrears of marsh. By climbing a high
tree on each of them, a complete view of the bay, creeks and surrounding island,
was presented to the spectator, while he could remain concealed by the foliage. No
correct account of the number of the gang can be obtained. Reports are various and
contradictory. That they have been continually aided and hold constant
communication with many of the negroes of this town, there is conclusive
evidence. Their leader is Will, the brother of Newton. He has sent a message to Mr.
Thompson and Mr. Fraser, that if he ever should meet them, he will kill them. The
witness states that he has twice taken deliberate aim at Mr. Thompson while
passing through the woods on horse back, but fortunately his musket snapped.
Proper measures have been taken to cut off his retreat; and as the pursuit still
continues, it is probably that the whole band will within a day or two be secured.
Had there not been great remissness in the execution of the patrole laws, they
could not have escaped so long.
Source: Charleston Mercury, Dec. 24, 1824.
On Saturday last a party of gentlemen, 15 in number, and several trusty
negroes, at the request of Capt. Vereen, met at Dr. Allston’s Branch, on Pee Dee,
to hunt a gang of runaway negroes, who were infesting the neighboring
Plantations. After hunting very assiduously for several hours, they discovered a
Camp in Gadsden Bay, and started several negroes, but from the impenetrable
nature of the swamp, it was impossible to overtake them – two guns were fired, but
the gentlemen did not wish to hit the negroes. A large quantity of beef was found
in the Camp, drying on scaffolds, four hides, a fine fat cow, supposed to belong to
Col. Hunt, hamstrung, pots, clothes, a hog pen, wells dug, and every necessary
preparation for a long residence.
We hope the Black River gentlemen will attack the other side of the Bay, and
by such means the negroes will become so uneasy they will probably go in to their
owners.
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Source: Georgetown Gazette, Jun. 13, 1826.
Douglas Ch 10
Long before daylight, I was called to go and rub, curry, and feed, the horses. I
obeyed, and was glad to obey. But whilst thus engaged, whilst in the act of
throwing down some blades from the loft, Mr. Covey entered the stable with a long
rope; and just as I was half out of the loft, he caught hold of my legs, and was
about tying me. As soon as I found what he was up to, I gave a sudden spring, and
as I did so, he holding to my legs, I was brought sprawling on the stable floor. Mr.
Covey seemed now to think he had me, and could do what he pleased; but at this
moment-- from whence came the spirit I don't know--I resolved to fight; and,
suiting my action to the resolution, I seized Covey hard by the throat; and as I did
so, I rose. He held on to me, and I to him. My resistance was so entirely
unexpected that Covey seemed taken all aback. He trembled like a leaf. This gave
me assurance, and I held him uneasy, causing the blood to run where I touched him
with the ends of my fingers. Mr. Covey soon called out to Hughes for help.
Hughes came, and, while Covey held me, attempted to tie my right hand. While
he was in the act of doing so, I watched my chance, and gave him a heavy kick
close under the ribs. This kick fairly sickened Hughes, so that he left me in the
hands of Mr. Covey. This kick had the effect of not only weakening Hughes, but
Covey also. When he saw Hughes bending over with pain, his courage quailed. He
asked me if I meant to persist in my resistance. I told him I did, come what might;
that he had used me like a brute for six months, and that I was determined to be
used so no longer. With that, he strove to drag me to a stick that was lying just out
of the stable door. He meant to knock me down. But just as he was leaning over
to get the stick, I seized him with both hands by his collar, and brought him by a
sudden snatch to the ground. By this time, Bill came. Covey called upon him for
assistance. Bill wanted to know what he could do. Covey said, "Take hold of
him, take hold of him!" Bill said his master hired him out to work, and not to help
to whip me; so he left Covey and myself to fight our own battle out. We were at it
for nearly two hours. Covey at length let me go, puffing and blowing at a great
rate, saying that if I had not resisted, he would not have whipped me half so much.
The truth was, that he had not whipped me at all. I considered him as getting
entirely the worst end of the bargain; for he had drawn no blood from me, but I had
from him. The whole six months afterwards, that I spent with Mr. Covey, he never
laid the weight of his finger upon me in anger. He would occasionally say, he
didn't want to get hold of me again. "No," thought I, "you need not; for you will
come off worse than you did before."
234
This battle with Mr. Covey was the turningpoint in my career as a slave. It
rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of
my own manhood. It recalled the departed self-confidence, and inspired me again
with a determination to be free. The gratification afforded by the triumph was a
full compensation for whatever else might follow, even death itself. He only can
understand the deep satisfaction which I experienced, who has himself repelled by
force the bloody arm of slavery. I felt as I never felt before. It was a glorious
resurrection, from the tomb of slavery, to the heaven of freedom. My longcrushed spirit rose, cowardice departed, bold defiance took its place; and I now
resolved that, however long I might remain a slave in form, the day had passed
forever when I could be a slave in fact. I did not hesitate to let it be known of me,
that the white man who expected to succeed in whipping, must also succeed in
killing me.
From this time I was never again what might be called fairly whipped, though I
remained a slave four years afterwards. I had several fights, but was never
whipped.
Source: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas (Boston 1845)
Ball Ch 26
On the Saturday night after the woman was punished at the pump, I stole a yard
of cotton bagging from the cotton-gin house, and converted it into a bag, by means
of a coarse needle and thread that I borrowed of one of the black women. On the
next morning, when our weekly rations were distributed to us, my portion was
carefully placed in my bag, under pretence of fears that it would be stolen from me,
if it was left open in the loft of the kitchen that I lodged in.
This day being Sunday, I did not go to the field to work as usual, on that day,
but under pretence of being unwell, remained in the kitchen all day, to be the better
prepared for the toils of the following night. After daylight had totally disappeared,
taking my bag under my arm, under pretence of going to the mill to grind my corn,
I stole softly across the cotton fields to the nearest woods and taking an
observation of the stars, directed my course to the eastward, resolved that in no
event should any thing induce me to travel a single yard, on the high road, until at
least one hundred miles from this plantation. Keeping on steadily through the
whole of this night, and meeting with no swamps, or briery thickets in my way, I
235
have no doubt that before daylight, the plantation was more than thirty miles
behind me.
Twenty years before this, I had been in Savannah and noted at that time that
great numbers of ships were in that port, taking in loading of cotton. My plan now
was to reach Savannah, in the best way I could, by some means to be devised after
my arrival in the city, to procure a passage to some of the northern cities.
When day appeared before me, I was in a large cotton field, and before the
woods could be reached, it was gray dawn; but the forest bordering on the field
was large and afforded me good shelter through the day, under the cover of a large
thicket of swamp laurel, that lay at the distance of a quarter of a mile from the
field. It now became necessary to kindle a fire, for all my stock of provisions,
consisting of corn and potatoes, was raw and undressed. Less fortunate now than
in my former flight, no fire apparatus was in my possession, and driven at last to
the extremity, I determined to endeavour to produce fire by rubbing two sticks
together, and spent at least two hours of incessant toil, in this vain operation,
without the least prospect of success. Abandoning this project at length, I turned
my thoughts to searching for a stone of some kind, with which to endeavour to
extract fire from an old jack knife, that had been my companion in Maryland for
more than three years. My labours were fruitless. No stone could be found in this
swamp; and the day was passed in anxiety and hunger, a few raw potatoes being
my only food.
Night at length came, and with it a renewal of my travelling labours. Avoiding
with the utmost care, every appearance of a road, and pursuing my way until
daylight, I must have travelled at least thirty miles this night. Awhile before day, in
crossing a field, I fortunately came upon a bed of large pebbles, on the side of a
hill. Several of these were deposited in my bag, which enabled me when day
arrived to procure fire, with which I parched corn and roasted potatoes sufficient to
subsist me for two or three days. On the fourth night of my journey, fortune
directed me to a broad, open highway, that appeared to be much travelled.
Near the side of this road, I established my quarters for the day in a thick pine
wood, for the purpose of making observations upon the people who travelled it,
and of judging thence of the part of the country to which it led.
Soon after daylight, a wagon passed along, drawn by oxen, and loaded with
bales of cotton; then followed by some white men on horseback, and soon after
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sunrise, a whole train of wagons and carts, all loaded with bales of cotton, passed
by, following the wagon first seen by me. In the course of the day, at least one
hundred wagons and carts passed along this road, towards the south-east, all laden
with cotton bales; and at least an equal number came towards the west, either laden
with casks of various dimensions, or entirely empty. Numerous horsemen, many
carriages, and great numbers of persons on foot, also passed to and fro on this
road, in the course of the day.
All these indications satisfied me, that I must be near some large town, the
seat of an extensive cotton market. The next consideration with me was to know
how far it was to this town, for which purpose I determined to travel on the road,
the succeeding night.
Lying in the woods, until about eleven o'clock, I rose, came to the road, and
travelled it until within an hour of daylight, at which time the country around me
appeared almost wholly clear of timber; and houses became much more numerous
than they had been in the former part of my journey.
Things continued to wear this aspect until daylight, when I stopped, and sat
down by the side of a high fence that stood beside the road. After remaining here a
short time, a wagon laden with cotton, passed along, drawn by oxen, whose driver,
a black man, asked me if I was going towards town. Being answered in the
affirmative, he then asked me if I did not wish to ride in his wagon. I told him I had
been out of town all night, and should be very thankful to him for a ride; at the
same time ascending his wagon and placing myself in a secure and easy position,
on the bags of cotton.
In this manner we travelled on for about two hours, when we entered the town
of Savannah. In my situation there was no danger of any one suspecting me to be a
runaway slave; for no runaway had ever been known to flee from the country, and
seek refuge in Savannah.
The man who drove the wagon, passed through several of the principal streets
of the city, and stopped his team before a large warehouse, standing on a wharf,
looking into the river. Here I assisted my new friend to unload his cotton and when
we were done, he invited me to share his breakfast with him, consisting of corn
bread, roasted potatoes, and some cold boiled rice.
Whilst we were at our breakfast, a black man came along the street, and asked
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us if we knew where he could hire a hand, to help him to work a day or two. I at
once replied that my master had sent me to town, to hire myself out for a few
weeks, and that I was ready to go with him immediately. The joy I felt at finding
employment, so overcame me, that all thought of my wages was forgotten. Bidding
farewell to the man who had given me my breakfast, and thanking him in my heart
for his kindness, I followed my new employer, who informed me that he had
engaged to remove a thousand bales of cotton from a large warehouse, to the end
of a wharf at which a ship lay, that was taking in the cotton as a load.
This man was a slave, but hired his time of his master at two hundred and fifty
dollars a year, which he said he paid in monthly installments. He did what he
called job work, which consisted of undertaking jobs, and hiring men to work
under him, if the job was too great to be performed by himself. In the present
instance he had seven or eight black men, beside me, all hired to help him to
remove the cotton in wheel-barrows, and lay it near the end of the wharf, when it
was taken up by sailors and carried on board the ship, that was receiving it.
We continued working hard all day, and amongst the crew of the ship was a
black man, with whom I resolved to become acquainted by some means.
Accordingly at night, after we had quit our work, I went to the end of the wharf
against which the ship lay moored, and stood there a long time, waiting for the
black sailor to make his appearance on deck. At length my desires were gratified.
He came upon the deck, and sat down near the main-mast, with a pipe in his
mouth, which he was smoking with great apparent pleasure. After a few minutes, I
spoke to him, for he had not yet seen me, as it appeared, and when he heard my
voice, he rose up and came to the side of the ship near where I stood. We entered
into conversation together, in the course of which he informed me that his home
was in New-York; that he had a wife and several children there, but that he
followed the sea for a livelihood, and knew no other mode of life. He also asked
me where my master lived, and if Georgia had always been the place of my
residence.
I deemed this a favourable opportunity of effecting the object I had in view, in
seeking the acquaintance of this man, and told him at once that by law and justice I
was a free man; but had been kidnapped near Baltimore, forcibly brought to
Georgia, and sold there as a slave. That I was now a fugitive from my master, and
in search of some means of getting back to my wife and children.
The man seemed moved by the account of my sufferings, and at the close of
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my narrative, told me he could not receive me on board the ship, as the captain had
given positive orders to him, not to let any of the negroes of Savannah come on
board, lest they should steal something belonging to the ship. He further told me
that he was on watch, and should continue on deck two hours. That he was forced
to take a turn of watching the ship every night, for two hours; but that his turn
would not come the next night until after midnight.
I now begged him to enable me to secrete myself on board the ship, previous
to the time of her sailing, so that I might be conveyed to Philadelphia, whither the
ship was bound with her load of cotton. He at first received my application with
great coldness and said he would not do any thing contrary to the orders of the
captain; but before we parted, he said he should be glad to assist me if he could,
but that the execution of the plan proposed by me, would be attended with great
dangers, if not ruin.
In my situation there was nothing too hazardous for me to undertake, and I
informed him that if he would let me hide myself in the hold of the ship amongst
the bags of cotton, no one should ever know that he had any knowledge of the fact;
and that all the danger, and all the disasters that might attend the affair, should fall
exclusively on me. He finally told me to go away, and that he would think of the
matter until the next day.
It was obvious that his heart was softened in my favour; that his feelings of
compassion almost impelled him to do an act in my behalf, that was forbidden by
his judgment, and his sense of duty to his employers. As the houses of the city
were now closed, and I was a stranger in the place, I went to a wagon that stood in
front of the warehouse, and had been unladen of the cotton that had been brought
in it, and creeping into it, made my bed with the driver, who permitted me to share
his lodgings amongst some corn tops, that he had brought to feed his oxen.
When the morning came, I went again to the ship, and when the people came
on deck, asked them for the captain, whom I should not have known by his dress,
which was very nearly similar to that of the sailors. On being asked if he did not
wish to hire a hand, to help to load his ship, he told me I might go to work amongst
the men, if I chose, and he would pay me what I was worth.
My object was to procure employment on board the ship, and not to get
wages; and in the course of this day I found means to enter the hold of the ship
several times, and examine it minutely. The black sailor promised that he would
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not betray me, and that if I could find the means of escaping on board the ship he
would not disclose it.
At the end of three days, the ship had taken in her loading, and the captain
said in my presence, that he intended to sail the day after. No time was now to be
lost, and asking the captain what he thought I had earned, he gave me three dollars,
which was certainly very liberal pay, considering that during the whole time that I
had worked for him, my fare had been the same as that of the sailors, who had as
much as they could consume, of excellent food.
The sailors were now busy in trimming the ship, and making ready for sea,
and observing, that this work required them to spend much time in the hold of the
ship, I went to the captain and told him, that as he had paid me good wages, and
treated me well, I would work with his people, the residue of this day, for my
victuals and half a gallon of molasses: which he said he would give me. My first
object now, was to get into the hold of the ship with those who were adjusting the
cargo. The first time the men below called for aid, I went to them, and being there,
took care to remain with them. Being placed at one side of the hold, for the
purpose of packing the bags close to the ship's timbers, I so managed, as to leave a
space between two of the bags, large enough for a man to creep in, and conceal
himself. This cavity was near the opening in the centre of the hold, that was left to
let men get down, to stow away the last of the bags that were put in. In this small
hollow retreat amongst the bags of cotton, I determined to take my passage to
Philadelphia, if by any means I could succeed in stealing on board the ship at
night.
When the evening came, I went to a store near the wharf, and bought two
jugs, one that held half a gallon, and the other, a large stone jug holding more than
three gallons. When it was dark, I filled my large jug with water; purchased twenty
pounds of pilot bread at a bakery, which I tied in a large handkerchief; and taking
my jugs in my hand, went on board the ship to receive my molasses of the captain,
for the labour of the day. The captain was not on board, and a boy gave me the
molasses; but, under pretence of waiting to see the captain, I sat down between two
rows of cotton bales, that were stowed on deck. The night was very dark, and,
watching a favourable opportunity, when the man on deck had gone forward,
succeeded in placing both my jugs upon the bags of cotton that rose in the hold,
almost to the deck. In another moment, I glided down amongst the cargo; and lost
no time in placing my jugs in the place provided for them, amongst the bales of
cotton, beside the lair provided for myself.
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Soon after I had taken my station for the voyage, the captain came on board,
and the boy reported to him, that he had paid me off, and dismissed me. In a short
time, all was quiet on board the ship, except the occasional tread of the man on
watch. I slept none at all this night; the anxiety that oppressed me, preventing me
from taking any repose.
Before day the captain was on deck, and gave orders to the seamen, to clear
the ship for sailing, and to be ready to descend the river with the ebb tide, which
was expected to flow at sunrise. I felt the motion of the ship when she got under
weigh, and thought the time long before I heard the breakers of the ocean surging
against her sides.
In the place where I lay, when the hatches were closed, total darkness
prevailed; and I had no idea of the lapse of time, or of the progress we made, until,
having at one period crept out into the open space, between the rows of cotton
bags, which I have before described, I heard a man, who appeared from the sound
of his voice to be standing on the hatch, call out and say, "That is Cape Hatteras." I
had already come out of my covert, several times, into the open space; but the
hatches were closed so tightly, as to exclude all light. It appeared to me that we had
already been at sea a long time; but as darkness was unbroken with me, I could not
make any computation of periods.
Soon after this, the hatch was opened, and the light was let into the hold. A
man descended for the purpose of examining the state of the cargo; who returned
in a short time. The hatch was again closed and nothing of moment occurred from
this time, until I heard and felt the ship strike against some solid body. In a short
time I heard much noise, and a multitude of sounds of various kinds. All this
satisfied me, that the ship was in some port; for I no longer heard the sound of the
waves, nor perceived the least motion in the ship.
At length the hatch was again opened, and the light was let in upon me. My
anxiety now was, to escape from the ship, without being discovered by any one; to
accomplish which I determined to issue from the hold as soon as night came on, if
possible. Waiting until sometime after daylight had disappeared, I ventured to
creep to the hatchway, and raise my head above deck. Seeing no one on board, I
crawled out of the hold, and stepped on board a ship that lay alongside of that in
which I had come a passenger. Here a man seized me, and called me a thief, saying
I had come to rob his ship; and it was with much difficulty that I prevailed upon
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him to let me go. He at length permitted me to go on the wharf; and I once more
felt myself a freeman.
I did not know what city I was in; but as the sailors had all told me, at
Savannah that their ship was bound to Philadelphia, I had no doubt of being in that
city. In going along the street, a black man met me, and I asked him if I was in
Philadelphia. This question caused the stranger to laugh loudly: and he passed on
without giving me any answer. Soon afterwards I met an old gentleman, with drab
clothes on, as I could see by the light of the lamps. To him I propounded the same
question, that had been addressed a few moment before to the black man. This
time, however, I received a civil answer: being told that I was in Philadelphia.
Source: Charles Ball, Fifty Years in chains (New York, 1837)
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