A
SCRIPTURAL EXAMINATION
OF THE
INSTITUTION OF SLAYERY
IN THE
UNITED STATES;
WITH ITS
OBJECTS AND PURPOSES.
BY HOWELL COBB.
GEORGIA:
PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR.
1856. 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by
HOWELL COBB,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court, for the Southern District of Georgia. 
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PRIEFACE.
The particular object of this wcrk.
ATE have not undertaken to write the general history of
slavery, nor the history of slavery in the United States; the
extent of our undertaking is, to show the purposes for which
African slavery was instituted, in so far as the United States
stand connected with it. There are two propositions of es sential importance, and which never must be lost sight of,
in the investigation of this subject, to wit:
1. African slavery is a punishment, inflicted upon the enslaved,
for their wickedness.-The proper understanding of this pro position requires that we should keep steadily before the
mind the fact, that nations, communities, peoples, may and
do sin against God, as well as individuals; and nations,
communities, peoples, are punishable and punished, as well
as individuals. The only difference -is this: individuals
may escape punishment; they often do, in this world: their
punishment may be postponed to the day of judgment; but
nations, communities, peoples, must be punished in this
world, for they cannot, as such, be brought into the judg ment of the great day.
2. Slavery, as it exists in the LTrnited States, is the Providen tially-arranged means whereby Africa is to be lifed from her
deep degradation, to a state of civil and religious liberty.
It must not be supposed, that in the performance of this
task we desire to present an apology for slavery, or to con 
PREFACE.
ciliate favor for it; we have no0 such intention or object in
view. An institution of Divine appointment does not need
the aid of human writers, further than an explanation of its
meaning.
Why should any one be astonished at slavery? this is not
the only time that it has been employed as a means of
working out great purposes. God's chosen and peculiar
people; they who first composed the Church; they to whom
the oracles of salvation were delivered; they of whom the
prophets were; they from whom the Redeemer of the world
sprang, were enslaved in as hard, perhaps in much harder
bondage, than has ever been experienced by Africans in the
United States-a bondage from which they were delivered
only after a series of the most astonishing displays of the
Divine displeasure, inflicted upon their oppressors for their
obstinacy in refusing "to let the people go."
Nor was Egyptian bondage the only bondage they experienced, for their history shows that there were repeated
instances of captivity, during which they were subject to
the most degrading and humiliating slavery. And their
history further shows, that these instances of captivity were
inflicted as punishments upon them for their unfaithfulness
to God, in disobeying His commands.
Nor was this mode of punishment confined to the Hiebrews; for, the sacred record shows, that it was frequently
threatened and inflicted upon other nations. Indeed, we
may say, slavery has ever been a common mode of divine
punishment inflicted upon nations.
The Bible our authority.
We have been directed, in the execution of the more important portions of our undertaking, by the Bible; that is
our sole authority for many things which we have written
in this volume. Men may and will question, controvert,
and discuss, everything of human origin, and agree or
4 
PREFACE.
disagree with their authors, as they think proper; but when
the Bible speaks there is an end to controversy and discussion: our duty then becomes very simple; it is-to be silent
-to listen-to understand-to obey: for this authority no
man may question or disregard.
Mutation is stamped upon everything in nature, and
everything of human origin. There is nothing immutable
in this world, but one thing; that is the Bible-it never
changes: amidst the endless and unceasing change occurring, the Bible continues unchangeable. Like the sun, the
great center of the solar system, the Bible maintains one
position, reducing to order and quiet the confusion of the
moral universe. Our adoration is demanded, as we see the
wonderful Book of God adapting its lessons of instruction
to each passing event, as if they had been prepared exclusively for that.  Let changes occur as they may-let the
aspect of society be what it will-let the conduct of individuals assume never so strange and uncommon a character, the Bible meets all with a distinctness and particularity
neither to be mistaken or misunderstood-commanding
what ought to be done, and forbidding what ought not to be
done, in each particular case; at the same time leaving
man to act as he will: hence, man's responsibility. In all
this we see reflected forth the divinity of the Bible.
The Bible is one word; it teaches that the Godhead is
composed of three persons; namely, the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Ghost; hence the Bible consists of three parts;
or more properly, of three revelations, or dispensations;
that is to say, 1. The revelation of the Father: under this
dispensation the precepts of religion were made known, and
most of the prophecies delivered. 2. The revelation of the
Son: under this dispensation, the precepts revealed under
the dispensation of the Father were amplified, the prophecies fulfilled, and the stringency of many rules relaxed. 3.
The revelation of the Holy Ghost: under this dispensation,
the precepts and prophecies revealed under the dispensation
5 
PREFACE.
of the Father, and amplified and fulfilled under the dispen sation of the Son, were spiritualized. Each of these dispen sations had its ministry and ordinances, or form of worship,
to wit: under the dispensation of the Father, priests were the
ministers; at the head of this ministry was the high-priest.
Under the dispensation of the Son, apostles were the minis ters; at the head of this ministry was our Lord Jesus
Christ. Under the dispensation of the Holy Ghost, preachers
are the ministers; at the head of this ministry stands S't
Paul. So with the ordinances under the dispensation of the
Father, circumcision and the passover were instituted in the
Church. Under the dispensation of the Son, baptism was observed in connection with circumcision. After the resurrection of our Lord, He commanded that circumcision should
be dropped; or rather, that baptism alone should be continued:  under this dispensation, too, the passover was
changed into the sacrament of the Lord's Supper; in
which manner these ordinances are now observed in the
Church. These three parts form one grand and glorious
scheme of salvation.
Slavery was established in the Church under the first dispensation, or the dispensation of the Father, and recognized
and regulated under all the dispensations.
Divine Providence.
Providence may be defined to be, God's care manifested
in every circumstance and event, over and above all human
sagacity and prudence. It extends to the minutest particulars and objects: "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are
all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value
than many sparrows." Very many providential occurrences are profoundly mysterious, the explanations of which
must be referred to the day of judgment, when their propriety will be made manifest. Providence is a subject
6 
PREFACE.
requiring the profoundest study: it neither forces human
conduct, nor prevents it.
The Providence of God is taught in the following Scripture: "Except the Lord build the houses they labor in vain
that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman
waketh but in vain." The obvious meaning here, is that,
however prudent and skilful we may be in the affairs of life,
unless God's blessing be upon our efforts, we cannot succeed; whenever, therefore, success attends our efforts, we
are to remember that we are indebted to Providence
for it.
Providence is not religion, nor is it necessarily connected
with religion; for, " He maketh His sun to rise on the
evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on
the unjust."
Although the action of Providence is to be observed in
connection with every event, and all circumstances, yet
every man may observe in his own case some occurrence
purely Providential; that is to say, some occurrence in which
God's care, producing him good, or preserving him from
harm, without any agency on his part, distinctly manifests
itself.
The manifestations of Providence, as connected with
African slavery, are distinctly seen, in all its variations and
in every particular. " O the depth of the riches, both of the
wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His
judgments, and His ways past finding out I "
They who have been attentive to the workings of Providence, have observed, that all great enterprises have their
attendant sacrifices. The promised land was not possessed
by the descendants of Abraham, but after overcoming in
war the fiercest struggles of the Canaanites-struggles in
which the Israelites lost thousands of their people. The long,
fierce and sanguinary wars with the natives and others,
which the settlers of the United States were compelled to
maintain-wars, in which many thousands of them were
7 
PREFACE.
slain, attest the truth of the great fact here stated. Africa
is not to be exempt from the common lot-she must pay for
the great boon to be secured: and it will be seen upon con sideration, that the sacrifices made by Africa, in view of the
good to be realized, are perhaps much less than any other
nation has been required to make.
Let the reader contemplate well the condition of Africa
let him understand fully all the particulars that make up
that condition: every trace of an idea of God, correctly en tertained, lost, so that the prophet says of her, "There is no
God;" every social and civil virtue extinct, and every vice
of which the mind can conceive, adopted and practiced, and
then measure the degradation of Africa, if he can. Now,
the Gospel is to redeem Africa from all this-is it a large
price that Africa pays for this incalculable good? Is it not
a price immeasurably below the good to be realized? Who
does not see that Africa is to be the beneficiary of the arrangement?
The idea that African slavery in the United States was to
be beneficial to the slaves, was entertained in Georgia over
one hundred years ago, and before that kind of slavery existedin the colony. Then Mr. James Habersham wrote: " I
once thought it was unlawful to keep Negro slaves, but I
am now induced to think that God may have a higher end
in permitting them to be brought to this Christian country,
than merely to support their masters. Many of the poor
slaves in America have already been made freemen of the
heavenly Jersualem; and, possibly, a time may come when
many thousands may embrace the Gospel, and thereby be
brought into the glorious liberty of the children of God."
Mr. Habersham was not a prophet, but he was among the distinguished statesmen of his day.  He was a humane master,
and a sagacious and consistent Christian.
8 
PREFACE.
Slavery of the Church.
The system of slavery established in the Church, protects
the life of the slave against the cruelty or wantonness of the
master. The law says: "And if a man smite his servant or
his maid with a rod, and he die under his hand, he shall be
surely punished: notwithstanding, if he continue a day or
two, he shall not be punished, for he is his money." The
punishment to be inflicted, in case the slave died under his
master's hand, was death. The law continues: "At the hand
of every man's brother will I require the life of man.
Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be
shed; for in the image of God made He man." It is easy
to see, therefore, that every system of slavery which does
not forbid the master taking the life of a slave, or using
cruelty towards him, and which does not properly punish
the crime when committed, is an abuse of the Divine establishment.   Such were the systems of tile Roman   and
Grecian States; such has ever been the African system;
and such, perhaps, were the English and French systems
while they existed. The fact that the English system of
African slavery did not protect the life of the slave was one
of the most potent reasons brought forward by English
abolitionists while urging emancipation.
We assert, and we shall prove, that the system of slavery
in the United States, in every feature and in every particular
of every feature, is essentially the same as the system
authorized by the Bible, and introduced into the church at
the time of its organization, and continued to the present
day. The Bible does not employ the term slave, but the
more significant term servant. Servant is the correct term
with us; it should be used instead of the harsher term
slave, which is neither expressive or true. In this work,
however, we have used the term slave, simply for convenience sake, and in conformity to custom.
1*
9 
PREFACE.
MJaster.
Webster defines this term thus: "A man who rules,
governs, or directs either men or business. A man who
owns slaves is their master; he who has servants is their
master; he who has apprentices is their master, as he has
the government and direction of them." There are many very
important obligations imposed upon masters, some by the
municipal law, all by the Bible. These obligations form the
sum of a master's responsibility. The municipal law and the
Bible, therefore, are the sources from which a master is to
learn bis duty to his slaves.
Servant.
The term slave occurs but seldom in the Bible, perhaps
not more than twice, and in no place in the sense in which
it is generally used by us. The terms used which denote
slavery, are servant, bondman, bondwoman, maid, handmaid,
&c. As there are other servants besides slaves frequently
spoken of, we must refer to the circumstances of each particular case, for the purpose of ascertaining the condition
that is meant. Martindale says: "The word [servant] generally signifies a slave. The Hebrews had two sorts of servants
or slaves."-See Lev. xxv. 44, 45.
Ernancipation of Slaves.
England, Prance, and all the States of the American
Union, possessed Negro slaves at one time. England, France,
and the Northern States have emancipated their slaves.
They were right in so doing, for they never looked beyond
pecuniary advantage in possessing them. They made no
arrangements for their slaves' moral and religious training,
such things were never thought of; no record testifies in
10 
PREFACE.
their favor in this respect; no proofs can be furnished to
support such a pretension. By repudiating slavery, England, France and the Northern States, declined participating
in the objects, present and ultimate, of the institution.  They
withdrewfrom this great Providential enterprise.
In favor of English effort in the direction contemplated,
we may be pointed to Sierra Leone. The feeble efforts made
there do not even make a qualification of our assertion
necessary. Let us see. During the war of the Revolution,
many American slaves were seduced to the British army,
then in the country. Some of them were conveyed to England and some to Nova Scotia. Those that went to England,
lounging about London, in a most filthy and miserable condition, excited the sympathy of some benevolent individuals.
These persons made efforts, which resulted in the colonization of the Negroes in Africa. This occurred more than
seventy years ago. That during this long period some good
has been done, we with pleasure acknowledge; but not the
amount of good that ought to have been done, by a great
deal. Compare the good done by the colonization of Sierra
Leone, with that done by the colonization of Liberia, and it
will be seen that the statement we have made above needs
no qualification.
Liberia was colonized less than forty years ago (a little
over half the time that Sierra Leone has been colonized),
and during the period that has intervened has passed
through the incipient stages of government to a republic, in
which every element of civil, intellectual, moral and religious
improvement abounds. Her influence extends far into the
interior, over many tribes and nations. She has accomplished more during the brief period of her existence to suppress the slave-trade, than the combined efforts of all
civilized nations ever accomplished, or were likely to
accomplish.
11 
PREFACE.
Abolitionists.
There are persons in the northern section of the Union,
who, having no proper conceptions of the institution of
slavery, seek to destroy it: these persons are denominated
abolitionists. Amongst these persons there exists many
shades of difference: 1. The freesoiler-this character, who
will not admit that he is an abolitionist in the proper sense
of the term, professes that he does not wish to disturb
slavery where it exists, but opposes the enlargement of its
area.  2. The conditional emancipationist-he professes that
he would be satisfied if the south would pass acts of emanci      pation, although such acts might extend through many years.
3. The unconditional emancipationist-he demands that acts
of emancipation should be passed, abolishing the institution
of slavery forthwith. 4. The amalgamationist-he demands
. —......that slavery should be abolished immediately-that there
should be a division of property with the emancipated slaves
and an amalgamation with the whites. It is a matter of
perfect indifference to us, to which of these phases individ     uals may be' attached; for we care not whether, in their
folly, they be mild or rabid.
Abolitionism is not a political question; it is a religious de     lusion; hence, the political adjustments of the question
have, in the end, all failed to accomplish their object. These
adjustments have only resulted in causing abolitionism to
assume some new aspect; to turn its mischievous tenden     cies in some new direction. The profound regard which
every American citizen should feel and manifest for the con     stitution, the priceless value of the union of the States,
and the clearest, most comprehensive and conclusive argu     ments of anti-abolitionists, have lost their force, when ad     dressed to abolitionists.
This delusion may be distinctly traced to its source —it
sprang from misguided religious teachers; by them it has
been, and is now being, taught to the people. It is a fact
12 
PREFACE.
upon which we dwell with pleasure, that many teachers of
religion in the northern States, have never been under the
influence of this delusion. These cannot agree to prostitute
their high and holy vocation to such unworthy purposes.
Designing newspaper editors, both secular and religious,
fond of filthy lucre (particularly in the form of black-mail),
have contributed largely to inflame the minds of the uninformed; thereby degrading the liberty of the press, and robbing it of its influence for good. Corrupt politicians, too,
the basest of all, have made this delusion subservient to
their schemes of ambition. Hionest and honorable politicians, they who would not stoop to expedients so low, have
been turned out of office and sent into private life. These
are some of the workings of abolitionism.
There is nothing more disgusting than abolitionismnothing, we consider, more wicked and mischievous; yet
we confess that we do not fear it.  Many very considerate
person suppose that it will ultimately destroy the Union; in
this opinion we do not participate: that it would do that
act if it could, we readily allow-we firmly believe; but it
has not vitality enough to accomplish that result, we conceive.
We cannot, at present, be induced to believe that God,
whose hand is so signally seen in every step of our progress,
will allow deluded men, no matter what their numbers may
be, or how intemperate their zeal, to consummate such great
wickedness. The issue, Union or Abolitionism, may be presented to the American people; it will be, if abolitionists
can do it. Should that issue be presented, the anti-abolitionists of the North (for their are many Union-loving people there, who are to be found in all the walks of life), will
not require the aid of the South in putting down this bad
spirit; they will perform that very agreeable duty for themselves. Whether abolitionism is to be feared or not, however, the South must not abate one iota of its vigilance
against it.
It is an established fact, that the mind may become un
13 
PREFACE.
settled by the long and abstract consideration of any sub ject upon which it may concentrate its energies. In other
words, the mind may become insane upon one subject, while
upon all other subjects it remains rational. An author says:
"Such partial derangement is the most singular feature of
the human character: one can easily imagine that the whole
mind should become disordered and prostrated; but that
one part should be deranged, while the rest retains its
wonted vigor; that a man should be capable to create a
perfect phantom of the imagination, and then to reason and
act upon it as though it were a reality, is most unaccount able; and yet such instances have frequently occurred."
Our author goes on to state a case: "One Wood, indicted
D'r Monro, in Westminster, for keeping him as a prisoner
in a mad-house, when he was sane. He underwent the
most severe examination by the defendant's counsel, with out exposing his complaint; but a physician suggested to
Lord Mansfield to ask him what was become of the princess
with whom he had corresponded in cherry-juice; he showed
in a moment what he was. He answered, that there was
nothing at all in that, because having been (as everybody
knew) imprisoned in a high tower, and being debarred the
use of inik, he had no other means of correspondence but
by writing his letters in cherry-juice, and throwing them
into the river which surrounded the tower, where the princess received them in a boat: on this D'r Monro was acquitted." This affords the best apology for abolitionists
that can be made for them.
This degree of madness is by no means incurable: for its
cure, the people of the South possess an unfailing remedy,
which has been applied to many patients, and which will
never fail to be applied, whenever it becomes necessary.
As to the efficacy of this remedy, many who have been
cured, live to testify their gratitude, and to bless their benefactors.
The efforts of abolitionists have made no impression
14 
PREFACE.
whatever on the institution of slavery in the United States,
although long continued and vigorously pressed. Individual slave-owners have been injured, but the institution remains unharmed; it is as vigorous, firm, and flourishing, today, as it has ever been since its foundation, and so is likely
to continue.
Amongst the most successful schemes of mischief brought
forth by abolitionists, may be reckoned what is familiarly
called the Under-Ground Railroad: by this means, many
owners have been deprived of their property by persons
esteeming themselves, and being esteemed by their associates, pious. How strong must be the delusion, when professing Christians conceive that there is no sin in stealing!
There have been many punished in various ways, no doubt,
who have been engaged in this systematized mode of villany. A recent case has fallen under our notice: one
McCormick, a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Synod
of Indiana, was suspended from the ministry (a very inadequate punishment) for his connection with it. This foolish
man was not even a successful rogue; he betrayed himself
by boasting of his performances.
Sometimes works of fiction (we had a specimen of this
kind of erudition recently) make their appearance: these
purport to be intended to inflame the popular mind, by relating cases of hardship endured by slaves, and thereby to
hasten the destruction of the institution. It is suspected,
however, that the authoress of the work alluded to (with
true Yankee shrewdness), had a more attentive eye in the
direction of the money to be realized from the sale of her
work, than to the success of the principles she advocated
in it.
Sometimes indiscreet individuals of this character propagate their sentiments on southern soil; nothing can be
more hazardous-this cannot, will not, be allowed.  In not a
few cases of this kind, the offender has received summarily
such chastisement as would deter him from a like undertak
15 
PREFACE.
ing for the future, and which would be an effectual admoni tion to all others in like manner disposed to offend.
A few foreigners, of sufficient notoriety to claim our
attention, in the exuberance of their benevolence, and with
a philanthropy that unfortunately overlooks the squalidity
of their own country and neighborhoods, have visited the
United States occasionally for the purpose of our enlighten ment on the subject of slavery. Among the most notorious
of these, one George Thompson is, perhaps, the most con spicuous. This man, possessing some powers'of declamation,
and much intemperate zeal, made his appearance here some
years ago. He was the employ6 of some old Scotch ladies,
not much wiser than himself, who picked him out of some
sewer in the purlieus of Glasgow, or some other filthy place.
It is matter of some surprise that the efforts of this aboli tion agent were not extended to those they were intended
to benefit! He confined his labors to the northern section of
the Union, and to a very small portion of the people there,
members of anti-slavery associations. It is, perhaps, matter
of regret that Thompson did not extend his visits into the
South, for it is probable had he done so, in the report he
made to his employers, upon his return to his own country,
he would have had the pleasure of adding some tangible
proofs of his personal reception.
Of another foreigner (Hon. Mliss Murray, a lady lately attached to the Court of Queen Victoria), it affords us much
pleasure to speak in different language. This lady visited
the South with all the prejudices of early education, and
long-cherished convictions against us. These prejudices
were highly inflamed by imagined and reported cases of
hardship, said to be common among slave-holders. She
came, she heard, she saw for herself, and the truth worked
an entire revolution in her opinions and feelings. It is
matter of deep regret that Miss Murray's determination to publish her knowledge of slavery in the United States, if it did
not cause the alienation of her friend, nevertheless caused
16 
PREFACE.
the cessation of the patronage of that friend. This is not
only matter of regret to us, it is matter of surprise also.
Her Majesty may have suffered herself to be persuaded that
something of State-policy was involved in the course she was
advised to pursue towards Miss Murray's book. However
this may be, we regret the course pursued, because we
assert that, personally, no sovereign now occupying a throne,
is wont to be more highly regarded by the people of the
United States than is her Britannic Majesty.
It is supposed by some that we have abolitionists residing
amongst us, who are engaged in various lucrative employments; the supposition is well founded. Persons thus
situated will best consult their safety by concealing their
opinions. This caution, however, may be unnecessary, as
those to whom it refers understand as well as we do the
prudent line of conduct.
It is also proper to remark, that many persons located
amongst us, who were formerly abolitionists-made so by
the false teachings to which they were confined-have, since
they became acquainted with the practical operations of the
institution of slavery, and its objects, thoroughly changed
their opinions, and are now as trustworthy on the subject,
as if they had never been imposed upon.
It is impossible to conceive the amount of mischief abolitionism has done, and is seeking to do. Its broad slimetrace is to be seen in every direction.  It invades  the
sanctuary of law, and strikes the balance from the hand of
justice; it tramples upon the Constitution; it repudiates the
Bible; it has rended asunder the church of the living God;
it sports with everything holy and sacred; it commits murder; it has progressed far in destroying the comity between
the States; it now menaces the integrity of the Union
itself! This, however, we trust, is as far as it will be
allowed, by the patriotism of the people, to progress.  A
spirit so emphatically "devilish," demands that every patriot
in the land should make haste to put it down.
17 
PREFACE.
We address one word to abolitionists not so far gone in
their madness as to be incapable of appreciating what we
say and mean: "And now I say unto you, Refrain from
these men (slave-holders), and let them alone, for if this
counsel, or this work (slavery), be of men (simply human),
it will come to nought; but if it be of God (as we shall
show it is), ye cannot overthrow it; lest, haply, ye (abo litionists) be found even to fight against God." We know
that the foregoing quotation is from a source not much, if at
all, respected by abolitionists; yet we think the advice it
contains good, and that it ought to be observed. Whether
it be followed or not, however, is matter of perfect indiffer ence to us.
What an amusing spectacle abolitionism personified would
be! Were some skilful play-writer to employ his talents in
this way, and produce a play, called The Abolitionist; consisting of as many parts as there are phases amongst abolitionists; in which brother Gardner, brother Seward (with a roll
in his hand, marked "higher law"), brother Trumbull, brother
Parker, brother Greeley (with a slouched hat on his head),
brother Wilson, brother Smith, brother Beecher (with a
Sharp's rifle on his shoulder), brother Garrison, and their
brother Fred, miserabile vulgus; and those strong-minded
women, aunt Hlarriet, sister Rev. Antoinette, sister Lucy
(displaying a marriage protest), sister Abbe, and their sister
the Black Swan (et idc genus omne), should have conspicuous
places; to conclude with the farce of A Cured Abolitionist
returningfrom the South; over all which his Satanic Majesty,
who has the perfect right, should be seen, with grinning
approbation, to preside; it is probable he would produce as
ludicrous an exhibition as was ever presented to the gaze of
an admiring audience.
18 
PREFACE.
Emancipating Slaves.
There is no power, divine or human, that requires an owner
to emancipate his slave.  If that be done, it must be a voluntary act, by all the parties concerned-voluntary on the part
of the owner, in offering emancipation, and voluntary on the
part of the slave, in accepting it. Supposing an owner to
be inclined to emancipate his slave, no one has any right to
object, no one does object; for the owner has as perfect a
right to dispose of his slave property, as he has to dispose
of any other species of property he may possess.
The troubles and responsibilities of an owner are not
few or small, as every one well knows. In view of these
considerations, owners are sometimes induced to emancipate
their slaves, by sending them all, old, middle-aged, and
young, to Africa; nothing, we conceive, is of greater impropriety. In such case the owner gets rid of the inconveniences alluded to, but the slave's condition is much worse
than it could have been if he had remained with his owner.
The fever peculiar to Africa, called the acclimating fever,
which every emigrant must pass through, destroys, as the
bills of mortality show, a great many of the very young and
the very old; indeed, so many of these die, that it may be
truly said they go there but to be buried. Besides, emigrants of this description embarrass those upon whom they
are dependent, and are useless, if not expensive, to the
government. These things should be well considered by
every owner disposed to emancipate his slaves.
The propriety of emancipating a slave, in view of his
transportation to Africa, requires: 1. That the slave be particularly instructed with regard to all the difficulties and
dangers he will have to meet in his new situation. 2. That
he be in good health, and of a sound constitution. 3. That
he be of good moral character. 4. That he be industrious
and provident. 5. That he be willing to go. These particulars being ascertained, and the slave being furnished by his
19 
PREFACE.
owner with such things as will be necessary for his convenience for the first year of his residence in Africa, and the
payment of his passage thither, let him go.
The conveying emancipated slaves to Africa by the
Colonization Society, is an incidental undertaking. That
society was organized, and still continues to exist, for the
exclusive purpose of transporting the free persons of color
in the United States to Africa. The society, therefore,
should not be expected to divert its means from the direct
to an incidental object; indeed, in many instances, the
intentions of owners have been defeated, from the fact that
the society has been unable to sustain the expenses of the
slaves they proposed to emancipate.
M-ahometani,sm.
This system of religion, if it be allowable to dignify it
with such a title, may properly be divided into two parts,
namely: creed and practice.  The creed embraces some
leading truths, improperly conceived, and, therefore, badly
taught, and many absurdities-perhaps we would be more
correct in calling them profanities. The creed is reduced to
a very simple form, thus: "God is God, and Mahomet is His
prophet." This must be believed.
The practice consists of four general parts, thus: 1.
Prayer. 2. Alms, of which there are two kinds, namely:
legal and voluntary.  3. Fasting-this Mahomnetans call
"the gate of religion."  4. The pilgrimage to Mecca; they
say a Moslem had as well die a Jew or a Christian, in either
of which cases there is no chance for heaven, as to die without having performed this pilgrimage.
This religion is now, as it has been from the first, propagated by force —compulsion is the instrument it employs to
make converts.   This is the religion of Northern, from
whence it has been carried far into Central, but it has not
20 
PREFACE.
yet reached Southern Africa. There, until Christian missionaries made their appearance, there was no God taught
in any form!
The Christianizing of Africa involves the fact, that on
that field Christianity and Mahometanism are to engage in
their contests, to fight their battles. There the crescent and
the cross are to meet face to face.   Already  the warrior
hosts of Christianity are buckling on their armor. In the
name of the living God they go forth, and in the name of
the living God they shall triumph. The crescent shall bow
to the cross. When we survey the whole ground, we see
what a mighty work Christianity has to perform in Africa!
Exodus of Slavery.
Whether slavery is a temporary or permanent institution,
has been deemed  an important inquiry.   The thorough
investigation of this question does not properly fall within
the range of our undertaking; for we are not interested in
hypothetical but historical facts. All that we shall do here,
therefore, will be to exhibit the expressed opinions of some
men of distinguished abilities on the subject, and submit
some general remarks for the consideration of the reader.
M'r Clay, who thinks the institution temporary, says: "I
believe, and I have as much confidence in the belief as I
have in my own existence, that the day will come, distant,
very far distant, perhaps, from the present time, but that
the day will come, when, by voluntary emancipation, and by
acts of individuals, and of the States themselves, without any
usurpation of power on the part of the general government, there
will be an end of slavery. Slavery may find its termination
in different modes.  It may by law; it may by the sword;
it may by the operation of natural causes, to which I look
for its ultimate extinction. As to the sword, nobody, I trust,
would think of the employment of that to put an end to
slavery.
21 
PREFACE.
"But I may be asked, What is meant by the operation of
natural causes? I mean this: upon one occasion, some
twenty years ago, I went more at large than I feel now at
liberty to do, into this subject.  I went into the modus
operandi of these natural causes, by which, in a long time,
I am of opinion there will be an extinction of slavery. There
will be an extinction of slavery whenever the density of the
population in the United States shall be so great that free
labor can be procured by those who want the command of
labor at a cheaper rate, and under less onerous conditions,
than slave labor can be commanded. Although I cannot fix
the time when this will occur, I can state the conditions and
circumstances under which. When it does occur, there will
be a voluntary manumission of slaves.  It is not to be by any
enforced usurpation or legal action of the general, or any
other government at all, but by the voluntary consent of the
States, and individuals of the States, which are alone interested in the subject of slavery, and which have exclusively
the right to determine when and how it shall ceast to exist.
Whenever, then, you can show to me, and that time will
come, that our population shall be three or four times as
great as it is, and that time will not be a very long timewhen we measure time not by the duration of individuals or
particular lives of persons, but by the period of national
existence-whenever the time comes, as it will come, that
our population shall be three or four times as great as at
present; that the prices of labor, the wages of manual
labor, shall be so reduced that it will be too burdensome on
the part of the owners of slaves to raise them for the sake of
the labor they perform; whenever it becomes the interest of
the slave States and the slave-holders to resort to another
kind of labor than that which is furnished by slaves; whenever that epoch comes, there will be a termination of slavery.
Now, gentlemen, I am not about, as I said before, to specify
the time when this is going to happen —I cannot do it-but
I would repress, if I could, the impatience of those who are
22 
PREFACE.
unwilling to wait the slow operation of the means and
instrumentalities which God and nature furnish in order to
accomplish the great purposes of His wisdom. Iwould ask
them to repress their impatience; to have more dependence upon
the wisdom and providence of God than upon their own limited
passions and circumscribed reason.  What, in a national point
of view, is a century to a nation? Nothing. It took two
centuries and more to bring from the shores of Africa her
sons, now existing in a state of slavery in the United States.
It may take two centuries, more or less, to transport their
descendants, to such an extent as no longer to create any
solicitude or anxiety about the few that may linger and remain behind. It may take some two centuries to carry them
back; and what, I repeat again, is this in the great workings of national existence, and the administration of the
affairs of this world, by the Providence that controls, directs,
and governs them?"
M'r Toombs says: "His condition [the African slave] is
not permanent among us, and we may find his exodus in the
unvarying laws of population. Under the conditions of
labor in England, and the continent of Europe, slavery could
not exist here, or anywhere else. The moment wages
descend to a point barely sufficient to support the laborer
and his family, capital cannot afford to own labor, and
slavery instantly ceases. Slavery ceased in England in
obedience to this law, and not from any regard to liberty or
humanity. The increase of population will produce the same
result in this country; and American slavery, like that of
England, will find its euthanasy in the general prostration
of all labor."
The opinions we have presented above are decidedly in
favor of the institution being a temporary one. They are
based upon an assumed state of facts, which lie far in the
future-a state of facts warranted by no present indications.
We do not intend to question the soundness of these
opinions; we do not intend to say that they never will be
23 
PREFACE.
realized; but we do intend to say, that nothing connected with the practical operations of the institution points
that way. We do not see "the beginning of the end."
These opinions may, they may not, be correct. However
that may be, they have no immediate bearing upon the
institution. Being, therefore, of no present interest, these
opinions (as their authors intended they should not) do not
interfere in the slightest degree with the institution.   We
who are connected with the institution at this day, are to regard it
as permanent-perpetual.
But, assuming that the institution is a temporary and not
a permanent one, it is easy to see that society, in all its
ramifications, will have to undergo a complete revolution,
before it is abolished. This state of things, in which abolitionists will have no agency whatever, will be brought
about by Providence in gradual movements, which, causing
no detriment to any, will receive the hearty approval and cooperation of all.
PERRY, Houston County, Ga.,
August, 1856.
24 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES
CHAPTER I.
INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY.
Section 1.
Noah's Posterity.-"CAnd the sons of Noah, that went
forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and
Ham is the father of Canaan: these are the three sons of
Noah; and of them was the whole earth overspread."
Noah attained the age of nine hundred and fifty years;
this period is divided thus: six hundred years before the
deluge and three hundred and fifty years after that event.
This makes the age of Noah the second highest on record,
that of Methuselah being the first, he having lived nine
hundred and sixty-nine years.
"And of them was the whole earth overspread."-Noah
died Anno Jf?lndi 2006, as is generally agreed. Previously to his death, he divided the earth among his
three sons.  Asia was assigned to Shem, Europe  to
Japheth, and Africa to Ham.
Prophecy concerning SIavery.-"'And Noah began to be
an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: and he drank
of the wine and was drunken; and he was uncovered
within his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the
nakedness of his father, and told his brethren without.
2 
SLAVERY IN TIIE UiNITED STATES.
"And Shemn and Japheth took a garment, and laid it
upon their shoulders, and went backward, and covered
the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, anid they saw not their father's nakedness.
"And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his
younger son had done unto him.  And he said, Cursed
be Canaan; a servant of servarnts shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem,
and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth,
and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem, and Canaan shall
be his servant."
iow peculiarly emphatic is this language, "a servant of
servants;" that is, the most degraded kind of servant-a
slave. Hiere we have the establishment of the relation of
master and servant; that is to say, slavery. This prophecy was delivered A. M. 1657, which must be regarded as
the period of the establishment of slavery: its practical
developments will appear as we progress.
But why was slavery established? We answer, as a
punishment for sin. Upon whom was this particular punishment to be inflicted? We answer, upon Hiam's posterity; for, however reprehensible we may regard the
conduct of Ham towards his father to have been, we are
not to suppose that that conduct was the cause of the curse
pronounced upon his son Canaan; for had Ham's conduct
been the cause of the curse, the curse would have been
pronounced upon him and not upon his son. HIam's conduct was but the occasion that brought forth the announcement of events then far in the future, and which have
been, and still are being, developed.
The text does not warrant the conclusion that Canaan
participated in the mirth or contempt which the discovery
26 
INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY.
of Noah's  condition  occasioned; the  assertion  that
such was the fact is altogether gratuitous; it is unsupported by authority; it cannot be proved; it is not inferable.  Canaan)'s name is mentioned to denote ]a7n'sposterity;
it is for that purpose alone that it is used in the prophecy.
The whole prophecy must be taken together-Shem and
Japheth had shown a virtuous regard for their father; that
virtue manifested itself in their posterity-it was that virtue that was blessed On the contrary, Ham's conduct was
vicious; (vice in his posterity has ever been their most
marked characteristic)-it was that viciousness that was
cursed, and which has been punished in so peculiar a manner.
We are aware that we have assumed advanced ground
in the above statement. The extent to which opinion has
gone, on the subject of slavery, is at most, that it was but
permitted, not ordained. That it was ordained by divine
authority, and announced in the prophecy of Noah, is
what we assert.  This assertion we prove by two considerations: 1. The language of the prophecy is the language
of command, not of permission.  2. By the fulfilment of
the prophecy, which will be seen in the facts which compose the subsequent portions of this volume.
The view that we here submit may not be acceptable to
all; it would be strange if it were so; but let no one reject it by saying, "I don't believe it." "I don't believe it,"
is the language of either ignorance or prejudice; sometimes of both. Let those who deny the correctness of our
interpretation of the prophecy, produce the proof and the
argument which will show its incorrectness. Truth being
our object, to proof anid argument we will most cheerfully
submit.
27 
238       SLAVERY IN' THE UNITED STATES.
Section 2.
Shem's Posterity.-Shem had five sons, namely, Elam,
Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram.  "Elam settled in
Persia, where he became the father of that mighty nation.
The descendants of Asshur, peopled Assyria. Arphaxad
settled in Chaldea.  To the family of Lud is generally
assigned Lydia.  Aram is believed to have settled in Mesopotamia and Syria."
Jo.peth's Posterity.-The Bible does not furnish any account of the life and death of Japheth; but that his sons,
namely, Gomer, Magog, Madia, Javan, Juba], Meshech,
and Tiras, became the heads of nations, is generally believed.  "Gomer," says Josephus, "was the father of the
Gomerites, or Celts; that is, of all the nations that inhabited the northern parts of Europe, under the names of
Gauls, Cimbrians, Goths, &c., and who also migrated into
Spain, where they were called Celtiberians. From Magog, Meshech, and Jubal, proceeded the Seythians, Sarmatians, and Tartars.  From Madia, Javan, and Tiras,
the Medes, Ionians, Greeks and Thracians."
Hant's Posterity. —HIam had four sons, namely, Cush,
Mizraim, Phut, and Canaan.  "The sons of Cush, Seba,
and Hiavilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtechah:
and the sons of Raamah, Sheba and Dedan. And Cush
begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.
He was a mnighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore, it is
said, Even as Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the Lord.
And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech,
and Accad, and (Calnehl, in the land of Shinar. Out of
that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and
the city Rehoboth, and Calah, and Resen, between Nineveh and Calah; the same is a great city." 
INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY.
As we are more interested in the posterity of Cush,
than in that of the other sons of Ham, to wit, Mizraim,
Phut, and Canaan, we shall first notice the latter. This
course will enable us to keep our attention fixed uninterruptedly upon that people from whom came the slaves
of the United States; in whose history, as well as it can
be traced, we cannot but feel the liveliest interest.
Afizraim. —This son of Ham was the progenitor of the
Egyptians, who are frequently called by his name: the
word is also used as the name of the country.  Mizraim
has three different significations: 1. The land of Egypt.
2. Him who first peopled Egypt. 3. The inhabitants
of Egypt.
Egypt is divided into two parts by the river Nile,
which runs from north to south; hence, Lower and Upper
Egypt. The capital of this country, Cairo, and even the
country itself, is by the Arabians called Mezer: the natives call it Chemi, that is to say, the land of Ham: so
it is sometimes called by the Hebrews. The Mizraimites
settled that part of the land of Canaan known as Philistia,
or Palestine: they have, long ago, been lost, as a distinct
people.
Phut. —It is agreed that this son of ]Eam peopled a colony in Lower Egypt, inclining towards Lybia. His descendants, therefore, are generally reckoned among the
Egyptians, and not as a distinct people.  This branch of
the Eram family, like that of Mizraim, has long ago disappeared.
Canaan.-" And Canaan begat Sidon, his first-born, andcl
Hleth, and the Jebusite, and the Emorite, and the Girgasite, and the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite, and
the Arvadite, and the Zemarite and the Hamathite: and
29 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
afterwards were the families of the Canaanites spread
abroad. And the border of the Canaanites was from
Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza: as thou goest
unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim,
even unto Lasha."
Canaan had, besides Sidon his first-born, ten other sons,
who were the heads of as many tribes, all dwelling in
Palestine and Syria. All these being Canaanites, the
country took the name of "Canaan." The country thus
named is "a narrow slip, extending along the eastern
coast of the Mediterranean, from which to the river Jordan, the utmost width does not exceed fifty miles.  The
Jordan was the eastern boundary of the land of Canaan,
or Palestine, properly so called: which derived its name
from the Philistines, or Palestines, originally inhabiting
the coast." After the Israelites possessed the country, it
was considerably enlarged by the subjugation of neighboring nations.  "The territory of Tyre and Sidon was
its ancient border, on the northwest; the range of the
Libanus and Anti-Libanus, forms a natural boundary on
the north and northeast; while in the south it is pressed
upon by the Syrian and Arabian deserts. The kingdom
of David and Solomon extended far beyond these narrow
limits: in a northeasterly direction, it was bounded only
by the river Euphrates, and included a considerable part
of Syria."
Section 3.
Ihe Canaanites to be exterminated,  not enzslaved. —Moses
was the conductor of the Israelites, during their wanderings in the wilderness, but he was not permitted to accompany them into the promised land; when, therefore,
30 
INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY.
they were prepared to pass the Jordan, their faithful legislator assembled them for his last instructions, and said:
"When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land
whither thou goest to possess it, and hast cast out many
nations before thee, the Hlittites, and the Girgashites, and
the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and
the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and
mightier than thou; and when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them: thou shalt make no covenant with
them, nor show mercy unto them: neither shalt thou
make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not
give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto
thy son: for they will turn away thy son from following
me, that they may serve other gods; so will the anger of
the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee sud
denly.
"And thou shalt consume all the people which the
Lord thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no
pity upon them: neither shalt thou serve their gods; for
that will be a snare unto thee.
"But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the
land from before you, then it shall come to pass that
those which ye let remain of them, shall be pricks in your
eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the
lanrd wherein ye dwell.  Moreover, it shall come to pass,
that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them."
That nothing connected with the purgation of the promised land, might be left uncertain, Moses gave instructions with regard to the places of worship of the Canaanites: "Ye shall utterly destroy all the places wherein
the nations which ye shall possess, served their gods;
31 
32        SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under
every green tree, and ye shall overthrow their altars, and
break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and
ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and
destroy the names of them, out of that place.
Josephus, speaking of Moses' instructions, says: "When
you have beaten your enemies in battle, slay those that
have fought against you, but preserve the others alive,
that they may pay you tribute, excepting the nation of the
Canaanites, for, as to that people, you must entirely destroy them."  Again: "Moses directed, that when they
had got possession of the land of the Canaanites, and
when they had destroyed the whole multitude of its inhabitants, as they ought to do, they should erect an altar,"
&e. From the directness of the instructions given, both
as related to the peoples of Canaan and their places of
worship, it is impossible to understand anything less than
a total extermination of both; that nothing should be left,
either of the one or the other, whereby the Israelites
should be corrupted.
So particular was Moses on this occasion, that he
guarded the Israelites from improper conclusions: he
knew they might attribute the wonderful displays of
God's power through them to their own righteousness.
That they might not fall into this error, he said: "Speak
not in thine heart, after that the Lord thy God hath cast
them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness
the Lord hath brought me in to possess this land; but for
the wickedness of these nations, the Lord doth drive them
out from before thee.  Nor for thy righteousness, or for
the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess
their land, but for the wickedness of these nations, the 
INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY.
Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee; and
that He may perform the word which the Lord sware
unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, understand,
therefore, that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this
good land to possess it for thy righteousness, for thou art
a stiff-necked people."
Section 4.
Manner of executing the command.-"And the Lord thy
God will put out those nations before thee by little and
little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the
beast of the field increase upon thee. But the Lord thy
God shall deliver them unto thee, and thou shalt destroy
them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed."
Respecting the situation of the seven nations, against
whom the Israelites were first to proceed, Calmet remarks:
"Those called Canaanites chiefly inhabited what is called
Phoenicia, the environs of Tyre and Sidon; the Hittites
occupied the mountains southward of the promised land;
the ilivites dwelt by Ebal and Gerezim, Sichem and
Gibeon, towards the mountains of Hiermon; the Perizzites
were, probably, not a distinct nation or tribe, but rather
villagers, scattered through the country in general; the
Girgashites possesseth the country beyond the Jordan, towards the lake of Gennesareth; the Jebusites possessed
Jerusalem, and the Amorites occupied the mountainous
country in the vicinity of the western part of the Dead
Sea, and also that part of the land of Moab which the
Israelites conquered from Sihon and Og."
Joshua, upon whom was devolved the duty of conducting the Israelites into the promised land, commenced the
subjugation of the country and the extermination of its
2*
33 
34        SI,AVERY IN T-HE UNITED STATES.
peoples, by first besieging the city of Jericho. Just as
the city was about to fall, Joshua said to the Israelites:
"The city shall be accursed, even it and all that are therein, to the Lord: only Rahab, the harlot, shall live, she
and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the
messengers that we sent."  When  the city fell, they
utterly destroyed all that were in it, "both man and
woman, young and old, and ox and sheep and ass, with
the edge of the sword."
From the ruin of Jericho the Israelites proceeded to Ai.
God said to Joshua: "Thou shalt do to Ai and her king
as thou didst unto Jericho and her king." Upon the
taking of Ai, the Israelites "smote it with the edge of the
sword. And so it was, that all that fell that day, both of
men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the men
of Ai."
The narrative of Joshua's progress is here interrupted
by an interesting circumstance. The Gibeonites (alias
Hivites) having learned the fate of Jericho and Ai, "Did
work wililvy, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors; and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine
bottles, old and rent, and bound up; and old shoes and
clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and
all the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy."
Thus prepared, they appeared in the camp of the Israelites and said: "We be come from a far country; now,
therefore, make a league with us." The usual course of
proceeding, by " asking counsel of the mouth of the Lord,"
was not observed by the Israelites.  This fact is the more
astonishing, because the Israelites suspected imposition on
the part of the Gibeonites.  The Israelites not only "took
of their victuals," but "the princes of the congregation 
INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY.
sware unto them." Joshua asked them: "Who are ye
and from whence come ye?" They replied, that their
country was very distant; that they had heard of the
delivery, by the Lord, of the Israelites from Egypt, and
of what the Lord had done to the Amorites on the other
side of Jordan; therefore, their elders and people had sent
them to meet the Israelites and ask terms of peace. In
confirmation of the truth of their being a distant people,
they referred to their mouldy bread; to their rent and
torn wine bottles, and to their tattered garments. Joshua
made a league with them. It is proper here to remark,
that the extent of the league was "to let them live"-that
is, not to exterminate them.
At the end of three days, the Israelites discovered the
imposition of the Gibeonites, who, instead of living in a
distant country, were the "neighbors" of the Israelites.
Joshua proceeded to their country.  " Now their cities
were Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjathjearim. And the Israelites smote them not, because the
princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by the
Lord God of Israel." Joshua summoned them before
himn, and said unto them: "Wherefore have ye beguiled
us, saying, We are very far from you, when ye dwell
among us? Now, therefore, ye are cursed, and there shall
none of you be free from being bondmen, and hewers of
wood and drawers of water, for the house of my God. And
they answered Joshua and said, Because it was certainly
told thy servants, how that the Lord thy God commanded
his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all
the inhabitants of the lai.dfrom before you; therefore, we were
sore afraid of our lives because of you, and have done this
thing. And now, behold, we are in thine hand; as it
35 
36        SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
seemeth good and right unto thee to do unto us, do."
Joshua, on this, confirmed what had previously been deter mnined upon; that is, he spared their lives, "because of the
oath," and settled their condition of "hewers of wood and
drawers of water;" that is, he reduced them to slavery.
Here we see that the Gibeonites were reduced to slavery
by Joshua, but we do not find anywhere his authority for
that act; indeed, he was "beguiled" into it by the Gibeonites, "not having sought counsel at the mouth of the
Lord." Joshua cannot be justified on the ground of
Noah's prophecy, for the command of Moses, which was
subsequent to the prophecy, required that the Canaanites
should be exterminated, not enslaved. Was the command
of Moses defeated by this act of Joshua? Certainly not;
for had Joshua's act violated the command given him, it
would certainly have received the divine disapprobation,
which it did not receive. Joshua's act is justified by
that part of the command which directed the manner
in which the command was to be fulfilled; that is, the
Canaanites were to be exterminated "by little and little:
thou mayest not consume them at once:" therefore,
the "sparing the lives" of the Gibeonites was not a violation of the command. Was the command fulfilled? It
certainly was. The Gibeonites in their enslaved condition, continued subject to the burdens imposed upon them,
and were "very faithful " to the Israelites until the reign
of David, when they entirely ceased to exist as a distinct
people; thus was the command literally fulfilled. With
regard to the deferred execution of the command, we remark, that it was in perfect conformity with the divine
procedure. David repented and had his punishment deferred. Hezekiah was told that he must "die and not 
INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY.
live," but upon his "praying to the Lord," fifteen years
were added to his life. So with the Gibeonites, their
fidelity to the Israelites deferred their extermination, and
brought it about it in a milder and more gradual form
than its immediate accomplishment would have been.
Having disposed of the Gibeonites, we resume the narrative of Joshua's progress in conquering the land. After
Joshua had settled the condition of the Gibeonites, Adonizedek, king of Jerusalem; Hioham, king of Hebron; Piram, king of Jarmuthl; Japhlia, king of Lachish, and Debir,
king of Eglon, combined their forces for the purpose of
fighting against the Gibeonites. Joshua marched to their
assistance: "And the Lord said unto Joshua, Fear them
not; for I have delivered them into thine hand: there
shall not aman of them stand before thee." The battle
came on, "And the Lord discomfited them before Israel,
and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and
chased them along the way that goeth up to Beth-horon,
and smote them to Azkah, and unto Mlakkedah. And it
came to pass as they fled from before Israel, and were in the
going down to Beth-horon, that the Lord cast down great
stones from heaven upon them, unto Azekah, and they
died; they were more which died with hailstones
than they whom the children of Israel slew with the
sword."
After this Joshua took Makkedah: he destroyed the
city "and all the souls that were therein; he let none remain."  The same fate was realized by  Libnah, and
Lachish, and Eglon, and Hebron, and Debir. Joshua "destroyed all the souls that were therein: he left none remaining."
"So Joshua  smote all the country.of the hills, and of
37 
38       SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all
their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed
all that breathed, as the Lord God of Israel commanded.
And Joshua smote them from Kadesh-barnea even unto
Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, even unto Gibeon."
Jabin, king of Hazor, having "heard these things,"
sent "to Jabab, king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshapp, and to the kings that
were on the north of the mountains, and of the plains
south of Chinneroth, and in the valley, and in the borders
of Dor, on the west; and to the Canaanite, on the east
and on the west; and to the Amorite, and to the Hittite,
and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite, in the mountains;
and to the Hiivite, under Hiermnion, in the land of Mizpeh.
And they went out, they and all their hosts with them,
much people, even as the sand that is upon the sea-shore,
in multitude." With these hosts the Israelites fought and
overcame them, and "smote them until they left them
none remaining." On his return from this great battle,
Joshua took Hiazor, and "smote all the souls that were
therein, with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying
them: there was not any left to breathe." All the cities
of the confederated kings were taken; the Israelites
"smote them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed them." The spoils of these cities were preserved
to the Israelites; "but every man they smote with the
the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them;
neither left they any to breathe."
It is a fact, that not a city, or people, except the Gibeonites, sought to make terms of peace with the Israelites,
all were exterminated: "For it was of the Lord to harden
their hearts, that they should come against Israel in bat 
INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY.
tie, that they might destroy them utter]y, and that they
might have no favor, but that he might destroy them, as
the Lord commanded Moses."
After this Joshua proceeded against the Anakims and
overthrew them: some of them escaped "in Gaza, in
Gath, and in Ashdod, where they remained." These
cities belonged to the Philistines (and did not fall within
the limits of Joshua's conquests); this accounts for the appearance of the Anakims afterwards among the Israelites.
It is reasonable to suppose that many of the Canaanites
escaped being destroyed, by taking refuge in neighboring
nations-in Africa, in Asia Minor, in Greece, and in different islands of the LEgean and Mediterranean sea; and
became amalgamated with their peoples.
Section 5.
Joshua commenced the conquest of the promised land
A. M. 2553, and was six years engaged in its accomplishment; after which "the whole land rested from war;"
that is, that portion of the land of Canaan which it was
designed should be conquered by Joshua, was now in the
possession of the Israelites.
Joshua having completed his conquests, was for some
time engaged in dividing the conquered land among the
Israelites. When that duty was performed, he said to the
people, " How long are ye slack to go to possess the land,
which the Lord God of your fathers hath given you?"
The Israelites immediately set about the conquest of the
remainder of the land; they sent out from the tribes
which were to inherit it, three men each; these men
were to pass through the land; "to describe it," and to
report to Joshua, who was to divide it. The men sent
39 
40        SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
out " described it by cities, into seven parts, in a book,"
and brought the book to Joshua, who divided the
]and. The conquest of the land being completed, after
this arrangement, "The Lord gave them rest round
about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers:
and there stood not a man of all their enemies before
them: the Lord delivered all their enemies into their
hand."
There remained many of the original Canaanites scattered through the land; these were compelled to "serve
under tribute," and were not, like the Gibeonites, reduced
to slavery.  With respect to these scattered Canaanites,
Joshua said to the Israelites: "Take good heed therefore, unto yourselves, that ye love the Lord your
God.   Else, if ye  do  in  any  wise  go  back,  and
cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that
remain among you, and shall make marriages with them,
and go in unto them, and they to you; know for a certainty that the Lord your God will no more drive out
any of these nations from before you; but they shall be
snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides,
and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good
land which the Lord your God hath given you." On closing this branch of the subject, it may be interesting to
inquire,  Why  were the  Canaanites to be exterminated?
The answer to this inquiry may be read in the eighteenth
and  twentieth  chapters of the book of Leviticus,  to
which we refer the reader. All the abominations contained in those chapters, and which were forbidden the
Israelites, were practiced  by  the  Canaanites.   These
abominations removed them beyond the range of the divine
mercy! "The land itself," as if incapable of containing 
INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY.
such sinners, "vomiteth out her inhabitants." Besides, it
must be remembered that the Canaanites were to be
succeeded in the promised land by a people to whom
the Oracles of Salvation were being delivered, and from
whom should spring the Redeemer of the world. A
people thus favored should be pure and uncorrupt.
Section 6.
WAVhen the Israelitish host, A. M. 2514, stood before the
holy mount for the purpose of receiving the laws which
were to be the rule of their conduct, as related to their
worship, their civil polity, and their domestic organization,
God said: "I am the Lord your God, which brought you
forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of
Canaan, and to be your God. And if thy brother that
dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee;
thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bond-servant, but
as a hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with
thee, and shall serve thee unto the year of jubilee; and
then shall he depart from thee, both he and his children
with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto
the possession of his fathers shall he return: for they are
my  servants,  which I brought forth out of the land of
Egypt:  they shall not be sold as  bondmen.   Thou
shalt not rule over him with rigor; but shalt fear thy
God.
"Both thy bondmnen and thy bondrnaids, which thou shalt
have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of
them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids. -foreover, of the
children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them
shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which
they begat in your land; and they shall be your possession.
41 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
And ye shall take themn for an inheritance for your children
after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your
bondmen forever."
There is no possible misunderstanding the text; it
contains the clearest and most explicit authority for
slavery in the church; (on which subject we shall say
more in a subsequent part of this work.) But slavery
existed among the Israelites before this time; Josephus,
in speaking of the great interest excited in the Hebrew
community on the occasion of Moses giving instructions
to Joshua, relative to the conquest of the promised land,
says, "the very slaves were present also."  These slaves
the Israelites brought with them from the land of
Egypt.
Had it been designed that the promised land, to which
the Israelites were journeying, should, in modern language, be free soil, here is the place that we should find
the command; instead of that, however, we find a
command directly the reverse.
Abraham, when he was separated from his father's house,
in order that he might become " the father of the faithful,"
that is, the father of all true believers; was authorized to
purchase and possess slaves, as we shall see. And here,
when his posterity had become numerous and were
journeying to the promised land for the purpose of possessing it, they are informed, not only that they may
possess slaves, but of whom they were to procure them,
and how the slaves themselves were to be regarded; that
is, as property;'for he (the slave) is his (the master's)
mon7?ey."
It will not escape the attention of the reader, that
slaves were to be procured by'the Israelites of the heathen.  Israelitish  slaves, persons  reduced to poverty
42 
INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY.
among them, might be purchased and possessed, but
theirs was a limited servitude, which did not extend beyond the next occurring year of jubilee; and their treatment was to be that of hired-servants and not that of
bond-servants: but heathen-slaves were to be a possession
and an inheritance to the purchaser and his children forever.
At the first view this would appear to be an arrangement against heathen-slaves, but a little consideration
will show that it was an arrangement in favor of such
slaves; for these were the means by which they were to
be brought to the knowledge of the true God; into his
Church, and finally to salvation.
Slaves were to be procured by the Israelites, from the
heathen round about them; so they have been procured
by the people of the South. The slaves they possess, although natives of a distant country, were brought to their
doors and sold to them by foreigners: for the people of
the South have ever had, comparatively, but a small share
in.their importation, as we shall see.
Let the reader turn his attention to the facts stated in
the fourth and fifth chapters of this work, and he will at
once see the beneficial results of slavery to the enslaved;
results which shall continue to enlarge until Christianity,
with all its attendant blessings, shall reach every child of
Africa, whether he be found in the United States or in
his native country.
We submit one other remark here-it is the design of
providence to secure the redemption of Africans by permitting them to be brought into Christian countries and
Christian families. Their reclamation from heathenism
has been attempted by sending white missionaries among
them in their native country; but while the Church has
43 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
had to deplore the loss of many valuable lives from this
course, the very small amount of good accomplished
shows that that arrangement was a failure. It would be
gratifying to know how many missionaries have been lost
by the Churches having operations in Africa. It seems to
us to be but justice to the memories of these devoted men
and women, that their names should be mentioned in this
connection. Are there not persons sufficiently interested
in this subject, who will furnish us with the facts?
S&ction 7.
Slavery existed in Africa long beoove the time of Joshua,
at le(ast as early as A. JI. 2083.-Teral, the father of Abraham, left Ur of the Chaldees, for the purpose of going
into the land of Canaan, A. M. 2078, having Abraham in
his company: he proceeded as far as Haran, where
he died. A. M. 2083, the Lord said unto Abraham,
who was then called Abram,  "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house,
unto a land that I will show thee; and I will make-of
thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy
name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: and I will
bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth
thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be
blessed."
This clear, beautiful and expressive language, arouses
the attention to the fact, that some great change of affairs
is now about to occur; and it keeps the attention on the
alert to discover the beginnings of the anticipated event.
That event was the organization of the Church.   Abraham was a slave-holder at this time.
In compliance with the directions which he had received, Abraham journeyed into the land of Canaan: here
44 
INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY.
the Lord appeared to him and said, " Unto thy seed will
I give this land;" this promise, as we have seen, was fulfilled to the Israelites. Abraham made no permanent settlement in the land of Canaan, but continued to journey,
"going on still toward the south."'  A  famine occurring
in the land of Canaan, Abraham "went down into Egypt,
to sojourn there." When he arrived near the border of
Egypt, fearing the great beauty of Sarah would occasion
him trouble, he directed her to pass as his siater. The
matter turned out as he supposed it would, for "when
Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the
woman, that she was very fair. The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh; and
the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.  And he entreated Abram well for her sake; and he had sheep, and
oxen, and he-asses, and men-servants, and maid-servants.
and she-asses and camels." The property mentioned here,
all agree, was the property of Abraham; some suppose
that Abraham possessed this property previously, and carried it with him into Egypt; others think that it was given to him by Pharaoh; the latter opinion appears to us
the most probable: however this may be, we learn from
the statement one of two facts; namely, if Abraham
carried the property with him, then he possessed slaves
before he went into Egypt: if Pharaoh gave him the
property, then slavery existed in Egypt before Abraham
went there-let the case be the one way or the other,
Abraham at this time possessed slaves. Pharaoh having
returned Sarah to Abraham, he "; went up out of Egypt;
he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him,
into the south;" that is into the southern parts of the
land of Canaan. Here, we see, was slavery, long before
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46        SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
the Gibeonites were reduced to that condition by Joshua.
There is another very important fact, too, that will be no ticed; namely, that slavery was introduced into the
Church of God from the very beginning of its organiza tion; for Abraham is as much to-day the " father of the
faithful; the father of us all;" that is, of all faithful be lievers, as he was on the day when the blessings were pronm ised to him; blessings which form the believers' inherit ance to the end of the world.
Number of slaves possessed by Abrahamr.-A. M. 2091,
certain kings confederated and made war upon the cities of
Sodom and Gomnorrah. Lot, "Abram's brother's son,"
lived in Sodom, and when the city fell into the hands of
the kings, he was taken prisoner and carried away. One
who had escaped from Sodom, went to Abraham and told
him of the overthrow of the city and of the captivity of
Lot.  "And when Abraham heard that his brother was
taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his
house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them
unto Dan;" here he joined battle with them, overcome
them, and recovered all that had been lost.
A. M. 2107, after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, by the angel of the Lord, Abraham, who was then
in that part of the country, "journeyed from thence towards the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh
and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar." Abraham being in
a strange country, and fearing that he should be involved
in trouble on account of Sarah, resorted to the old expedient of having her pass as his sister. " Abirneleebh,
king of Gerar, sent and took Sarah. But God came to
Abimelech, in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which 
INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY.
thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife." "And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and men-servants, and women-servants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored
him Sarah his wife."  Here we see, that Abraham  had
not only the number of his slaves increased, but that
slavery existed in Palestine at this time.
Isaac was a slave-holder.-" For he had possession of
flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants. And the Philistines envied him."
Jacob was a slave-holder.-Vhen Jacob left Mesopotamia
and was returning to the promised land, expecting to
meet Esau, whom he greatly feared, he sent messengers
to him, "And commanded them saying, Thus shall ye
speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus:
I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now:
and I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and men-servants, and
women-servants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I
may find grace in thy sight."
Section 8.
IHaving shown that slavery existed long before the
Israelites entered the promised land, that Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob were slave-holders, and having disposed of the
other sons of Ham, our attention will now be directed to
Cush.
CUSH; blackness, or heat.-MARTINDALE.  This definition applies as well to the people as to the country of the
Cushites.  Josephus asserts, "that as for the four sons of
Ham, time has not at all hurt the name of Chus; for the
Ethiopians, over whom he reigned, are even at this day,
both by themselves and all men in Asia, called Chusites."
The term Cush, is by the Vulgate, Septuagint and
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48        SLAVERY IN TIIE UNITED STATES.
other authorities, generally rendered Ethiopia; that is,
the land of Cush: yet it must be admitted, that there are
many passages which will not allow of such a rendering:
notwithstanding, Ethiopia in Hebrew is frequently called
Cush.  That Cush and Ethiopia were terms used indifferently, to designate the same people and country, there
can be no doubt.
From the fact of the Ethiopians having made settlements and removals out of Africa, much confusion has
occurred among early writers. They first settled on the
Persian Gulf, in Chuzestan; thence they spread over
India and portions of Arabia, near the Red sea; thence
the main body passed into Africa, to the south of Egypt;
thence to the center of Africa; thence from increasing
numbers and other causes, as is supposed, for we have
no history to guide us, they continued to stretch farther
south and west, until they appeared upon the coasts;
where we find "en the woolly-headed Negro the genuine
Cushite."  Whenever the main body of the people emigrated, numbers remained at the place of their last
settlement; it was from one of these remaining bands,
doubtless, that Moses took a wife, "for he had married
an Ethiopian woman."
The earliest accounts extant of the Ethiopians, show
that  they were  gross  idolaters; but it is impossible
now to trace their system of idolatry, if they had a
system, with any degree of certainty. From their longcontinued intercourse with the Egyptians, their immediate neighborhood, and other causes, it is probable
that their system received many of its features from
the  Egyptian,  which  everybody  knows  was  of  the
grossest kind: however that may be, they have con 
INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY.
tinued to become more and more debased, until the
last trace of an idea of God has disappeared.
They have no idolatry; no legends; no sacred streams or
groves; no sacrifices; no temples; no priests; no incantations; no literature; no history; no traditions; all, all, is
one unbrok7cen night of palpable darkness: no other people
ever depa ted so far from God. In this we find the cause of
the curse of NVoah's prophecy.
The early discoverers of new countries have'found that
the aborigines have generally some well-defined idea of a
Supreme Being-some tolerably correct notion of the
Deity; but the Ethiopians present an exception to this
rule; with them, literally and truly, "There is no God."
An author says, "While Satan is obviously the author of
the polytheism of other nations, he has employed his
sagacity with fatal success in erasing every vestige of
religious impression from their minds." The rain-maker
and the gree-gree doctor, the greatest impostors among
them, are the only mysterious characters with which
they are acquainted.
From this point let the reader contemplate the condition of Africa, and then compare that condition with
the condition of Africans in the United States, and
with those sent from the United States to Liberia, and
he will easily comprehend the benefits and purposes of
slavery.
Section 9.
Our object at present is to show, to some extent at least
the condition of the Negro in Africa, at this time. The
authors we shall use for this purpose, are Denham, Clapperton, and Oudney, (officers of the army sent out by the
British government,  for the purpose of "solving that
3
49 
50        SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
interesting problem, [the discovery of the mouth of the
Niger; afterwards accomplished by the Landers,] to
which the discovery of the enterprising Mungo Park
gave rise." These travellers passed through Northern,
starting at Tripoli, into Central Africa, as far south as
Musfeia, in lat. 9~ 15' N.) and Rev. Robert Moffat, who
was twenty-three years an agent of the London Missionary Society, in Southern Africa. What we take from
these authors we present in the form of extracts, or
quotations. We adopt this course, first, because they are
Englishmen, not only opposed to slavery, but regarding
it with feelings little short of horror; secondly, because
their position, their writings, possess all the solemnity of
official reports;  not being subject to the criticisms of
independent travellers. There can be entertained 11o possible suspicion of misstatement or exaggeration on their
part; thirdly, because the course pursued may excite the
desire for the thorough investigation of a subject too
much neglected, and therefore but imperfectly understood. It will be perceived at once that from the course
pursued, nothing but an imperfect sketch can be presented here; but we trust that that sketch, if well considered,
will be sufficient to exhibit to the reader, facts which go
to make up one of the most revolting pictures of degradation and misery that was ever presented to the mind of
man.
The reader will not fail to observe that there exists a
material difference in the condition of the people of
Northern and Central, with those of-Southern Africa,
growing out of the fact, that Mahometanism with all its
disgusting incidents, exists in the former, and does not
exist in the latter, 
INSTITUTION' OF SLAVERY.
Norithern and Central Africa.
The first thing that arrested the attention of the
travellers, and continued to interest them throughout,
was the operations of the institution of slavery; they
say:-" On the day previous to our approach to
Sockna, (a town about half-way between Tripoli
and Mourzuk, which we reached in fourteen days,)
the uniformity of the journey was somewhat enlivened by
meeting with a kafila of slaves from Fezzan, in which were
about seventy Aegresses, much better looking, and more
healthy, than any we had seen near the sea-coast. They
were marching in parties of fifteen or twenty; and on
our inquiring of one of those parties from whence they
came, the poor things divided themselves with the greatest simplicity, and answered,'Souden, Begharmni, and
Kanem,' pointing out the different parcels, from each
country, as they spoke."
Extent of tle stave market of Mourzulk.-" You  pass
through the fsug, (slave market,) a wide street, with
houses on each side, three hundred yards in length."
"We  had a fsug, or market, in front of one of the
principal gates of the town; (Kouka) slaves, sheep and
bullocks, the latter in great numbers, were the principal
live stock for sale."
Boo-Khaloom, (a slave merchant.)-" He was represented
to us, and truly, as a merchant of very considerable riches
and influence in the interior. IHe was on the eve of starting for Tripoli, from Mourzuk, with really superb presents
for the bashaw.  He had five hundred slaves, the handsomest that could be procured, besides other things."
Thle Sultan of JMourzuk.-" It was not till the 18th that
the sultan, after attending the M[osque, started for Tripoli;
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52        SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
all his camels and suite had marched in divisions, for
three days previous-zin slaves he had alone, msnore t/anone
thousand five hundred."
Capturing slaves.-" The sultan of Mandara had given no
intimation whatever of his intentions with regard to Boo Khaloom's destination, and in consequence, the impatience
and discontent of the latter were extreme. Offerings poured
in from all the Kerdy nations; (Negroes who have not embraced the Mahometan faith;) and the shltan excused
himself to Boo-Khaloomn for the delay, on account of the
extreme tractability of the people around him, who he said
were becoming Musselmans without force.  Again Musgow was mentioned; adding, that the warlike arm of the
Arabs, bearing the sword of the prophet, might turn
their hearts. This hypocrisy, however, Boo-Khaloom
inveighed against most loudly to me, declaring that the
conversion of the Kerdy people would lose him (the sultan) thousands of slaves, as their constant wars with each
other afforded them the means of supplying him abundantly."
One of the travellers speaking of his arrival at the
palace of the sultan of Mandara, and of his desire to visit
the neighboring mountains, says: "I was conducted into
the presence of the chief eunuch; he desired me to stop
within about twelve yards of him, and then said,'The
sultan could not imagine what I wanted at the hills.  Did
I wish to catch the Kerdies alone?-that I had better
buy them,-he would sell me as many as Ipleased.' I
assured him that I did not wish to go at all to the hills if
the sultan had the slightest objection, that it was purely
curiosity; and that as to catching Kerdies, I would not
take them if given to me."
The taking of the Kerdy town of Dirkulla, is thus 
INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY.
related: "On emerging from the wood, the large Felatah
of Dirkulla was perceivable, and the Arabs were formed
in front, headed by Boo-Khaloom: they were flanked on
each side by a large body of cavalry; and as they moved
on, shouting the Arab war-cry, which is very inspiring, I
thought I could perceive a smile between Barca Gana and
the chiefs, at Boo-Khaloom's expense.   Dirkulla was
quickly burnt, and another small town near it; and the
few inhabitants that were found in them, who were chiefly
infaints and aged persons, unable to escape, were put to
death/ without mercy, or thrown into the flamnes."
A lengthy account, of which the preceding paragraph
is the commencement, is closed thus: "Boo-Khaloom's
imprudence in having suffered himself to be persuaded to
attack the Felatahs became now apparent, as although in
case of his overcoming them, he might have appropriated
to himself all the slaves, both male and female, that he
found amongst them; yet the Felatahs themselves were
Moslem, and he could not have made them slaves."
Alluding to a people called Munga, who were difficult
to be controlled by the shieks, although Musselmen, it is
said:  "Another complaint against the Mongowy was,
that they were kaffering and not saying their prayers I
the dogs. This is, however, a fault which is generally
laid to the charge of any nation against whom a true
Mlusselman wages war, as it gives him the power of making them slaves. By the laws of Alahomet, one believer
must not bind another."
"The town of Kabshary, where we halted, had been
nearly destroyed by the Mongowy.   On attacking a
place, it is the custom of the country instantly to fire it;
and as they are all composed of straw huts only, the
53 
54        SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
whole is shortly devoured by the flames. The unfortunate inhabitants fly quickly from the destructive element,
and fall immediately into the hands of their no less merciless enemies, who surround the place. The men are
quickly massacred, and the women and children lashed
together and made slaves."
A  reconnoitering party had gone out, and "about
three in the afternoon they began to return, bringing
with them women and children of both sexes, to the
amount of eight hundred. One Shouaa, a friend of mine,
brought a poor woman with four children, two in her
arms, and two on the father's horse, who had been
stabbed for defending those he held most dear upon
earth."
Gangs of slaves.-No kafila is permitted to enter Kouka
during the sheikah's absence, nor dare the merchants
offer any goods for sale till they have his permission. On
this account, one consisting of ten merchants from
Soudan, was ordered to encamp at a short distance from
us, and await the movements of the army.  They had
nearly a hundred slaves, the greater part female, girls of
from twelve to eighteen years of age, some of them from
Nyffee, and still farther to the west, of a deep copper color,
and beautifully formed; but few of these were ironed.
The males, who were mostly young, were linked together
in couples by iron rings round their legs; yet they
laughed, and seemed in good condition."
"It is a common practice with the merchants to induce
one slave to persuade his companions, that on arriving at
Tripoli, they will be free, and clothed in red, a color all
Negroes are passionately fond of; by which promises they 
INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY.
are induced to submit quietly, until they are too far from
their homes to render escape possible but at the risk of
starvation. If the hundreds, nay thousands of skeletons
that whiten in the blast between this place [Kouka] and
Mourzuk did not, of themselves, tell a tale replete with
woe, the difference of appearance in all slaves here (where
they are fed tolerably), and the state in which they
usually arrive in Fezzan, would but too clearly prove the
acuteness of the sufferings which commence on their
leaving the negro country."
Two kafilas passed us to-day, on their way to Kouka.
They consisted of one hundred and fifty slaves, with
about twenty merchants and their servants, and thirty
camels. Most of the people ran to the outskirts of the
camp to see them pass, it being the custom on these occasions, to dress out these poor victims of the most cruel
avarice that certainly ever entered into the breast of man,
in rags of different colors, only to be taken from them
again on the procession being over.   The merchants,
who gratify their vanity the most in this way, lose, it is
said, fewer slaves; but I observed several of these before
me, whose unbidden tears flowed down their cheeks as
they drew their mantles close round them, seeming to
wish by that means to stifle their misery with the appearance of it."
A pulndering party.-A plundering excursion among the
Begharmi by the sheikh of Kouka, is thus related: "The
plunder was said to have amounted to four hundred and
eighty horses, and nearly two hundred women, with two
eunuchs, and the baggage of the princes, which was
carried on bullocks and asses. Fifty of their women
65 
56       SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
were sirias [slaves worthy of being admitted into the
seraglio], of great beauty, belonging to the sultan's sons,
and these were all given up to the sheikh.  When the
rejoicing for the victory began to abate a little, the fsug
was crowded with slaves taken from the Begharmi, and
they were cheap in proportion to their numbers. I saw
several fine boys and girls sold for two or three bullocks
-ten dollars. And a shouaa was extremely anxious for
the red cap on my head, for which, with an old muslin
turban, he offered me a very pretty girl, about fourteen
years old."
"When I appeared before the sultan" [of Angala],
says one of the travellers, "'he examined me very
minutely, when the shade was again drawn. I begged
for permission to embark on the Shary, and was told lihe
would consider of it.  Hie particularly inquired if I
wished to purchase b'lowy, or handsome female slaves,
which I assured him I did not;' because,' said he,'if you
do, go no further: I have some hundreds, and will sell
them to you as cheap as any one."'
EmploMmeits of fematle slaves.-" There are a particular
class of female slaves here [Kouka] to whom the duty of
watching and laboring in the fields of grain is always
allotted. I have before said, that all laborious work is
performed by that sex we consider as the weakest, and
whom we employ in the more domestic duties only-and
it is to them this perilous work is assigned. The female
slaves from Musgow are never bought by the Tripoli or
Fezzan traders: their features, naturally large and ugly,
are so much disfigured by the silver stud which they
wear in the under lip, that no purchaser would be found 
INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY.
for them; besides the loss of the two front teeth, which
are punched out to make way for the silver, which goes
quite through into their mouths, the weight of the metal,
after a year or two, drags the lip down, so as to make it
quite lie on the chin, and gives a really frightful appearance to the face. These poor creatures, therefore, who
are generally of a strong make, and patient under their
sufferings, guard the crops and collect the harvest, and a
year seldom passes without several of them being
snatched away by lions, who, crouching under cover of
the ripening corn, spring on their prey and bear it off."
Sports.-" Since the feast day of the Aid Kebir, there
had been, on an evening, an assembly of persons before
the shiekh's gate, [at Kouka,] when the most athletic and
active of the slaves came out and wrestled in the presence
of their masters and the shiekh himself, who usually took
his post at a little window over the principal gate of the
palace.  Barca Gana, Ali Gana, Wormah, Tirab, and all
the chiefs, were usually seated on mats in the inner ring,
and I generally took my place beside them. Quickness
and main strength were the qualifications which insured
victory; they struggled with a bitterness which could
scarcely have been exceeded in the armed contests of the
Roman gladiators, and which was greatly augmented by
the voices of their masters urging them to the most strenuous exertion of their powers. A rude trumpet of the
buffalo's horn sounded to the attack, and the combatants
entered the arena naked, with the exception of a leathern
girdle about the loins; and those who had been victorious
on former occasions were received with loud acclamations
by the spectators. Slaves of all nations were first matched
3*
-57 
i 8     SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
against each other; of these, the natives of Soudan were
the least powerful, and seldom victors. The most ardu ous struggles were between the Musgowy and the Beg harmi negroes. Some of these slaves, and particularly
the latter, were beautifully formed, and of gigantic stature;
but the feats of the day always closed by the matching of
two Begharmis against each other, and dislocated limbs
or death were often the consequence of these kindred encounters. They commence by placing their hands on each
other's shoulders; of their feet they make no use, but frequently stoop down, and practice a hundred deceptions, to
throw the adversary off his guard; when the other will
seize his antagonist by the hips, and, after holding him in
the air, dash him against the ground with stunning violence, where he lies covered with blood, and unable to
pursue the contest. I have seen them foam and bleed at
the mouth and nose from pure rage and exertion, their
owners all the time vying with each other in using expressions most likely to excite their fury: one chief will draw
a pistol, and swear by the Koran that his slave shall not
survive an instant his defeat, and with the same breath
offer him great rewards if he conquers. Both of these
promises are sometimes too faithfully kept; and one poor
wretch, who had withstood the attacks of a ponderous
Negro, much more than his match, from some country to
the south of Mandara, for more than fifty minutes, turned
his eye reproachfully on his threatening master only for
an instant, when his antagonist slipped his hands down
from the shoulders to the loins, and, by a sudden twist,
raised his knee to his chest, and fell with his whole weight
on the poor slave, (who was from Soudan,) snapping his
spine in the fall." 
INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY.
Hardships of Slaves.-" The depth of the well at Meshroo is from sixteen to twenty feet; the water good, and
free from saline impregnations. The ground around is
strewed with human skeletons, the slaves who have
arrived, exhausted with thirst and fatigue.   The horrid
consequences of the slave trade were strongly brought to
our mind; and although its horrors are not equal to those
of the European trade, still they are sufficient to call up
every sympathy, and rouse up every spark of humanity.
They are dragged over deserts, water often fails, and provisions scarcely provided for the long and dreary journey.
The Moors ascribe the numbers to the cruelty of the Tibboo traders: there is perhaps too much truth in the accusation. Every few miles a skeleton was seen, through the
whole day; some were partially covered with sand, others
with only a small mound, formed by the wind; one hand
often lay under the head, and frequently both, as if in
the act of compressing the head. The skin and membranous substance all shrivelled up and dry from the state
of the air: the thick muscular and internal parts only
decay."
" About sunset we halted near a well, within half a
mile of Meshroo. Round this spot were lying more than
one hundred skeletons, some of them with the skin still
remaining attached to the bones-not even a little sand
thrown over them. The Arabs laughed heartily at my
expression of horror, and said,'they were only blacks,
nam boo!' [damn their fathers!] and began knocking
about the limbs with the butt-end of their firelocks, saying,'This was a woman! this was a youngster!' and
such like unfeeling expressions. I was assured that they
had left Bornou with not above a quarter's allowance for
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60       SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
each; and that more died from want than fatigue. They
were marched off with chains round their- necks and legs.
The most robust only arrived in Fezzan in a very debilitated state, and were there fattened for the Tripoli slave
market. Our camels did not come up until it was quite
dark, and we bivouacked in the midst of these unearthed
remains of the victims of persecution and avarice, after a
long day's journey of twenty-six miles, in the course of
which one of our party counted one hundred and seven
of these skeletons."
"One of the skeletons we passed to-day had a' very
fresh appearance; the beard was still hanging to the skin
of the face, and the features were still discernible. A
merchant travelling with the kafila suddenly exclaimed,
'That was my slave! I left him behind four months ago,
near this spot.'' Make haste, take him to the fsuq' [market], said an Arab wag,'for fear anybody else should
claim him.' "
"Skeletons lay about, mnangled in a shocking manner;
here a leg, there an arm, fixed with their ligaments, at
considerable distances from the trunk."
"During the last two days we had passed, on an average,
from sixty to eighty or ninety skeletons each day; but
the numbers that lay about the wells at El-Hammar were
countless.   Those of two women, whose perfect and
regular teeth bespoke them young, were particularly
shocking; their arms still remained clasped round each
other as they had expired, although the flesh had long
since perished, by being exposed to the burning rays of
the sun, and the blackened bones only left. The nails of
the fingers, and some of the sinews of the hand, also re 
INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY.
mained, and part of the tongue of one of them still
appeared through the teeth."
Southern Africa.
Ignorance,  subjection, filthiness, &c.-Speaking of the
Balalas, (poor ones among the Bechuana tribes,) Moffat
says: "Though in general, they are able to state to what
chief or tribe they belong, yet from want of intercourse, and
from desolating wars, which are only waged where there is
prospect of plunder, great numbers of them become, in
their isolated position, independent. They are never permitted to keep cattle, and are exposed to the caprice,
cupidity and tyranny of the town-lords, whenever they
happen to come in their way.  They live a hungry life,
being dependent on the chase, wild roots, berries, locusts,
and, indeed, anything eatable that comes within their
reach; and when they have a more than usual supply,
they will bury it in the earth, from their superiors, who
are in the habit of taking [from them] what they please.
Resistance on their part would be instantly avenged with
the deadly javelin. When hunting parties go out to kill
game, the Belala, men and women, are employed to carry
grievous burdens of flesh to the rendezvous of the hunters; in return for which, they receive the offals of the
meat, and are made drudges, so long as the party remains.
They are never permitted to wear the furs of foxes and
other animals they obtain. The flesh they may eat; but
the skins are conveyed to the towns, for which they obtain
a small piece of tobacco, or an old spear or knife. Indeed,
all the valuable skins of the larger animals, which they
sometimes procure by hunting and pitfalls, as well as the
better portions of the meat, they have to yield to their
61 
62       SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
nominal masters, except when they succeed in secreting
the whole, for their own use. Their servile state, their
scanty clothing, their exposure to the inclemency of the
weather, and their extreme poverty, have, as may be
easily conceived, a deteriorating influence on their character and condition. They are generally less in stature, and
though not deficient in intellect, the life they lead gives
a melancholy cast to their features, and from constant intercourse with beasts of prey and serpents in their path,
as well as exposure to harsh treatment, they appear shy,
and have a wild, and frequently suspicious look. Nor
can this be wondered at, when it is remembered that they
associate with savage beasts, from the lion that roams
abroad by night and day, to the deadly serpent which infests their path, keeping them always on the alert, during
their peramnbulations. All this, and much more, which
might be said of the Balala, may also, with the strictest
propriety, be affirmed of the Bushmen."
The following extract is by no means to be confined to
any particular class, but will apply to all: "When  M'r
Hamilton arrived at Flose Fountain, two days' journey
south of our station on the Kuruman, a circumstance occurred which may be noticed, were it only to show what
human beings are in certain situations.  Halting at the
above place in the evening, a dead horse was found that
had belonged to one of the Griquas, and which had been
killed by the bite of a serpent. Next morning the women
fell on the swollen and half putrid carcase, and began,
like so many wolves, to tear it limb from limb; every one
securing as much as she could for herself. M'r H., who
looked on with utter amazement, advised them to avoid
the part where the animal was bitten. To his friendly 
INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY.
warning they paid no attention whatever; in the space of
about an hour a total dissection was effected, and every
particle of skin, meat, bone, the entrails and their contents, were carried off. M'r II. was obliged to remain the
whole day, finding it absolutely impossible to induce
them to leave the spot till every particle was devoured,
and in the evening they actually danced and sang with
joy." There was no necessity for this, for the people
were allowed a regular supply of rations by the mission
ary.
Inhumanity to Children.-Kicherer says: "Their manner of life is extremely wretched and disgusting. They
delight to besmear their bodies with the fat of animals,
mingled with ochre, and sometimes with grime. They
are utter strangers to cleanliness, as they never wash their
bodies, but suffer the dirt to accumulate, so that it will
hang a considerable length from their elbows. They are
total strangers to domestic happiness. The men have
several wives, [slaves,] but conjugal affection is little
known. They take no great care of their children, and
never correct them except in a fit of rage, when they
almost kill them by severe usage."
"Tame Hottentots seldom destroy their children, except in a fit of passion; but the Bushmen will kill their
children without remorse, on various occasions-as when
they are ill-shaped; when they are in want of food; when
the father of a child has forsaken its mother, &c., in which
case they will strangle them, smother them, cast them
away in the desert, or bury them alive."
Inhumanity to Parents.-"Among the poorer classes, it is
indeed struggling for existence; and when the aged be
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64        SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
come too weak to provide for themselves, and are a burden
to those whom they brought forth and reared to manhood,
they are not unfrequently abandoned by their own children, with a meal of victuals and a cruse of water, to
perish in the desert. I have seen a small circle of stakes
fastened in the ground, within which were still lying the
bones of a parent, bleaching in the sun, who had been
thus abandoned. In one instance, I observed a small
broken earthenware vessel, in which the last draught of
water had been left.'What is this,' I said, pointing to
the stakes, addressing Africaner. His reply was,' This
is heathenism;' and then described this parricidal custom.
M'r Moffat thus describes another instance of this kind,
in a different stage of progress:' On reaching the spot,
we beheld an object of heart-rending distress. It was a
venerable-looking old woman, a living skeleton, sitting,
with her head leaning on her knees.  She appeared terrified at our presence, and especially at me. She tried to
rise, but trembling with weakness, sunk again to the
earth. I addressed her by the name which sounds sweet
in every clime, and charms even the savage ear:'My
mother, fear not, we are friends, and will do you no harm.'
I put several questions to her, but she appeared either
speechless, or afraid to open her lips. I again repeated,
'Pray, mother, who are you, and how do you come to be
in this situation?' To which she replied,' I am a woman.
I have been here four days; my children have left me
here to die!''Your children!' I interrupted.'Yes,'
raising her hand to her shrivelled bosom,'my own children, three sons and two daughters. They are gone,'
pointing with her finger,'to yonder blue mountain, and
have left me to die.''And pray, why did they leave 
INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY.
you?' I inquired.  Spreading out her hands,'I am old,
you see, and am no longer able to serve them; when they
kill game, I am  too feeble to help in carrying home the
flesh; I am not able to gather wood to make fire; and I
cannot carry their children on my back, as I used to do.'
I remarked that I was surprised that she had escaped the
lions, which seemed to abound, and to have approached
very near the spot where she was. She took hold of the
skin of her left arm with her fingers, and raising it up, as
one would do a loose linen, she added,'I hear the lions,
but there is nothing on me that they would eat; I have
no flesh on me for them to scent.'  I have often reasoned
with the natives on this cruel practice, in reply to which
they would only laugh!"
Propensityj to steal, &c. —"As many men and women  as
pleased, might come into our hut, leaving us not room
even to turn ourselves, and making everything they
touched the color of their own greasy, red attire; while
some were talking, others would be sleeping, and some
pilfering whatever they could lay their hands upon. This
would keep a housewife a perfect prisoner, in a suffocating
atmosphere, almost intolerable; and when they departed
they left ten times more than their number behind-company still more offensive. As it was not pleasant to take
our meals amongst such filth, our dinner was often deferred
for hours, hoping for their departure; but, after all, it had
to be eaten when the natives were despatching their game
at our feet. Our attendance at public worship would vary
from one to forty; and these very often manifested the
greatest indecorum. Some would be snoring; others
laughing; some working; and others, who might even be
styled the noblesse, would be employed in removing from
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66       SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
their ornaments certain nameless insects, letting them run
about the forms, while sitting by the missionary's wife.
Never having been accustomed to chairs or stools, some,
by way of imitation, would sit with their feet on the
benches, having their knees, according to their usual mode
of sitting, drawn up to their chins. In this position, one
would fall asleep and tumble over, to the great merriment
of his fellows. On some occasions an opportunity would
be watched to rob, when the missionary was engaged in
public service. The thief would just put his head within
the door, discover who was in the pulpit, and knowing he
could not leave his rostrum before a certain time had
elapsed, would go to his house and take what he could lay
his hands upon.  Some nights, or rather mornings, we had
to record thefts committed in the course of twenty-four
hours, in our houses, our smith-shop, our garden, and
among our cattle in the field."
WVar.-There are incessant wars waged between the
different tribes. These wars are engaged in, without provocation in general, and for the simple reason that one
party desires to possess the property and persons (whom
they enslave) of another-the spoils furnish the inducement. On these occasions, the utmost cruelty is observed
by the conquering party. Alluding to one of these plundering excursions, which, however, was unfortunate, Moffat
says: "It was afterwards discovered that the enemy had
resolutely determined to kill, as well as to steal, and set
the place on fire, which they used their utmost exertions
to accomplish. Having heard that this party had, in their
course, deliberately murdered all the unoffending natives
who had fallen into their hands, I inquired of the prisoners after they had been some time with us, if their minds 
INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY.
never revolted at such crimes, as deliberately killing innocent females and children, who possessed nothing to tempt
their cupidity, but who had cheerfully served them with
wood and water I shall never forget the reply of one,
who, after sitting some minutes motionless in deep reflection, said,'Mynheer, the heart of man is a wonderful
thing; there is nothing which it cannot do. Custom
makes even murder a plaything.'"
We present the following as a common instance of their
barbarity after a battle: "The wounded enemy they
baited with stones, clubs, and spears, accompanied with
yellings and countenances indicative of fiendish joy. The
helpless women found no quarter, especially if they possessed anything like ornaments to tempt the cupidity of
their plunderers. A few copper rings round the neck,
from which it was difficult to take them, was the signal
for the already uplifted battle-axe to sever the head from
the trunk, or the arm from the body, when the plunderer
would grasp, with a smile, his bloody trophies. Others,
in order to be able to return home with the triumph of
victory, would pursue the screaming boy or girl, and not
satisfied with severing a limb from the human frame,
would exhibit their contempt for the victims of their cruel
revenge, by seizing the head and hurling it from them, or
kicking it to a distance."
Mu2der. —" I was in the habit of concluding, from facts
about which I have not deemed it necessary to be very
minute, that the Batlapis were, as a people, not only very
ignorant and depraved, but exceedingly brutal: however,
a short stay among the Barolongs convinced me that the
latter far exceeded the former. An intelligent traveller,
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68        SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
(D'r Burchell,) was not mistaken, when he was obliged,
most reluctantly, to come to the conclusion, that'the foulest
blot on their character, is the indifference with which
murder is viewed among them. It excites little sensation,
except in the family of the person who has been murdered;
and brings, it is said, no disgrace upon him who has committed it; nor uneasiness, excepting the fear of their revenge.' During my stay at Kongke, an instance occurred
confirming the view of D'r Burchell. A man was quarrelling with his wife about a very trifling affair, when in a
fit of rage he grasped his spear, and laid her at his feet a
bleeding corpse!  Here there were no coroners, nor jury,
to take cognizance of the fact, and he walked about without a blush, while the lifeless body was dragged out to be
devoured by the hyenas. WNVhen I endeavored to represent
to the chiefs, with whom I was familiar, as old acquaintances, the magnitude of such crimes, they laughed, I might
say inordinately, at the horror I felt for the murder of a
woman by her own husband!"
Speaking of Moselekatse, a king, a very cruel man,
Moffat says: "When  I recommended a system which
would secure not only safety, but plenty to his people,
without the unnatural one of keeping up a force of many
thousands of unmarried warriors, he tried to convince me
that his people were happy, and to a stranger they might
appear so, for alas, they dared not let any murmur reach
his ear; but I knew more than he was aware of. I knew
many a couch was steeped with silent tears, and many an
acre stained with human blood.  About ten minutes after
the conversation, a lovely boy, a son of one of his many
wives, sat smiling on my knee, caressing me as if I were
his father. As some of the king's harem was seated near, 
INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY.
I asked the boy which was his mother. IHe shook his
little head and sighed. I asked no more, but learned soon
after that the mother, who was the daughter of a captive
chief, was a superior woman, and took the liberty of remonstrating with her lord on the multitude of his concabines. In the morning she was dragged out of her house,
and her head severed from her body."
Polyg amy.-This disgusting and abominable vice, than
which none is better calculated to debauch the heart, prevails all over Africa, among all ranks, from the highest to
the lowest. Alluding to the difficulties with which the
missionary is embarrassed, this is reckoned as one of the
most formidable. Moffat says: "Polygamy was another
obstacle, and the Bechuanas, jealous of any diminution in
their self-indulgence, by being deprived of the services
of their wives, [who are the slaves of their husbands,]
looked with an extremely suspicious eye on any innovation
on this ancient custom. The men, for obvious reasons,
found it convenient to have a number of such vassals,
rather than only one, while the woman would be perfectly
amazed at one's ignorance, were she to be told that she
would be much happier in a single state, or widowhood,
than being the mere concubine and drudge of a haughty
husband, who spent the greater part of his life in lounging
in the shade, while she was compelled, for his comfort, as
well as her own, to discharge the heavier task of agriculture, building the houses, fencing, bringing fire-wood;
and heavier than all, nature's charge, the rearing of a
family." Lynch says: "Polygamy is universal, the number of wives being the measure of a man's wealth." It
is easy to perceive that this custom is supported by the
women, from the consideration that the larger the number
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70       SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
of wives a husband may have, the greater division there
must be of the burdens imposed upon them. This not
only reconciles them to the custom, but prompts them to
urge it upon their husbands.
NVo Religion.-Dr. Vanderkemp says:  " If by religion
we mean reverence for God, or the external action by
which that reverence is expressed, I never could perceive
that they had any religion, nor any idea of the existence
of a God. I am speaking nationally, for there are many
individuals who have some notion of His existence, which
they have received from adjacent nations." This idea of
God, possessed by adjacent nations, and communicated to
the Kafirs, about whom D'r V. is writing, is distinctly
traceable to the teachings of missionaries. What is related here of the Kafirs, "will equally apply to the Hottentots and Namaques, who are one people:" indeed, it
will apply to all the people of Southern Africa.
The native mind does not seem, in its uncultivated condition, to possess the ability of entertaining an idea of the
Divine Being: for sometimes after hours of patient exertion on the part of the missionary to convey this idea, he
would be perplexed with the question, asked with a most
vacant stare, "Whatis it you wish to tell me?" "Inquir.ing
one day of a group of natives whom I had been addressing,
if any of them had previously known that Great Being
which had been described to them, among the whole party
I found only one old woman, who said that she remembered hearing the name Morimo, (Molimo, according to
native pronunciation, the term adopted by the missionaries for God,) when she was a child, but was not told
what the thing was." 
INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY.
A chief one day, attending the instructions of a missionary, after listening attentively for some time, exclaimed
with amazement,  "that a man whom  he  accounted
wise, should vend such fables for truths.  Calling about
thirty of his men who stood near him, to approach, he
addressed them, pointing to me,'There is Ra-Mary,
(father of Mary,) who tells me that the heavens were
made, the earth also, by a beginner, whom he calls Morimo.
Hiave you ever heard anything to be compared with this?
He says that the sun rises and sets by the power of Morimo; as also, that Morimo causes winter to follow summer;
the winds to blow; the rain to fall; the grass to grow, and
the trees to bud; and casting his arm above and around
him, added, God works in everything you see or hear!
Did you ever hear such words?'  Seeing them ready to
burst with laughter, he said,' Wait, I shall tell you more;
Ra-Mary tells me that we have spirits in us, which will
never die; and that our bodies, though dead and buried,
will rise and live again. Open your eyes to-day; did you
ever hear litamane (fables) like these?'  This was followed by a burst of deafening laughter, and on its partially subsiding, the chief man begged me to say no more
on such trifles, lest the people should think me mad."
M'r Schmelin, a missionary among the Namaquas, says:
"After service, I spent some time conversing with the
aged, but found them extremely ignorant; some of them
could not conceive of a being higher than man, and had
not the least idea of the immortality of the soul."
Africaner being asked by M'r Camrnpbell, "what his
views of God were before he enjoyed the benefit of
Christian instruction? replied, that he never thought any
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72       SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
thing at all on these subjects; that he thought about nothing but his cattle. Hie admitted that he had heard of a
God, (well might he, being brought up in the colony,) but
at the same time stated that his views of God were so er.
roneous, that the name suggested no more to his mind
than something that might be found in the form of an
insect, or in the lid of a snuff-box."
M'r Anderson says: "When I went among the Griquas,
and for some time after, they were without the smallest
marks of civilization. If I except one woman, (who had
by some means got a trifling article of colonial raiment,)
they had not one thread of European clothing among them;
and their wretched appearance and habits were such as
might have excited in our minds an aversion to them, had
we not been actuated by principles which led us to pity
them, and served to strengthen us in pursuing the object
of our missionary work; they were, in many instances,
little above the brutes."
Relative to the Bechuanas, Moffat says: "When  we
attempted to convince them of their state as sinners, they
would boldly affirm, with full belief in their innate rectitude, that there was not a sinner in the tribe; referring
us to other nations whom they dreaded, or with whom
they were at war; and especially the poor despised Bushmen."  Our author continues:  "I often feel at a loss
what to say relative to the kingdom of Christ, at this station. A sameness marks the events of each returning day.
No conversions; no inquiry after God; no objections
raised to exercise our powers in defence. Indifference and
stupidity, form the wreath on every brow-ignorance, the
grossest ignorance of divine things, forms the basis of 
INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY.
every action; it is only things earthly, sensual and devilish, which stimulate to activity and mirth, while the great
subject of the soul's redemption appears to them like an
old and ragged garment, possessing neither loveliness nor
worth. We preach, we converse, we catechise, we pray,
but without the least apparent success. Only satiate their
mendicant spirits by perpetually giving, and we are all
that is good, but refuse to meet their demands, their praises
are turned to ridicule and abuse."
Alluding to Makaba, king of the Bauangketsi, he says:
"Sitting down beside this great man, illustrious for war
and conquest, I stated to him that my object was to tell
him my news. His countenance lighted up, hoping to
hear of feats of war, destruction of tribes, and such like
subjects, so congenial to his savage disposition.  When
he found that my topics had solely a reference to the
Great Being of whom, the day before, he had told me he
knew nothing; and of the Saviour's mission to this world,
whose name he said he had never heard, he resumed his
knife and jackall's skin, and hummed a native air. One
of his men, sitting near me, appeared struck with the
character of the Redeemer, which I was endeavoring to
describe, and particularly with Hiis miracles. On hearing
that He raised the dead, he very naturally exclaimed,
What an excellent doctor he must have been, to make
dead men live!"
On visiting a village of the Barolongs, M'r M. " talked
to them to convince them that there was something else
beyond eating and drinking, which ought to command
their attention. This was to them inexplicable, while the
description I gave of the character of God, and our sinful
4
73 
74        SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
and helpless condition, amused them only, and extorted
some expressions of sympathy, that a khosi, (king,) as
they called me, should talk such foolishness. My preaching and speaking did, indeed, appear to be casting seed
by the way side, or on the flinty rock, while they would
gravely ask if I were in earnest, and believed that there
was such a Being as I described? It was indeed painful
to hear them turning the theme of man's redemption and
the Cross into ridicule, and making sport nf immortality."
So gross was the ignorance of the people of Southern
Africa that Mr. Moffat seems strongly inclined to doubt
the great truth of the innate and intuitive ideas of natural
light; or, more properly, natural religion. He says: "I
had with me one of the best interpreters, himself a child
of God, and tried one native after another, to make my
own point good: [that is, to establish the fact that the
human mind has in it, under all circumstances, some idea
of the supreme Being:] sometimes I would even put
words into the mouth of Africaner, and ask,'Does he
not mean so and so?' In some there was a glimmering
of light; but again, I found to my mortification, that
this had been received from the'hat-wearers,' as they
called the people from the south, or from M'r Schmelin's
station at Bethany, whom they denominated,'the people that talked about God.'" We do not see in this, or in
anything else connected with the Negroes of Africa, any
reason to doubt the great truth alluded to, and which is
asserted by all theologians. The case of the Negroes of
Africa, in this regard, is only an exception to the general
rule. We see, in these people, not only mental, but physical peculiarities, which distinguish them from all other
peoples, which peculiarities suffice to show, both the cx 
INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY.
tent of their wickedness and the extent of the curse of
Noah's prophecy.   This explanation appears to us to
be perfectly satisfactory; it maintains the generally entertained idea of natural religion, and exhibits the reason
for the ignorance of the African Negroes on divine subjects.
Here we close our extracts, directing the reader to the
perusal of the authors from whom they were taken, if he
desires to have a perfect knowledge of African slavery
and African ignorance, as they exist at this day.
In this chapter we have traced the Ham family, showing the fate of its respective branches. We have shown
the establishment of slavery and its cause. We have
shown that slavery existed before the organization of the
Church, with Abraham and his posterity. Our duty, in
the next chapter, will be to show the regulation of slavery.
75 
CHAPTER II.
REGULATION OF SLAVERY.
Section 1.
Slavery in the Church, contemporaneous with its organization.-The Bible teaches that Abraham and his household were the first members of the Church of God,
under its present organization. There can be nothing,
therefore, more interesting than to inquire who composed
that household. The Bible says, "And Abraham took
Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their
substance that they had gathered, and the souls they had
gotten in Haran: and they went forth to go into the
land of Canaan, and into the land of Canaan they
came."
That the words, "and the souls they had gotten in
Haran," mean slaves, no one can for a moment doubt.
Both Jewish and Christian commentators agree in this
explanation.  Jenks, in the Comprehensive Commentary,
says, "They took with them the souls they had gotten;
that is, the servants they had bought; part of their substance, but called souls to remind masters that their servants have souls, precious souls, which they ought to
take care of and provide for." This must be regarded as
the natural and correct import of the words under con
I 
REGULATION OF SLAVERY.
sideration; they are incapable of sustaining any other
interpretation. That this view is correct, will be seen by
its conformity to other instructions given to Abraham.
Circumcision.-Circumcision was an ordinance which
God established in the Church at the time of its organization: "And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep
my covenant therefore; thou, and thy seed after thee,
in their generations. This is my covenant which ye shall
keep between me and you, and thy seed after thee;
Every man-child among you shall be circumcised. And
ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it
shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you."
Subjects of Circumcision.-" And he that is eight days
old, shall be circumcised among you; every man-child
in your generations; he that is born in thy house, or bought
with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. He
that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy
money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant
shall be in your flesh, for an everlasting covenant."
Commands so explicit could not be misunderstood;
they were faithfully obeyed. Abraham is to be regarded
as standing in the midst of a sinful world, "The friend of
God." There is much in this divine arrangement to call
forth our gratitude and thankfulness-more particularly
that provision which is made for slaves becoming partakers of the faith of Abraham, or in the covenant made
with him. The duty is here imposed upon the parent of
consecrating his infant child to God, and upon the master
of, in like manner, consecrating his infant slave.  The
duty imposed allows of no difference between the parent
and the master; both are under the same obligation.
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78       SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
This arrangement has no respect to condition, and contemplates the dedication of all children to God; for all
children should be reared in the Church.
In obedience to the command, "Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and that
were bought with his money; every male among the men
of Abraham's house, and circumcised the flesh of their
foreskin, in the self-same day, as God had said unto him.
"And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when
he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. And Ishmael his son, was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
"And all the men of his house, born in the house, and
bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with
him."
The rite of circumcision as here established, completed
the organization of the Church. The rite included, as
we have seen, parent and child, master and slave. This
ordinance was, by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
after his resurrection, changed to that of baptism; the
subjects of the ordinance, however, remained as at first.
Hlence, theologians deduce and teach infant baptism.
These points being ascertained, they distinctly display
the obligations masters are under of consecrating their infant slaves to God; that is, of bringing them into the
Church that they may be placed directly under the influence of religious training. We know of no master in or
out of the Church who would forbid his adult slave becoming a member of the Church; but do masters have their infant slaves baptized into the church? Many do; but truth
requires us to say that this very plain duty is too much
neglected, though but few comparatively oppose it. It is 
REGULATION OF SLAVERY.
no uncommon occurrence for masters out of the Church
to provide the means necessary for their slaves' moral and
religious instruction.   Masters everywhere understand
the benefit to themselves, at least of their slaves becoming religious. In this is plainly seen the workings of
providence in the direction of the great purpose, now
being accomplished through the agency of slavery.
The Passover.-After the Israelites had left the land of
Egypt, God established in the Church another ordinance,
called the Passover. Particular directions were given to
Moses, the leader of the Israelites, how this feast, often
called the feast of unleavened bread, should be prepared
and eaten.
Who were allowed to partake of the Passover.-" And the
Lord said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance
of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof:
but every man's servant that is bought for money, when thou
hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof. A foreigner
and an hired servant shall not eat thereof. In one house
shall it be eaten: thou shalt not carry forth aught of the
flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a
bone thereof. All the congregation of Israel shall keep
it. And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and
will keep the passover to the Lord, let all his males be
circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it;
and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no
uncircumcised person shall eat thereof. One law shall
be to him that is home-born, and unto the stranger that
sojourneth among you."
This ordinance (like that of circumcision) was changed
by our Saviour on the night of His betrayal, into the
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80        SLAVERY IN THIE UNITED STATES.
ordinance now observed in the Church, known as the
sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Here, too, it will be
observed, that the change of the ordinance did not af fect those who were previously qualified to partake of it.
Masters and slaves had the same right in each instance.
Why was there a distinction made between a hired ser vant and a bond servant, with regard to the Passover?
For the most obvious reasons. The arrangement of the
Israelitish families, was eminently patriarchal: now a
hiread servant, whose presence was but occasional, was not
so identified with the particular family, as to be under the
government and control of its head, in the observance of
the Mosaic law.  It is just so now; the rule is not altered
in the least: the head of the family, the master, is the
patriarch of the family-the hired servants that he may
occasionally employ, are not regarded as of his family,
therefore he cannot require of them religious observances.  But with a slave, the whole case is changed-that
kind of servant is permanently in the family, and his
religious training may be required; hence, the master's
responsibility.
The Moral Law.-There has passed in the world no
greater scene of awful sublimity than that which transpired on Mount Sinai, on the occasion of the promulgation
of the Law. Nor can there be arranged words expressive of that scene, more beautiful and impressive than
those that accompanied its delivery.
The Law is divided into two tables: the first contains
the four first; the second, the six last commandments.
The first table teaches the entire system of theology
necessary to be understood and believed: the second
teaches a complete system of ethics, or moral duties. 
REGULATION OF SLAVERY.
The system of theological principles and moral duties
taught by the Law, allowed of no conjectural rules of
interpretation; for all principles necessary to be understood, and all duties required to be performed by it, were
to be understood and performed just as they were prescribed-this obligation was imperious.
If there could be any distinction made in the obliga.
tions of the two tables, (which we by no means allow,) the
greater would seem to be in the observance of the first. So
high was God's regard for slaves, that they find in the last
article of the first table, a protection against hard masters: "'Rememrber the sabbath day to keep it holy-six
days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the
seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it
thou shalt not do any work; thou, nor thy son, nor thy
daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy
cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in
six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and
all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore, the Lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed
it."
Josephus says: "The seventh day we set apart from
labor; it is dedicated to the learning of our customs and
laws: we think it proper to reflect on them, as well as on
any [good] thing else, in order to our avoiding of sin."
So great was the veneration of the Hiebrews for the sabbath, that under the most pressing emergency, they
refused to do what they supposed would be a violation of
its sanctity. Speaking of Mattathias and his followers,
(who, when required by Antiochus to offer sacrifices
which they considered unlawful, disobeyed, and had
taken shelter from his indignation in caves of the desert,)
4*
81 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
our author says: "They, the soldiers of Antiochus,
burnt them as they were in the caves, without resistance,
and without as much as stopping up the entrances of
the caves. And they avoided to defend themselves on
that day because they were not willing to break in
upon' the honor they owed the sabbath, even in such
distresses; for our law requires that we rest upon that
day."
The stringency of the rule, as observed bythe Hebrews,
was relaxed by our Saviour: acts of necessity and mnercy
may be performed on the Sabbath day, without violating
its holiness; so we are taught in the following Scripture
"And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the
sabbath. And, behold there was a woman which had a
spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together,
and could in no wise lift up herself. And when Jesus
saw her, he called her to Him, and said unto her, Woman,
thou art loosed from thine infirmity: and he laid Hiis hand
on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. And the ruler of the synagogue answered
with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the
sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days
in which men ought to work; in them, therefore, come
and be healed, and not on the sabbath day. The Lord
then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite! doth not
each one of you, on the sabbath, loose his ox or his ass
from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And
ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham,
whom satan hath bound, lo these eighteen years, be
loosed from this bond on the sabbath day? And when
he had said these things, all Hiis adversaries were
ashamed; and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious
82 
REGULATION OF SLAVERY.
things that were done by Him:" therefore slaves may,
on the sabbath day, be lawfully employed in acts of necessity and mercy.
Section 2.
That the Hebrew people, and their proselytes, formed
the Church of God until after the resurrection of our
Lord Jesus Christ, is a fact in which all orthodox Christians agree. The Hebrew people, the Church, had every
rule which their system required, prescribed to them,
relative to slaves. After our Saviour came, and subsequently, when religion was to be offered to the Gentiles,
as such, alterations in the rules relative to slaves, became
necessary and were made.
One of the most remarkable features, in the altered
system, was the recognition of unbelieving masters, or
masters not of the Church, that is, unprofessing Gentile
masters. Christian servants are required to yield obedience, as readily to unbelieving as to believing masters
and the requirements of the new rules are as binding
upon unbelieving, as they are upon believing masters.
It is matter of admiration to contemplate the precision
with which the slavery of the United States adjusts itself
to the requirements of the Bible system. Now, it is the Bible system of slavery that we advocate, and not any system,
or course, outside of that system. Any system of slavery
outside of the Bible system, we regard as of human origin, and therefore an abuse.
But it may be said that there are masters who do not
regard the requirements of the Bible in the premises;
allowing that there are, we remark, that such disregard
amounts to abuse of the system; and we further remark,
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84        SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
that every act of abuse is an exception to the rule, and
not the rule itself, which is that of general, if not universal obedience. If this objection be still urged, we ask,
What is it that men have not abused? Who is prepared
to answer that question? No system should be condemned for the abuses connected with it.
Duty of slaves to their masters.-1. "Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters, according to the flesh,
with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto
Christ; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but as the
servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;
with good will, doing service as to the Lord, and not to
men; knowing that whatsoever good thing any man
doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he
be bond or free.
2. "Servants, obey in all things your masters, according to the flesh; not with eye-service; as men-pleasers;
but in singleness of heart, fearing God; and whatsoever
ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of
the inheritance; for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he
that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he
hath done: and there is no respect of persons.
3. "Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own
masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again; not purloining, but showing all good fidelity:
that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in
all things.
4. "Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear;
not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward:
for this is thank-worthy, if a man for conscience toward
God endure grief, suffering wrongfully: for what is it, if, 
REGULATION OF SLAVERY.
when ye be buffetted for your faults, ye shall take it
patiently? but if when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye
take it patiently, this is acceptable with God."
So unmistakably are the duties of servants stated in
the above Scriptures, that comment is rendered entirely
unnecessary.
Slaves must be content with their condition; for it does not
militate against their service of God.-" Let every man
abide in the same calling wherein he was called. Art
thou called, being a servant? care not for it: but if thou
mayest be made free, use it rather. For he that is called
in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also, he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant.
Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of
men.  Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called,
therein abide with God."
D'r Clarke explains the above Scripture thus: 1. "As
both the circumcised and uncircumcised, in Christ have
the same advantages, and to their believing, the same facilities; so any situation of life is equally friendly to the
salvation of the soul, if a man be faithful to the grace he
has received. Therefore, in all situations, a Christian
should be content; for all things work together for good
to him who loves God.
2. "Art thou converted to Christ, while thou art a
slave? the property of another person, and bought with
his money: care not for it: this will not injure thy Christian condition: but if thou canst obtain thy liberty, [and
preserve thy Christian character,] use it rather; prefer
this state for the sake of freedom, and the temporal advantages connected with it.
85 
86        SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
3. "The man who, being a slave, is converted to the
Christian faith, is the Lord's freeman; his condition as a
slave does not vitiate any of the privileges to which he is
entitled as a Christian: on the other hand, all freemen
who receive the grace of Christ, must consider themselves
slaves of the Lord, i.e. Hiis real property, to be employed
and disposed of, according to Hiis godly wisdom; who,
notwithstanding his state of subjection, will find the
service of his master to be perfect freedom.
4. "As truly as your bodies have become the property
of your masters, in consequence of his paying down a
price for you; so sure you are now the Lord's property,
in consequence of your being purchased by the blood of
Christ.
"In this Scripture the apostle shows that the Christian
religion does not abolish our civil connections:-in reference to them, where it finds us, there it leaves us. In
whatever relation we stood before our embracing Christianity, there we stand still; our secular condition being no farther changed, than as it may be affected by the melioration of our moral character."
D)uty of masters to their slaves.-"And ye masters do the
same things unto them, [see Eph. VI.] forbearing threatening; knowing that your Master also, is in heaven;
neither is there respect of persons with Him.
"Masters give unto your servants that which is just
and equal; knowing that ye also, have a Master in
heaven."
Relation in which Christianity regards master and slave." Let as many servants as are under the yoke, count their
own masters worthy of all honor, that the name of God
and Hlis doctrine, be not blasphemed. 
REGULATION OF SLAVERY.
"And they that have believing masters, let them notdespise them, because they are brethren; but rather do
them service, because they are faithful and beloved, par
takers of the benefit."
False teachers rebuked.-"If any man teach otherwise,
and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of
our Lord Jesus Christ, and the doctrine which is according to godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but doating about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh
envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings
of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself."
How particularly and distinctly is the character of the
modern abolitionist drawn by the apostle!
It is easy to perceive here, that it is the intention of the
apostle to protect the relation of master and slave, from
the assaults of mischievous intermeddlers. How distinct
is the apostle in all this! if he had written to-day, he
could not have been more explicit. Will those to whom
the rebuke applies, be admonished by it? Most likely,
they will not.
Section  3.
Fugitive slaves.-The American Union is formed by the
confederation of several independent, sovereign nationsStates. In the internal organizations of these States, are
found institutions peculiar to each. Things exist in one
which have no existence in another. This state of things
necessarily creates a comity between the States thus
united.  This comity requires that each State should recognize and sustain the internal organization of all and of
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88        SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
each: without this, harmony cannot exist, and without
harmony it is impossible to preserve union; therefore, we
assert, that the destruction of the comity of the States
will result in the destruction of the union of the States.
The union of the States is declared and maintained by
a common Constitution. Bv this Constitution the individual States have agreed to suspend the exercise of certain
well-defined powers, for certain well-defined purposes.
No powers but those expressly granted, (and of course,
those that are incidental,) can be exercised by the common government. The granted powers relate to but few
objects of State authority, (and that from necessity;)
amongst these few objects, however, is that of slavery;
with which the common government has but a very limited connection.
It does not fall within the range of our undertaking, to
discuss the principles here stated; that may be the duty
of the political economist, not ours: be that as it may, the
object we have in introducing these statements, is to show
the extent of the connection of the common government
with the subject now to be investigated.
Although the African slave trade had been prohibited
by the Congress of 1776, it was in operation at the time
of the adoption of the common Constitution.  By that instrument it is declared, "The mnigration or importation of
such persons as any of the States now existing shall
think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress, prior to the year 1808; but a tax or duty may be
imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars
for each person." Congress, in March, 1807, passed an
act, declaring the trade at an end on the 1st day of January, 1808. 
REGULATION OF SLAVERY.
A further provision of the Constitution, is, " No person
held to service or labor in one State, under the laws
thereof, escaping into another, shall in consequence of any
law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service
or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party
to whom such service or labor may be due." These two
provisions of the Constitution contain all the connection
the common government has with the institution of
slavery (having legislated on both subjects, the power of
Congress is therefore exhausted). Pursuant to the last
provision of the Constitution, Congress passed acts for the
return to their owners, of fugitive slaves. That it is the
duty of every good citizen to assist in the execution of
these laws, and that none but unworthy citizens will
oppose their execution, it is useless for us to remark.
No constitutional laws have been more violently assayled
and obstructed, than the fugitive-slave laws, by abolitionists: they have been taught to believe that the following
Scripture, "Thou shalt not deliver unto his master, the
servant which is escaped from his master unto thee: he
shall dwell with thee, even among you, in that place which
he shall choose in one of thy gates, where it liketh him
best: thou shalt not oppress him;" authorizes, nay more,
requires, that they should not deliver up fugitive slaves.
A greater perversion of sacred truth, perhaps, was never
committed.
The twenty-third chapter of Deuteronomy, in which
the above Scripture is found, shows that Moses was giving
to the Israelites instructions respecting certain nations of
people; some of whom were never to enter "the congregation of the Lord;" that is, the Church; others were not
to enter the congregation until the " third generation."
89 
90        SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
This was the punishment inflicted upon these nations for
causes mentioned in the chapter. Now, the above Scripture alludes to the slaves of these peoples. If a slave desired to abandon idolatry and to embrace the religion of
the Israelites, and with this view, escaped from his master,
then he was not to be given up, but to be protected. In
this arrangement, we see the divine goodness manifested
in favor of the slaves of masters, who could not themselves become members of the Hebrew Church. The
slave, who was not to blame for the idolatry of his master,
has a way provided for him, whereby his salvation may
be secured. This is the obvious meaning of the text. D'r
Clarke says: " In any other case, it would have been injustice to have harbored the runaway."
And now for the application. How is it with abolitionists; do slaves of idolatrous masters seek among them to
embrace the true faith? Verily, we conceive that their
teachings are much worse than any species of idolatry!
When they succeed ]n getting a slave to escape from his
master, is it their practice or their purpose, to place him
under correct religious training? Nay, they abandon the
poor fugitive, and thereby cause him, in too many instances, to renounce the religion in which he has been
educated, and which, perhaps, he professed; thus carrying
him back, if not to idolatry, to at least as hopeless a condition as that would be.
The Bible regulated the subject, now under consideration, as long ago as A. M. 2093. On Abraham's first visit
to Egypt, he procured for Sarah a maid-slave named
HIagar. Sarah, after their return from Egypt, continuing
childless, said to Abraham, (who was then called Abram,)
' Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: 
REGULATION OF SLAVERY.
I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may
obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the
voice of Sarai. And Sarai, Abram's wife, took iagar her
maid, the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in
the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram,
to be his wife. And he went in unto IHagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her
mistress was despised in her eyes. And Sarai said unto
Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have givenf my maid
into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived,
I was despised in her eyes: the Lord judge between me
and thee.  But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid
is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when
Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.
"And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of
water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to
Shur. And he said, Hiagar, Sarai's maid, whence camest
thou? and whither wilt thou go?  And she said, I flee
from the face of my mistress Sarai. And the angel of the
Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.
"And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou
art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his
name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction.
And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against
every man, and every man's hand against him: and he
shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren."
This Scripture settles the facts, that Hiagar was a slave;
that she was, by her mistress, treated hardly; that she
ran away; that the angel of the Lord ordered her back
to her mistress, and commanded her to submit herself
under her hands. These facts are stated so explicitly and
91 
SLAVERY IN THIE UNITED STATES.
unmistakably, that the propriety of remarking upon them
is, at least, questionable; and were it not that the applica tion of the ease to slavery in the United States, might be
overlooked, we certainly should be silent.
The angel commanded Hiagar to return to her mistress,
and accompanies the command with the assurance that
her posterity should be numerous and independent. This
announcement received its accomplishment, literally and
fully, as the history of the Bedouins and wandering Arabs
testifies.
So with the slavery of the United States. The objects
proposed, perhaps we had better write purposed, to be accomplished by it, are:
1. The training of the slave, for his personal benefit
and advantage.
2. The redemption of Africa from all her woes, and
making her an independent Christian nation.
Now, individual slaves escaping from their owners, will
not defeat the accomplishment of the purpose; at most,
it can but delay it; but it is the removal, to some extent,
of the agency through which the purposes are to be accomplished. It is easy, therefore, to see, that persons assisting slaves to escape fromrn their owners, or refusing to
deliver to their owners fugitive slaves, are "fighting
against God."
The duty imposed by the above Scripture, is exceedingly plain; it is to follow the example of the angel-see
that the fugitive returns to his master.
But, there may be those that will not feel satisfied that
the foregoing Scripture is sufficient to establish the fact
for which it is adduced. Without entering into the argu
92 
REGULATION OF SLAVERY. 
ment of the question thus started, in favor of our position,
we produce below Scripture that is not liable to any objection whatever, and which is decisive of the question:S't Patul's Epistle to Philemon, is devoted exclusively to this
subject-it has but the one object: the reader is referred to
the Epistle.
This Epistle was written A. D. 62. Some authors of
distinction have thought it strange, that a private letter to
a friend, on a subject not connected with the ordinary
business of an apostle, should have been written under
inspiration, and found its way into the Sacred Canon. It
is part of the arrangement God has made, connected with
the objects of slavery-when considered in this connection, it is no matter of surprise at all. D'r Clarke deduces
the following conclusions from the Epistle, which we adopt
with some alterations:  1. In a religious point of view, all genuine Christian
converts are on a level: Onesimus, the slave, on his conversion, becomes the apostle's beloved son, and Philemon's
brother.
2. Christianity makes no change in men's civil affairs:
even a slave does not become a freeman by Christian
baptism-he must still serve his master.
3. No slave should be either taken or retained from his
master, without the master's consent.
4. We should do good unto all men, and not be above
helping the meanest slave when we have the opportunity.
5. Restitution is due where an injury has been done,
unless the injured party freely forgive.
6. The ministers of the Gospel should learn to know
the worth of an immortal soul, and be as ready to use
their talents for the conversion of slaves, as the great and
93 
94       SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
opulent; and prize the converted slave as highly as the
converted master; showing no sinful respect of persons.
7. Christianity properly understood, and its doctrines
properly applied, becomes the most powerful means of the
melioration of men; the wicked and profligate, when
brought under its influence, become useful members of
society. It can transform a worthless slave into a pious,
amiable and useful man; and make him, not only happier
and better in himself, but also, a blessing to others. 
CHAPTER III.
IMPORTATION OF SLAVES INTO THE UNITED STATES.
Section 1.
How distinctly did every feature of every phase of slavery pass in review before him, when the prophet wrote
the following prophecy. The condition of the slave in
Africa; on board the transport ship; in the hands of the
importer, and in America, are alluded to with unmistakable precision: " Thus saith the Lord, The labor of Egypt,
and merchandise of Ethiopia, and of the Sabeans, men of
stature. shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine:
they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over,
and they shall fall down unto thee; they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee, and
there is none else; there is no God." Commentators have
given no special application to this prophecy. The use
we make of it, is in no way inconsistent with what they
say about it; all of them speak of it cautiously. One of
them, Lowth, says: " This seems to relate to the future
admission of the Gentiles into the Church of God.  And,
perhaps, these particular nations may be named, by a
metonomy common in all poetry, for powerful and wealthy
nations in general." We here give the prophecy its
special application and meaning, we conceive.
African slavery in the United States is to be regarded
.1 
96        SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
as a blessing. chiefly to the slave himself. The African was
not reduced to slavery by being brought to the United
States-no injustice, in this respect, has been done him,
by bringing him here-he was a slave in his own country,
(slavery is an African not an American institution,)-subject to a much more severe bondage there, as we have shown,
than it is possible for him ever to experience here-it was
a great melioration of his condition to bring him here:
suppose he had been left in his own country, in the
hands of his African master, who does not see, who will
not admit that his condition would have been much
worse than it is possible for his condition to be in his
present situation. But when, in addition to the immediate advantages realized by the slave, in the change of
position, we consider his further improvement, and the
ultimate elevation of his race, we cannot fail to admit the
great good which is to result from slavery; every heart
touched with the least gratitude, should be thankful for
an institution that is to produce such results.
But when our attention is directed to the conduct of the
importer, then it is that we may indulge a just indignation:
the slave in his hands, was regarded merely as merchandise-" the merchandise of Ethiopia." Every feeling of
humanity is outraged, in view of the cruelties practiced
by the importer; who always will, to the last, receive, as
he deserves, the denunciations of the good.
The Pope's authority to dispose of infidel nations, or
those he was pleased to regard as such, grew out of the
crusades. According to this doctrine, Christian princes
"had the right to invade, ravage and seize upon the territories of all infidel nations, under the plea of defeating the enemies of Christ, and extending the sway 
IMPORTATION OF SLAVES.
of His holy Church on earth." The infidels themselves
were left at the disposal of their conquerers.
In conformity with the established doctrine, John I., of
Portugal, invaded Northern Africa and established his
standard at Cueta.  Here his enterprising son, Henry, conceived the idea of passing to India by circumnavigating
Africa. This idea was a long time maturing; its practical
demonstration, however, was at length entered upon. The
first attempts resulted in the exploration of the western
coasts of Africa, as far south as Cape de Verde and Azore
Islands. Without accomplishing his undertaking, Hienry
died in 1473: his death delayed this enterprise until
1487, when Vasco de Gama, a veteran navigator in the
employment of the Portuguese government, doubled the
Cape of Good Hope. Thus was the door of the African
slave-trade thrown open, into which the nations and peo,
ples of Christendom impetuously rushed.
As we are about to enter upon some general details of
this trade, it may not be out of place here, to state the
recognized divisions into which the peoples of Africa are
thrown. There are seven ascertainable varieties, to wit:
1.t Hottentot.  2. Kaffir.  3. Abyssinian.  4. Egyptian.
5. Numidian. 6. Nubian. 7. Negro. The Negro,
(Cushite,) who retains his physical identity in all climates
and under all circumstances, is found scattered amongst
all the other varieties-a slave.
Section 2.
Columbus discovered the New World in 1492. The
first permanent settlement attempted, as is well known,
was on the island of S't Domingo. In 1497, a dangerous
conspiracy, headed by Francisco Roldan, broke out on the
5
97 
98        SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
island, which continued for two years, when it was adjusted by Columbus assigning lands and Indian slaves to the
conspirators. This arrangement resulted, says Irving, in
the "repartimientos, or distribution of free Indians among
the colonists, afterwards generally adopted and shamefully
abused, throughout the Spanish colonies."   Attempts
have been made to relieve the course pursued by Columbus of its injustice, by assimilating it to the feudal system
of Europe, the Indians being the slaves of the system.
It must be said, and this affords the best apology for
Columbus, in justice to the admiral, that the scheme did
not originate with him, and that he yielded to it with reluctance almost amounting to compulsion. This arrangement stipulated that the Indian chiefs, called caciques,
should furnish each Spaniard with a certain number of
people, for the purpose of cultivating their grounds: the
terms were soon applied to working in mines. Again
does justice to Columbus require it to be stated, that this
was done under the administration of Bobadilla. Ovando, who superseded Bobadilla in the government of the
island, extended this measure to the utmost limit of cruelty.  Some idea of the sufferings of the Indians, by the
oppressions inflicted upon them, may be derived from the
statement, that in less time than twelve years from the
settlement of the Island, "several hundred thousand of
its native inhabitants had perished; miserable victims to
the grasping avarice of white men," calling themselves
Christians!
Ovando was sent out in 1502. The instructions under
which he was to act, drawn up the year before, show
great solicitude on the part of the sovereigns, particularly
of Isabella, whose benevolent heart was always full of 
IMPORTATION OF SLAVES. I
sympathy for the oppressed, in favor of the Indians. Alluding to these instructions, Irving says: "But while the
sovereigns were making regulations for the relief of the
Indians; with that inconsistency frequent in human j udgment, they encouraged a gross invasion of the rights and
welfare of another race of human beings.  Among their
various decrees, on the occasion, we find the first trace of
negro slavery in the New World. It was permitted to
carry to the colonies, negro slaves born among Christians;
that is to say, slaves born in Seville and other parts of
Spain; the children and descendants of natives brought
from the Atlantic coast of Africa, with which a traffic of
the kind had for some time been carried on, by the Spaniards and Portuguese." The license given was so eagerly
seized upon, that in 1503, only two years after its grant,
the merciless Ovando requested that the number of Negroes on the island might not be increased by importation.
Thus was negro slavery introduced into the Nevw
World: the following facts will show how it advanced at
this time.  We  are indebted to Irving for dates and
other facts.  In 1510, king Ferdinand ordered African
slaves to be employed in the mines, (the mines having become attached to the crown; previously they had been
the property of private persons, and Negroes had been
employed in them.) In 1511, the king ordered that a
great number of slaves should be procured from Guinea,
and carried to the island. In 1512 and'13, he repeated
his orders. In 1516, Charles V., successor of Ferdinand,
granted licenses to the Flemings, to import Negroes into
the colonies. This license was received with eagerness
by those in whose favor it was made, and an extensive
importation ensued.
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SLAVERY IN THiE UNITED STATES.
There is a singular fact connected with the good Las
Casas, missionary to the Indians on S't Domingo, which
we here notice. His sensibilities were easily moved in
favor of the Indians-no efforts were left untried on his
part to serve them-but he had no sympathies for the
Negroes. iHe participated in the popular opinions, that
one Negro could perform without inconvenience to himself, the labor of four Indians-that the Africans were not
affected by their transportation to the New' World-that
they were slaves in their own country-that they thrived
in the New World as well, if not better, than they did in
Guinea-that slavery was the natural condition of the
African! We cannot but perceive and admire the workings of Providence in all this.
Section 3.
The other nations of Europe were decidedly against regarding the claim of Spain to the territory of the New
World, as conclusive; either on the ground of her having
led the way to it, or of the Pope's grant. They contended
that Spain had no right to any other territory than that
actually visited by her fleets, or occupied by her people.
As respects territory falling within the limits of the United
States, this assumption confined Spain to the Floridas,
and even that she was not allowed, very quietly, to re
tain.
In 1496, John Cabot and his son Sebastian, by private
enterprise, but with the approbation, and under the auspices of the English Government, sailed on a voyage of
discovery. In 1497, they discovered the American continent, in the latitude of fifty-six degrees, as is supposedthence they returned to England.
100 
IMPORTATION OF SLAVES.
In 1498, Sebastian Cabot reached the continent in the
latitude of fifty-eight degrees. He then turned south,
and proceeded along the coast to a point near the southern boundary of Maryland: thence he returned to Eng.
land. The proceedings of the Cabots, formed the claim
that England set up to the northern Atlantic portion of
the United States. A claim which, perhaps, she was
more successful in maintaining, than just in proposing.
It was not until 1504, that France entered into the
business of discovery in the New World. However, the
Newfoundland fisheries soon rewarded her enterprise.
The Gulf of S't Lawrence was examined, and some further discoveries were made on the coast. Francis I., then
occupying the throne of France, encouraged the colonization of the newly-discovered territories. The French,
under the lead of their priests, soon found their way up
the river S't Lawrence, to the Lakes; from the Lakes
across to the Mississippi, and down that river to the Gulf
of Mexico: forming military and trading posts at short
distances from each other; thus they girded inland the
English and Spanish discoveries.
In 1524, Verrazani, a Florentine, in the service of
France, passed along much of the American coast which
had been traversed by the Cabots; as far south as Wilmington, in North Carolina, perhaps as far, in that direction, as Tybee, in Georgia. A dispute arose between
England and France, relative to the right of each, respecting the discoveries: this dispute was finally adjusted by
the treaty of Utrecht; France relinquishing to England
her claim.
In 1609, Hudson, in the employment of the Dutch
East India Company, sailed in search of the north-western
101 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
passage. Becoming impeded by ice, he turned down the
American coast, and on the third day of September, anchored within Sandy Hook.  After a short delay, he
passed through the Narrows and anchored in the beautiful Bay at the mouth of the North River.  He proceeded
up the river to a point above the city of Hudson, and dispatched a boat which ascended the river above Albany.
The region thus explored, took the name of New Netherlands. The interests involved were transferred by the
East to the Dutch West India Company. A dispute
arose between England and the Dutch about New Netherlands, which, of course, was settled in favor of England.
When was England known to relinquish a claim to territory, however unwarrantable the pretext upon which it
was founded?  The transfer of New Netherlands, placed
in the hands of England the entire territory composing
the old thirteen States.
Section 4.
Properly to understand the heinousness of the crimes
of those who engaged in the importation of Africans into
the New World, it must be borne in mind that there
were two classes in Africa, to wit, master and slave:
this distinction the importers were unwilling to allow;
they wished to regard all alike-master and slave, as free
game. As an illustration of this, we produce the following statement: a titled subject of Great Britain, Sir John
Hawkins, who engaged in the importation, at an early
period, says, his manner of proceeding was to fire the
towns and seize the inhabitants as they were attempting
to escape the flames. At one town, containing eight
thousand inhabitants, he succeeded in capturing two
102 
IMPORTATION OF SLAVES.
hundred and fifty persons, whom he sold as slaves. The
triumphant manner in which Hawkins relates the success
of his mode of proceeding, and such conduct passing without censure or rebuke from any quarter, manifests the
depravity of the times.
This Hawkins, in 1562, brought a cargo of Africans to
S't Domingo, and either bartered them for, or bought with
their purchase-price, the rich products of the island, which
were of great value in England. This excited both the
attention and the cupidity of Queen Elizabeth, who immediately engaged in the business as a co-adventurer.
But Hawkins alone is not to be held up as the only kidnapper; the other traders pursued similar plans for their
supply of slaves: the only difference is this, Sir John
very imprudently boasted of his deeds; others very prudently concealed theirs. So, it is the duty of impartial
history to state the facts.
The African slave-trade continued, principally, to be
an object of private enterprise until 1713, when, by the
treaty of Utrecht, it became systematized in the hands of
England.  By this treaty "Her Britannic Majesty did offer
and undertake, by persons whom she shall appoint, to
bring into the West Indies of America, belonging to His
Catholic Majesty, in the space of thirty years, ONE
HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR THOUSAND NEGROES, at the rate of four thousand eight hundred, in
each of the said thirty years." Her Britannic Majesty
might import as many more as she thought proper, or her
means would allow, but she was not to fall below the
stipulated number. No Frenchman, nor Spaniard, nor
any one else, might import into the Spanish-American
dependencies, one Negro. Her Britannic Majesty took
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SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
good care also, to protect her own American possessions
from the intrusion of other slave-traders. Thus the African sl(ve-trade in America  becamne a royal monopoly.
Queen Anne boasted. in her speech to Parliament, of the
success of "her plan, in thus obtaining for English subjects a new slave-market in the Spanish West Indies."
The Queen admitted, as a co-partner in this business, (for
what equivalent is not stated,) Philip V., of Spain, who
took one-fourth of the common stock: she reserved to
herself one-fourth, and permitted her subjects to divide
the remaining half among themselves. Here we have the
record of the strange fact, that the Queen of England
bargained to the King of Spain, the right to impart Negroes into his own colonies!
Section 5.
The transport-ship, called Guineaman, was generally
some old East India, or whaling ship, whose capacious
depth of hold was fitted up with slave-decks, upon which
were arranged, in regular order, cargoes consisting of from
five to eight hundred, or a thousand or more, slaves: they
were conveyed in canoes from  the shore to the ship,
where they were reduced to a state of nudity; except in
some instances, when a slight covering was placed about
the loins: their heads were closely shaved-they were
organized into messes of from ten to fifteen individuals;
after eating, a bucket of salt-water was furnished each
mess, for the purpose of washing hands —a guard was
placed over each mess, at meal-time, for the purpose of
detecting those who refused to eat, for they often resolved
on starvation; when this was observed, the "cat" generally brought the refractory to a proper course: their al
104 
IMPORTATION OF SLAVES.
lowance of water was generally about a quart in twentyfour hours: as often as three times a week their mouths
were rinsed with vinegar, and a small quantity of rum was
allowed each slave, every morning: the sexes were invariably kept apart, during the voyage: the men were
shaved, without soap, once a week. These precautions,
and many others, were deemed necessary to the health of
the slaves, during the passage: notwithstanding, contagious disorders would frequently break out among them,
by which cargoes have been reduced one-half, sometimes
more. In such cases, a fatal dose would be administered
to those first attacked, in order that by their removal, the
others might be preserved! This was done under the plea
of necessity and humanity!
[The contraband trade has brought into use a description of craft called clipper. These vessels vary from forty
to one hundred and fifty tons, and are, generally, of
schooner rig. They proceed to Africa, and hover about
the coast until an opportunity occurs, when they slip into
some river, or creek, and become concealed among the
trees which grow upon its margin. Here, from some
neighboring barracoon, they procure their cargoes. It is
almost impossible to conceive how one of these vessels
of only one hundred tons, can stow away three hundred
and fifty slaves; means, however, are found to do it. They
compel them to lie down in each other's laps; between
decks affording but twenty-two inches space! We have
the recorded instance, of seven hundred and forty-ni?ze
slaves being packed in the hold of a vessel of one hundred
and sixty-five tons! This appears to be almost incredible.
Captain Bell, of the United States' Navy, in 1840,writes:
"From the best information that could be obtained, there
5*
105 
SLAVERY IN THIE UNITED STATES.
are now, and have been for several years passed, shipped
fromn Africa upwards of two hundred and fifty thousand
slaves per annum. This appears incredible to those who
have not examined into the subject; but when it is considered that sixty-two vessels, carrying, or prepared to
carry, upon an average, three hundred each, were sent
into Sierra Leone last year, in addition to those sent to
the Cape of Good Hlope, and captured in the West Indies,
and on the coast of Brazil; and that not more than one in
six is captured, as I was credibly informed, it will be found
to fall within the above estimate. In consequence of the
chance of capture, the poor Negroes suffer ten-fold more
misery than in the early stages of the traffic; they crowd
them in small, fast-sailing vessels, at the rate of two, and
sometimes even four to the ton, with a slave-deck but
two feet two inches high; as was the case with a slaver
lately sent into Sierra Leone. So dreadful is their situation, that one in ten dies in crossing the ocean; consequently, twenty-five thousand human beings are thus
destroyed in a year!"
It is a matter of some importance to know how, if so
many slaves are lost in their transportation, the persons
engaged in this business realize any profit from it; the
case is susceptible of easy explanation: the average price
of slaves at the barracoon, is forty dollars, in goods; the
average price on Cuba, is four hundred dollars, in cash.
This statement, also, enables us to perceive how it is, that
men continue to hazard the risks connected with the illicit
traffic-the probable profit forms the inducement.]
106 
IMPORTATION OF SLAVES.
&ction 6.
Of the stowing away of the slaves, in the Guineaman,
Foote says: "The slaves were obliged to lie on their
backs, and were shackled by their ankles; the left one
being fettered close to the right of the next: so that the
whole number in one line, formed a single, living chain.
When one died, the body remained, during the night, or
during bad weather, secured to the two between-whom he
was. The height between decks was so little, that a man
of ordinary size could hardly sit upright. During good
weather, a gang of slaves was taken on the spar-deck, and
there remained for a short time. In bad weather, when
the hatches were closed, death from suffocation would
necessarily occur. It can, therefore, be easily understood,
that the athletic strangled the weaker intentionally, in
order to procure more space; and that, when striving to
get near some aperture affording air to breathe, many
would be injured, or killed, in the struggle."
In 1792, the British House of Commons collected some
evidence relative to the enormities of the slave-trade;
from this collection Foote makes the following extracts:
James Morley, gunner of the Medway, states, " He has
seen them under great difficulty of breathing; the women,
particularly, often got upon the beams, where the gratings
are often raised with banisters, about four feet above the
combings, to give air, but they are generally driven down,
because they take the air from the rest. He had known
rice held in the mouths of sea-sick slaves, until they were
almost strangled. He has seen the surgeon's mate force
the panniken between their teeth, and throw the medicine
over them, so that not half of it went into their mouths
107 
SLAVERY IN THiE UNITED STATES.
the poor wretches wallowing in their blood, hardly having
life, and this with blows of the cat."
D'r Thomas Trotter, surgeon of the Brooks, says, "He
has seen the slaves drawing their breath with all those
laborious and anxious efforts for life which are observed
in expiring animals, subjected by experiment  to foul
air, or in the exhausted receiver of an air-pump. Has
also seen them when the tarpaulins have inadvertently
been thrown over the gratings, attempting to heave them
up, crying out,'kickeraboo! kickeraboo!' i. e., we are
dying! On removing the tarpaulin and gratings, they
would fly to the hatchways, with all the signs of terror and
dread of suffocation. Many whom he has seen in a dying
state, have recovered by being brought on the deck:
others were irrecoverably lost by suffocation, having had
no previous signs of indisposition."
With regard to the Garland's voyage, (a slaver, in
1788,) the testimony is, "Some  of the diseased were
obliged to be kept on deck. The slaves, both when ill
and well, were frequently forced to eat against their inclinations; were whipped with a cat, if they refused. The
parts on which their shackles are fastened, are often exoriated by the violent exercise they are forced to take, and
of this they made many grievous complaints to him, (deponent.)  Fell in with the Hero, Wilson, which had lost,
deponent thinks, three hundred and sixty slaves, by death;
he is certain: more than half her cargo; learnt this from
the surgeon; they had died mostly of the small-pox.
Surgeon also told him, that when removed from one place
to another, they left marks of their skin and blood upon
the deck, and that it was the most horrid sight he had ever
seen." These statements bring us in view of some of the
108 
IMPORTATION OF SLAVES.
horrors of the "middle passage;" an expression of darkest
portent.
It is no matter of surprise that the sailor, (disposed to
be superstitious,) in the silence of nightly vigils, imagines,
as he navigates the dark waters of Afric's coast, that he
sees on each wave-top the troubled ghost of some child
of oppression. No wonder, that when the storm presses
hard upon his bark, he sees the phantom slave-ship as she
scuds by, and hears from her captives the shrieks of
despair. No marvel, when he knows that on the bottom
beneath him, in confusion, lie countless heaps of the skeletons of the victims of cruelty, he breathes hard and
anxiously; and no wonder that his anxiety is relieved,
and his breathing freer, when he passes the precincts of
the haunted district.
Section 7.
There are no sources of information in which implicit
confidence can be placed, whereby it may be ascertained
how many African slaves were imported into the New
World; that fact must ever remain unascertained: conjectures will continue to be made, but history never will
record the undisputed fact. Bancroft says: " Raynal considers the number of Negroes exported by all European
nations from Africa before 1776, to have been NINE
MILLIONS; and the considerate German historian of
the slave-trade, Albert Hiune, deems his statement too
small."
After assigning his reasons for his opinion, Bancroft
says: "We  shall not err very much, if, for the century
previous to the prohibition of the slave-trade by the
American Congress, in 1776, we assume the number ir
109 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
ported by the English, into the Spanish, French and English West Indies, as well as the English continental colonies, to have been collectively nearly THREE MILLIONS; to which are to be added more than a quarter
of a million purchased in Africa, and thrown into the
Atlantic, on the passage."
There are some other facts belonging to this connection
which do not partake of the uncertainty of which we had
to speak in the above paragraph. We allude to the
American importers: their names, residences, and the extent to which they were engaged in this business, may be
ascertained with exactness; nothing is required for the
purpose of making these developments but a little patient
research. And it is possible, nay more, it is probable, it
will be ascertained that some of our northern fellow-citizens, who at this day are loudest and longest in their denunciations of slavery and slave-holders, are the descendants of importers, inheriting, if not always their names, at
least the fortunes they acquired in this business. Really,
we do not see how the progeny could be other than it is,
when the ancestry was of such a type.
The slave-trade in the New World extended over
a period of three hundred and seven years; that is to say,
from the year 1501, when it commenced by the importation of Negro slaves into S't Domingo, to the year 1808,
when it was finally closed by the Federal Constitution.
From this period, however, must be deducted the short
time that the trade was suspended by the Congress of
1776.
England was engaged in the trade two hundred and
forty-six years; that is to say, from the year 1562, when
Elizabeth became the co-partner of Hawkins, to the year
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IMPORTATION OF SLAVES.
1808. This period includes the reigns of Elizabeth, of
James I., of Charles I., the period of the Commonwealth,
or Cromwell's administration, of Charles II., of James
II., of William III., of Anne, of George I., of George
II., and of George III. England amassed large sums
from the slave-trade.  Bancroft asserts that "she gained
by the sale of the children of Africa into bondage in
America, the capital which built up and confirmed the
British empire in HIindostan."
There is no subject purely human connected with the
world's history; that presents to the mind such an amount
of unmitigated horror as attaches to the importers of
African slaves. The excesses committed by them outrage every principle of humanity, every feeling of benevolence. This, no doubt, accounts for the fact, that the
historians of England pass over the subject with but imperfect allusions to it. This will not do; it is not fair.
A source from which the government derived such large
revenues for so long a time, requires that its minutice
should be written without regard to the injustice connected with it.  The chapter (the blackest in England's
history) that is to relate these horrible details, remains to
be written; to the writer of that chapter we commend a
paragraph written by M'r Jefferson, to be found in Tucker.
This paragraph was in the draft of the Declaration of Independence, presented by that wise statesman to the convention of 1776, and by the convention stricken out,
because they supposed the language used too strong at
that time: "I He-the king-has waged cruel war against
human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of
life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who
never offended him, captivating and carrying them into
ill 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death
in their transportation thither.  This piratical warfare,
the opprobrium of infidel nations, is the warfare of the
Christian king of Great Britain. Determined to keep
open a market where men should be bought and sold, he
had prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable
commerce. And that this assemblage of horrors might
want no fact of distinguished dye, he is now exciting
those very people to rise in arms among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them, by
murdering the people on whom he also obtruded them;
thus paying off former crimes committed against the liberties of one people with crimes which he urges them to
commit against the lives of another." Without this paragraph, or the substance of it, that chapter will be incomplete.
Section 8.
While European nations and monarchs were principally engaged in the importation of African slaves into
the New World, it is proper to remark, that the peoples
of the American Colonies, afterwards States, more particularly those of the Middle and New England States,
became largely involved in it before it was prohibited by
law. And so lucrative has this trade ever been, that at
this day, after it has been abolished nearly half a century,
instances are frequent of vessels owned in the northern
section of the Union, engaging in it. It is in vain that
the United States, France and England, maintain strong
naval forces on the African coasts; the traders find means
to elude them, and cargoes of slaves continue to be
112 
IMPORTATION OF SLAVES.
landed in ports contiguous to the United States. The
uncontradicted statement is, that during the past twelve
months [1855-'56], twenty-one vessels, that is to say,
six barks, two brigs, and thirteen schooners, engaged in
the African slave-trade, belong to the port of New York,
besides others which belong to Philadelphia and Boston.
It is impossible to ascertain with mathematical certainty how many African slaves were imported-into the
American colonies by the parties engaged in their importation, but it is supposed by those who have undertaken the ascertainment of the fact, that in 1776, when
all the colonies possessed slaves, the number was OVER
THREE HUNDRED  THOUSAND.   Some writers go
largely over this estimate, which is the lowest.
It is asserted that the first foot-prints made by a negro
slave on that part of the American continent falling
within the Union, were made in Virginia soil, in August,
1620. Then a Dutch ship (some say a man-of-war; if so,
a public ship) entered James River, having on board
twenty African slaves for sale.
Bancroft states that the guilt of "first participating
in the slave-trade," was brought upon the American colonies by "one Thomas Keyser and one James Smith,"
who in 1645 fitted out their ship in Boston, "and sailed
for Guinea, to trade for Negroes."  [Why not say, "that
the first American Colony which engaged in the importation of African slaves, was Massachusetts"?  The truth
would have been much better told. Some of the colonies,
at the time mentioned, had no existence; and amongst
those that did exist, there was no political connection
whatever. Each colony must be held accountable for its
113 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
own acts then, as each State must be held accountable for
its own acts now. The form of expression adopted by
Bancroft involves all the colonies in conduct for which
Massachusetts alone is accountable.]   He  says, "But
throughout Massachusetts the cry of justice was raised
against them, as malefactors and murderers.  Richard
Saltonstall, a worthy assistant, felt himself moved by his
duty as a magistrate, to denounce the act of stealing
Negroes, as'expressly contrary to the law'of God, and the
law of the country.' The guilty men were committed for
the offence, and, after advice with the elders, the representatives of the people, bearing'witness against the
heinous crime of man-stealing,' ordered the Negroes to be
restored, at the public charge,'to their native country,
with a letter [to whom was this letter written?] expressing
the indignation of the general court' at their wrongs."
We have high regard for Massachusetts; the patriotism
and public spirit of her citizens are not to be questioned,
and we appreciate fully the motive of Bancroft; it is in
every sense praiseworthy. What a pity it was, however,
that Massachusetts bestowed such an amount of sympathy upon Negroes, that when afterwards her own citizens [Quakers and witches], stood in need of it, it was
all gone! It is so now. It is said, that at this time
there are not many Quakers in Massachusetts, fewer
witches, and plenty of abolitionists. Happy State!
The African slave-trade possessed this sensible distinction, legitimate and illegitimate, or legal and illegal. The
legitimate trade allowed the purchase of slaves for what
their African owner was pleased to regard as a fair price.
The illegitimate trade consisted in the kidnapping [stealing, as the Massachusetts authorities very correctly termed
ill 
IMPORTATION OF SLAVES.
it] of any and all, without regard to condition. This involved both master and slave. The illegitimate trade, for
obvious reasons, was generally preferred and engaged in
by the importers. Whenever it could be, it was practiced.
Now, it was the illegitimate trade which the good people
of Massachusetts condemned, and which the authorities
proceeded to punish. The statement of facts made by
Bancroft, does not warrant the conclusion, that had Keyser and Smith been engaged in the legitimate trade, their
enterprise would have been interrupted.  It was the
"man-stealing" that very properly excited the indignation of the people.
Section 9.
The abstract question of slavery was never submitted
to the peoples of the American Colonies. The institution
was forced upon them by England principally, France,
Holland and Spain; therefore, the discussion of the question at this time is improper, for it could produce no result whatever. All the interest the people of the south
have in slavery, is to ascertain how to manage it.
The year 1620 may be properly regarded as the period
that opened the African slave-trade in the colonies. It
became so rapid that the colonies were alarmed, and proceeded to arrest it if they might. Virginia passed twentythree acts in endeavoring to accomplish this object; and
so long as the importation was confined to the Dutch, she
succeeded in keeping the numbers below what she conceived to be the point of security; but when England
undertook the business Virginia was obliged to yield.
M'r Madison, referring to this subject, said, "The British
government constantly checked the attempts of Virginia
115 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
to put a stop to this infernal traffic." Stevens says, "South
Carolina soon passed a law prohibiting their further importation. It was rejected by the king in council, who
declared the trade' beneficial and necessary to the mothercountry.'  Massachusetts,  the first State  in America
which directly participated in the slave-trade, and that,
too, through a member of one of the Boston churches,
earnestly rebuked the traffic, imposed duties upon
Negroes imported, and aimed at other efforts."  All this,
however, was frustrated by the royal governor, Hutchinson, who pleaded his instructions against it. Stevens
continues: " The royal orders to Governor Wentworth
directed him not to give his assent to or pass any law
imposing duties on Negroes imported into New Hampshire." Without referring farther to the independent
action of each colony, their opposition to the importation
may be summed up in the words of Bancroft: "The
English continental colonies, in the aggregate, were always
opposed to the African slave-trade." The importation
continued, however, until the Continental Congress in
1776, in accordance with the popular opinion, put a stop
to it by enacting, " that no slaves be imported into any of
the thirteen United Colonies." Then was British policy
rebuked, and British power defied.
The trade was resumed after this, and was not to be finally
closed till 1808-the time limited by the Federal Constitution. During this period, several of the States, Northern
and Southern, engaged in the business of importation,
which continued up to the time for its final termination.
Georgia, in May, 1798 (ten years before the trade could
be arrested by Congress), enacted, among her fundamental
laws:' There shall be no future importation of slaves
116 
IMPORTATION OF SLAVES.
into this State from Africa, or any foreign place, after the
first day of October next." This, perhaps, is the earliest
instance of any one of the thirteen States incorporating in
its constitution its determination not to allow the importation to be longer continued'within its jurisdiction. And
it is probable that since the trade has become contraband,
fewer successful efforts have been made to introduce
Africans into Georgia than any other slave-holding State.
Georgia was the last of the thireen colonies to adopt
African slavery. The colony was settled in 1733. In
it slavery was prohibited by law until 1749-'50. Thus, it
is seen that Georgia was not only the last colony to adopt
the institution, but the first, perhaps, to arrest the abuses
connected with it.
117 
CHAPTER IV.
LAWS OF THE STATES-OPERATIONS OF THE CHURCH, &C.
Remarks.
THEI object of this chapter is to present a brief abstract
of the laws of the States in which slavery exists, in so far
as concerns the life and personal security of the slave, and
the results, as well as they could be ascertained, of the
efforts of the church in favor of the Negro, both in the
United States and in Africa. This exhibit, although not
as full in some of its statements as we could wish, nevertheless challenges the admiration of every philanthropist,
and cannot but receive, as it should, the approbation of
the humane and enlightened everywhere, and of all
countries.
Situated as the Negro was in his native country, and in
the hands of the importer, we behold a human being, than
whom no one stood more in need of a friend, and at the
same time no one was so destitute of a friend. It is
said that the darkest hour of the night is the one that im-n
mediately precedes the light of day. In the case of the
Negro this was no figure of speech. With him it was a
solemn reality; for his hard lot felt its greatest pressure
while he was on board the transport-ship. The moment
his foot made an impression in American soil, his fortune
turned-the melioration of his condition commenced. As
soon as he passed into the hands of his permanent owner, 
STATE LAWS-OPERATIONS OF THE CHURCH.  119
he found a friend, a father, who instantly commenced the
healing of his wounds. From that day to this, his condition has continued steadily to improve; and we remark,
that there has been no period in his history when greater
and more successful efforts were being made for him than
those of the present time.
There never was a human being whose character and
circumstances (respecting what they formerly were, and
what they now are), presents so strong a contrast as is
observable in the case of the American slave. He was
brought to us a naked, ignorant heathen-a savage-but
one short remove from the brute: now "he is clothed and
in his right mind." Hie is a Christian by education, often
by profession. Were it not that he has been with us
from the beginning, he never could be recognized as the
descendant of African ancestors.   There is nothing to
awaken surprise in all this, however, when it-is remembered that the State, the Church, the master and his
family, have been laboriously engaged in working out
these results.
We do not pretend to say that there are no inconveniences, irregularities, perhaps improprieties connected
with the slavery of the South. That such things exist,
we readily allow. What institution is without them?
Even the Church has its hypocrites, who, in these days of
abolitionism, are vastly multiplied. But, we assert, with
all the firmness of truth, that these things have been
largely exaggerated by the designing; that they have
been greatly reduced from their original magnitude; and
that the people of the South are now engaged doing
everything that can be done for the purpose of correcting
these irregularities altogether.   Amendments  in the
practical workings of the institution are being constantly 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
and extensively made; and these efforts would have been
much more rapid and effective, had the people of the
South been let alone in the management of the institution.
But they have been balked and embarrassed by those
"busy bodies in other men's matters," the slave's worst
enemies, the treacherous, traitorous abolitionists.
Webster defines the term slave thus: "A person who
is wholly subject to the will of another; one who has
no freedom of action, but whose person and services
are  wholly  under  the  control  of  another."   This
defination has its shades of meaning distinctly reflected in
what a very distinguished English author says: "Pure
and proper slavery does not, nay, cannot subsist in England; such, I mean, whereby an absolute and unlimited
power is given to the master, over the life and fortune of
the slave." [Blackstone could not have said so much respecting the British dependencies-to wit, the West
Indies.] The kind of slavery here spoken of is the kind
of slavery that now subsists in Africa.  It is the kind of
slavery that subsisted while the slave was in the hands of
the importer, who regarded him as an article of merchandise simply; but it is not the slavery of the United States.
Such slavery does not now, never did, and never can, subsist
with us.
It is necessary to pure and proper slavery that the
master should have absolute and unlimited power over the
life of the slave. This power has never been allowed in
the United States. The security of the life of the slave
has not been trusted to the interests of the master, nor to
his humanity. The law takes the life (and, as will be seen
from the following extracts, much besides that relates to
the slave's well-being) under its own protection. That it
trusts to no man; there let it remain.
120 
STATE LAWS-OPERATIONS OF THE CHURCH.   121
But we may be asked, WAhat is the condition of the
Negro in the Southern States, if it be not slavery in the
highest sense of the term? We reply, It is a peculiar
condition of servitude, regulated by law, having no parallel in profane history, instituted of God, for the education
and training of the African here, for his personal enjoyment of civil and religious liberty, compatible with his
condition; and for the other purpose of constituting him
an agent, through whom his native country is to be redeemed from its deep degradation.  Who objects to this?
The law abhors cruelty and punishes indiscriminately,
all who are guilty of it. It will be perceived upon reflection, that the law trusts the master with no more
power over his slave, than it trusts to a master over his
apprentice, or to a father over his child. If it becomes
necessary to use power beyond this, the law reserves to
itself the exercise of that power. If punishment, beyond
moderate correction, (which does not involve the loss of
life or limb, or extend to the mutilation of the person,)
must be inflicted, the law inflicts it.
But, it may be said that there are hard masters, who
abuse the power intrusted to them by law; that there
sometimes occur excesses amongst slave-holders: we have
no concealments on this subject, we allow that there are
occurrences of the kind alluded to; but we affirm that
these occurrences rarely arise from wantonness. It must
be remembered, that we have to control a race of human
beings who are under the influence of the most depraved
and vicious propensities that ever marked the character
of the debased: individuals of which race seem to be incapable of redemption, either by kindness or severity.
In view of the law, the efforts of the Church, and the
6 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
humanity of masters generally, if not universally, we
assert, that the slavery of the South is an anomaly; that
is to say, it is without a parallel in the history of human
slavery: therefore, to pass a correct judgment on the subject, requires the knowledge of it, in all its parts and particulars: a knowledge which few, if any out of the South,
possess; and for the want of which, many of our northern fellow-citizens have proceeded to condemn the institution.
It is not our intention here to do more than show, that
in each State the law recognizes no difference, in its solicitude for human life, between the free white citizen
and the Negro slave: (that is to say, the law regards the
taking the life of the one, as highly criminal as the taking
the life of the other.) We shall do no more than this, for
the reason, that each State has adopted a system of its
own; to insert the entire system, or an abridgment of it,
of each State, would unnecessarily incumber the subject.
The various systems of the States result in the establishment of general principles.
We deem it proper, however, here to remark, that in
all cases below those affecting life or limb, the proceedings are had before justices of the peace. These officers
issue warrants for the arrest of the accused; subpoena
witnesses for and against him; and if, after a fair and impartial investigation, it appears that the accused is guilty,
they are authorized to proceed to order the infliction of
corporal punishment.
It will be admitted by all who are acquainted with the
history of British emancipation, that Wilberforce was the
most conspicuous person connected with it, and that his
untiring efforts did more than those of any one else; per!
122 
STATE LAWS-OPERATIONS OF THE CHURCH.  123
haps more than all the others engaged, in consummating that object. It would be easy to show how the British importers of African slaves, in and out of Parliament,
thwarted and embarrassed his movements from 1788 to
the year 1808, when, by the Constitution of the United
States, the business was rendered profitless; but that is
not our object. We introduce here the name of Wilberforce, for the purpose of presenting the following brief
but very significant quotation; he says, "Under the protection of the law, is in fact to be a freeman." The system of slavery against which Wilberforce struggled,
afforded no legal protection to slaves. Such is not the
system of the South.
But ample as the laws are for the protection of the
slave, (servant is the proper word,) he finds great security
in public opinion: this is always active; always on the
side of the people; always does the slave justice, and
always forbids cruelty.. Let the reader collect in his
mind the vast security thrown around the slave by the
State, the Church, the master's interest and public opinion, and then condemn the slavery of the South, if he
will; we are content.
In each of the slave-holding States, the laws for the
trial of the question of freedom are so ample and easy,
that it is impossible to hold a free Negro in slavery, in
either of them.  This is an occurrence but seldom heard
of, because the laws, in this respect, are but seldom vio
lated. 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
&Section 1.
DELAWARE.
"Any two justices of the peace for the county, shall
have jurisdiction to try and punish any slave, for the
offence of stealing, taking and carrying away, any goods,
chattels, effects, bank-note, money, bill, promissory note,
check, order, bond or written contract for the payment of
money, or delivery of goods, or of receiving, or concealing, any such stolen property, knowing it to be stolen, or
taken by robbery."
[In all higher crimes than those punishable by justices
of the peace, an accused slave is tried in the same manner
as a free white person: the bill of indictment against the
accused must contain the allegation of his being a slave,
&c. On the trial, the master has the right to defend the
slave, by employing counsel, selecting the jury, &c.]
MARYLAND.
"That whensoever any Negro, Indian or mulatto slave,
shall hereafter be charged with any pilfering or stealing,
or any other crime or misdemeanor whereof the county
court might have cognizance, it shall and may be lawful
for any one of the justices, of the provincial or county
courts, upon complaint made before him, to cause such
Negro, Indian or mulatto slave, so offending, to be brought
immediately before him, or any other justice of the peace
for the county where such offence is committed, who upon
due proof made against any such Negro or mulatto slave,
of any of the crimes as aforesaid, such justice is hereby
124 
STATE LAWS-OPERATIONS OF THE CHURCH.  125
authorized and empowered to award and cause to be inflicted, according to the nature of the crime, such punishment, by whipping, as he shall think fit, not exceeding
forty lashes."
"That every slave committing any of the felonies hereinbefore mentioned [crimes involving the loss of life or
limb], or any other offence which may by law subject such
slave to the pains of death, shall be committed to the sheriff of the county where the offence shall be committed,
and that at the next assizes, or county court, which shall
first happen to be held for the county where the offence
shall be committed, the justices of assize, or either of
them, or county court which shall first happen, shall and
may by virtue of this act, try every such offender or offenders according to law, and upon the conviction of the
offender or offenders, upon his, her, or their voluntary confession, or the verdict of a jury, upon the testimony of
one or more legal or credible witness or witnesses, or even
the testimony, or the evidence of other slaves, corroborated with such pregnant circumstances as shall convince
and satisfy the jury who shall try the fact of the guilt of
such slave or slaves, to give judgment according to the
nature and quality of the offence."
[The laws of Maryland, on this subject, are enforced in
the District of Columbia.]
MISSOURI.
" Every person who shall cruelly or inhumanly torture, beat, wound or abuse any slave in his employment,
or under his charge, power or control, whether belonging
to himself or another, shall on conviction be punished by 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
imprisonment in a county jail, not exceeding one year,
or by fine, not exceeding one thousand dollars, or by both,
such fine and imprisonment.
"If any slave, or his master, in any case cognizable before a justice of the peace, shall require a jury, the justice shall cause such jury to be summoned, sworn and
empannelled, who shall determine the facts and assess
the punishment, in case of conviction; and the justice
shall enter judgment and cause the same to be executed."
VIRGINIA.
"The justices of every county or corporation shall be
justices of oyer and terminer, for trying slaves charged
with felony; which trials shall be by five at least, without
juries, upon legal evidence, at such times as the sheriffs or
other officers shall appoint, not being less than five, nor
more than ten days, after the offenders shall have been
committed to jail. No slave shall be condemned in any
such case, unless all of the justices, sitting upon his or
her trial, shall agree in opinion that the prisoner is guilty,
after assigning him or her counsel, in his or her defence,
whose fee, amounting to not less than five, nor more than
twenty-five dollars, at the discretion of the justices sitting upon said trial, shall be paid by the owner of the
slave. Provided always, That when judgment of death
shall be passed upon any such offender, there shall be
thirty days at least, between the time of passing judgment
and the day of execution, except in cases of conspiracy,
insurrection or rebellion."'
[Other offences (not involving life or limb), punishable
126
I 
STATE LAWS-OPERATIONS OF THE CHURCH.  127
by justices of the peace, by whipping, not exceeding forty
stripes.]
"And in cases when any slave or slaves shall be tried
and convicted for any crime which may affect life, the
court before whom such trials shall be had, shall cause
the testimony for and against every suchl slave to be entered of record, and a copy of the whole proceedings to
be transmitted forthwith to the executive."
KENTUCKY.
If the owner of any slave shall treat him cruelly and
inhumanly, so as, in the opinion of a jury, to endanger
the life or limb of such slave, or materially to affect his
health; or shall not supply his slave with sufficient
wholesome food and raiment, such slave shall be taken
and sold for the benefit of the owner."
"The final trial of a slave, for offences punished with
death, shall be had in the circuit court of the county in
which the offence was committed; and he shall be tried
by a jury, in the same mode and manner as free persons
are tried.
" The master or owner of any slave may, on the trial
of his slave for crimes or misdemeanors, defend him.
"When any slave shall be charged with felony, the
master or owner may bail such slave, in those cases in
which free persons are bailable, according to the laws regulating bail in criminal cases.
"It shall be the duty of the master or owner, personal
representative, or guardian of such owner, to employ
counsel to defend a slave when tried in the circuit court.
If no counsel be employed, the court shall assign counsel
to defend him." 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
[Crimes below those denominated felony, are punished
by whipping, and may be inflicted by order of a justice
of the peace, or other court before whom the offender
may be tried.]
NORTH CAROLINA.
"The offence of killing a slave shall be homicide, and
shall partake of the same degree of guilt, when accompanied with the like circumstances, that homicide does at
common law."
"Every slave or free person of color who shall hereafter be convicted of any felony, for which no specific
punishment is prescribed by statute, and which is now
allowed the benefit of clergy, shall be imprisoned, at the
discretion of the court, not exceeding two years; and in
addition to such imprisonment, the court may sentence
the convict to receive one or more public whippings, or
to stand in the pillory, or if a free Negro, to pay a fine,
regard being had to the circumstances of each case.
" WVhen a slave shall be apprehended or indicted for
any offence, whereof the superior court has original jurisdiction, his owner, if known, shall have ten days' notice
of the trial, in order that he may have an opportunity of
defending his slave; the cost of which notice, and all
other costs attending the trial for the slave, shall be paid
by the owner, if such slave, being a free man, would be
liable to the payment thereof. And if the owner refuse
to pay the same, execution in the name of the State may
issue against such owner.
"When the owner of any slave who may be tried, in
virtue of this chapter, shall not be known, or cannot be
128 
STATE LAWS-OPERATIONS OF THE CHURCH.  129
ascertained, or shall reside out of the State, the Court
shall appoint counsel to appear for the prisoner, who shall
be allowed the same fees as the attorney for the State is
allowed for such criminal prosecutions; after which, the
trial may proceed in the same manner as if the owner
had been notified agreeably to the directions of this chapter; and the fees for the counsel, clerk and sheriff, shall
be paid by the county having cognizance of the offence,
as any other county charges."
"Whenever any slave shall be convicted before a justice of the peace of any offence, the master on behalf of
the slave may appeal to the next county or superior
court, on entering into sufficient recognizance for the
slave, and giving good security, as in other cases of
appeals.
The superior court shall have exclusive original jurisdiction of all felonies and other offences committed by
slaves, which, by section thirty-two, are not assigned for
trial before a justice of the peace; and the trial shall be
conducted in like manner as the trials of free men for the
same offence; and moreover, the jurors shall be slaveowners."
SOUTH CAROLINA.
"That upon complaint made to any justice of the peace,
of any heinous or grievous crime, committed by any slave
or slaves, as murder, burglary, robbery, burning of houses,
or any other lesser crimes, as killing, or stealing any
neat or other cattle, maiming one the other, stealing of
fowls, provisions, or such like trespasses, or injuries, the
said justice shall issue out his warrant for apprehending
6* 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
the offender or offenders, and  for all persons to  come
before him that can give evidence; and if upon exami nation, it probably appeareth that the apprehended
person is guilty, he shall commit him or them to prison,
or immediately proceed to trial of the said slave or
slaves, according to the form hereafter specified, or take
security for his or their forthcoming, as the case shall
require, and also, to certify to the justice next to him, the
said course, and to require him, by virtue of this act, to
associate himself to him, which the said justice is" here by required to do, and they so associated are to issue
their summons to three sufficient freeholders, acquainting
them with the matter, and appointing them a day, hour
and place, when and where the same shall be heard
and determined, at which day, hour and place, the said
justice and freeholders shall cause the offender and
evidences to come before them, and if they on hearing the' matter, (the said freeholders being by the
said justices, first sworn to judge uprightly and according  to  evidence,)   and   diligently   weighing   and
examining all evidences, proofs and testimonies, and
in case of murder only if on violent presumption
and circumstances, they shall find such Negro or other
slave or slaves, guilty thereof, they shall give sentence
of death, if the crime, by law, deserves the same, and
forthwith by their warrant cause immediate execution to
be done, by the common or any other executioner, in such
mainner as they shall think fit, the kind of death to be
inflicted to be left to their judgment and discretion; and
if the crime committed shall not deserve death, they shall
then condemn and adjudge the criminal or criminals to
any other punishment, but not extending to limb or dis
130 
STATE LAWS-OPERATIONS OF THE CHURCH.  131
abling him, without a particular law directing such
punishment, and shall forthwith order execution to be
done accordingly."
TENNESSEE.
"The master, owner, or overseer of any slave to be
arraigned and tried, may appear at the trial, and make
whatjust defence he can for such slave or slaves, so that
such defence does not relate to any formality in the proceedings on the trial."
"Where any slave or slaves shall hereafter commit any
offence which is not by law declared capital, the justice
before whom he or she is taken shall, and he is hereby
authorized and empowered, forthwith to issue subpoenas,
if necessary, to compel the attendance of witnesses, and
proceed immediately upon the trial of such slave or slaves,
in a summary way, and to pass sentence, and award
execution. Provided, The punishment shall extend no
farther than ordering the offender to be publicly whipped,
not exceeding forty lashes; and when the offence for
which any slave shall be apprehended is declared by
law to be capital, such offending slave shall be committed
to jail, and stand his or her trial by a court, in the way
prescribed by law."
"The circuit court, in addition to the jurisdiction con.
ferred by the Act to which this is a supplement, shall
hereafter have exclusive original jurisdiction of all offences
committed by slaves, which are by law punishable with
death; and so much of the Acts of Assembly as requires
a special court, consisting of justices, to try such cases in
the first instance, be repealed. In all such cases, the trials
of slaves shall be in all respects conducted and disposed 
SLAVERY IN TIlE UNITED STATES.
of in the same manner, and under the same laws and rules
that now govern such eases after they are taken into the
circuit courts by appeal. Provided, That such slave or
slaves shall not be tried before a jury until an indictment
or presentment is first found by the grand jury. And provided, That if the master of the slave so tried does not
employ counsel in his defence, the court shall assign him
counsel, and shall fix the amount of his fee; and such fee
shall be recoverable by such counsel against the owner or
owners of such slave, by action of debt. And provided,
That the owner of said slave shall not be liable to pay the
costs of said prosecution."
GEORGIA.
"Any person who shall maliciously dismember, or deprive a slave of life, shall suffer such punishment as would
be inflicted in case the like offence had been committed on
a free white person; and on the like proof, except in case
of insurrection by such slave, and unless such death should
happen by accident, in giving such slave moderate correction.
"In all cases, the killing or maiming of a slave, or person of color, or Indian, in amity with the United States,
shall be put upon the same footing of criminality as the
killing or maiming of a white person.
"If any person or persons whomsoever  shall maliciously deprive a slave or slaves of life, he, she, or they so
offending shall be prosecuted by indictment in the superior
court of the county in which such offence may have been
committed, in like manner as if the person or persons
charged had perpetrated a like offence on any free white
person or persons whomsoever; and on all such trials the
132 
STATE LAWS-OPERATIONS OF THE CHURCH.   133
same rules of law and evidence shall obtain, as on other
trials for murder. And if, upon trial for such offence, any
person or persons shall be found guilty of murder, he, she,
or they shall suffer such punishment as would be inflicted
in case the like offence had been committed on a free white
person; that is to say, shall be hanged, without the benefit
of clergy.  And if found guilty of manslaughter, shall be
punished by branding [changed to penitentiary imprisonment], in like manner as is usual in cases where any person or persons is or are convicted of manslaughter, committed on a free white person or persons, except in case of
insurrection by such slave, and unless such death should
happen by accident, in giving such slave moderate correction."
[The trial of a slave, in cases in which his life is involved, is had in the same court, and conducted in the
same manner, as that of a white person. The master is
allowed to appear on the part of his slave, employ counsel,
select the jury, arrange-the evidence, &c.]
"Any owner or employer of a slave or slaves, who
shall cruelly treat such slave or slaves, by unnecessary and
excessive whipping, by withholding proper food and
sustenance, by requiring greater labor from such slave
or slaves than he, she, or they are able to perform; or by
not affording proper clothing, whereby the health of such
slave or slaves may be injured and impaired; or cause, or
permit the same to be" done; every such owner or employer shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction, shall be punished by fine, or imprisonment in the
common jail of the county, or both, at the discretion of the
court." 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
FLORIDA.
"In the trial of any slave in the circuit court, the same
rules and regulations shall be observed as are observed in
the trial of free persons."
"It shall be the duty of the courts of this State, charged
with the trial of slaves, to assign and appoint counsel to
defend any slave tried before them, in all cases where the
master of any slave, his agent or guardian, fails or refuses
to employ an attorney to defend such slave; and all such
attorneys shall receive for their services, from the master,
owner, or guardian of such slave, any sum that the court
shall deem reasonable-not exceeding fifty dollars-which
shall be recoverable as other debts of like magnitude."
[In all cases below those denominated capital, justices
of the peace preside. Punishment inflicted by them extends to whipping.]
ALABAMA.
The Constitution provides, that, "They [the General
Assembly] shall have full power to oblige the owners of
slaves to treat them with humanity; to provide for them
necessary food and clothing; to abstain from all injuries
to them, extending to life or limb; and in case of their
neglect or refusal, to have such slave or slaves sold for
the benefit of the owner or owners."
The Constitution also provides, that, "In the prosecution of slaves for crimes of a higher grade than petit larceny, the General Assembly shall have no power to deprive
them of an impartial trial by a petit jury."
A farther constitutional provision is, "Any person who
shall maliciously dismember, or deprive a slave of life,
134 
STATE LAWS-OPERATIONS OF THE CHURCH.  135
shall suffer such punishment as would be inflicted in case
the like offence had been committed on a free white person,
and on the like proof; except in case of insurrection of
such slave."
A  provisional statute is, "That whenever any slave
shall be brought before a justice of the county court, or
of the peace, for the commission of any offence against
the penal laws of this State, of a higher grade than petit
larceny; if the justice after examination, should think
there are just and probable grounds of suspicion of the
guilt or criminality of the offender, he shall immediately
commit such slave to jail; and he is hereby empowered
and directed to issue a summons to the sheriff of the
county, to summons the justices of the county court, and
a jury of twelve good and lawful men of the vicinage, to
meet at the court-house of said county; neither of whom
shall be master of said slave, or related to the master, or
prosecutor of such slave, in any degree, which should be
a cause of challenge to a juryman, in a trial of a free person. And such court and jury shall proceed in the trial
of such slave, without presentment or indictment. And
no slave shall be condemned, unless he be found guilty by
a jury, after allowing him or her counsel, in his or her
defence, whose fee, amounting to ten dollars, shall be
paid by the owner of the slave: provided always, that
when judgment of death shall be passed upon such offender, there shall be thirty days, at least, between the
time of passing judgment and the day of execution; except in cases of conspiracy, insurrection, or rebellion."
Another statutory provision is, " That no cruel or
unusual punishment shall be inflicted on any slave within
this territory. And any owner of slaves authorizing or 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
permitting the same. shall on conviction thereof, before
any court having cognizance, be fined according to the
nature of the offence, and at the discretion of the court,
in a sum not exceeding two hundred dollars, to and for
the use of this territory.
"That the trial of a slave for felony, or any capital
offence, shall be in all respects similar to the trial of a
free citizen or inhabitant, for the like offence; except that
the jury, or two-thirds at least thereof, einpannelled for
such trial, shall be composed of owners of slaves."
MISSISSIPPI.
" No cruel or unusual punishment shall be inflicted on
any slave within this State. And any master, or other
person, entitled to the service of any slave, who shall
inflict such cruel or unusual punishment, or shall authorize
or permit the same to be inflicted, shall on conviction
thereof, before any court having cognizance, be fined according to the magnitude of the offence, at the discretion
of the court, in any sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, to be paid into the treasury of the State, for the use
and benefit of the literary fund.
"The justices of every county or corporation court in
this State, shall be justices of oyer and terminer, for the
trial of slaves charged with felony; which trials shall be
at the court-house of the proper county, and at such time
as the sheriff or other officer, whose duty it shall be to
summon such court, shall appoint; unless the same be at
a stated term of the county or corporation court, not being
less than five, nor more than ten days after the offender
or offenders shall have been committed to jail. And
136 
STATE LAWS-OPERATIONS OF THE CHURCH.  137
when any slave or slaves shall be committed for any
offence, which by this act is declared to be capital, and
punishable with death, it shall be the duty of such sheriff
or other officer, to summon twenty-four good and lawful
men of the vicinage, twelve of whom at least shall be
slave-holders, in their own right: and neither the master
of such slave or slaves, or any person related to him, or
to the prosecutor, shall be one of the persons so summoned,
to be and appear at the time and place when and where
the said court shall be convened, for the trial of such offender or offenders; from which number a jury of twelve
shall be selected, sworn and empannelled; and such court
and jury shall proceed to the trial of the slave or slaves
charged as aforesaid, upon legal evidence, without presentment or indictment, and on conviction by the verdict of a
jury, the court shall proceed to pass sentence, and order
execution thereof, according to law.
"In the trial of slaves, the right of challenge of jurors
for cause, shall be allowed to both parties, according to
the rules of law prescribed in other cases of trial by jury,
and a peremptory challenge on the part of the prisoner,
to the number of six, in capital cases.
"In the trial of any slave or slaves, for a capital crime,
the court shall have power to grant new trials, according
to the rules established in other criminal cases." [Counsel
for the accused must be appointed by the court.]
"When judgment of death shall be passed upon any
slave or slaves, there shall be twenty days at least between
the time of passing judgment, and the day of execution,
except in cases of conspiracy, insurrection or rebellion." 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
LOUISIANA.
"When slaves are prosecuted in the name of the State,
for offences they have committed, notice must be given to
their masters."
[In this State when a master is convicted of cruel treatment of his slaves, the judge may pronounce, in addition
to the penalty established by law, in such cases, that the
slave shall be sold to some more humane owner, "in order
to place him out of the reach of the power which his
master has abused."]
"The slave is entirely subject to the will of his master,
who may correct and chastise him, though not with unusual rigor, nor so as to maim or mutilate him, or to expose
him to the danger of loss of life, or to cause his death."
ARKANSAS.
The Constitution provides that the Legislature shall
have power "to oblige the owner of any slave or slaves,
to treat them with humanity: and iii the prosecution of
slaves for any crime, they shall not be deprived of an impartial jury; and any slave who shall be convicted of a
capital offence, shall suffer the same degree of punishment
as would be inflicted on a free white person, and no other;
and courts of justice before whom slaves shall be tried,
shall assign them counsel for their defence."
"In all cases of felony, the slave committing the same
shall be tried in the same court, and the same rules of evidence observed, as in cases of white persons committing
the like offence; excepting that slaves may be witnesses
for and against slaves."
138 
STATE LAWS-OPERATIONS OF THE CHURCH.  139
TEXAS.
The Constitution provides that the Legislature "shall
have full power to pass laws, which will oblige the owners of slaves to treat them with humanity; to provide for
their necessary food and clothing; to abstain from all injuries to them, extending to life or limb; and in case of
their neglect or refusal to comply with the directions of
such laws, to have such slave or slaves taken from such
owner, and sold for the benefit of such owner or owners."
Another constitutional provision is-" In the prosecution of slaves for crimes of a higher grade than petit larceny, the legislature shall have no power to deprive them
of an impartial trial by a petit jury."
And further-"Any person who shall maliciously dismember, or deprive a slave of life, shall suffer such punishment as would be inflicted in case the like offence had
been committed upon a free white person, and on the like
proof-except in case of insurrection of such slaves."
"That [all crimes, below those denominated capital]
known to the common law of England, committed by
slaves, shall be triable before the county courts, and
on conviction shall be punished at the discretion of
said courts, so as not to extend to life or limb." [Cases of
the kind here mentioned are tried by juries.]
[Crimes of a higher degree than those triable in the
county courts, are tried in the district courts; these trials
are by juries. In such cases, if the owner refuses or neglects to emlploy counsel, counsel is assigned the accused
by the court. The proceedings are the same as in cases
of white persons.]
"That if any person or persons shall murder any slave, 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
or so cruelly treat the same as to cause death, the same
shall be felony, and punished as in other cases of murder.
" That if any person or persons shall cruelly or unreasonably treat or abuse any slave belonging to him, her, or
them, or to another or others, he, she, or they, and each
of them, shall be liable to indictment or presentment, as
for a misdemeanor, in the district court, and on conviction
thereof, may be fined for each and every such offence, not
less than twenty dollars, nor more than five hundred dollars."
There is no branch of the law, particularly in the older
States, that requires revision more than those on the subject of slaves. Many obsolete laws are permitted to remain upon the statute-books, which greatly embarrass the
subject, so that it becomes, in some instances, almost, perhaps to some, entirely imeomprehensible.
Sction 2.
OPERATIONS OF THE CHURCH.
The following statements will show the results of the
efforts of the different churches relative to the Negro,
both in the United States and in Africa.
Methodist Episcopal Church, (South.)
173 Missions.-The Missionary report of 1.855 says,
"Increased confidence is everywhere manifested towards
these missions, and constantly increasing facilities afforded
our missionaries by those who are mnost directly interested, as the owners of the slaves. Every year the field is
enlarging. From every direction the cry is heard,'Conme
over and help us.' More plantations are opened than can
140
I 
STATE LAWS-OPERATIONS OF THE CHURCH.  141
be occupied. The planters, in many instances, contribute
liberally to their support."
145 Missionaries.-This Church employs some 270 missionaries; that is to say, 125 more than those employed
among the colored people. For the support of all her
missionaries, this Church disbursed in 1855, $172,654 53.
53 Church edifices.-These buildings are generally
erected by a number of planters uniting for that purpose.
17,883 Children under instruction.
170,150 Church members.
Methodist Episcopal Church, (North.)
This Church, several years ago, declined any farther
effort in favor of the people of color in the Southern
States; (not formally to be sure, but effectually;) and
now, so far as respects these people, this Church presents
the astonishing fact of a Methodist Church depriving
itself of access to a small field of labor at home, containing
some three millions of souls! For these souls this Church
makes, at present, no effort whatever; nor is it at all
probable, perhaps not possible, that it ever will hereafter.
Behold the effects of abolitionism!
At the time of the separation of the Churches, North
and South, the operations in Africa were left with the
Church North.
The following statement will show the condition of
things in Africa:
Liberia Mission.-1855.
22 Missionaries.-This mission " extends back from the
coast up the principal rivers, and has access, not only to
the inhabitants which have emigrated from America, but 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
also to some one hundred and forty or one hundred and
fifty thousand natives."
1,449 Church members.
21 Local preachers.
22 Teachers, male and female.
3 Seminaries of learning, to wit, Monrovia Seminary,
Cape Palmas Seminary, and Millsburgh Female Academy.
1 Labor school at White Plains, on the St. Paul's river.
The report for 1855 says, "We have a number of dayschools in the mission, and Sunday-schools in every pastoral charge. And besides these, arrangements are made
to receive native youth into the families of nearly all our
missionaries, that they may receive the rudiments of instruction, and the first elements of Christian civilization."
The amount disbursed in 1855, was 836,407.
Baptist Church.
Our efforts to procure reliable information with regard
to this Church, both among the slaves of the South and
the people of Africa, have resulted in the following statements:
One of the corresponding secretaries of the Board of
Foreign Missions, writes, " In the slave-holding States we
have about 500,000 church-members, and perhaps onehalf, or approaching that proportion, may be put down as
colored.
"In all the various departments of service, about thirty
men, all colored men, excepting five. Our schools, weekday and Sunday, in Africa, number about five hundred
scholars.   We  expend in the foreign missions about
$36,000, nearly two-thirds, or more than one-half, in Africa. The Domestic Board will expend about the same
142 
STATE LAWS-OPERATIONS OF THE CHURCH.  143
amount in the home field. Our local associations probably expend about $75,000 more, in the home field."
The corresponding secretary of the Board of Domestic
Missions writes, " In reply I have to state, that I am unable to give you any satisfactory information on the subject of your inquiry. The Board of which I am secretary,
has seven missionaries employed for the benefit of the
colored people: two of these are in Georgia; two in Alabama; one in Baltimore, and one in Washington City;
the two latter are colored men."
Presbyterian Church.
Our information relating to the operations of this Church
is as follows:
The statistics in regard to Liberia, asked for in yours of
the 25th inst., are the following: three missionaries (ministers of the Gospel), two of them white and one colored,
in connection with the Presbytery of Tuscaloosa.
3 Licentiate preachers, colored.
5 Colored teachers.
1 High school, with fifteen scholars.
4 English schools, one hundred and fifty-three scholars.
4 Sabbath schools, one hundred scholars.
4 Churches, with one hundred and thirty-nine communicants.
These missionaries and schools are supported by the
Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church.
A number of special donations for the African Mission, is
received from the colored church-members of the South.
In the Presbyterian Church ia the United States there
are 10,419 colored communicants. 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
The secretary of the Domestic Board writes:
1. That the Presbyterian Church has in the slaveholding States 9,533 colored communicants.
2. That the Church has in said States 801 ministers of
the Gospel; 150 of whom were domestic missionaries, who
give more or less attention to the colored population.
3. That there was reported for domestic missionary
purposes, by the churches in said States, the sum of
$32,863; of which amount $19,028 was contributed to the
Board of Domestic Missions.
We have to regret the meager and unsatisfactory condition of our Church information. Our desire was to present
in detail the operations of the Methodist (North and South),
the Baptist, the Presbyterian and the Episcopal Churches
amongst the slaves in the United States and the people of
Africa. We wished to show the number of church members; the numbers forming the congregations; the- number of schools  (week-day and Sunday); the mode  of
teaching; the number of preachers and teachers employed;
the number of scholars; the amount of money raised,
disbursed, &c., by each Church; but the manner in which
these things have been kept by the Churches has almost
totally defeated our object. The Churches appear to be
content to perform the work without troubling themselves
much about details. There has been no manifested unwillingness on the part of those to whom we have applied
to supply us with the information desired, except by the
Episcopal Church; those of this church to whom we applied declined to respond to our inquiries.
So strong is our desire to present the whole of this information, that we yet indulge the hope that members of
144 
STATE LAWS-OPERATIONS OF THE CHURCH.   145
these respective Churches will compile tables containing
it, which we may present in a subsequent edition. The
cause of truth and justice requires that such information
should be published.
Section 3.
From the foregoing exhibit it will be seen that the
State and the Church have done, and are doing much for
the protection and the improvement of the slave; yet
there is much necessary to his well-being that must be
done by the master and his family.
It will be admitted that one of the strongest motives
that induces human conduct is personal interest; this
strong motive works in favor of the slave. Being, as he
is, the property of his master, it is the master's interest to
provide for his comfort, and to preserve his health; hence
the necessity of providing him with a sufficient quantity
of wholesome food, and clothing suitable to the season. (It
is a well-known fact, that there is less sickness  and
mortality amongst the colored than amongst the white
population, according to numbers.) When a slave falls
sick, it is the master's interest, leaving out motives of
humanity, that he should be restored to health as speedily
as possible; hence, as soon as he becomes too unwell to
labor, the family physician is immediately called in, and
nurses are employed to attend upon him; all this is done
under the supervision of the master and his family. Many
large bills are paid to physicians for their attention to
slaves alone.
The slaves always find strong friends in the white
children of the family, by whom many of them are
taught to read. It is a scene of some interest to behold
7 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
the teaching process. A large class of grown and ungrown persons is arranged in proper order before its
teacher; words are given out to each individual, which
they are required to spell. Some inattentive scholar is
soon detected by his inability to perform his task. Hle is
tried over and over again, without success, until the little
teacher becomes worried and impatient, and more attention is promised on the part of the scholar. The proceeding is then continued with the others of the class. We
allude to this, or something like it, as a general arrange
ment.
As soon as a slave learns to read, he procures a New
Testament (this is their favorite book; with its parables,
allegories and metaphors they are delighted), over which
he will pore for hours together. It is a fact worthy of
mention, that not an infidel or sceptic is to be found
amongst slaves; sinners may be found amongst them in
large numbers, but they invariably entertain correct views
of the principles of Christianity, and acknowledge their
truth. They leave infidelity and scepticism to those of
superior intellectual endowments!
146 
CHAPTER V.
COLONIZATION-SIERRA LEONE-LIBERIA.
Section 1.
"Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God."This prophecy is now in the course of rapid and successful fulfilment.
The idea of Christianizing Africa by means of native
preachers, educated in, and sent from the United States,
was conceived by the Rev. Samuel Hopkins, D.D. This
divine was the founder of the sect called Hopkinsians,
whose creed may be summed up in the following brief and
beautiful sentence:  "All true virtue or real holiness,
consists in disinterested benevolence." D'r Hopkins died
at Newport, in the State of Rhode Island, where he had
resided many years, in 1803.
Before the Revolutionary war, the people of Newport
were largely engaged in the African slave-trade; indeed,
this was the principal source of their commerce and wealth.
D'r Hopkins himself had been a slave-holder, but had sold
his slave property before he came to Newport to reside.
After long and patient investigation, D'r Hopkins
became thoroughly convinced that the slave-trade was
iniquitous; this he announced to his congregation in a
prepared discourse.   Alexander says,  "Although the
people of Newport were deeply engaged in theslave-trade,
and derived their wealth very much from this source, and 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES
his own people [those of his church] as much as others,
yet he determined to lift up his voice against it, and, accordingly, several years before the commencement of the
Revolutionary war, he preached a sermon to his people,
pointedly condemning this iniquitous traffic."
D'r Hopkins did not stop at the mere announcement of
his convictions, he desired to reduce them to practical
operation.   Accordingly he applied the funds arising
from the sale of his slave property, "to the scheme of
educating Africans, to be sent back to their own country
to instruct their countrymen. And as he knew that a
solitary individual could accomplish but little in such a
work, he set himself to form an African Missionary Society,
to educate and send out missionaries to carry the Gospel
to that benighted region."
D'r Hopkins soon engaged in this enterprise D'r Ezra
Stiles, then pastor of a congregation in lNewport, afterwards president of Yale College. These ministers issued
a circular letter, setting forth their benevolent intentions,
which soon brought them funds sufficient to enable them
to educate Bristol Yamma and John Quamine, two Africans, members of the First Congregational Church in
Newport. Yamma and Quamine were sent to Princeton,
New Jersey, "to be for a season under the tuition of the
Rev. D'r Witherspoon, the president of the New Jersey
College."  Alexander says, " Besides  the two already
mentioned (who now only waited for a good opportunity
of sailing for Africa), there was a third, named Salmur
Nuba, a member of the Second Congregational Church
in Newport, then under the pastoral charge of D'r Stiles."
The Revolutionary war coming  on, however, defeated
148 
COLONIZATION-SIERRA LEONE-LIBERIA.   149
these benevolent undertakings —the missionaries did not
go out at that time.
Here is sufficient proof to show, that the Christianizing
Africa, by means of native preachers, educated in the
United States, is an American idea; at least, the idea
first became a reality here. And from this idea, it is
altogether probable, flowed the great conception of colonizing Africa with the free persons of color in England and
the United States; indeed, colonization seems to be but
the maturity of the idea.
Section 2.
Sierra Leone.-Wre have not the proof necessary to enable us to assert unqualifiedly, that the idea of D'r fopkins led to colonization; but we have said that the truth
was probably so; we have said so, because D'r Hopkins
and Granville Sharp, (who should be regarded as the
father of African colonization in England,) were in close
and familiar correspondence, during the life of Dr. Hopkins; it is probable, therefore, that the subject of colonization was discussed between them: however this may be,
D'r Hopkins and M'r Sharp were engaged in one worka great enterprise, affording sufficient honor for both and
for all.
During the war of the Revolution, many slaves were induced to leave their owners and take refuge in the British
army; they followed the army out of the country. The
injustice of this act was acknowledged, and  as far as
it could be, atoned for, by England paying for the property carried away.  (It is singular that the same thing occurred in the war of 1812!) The Negroes were made to
believe that they would not only be free, but amply pro 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
vided for, with all the necessaries of easy living, when
they arrived in England. These promises were sufficient
to induce them to leave their masters, (but few Negroes
like to work,) but they were promises never realized by
them. When they arrived in London, like those that
now escape from their masters into the Northern States,
and Canada, they came to the knowledge that they would
have to work much harder than formerly, to secure the
same amount of good. Disappointed, they roamed about
the streets, begging from door to door, and pilfering what
they could. Poverty, in this case, as in all other cases,
brought with it its attendant concomitants, and the condition of the Negroes became deplorable. This excited
the commiseration of Sharp, Wilberforce, Thornton,
Hiardeastle, Clarkson and others, whose efforts resulted
in the colonization of the Negroes in Africa.
Companies having been organized and chartered in
1787, a district of country was purchased from the native
chiefs, as a settlement for the Negroes-it was called Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone is the name of a river, discovered in 1462; it was formerly called Mitomba. "The
name Sierra Leone," says Lynch, "was given to the mountain range south of the river, from the fancy that the loud
reverberation of thunder in the vallies, resembled the
roaring of lions." Sharp called this territory " The Province of Freedom."
The British government, at once, identified itself with
this enterprise; it assumed the expense of transporting
the Negroes to the colony, and the suplying of them, for
six months after their arrival, with such necessaries as
their condition required. The first colonists that went
out suffered from being too much crowded in their ships;
150 
COLONIZATION-SIERRA LEONE-LIBERIA.    151
out of four hundred and sixty who embarked, eightyfour died on the passage; and after they had landed, before the close of the rainy season, a hundred more died
from the climate. In 1790, the colonists lost their settlement by difficulties with the natives; in 1791 they recovered it.
Some of the Negroes who took refuge in the British
army, were conveyed to Nova Scotia.  "These," says
Alexander, "finding the severe climate of this Northern
province uncongenial to their constitutions, and having
heard of the colony at Sierra Leone, dispatched a delegate
to England, to request that they might also be transported
to Africa." These persons were, by the government, conveyed to the colony; they numbered eleven hundred and
thirty-one: on the passage from Halifax to England sixty-five died.  The Negroes originally from the United
States, and the Maroons from the West Indies, made up
the colonists of Sierra Leone.
Section 3.
In 1794, England and France were at war.  "On the
27th of September," says Alexander, "a French squadron made its appearance on the coast, and began to fire
on the town. All resistance being vain against such a force,
the colony was immediately surrendered into their hands.
The conduct of the French commodore and his men was
ferocious and even cruel, to this hapless infant colony.
They not only seized the goods of the company and of
the English residents, but robbed the houses of the poor
blacks of whatever they could carry away; and then set
the town on fire. Even the church was pillaged, and
the medicine.store destroyed; which last proved the se 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
verest loss of all. After the first conflagration, a second
was ordered, in which  the church and all the remaining
houses were consumed. Arid most unfortunately, while
the French had possession of the colony, the compary's
largest ship, the Harpy, came in sight, having on board
several passengers, and goods to the amount of ~10,000.
Observing the demolition of the company's houses, she
put back to sea, but was discovered and pursued by the
French; and when captured, all the goods were seized,
and even the property of the English passengers was
also taken. None of these articles were landed, but im mediately carried away. What rendered this calamity
doubly severe was the fact, that in this vessel the compa ny had sent out a plant-hatch, containing many valuable
articles received from the king's collection at Kew, which
it was supposed would be likely to grow and flourish in
this climate. Two other vessels of the company, employed in the coasting trade, were also taken. All the native
chiefs appeared to be afflicted on account of the overwhelming calamity which had befallen the colony, except
the slave-dealers: these, from the beginning, viewed the
rising colony with an invidious eye, and as they cherished
hostile feelings towards it, so they rejoiced in its destruction." Here we see the wreck of the first attempt made
for the purpose of redeeming Africa. The pecuniary loss
of the colony amounted to about ~60,000; and when it
is remembered that this occurred just at the commencement of the sickly season, we need not say that the sufferings of the colonists were excessively great. To the
French belongs the honor of this brilliant achievemnent-the
crushing of this defenceless work  of benevolence.   The
amount of injury done in the colony, and at other places,
152 
COLONIZATIONiSIERRA LEONE-LIBERIA.
during this hostile visit, was rated at ~400,000. From
the losses sustained the colony slowly recovered, and it
is altogether probable that these disasters crippled the
energies of the colony permanently.
"In 1803, it was suggested to the company by the ministry, that it would be for the benefit of the colony to
transfer the civil and military power from the company
to the government. The cession was accordingly made,
and the colony is now under the authority of a governor
who resides at Sierra Leone, appointed by, and amenable
to, the British government."
At the time that the company transferred the colony
to the government, the directors made a report, from
which we take the following extract: "The company
have communicated the benefits flowing from a knowledge of letters, and from Christian instruction, to hundreds of Negroes on the coast of Africa; and by a careful education in this country, they have elevated the
character of several of the children of African chiefs,
and directed their minds to objects of the very first importance to their countrymen. They have ascertained
that the cultivation of every valuable article of tropical
export may be carried on in Africa; that Africans in a
state of freedom are susceptible of the same motives of
industry and laborious exertion, which influence the natives of Europe; and that some African chiefs are sufficiently enlightened to comprehend, and sufficiently patriotic to encourage, schemes of improvement. They have
demonstrated that Negroes may be governed by the same
mild laws which are found consistent with the maintenance of rational liberty, even in this kingdom; and that
they may be safely and advantageously entrusted with
7*
153
I 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
the administration of those laws, not only as jurors, but
even asjudicial assessors. They have in some measure re trieved the credit of the British —it may be added, of the
Christian name on the continent of Africa; and have con vinced its inhabitants that there are Englishmen who are
actuated by very different motives from those of self-in interest, and who desire nothing so much as their improve ment and happiness. To conclude, they have established
in a central part of Africa a colony, which appears to be
now provided with adequate means both of defence and
subsistence; which, by the blessing of Providence, may
become an emporium of commerce, a school of industry,
and a source of knowledge, civilization and religious im provement, to the inhabitants of that continent; and
which may hereafter repay to Great Britain the benefits
she shall have communicated, by opening a continually
increasing market for those manufactures which are now
no longer secure of their accustomed vent on the continent of Europe." The colony has continued to become
more and more useful, in the great objects of its foundation; and now exercises a large influence for good over
many of the surrounding tribes and nations.
There are some important considerations arising from
the statements connected with the colonization of Sierra
Leone, that require attention before we close this section.
There is something astonishing in the fact, that according
to English sentiment, what is very properly done by England respecting African colonization, becomes criminal
when it is done by the United States. (There are some
honorable exceptions to this remark.) Englishmen cannot see why the free people of color in the United States
cannot be allowed quietly to remain where they are, and
154 
COLONIZATION-SIERRA LEONE-LIBERIA.   155
enjoy the privileges of citizenship. They see no propriety in our urging these persons to seek a home in Liberia. They condemn all this as unkind, if not inhuman.
To Englishmen holding these opinions we would say,
Why did not England permit the few persons of color in
London, her first colonists, to remain where they were?
Why were they required to make the first experiment in
colonization? If it be commendable in Anglo-Saxons to
colonize in Africa their free people of color, how is the
doing the same thing by Anglo-Americans blameworthy?
We but follow their example! But in this we see,
as we are wont to see in all British policy-England
must be allowed to do what she pleases, and condemn
whom she will, in every instance, and under all circumstances. We rejoice to know, that at last the United
States have become worried with this course of injustice,
and are determined no longer to submit to it.
And there is another important fact that must be
noticed in this connection.  Hiow came the Negroes, with
whom we are colonizing Liberia, in the United States?
Englishmen brought them here, and sold them to us!  We
came by them honestly, and are as honestly engaged in
seeking their present and future welfare, in our own way.
How came England by her colonists? The proprieties of
history forbid that we should give the answer to this
question in plain language: we submit the answer to
English abolitionists, whether they be found in the walks
of private life, or exercising governmental functions.
There is one other consideration which must be alluded
to here. The primary objects that the people of the
United States have in colonizing Liberia, are the good of
the colonists individually, and the redemption of Africa. 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
More elevated objects never entered into any enterprise.
What, according to all accounts, particularly the extract
which we have made from the report of the directors,
was the primary object of the colonization of Sierra
Leone? The answer is, commercial advantage. Commerce, which is but an incidental consideration with the
colonizationists of the United States, forms the paramount object with the colonizationists of England-here
lies the difference between the parties. We except a portion of the English Church from the force of the foregoing remark.
Section 4.
Liberia.-Although the authorship of the idea of colonizing Africa may be debatable, we assert unqualifiedly,
that to Virginia belongs the honor of making the first
efforts in the United States to reduce it to successful prac
tice. And as Virginia took the lead, so she has sustained
herself in the van of the enterprise thus far. Perhaps
no State in the Union has had more opprobrium cast upon
her by abolitionists, foreign and domestic, than Virginia;
yet this noble State has held on her course with a steadiness that all her enemies have been unable to disturb.
M'r Jefferson was among the first that broached the
subject. IHe did it in such a way as to show that his
mind was deeply impressed with it; but he recommended
no plan, indeed he had not matured a plan satisfactory to
himself. When the African colonization scheme was
brought forward, M'r Jefferson gave it his decided approbation.
To D'r Thornton, a Virginian, belongs the honor of
being the first who "seriously contemplated sending a
156 
COLONIZATION-SIERRA LEOiNE-LIBERIA.
colony to Africa." In the year 1787, before the colonization of Sierra Leone, it will be observed, "D'r Thornton
not only formed a plan of African colonization, but
actually attempted its execution, intending to become
himselfthe leaderofthe colony. He published an'Address'
to the free people of color in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, inviting them to accompany him to the western
coast of Africa, with the view of planting a colony in the
land of their forefathers." This effort of D'r Thornton
was too much in advance of the times, as were the other
efforts. It had not been sufficiently discussed; it had not
matured in the public mind, without which nothing of the
sort can succeed in this country; it therefore failed. D'r
Thornton lived, however, to see his plan carried out successfully by the Colonization Society, of which he was an
officer.
In the year 1800, the Legislature of Virginia, in secret
session, "Resolved, that the Governor be requested to
correspond with the President of the United States on the
subject of purchasing lands, without the limits of this
State, whither persons obnoxious to the laws, or dangerous
to the peace of society, may be removed." M'r Monroe,
then governor of Virginia, opened a correspondence with
M'r Jefferson, then President of the United States. All
understood the resolution to refer to persons of color, but
its language was so ambiguous, that both M'r Monroe and
M'r Jefferson doubted of its import. The correspondence
which had ensued on the resolution was submitted to the
Session of 1802, when the Legislature passed the following resolution: "'Resolved, That the Governor be requested
to correspond with the President of the United States, for
the purpose of obtaining a place, without the limits of the
157 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
same, to which free Negroes, or Mulattoes, and such Negroes
or Mulattoes as may be emancipated, may be sent, or
choose to remove, as a place of asylum." The Legislature
directed the Governor "to prefer the continent of Africa,
or any of the Spanish or Portuguese settlements in South
America." Hiere the matter rested until 1804.
M'r Jefferson, in 1804, revived the correspondence on
this subject with Governor Page, in which he expresses a
preference for the territory of Louisiana, just purchased by
the United States. Governor Page submitted M'r Jefferson's letter to the Legislature. The Legislature passed a
resolution in conformity with M'r Jefferson's suggestion, in
January, 1805. Nothing was accomplished, however, by
this resolution.
After this, Ann Mifflin, supposed to belong to the
Society of Friends, "had conceived the plan of a colony
on the western coast of Africa, and, through a M'r Lynd,
applied to M'r Jefferson for his opinion respecting the
practicability of such an enterprise." M'r Jefferson returned M'r Lynd a long and detailed answer, dated in
1811, in which he says: "You have asked my opinion on
the proposition of Ann Mifflin, to take measures for procuring, on the coast of Africa, an establishment to which
the people of color of these States might from time to time
be colonized, under the auspices of different governments.
Having long ago made up my mind on this subject, I have
no hesitation in saying that I have ever thought that the
most desirable measure which could be adopted, for
gradually drawing off this part of our population-most
advantageous for themselves as well as for us. Going
from a country possessing all the useful arts, they might
be the means of transplanting them among the inhabitants
158 
COLONIZATION-SIERRA LEONE-LIBERIA.
of Africa, and would thus carry back tothe country of their
origin the seeds of civilization, which might render their
sojournment here ablessingin the end to that country." M'r
Jefferson says further: "I received, in the last year of my
entering into the administration of the general government,
a letter from the governor of Virginia, consulting me, at
the request of the Legislature of the State, on the means
of procuring some such asylum, to which these people
might be occasionally sent. I proposed to him the establishment of Sierra Leone. I directed M'r King, American envoy in London, to ascertain whether Negroes from
this country would be admitted into the colony. M'r
King wrote:'That the colony was going on in but a
languishing condition; that the funds of the company
were likely to fail, as they received no return of profit to
keep them up; that they were then in treaty with the
government to take the establishment off their hands, but
that in no event should they be willing to receive more of
these people from the United States, as it was that portion
of settlers who had gone from the United States, who, by
their idleness and turbulence, had kept the settlement in
constant danger of dissolution.'" In this letter, M'r
Jefferson writes: "Nothing is more to be wished than
that the United States would themselves undertake to
make such an establishment on the coast of Africa." The
war with Great Britain coming on shortly after this,
nothing more was done until 1816.
Hiere we see that the public mind in Virginia was, for
several years, closely occupied with this subject; her
most distinguished statesmen had it under consideration,
and alluded to it in their conversations and correspond ence. It affords the intelligent mind much pleasure to
159 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
watch the progress of this great measure, as it passed
from its incipiency to its accomplishment.
Section 5.
Immediately after the war the discussion of the subject
was revived.  Gen. Charles Fenton Mfercer, a member of
the Virginia Legislature, " heard, by mere accident, of the
secret resolutions which had been passed -at former ses sions, and having satisfied himself of their nature, by ref erence to the recorded minutes of the House, resolved to
bring up the subject anew." With regard to the resolu tions, Gen. Mercer says:  "With respect to the first of
them, (the secret resolutions,) I can truly say, that the
intelligence broke in upon me like a ray of light through
the profoundest gloom, and by a mere accident which occurred in the spring of 1816; that upon two several occasions, very early in the present century, the General
Assembly of Virginia had invited the aid of the United
States to obtain a territory, beyond their limits, whereon
to colonize certain portions of our colored population.
For the evidence of these facts, then new to me, I was referred to the clerk of the Senate, by the friend who revealed them, and in the private records of that body I
found them verified."
Upon this information, Gen. Mercer concerted with
Francis S. Key, of Georgetown, and Elias B. Caldwell, of
Washington City, a plan for carrying the object of the
resolutions into execution. Accordingly, in December,
1816, ("prior to the organization of the Colonization Society, but with a view to its approaching formation," of
which Gen. Mercer had been informed by Mr. Key,) Gen.
Mercer introduced into the "House of Delegates, a reso
160 
COLONIZATION-SIERRA LEONE-LIBERIA.   161
lution which stands recorded on its journal, asking the aid
of the General Government, to procure in Africa, or elsewhere beyond the limits of the United States, a territory
on which to colonize our free people of color, who might
be disposed to avail themselves of such an asylum, and
such of our slaves as their masters might please to
emancipate."
The name of Rev. Robert Finley, D. D., of the borough of
Princeton, in the State of New Jersey, must always find a
conspicuous place, in speaking of the early efforts of African
colonization. D'r Finley had thought much on the subject
of the free persons of color in the United States. In 1815,
he wrote a letter to John 0. Mumford, Esq., of New York,
from which it is manifest that he had the scheme of colonization in Africa fully in his mind, more than a year
before Gen. Mercer knew anything about the secret resolutions. No sooner had D'r Finley matured his plans
than he took measures to carry them into practical effect.
He embraced every opportunity of proposing the scheme
to his friends: "all seemed to admit that the design was
good, both as it related to the free Negroes and to the
dark continent of Africa; but few of them could be persuaded, however, that there was any probability that such
a scheme could be carried into effect; and although they
did not oppose it, they did not at once enter very zealously into his views."
Colonization we regard as a providential measure, as
it stands connected with the ultimate purpose. Providential arrangements are perfected through instrumentalities.
The individuals and bodies engaged in forming the scheme
of colonization, were but the instruments Providence employed for the purpose of its accomplishment-this is the 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
first consideration. Another is, that colonization is a
Southern measure; concocted by Southern men, and sus tained, principally, by Southern means. To show that we
are correct in what we here state, we refer to the facts,
that wheil D'r Finley proposed the plan to Northern men,
if they did not shrink from it, they received it but coldly,
and no one proposed co6peration, or aid, in any way.
Gen. Mercer's applications were to Southern men. No
sooner were his propositions submitted, than they awakened
in them the determination of putting the plan into immediate operation. Gen. Mercer says: "I repaired to the
city of Baltimore, where, by sundry addresses to the people, in one of which I was sustained by Francis S. Key,
and by personal applications to the citizens, (in which I
was accompanied from place to place for many days, by
Robert Purviance,) we succeeded in obtaining a subscription of near five thousand dollars, to defray the expenses
of the expedition of Mess'rs Mills and Burgess, to explore
the coast of Africa, in order to select a suitable place for
the proposed colony." We submit another view, to show
that colonization is a Southern measure;-suppose the
South should withdraw from it, Who does not see that it
would immediately fail? Suppose the North should withdraw from it, would that defeat the measure? Not at all
-that would but slightly retard it. But in such an enterprise there is room enough for all, East, West, North and
South.
Section 6.
The preliminary arrangements having been made, on
the 21st of December, 1816, a public meeting was called
in the city of Washington, over which M'r Clay presided.
On taking the chair, M'r Clay made a speech, stating the
162 
COLONIZATION-SIERRA LEONE-LIBERIA    163
objects of the meeting to be, to devise the plans necessary
to the colonizing, in Africa, the free persons of color in
the United States; and of forming an association for the
purpose of executing that object.   "This class of the
mixed population of our country," said M'r Clay, " was
peculiarly situated: they neither enjoyed the immunities
of freemen, nor were they subject to the incapacities of
slaves, but partook, in some degree, of the qualities of
both.   From  their condition, and the unconquerable
prejudices resulting from their color, they never could
amalgamate with the free whites of this country. It was
desirable, therefore, both as it respected them and the
residue of the population of the country, to draw them off.
Various schemes of colonization had been thought of, and
a part of our continent, it was thought by some, might
furnish a suitable establishment for them, but for his part
he had a decided preference for some part of the coast of
Africa: there, ample provision might be made for the
colony itself, and it might be rendered instrumental to the
introduction into that extensive quarter of the globe, of
the arts, civilization and Christianity."
M'r Caldwell addressed the meeting, stating the benefits
to be derived by the free people of color in the United
States, forming a government in Africa, where they and
their children might live and enjoy rights and privileges
which they could not enjoy here.
M'r Randolph also addressed the meeting: he said,
" that there was nothing in the proposition submitted to
consideration, which in the smallest degree touched another
very important and delicate question, which ought to be left as
much out of view as possible.  But it appeared to him, that
it had not been sufficiently insisted on, with a view to 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
obtain the cooperation of all the citizens of the United
States, not only that this meeting does not, in any wise,
affect the question of negro slavery, but as far as it goes,
must materially tend to secure the property of every master
in the United States, over his slaves. It was a notorious
fact, that the existence of this mixed and intermediate
population of free Negroes, was viewed by every slaveholder as one of the greatest sources of the insecurity and
unprofitableness of slave property; that they serve to
excite in their fellow beings a feeling of discontent, of repining at their situation, and that they act as channels of
communication, not only between different slaves, but between the slaves of different districts; that they are the
depositaries of stolen goods, and the promoters of mischief.
In a worldly point of view then, without entering into the
general question, and apart from those higher and nobler
motives which had been presented to the meeting, the
owners of slaves were interested in providing a retreat for
this part of our population."
After the speeches had been delivered, M'r Caldwell
offered a preamble and resolutions, which were adopted;
the third in the series, is, "R?esolved, That Francis S. Key,
Bushrod Washington, Elias B. Caldwell, James Breckinridge, Walter Jones, Richard Rush, and William G. D.
Worthington, be a committee to prepare a constitution
and rules for the government of the association or society,
above mentioned, and report the same to the next meeting
for consideration." The meeting then adjourned until the
following Saturday, when it again assembled in the Hall
of the House of Representatives. At that meeting the
committee reported a constitution, which was unanimously
adopted.
164 
COLONIZATION-SIERRA LEONE-LIBERIA.
The first article of the constitution provides, that "This
Society shall be called, The American Society for colonizing the free people of color of the United States."
The second article declares the object of the Society"The object to which its attention is to be exclusively
directed, is to promote and execute a plan for colonizing,
with their consent, the free people of color residing in our
country, in Africa, or such other places as Congress shall
deem most expedient. And the Society shall act, to effect
this object, in co6peration with the General Government,
and such of the States as may adopt regulations upon the
subject.,'
The Society having been formed, it proceeded, on the
1st day of January, 1817, to elect officers; Hon. Bushrod
Washing,ton was elected president.  The vice-presidents
were Hon. William H. Crawford, Hon. Henry Clay, Hon.
William Phillips, Col. Henry Rutgers, Hon. John E.
Howard, Hon. Samuel Smrith, Hon. John C. Herbert, John
Taylor, Esq., Gen. Andrew Jackson, Robert Ralston, Esq.,
Richard Rush, Esq., Gen. John Mason, Rev. Robert Finley.
The Board of Mvlanagers were, Francis S. Key, Walter
Jones, John Laird, Rev. D'r James Laurie, Rev. Stephen
B. Balch, Rev. Obadiah B. Brown, James H. Blake, John
Peter, Edmund J. Lee, William Thornton, Jacob Hoffman,
Henry Carrol.
The sole object of the Society, it will be observed, is,
THE COLONIZING, IN AFRICA, THE FREE PEOPLE OF COLOR IN THE UNITED STATES, WITH
THEIR CONSENT. This is the only proposition that
the Society makes: to this proposition it has faithfully
adhered during the whole time of its existence, which
now nearly covers the period of four decades of years.
16 -0 
SLAVERY IN TIHE UNITED STATES.
An expounder of the principles of the Society says:
"We resort to no formidable, violent measures, in the
pursuit of our object. Mild, temperate, moderate, exciting
no apprehensions, it appeals to Heaven for the continuation of that countenance and support which it has hitherto
deigned to extend to us. This Society has constantly
protested, from its origin down to the present time, that
we have not, do not, and never will, interfere upon the
subject of slavery as it exists in the United States. It is
no part of our purpose or office to do that. These are our
principles, and with these and perseverance, success, in
my opinion, is beyond all human doubt."
The purposes of the Society are shown in another form,
to wit: " 1. To rescue the free colored people of the
United States from their political and social disadvantages.
2. To place them in a country where they may enjoy the
benefits of free government, with all the blessings which it
brings in its train.   3. To  spread civilization, sound
morals, and true religion, throughout the continent of
Africa. 4. To arrest and destroy the slave-trade. 5. To
afford slave-owners, who wish or are willing to liberate
their slaves, an asylum for their reception."
The consummate prudence with which the affairs of the
Society have been conducted, challenges the admiration
of all. It is difficult to imagine how any one could object
to a measure so desirable as this Society proposes to accomplish; yet the abolitionists, true to their instincts, have
made the Society the object of their fiercest opposition and
most violent denunciation, from the day of its organization
to the present time.
The parent Society holds meetings in Washington City,
annually. Auxiliary Societies have been formed in the
166 
COLONIZATION-SIERRA LEONE-LIBERIA.    167
States of Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut,
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia,  Alabama,  Mississippi,
Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Missouri, and Iowa. Maryland has a separate and independent organization; sending out her own colonists;
and, in every way, acting for herself; her colony is Cape
Palmas.
Many of the States have passed acts to favor the object
of the Society. In 1817, Georgia passed an act, authorizing the Governor to demand and receive "any Negroes,
Mulattoes, or persons of color, as may have been, or hereafter may be seized or condemned," under the act of Congress passed in 1807, prohibiting the importation of slaves
after the 1st day of January, 1808. The act referred to,
authorized the Governor to sell such slaves, or to turn
them over to the Colonization Society, upon the Society
paying "all expenses incurrred by the State, since they
have been captured and condemned. His Excellency the
Governor is authorized and requested to aid in promoting the
benevolent views of said Society, in such manner as he may
deem expedient." According to the provisions of this act,
the Governor turned over to the Society thirty-four
Africans, who were condemned under the act of 1817;
they were by the Society restored to their country. It is,
perhaps, proper to remark here, that the General Government, by its agents, attends to the interests of re-captured
Africans, and that the thirty-four above alluded to, were
of that description. 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
Section 7.
The Society having made the proper arrangements, in
1821, sent out the first company of colonists. And here it
should be remarked, "that Congress, on the 3d day of
March, 1819, the last day of its session, parsed an act authorizing the President of the United States to institute
an agency in Africa, for the purpose of providing ail asylum for such Africans as should be liberated by our shipsof-war, from vessels seized in violation of the provisions of the law for the suppression of the slave-trade."
Rev. Samuel Bacon, a minister of the Protestant Episcopal Church, was appointed agent; he had been previously
in the service of the Society. As soon as M'r Bacon
landed in Africa, and cast his eyes over the vast field
that it presented, he exclaimed, " What a field for evangelical labor amongst them! lHow lamentable, that these
fine people do not attract the notice of the religious world!"
In a letter to a friend in Philadelphia, he says, "You may
depend on it, there is work for us here; there is work for
missionaries, for teachers, for good men of all descriptions.
I am struck with wonder at the native Africans. The
sickly and depressed countenance of a Philadelphia colored man, is not to be seen amongst them.  A noble aspect,
a dignified mien, a frank and open countenance, is the
entire demeanor of the wild man."
The whole number of emigrants sent to Liberia by the
Society, up to this time, (1855,) is eight thousand eight
hundred and thirty-four; of this number, five thousand
and twenty-seven were emancipated by their owners.
The Maryland Colonization Society has sent to Africa
about twelve hundred emigrants. We are not apprized
168 
COLONIZATION-SIERRA LEONE-LIBERIA.
0of the number of free persons, included in the Maryland
emigrants, but suppose it to be very small, not exceeding,
perhaps, two hundred. The present population of Liberia
is estimated at about ten thousand Americans and their
children, and upwards of two hundred thousand natives.
Many of the latter number were re-captured from slavers by
our ships-of-war cruising on the African coast. By the
treaty of Washington, commonly called the Ashburton
treaty, the principal object of which was the settlement of
the northwestern boundary question,-a question left open
from the period of the war of the Revolution, it was agreed
that both England and the United States should keep a
naval armament, of not less than eighty guns, constantly
on the African coast. By the vessels thus employed
many vessels engaged in the slave trade are captured.
The slaves from these captured vessels are conveyed to
the colony, and turned over to an agent of the government, who looks after their welfare.  In addition to the
English and American ships-of-war employed on the African coast, the French Government has a force there.
Notwithstanding the activity and vigilance of all these
ships-of-war, five-sixths of the vessels engaged  in the
trade escape capture, and land and dispose of their cargoes.
The Society, in the accomplishment of its undertaking,
has raised much money. From the fact that during the
early years of the Society, no distinction was made in the
treasurer's accounts, it is impossible to ascertain how
much was contributed by the South, and how much by
the North; but we have been kindly furnished, by Rev.
W. M'Lain, Secretary of the Society, with the following
table, which will show the contributions from the Southern States for ten consecutive years:
8
169 
Receipts of the Am. Col. Societyfroff the Slave-holding States,from 1846 to 1855 inclusive.,
Stts               86      14        88      14        80      15        82       15        84      15
~tates.
Maryland..............
Dist. Columbia.........
Virginia...............
North Carolina.........
South Carolina.........
Georgia...............
Florida................
Alabamra..............
Mississippi.............
Louisiana.............
Texas..................
Tennessee..............
Kentuc       ky..............
Mobile..................
Arkansas..............
$2,147.26
986.83
10,192.58
1,354.25
10.0 0
3,500.25
622.00
6,675.25
1,314.21
2,664.6.
4,060.5 C
120.0(
9
0
0.
0
0
5
6
8
0
AGGREGATE AMOUNTS FOR THE'TEN YEARS.
Florida,                62.00
Alabama,             4,205.62
Mississippi,        26,476.29
Louisiana,          10,310.55
Texas,                  23.50
Tennessee,          13,157.10
Total aggregate receipts from all the States
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
5
0
0
0
5
1846
1847
1849
1850
1851
1852
1853
1 5
1855
$13.00
32.00
1,473.11
32.00
78.50
662.35
510.00
1,228.50
l-,
69.30
2,594.60
142.00
$74.36
489.67
1,552.51
601.81
49.00
305.50
93.50
592.00
. 7.oO
672.67
1,728.23
8.18
5. 00
$226.98
358.92
6,248-77
1,102.34
24.00
5,197-50
369.60
1,866.50
392.00
4,070.12
1,578.23
205.00
177-50
$40.00
868-00
3,080.52
1,393.12
885.2
10.0
463.9
2,527.6
2,657.7
1,440.5
I-,997.6
110.0
45.0
$1,475.2
377.7
9,500.0
713.2
60.0
634.0
1 20.0
1,058.5
3,304.5
3,426.6
2.5
1,526.8
697.3
622.5
633.6
$458.1
1,235.2
12,604.5
1128.7
41.0
680.0
1.0
710.5
2,195.2
794.0
5.
1,558.5
2,916.8
965.8
$2,245-78
1,482.14
2,757.86
221.58
82.00
512.60
31.00
25.00
1,073.87
812.96
16.00
570.00
2,833.00
133.00
516.00
$228.55
1,1.94.63
115.12
150.00
347.50
6,012.80
729.25
316.00
3,454.98
107.50
$248.62
1,571.2
12-78
25.0
142.50
5.00
1,000.0
176.7
268.5
3,470.0
17.0
'Maryland,
Dist. of Columbia,
Virginia,
North Carolina,
South Carolina,
,Georgia,
$6,680.83
,6,307.74
50,176.70
5,559.83
484.62
12,669.90
i Kentucky, 25,331.20
Missouri, 2,414.11
Arkansas, 1,394.10
Total, 165,454.09
$480,795.49 
COLONIZATION-SIERRA LEONE-LIBERIA.
Section 8.
The last United States census shows that there are in
the Southern States two hundred and thirty-six thousand
free persons of color. Whence came they? The answer
is, they were emancipated by their owners. Estimating
the average value of these emancipated slaves to be five
hundred dollars each, we have the aggregate sum of one
hundred and eighteen millions of dollars.
Free Negroes, as everybody except the abolitionist
knows, are very objectionable amongst the slave population; much of the mischief committed may be traced to
them as its source. Besides, the liberty possessed by
emancipated slaves here, is of no real benefit to them, but
rather a disadvantage; therefore, the legislatures of the
respective States, in order to prevent the increase of their
numbers, have been compelled to pass laws forbidding
their emancipation.
Has the South stopped at the bare emancipation of
these slaves? Not at all. As soon as it was fully understood that the freed slave realized no benefit from his
new condition, means for the promotion of his well-being
have been devised; for the truth of this remark we
point to the Colonization Society. That organization is
exclusively for the benefit of free persons of color. In
Africa they may enjoy a real freedom; a freedom that is
only nominal here.
By the table exhibited in the preceding section, it will
be perceived that the aggregate sum received from the
North and the South, is four hundred and eighty thousand, seven hundred and ninety-five dollars and fortynine cents. Of this sum, the South contributed one hun
171 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
dred and sixty-five thousand, four hundred and fifty-four
dollars and nine cents; leaving to the North the sum of
three hundred and fifteen thousand, three hundred and
forty-one dollars and forty cents. At the first view, it
would appear that the North has contributed much more
than the South, but this supposition is removed by the
fact, that the contributions of the South have been made
in money and property. We cannot state precisely the
amount of property contributed by the South, but we
may safely say, that six thousand slaves have been by
their owners turned over to the Colonization Society. If
these slaves be put down at their average value of five
hundred dollars each, their aggregate value would be three
millions dollars; to this add the sum of one hundred and
sixty-five thousand, four hundred and fifty-four dollars
and nine cents, contributed in money, and we have the
sum of three millions, one hundred and sixty-five thousand
four hundred and fifty-four dollars and nine cents, as the
amount directly advanced by the South in African Colonization.
But, in order that we may see, in one view, the offerings
of the South, direct and incidental, in the great enterprise
of African emancipation, to the above sum of three millions,
one hundred and sixty-five thousand, four hundred and
fifty-four dollars and nine cents, we must add the sum of one
hundred and eighteen millions of dollars, as the value ofthe
free persons of color now in the Southern States: then,
we have the grand total of one hundred and twenty-one
millions, one hundred and sixty-five thousand, four hundred
andfifty-four dollars and nine cents, as the contribution of
the South! The world's history does not furnish another
instance of such munificent and disinterested benevolence.
172 
COLONIZATION-SIERRA LEONE-LIBERIA.
But we need pursue this subject no farther; for whatever else may be said of the operations of the African
Colonization Society, passes more properly into the history of Liberia: we conclude, therefore, by remarking,
that there has never been an enterprise undertaken by
Americans, that united in its support more, or as many,
men of distinguished character, in all the walks of life,
than the enterprise of African Colonization. Amongst the
most conspicuous of its friends, now numbered with the
dead, are Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Jackson, Crawford,
Clay, Randolph, Washington and Marshall; names which
shall continue to gather fresh lustre, as they move down
the stream of time, to the last.
One word more and our task will be finished. While
the good, the wise, the patriotic, have been engaged in
building up a government, in whose destiny is involved
countless millions of our race, what have the abolitionists
been about? The answer is both brief and simplebrooding mischief and stealing Negroes.
173 
I